Western Australia Essay Example for Free

Western Australia Essay While the Australian Warlpiri people of Western Australia need to live within the laws and values of the Australian Government, as do all citizens living in Australia, preliminary conclusions show their lives also relate strongly to their community values, which are based on ngurra-kurlu, the ‘five pillars of society’. The Warlpiri people first made contact with non-Aboriginal Australians in the late nineteenth century. By the time they were finally extracted from the bush, the missionaries were being replaced by communities. (Wikipedia) Most of the Warlpiri people were placed in an Aboriginal settlement called Yuendumu, about 290 km north west of Alice Springs, but because the settlement was becoming overcrowded, in 1948 the Australian Federal Government decided to erect an Aboriginal Reserve at a waterhole 600 km north at Catfish. (Ozoutback. com) Once the road to Catfish was finished, the Welfare ordered 25 Warlpiri people into a truck and took them as far as Hooker Creek where they camped. Because there was a bore and the water was flowing they decided to stay there instead of at Catfish, which was about 30 km further on and another 400 Warlpiri were transported there. Later, the Hooker Creek dried up, but by then the settlement was already established and a further 150 Warlpiri people were transported there in 1951. (Ozoutback. com) The people were not happy to be taken away from their relatives, their country (land) and its sacred sites, so they all walked the 600 km back to Yuendumu, whereupon they were driven back to Hooker Creek in trucks; they walked back to Yuendumu again and again they were taken back. This time people stayed and children were born, and they started to call the place home. In the late seventies the Gurindji tribe â€Å"handed over† the country and the ‘The Dreaming’ to the Warlpiri and it terminated as a welfare state and renamed Lajamanu. (Ozoutback. com) My friend Pam and I wanted to find out first hand, how life has changed for these people, and how they balance colonial values with their own. So we organized a field trip to outback Western Australia, where we spent a month living within a community of Warlpiri people in a place called Lajamanu. We engaged in participant observation, in an effort to understand as much as possible about the way in which they lived and gain an emic perspective of the values to which they lived by. Using this method, we were able to maintain detailed fieldnotes and conduct interviews based on open-ended questions. We hired a four wheel drive vehicle in Alice Springs and set out on the Tanami track, which crosses the Tanami desert and seemed to head for the horizon and evaporate into the sky. The road was not sealed – just dirt – red dirt – bellowing behind us like rust colored clouds. Although travelling in beating heat we were vigilant in our perusal of what was around us: large areas of ‘spinifex’ and ‘mulga’. 3 A number of enormous hawks and eagles were swooping around the carcass of a red kangaroo, a meter long snake slithered into one of the mulga trees, and masses of bits of rubber, stripped from the tyres of cars and trucks were strewn along the side of the track. We could only drive slowly and only able to drive about 80 kilometers a day, camping by the road at night. On the third day we drove into harsh and rough ground with more vegetation, and although still exceedingly hot the rain started to fall heavily. The car became more difficult to manouvre as water was accumulating in various parts unable to sink into the ground quick enough. Around midday on the fourth day we stopped the car near a small water hole to have something to eat and a cold drink from our ice box, and just as we were about to move on a dark figure with a mop of unruly black and curly hair, wearing nothing but a piece of cloth around his waist came out of nowhere, seemingly from the sky in the distance and walked towards us. He seemed very friendly but spoke in a strange language that we could not understand. He seemed to be asking or directing us to some place and he appeared to want to jump on board. With the use of gestures, arms and hands, we were able to ascertain that he wanted to ride with us, which was fine with us. The track fell into a dry creek and the sun was glaring all colors of reds and oranges into the sky; brightly colored parrots fluttered up from scrub, and as the sun became lower the rocks and boulders seemed to be on fire, glowing red from the heat. Flies were everywhere, buzzing around our heads, settling on our arms and legs and crawling into our eyes. It wasn’t long before he started to make directions off on a smaller track and we understood that this must be where he came from. We turned off and it was not too long before we came across a small community. We stopped the car and our new found friend directed us to his house. As we meandered along, we saw nothing but parts of cars left rusting in the heat, houses in disrepair, potholed streets strewn with rubbish and everything covered in red dirt. It was dusk and people were sitting around open fires; children were running around wearing very little if anything but happily playing in the dirt with the fire lighting up their faces; women were sitting around the fire openly breast feeding their babies or nursing them in their laps, lulling them to sleep. An extremely tall and thin man stood up from the circle around the fire and with open arms, smiled and much to our surprise said â€Å"How yer going whitefellas? Me Benny Jangala. † After setting up camp we were invited to eat and one of the women produced what seemed like a small crocodile but we were told it was a ‘goanna. ’ She placed it on the fire and kept turning it with a stick until it was cooked. She then broke the animal in pieces with her hands and handed some to us. Other delicacies, such as witchety grubs, snake and kangaroo were thrown onto the fire and cooked. These were served with an assortment of different berries and leaves. We later found out that they know over a hundred different species of flora and fauna, all of which are used for either food, medicine or in ceremonies. They keep everything they think they could use, such as animal sinews for binding weapons, bones for implements and feathers for ceremonial use. (Broom, 1983, p. 12) As night progressed we were shown to a small humpy that was to be our home for the next few weeks. We were impatient to start fieldwork and the very next day we started getting accustomed with our new surroundings and lifestyle, and observing how these aboriginals lived. We hired Benny as our guide and interpreter and he was very willing to assist us whenever needed. We found out that we were living with a small community of Warlpiri people in a place called Lajamanu. They spoke the Warlpiri language and tracked their ancestry to the country around the ‘granites’4 or had bonds to that same country through different family dreamings. These linkages by ancestry and dreamings entitled them to hunt in that area and required them to take care of its sacred places. Children often liked to visit us and they would usually come in to our humpy unannounced, rummage among our supplies and survey the room. They seemed to have no concept of privacy and seemed to consider our humpy open and available to all. One time two older girls were looking through each other’s hair for lice and invited Pam to sit with them so that they could search