Financial Affairs Of Local Government Of District Multan - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 16 Words: 4885 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Abstract Public finance deals with the financial management of public entities. This paper provides an overview of the financial affairs of local government of district Multan and identifies issues faced by the systems to deliver efficiently and effectively. It also highlights areas or improvement and opportunities to fund these activities. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Financial Affairs Of Local Government Of District Multan" essay for you Create order The district government heavily relies on the provincial grants and has very limited self generated revenue. Although it is responsible to manage various institutions of social services and carry out developmental activities in the district, its reliance on provincial grants make its effort less effective. TMA on the other hand have significant revenue generation and use this to their advantage and work with autonomy. However they still rely on provincial grants for any developmental activities. The stale business process and hurdles in the legal framework also contribute significantly towards the in efficiency of the systems. There are solutions that can help turn around the situation but it needs a sincere effort on part the provincial and local government. Automation and legal reforms could cover a lot of issues. They would not only increase efficiency but would help curtail corruption at various levels. However strong political could change the scene altogether. A comprehensive p rocess was adopted in collecting secondary data through official documents, template and meetings with officials. District Multan was chosen due to its importance specially in the current political setup and based on convenience. Introduction Despite some modest achievements, the economic and social progress in Pakistan has been far from satisfactory during the last more than five decades of independence. Average annual growth rate of 6.8, 4.8, 6.5 and 4.6% (Government of Pakistan, 2003) respectively in the decades of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s is not comparable with the rapid economic progress made by South Korea, Malaysia, China and many other countries which were initially at nearly the same level of economic development (or even below) as that of Pakistan. The performance on social indicators has been gloomier. Despite average figures for economic growth, many countries like Vietnam and Cuba have been able to eradicate illiteracy and have achieved health statistics comparable with developed countries (Zaidi, 2000). Pakistan still ranks at the tail end of social development ranking. Pakistan is also a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, a landmark event showing commitment of political, corporate and civil society leadership to eliminate extreme hunger and poverty and to improve education, health, gender and environment situation through global partnerships for development. A study of the progress achieved on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that the performance of Pakistan has not been noteworthy in the decade of 90s. There has been a gradual convergence of opinion amongst all stakeholders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" government, civil society as well as international development partners à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that the failure in social sectors is a direct outcome of the crisis of governance and macro economic imbalances. Further, there is a broad consensus that governance cannot be improved without a meaningful devolution of authority to functional tiers and without ensuring peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s participation in decision making processes at all levels. This stakeholder consensus provided the necessary impetus for the present government to introduce its devolution reforms conceived in 2000 and launched simultaneously in all provinces of Pakistan through introduction of Local Government Ordinances in 2001. Until the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances, the elected local government tiers had a precarious existence depending upon the will of the provincial governments. Many times these would be dissolved and un-elected administrators appointed. Working under the ambit of Local government Ordinances of 1979, there were urban and rural local councils. While urban local councils consisted of Metropolitan/Municipal Corporations and Municipal/Town committees, the rural councils were called District Councils and Union Councils. Traditionally the local councils in Pakistan have performed municipal functions like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, fire fighting, maintenance of slaughter houses, promotion of cattle markets, fairs and exhibitions and street lighting. They also had varying roles in primary and preventive health care, maternal and child health, promotion of literacy and rural infrastructure development. Devolution reforms in Pakistan, introduced by the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances of 2001 have provided a 3-tier local government system consisting of District Government (DG), Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration (TMA) and Union Administrations (UA). Working under the direction and control of elected councils and Nazims, the present local government system attempts to create institutions and mechanisms for public participation in design, management, monitoring and control of social service delivery. Many of the functions previously performed by the local offices of provincial government departments now clearly fall within the domain of DGs. These reforms are aimed to increase local governmentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ responsibility for efficient and effective social and municipal services delivery. Municipal functions with a wider scope are being carried out by Town Municipal Administrations and City District Governments (established initially in provincial headquarters but su bsequently in selected big cities as well). Access to adequate resources for the local governments is now considered essential. Additional fiscal space is required for enhanced allocations for the social sector as well as infrastructure development. These resources are also required to meet the social deficits that have accumulated over the past due to inadequate funding coupled with low utilisation in social sectors. Devolution reforms, as originally conceived and articulated, envisaged large scale fiscal decentralisation to follow the administrative and political decentralisation. While a fiscal relationship has been forged between the province and the districts, an extensive reorganisation of resources has not taken place and the vertical financial imbalance stays in place with the major financial collections being made at the federal (and to a lesser extent at the provincial) level. On the other hand, the service provision has fallen at the DG level where the tax base and collection potential is the lowest. Courtesy: Decentralization Support Program, Role Book: 4-day workshop for elected local leadershipResultantly, the biggest challenge facing the local councils in Pakistan (which are more empowered today and have a wider scope of functions than ever) is to ensure consistent, reliable and fool proof mechanisms of transfers from provincial governments and to expand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"own source revenuesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in order to provide efficient and effective service delivery as envisaged in devolution reforms. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Public Finance  is that part of finance which hovers around the central question of allocation of resources subjected to the budget constraint of the government or public entities. It is that branch of economics which identifies and appraises the means and effects of the policies of the government. Public sector finance tries to examine the effects and consequences of different types of taxation and expenditures on the economic agents (individuals, institutions, organizations, etc.) of the society and ultimately on the entire economy. Public finance also analyzes the effectiveness of the policies aimed at certain objectives and consequently to the development of procedures and techniques for increasing the effectiveness of the policyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Economy Watch, 2010). Literature Review Much of the functional autonomy of the local governments depends upon their ability to raise the required resources from their own sources and to get the balance from the provincial/federal government through consistent and assured mechanisms. This requires not only devising institutional mechanisms for formula and criteria based fiscal transfers but also exploring revenue potentials of local own source revenues. These own source revenues can be in the form of taxes and fees for services provided. It is quite surprising that despite the significance of this, very few local studies have been carried out to examine the resource potential of the local bodies in Pakistan. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) of Pakistan, formulated after considerable debate and input from all major stakeholders, admits that the local governments depend primarily upon fiscal transfers from provincial governments and recognises the need for local revenue mobilisation as an important activity for the sustainability of local government system. Factors steeped in political economy and elite structures have influenced local revenue generation decisions. Howe and Reeb (1997) conducting a survey of the local tax system in USA since the colonial times have determined that economic and political considerations have influenced the tax systems. Bird (2000) gives the desirable characteristics of a local tax. First, the tax base should be relatively immobile so that local governments can vary the rates without losing a significant portion of the base. Second, the tax yield should be adequate to meet the local needs, increase overtime as expenditure increases, and be relatively stable and predictable. Third, the tax should be one that is not easy to export to non residents. Fourth, the tax base should be visible to ensure accountability. Fifth, the tax payers should perceive the tax to be reasonably fair. Sixth, the tax should be reasonably easy to administer. According to Bird (1999), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"international experience tells that the most responsible and accountable local governments are those that raise their own revenues and set their own tax ratesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Meaningful local autonomy and accountability can only take place if the local governments are able to set their own tax rates. In Pakistan, on the other hand, provincial government has the power to vet the tax proposal and no tax can be levied by a local council without publication in official gazette. Kitchen and Slack (2003) after a comprehensive analysis of local taxes in developed world, including Canada, are of the view that in order to meet the growing needs of municipalities, it is mandatory that new resources in addition to the traditional property tax and user fees must be explored. There is little autonomy in preparing district development and non development budgets because of inability to convey the quantum of provincial transfers and vertical programmes. There is more à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"budgetary certaintyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in TMAs because of increased reliance on OZT replacement tax and own source revenues. Formula based transfers to districts through Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) awards have several weaknesses. District governments have weak tax base in terms of buoyancy and potency of taxes assigned. Urban Immovable Property Tax (UIPT) assigned to TMAs is a buoyant tax but there are administrative confusions. According to Shah et al. (1996) and World Bank (2000) the existing provincial taxes and user charges are inefficient and inequitable and are incapable of meeting significant share of provincial expenditures. Frequently changing and low yield tax instruments with poor tax records create incentives for tax evasion. Considering that agriculture contributes approximately 25% of the GDP in Pakistan, it is estimated that a properly enforced Agricultural Income Tax (AIT) could generate over Rs. 500 million in NWFP only. Presently due to collusion between revenue officials and landowners, lack of understanding, improper assessment and poor collection by the tax collectors, very little of the potential is realised. Bahl (2004) states that in the contemporary world nearly 80 countries are implementing fiscal decentralisation policies. Local government should have the power to define revenue bases, set tax rates and raise taxes. A good tax system should be administratively feasible, revenue burden should correspond to the general condition of local economy, revenue yield should be stable and it should be adequate both for payer and local government. A research study carried out by Provincial Program Support Office, DSP, Punjab à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Tax and Non Tax Receipt Database Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" TMA Khanewalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ in 2005 indicates that there is substantial potential of increase in revenues without enhancing the rates. It has been observed that service delivery potential of the TMA is weak because of its inability to meet all the expenditures. The record of TMA is old; there is no practice of periodic update; and monitoring system is weak. The study also noted that revenue generation can improve dramatically by improving record keeping through maintenance of disaggregated information of taxes and tax payers in all details by the use of information technology. The study recommended computerisation of tax records, capacity building of tax/revenue staff, and increase in transparency of tax records, wider dissemination of information about tax policies, rates and procedures through establishment of people friend ly frameworks. Research Methodology The paper examines the current financial situation of district Multan and identifies areas of potential improvement. It also recommends areas that need restructuring and legal reforms to bring about the change that would not only improve systems but would make it robust and ready for future economic growth of the district, keeping in mind the potential the district. Mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative tools was employed for data collection and analysis. Broadly speaking, it had the following three components. Component 1: The first component involved conducting a comprehensive literature review to see the national, regional and international trends in local resource mobilisation and issues faced by the system. The range of sources accessed and reports/publications examined is broad and includes similar studies conducted for other districts in Pakistan (e.g. Khanewal) and elsewhere. Unfortunately, to the extent of Pakistan, the Khanewal study is so far the only study available as a reference for examination of local resource enhancement in the local government. Greater reliance, therefore, had to be placed on studies conducted in other countries. Nevertheless, the literature review helped in identifying the issues involved in local taxation (levy, assessment and collection) and an examination thereof in a comparative perspective. The success of local governments to raise resources locally is largely contingent on framing appropriate laws and rules in consonance with the ground realities. Therefore, an important part of the literature review exercise was to identify relevant laws, rules, regulations, notifications and circulars that in some distinct manner impinge upon the resource mobilisation at district/tehsil level. Component 2: Along with the literature review an exercise was also undertaken to collect data for the District Government (DG) Multan and each of the six Tehsil Municipal Administrations included in the two districts. A comprehensive template was developed to standardise data collected from various councils. It lists all major and minor sources of revenue for a local council; the legal framework (law/rule/regulation) authorising its levy; business process for assessment and collection; the amount budgeted against each tax/levy/fee/cess etc for each of the last four fiscal years 2007-10; budgetary revisions (if any) and collections actually realised. The budget documents for the last four years were used as the starting point and the amount budgeted for each source was picked from the budget documents. Component 3 A detailed analysis of receipts, expenditure, development initiatives, review of business process and relevant legal provision and their issues was carried out. Component 4: Then a series of individual interviews were held. This included meeting the Tehsil Municipal Officers, Executive District Officers (Revenue, Finance and Planning, Municipal Services), various District Officers, Excise and taxation officials, Multan Development Authority and Water and Sanitation Agency officials The suggestions and recommendations on the perspectives emanating from these interviews. Data Analysis and interpretation Overview of Public Finance (district government budget) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Actual Actual RE Non-development 2,762.80 3,912.51 4,066.98 Development 1,462.49 1,539.14 882.19 Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" tied grant 300.12 512.19 965.16 Total 4,525.41 5,963.84 5,914.34 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Opening balance 386.16 995.15 1,086.13 Provincial grants 3,780.30 3,853.29 5,172.88 Own Source revenue 201.07 149.37 140.13 Tied grants (development and non-development) 475.84 801.40 1,017.88 Total 4,853.37 5,726.64 7,417.02 Revenue of the district is of two types i.e. Own source revenue and provincial transfers. In district Multan there is a heavy reliance on funding from provincial government since district OSR is almost negligible. Efforts are needed to change the scenario and move the district towards sustainability A sharp rise of 37% in provincial grants could be noticed in the FY 2008-09 over FY 2007-08 endorsing districtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s dependence on these transfers. The provincial grants are transferred as per the PFC criteria which will be discussed in depth later in the chapter. Tied grants being the second highest source has been transferred for development and non development expenses of the district government. For the FY 2008-09 the tied grants are Rs. 1,018m which constitute 13.7% of the total sources. These grants are for specific expenditure and are not in districtà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s control. The own source revenue (OSR) of the district govt. forms a very insignificant amount (2%, 20 08-09), rendering the district to rely heavily on provincial transfers. The OSR of the district has been on a decreasing trend compared to overall resource requirement. This is a major cause of concern as this not only increases dependence on provincial transfer but it also affects the autonomy of the district to make decisions. A sincere effort to revamp the taxes and their collection mechanism is required with the focus on generating more resource. In budget for FY 2009-10 there is an increase in OSR of 40% which includes estimation of arrears that are more than 3 years old. These balances are very old and have been appearing in budget estimates for over more than 3 years. However the increase is still insignificant compare to the requirement of the district. A detailed analysis of item by item sources of income was done. Issues relating to a few significant items will be highlighted in the section of recommendations. Expenditures are categorized in to two broad categories i.e. Development and Non development. The ratio of development vs. non development expenditure has changed over the years with a downward trend in development expenditure. This trend should be a cause of concern as the development projects loose priority to make way for funding ongoing activities In 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 the ratio of non developmental expenses vs. development expenses is 61% to 39%, 66% to 34% and 69% to 31% respectively. This shows the declining trend of developmental budget. The year 2008-09 saw a drop in the allocation for developmental activities out of district government resources from Rs. 1,538 m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 1,082 m in FY 2008-09. This huge reduction was somewhat compensated through increase in development expenditure through tied grants which rose from Rs. 512m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 965m in FY 2008-09. In FY 2008-09 the budget estimate for development activities other than CCB and tied gr ants stood at Rs. 558 m for ongoing activities and Rs. 742 m for new activities. The revised estimate for same expenditure came out to be Rs. 656m. Which means that not only new activities were not initiated nor ongoing expenditure targets were met. The major reasons identified during discussion is the change in political setup in the province resulting in delay tactics for funds transfer. The development budget for the district government consists of funds allocated towards Annual development program, Citizen Community board and Tied grants (provided by provincial government against specific development projects). In the FY 2009-10 the total budget for development stands at Rs. 2,749 m which is 38% of the total budget for this year. The total allocation towards ADP is Rs. 1,492 m which is 54% of the total development budget. This ADP has Rs. 966m as ongoing projects that have started in previous years. This is a large allocation and has taken up approximately 35% of the share from development budget. The new projects identified for the year are 19% of the total development budget. The ADP (ongoing and new) are mainly focused on following sectors Annual development program 2009-10 % Sectors Rs. in millions    Education 214.342 14% Health 159.877 12% Dist. Govt. facilities 52.166 3% Solid waste management 26.188 2% Sports 47.14 3% General bus stand 64.259 4% Livestock and Fisheries 24.027 2% Firms to market roads 223.931 15% Roads, Building and Roundabouts 348.837 23% Others 332.034 22% Total 1492.801 The above table reflects district governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s priorities for sector development. The social services such as health and education take up 26% of the share whereas the roads network takes up 38% of the allocation. Overview of Public Finance (All 6 TMAs) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Non-development 251 247 326 Development 470 449 584 Total 721 697 910 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Provincial grant 246 303 290 Own Source revenue 293 339 414 Total 540 642 704 There are 6 TMAs in the district and all of them have a reasonable amount of OSR to help them fund their activities. However there is still potential to increase their revenue specially taxes that form a major component of their OSR. Receipts of TMA consist of provincial transfer and OSR. In TMAs OSR contributes significantly. The ratio of contribution of OSR has in fact increased in FY 2008-09. This is a positive sign as far the TMAs ability to make decisions is involved. However there is still room for increase in revenue. The major source being taxes should be tapped into for more efficiency. It is worth noting, looking at the combined figures for all 6 TMAs, that the OSR in all the 3 FY under discussion has been sufficient to fund the non development activities even leaving a surplus to be spent on development activities. The development vs. non development expenses are more or less consistent at a ratio of 64:36 over the last 3 years. The above table shows the break up of development expenditure for the TMA. The allocation towards development expenditure is 64% of the total outlay. It has remained at this level over last 3 years. The allocation in FY 2008-09, which comprises of the annual development projects, CCB contribution and payment against liabilities amounts to Rs. 255m, Rs. 262m and Rs. 66 m, respectively. Payments against these liabilities were frozen by the government of Punjab and have asked the TMAs to present these liabilities as new projects under the ADP. Optimistic planning and change in political setup at the provincial level resulted in huge payment liabilities being carried forward to the next year. PFC award à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This is another source of income for the DG and TMAs. The criteria for distributing the PFC grant is specified by the Punjab Government and takes into consideration the population and socio economic indicator of the district (GOP, Budget White Paper, 2009-10) The district government and the TMAs have received funds at around 5% level from the provincial allocation over last 4 years. If we take a simple benchmark of population to compare the level of funding, Multan district has 4.26% population of Punjab (GOP, Punjab Development Statistics, 2009). This reflects that district Multan has been receiving fair share of the pie. 