Description: The price of food has become very volatile in recent years for a variety of reasons, including a strengthened connection between the prices of agricultural commodities and other commodities such as oil and metals, more volatile production due to more frequent droughts and floods, and a rising demand for biofuels. Understanding the determinants of agricultural commodity prices and the connections between prices has become a high priority for academics and applied economists who are interested in agricultural marketing and trade, policy analysis and international rural development. This book builds on the various theories of commodity price relationships in competitive markets over space, time and form. It also builds on the various theories of commodity price relationships in markets that are non-competitive because processing firms exploit market power, private information distorts commodity bidding, and bargaining is required to establish prices when the marketing transaction involves a single seller and buyer. Each chapter features a spreadsheet model to analyze a particular real-world case study or plausible scenario, and issues considered include: the reasons for commodity price differences across regions the connection between the release of information and the rapid adjustment in a network of commodity prices the specific linkage between energy and food prices bidding strategies by large exporters who compete in import tenders. The simulation results that are obtained from the spreadsheet models reveal many important features of commodity prices. The models are also well suited for additional "what if" analysis such as examining how the pattern of trade in agricultural commodities may change if shipping becomes more expensive because of substantial increase in the world price of oil. Model building and the analysis of the simulation results is a highly effective way to develop critical thinking skills and to view agricultural commodity prices in a rigorous and unique way. This is an ideal resource for economics students looking to gain develop skills in the areas of Agricultural Marketing, Commodity Price Analysis, Models of Commodity Markets, Quantitative Methods and Commodity Futures Markets.
Description: Key Concepts in Development Geography is a new kind of textbook that forms part of an innovative set of companion texts for the human geography sub-disciplines. Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Development Geography is an introductory text that provides students with the core concepts that form contemporary research and ideas within the development geography discipline. Written in a clear and transparent style, the book includes: An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the fieldOver 20 key concept entries that provide comprehensive definitions, explanations and evolutions of the subjectExcellent pedagogy to enhance students' understanding including a glossary, figures, diagrams, and further readingOrganized around five of the most important areas of concern, the book covers: the meanings and measurement of development; its theory and practice; work, employment and development; people, culture and development; and contemporary issues in development. The perfect companion for undergraduates and graduate students pursuing geography degrees, the book is a timely look at the pressingly important field of international development studies today.
Description: Praise for the Second Edition "This book is a systematic, well-written, well-organized texton multivariate analysis packed with intuition and insight . . .There is much practical wisdom in this book that is hard to findelsewhere." --IIE Transactions Filled with new and timely content, Methods of MultivariateAnalysis, Third Edition provides examples and exercises basedon more than sixty real data sets from a wide variety of scientificfields. It takes a "methods" approach to the subject, placing anemphasis on how students and practitioners can employ multivariateanalysis in real-life situations. This Third Edition continues to explore the keydescriptive and inferential procedures that result frommultivariate analysis. Following a brief overview of the topic, thebook goes on to review the fundamentals of matrix algebra, samplingfrom multivariate populations, and the extension of commonunivariate statistical procedures (including t-tests,analysis of variance, and multiple regression) to analogousmultivariate techniques that involve several dependent variables.The latter half of the book describes statistical tools that areuniquely multivariate in nature, including procedures fordiscriminating among groups, characterizing low-dimensional latentstructure in high-dimensional data, identifying clusters in data,and graphically illustrating relationships in low-dimensionalspace. In addition, the authors explore a wealth of newly addedtopics, including: Confirmatory Factor Analysis Classification Trees Dynamic Graphics Transformations to Normality Prediction for Multivariate Multiple Regression Kronecker Products and Vec Notation New exercises have been added throughout the book, allowingreaders to test their comprehension of the presented material.Detailed appendices provide partial solutions as well assupplemental tables, and an accompanying FTP site features thebook's data sets and related SAS® code. Requiring only a basic background in statistics, Methods ofMultivariate Analysis, Third Edition is an excellent book forcourses on multivariate analysis and applied statistics at theupper-undergraduate and graduate levels. The book also serves as avaluable reference for both statisticians and researchers across awide variety of disciplines.