her hair. After a few days Pam was given the name Napangardi and I was given the name Jungarrayi, because Napangardi is normally married to Jungarrayi. After we were given these new names the children would call us by those names. At first, one small girl started laughing and flapping her arms around in the air, then she ran over to Pam and put her arms around her waist, screaming â€Å"Napangardi! you are my daughter! † The girl’s skin name was Nangala, which made her Pam’s mother, because Nangalas were mothers of Napangardis. This also made her my mother-in-law, to whom I was not allowed to talk to, according to Warlpiri taboo. (Ways of Thinking, p. 3 and 8) Later we were able to find out more about skin names. A group of Aboriginal people were sitting together talking as one mother was pointing to various people in the group; she was teaching her little girl their skin names. She told us that every Warlpiri person has a skin name and that name ordains how that person relates to every other person in the community. Everyone is born into the skin group related to their parents. There are eight skin groups and men’s skin names begin with J and women’s with N. The skin system is part of a more intricate kin system and they both relate the Warlpiri people to the sky, desert, trees, rocks, animals, plants and to the law, the dreaming, the rituals and a body of knowledge. (Ways of thinking, p. 4) One morning Benny introduced us to one of the tribe elders and we asked him about the different names they used; he told us that a Warlpiri person can have several names which include the relevant skin name, a bush name and a ‘whitefella’ first name. A Warlpiri person may be referred to as â€Å"X’s son/daughter†, which can sometimes cause confusion if â€Å"X† has more than one son or daughter, because each one could be referred to in the same way. As a child grows older they may also be given a nickname derived from a physical characteristic or some specific incident or mishap. (Smith, 2008, p3. 5) He also told us about a tribal law that does not allow a woman to speak directly to her son-in-law, nor the son-in-law to her. They must ask another person in the Warlpiri kin system, to speak for them. There is also what is referred to as ‘mother-in-law’ language, which is a kind of secret language which son-in-laws can use when speaking in ear-shot of their mother-in-law. (Ways of thinking, p. 4)

Red Mud and Pet Coke Physical Properties

Red Mud and Pet Coke Physical Properties 1.1 INTRODUCTION: India is witnessing construction of very interesting projects in all sectors of Infrastructure. Most of the structures are in structural concrete. In Present condition India is the second largest producer of cement in the world behind china. The construction practices are rapidly innovating throughout the world. The pace of infrastructure developments in India requires adoption of new technologies. The country consumed around 238 million metric tons of concrete in previous years. Indias concrete production is calculated to amount to just over 400 million metric tons by 2017. Concrete is the most widely used man-made construction material in the world. The popularity of concrete is due to the fact that from the common ingredients, the properties of concrete are tailored to meet the demand of any particular application. Now-a-days massive construction leads to scarcity of natural resources. It is a big problem emerging in field of construction because of their wide use shortage is happening. Due to this good sand is not available easily. Natural resources are also exhausting very rapidly because of its limited supply, the cost of Natural River sand has sky rocketed and its consistent supply cannot be guaranteed. So, now it is time to find some substitute to natural river sand. Hence, it is mandatory either to quest for another material or partly replace it by some other material. The expense of development moreover gets heightened further more leaving the waste materials to the environment straight forwardly can bring about natural issue. Henceforth the reuse of waste material has been emphasized. There is a growing awareness regarding extensive damage being caused to the environment due to accumulation of waste materials from power houses, industrial plants, colliery pits, demolition sites and it has become one of the major environmental and social issues. Waste materials coming out of industry nowadays is posing a great environmental problem in disposing them into the water, air and on the land. These waste materials can partly be used to produce materials suitable as fine aggregates or fillers in concrete. Use of waste products is not only a partial solution to environmental. Some wastes can significantly improve the properties, matrix and microstructure of concrete. The output of these waste materials in India is more than the production of cement and other construction materials used in all the civil engineering activities. So, the use of waste materials is not only to make the cement concrete less expensive, but to provide a blend of tailored properties of waste material s and OPC suitable for specified purpose. The waste materials which can be found in bulk are commonly known as blast furnace slag, fly ash, silica fumes, solid waste, plastic wastes, Red mud, Pet coke, etc. Partial replacement of Portland cement and sand with waste materials like blast furnace slag, fly ash, silica fumes, Red mud, pet coke, etc. will be a great help in reducing environmental pollution and also in reduction in manufacturing of cement and also minimize the use of natural materials that required for the construction activities. This research work outlines the optimum utilization of waste materials in some construction activities using as a green concept, which ultimately reduces the environmental pollution and suits the economy of project. This study involves Industrial wastes which have major production throughout the world and have negative effect on environment because of their chemical properties. Industrial wastes in this study are Red mud, Petroleum coke and Recron with accelerating admixture. Red mud is a waste material generated by the Bayer Process widely used to produce alumina from bauxite throughout the world. In India more than 20 million tons of red mud is generated annually. The Indian aluminium sector is characterized by large integrated players like Hindalco and National Aluminium Company (Nalco, Alumina plant at Damanjodi, Orissa). However, its high alkalinity is a potential pollution to threat water, land and air. While high costs are associated with the large area of land required for storage of the residue. Currently, it is dumped on land or in the oceans near alumina refineries which creates a great environmental pollution. Red mud is highly caustic due to which it is a good binder material and can be used in concrete technology for construction practices with partial replacement with cement. Among the uses utilization of red mud for building materials production such as cement, bricks, roofing tiles and glass-ceramic is in practice. Fig.1 Red mud Yard Petroleum coke (abbreviated as Pet coke) is a solid by product from oil refineries. It is a carbonaceous solid delivered from Coker units or other cracking processes. It has over 90% carbon. As it has a higher energy content, it emits 30% to 80% more CO2 than coal per unit of weight, it also emits sulphur and vanadium contents during combustion which can be problematic. The