An Introduction to the Interquartile Range

The interquartile range (IQR) is the difference between the first quartile and third quartile. The formula for this is: IQR Q3 - Q1 There are many measurements of the variability of a set of data. Both the range and standard deviation tell us how spread out our data is. The problem with these descriptive statistics is that they are quite sensitive to outliers. A measurement of the spread of a dataset that is more resistant to the presence of outliers is the interquartile range. Definition of Interquartile Range As seen above, the interquartile range is built upon the calculation of other statistics. Before determining the interquartile range, we first need to know the values of the first quartile and third quartile. (Of course, the first and third quartiles depend upon the value of the median). Once we have determined the values of the first and third quartiles, the interquartile range is very easy to calculate. All that we have to do is to subtract the first quartile from the third quartile. This explains the use of the term interquartile range for this statistic. Example To see an example of the calculation of an interquartile range, we will consider the set of data: 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9. The five number summary for this set of data is: Minimum of 2First quartile of 3.5Median of 6Third quartile of 8Maximum of 9 Thus we see that the interquartile range is 8 – 3.5 4.5. The Significance of the Interquartile Range The range gives us a measurement of how spread out the entirety of our data set is. The interquartile range, which tells us how far apart the first and third quartile are, indicates how spread out the middle 50% of our set of data is. Resistance to Outliers The primary advantage of using the interquartile range rather than the range for the measurement of the spread of a data set is that the interquartile range is not sensitive to outliers. To see this, we will look at an example. From the set of data above we have an interquartile range of 3.5, a range of 9 – 2 7 and a standard deviation of 2.34. If we replace the highest value of 9 with an extreme outlier of 100, then the standard deviation becomes 27.37 and the range is 98. Even though we have quite drastic shifts of these values, the first and third quartiles are unaffected and thus the interquartile range does not change. Use of the Interquartile Range Besides being a less sensitive measure of the spread of a data set, the interquartile range has another important use. Due to its resistance to outliers, the interquartile range is useful in identifying when a value is an outlier. The interquartile range rule is what informs us whether we have a mild or strong outlier.  To look for an outlier, we must look below the first quartile or above the third quartile.  How far we should go depends upon the value of the interquartile range.

Preparing an Outline for Research Articles and Thesis for Dummies

Preparing an Outline for Research Articles and Thesis for Dummies The best type of essay starts with the very best sort of topic, so take time to choose something which works for you. The conclusion also needs to be included in the prewriting practice. To put it differently, it should provide a last statement that touches on the key points which you have made in your essay. If your thesis is something which is normally agreed upon or accepted as fact then there's not any reason to attempt to persuade people. An outline will help to specify the way a student will build other critical sections including Literature Review. An absolutely free outline may be used by writers in writing. An excellent outline has become the most crucial step in writing a superb paper. It is an important element in writing a good paper. Rectify all the errors you are able to pinpoint and also attempt to acquire somebody else to read the paper you've written. There are a couple of suggestions on how to compose your abstract but the very best advice is that you look at some journals applicable to your research and attempt to format your abstract in a similar way. There are a number of reasons, but generally speaking, it could be beneficial to make an outline if you want to demonstrate the hierarchical relationship or logical ordering of information. Tell yourself that you have all of the thoughts, suggestions and words you require to compose great articles people will like to read. Facts, Fiction and Preparing an Outline for Research Articles and Thesis A research paper outline, though, will additionally have a hypothesis or thesis as a portion of the introduction. Make sure the topic you pick for your dissertation is one you're comfortable and familiar with. A methodological design has to be included in the discussion in a thesis outline. There are a lot of dissertation guides out there which contain chapters and chapters of information about how to compose an outstan ding dissertation. Next, it has to sum up the entire essay. Choosing a thesis doesn't arrive first. Make sure that your thesis is arguable. Observing the introduction the points required to demonstrate the thesis are provided. Whether you do an easy research or a complicated one for a larger project, a research outline can help you have the best outcomes. An outline is essential for all sorts of research papers. A critical part of any research paper outline is going to be a literature review. Utilizing a definitive outline to prepare a research paper can help you to concentrate on its key elements of the analysis. Writing a research paper is as vital as performing the true research or experiment itself and can seem to be an extremely daunting endeavor. Planning is undoubtedly a necessity, and all the very best research papers examples come from effective planning. Tell yourself which you can write articles. Good research papers are all over the net for one to read. When outlining your methodology, you would like to explain the critical steps you intend to take to collect information. Conducting a research isn't any doubt an elaborate affair and with all these tasks to do, it isn't uncommon to drop consistency if there is absolutely no outline. Outlines ought to be checked to create sure the points that you have covered have a logical flow. A thesis outline was designed to be certain that the plans for the inception of a thesis is put together in such a manner that all of the variables necessary to the range of the study are considered appropriately. Now you have a notion of what you w ould like to write about, the next step ought to be planning everything carefully. In some instances, some regions of the outline aren't written down due to some last minute alterations. To begin, you're going to want a great topic and a strong focus as a way to receive your paper outline rolling. If you take a look at research paper outline examples, you will observe we have several strategies to present the principal body.