Description: A straightforward guide explaining the nature of financial fraud Fraud continues to be one of the fastest growing and most costly crimes in the United States and around the world. The more an organization can learn about fraud in general and the potential fraud risks that threaten the financial stability of the organization's cash flow, the better that organization will be equipped to design and implement measures to prevent schemes from occurring in the first place. Fraud 101, Third Edition serves as an enlightening tool for you, whether you are a business owner or manager, an accountant, auditor or college student who needs to learn about the nature of fraud. In this invaluable guide, you will discover and better understand the inner workings of numerous financial schemes and internal controls to increase your awareness and possibly prevent fraud from destroying your organization's financial stability. It offers guidance, understanding, and new, real-world case studies on the major types of fraud, including An understanding of why fraud is committed An overview of financial fraud schemes White-collar crime Uncovering employee embezzlements Establishing internal fraud controls The nature of collecting evidence With case studies included throughout the book to gain insight to the real world of fraud, Fraud 101, Third Edition describes the features of fraud and then provides proven methods of prevention, as well as solutions to expose different types of fraud.
Description: This important study shows that an understanding of product differentiation is crucial to understanding how modern market economies function and that differentiated markets can be analyzed using discrete choice models of consumer behavior. Product differentiation - in quality, packaging, design, color, and style - has an important impact on consumer choice. It also provides a rich source of data that has been largely unexplored because there has been no generally accepted way to model the information available. This important study shows that an understanding of product differentiation is crucial to understanding how modern market economies function and that differentiated markets can be analyzed using discrete choice models of consumer behavior. It provides a valuable synthesis of existing, often highly technical work in both differentiated markets and discrete choice models and extends this work to establish a coherent theoretical underpinning for research in imperfect competition.The discrete choice approach provides an ideal framework for describing the demands for differentiated products and can be used for studying most product differentiation models in the literature. By introducing extra dimensions of product heterogeneity, the framework also provides richer models of firm location. Discrete Choice Theory of Product Differentiation introduces students and researchers to the field, starting at the beginning and moving through to frontier research. The first four chapters detail the consumer-theoretic foundations underlying choice probability systems (including an overview of the main models used in the psychological theory of choice), while the next four chapters apply the probabilistic choice approach to oligopoly models of product differentiation, product selection, and location choice. The final chapter suggests various extensions of the models presented as well topics for further research.
Description: Why have food crises seemingly become more frequent in recent years, compared to the last few decades? This book examines an array of different issues and distortions that are causing food supply chain dysfunction in many countries, particularly for staple non-perishable foods such as grains, oilseeds, pulses and sugar. It outlines the underlying changes that are currently occurring, which will have an influence on the direction of future food supply chains, and provides some solutions to current food security problems. Based on an analysis of total regulation in the 1950s-60s through to deregulation during the 1980-90s, as well as post-deregulation, it focuses on liberal trade and deregulation as a more successful solution to creating efficiencies in food supply chains and distribution. The author highlights a common thread of either farmers using government for vested-interest intervention, or autocratic governments seeking market and supply-chain power. The book examines the role of government after 70 years of food supply chain intervention. It discusses the role of commercial 'trade' markets and cluster industries and how these can quickly disintegrate when price distortions occur. The author studies both food importing and exporting countries and concludes that comingled commoditization of food has led to increased hoarding, corruption, and dependence on food aid. He argues that a competitive food supply chain that has minimum intervention is more likely to provide future food security. In conclusion the book emphasizes that adequate rewards, competition, and striving for supply chain efficiencies are the essences of sustainable food security.
Description: When RBS collapsed and had to be bailed out by the taxpayer in the financial crisis of October 2008 it played a leading role in tipping Britain into its deepest economic downturn in seven decades. The economy shrank, bank lending froze, hundreds of thousands lost their jobs, living standards are still falling and Britons will be paying higher taxes for decades to pay the clean-up bill. How on earth had a small Scottish bank grown so quickly to become a global financial giant that could do such immense damage when it collapsed? At the centre of the story was Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive known as "Fred the Shred" who terrorised some of his staff and beguiled others. Not a banker by training, he nonetheless was given control of RBS and set about trying to make it one of the biggest brands in the world. It was said confidently that computerisation and new banking products had made the world safer. Only they hadn't... Based on more than 80 interviews and with access to diaries and papers kept by those at the heart of the meltdown, this is the definitive account of the RBS disaster, a disaster which still casts such a shadow over our economy. In Making It Happen, senior executives, board members, Treasury insiders and regulators reveal how the bank's mania for expansion led it to take enormous risks its leaders didn't understand. From the birth of the Royal Bank in 18th century Scotland, to the manic expansion under Fred Goodwin in the middle of a mad boom and culminating in the epoch-defining collapse, Making It Happen is the full, extraordinary story.