annual consumption of pet coke in India is around 14.44 million tons, according to the latest statistics of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. Pet coke can be used in concrete as a replacement of sand for acoustic application. The low density and high porosity properties of pet coke particles suggest that it may also have potential to improve the thermal insulating properties of concrete when added as fine aggregate. It can also be used as plastering, roof concreting, etc for light weight concreting. Fig. 2 Petroleum coke yard Recron is also called Polyester fiber. It acts as secondary reinforcement in concrete which increases resistance to impact and abrasion. It arrests cracks improves quality of construction in tanks, foundations, walls, roads, pre-cast products like pipes, blocks, tiles, manhole covers, asbestos sheets, cement based pre-cast products, etc. Role of Recron 3s is preventive in field of construction; it also controls reduction in water permeability, increase in flexibility, reduction in rebound loss, etc. Admixtures are the additive in concrete other than basic ingredients of concrete; they are added to the mix immediately before or during mixing. These admixtures are used primarily to reduce the cost of concrete construction, to achieve the strength, modify the properties of hardened concrete, to ensure good quality of concrete during transporting, placing, mixing curing and to overcome certain emergencies emerges during concrete operations. These can be added to concrete mix to produce high slump flowing concrete. High range super plasticizer was used in all the concrete mixes to achieve good workability. Super plasticizers are added to reduce the water requirement by 15 to 20% without affecting the workability leading to a high strength and dense concrete. To achieve the uniform workability, the admixture dosage was adjusted without changing the unit water content. By utilizing these wastes other researches has concluded that Red mud and pet coke are good replacement of cement and sand additives like Recron and Admixture helps in improving the properties of concrete. By using optimum amount of Industrial wastes in concrete we can reduce the construction cost and it is very much environmental friendly acheived made the previous researches are done on Red mud, pet coke, Recron and admixture separately by calculating physical tests like compressive strength and tensile strength test. 1.2 importance of study: In this study use of Red mud, Petroleum coke Recron with admixture has been used as a partial replacement of cement and sand in concrete. As Red mud and Petroleum coke both are the waste materials generated in large quantities from Industries they damaging environment from their chemical properties utilization of these materials are done. 1.3 Delimitation: In this study the use of Red mud and Petroleum coke (abbreviated as Pet coke) as a partial replacement of cement and sand is evaluated. Concrete used in the study is M25 with 2.4% of constant admixture in all the mix proportions used in study. 1.4 Objective of the study: To evaluate physical properties like Compressive strength, Tensile strength and Slump value of concrete prepared by partial replacement of Red mud and Pet coke in conjunction with Recron admixture. To find out an optimum percentage of replacement of Red mud and Pet coke along with addition of optimum percentage of Recron and fix % of admixture in M25 grade concrete. To estimate cost reduction by adopting Industrial wastes in designed mix concrete.

Free Cash Flow with a Firms Capital Expenditure

Free Cash Flow with a Firms Capital Expenditure Free cash flow and capital expenditure go side by side. What is important to find out is the existence of an association between the two in Sugar Industry of Pakistan by means of ascertaining the strength of their relationship. Annual financial statement data for 27 sugar mills of Pakistan, listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), was taken to calculate free cash flow and annual capital expenditure over the 2000-08 period. Linear regression test was run on the data to study the relationship between the two variables. The results hence proved an association confirming an existence of a relationship. Introduction Overview of the Sugar Industry of Pakistan Pakistan is the 5th largest country in the world in terms of area under sugarcane cultivation, 11th by production and 60th in terms of yield. Sugarcane is the primary raw material for the production of sugar. Since independence, the area under cultivation has increased more rapidly than any other major crop at around one million hectares. The sugar industry in Pakistan is the 2nd largest agro based industry comprising 81 sugar mills out of which 27 are listed on Karachi Stock Exchange. The annual crushing capacity of the industry is over 6.1 million tones. Sugarcane farming and sugar manufacturing contribute significantly to the national exchequer in the form of various taxes and levies. Sugar manufacturing and its by-products have contributed significantly towards the foreign exchange resources through import substitution. Sugar production is a seasonal activity. The mills, at an average operate for 150 days a year whereas the supplies are made throughout the year. As the industry n ow has large daily crushing capacity there are efforts to reduce the production even further. About the subject The purpose of this research is to examine the significance of free cash flow in relation with firms capital expenditure. Many researchers have studied the relationship built around free cash flow and have argued that managers have to play a vital role in deciding where free cash flow eventually ends up. Something known as an agency problem is widely discussed and commented on by several researchers. This problem talks exactly about the conflict of interest between managers and shareholders. Shareholders are interested in earning as much dividends as possible which would increase their value. On the contrary, managers think for themselves. They tend to invest the available cash flow in projects that would not necessarily increase shareholders value but ensure that the tenure of the manager is as extended as possible. New investments would mean more responsibilities on managers thus their uninterrupted length of service is required in the long term interest of the firm. Going one step ahead of agency problem, this study is related to free cash flow which shows an association and a relationship with the capital expenditure. Free cash flow is a  measure of financial performance and one of the sources of capital expenditure in firms. Managers can either disburse the available cash among shareholders in the form of dividends after  keeping aside the money required to expand or maintain its asset base or hold it back for developing new products, making acquisitions, and reducing debt. At this point in time, it is imperative to note that negative free cash flow in itself is not bad. If free cash flow is negative, it  could show that a company is developing new products, reducing debts or even making large investments. If these cash out flows earn a high return eventually, the strategy has the potential to pay off in the long run. Capital expenditures (CAPEX) are those cash outflows that create future benefits for the firm. A capital expenditure is incurred when a business outlay funds to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as