The involvement of Northern NGOs with the developing countries Free Essays

In this research paper we look at the involvement of Northern NGOs with the developing countries. They are prime donors of most developing countries programs which are geared towards alleviating the welfare of the masses such as improve health and living condition. Local NGOs have been involved as intermediaries between government and the people. We will write a custom essay sample on The involvement of Northern NGOs with the developing countries or any similar topic only for you Order Now The northern NGOs serve their specific agenda and mandate contrary to what the poor rural urban expect. NORTHERN NGOS Northern NGOs represented international organizations who are donors to developing countries that are are donors such as World Bank and private agencies. Their relation with the south makes it the subject of this research paper. The relationship with governments and nongovernmental organization with them plays a critical role in understanding their mandates and objectives in helping the population in the rural and urban regions. The urban and rural populace has diverse needs ranging from health, unemployment, education, poverty and access to other services. In this respect governments have been unable to provide these services to their community in an effective and wider coverage manner. For instance, in South Africa, 30 % of the population are unemployed and for the 20% of the poorest households, 53% ere unemployed (Adato Haddad 2001, p.1). It is also reported that there is need for job creation in all regions inhabited by the poorest households i.e. urban, metropolitan and rural. Based on these facts the governments of countries in the developing world have focused their programs to alleviate these problems e.g. the welfare of the masses, improve living condition, health and service provision (Li 2005). The programs have achieved different success margins and limitations. Most of government programs are constrained in reaching the people because of bureaucracy, authoritarian rule and high cost of implementation. Since most of the programs are financed by international community (Northern NGOs) and governments. For instance, in Indonesia the World Bank has developed social development programs to help them achieve their mandate and objectives. In order to do these, they have used analysis of the needs of the regions to come up with the plan. Due to constraints in working with the government directly they have supported and strengthened the local NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs) to advance their objectives (Li 2005). The rationale use includes improving transparency in village planning level, conflict resolution and step sponsorship of NGOs. However NGOs have their own limitations such as the leaders use as a vehicle for reformation of social and political life. The World Bank has used neo-liberal system to ensure ‘good governance’ by instituting a competitive process based on administrative and decentralized structures (Li 2005). More so in order for the region to be eligible for support from World Bank it had to proof that it is pro-poor and is supervised by the World Bank team. According to Arya (1999) he explains the role in which NGOs have worked with their government under the funding of donors (government agencies, private agencies and governments). The common objectives for the collaboration include; access to technical resources, gain legitimacy or recognition from the people, obtain appropriate solution and developmental problems, enhance people’s participation and provide   better accountability, transparency and public reform system (Arya   1999). Donors view NGOs as intermediaries or transitory to government links to people and use them to as instruments of improved service delivery and outreach to the government. The donors see their task as completed when NGOs are involved in the project programs with the government. Most private donors do not support or supervise the selection criterion even when there is resistance from the government. However, they can play a key role in establishing mechanism to bring NGOs so that they have a beneficial effect on service delivery, participation and decentralization (Arya 1999). Northern NGOs for the past decade have increased funding to southern NGOs with due to limitation effectiveness of delivery, reforms, cost efficiency, sustainability and participation from the government. DeGabriele (2002), when studying about improvement of community based management projects. He previewed the World Health Organization commitment to provide access to safe and clean water. But from the experiences gathered two challenges emerged; water accessibility could not be achieved with the rate of population growth and the intended improvements to health were not realized within 1980 – 1990 decade. This becomes the redefinition of the concept of community management within water sector. It was realized that water accessibility could only be achieved with participatory role implemented (DeGabriele 2002). AED (1998) elaborates on the participatory approach used to i.e. the participatory learning and Action approach which involves communities to analyze their needs, identify possible solutions and develop, implement and evaluate the plan of action. In contrast NGOs can have negative implication to the poor because they can use them to legitimize their existence, solicit funds and raise their profile for the disadvantage of the poor. Changes in their positive attitude will go way to bring positive results (AED 1998, Kaiser 2000, p. 6). CONCLUSION Northern NGOs play critical role in financing development programs to developing countries. They have been involved directly or indirectly with government depending on the nature and intensity of the resources used and the origin of the donor. Most private agencies finance the local NGOs who are viewed as intermediaries or transitory link between the government and people. The donors have used them to enhance their agenda and mandate to ensure good governance of project- programs they agree with the government. REFERENCE Adato, M.; Haddad, L, 2001, Poverty targets, community-based public works programs: a cross-disciplinary assessment in South Africa, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Available from: http://www.ifpri.org/divs/fcnd/dp/papers/fcndp121.pdf [8 April 2008] AED, 1998, Empowering communities: participatory techniques for community-based programme development, Academy for Educational Development, Washington DC, Available from: http://pcs.aed.org/empowering.htm [8April 2008] Arya, V, 1999, Towards a relationship of significance: lessons from a decade of collaboration between government and NGOs in Rajasthan, India,   Agricultural Research and Extension Network (AgREN), Available from: http://www.odi.org.uk/agren/papers/agrenpaper_97.pdf [8April 2008] DeGabriele, J, 2002, Improving community based management of boreholes† a case study from Malawi Land Tenure Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Available from http://www2.irc.nl/manage/debate/malawi.html [8April 2008] Kaiser, T, 2000, Participatory beneficiary-based approaches in evaluation of humanitarian programmes, Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit (EPAU), UNHCR, Available from : http://www.unhcr.org/research/RESEARCH/3c7527f91.pdf [8April 2008] Li, T, 2005, The government through community; the World Bank in Indonesia, University of Toronto, Available from: http://www.law.nyu.edu/kingsburyb/fall05/globalization/Li_paper.pdf [8April 2008] How to cite The involvement of Northern NGOs with the developing countries, Essay examples