Description: Factor analysis is one of the success stories of statistics in the social sciences. The reason for its wide appeal is that it provides a way to investigate latent variables, the fundamental traits and concepts in the study of individual differences. Because of its importance, a conference was held to mark the centennial of the publication of Charles Spearman's seminal 1904 article which introduced the major elements of this invaluable statistical tool. This book evolved from that conference. It provides a retrospective look at major issues and developments as well as a prospective view of future directions in factor analysis and related methods. In so doing, it demonstrates how and why factor analysis is considered to be one of the methodological pillars of behavioral research. Featuring an outstanding collection of contributors, this volume offers unique insights on factor analysis and its related methods. Several chapters have a clear historical perspective, while others present new ideas along with historical summaries. In addition, the book reviews some of the extensions of factor analysis to such techniques as latent growth curve models, models for categorical data, and structural equation models. Factor Analysis at 100 will appeal to graduate students and researchers in the behavioral, social, health, and biological sciences who use this technique in their research. A basic knowledge of factor analysis is required and a working knowledge of linear algebra is helpful.
Description: From Chaplin's tramp to the Bathing Beauties, from madcap chases to skyscraper perils, slapstick comedy supplied many of the most enduring icons of American cinema in the silent era. This collection of fourteen essays by prominent film scholars challenges longstanding critical dogma and offers new conceptual frameworks for thinking about silent comedy's place in film history and American culture. The contributors discuss a broad range of topics including the contested theatrical or cinematic origins of slapstick; the comic spectacle of crazy technology and trick stunts; the filmmakers who shaped the style of early slapstick; and comedy's implications for theories of film form and spectatorship. This volume is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the origins and continued importance of a film genre at the heart of American cinema from its earliest days to today.
Description: Written by one of the world's leading academics in the field, Industrial Organization in Context provides a truly international, balanced perspective on EU competition policy and US antitrust policy. This innovative text includes exciting contemporary topics not covered in other books in the field, such as contestable markets and experimental economics. Furthermore, the text is designed to allow instructors to teach from a US and/or European perspective. The supporting Online Resource Center further accommodates the instructor, offering an Instructors Manual and PowerPoint Slides.
Description: The Indian Media Business, Fourth Edition gives you detailed analysis, perspective and information on eight segments of the media business in India--print, TV, film, radio, music, digital, outdoor, and events. It presents the business history, current dynamics, regulation, economics, technology, valuations, case studies, trends (Indian and global) and a clear sense of how the business operates. This book is a must-read for media professionals, students and for those planning to invest in the Indian media and entertainment business. The outstanding feature of the fourth edition is a new chapter on digital media--arguably, the first ever look at digital media from a comprehensive business perspective. This looks at everything from history to business dynamics and the major issues digital media faces in India. This edition tackles regulation with more detail than any of the previous ones. There is one large case study on the quality of regulation in India and several caselets such as the ones on copyright law, defamation law and how it works for social media. This edition also contains more caselets than the previous editions. There are caselets on the changes in readership methodology, on the trouble with news broadcasting and on the rising power of Hindi newspapers and the impact of digital on both print and TV among others.
Description: Living between Juniper and Palm discusses issues of sustainability, ecology, and environment in the Himalayas, particularly among the Tamang people of Nepal. Indigenous environmental knowledge is revealed - covering forests and plants, places and pathways, wild and domestic animals, and ideasof sameness and difference between humans and non-humans. Modern conservation of the environment is contrasted to shamanic and Hindu cosmologies, providing cultural analysis to power dimensions of participatory conservation after Nepal's Maoist insurgency. This anthropological study combinescritical perspectives and a comparative framework for analysing human-environment relations. The author also addresses new approaches to environmental protection, examining the case of Langtang National Park. He compares attempts to make the park a more inclusive organization with similar moveselsewhere in Nepal under the sustainability agenda.