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Resources transfer by Province to DG 90,794 96,952 99,413 108,822 TMA 13,541 14,431 15,320 15,209 Total 104,335 111,383 114,733 124,031 Allocation to DG and TMAs of Multan 4,512.56 4,885.02 6,480.43 6,108.37 % share 4.325% 4.386% 5.648% 4.925% Population Punjab 87,548 89,036 90,550 92,089 Multan 3,727 3,792 3,858 3,925 % population 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% Recommendations Business process and legal reforms In this section we will focus our discussion on business process and relevant legal reforms to help identify areas of improvement. Section 116 of PLGO 2001 empowers the council to impose, increase, reduce, abolish, suspend and/or exempt any tax mentioned in the second schedule there in. However the section also mentioned that any amendment to taxes is vetted by the provincial government. This process hampers the local governmentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ autonomy to set their own tax rates as the provincial government plays a controlling role. If full autonomy to fix rates etc. is not to be devolved, then the issue can be resolved by providing band widths within which the DGs and the TMAs would be free to act. To address the issue of stale process it is recommend that automation of business process, a comprehensive revenues base assessment and capacity building of staff should take place. The automation of business processes would result in better accounting, efficiency in tax collection mechanism hence increasing revenue, provide up to date databases, availability of information to be used by various department and timely reporting. It has been assessed that without increasing the rates of present taxes the yield can improve dramatically by maintaining records/registers properly, regular survey and incorporation of changes in tax records, improved monitoring and inclusion of systems of rewards and punishments for tax collecting machinery. Capacity and training of staff are critical to success of any initiative for enhancement of own source revenues. Local government officials dealing with these issues (in many cases) do not have up to date information about government laws and rules. Training with respect to financial management and procurement plus IT is also critical for bringing positive change. Low yielding taxes/fees are an administrative hassle for the collecting authority and they should be done away with or their rates be revised upwards to increase revenue. Dissemination of information about process, assessments, valuation table, and fees would help curtail corruption. One of the major reason people fall in the trap of providing kick backs is lack of information. This information could be made available through IEC material, notices in newspapers, display through posters in relevant offices and media awareness campaign. The business process of all OSR items such as taxes, rents and fees and user charge in the DGs and TMAs have mostly been defined a long time ago and the current LG setup has inherited them. There has not been any significant investment in review and reform of business processes of the taxes. Our research has shown that many improvements in the system can result from identification and removal of various loopholes and weaknesses in the processes. We recommend a comprehensive effort to be made to overhaul these processes which would result in collection efficiencies and significant improvement in tax payer facilitation. A quality control mechanism should be introduced to check functioning of various departments in the district. Conclusion This study briefly discusses the financial position of District Multan. It also carries out the financial analysis of the current situation and identifies issues faced by the local government. The major issues highlighted are capacity of the local government and the will to address issues. Multan being the 5th largest city of Pakistan has the potential to grow economically. It is well geographically well positioned since it lies in the middle of the trade route connecting south with north. A major initiative to revamp the systems would result in positive outcome for the people of the district. This paper also recommends few areas of improvement. A much larger effort needs to go into this. Recommendations such as legal reforms, revamping business process, trainings and automation needs to be implemented together to bring quick change. However this whole effort needs to be financed. The financing could take place with one or all of the following options; Lists of 11 properties were identified on a pilot basis. These properties/facilities are all in prime locations inside the city and are owned by the DG. We propose to sell of these properties and either abolished these facilities or relocate them to a more economical location. Through this proposal we would be able to raise Rs. 4,682 m. This in only the tip of iceberg, a more comprehensive study would reveal a lot more properties. Another area of resource generation is the property given on rent. The DG and TMA have many shops, stores and buildings that have been rented out. One of the ways forward could be to revise the rents and bring them at market level. Another option is to sell out these properties on market value and receive a good cash inflow that could be used for major initiatives. There are many government educational institutions with city limits many of them being on prime locations. A designated education city should be developed and all these institution should be shifted. A cost benefit analysis should be carried out to assess the potential of this option. Municipal bond is issued by a city or municipal bodies. The bond holders receive Interest income. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Municipal securities consist of both short-term issues (often called notes, which typically mature in one year or less) and long-term issues (commonly known as bonds, which mature in more than one year). Short-term notes are used by an issuer to raise money for a variety of reasons: in anticipation of future revenues such as taxes, state or federal aid payments, and future bond issuances; to cover irregular cash flows; meet unanticipated deficits; and raise immediate capital for projects until long-term financing can be arranged. Long term bonds are usually sold to finance capital projects over the longer termà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Wikipedia, 2010). This could be another potential resource that could be launched. Pakistanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s bond market is far behind the other emerging market in the region (Arif, 2006). Municipal finance in Pakistan, like many other developing coun tries, needs to be reengineered. While the smaller districts may not have a sufficient tax base, the larger municipalities are in a position to generate funds from pricing the services they deliver and by generating local revenue from direct taxation. The new devolution plan in Pakistan pre-empts local governments from raising funds in the capital markets. Municipal bonds are unheard of in Pakistan. Large municipalities, which have high-value assets, should be permitted to float bonds in open markets to finance development. The Capital Development Authority has recently announced an EOI calling for advisory services for launching of municipal bonds, results of which are to be seen. This could prove to be major source of fund for the local government and may provide an opportunity to fast track development efforts. The SBP has recently launched an Electronic Bond Trading Platform which would help develop bond markets by providing access to local and international investors. Amendment in section 120 of the PLGO 2001 would be required as a first step towards this process which bars the local governments to incur any debt. Citizen Community Board, an initiative to fuel development with focus on peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s needs and promoting public private partnership, lost its charm over the period of time. Initiatives sought to take place did not take place, results sought to be achieved were not achieved. The 25% equivalent of DGà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ADP and TMAà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ADP have been set aside over years and utilization has been very low. We propose that this fund be utilized for other development initiatives since the concept of CCB, to achieve its goals, would take a long time, especially due to capacity constraints with the government setup. The amount of funds available are District Government Rs 558 million TMA Rs. 324 million Total Rs. 882 million

Secret Sins Within The Works Of Hawthorne - 1424 Words