property, industrial buildings or equipment. CAPEX is commonly found on the Cash Flow Statement as an investment in plant, property and equipment or something similar in the investing section. Companies listed on stock exchange will often list their capital expenditures for the year in annual reports, which allows shareholders to see how the company is using their funds and whether it is investing in its long term growth. The hypothesis tested in this study is accepted and thus a relationship between free cash flow and capital expenditure is established. Literature Review Cash flow is determined by integrating the cash receipt and disbursement items from the income statement with the change in each balance sheet item; the sum of the cash inflows equals the sum of the cash outflows. Whereas capital expenditure is the amount a company spends buying or upgrading fixed assets, such as equipment, during the year and acquiring subsidiaries, minus government grants received. The free-cash-flow (FCF) hypothesis by Jensen (1986) suggests that excess cash flow is wasted on value-destroying expenditure because managers have a personal motivation to grow the asset base of the firm rather than dispense cash to shareholders in the form of dividends. Cash flow has always been somewhat of a puzzle in the literature on the determinants of investment. Gugler (2004) argues that in a strictly neoclassical world, cash flow does not belong in an investment equation. Even than pragmatic studies dating back over 4 decades invariably document that cash flow and investment are positively related. The influence of internally generated cash flow on financing capital investment expenditure is well studied. But what is less well understood is the cause behind this influence. Modigliani and Millers (1958) Irrelevance proposition asserts that firms undertake all positive net present value (NPV) investments regardless of the financing source. Firms that pay low dividends rely more heavily on cash flow as shown by Fazzari, Petersen and Hubbard (1988). The first two gentlemen also found that such firms use working capital adjustments and not external financing to maintain the needed capital expenditure in order to smooth cash flow fluctuations. They further argued that in order to save cash flow, firms choose a low dividend payout policy. Calomiris and Hubbard (1995) proved that those firms have heaviest dependence on cash flow to finance capital expenditure which pay the highest taxes associated with undistributed profits. Devereux and Schiantareelli (1990) found that as compared to smaller firms in the UK, the large firms depend more heavily on cash flow financing. The reason they pointed out for such a trend was the manager/shareholder agency problems in these large firms mainly because of lower managerial ownership and higher costs associated with monitoring mechanism. In this thesis, further evidence have been provided on the role of free cash flow and capital expenditure through observing the data provided by the Karachi Stock Exchange. To measure the market reaction to such expenditure plans, the over and above returns around capital announcements have been used. It was moreover, found that the impact capital expenditure has on firm value that is financed by cash flow depends upon the characteristics of the firm making the expenditures. Firms show a strong positive relation between the level of undistributed cash flow and the level of announced expenditure, although large firms depend less heavily on cash flow as compared to the small firms and those firms that have high managerial ownership. Jensen (1986) suggested that those firms which had a large level of free cash flow were likely to squander it on unprofitable investments. As a result undistributed cash flow must play an important role in explaining capital expenditure by these firms. In addition, certain firms are more prone to the agency problems of free cash flow, especially the large firms which, as discussed by Devereux and Schiantarelli (1990), generally have a more diverse ownership structure. Jensen (1993) discussed such firms as the ones that have more costly internal control mechanisms. About small firms, Jalilvand and Harris (1986) commented that they are more vulnerable to suffer from cash flow restraint mainly because they have limited access to external captial markets due to higher transaction costs of public security isssues and the information problems. Therefore, Vogt (1997) believes that small firms tend to have profitable and at the same time unexploited investment opportunities. The available ca sh flow should be the main source of capital expenditure by these firms. Moreover, if cash flow is used by these firms to fund the capital expenditure, such an announcement must show a positive reaction in terms of appreciated stock prices. Jensen (1986) argues that there are agency costs coupled with free cash flow. His study broadens that argument and speculates that shareholders form their valuation decisions on firms reputations regarding free cash flow exploitation. This notion was tested by examining the stock price responses to equity offers, which generally aggravate the cash flow quandary, for firms differentiated by their recent avaricious behavior. The results suggested that shareholders react more positively to equity issue announcements if firms have obtained only assets related to their key business than to other equity issue announcements. On another occasion, Jensen and Meckling (1976) explained the agency problem between managers and shareholders. They unarguably stated that managers are supposed to be the representatives of the shareholders. But they tend to make those decisions that will maximize their own benefits as opposed to the shareholders value. In order to restrict them from doing so, they must either be provided incentives or be monitored. They further argued that in firms where managers have low level of insider ownership, have greater incentives to invest in unprofitable projects that stretch the firms beyond its optimal size and the expected return on new capital expenditure can be negative for such firms. Such actions would obviously be inconsistent with firms value maximization objective. Jensen (1986) suggests that stock prices are tendered downward to imply agency costs coupled with a firms free cash flow. In particular, managers have an enticement to use unfettered funds to benefit themselves instead of the shareholders. John and Nachman (1985) claim that agency costs can be alleviated through reputation building. Particularly, they demonstrate that the agency problem of underinvestment can be determined through reputation. The observed results recommend that managers build reputation through covetous activity whereas the shareholders state their response on pre-acquisition activity. In an ideal world, managers would disburse the entire free cash flow among the shareholders provided; the interests of shareholders and managers complement each other. This would maximize shareholders wealth and allow them to use the available cash for capitalization. Amihud and Lev (1981) however argued that managers have an enticement to minimize their employment risk. Employment ris k aims to explain the insecurity inbuilt in a managers tenure or the term of employment. Managers have an option of increasing the certainty of their tenure by diversifying the real asset portfolio of the firm and they do it by purchasing those assets that are unrelated