Description: Indispensable coverage of new federal regulatory reforms andfederal financial issues An essential guide covering new federal regulatory reformsand federal financial issues Financial Institutions, Valuations, Mergers and Acquisitions,Third Edition presents a new regulatory framework for financialinstitutions in the post-bailout era. Provides valuable guidance to assess risks, measure performanceand conduct valuations processes to create shareholder value Covers the protection of other stakeholders, includingcustomers, regulators, government, and consumers Offers an up-to-date understanding of financial institutions,their challenges, and their opportunities in thepost-Sarbanes-Oxley era Over the past decade, substantial changes have taken place inthe structure and range of products and services provided by thefinancial services industry. Get current coverage of these changesthat have transformed both traditional organizations such as banks,thrifts, and insurance companies, as well as securities providers,asset management companies and financial holding companies with theup-to-the-minute coverage found in Financial Institutions,Valuations, Mergers and Acquisitions, Third Edition.
Description: An important feminist thinker, writer, and activist, Prema Kantak's contributions to Indian feminist thought and the nationalist movement have been largely neglected in scholarly studies. Kantak, a one-time resident of Gandhi's ashram, forged a special, life-long bond with the Mahatma, and washugely influenced by his thought and persona. She rose to prominence as a feminist writer with strong, radical convictions and also as a forceful proponent of Gandhian political and social ideals in Maharashtra.This volume brings together rare Gandhi-Kantak correspondence that provides many new insights not only into this unique relationship and Kantak's life and radical thought, but also into the complexities of Gandhi's political and social ideas-especially his understanding of the role of women in thenationalist movement. Their correspondence, marked by loving devotion on the one hand and encouragement and nurturing on the other, is replete not only with an unusual mix of Kantak's naivete, hero-worship, and self-doubt, but also reveals interesting facts about a much-deliberated andoft-researched topic-Gandhi's relationship with his women followers.Together with original translations of Kantak's writings and a comprehensive Introduction that explores various dimensions of this deeply-personal relationship, their divergent thinking, as well as the political climate in Maharashtra during the nationalist period, this volume is a timely additionto the body of work on neglected figures in Indian feminist history as well the Gandhi corpus.
Description: Written solely for the undergraduate audience, Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice, which features early coverage of Antitrust, punctuates its modern introduction to industrial organization with relevant empirical data and case studies to show students how to apply theoretical tools.
Description: The 1990s and 2000s have witnessed a spurt of energetic institution-building in the developing world, as regulatory agencies emerge to take over the role of the executive in key sectors. This rise of the regulatory state of the south is barely noticed both by scholars of regulation and of development, let alone adequately documented and theorized. Yet the consequences for the role of the state and modalities of governance in the south are substantial, as politically charged decisions are handed over to formally technocratic agencies, creating new arenas and forms of contestation over the gains and losses from development decisions. Moreover, this shift in the developing world comes at a time when the regulatory state in the north is under considerable stress from the global financial crisis. Understanding the regulatory state of the south, and particularly forms of accommodation to political pressures, could stimulate a broader conversation around the role of the regulatory state in both north and south. This volume seeks to provoke such a discussion by empirically exploring the emergence of regulatory agencies of a range of developing countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The cases focus on telecommunications, electricity, and water: sectors that have often been at the frontlines of this transition. The central question for the volume is: Are there distinctive features of the regulatory state of the South, shaped by the political-economic context of the global south in the last two decades? To assist in exploring this question, the volume includes brief commentaries on the case studies from a range of disciplines: development economics, law and regulation, development sociology, and comparative politics. Collectively, the volume seeks to shape the contours of a productive inter-disciplinary conversation on the emergence of a significant empirical phenomenon - the rise of regulatory agencies in the developing world - with implications both for the study of regulation and the study of development.