Dalton Harrison English 102 April 4, 2014 Essay#4 (1417) Secret Sins within the Works of Hawthorne Throughout all the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne, one thing always reoccurs. What is this one thing? Well, it is secret sin. This Great American Writer of the Romantic era in literature had a firm grasp and understanding of human nature and what it means to be human. The darkness of Hawthorne’s writings come from his own observations of human nature and the treachery that we can commit either in front of others or in secret. A secret sin is nothing more than some sin you committed; but, you are the only one who knows. So it is something that isn’t known by the population. To understand Hawthorns obsession with secret sin we must look†¦show more content†¦From this sin came a very happy and energetic girl â€Å"Pearl†. So from the beginning, we see the sin that was committed. We only know half of who the sin truly belongs. â€Å"I thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life.† (Hawthorne 53) This is the first time we get a glimpse of guilt and the possibility that Dimmsdale is the fellow-sinner. As a preacher who speaks against sin, this is extremely hard for him. He wants to tell the truth but Hester won’t let him. This sin begins to completely consume one character the Reverend Dimmsdale. The guilt he feels drives him mad and causes him to carve an â€Å"A† into his chest and wonders the streets while asleep trying to let his sin be known. He even sits upon the gallows trying to tell people. The secret sin within this work was the sin of adultery not for Hester but her lover Dimmesdale. Throughout his works he speaks of different sins such is the case in the Ministers Black Veil. In Hawthorn’s works, the sin is usually center ed on those people that would have high moral values like preachers. This was seen in the Scarlet Letter and is seen again in The Ministers Black Veil, The secret sin in The Ministers Black VeilShow MoreRelated The Double Life Exposed in The Scarlet Letter Essay1497 Words   |  6 Pagestrue numerous times, in works such as Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter.   Minister and respected citizen, Arthur Dimmesdale, was perceived as an upstanding member of the community who preached the word of the heavenly Father. But before the public, he was only camouflaging his dark, hidden secret, which was the sole cause of his sufferings. Hawthorne successfully portrayed the personal agonies one would suffer by cowardly holding secrets within oneself.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Read MoreAnalysis Of The Ministers Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne1549 Words   |  7 Pages The short story â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† by Nathaniel Hawthorne follows the minister Mr. Hooper whose simple change in appearance alters the very nature of his existence in society till his death. While his decision to begin to wear a black veil over his face ostracizes him from society, it also turns him into a more influential clergyman. With the symbolism of the black veil, Hawthorne makes a statement on the involvement of society in personal matters and the â€Å"black veil† that is present overRead MoreHawthorne’s Use of Allegory1545 Words   |  7 PagesThe Ministers Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story that was first published in the 1836 edition of the Token and Atlantic Souvenir and reappeared over time in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The short story narrates t he events that follow Reverend Mr. Hoopers decision to start wearing a black veil that obscures his full face, except for his mouth and chin. Mr. Hooper simply arrives one day at the meeting house wearing the semi-transparentRead MoreA Synopsis Of The Scarlet Letter.Adultery Was A Moral Wrongdoing1601 Words   |  7 PagesAdultery was a moral wrongdoing and transgression in 1850. Hawthorne captured the essence of the events that could occur in any Puritan woman’s life after committing this sin from his own perspective of the topic, Hawthorne did this within a writing of his. The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. The Scarlet Letter is about the life of Hester Prynne and the other characters after she played a part in committing the sin of adultery. Hester partakes in moral trials throughout theRead MoreA Matter of The Heart Essay1446 Words   |  6 PagesSin is like an open sore that if left to fester will continue to grow worse not improve. Nathanie l Hawthorne examines this concept, as he seeks to connect with his reader. Many of his works revolve around a theme of sin and the effects it has on the mind, body, and soul. Sin is one of those permeating areas that has lasting consequences that affect all of life. Many characters in Hawthorne’s works go through their lives struggling as they try to cope with the guilt and shame associated with theirRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1536 Words   |  7 PagesAdultery was a moral wrongdoing and transgression in 1850. Hawthorne captured the essence of the events that could occur in any Puritan woman’s life after committing this sin from his own perspective of the topic, Hawthorne did this within a writing of his. The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. The Scarlet Letter is about the life of Hester Prynne and the other characters after she played a part in committing the sin of Adultery. Hester partakes in moral trials throughout theRead MoreHawthorne’s Use of Allegory1212 Words   |  5 PagesHawthorne’s Use of Allegory The Ministers Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story that was first published in the 1836 edition of the Token and Atlantic Souvenir and reappeared over time in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The short story narrates the events following Reverend Mr. Hoopers decision to begin wearing a black veil that obscures his full face, except for his mouth and chin. Mr. Hooper simply arrives one day at the meeting house wearingRead MoreEssay The Power of Secret Sin in The Scarlet Letter1509 Words   |  7 PagesPower of Secret Sin in The Scarlet Letter    One of the main themes in The Scarlet Letter is that of the secret.   The plot of the book is centered on Hester Prynne’s secret sin of adultery.   Nathaniel Hawthorne draws striking parallelism between secrets held and the physical and mental states of those who hold them.   The Scarlet Letter demonstrates that a secret or feeling kept within slowly engulfs and destroys the soul such as Dimmesdale’s sin of hypocrisy and Chillingworth’s sin of vengeanceRead MoreThe Sin Within Us All. Sin Is Everywhere Yet Nowhere At1400 Words   |  6 PagesThe Sin Within Us All Sin is everywhere yet nowhere at the same exact time. Sin is inevitable yet many people believe they can combat it through their faith. Without faith, sin would consume anyone in its path. Even people of strong religious beliefs will continue to sin throughout their life. As stated in Romans 3:23, â€Å"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.† Nathanial Hawthorne’s two literary pieces Young Goodman Brown and The Minister s Black Veil highlight the struggleRead MoreGothic Elements Present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter1310 Words   |  5 PagesPuritanism, sin and suspense and Gothic structure. The underlying theme within the novel suggests that sins of the past are unavoidable as they haunt the protagonist of the story. The Scarlet Letter is filled with gothic elements from the mystery of secrets that continue to haunt the protagonists and the uncertainty due to supernatural forces. There is also something uncanny about the plot as it is presented as a true event that had happened thus it is familiar yet the reader is unsure of it. Sin and the

Womens’ Liberation Movement Notes Free Essays

The Women’s Liberation Movement AKA: Women’s Lib Feminist Movement or Women’s Rights Movement â€Å"Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings† -women fighting male power structure Women, you may be feminist if you: -had lots of choices after high school -had the option of college/grad school -have a career/job and family -plan to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer (professional) -support fair work salary for any work -workplace is free of sexual discrimination -participate in women’s sports -go to a woman doctor -vote in any political race -run for any political office intend to use daycare -can get a divorce (custody) -â€Å"You have the choose of wearing jeans and tennis shoes instead of a girdle and heels† â€Å"man is not the enemy here but the fellow victim† -Betty Friedan -If civil rights are denied by somebody, it affects everybody Men, you may be feminist if you: -are in college or have had other opportunities becau se of mom’s good job to contribute to income -mom had support services to help raise you/siblings -have a content, stay at home mom -have ever been asked out by a girl (or paid) Understand and Appreciate Art -How is it put together? What do I personally bring? -Where did it come from? (Context) The First Wave of Feminism 1848-1920 -Women’s Rights Convention *Seneca Falls, NY: July 19-20, 1848 -19th Amendment *ratified June 26, 1920 *voting day: November 2, 1920 Second Wave of Feminism 1960s-70s State of Women’s Rights in 1848 by Custom and/or Law -Economic *could not buy/sell property *could not enter into contracts without husband’s consent *actually seen as property -Social *no recourse to spousal abuse *no divorce without husband’s consent *few custody rights over kids *could not go out in public alone Educational *denied any education *denied education in math, language *most could not go to college *could not enter the professions (law, engine ering) *some women attended â€Å"female seminars† or â€Å"academies† to become teachers; once they were married, however, they were fired -Political *could not serve on a jury *could not testify in a case (too emotional, not trustworthy) *could not vote (not smart, too delicate, â€Å"vote like husband†) Lizzy Borden: acquitted by a jury of 12 men: â€Å"not guilty† of killing her two parents â€Å"Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty-one. † The Birth of the Women’s Movement -Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention with their husbands in London; they were denied seats because they were women -The women reunited at a tea party at the McKlintock House in July 1848 (Seneca Falls, NY) and decided on a convention -Stanton mostly wrote the â€Å"The Declaration of Rights and Sentiments† *†We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal† List of Grievances -never exercised the right to vote he made her morally, an irresponsible being -in the eye of the law, married women were â€Å"dead† -denied right to education -denied divorce rights -demeaned to second-class citizens Women’s Rights Convention, July 19-20, 1848 -300 men and women gathered at the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Seneca Falls, NY -Ratification of their Declaration -Fight over the 1 1th amendment (suffrage) -Frederick Douglass (great orator, ex-slave, equivalent to Malcolm X) fought for women’s rights at the convention: compared value of women as lesser than animals in society Video Clip Notes: Not for Ourselves Alone- Seneca Falls narrations from female historians reflecting -procession of women to Seneca Falls -July 19, only women attended; July 20, open to all (over 300 men and women) -Lucretia’s husband was asked to lead (the women were nervous because they never spoke in public) -men decried women of their rights -68 men and women signed their Declaration -11 new conditions, only 10 were passed; still no right to vote -â€Å"The right to vote is ours. We will write a custom essay sample on Womens’ Liberation Movement Notes or any similar topic only for you Order Now Have it we must, use it we will† -Stanton -â€Å"Without the vote, women would be unable to change the laws that hurt them† -Douglass The Suffrage Movement Susan B. Anthony (died 1906) *Last public words: â€Å"Failure is impossible† *One of four women and 2 modern women to be on money -Carrie Chapman Catt -Alice Paul â€Å"Iron Jawed Angels† (film) -women jailed for fighting for suffrage The End of the First Wave -Ratification of the 19th Amendment, June 29, 1920 Sufragette: women (1920s) who fought for women’s rights Video Clip Notes -Interview with Ruth Dyk (98 yrs. old): mom was a suffragette -Interview with Ethel Hall (100 yrs. old) -more than 8 million women voted -14 years for women to vote since Declaration Stanton and Anthony did not get to vote because they died One Step Forward, Two Steps Back -Some improvement -loss of â€Å"steam† -Great Depression (â€Å"Migrant Mother† iconic Great Depression photo taken by Dorothy Lange , 1936) â€Å"We Can Do It! † World War II : The 1940s -women take over â€Å"masculine jobs† to help win the war -â€Å"if you’ve used an electric mixer in your kitchen, you can learn to run a drill press† -â€Å"Rosie the Riveter† represented a lot of women; iconic poster by J. Howard Miller -6 million women became Rosie’s -â€Å"Rosie the Riveter† by the Four Vagabonds (song) Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jane Baker) was a Rosie working with planes, when a photographer saw her and took army photos -Fannie Lou Hamer: sharecropper who became a significant voting rights and civil rights activist Rush to the Altar mid-late 1940s -soldiers come home, women go home, men take back the jobs Marriage rate: 1948- 16. 4%; 2008- 7. 1% Traditional Housewives (Suburbs) 1950s -normalcy after the war -traditional families/sex roles -PhT (Putting Husband Through) and Mrs. degrees (women going to college to find a husband) -the ideal of the housewife  "the feminine mystique† Video Clip Notes: â€Å"Why Study Home Economics† (University of Kansas) -â€Å"I’m going to need to know† -â€Å".. homemaker the rest of my life† -we’re going to get married, no choice -Counselor: â€Å"Home Ec training teaches you how to be a better homemaker† Ultimate Goal: Marriage and Family -regardless of education -TV Show â€Å"Leave it to Beaver† portrayed traditional family roles -TV was new in the 50s: what messages were TV shows sending to men and women? -â€Å"Drop the Mop† song (â€Å"Equal jobs and educational opportunities†) The Winds of Discontent (late 50s, early 60s) legal job discrimination -1/3 women working outside of home (low paying jobs, laid off first, â€Å"glass ceiling†) -After WWII, new technology -Airline jobs- as soon as a stewardess got married, she was fired; wasn’t the same for pilots (only could be male) -teaching was considered the â€Å"b est job† (others were secretaries, but no professions) -Lorena Weeks: Used 1964 legislation to fight the legal discrimination at work *operated switchboards under bad hours and low pay Dissatisfied Housewives -Betty Friedan â€Å"voice of dissatisfied housewives† -Wrote â€Å"The Feminine Mystique† (1953) Video Clip Notes -K. Foley: working wife/mother *frozen opportunities and lack of jobs -Dust Roady: earned college degree in 1950, wanted to be a pilot, denied position and only offered to be a stewardess Video Clip Notes: Eastern Airlines commercial -discriminatory and demeaning towards female (stewardesses) -they were fired at age 32, versus male pilots being fired at age 60 -Friedan challenged the identity of women in her book; â€Å".. cannot find herself in a house† -not all women bought her message, however -Jacqui Ceball â€Å"it wasn’t us, it was society† The President’s Commission on the Status of Women 1961 -JFK’s presidency: women were paid $0. 59 for every $1 men were paid -2008: women were paid $0. 77 for every $1 men were paid -low, unequal pay -poor job opportunities -quotas in professional schools (only a certain number of women) -lack of social services -TV show â€Å"All in the Family† – wage disparity (Archie was the husband) -60s: some nuns got rid of their habits (changes in the church) â€Å"The personal is political† -social restrictions *†men only† and â€Å"women only† public places women were isolated in their own homes- they couldn’t meet up and talk -this issue lead to â€Å"Consciousness Raising Groups,† where women could talk about anything in privacy without men or children -battered women’s shelters -contraceptive rights, including abortion (Roe V. Wade) -rape laws -Before Second Wave Feminism, issues such as abusive relationships were à ¢â‚¬Å"personal problems,† not â€Å"society’s problem† -However, feminists argued that society needs to be involved with solving these problems Video Clip Notes -Women try to enter men’s bar â€Å"women are people,† â€Å"start all over† (black and whites, men and women) Video Clip Notes â€Å"Second-Class Citizens† -60s: in some states, women needed husband’s cosign to get a credit card -70s: women would not be interrupted during consciousness raising group meetings -women’s strike â€Å"don’t iron while the strike is hot† The Mid 60s-70s -Civil Rights Act 1964 banned discrimination (race and gender) -National Organization for Women (NOW) 1966 *created by Betty Friedan; still one of the largest poetical organizations for women’s rights today *aimed at men too (better for them) *not all feminists of 60s agreed with her (like MLK vs Malcolm X) Miss America Protest 1968 -Guerrilla theatre Video Clip Notes -March on Washington 1963 -led to critical victory for minorities and women: LBJ signs Civil Rights Act -Lorena Weeks cited the Civil RIghts Act to fight *it took 5 years and an appeal to the Supreme Court, but she got the job she wanted -Women in white robes praying â€Å"Mother, Daughter, Holy Granddaughter† -to feminists: Miss America Pageant was epitome of â€Å"ideal woman† -female protestors threw bras, girdles, makeup, and heels in trash -Shirley Chisholm: equal pay and equal opportunities in stock market: feminism Women’s Liberation: â€Å"I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar† -Helen Reddy -Politics -Legal System -Wall Street -Media -Medicine -Arts -Sports -Pop Culure -ALL AREAS â€Å"The Feminine Mystique,† or Betty, Tina, Mrs. Robinson, and all those other housewives Betty Friedan 1921-2006 -Smith College 1942 -Wife, mother, housewife, writer, feminist leader -â€Å"The Feminist Mystique† -Worked as a journalist in 50s, but got fired when she got pregnant; she then did free-lance magazine work from home How did the Feminist Mystique get started? -â€Å"McCall’s† magazine â€Å"women’s† magazine that catered to women’s issues; asked Friedan to write a piece *Friedan interviewed women she graduated with and asked them â€Å"What has been your experience as a woman? † -The initial title of the article was to be â€Å"The Togetherness Woman† (the happy, ideal, traditional woman) -Smith College’s Class of 1942 15th reunion Wh at did McCall’s expect to find? -ideal 50s women -high levels of satisfaction and happiness -LIFE Magazine, December 1956: â€Å"ideal American woman†¦white, middle-class, frivolous, spoiled, beautiful, boy crazy.. † Ideal 50s Woman -Feminine -Delicate Not intellectual -Compliant -Content -Him-focused -Family-focused -House-focused Video Clip Notes -Christian Dior set standards for fashion trends during wartime -Hourglass figure, girdles and slim shapes with big bust -â€Å"feminine, sexy† -Contestants had to peel potatoes and make a bed in Miss America Pageant Barbie -invented in 1959 -commercial doll (doll $3, clothes $1-5) -Mattel International Video Clip Notes: Xerox commercial -first machine in 1959 -take-off on Marilyn Monroe, ditzy secetary -overall message: â€Å"So easy a woman can do it† A Housewife’s Day -PTA meetings Shopping -Seeing her friends -In her kitchen What did Friedan’s survey actually find? -discontent, unhappy -u nexplained fatigue and physical illness -prescription drug use sky rocketed *3 years: 1. 