to the primary line of business of the firm. Managers have an option of financing diversification projects by using the free cash flow that has been held back and not been distributed to shareholders, thus they need not seek funds from the capital markets. Easterbrook (1984) believes that it is easy to watch the managerial behavior of the firms when they seek funds from the well-performing capital markets. Therefore, on one hand it becomes difficult to keep a check on the performance of managers if they use the hoarded cash flow for the purpose while on the other hand, investors are unable to measure free cash flow as they are incapable of scrutinizing the investment opportunity schedule of the firm. Shareholders are expected to take any unencumbered cash request negatively, coming from the management for the purpose of diversifying. Unless they are provided sufficient proof, they will assume the request to be the acquisition of free cash flow. As a result of this ambiguity, stock prices will fall and show the residual loss caused by the probable misuse of free cash flow by management. Further, managers may wish to expand firm size, irrespective of the fact that it increases shareholders wealth or not, based on the assumption that exec utive promotion and compensation are positively related to firm size (Donaldson 1984; Baker 1986; and Baker, Jensen, and Murphy 1988). Cash flow is related to the expected return from new investment as shown by Myers and Majluf (1984). Those firms which have a shortage of cash flow and liquid assets might let go profitable investment expenditure instead of issuing mispriced securities to fund the investment. As a result, these firms might have unexploited investment opportunities that would increase firm value if sufficient cash flow could be generated to finance them. Capital expenditure of high ownership firms must show a dependence on cash flow and positive excess returns must be observed for these firms when they declare new capital expenditure. Morck, Shleifer, and Vishny (1988) described high levels of insider ownership to be associated with high levels of cash-flow-financed capital expenditure because of managerial-establishment issues. Firms with high insider-ownership levels might wish to finance expenditure with cash flow solely to avoid loss of control associated with weakening their ownership position or restrictions imposed by creditors. Lehn and Poulsen (1989) and McLaughlin, Safieddine, and Vasudevan (1996) defined Free Cash Flow to be operating income before depreciation, less interest expense on debt, less income taxes, less preferred and common dividends. Vogt (1997) calculated both cash-flow measures net of interest expense and dividends in order to control for managerial decisions affecting the level of undistributed cash flow. Ignoring these other decision variables might create a bias in the observed relation among cash flow, capital expenditure, and market returns. As an example he referred to a firm with high levels of cash flow that does not manipulate the agency problem. Such a firm will minimize undistributed cash flow by choosing high interest and/or dividend levels. It might pursue profitable investment expenditure and is unlikely to rely heavily on cash flow for financing. This firm must be associated with positive market responses around expenditure announcements. Using a cash-flow figure gross of interest expense and dividends would incorrectly combine positive market returns to firms with high cash flow rather than the correct low level of cash flow that it actually maintains. Vogt (1997) used 421 firms to observe relationship between cash flow and capital expenditure. When these firms announced expenditure increases, the level of announced capital expenditure seemed to be positively and strongly related to the level of cash flow. The strength of this relation increases for firms with profitable earlier investment opportunities, as firm size declines, and as the proportion of insider ownership increases. His further analysis suggested that considerable diversity exists in the capital markets response to capital expenditure financed by cash flow. The positive and statistically significant excess returns found in the sample of firms announcing increases is concentrated in the smallest of the sample firms, in firms with low cash flow relative to capital expenditure, and, to a lesser extent, in firms with high levels of insider stock ownership. Tests explaining the cross-sectional variation in returns reveal that excess returns for medium and small firms in the sample are positively associated with unexpected increases in planned expenditure. These tests also suggest that the capital market responds more favorably to the announced expenditure by small firms when the planned expenditure is more dependent on cash flow. On the other hand, excess returns for the largest firms in the sample are negative, however not statistically significant. Vogt (1997) observed that due to the fact that small firms and high ownership firms are most likely to face the liquidity crunch associated with asymmetric information, they are also the most likely to let go profitable investment opportunities in times of cash flow shortages. As cash flow rises, the set of profitable capital investment projects the firm can carry out also increases. As a result, capital expenditure announcements are met with positive shareholder reactions, particularly when expenditure is dependent on cash flow. Vogt (1997) concluded by observing that the apparent diversity in the markets response to capital expenditure decisions suggests different capital expenditure financing policies for firms that seek to augment shareholder value. The market values of small firms, firms with significant insider ownership, and firms that are generally cash flow confined appear to be improved, on average, by financing capital expenditure with cash flow. These firms might consider policies of saving undistributed cash flow through low payout and leverage policies. Such an action therefore encourages new capital expenditure from internally generated funds. However, all other firms seem to be less dependent on a cash flow retention policy to facilitate capital expenditure. In 1986 while explaining the free cash flow (FCF) hypothesis Jensen (1986), focuses on the agency issue. He argues that managers can increase their wealth at the cost of shareholders by not paying out the funds from a firms free cash flow in the form of dividends or debt financed share repurchases, rather investing them in unprofitable investment prospects. Devereux and Schiantarelli (1990), Strong and Meyer (1990), Oliner and Rudebusch (1992) and Carpenter (1993) later studied the role that agency problems play in the cash flow-investment relationship. Their findings turned out to be conflicting vis-a-vis the importance of free cash flow. Strong and Meyer (1990) found that share prices of firms that undertake investment expenditure with unrestricted cash flow experience negative performance while Oliner and Rudebusch (1992) found little evidence regarding ownership structure affecting the cash flow-investment relationship. The firms dividend decision has connotation for the FCF theory. According to Lang and Litzenberger (1989), dividends are one means of eliminating free cash flow. Vogt (1994) developed a model in this research paper where he showed that firms with the opportunity to exploit free cash flow will follow low dividend