Description: This best-selling text is written for those who use, rather than develop statistical methods. Dr. Stevens focuses on a conceptual understanding of the material rather than on proving results. Helpful narrative and numerous examples enhance understanding and a chapter on matrix algebra serves as a review. Annotated printouts from SPSS and SAS indicate what the numbers mean and encourage interpretation of the results. In addition to demonstrating how to use these packages, the author stresses the importance of checking the data, assessing the assumptions, and ensuring adequate sample size by providing guidelines so that the results can be generalized. The book is noted for its extensive applied coverage of MANOVA, its emphasis on statistical power, and numerous exercises including answers to half. The new edition features: New chapters on Hierarchical Linear Modeling (Ch. 15) and Structural Equation Modeling (Ch. 16) New exercises that feature recent journal articles to demonstrate the actual use of multiple regression (Ch. 3), MANOVA (Ch. 5), and repeated measures (Ch. 13) A new appendix on the analysis of correlated observations (Ch. 6) Expanded discussions on obtaining non-orthogonal contrasts in repeated measures designs with SPSS and how to make the identification of cell ID easier in log linear analysis in 4 or 5 way designs Updated versions of SPSS (15.0) and SAS (8.0) are used throughout the text and introduced in chapter 1 A book website with data sets and more. Ideal for courses on multivariate statistics found in psychology, education, sociology, and business departments, the book also appeals to practicing researchers with little or no training in multivariate methods. Prerequisites include a course on factorial ANOVA and covariance. Working knowledge of matrix algebra is not assumed.
Description: Missing data form a problem in every scientific discipline, yet the techniques required to handle them are complicated and often lacking. One of the great ideas in statistical science¿multiple imputation¿fills gaps in the data with plausible values, the uncertainty of which is coded in the data itself. It also solves other problems, many of which are missing data problems in disguise. Flexible Imputation of Missing Data is supported by many examples using real data taken from the author's vast experience of collaborative research, and presents a practical guide for handling missing data under the framework of multiple imputation. Furthermore, detailed guidance of implementation in R using the author¿s package MICE is included throughout the book. Assuming familiarity with basic statistical concepts and multivariate methods, Flexible Imputation of Missing Data is intended for two audiences: (Bio)statisticians, epidemiologists, and methodologists in the social and health sciences Substantive researchers who do not call themselves statisticians, but who possess the necessary skills to understand the principles and to follow the recipes This graduate-tested book avoids mathematical and technical details as much as possible: formulas are accompanied by a verbal statement that explains the formula in layperson terms. Readers less concerned with the theoretical underpinnings will be able to pick up the general idea, and technical material is available for those who desire deeper understanding. The analyses can be replicated in R using a dedicated package developed by the author.
Description: The author team behind the bestselling text, IndustrialOrganization, has written a brand new, calculus-based text designedto prepare students for a complete analysis of all facets ofindustrial organization. Contemporary IndustrialOrganization enhances students' understanding of the strategicbehavior of firms, the structure of markets, and imperfectcompetition using calculus, game theory, econometrics, andpractical examples and applications. This text?s uniquepresentation and blend of quantitative and qualitative toolsassumes familiarity with intermediate microeconomics with calculusand econometrics.
Description: In an age where works are increasingly being used, not only as works in the traditional sense, but also as carriers of data from which information may be automatically extracted for various purposes, Borghi and Karapapa consider whether mass digitisation is consistent with existing copyrightprinciples, and ultimately whether copyright protection needs to be redefined, and if so how?The work considers the activities involved in the process of mass digitization identifying impediments to the increasing number of such projects such as the inapplicability of copyright exceptions, difficulties in rights clearance, and the issue of "orphan" and out-of-print works.It goes on to examine the concept of "use" of works in light of mass digital technologies and how it impinges on copyright law and principles; for example considering whether scanning and using optical character recognition in mass digital projects qualify as transformative use, or whether textmining on digitial repositories should be a permitted activity. These issues are considered in the context of both European and US law. Consideration is also given to mass digitization in the wider context of "law and technology", comparing mass digitization issues with those of genetic databases,online privacy and data protection.Illustrating how mass digitization unveils a number of unsettled theoretical issues within copyright, the book proposes a new regulatory framework for the use of works in the context of emerging technologies, providing a new rights-based approach to dealing with copyright.