2 million pounds of Miltown (tranquilizer) had been taken by women (mid 50s) -lack of interest in the world or hope for the future -went beyond her college peers She found that for women†¦. -College graduate rates: 60% drop out (PhT) -Marriage rates up, age down (average 20yrs and dropping in late 50s) -Skyrocketing birthrate -Labor Market: 1/3 working; nonprofessional â€Å"jobs† Politics: Congress- more in 40s than in the 50s What did Friedan conclude? -Women suffer from â€Å"the problem that has no name† *The housewife’s â€Å"blight† (doctors used these terms, even) -Psychological problem: lack of identity -Trapped in a dilemma *Homemaker lifestyle that was the envy of many but not fulfilling, especially to the educated woman -McCall’s denied Friedan’s magazine Article (editors were men) What is the Feminine Mystique? -Post WWII ideology that a woman can and should only be fulfilled as a housewife and mother -Resistance: sickness, abnormality Intentionally pervasive throughout society -Fight back against Feminine Mystique is the Women’s Lib Movement What did Friedan do? -Wrote â€Å"the Feminine Mystique† (1963) *†scream of pain† -Changed the course of history -Became a pioneer of the Second Wave -Remember: Susan B. Anthony was a pioneer of the First Wave Possible â€Å"Why? † Theories -nation’s need to return to pre-war â€Å"normalcy†? -â€Å"Artificial Buoyancy† idea that in society, there are people who feel they want to be on top, meaning some have to sink to the bottom (men vs. omen) -need for a consumer class with time and desire to shop The Freudian â€Å"Why† Theory -Sigmund Freud: Father of psychology and psychiatry -Anatomy is destiny *Women are anatomically built to be mothers -â€Å"Normal female traits are receptivity and passivity†¦a willing ness to accept dependence. † -Freud is a â€Å"male chauvinist pig† -Shulamith Firestone coined this phrase Friedan’s Conclusion: All the theories are true -The Feminine Mystique is pervasive in society and it is the result of an intentional conspiracy by the male-dominated society to keep things male-dominated The Stepford Wives Sci-fi book by Ira Levin: men find a way to turn their wives into robots (ideal 50s woman) -Movies: 1975- thriller; 2004- spoof (credits show many different shots to send his message) The Graduate (1967) -#7 American Film Institute: Best movie of all time -Book written by Charles Webb- graduated from William College then wrote it -Ann Bancroft (who inspired Professor Loughran to act very young) played â€Å"Mrs. Robinson,† an unhappy housewife -Dustin Hoffman plays â€Å"Benjamin,† a discontent college graduate; actor was originally supposed to be tall and attractive, like Robert Redford -Katharine Ross Music: Simon and Gar funkel wrote the theme song, which was originally supposed to be â€Å"Mrs. Roosevelt† -Director: Mike Nichols Video Clip Notes â€Å"the Graduate† -Scene begins after Ben’s graduation party -Mrs. Robinson resorts to alcohol and music -â€Å"Mrs. Robinson you’re trying to seduce me† Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) -Comedy of manners: making fun of a certain segment of society -exploring dangers of Feminine Mystique in a humorous way -Making fun of upper, affluent lifestyles of these people Early Days of TV -1939 World Fair -Rapid expansion *Post WWII leisure *Better technology Better programming -Content *news, drama, variety shows *live broadcast *advertising 1955: Fort Wayne, Indiana -Social Lives -Education -Business -Church TV and Politics -JFK AKA â€Å"TV President† -TV was live in the 60s *death of Lee Harvey Oswald was aired 1950s/60s TV: A Man’s World â€Å"Women’s lives are so dull†¦ they don’t need TV sh ows† â€Å"women can make decisions in comedies.. † -Norman Felton, MGM Executive Producer -Madelyn Martin, writer for â€Å"Lucy† shows Television’s Portrayal of Women (according to Friedan) -boring -jealous -inept -foolish -dependent -weak -silly -spoiled -materialistic â€Å"I Married Joan† (1954 Daytime TV Show) *Joan Davis (like Lucille Ball) *†Mrs. Bradley Stevens† (married to judge_ Marlo Thomas: Arts Hero -Personal Life *Born 1937 *Daughter of Danny Thomas (comedy â€Å"Danny Thomas Show†) *grew up privileged *wife/stepmother Phil Donaghue (precursor to Oprah, similar talk show) *didn’t want to get married *saw mistreatment of women firsthand in acting industry *wanted to be an actress, and was concerned about making it on her own Acting -TV Series: That Girl, among others -Film -Theater Writing -Free to Be†¦You and Me (healthier children’s book) *books, CDs, and TV specials Other -Producer -Speaker -Awards: Lucy Award (outstanding women in TV), Emmy, Golden Globe, Grammy *same as Sidney Poiter: not about winning, but making a difference That Girl -September 1966 -First show about a single woman -Force behind the show *scripts *clothes -Production aspects -end of season, she had a boyfriend on the show, the producer wanted them to marry but she said â€Å"Hell no! † Making a Difference -Advocate for women’s rights *The Ms. Foundation for Women -St. Jude’s Children’s (Cancer) Research Hospital *Her dad founded this in 1960 Janis wanted what med had- everything Don’t compromise yourself. You’re all you’ve got. † Janis Joplin: first female rockstar -wanted to be equal with men -she wanted a personal life -From Port Arthur, TX; always wrote letters and kept in touch with her family -Dated musician Country Joe McDonald -Wanted a career, broke with the band â€Å"Big Brother†and went successfully so lo -Died of heroine overdose -Made it okay for a woman to create her own kind of beauty -made it possible for women to have any type of career -1995: inducted into Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame -Helped women reach for the starts -inspired female rockstars How to cite Womens’ Liberation Movement Notes, Essay examples

The Location and Global Network Structure

Question: Give the review on followin points.. Demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical and methodological issues addressed in the research. Include a critical examination of the rationale and methodology employed. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses as well as limitations of the article. Indicate what the implications of the weaknesses and limitations are Indicate how the authors can improve the paper Finish with an overall evaluation of the article Be well written: clear, concise and error-free. Answer: Jacobs, Wouter, Koster, Hans Hall, Peter 2011, The Location and Global Network Structure of Maritime Advanced Producer Services, Urban Studies, vol. 48, no. 13, pp. 27492769 While the current article revolves around a few theoretical queries on the functional relationship of advanced producer services with management and maritime sector, and presents a well examined picture of micro determinants affecting their outcomes, the replication of ideas do not seem fully clear. And taking the outcomes in their face value, the authors claim their findings to be important for policy people involved in maritime cities. At one side, the authors apprehend the investments undertaken in expansion of ports and the infrastructure thereof definitely accrue enhancement in flow of cargos using the ports, at the same time do not really find much evidence to support the idea how this would lead to increased value addition into the current economy of the region in specialized or advanced type of services. At the same time, authors seem to be have a hitch that enhanced cargo flow by virtue of their power to undermine the amenities present in urban areas, could negatively affect the possibility of getting more advanced type of service with a lot of