payout policies and cash flow will have a strong influence on investment expenditure. On the other hand, if firms are confined from obtaining external funds because of whatever reason, those firms with profitable investment opportunities will maintain low dividend payout policies in order to preserve on cash flow. Therefore his model was found to be consistent with Fazzari, Hubbard, and Petersen (1988); it predicts that low payout firms should be associated a strong cash flow-investment relationship. There has been considerable empirical evidence which indicate that internally generated funds are the primary way of financing firms investment expenditures. Gordon Donaldson (1961), in a detailed study of 25 large firms, concludes as follows: Management strongly favored internal generation as a source of new funds even to the exclusion of external funds except for occasional unavoidable bulges in the need for new funds. A later survey of 176 corporate managers by Pinegar and Wilbricht (1989) discovers that managers prefer cash flow to finance new investment over external sources as 84.3% of sample respondents showed their preference for financing investment with cash flow. Vogt (1994) explains the relationship of cash flow and capital expenditure by analyzing the free cash flow theory of Jensen (1986). As monitoring is assumed costly, and managers can benefit from overinvestment, he predicts that cash flow will significantly influence investment expenditure after controlling for the cost of capital. Investment expenditure of firms not paying dividend will be more influenced by cash flow than investment expenditure of firms that pay dividends. This follows because no-dividend firms are able to retain all cash flow and still not reach the retention constraint. For liquidity-constrained firms, cash flow and changes in the stock of the firms liquid assets should have a significant influence on investment expenditure. Firms with many profitable investment opportunities or large information asymmetries will have investment expenditure that is most sensitive to changes in cash flow, and should conserve on cash flow by paying low or no dividends. Firms indicat ing a liquidity constraint by not paying dividends will have the most significant cash flow/investment relationship. In a study; Fazzari, Hubbard, and Petersen (1988) discovered that cash flow has a strong effect on investment expenditure in firms with low dividend payout policies. They argue that this result is consistent with the belief that because of asymmetric information costs associated with external financing, low payout firms are cash flow confined. One reason these firms keep dividends to a minimum is to preserve on cash flow from which they can fund profitable investment prospects. Later in the year 1993, Fazzari and Petersen (1993) found that the same group of firms paying low dividends, even out fluctuations in cash flow with working capital to maintain desired investment levels. This result is consistent with the findings done by Myers and Majluf (1984) which states that the underinvestment problem arising from asymmetric information can be alleviated by the liquid financial assets. Carpenter (1993) studied the relationships between debt structure, debt financing, and investment expenditure to test the theory of free cash flow, comparing the restructured firms with the non-restructured firms. He observed that firms had increased their investment expenditure that was restructured by substituting large amounts of external equity with debt as compared to non-restructured firms. To him these results seemed to be inconsistent with free cash flow behavior. He believed that cash flow committed to debt maintenance must be correlated with reductions in later investment expenditure. Devereux and Schiantarelli (1990) and Strong and Meyer (1990) conducted studies that support the free cash flow interpretation. Strong and Meyer (1990) studied separately the investment and cash flow of firms in the paper industry into sustaining investment and discretionary investment, and total cash flow and residual cash flow. Discretionary investment and share price performance are negatively and strongly related. Discretionary investment and residual cash flow are found to be positively and strongly correlated. This evidence suggests that residual cash flow is frequently used to finance unprofitable discretionary investment expenditure. Study conducted by Vogt (1994) related to cash flow and capital expenditure predicts that firms not paying dividends should exhibit the strongest relationship, while those paying high dividends should show the weakest relationship between cash flow and investment expenditure. His result suggested that cash flow-financed capital expenditure is slightly inefficient and provides facts in support of the Free Cash Flow hypothesis. Regarding the small firms that paid low dividends over the sample period, Vogt (1994) commented that such firms relied heavily on cash flow and changes in cash to fund capital expenditure. Cash flow-financed growth by small, low-dividend firms is likely to be value- creating, whereas cash flow-financed growth is value destroying for large, low-dividend firms. He concluded by suggesting that managers of cash flow-rich companies may consider increasing dividend payouts as a method of increasing the efficiency of their capital expenditure decisions. A continued hig h-dividend-payout policy may also signal to shareholders that extra and expensive monitoring of capital expenditure decisions is unnecessary. Furthermore, since capital expenditures typically add to the amount of assets under managerial control and create more predictable future cash flows, such expenditures generate the opportunity to exploit free cash flow in following periods. Alti (2003) found out that investment is sensitive to cash flow. The sensitivity is substantially higher for young, small firms with high growth rates and low dividend payout ratios. The uncertainty these firms face about their growth prospects amplifies the investment-cash flow sensitivity in two ways. First, the uncertainty is resolved in time as cash flow realizations provide new information about investment opportunities. This makes investment highly sensitive to cash flow surprises. Second, the uncertainty creates implicit growth options relate to long-term growth potential but not to investment in the near-term. Having a weaker relationship with the value of long-term growth options, cash flow acts as a useful instrument in investment regressions. Gentry (1990) analyzed capital expenditure with total cash flow and found out that the percentage of cash flows going to capital investment ranged from an outflow of 60 percent or more. The giant companies invested a higher percentage of their total outflow in plant and equipment than companies in the other size categories. The small companies invested the lowest percentage of their total outflows in capital. There has been a research done previously that was applied to agricultural firms by Jensen (1993). The results were found to be consistent with previous studies for nonagricultural firms which showed that internal cash flow variables are important in explaining investment. It was found that the addition of internal cash flow variables can improve the explanatory power of agricultural investment models. In terms of elasticity, investment was more responsive to internal cash flow variables. Worthington (1995) has found that cash flow measures industry-level investment equations positively and significantly, even after investment opportunities are proxied by capacity utilization variables. The effect of cash flow is greater in durable goods industries than in non durable goods industries. Moyen (2004) explained the fact that the cash flow sensitivity of firms described by the constrained model is lower than the cash flow sensitivity of firms described by the unconstrained model can be easily explained. In both models, cash flow is highly correlated with investment opportunities. With more favorable opportunities, both constrained and unconstrained firms invest more. Raj Aggarwal (2005) conducted a study in which he concluded that investment levels are significantly positively influenced by levels of internal cash flows. Also, the strength of this relationship generally increases with the degree of financial constraints faced by firms. Overall, these findings seem strong to the nature of the financial system and indicate that most firms operate in financially incomplete and imperfect markets and find external finance to be less attractive than internal finance. Research Methodology Introduction The hypothesis tests the relationship between free cash flow and capital expenditure, concentrating on the Sugar Industry of Pakistan. The aim is to ascertain the strength of the relationship between the variables. In order to do that, linear regression seems to be the best test as it attempts to model the relationship between two variables by fitting a linear equation to observed data. One variable is considered to be an independent variable while the other is considered to be a dependent variable. The objective of multiple linear regression analysis is to use the independent variables whose values are known to forecast the single dependent value selected by the researcher. (Hair, 2006) Data Annual financial statement data for 27 sugar mills of Pakistan listed on KSE is taken to calculate free cash flow and annual capital expenditure for the period 2000 through 2008. Variable 1. Independent variable = Free Cash Flow (FCF) 2. Dependent variable = Net Capital Expenditure Independent variable: The FCF is calculated they way Lehn and Poulsen (1989) and McLaughlin, Safieddine, and Vasudevan (1996) defined it. It is operating income before depreciation, less interest expense on debt, less income taxes, less preferred and common dividends. Free cash flow = Operating income before depreciation – interest on debt – income taxes – preference common stock dividend. Dependent variable: Net capital expenditures are those where funds are used to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as property, industrial buildings or equipment. Change in fixed assets over a year is taken as net capital expenditure by the firm. Net capital expenditure = Current year fixed assets – last year fixed assets. Net capital expenditure = Ln (FA) Ln of fixed assets is taken to control the variability of the data. Sampling criteria Sample companies that are taken for the purpose of research are 27 sugar mills of Pakistan that are listed on Karachi Stock Exchange. Hypothesis Free Cash flow has a significant relationship with capital expenditure. Data analysis Annual financial statement data for 27 sugar mills of Pakistan, listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), was taken to calculate free cash flow and annual capital expenditure over the 2000-08 period. Model Summary R R Square F Sig. 0.302 0.091 23.676 0.000 Predictors = (Constant), FCF Dependent Variable = Ln FA The researcher has used statistical software SPSS 13.0 to process the data and run regression analysis on the variables. The results are interpreted in light of statistical text book by Hair (2006). All FCF and (ln) FA figures are in Million Rupees. R value: It is the sample correlation coefficient between the outcomes and their predicted values, or in the case of simple linear regression, between the outcome and the values being used for prediction. R value of 0.302 means that the strength of the relationship between FCF and capital expenditure is 30.2%. R squared value: the coefficient of determination, R2 is the amount of variance in the dependent variable that can be explained by the regression model. The R square of 0.091 means that 9.1% of the variability in the data is explained by the predictor. Out of the total free cash flow, 9.1% is used for capital expenditure. The F test for the regression model is significant which proves that regression model is best fit. Regression model summary is showing that FCF has a positive impact on net capital expenditure. Coefficients Model Unstandardized Standardized Sig. Coefficients Coefficients B Std. Error Beta (Constant) 3.251 0.107 0.000 FCF 0.004 0.001 0.302 0.000 Dependent Variable: Ln FA Unstandardized Equation: Ln FA = 3.251 + 0.004 FCF Standardized Equation: Ln FA = 0.302 FCF If FCF changes by 1 million, ln of net capital expenditure changes by 0.004, which means Net Capital expenditure increases by 1.004008 million. The regression coefficie

Johnny Tremain :: essays research papers

Imagine being back in the colony of Massachusetts before the Revolutionary war. As you walk down the streets of Boston, you meet a young man named Johnny Tremain. After listening to his story, you think of the different ways you could describe him. You could describe him by his looks, by his personality, and by the talents he portrays. His character is so interesting that it's hard to describe his skilled talents, his complex personality, and his adored physical features. As you remember the tale of his hardships and fate, you know that Johnny Tremain will stand in your mind forever. Standing alone on the wharf next to his magnificent house, you see a thin, light haired, light complected young man. There are many ways you can describe the way Johnny Tremain looks. You can tell by the way he stands, so proud, that he is around 15 years old. You can see that he's strong but he's also frightened. As you move your eyes towards what's behind him you notice that his hand is crippled and was probably burned. Your eyes meet his and they're a piercing blue. You are so struck by his looks you can't wait to go talk to him and find out about his personality traits. Johnny Tremain's personality was very fascinating, and it was most intriguing to read about how he changed from a bossy, impatient boy, into a thoughtful, patient gentleman. Even though he was a skilled worker, he was proud, and full of arrogance. But after his terrible tragedy, his rude character died in the birth and death room, and Johnny was reborn as a more patient and caring person. He still won't take pity from anyone, but on the inside he is probably crying out for help. Although he has no one to talk to, he does have special talents that help keep him going strong. Before Johnny burned his hand working on a sugar basin, he was a skilled silversmith. Imagine burning your right hand and losing many of your talents, such as writing or using an ax. After practicing, he painfully learned to use his left hand to use an ax. He also learned to legibly write, but it used to be better before his accident. Now Johnny diligently works for a newspaper called the Boston Observer. He regularly rides his horse, Goblin, and faithfully delivers the newspapers. Delivering notes for the British officers proved to be a profitable part of his routine. As the day ends, you have enjoyed spending time with Johnny.