significance in provision of specialized and advanced kind of service in maritime sectors. Based on this intuition the authors infer that more of such investments in sea port based hardware infrastructures aiming for future major growths in the flow of commodities would necessarily not end in producing advanced provision of services in surrounding urban areas, rather would create a risk for these areas to increasingly become closed in. As opposed to this idea, the article recommends that the focus of strategic policies for port cities should dwell on getting on board many ship owners head quarter based offices and industries on port management matching with the advanced maritime management services. Taking this model for replication in sectors other than maritime, this article suggest the policy makers who are involved with economic developments of urban areas to pay closer attention into developing actual level connections between other sectors and advanced producer services. However keeping a caution in place about the theoretical model of applying this idea across the b oard, the authors again suggest that rather than taking a few dominant level global cities that has power to afford to policies on advanced service based activities, the urban policy makers should pay higher attention to such relationships among already existing sectors involved in export of goods and services. The paper seems quite relevant for research of current time as there has been a significant magnitude of empirical research on world class cities added with urban level networks that has emphasized greatly on networks within firms involved with advanced producer services. These services and networks helps in connecting cities which in turn enable the production of services and goods to a higher scale. In this study, a comparative analysis has been undertaken between general levels advanced producer services and those which have got specialization in services rendered to transport industries in maritime sector considering 2 major constructs such as location of advances services and connectivity network of the same. It dwells on the established knowledge that these specializations in maritime industries have a positive impact on varying hierarchy in global level urban system vis-a-vis conventional research on world city. At the same time the intriguing question that surrounds the autho rs are whether the specificity inbuilt in a sector as such would not explain fully why high ranked cities by better connectivity and establishments unlike the case of world ranked cities. The article spins around a number of questions about the both theoretical basis and methodological applications to find a causal relationship between existing externals factors and configuration involving locational-network dyad in advanced and specialized maritime sector production service. The specific question from this author dwells on the magnitude of impact caused by sector level specialization on advanced producer services locational pattern and spatial distribution of networks among cities. This question of the authors finds its origin from a theoretic critique of literature and other sources that develop some sort of belief that the specificity of sectors may have a causal relationship with special pattern and locational configuration in urban level networks. As an extra addition to these ideas, the current article goes a few more miles in testing the same in maritime sector thinking that agglomeration tendency of ports in certain places may produce similar results. The auth ors dwell on 3 hypotheses about the nature of agglomeration, such as this phenomenon would happen in maritime sector near existing sea ports, proximity to global level shipping and port-based industries at local economy based communities and near providers of similar advanced services. One of the positive points of the article is that it uses a major data base with clear cut design to measure the networks and an econometric model to explain the variability in explanatory variables. It has employed the World Shipping Register, which presents one of the largest data base on shipping companies by type and location. While the authors claim this to be well updated, they cleaned the data before analysis by removing multiple entries and AMPS locations zeroing at 4999 firms of AMPS category, more than ten thousand establishments across 2569 number of cities and specifically 702 number of firms with multiple establishments for undertaking network analyses. The paper uses a methodologically strong and sound process to analyses the raw data from the source. It constructs port related variables, localization factors, and urban variable from connectivity and establishment data following regression analyses. In developing the network constructs, the authors used location related information for different establishments annual reports and relevant websites and classified them into firms of regional, global and country HQs. They have followed the behavioral and social network based 3 models of Taylor (2001), such as economy of the world, base of service production the nodes or cities, and firms providing advanced producer service. The article uses econometric model by giving clear rationale about the nature of data and kind of limits the statistic provide. Since the dependent variables of this study suffer high variance compared to mean, the enhanced dispersion was chosen to be analyzed by negative binomial model of regression, hence this technique used in the paper seems to be a valid one. Hence the critical review of this article shows that the authors aim to find causal relationship among specific variables and examining them in the line of existing theoretical models are achieved to a higher extent. One of the most significant causal relationship the article contributes to the research sphere is that the bivariate and multivariate analyses employed by this study finding the service locations being explained more by clients presence, owners of ships and industry rather than the port itself across the flows. This finding further strengthens the established theoretical models on location of business points emphasizing spatial type of proximity existing with firms, thereby supporting theory of bigger port cities obtaining higher rank than center merely depending on load services across different countries. The paper has societal relevance in terms of designing proper policies, towards achieving holistic progress. However a minor component seem to be missing in this arti cle that it does not separately consider countries with small and large level of economy with infrastructure level differentials. However the data it has used and the models employed to examine the causal links are valid and hence reliable for similar contexts, hence conclusions are also deemed justified. Hence this article can be recommended for reference by academia for further research, and by policy makers while designing the urban development frameworks. Reference: 1. Acobs, W., Ducruet, C. De Langen, P. 2010, Integrating world cities into production networks: the case of port cities, Global Networks, vol.10, no.1, pp. 92113.2. Alderson, A. S., Beckfield, J. and Sprague-Jones, J. (2010) Intercity relations and globalisation: the evolution of the global urban hierarchy, 19812007, Urban Studies, 47(9), pp. 18991923.3. Boschken, Herman L. 2013, Global Cities Are Coastal Cities Too: Paradox in Sustainability?, Urban Studies, vol. 50 no. pp.1760-17784. Derudder, B., Taylor, P. J., Ni, P. et al. (2010) Pathways of change: shifting connectivities in the world city network, 20002008, Urban Studies, 47(9), pp. 186118775. Derudder, B. Parnreiter, C. 2014, Introduction: The Interlocking Network Model for Studying Urban Networks: Outline, Potential, Critiques, and Ways Forward, Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, vol.105, no.4, pp. 3733866. Jacobs, Wouter, Koster, Hans Hall, Peter 2011, The Location and Global Network Structure of Maritim e Advanced Producer Services, Urban Studies, vol. 48, no. 13, pp. 274927697. Hall, P. V. (2009) Container ports, local benefits and transportation worker earnings, GeoJournal, 74, pp. 6783.8. Lthi, S., Thierstein, A. and Goebel, V. (2010) Intra-firm and extra-firm linkages of the knowledge economy: the case of the mega-city region of Munich, Global Networks, 10(1), pp. 114137.9. Peter V. Halla Wouter Jacobsb 2010, Why are maritime ports (still) urban, and why should policy-makers care?, Maritime Policy Management: The flagship journal of international shipping and port research, vol. 39, no. pp. 189-20610. Sassen, S. (2010) Global inter-city networks and commodity chains: any intersections?, Global Networks, 10(1), pp. 150163.11. Taylor, P. J. (2001) Specification of the world city network, Geographical Analysis, 33(2), pp. 181194.