The Public Education System :: Educational Learning Essays

The Public Education System Throughout my experience in the public school system, I have heard the line, â€Å"What do I need to know this for anyway?† about 1,057 times. It is not uncommon to hear students complain about the worth of their education. Regardless, there seems to be a unanimous agreement that the youth needs education to succeed in life. What is education anyway and what does schooling accomplish? In his book, â€Å"A Time to Learn† George Wood provides a definition of education as â€Å"making wise citizens and good neighbors who can think deeply and intelligently about issues of self and society, take care for and respect others, take care of their family needs, and contribute to the welfare of others† (Glickman 48). Is school necessary for developing this type of educated citizen? If not, how is it we measure success and how is school important in attaining that? The purpose of the public school system is to assure every child the natural right to an education. Currently, every state in the nation has laws requiring attendance in school (grades K-12). There are also requirements on what subjects the students must learn. Standardized testing measures every student’s ability in these required subjects and assesses all tests equally. These high-stakes tests are used to determine the student’s achievement and their progression to the next level of schooling. Statistics show that students from underprivileged families have lower test scores and are more likely to drop out then white, middle class students. When I think about it, I recall a line from a rap song about a southern black child’s education in the public school system, â€Å"I’m making 300 on my SAT’s and I am equal†. So then, why are these students, who are equal, performing so poorly in our public schools? To reach a conclusion we must examine the curriculum and standards, and their purpose. The movement toward standardization is mainly concerned with the school district’s responsibility to generate students that are proficient in basic reading, writing and math skills. These skills being the most essential for business transactions, political and professional relations and most every aspect of life in today’s society. The students are assessed indiscriminately by tests structured around what the students are expected to know. The problem is that a student’s test score varies day-to-day.

Inspector Goole’s role in the play Essay

The Inspector is a critical part of J. B. Priestly â€Å"An Inspector Calls†. He is a catalyst in a concoction of Edwardian lies and deceit. The Inspector’s role in the play is to make the other characters realise how people are responsible for how they affect the lives of others. Priestly thought that if we are more aware of responsibility, the world should learn from their mistakes and develop into a place where every can be treated fairly. The Inspector states that everyone is, â€Å"†¦ intertwined with our lives†¦ † (p. 56). It is interesting that the Inspector enters after Birling has just finished his speech on society and how he says, â€Å"†¦you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else† (p. 10). The Inspector is the antithesis of Mr. Birling’s Victorian and capitalist view on society: every man for himself. Clearly, throughout the play, the Inspector has talked about the community, togetherness and sharing. The Inspector expresses an individual view of society. From the dialogue, it is evident that the Inspector has a socialist view. A socialist is a person who believes in a political and economic theory or system where the community, usually through the state, owns the means of production, distribution and exchange. An example of a socialist view from the Inspector is, â€Å"†¦ we are members of one body. We are responsible for each other† (p. 56). Priestly uses the Inspector as a soapbox on which he can express his own socialist views. As a result, when these socialist ideas compete with capitalist views, the audience become more conscious about the flaws of society and themselves. For example, through the Inspector’s comments on the way that factory owners exploited the desperation of others, the Inspector challenges the industrialist by saying that â€Å"†¦ after all its better to ask for the earth than to take it† (p.15), Priestly now begins to put across his message about social injustice. Consequently, with his opinions and morals, the Inspector undermines Birling. As when Birling states his capitalist opinion, the audience recognises early in the play that they are very wrong and immoral, â€Å"you’d think†¦ we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense† (p. 10). In addition, when the Inspector leaves and the Birlings find out that he may be a hoax, Birling says that the Inspector was â€Å"probably a Socialist or some sort of crank – he talked like one† (p. 60). This all strengthens Priestly’s political and moral point.

Coke: Coca-cola

Everyone likes to the refreshing, crisp taste of a cold Coca-Cola. There is a lot of history behind Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola started in Atlanta, Georgia in 1886. Coca-Cola was originally intended to be used as a medicine but was bought by businessman As Grids Candler. He turned Coca-Cola from a medicine too drink. He also turned it into a million dollar industry. That is why Coca-Cola is worldwide. Here is some of the first thoughts about Coca-Cola. Some people thought thatCoca-Cola had cocaine in it because it was made to be a medicine. Some people though and still think today that it cures headaches. People think that it tastes refreshing. Those are some of the first thoughts about Coca-Cola. I am going to tell you about some of the Coca-Cola slogans. Coca-Cola's first slogan was â€Å"Drink Coca-Cola†. In 2011 the Coca-Cola slogan was † Life Begins Here. † In 2012-2013 the Coca-Cola slogan has been â€Å"Open Happiness†. These are only some of the Coca-Cola s logans. I am about to tell you how Coca-Cola helps the economy.Over the years Coca-Cola as been good at getting the economy bigger. About 75,000 people work at Coca-Cola factories across the U. S. A. About 97,000 people work at Coca- Cola factories In the world. That is why Coca-Cola helps the economy. They need to have so many people because they sell a lot of drinks. I am about to tell you about some of Coca-Cola's drinks that they sell today and back then. These are some of Coca-Cola's drinks from back then. One of the drinks Is Pepsi Cola that Is from back In the day. The bad thing about It Is that they don't have that drink today.These are some drinks that Coca-Cola makes today. It Is Dry. Pepper, Coke Zero, and Diet Coke. That Is only some of Coca-Cola's drinks they made and make. Factories across the U. S. A. About 97,000 people work at Coca- Cola factories in the back then. These are some of Coca-Cola's drinks from back then. One of the drinks is Pepsi Cola that is from back in the day. The bad thing about it is that they don't have that drink today. These are some drinks that Coca-Cola makes today. It is Dry. Pepper, Coke Zero, and Diet Coke. That is only some of Coca-Cola's drinks they made and