Volatility of Irish stocks

Table of Contents Introduction Rationale For The Study Relationship to previous studies Source of data Proposed methods Conclusion Reference List Introduction With the emergence of globalization, the world stock markets have become interdependent thereby if there is a change in one stock; the ripple effect is felt in other stocks in terms of volatility and returns. In this review we examine how the volatility of Irish stocks has evolved since 2000 to 2009 and the factors that have influenced them.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Volatility of Irish stocks specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In focus are the main factors that influence the volatilities and how correlated the volatilities are in the different industries. In this review, we shall look at the influence of the U.S policies on the American stock market and in return the effect on the Irish stock market (Bredin et al, 2004). There several ways through which the information about expected changes in financial policies are conveyed to the investors. From past studies it has been shown that investors invest in stocks prior to release of policy news which they hope will serve to their advantage. Therefore after the policy information has been past, the investors react accordingly, and this phenomenon is referred to as â€Å"the calm before a storm effect†. Bredin et al. (2005) found evidence of a calm before the storm effect and of an asymmetric response to unexpected US policy changes, in that a higher than expected policy rate rise increases ISEQ volatility by significantly more than a lower than expected rise. Kearney (1998) stated that the Irish stock market is â€Å"highly integrated with the important international stock market in London†. He finds that a predominant cause of volatility in the ISEQ is volatility in the FTSE. He also states that â€Å"Ireland’s membership in the European Community and the European Monetary System ensures that its financial and real business sectors are also closely linked to international developments†. Finally he finds that interest rate volatility is a less significant determinant of volatility in the index than exchange rate volatility. Due to the membership of Ireland to the European Union, the volatility of ISEQ has significantly reduced and also the effect has been the same in other member states. Also, during the survey of the ISEQ 20 index a number of methods were applied for example the CAPM theory that holds, the higher the security returns are equally proportional and that stock investors have equal price expectations, hence the investors who have diversified their stock portfolio have a less unsystematic risk.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nevertheless it is normally occurs the returns in securities and different markets are not directly proportional. Kearney (1998) shall analyzes how the policies are made and by whom and the variables that they seek to change in the financial markets. Rationale For The Study Stock and financial researches conducted recently have shown a tremendous change in the way investors, both foreign and domestic, have changed their pattern of investing in the stocks. Since the global economic down turn, the volatility of the Irish stocks has increased drastically. This has been influenced by the number of economic and non economic variables. Due to increased awareness of the volatility of the stock market by investors, a number of them diversified their stocks options to avoid unsystematic risks that would normally occur in the stock markets. The graph below shows the performance for the past decade: (Davis, The World’s Worst-Performing Stock Market). There many theories used in the explanation of volatility of the Irish stocks. Bomfim (132) advocates for the Capital Asset Pricing Method (CAPM). This theory gives the assumption that asset returns are random variables that are distributed normally hence investors have diversified portfolios that assist them in eliminating risks. Due to the fact that equity returns in the market are not distributed normally, there s usually a standard mean deviation of 3-6 which occurs often. In addition, there are other external factors that influenced the volatility of the Irish stocks, for example the influence of the international policies that had a direct impact in the value and trading of the stocks. The simplified market model is shown as follows , = b +e = +h (1) Here, i t r , is the excess return on asset i at time t, m t r , is the excess return on the market portfolio, i  b is the asset’s beta coefficient,  i,t e is the usual CAPM idiosyncratic residual, and  i,t h is the market-adjusted excess return on asset i computed according to the simplified market model.Advertising We will wri te a custom report sample on Volatility of Irish stocks specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Letting i t w , denote the weight of asset i in the market portfolio, we can compute the weighted average of the variance of returns on the n stocks in the market portfolio.  t i t w Var r Var r w Var w Cov r , 1( ) ( ) (h ) 2 ( ,h ) (2) By substituting for i,t h from (1), noting that m t r , and i,t e are orthogonal, and recalling that the weighted average of the i  b coefficients is equal to 1, the last term on the right collapses to zero, and we are left with the Carrol (2007) variance decomposition. This decomposes the average excess return variance across all assets in the market portfolio (VARt) into two components; the variance of the excess return on the market portfolio (MKTt) and the average firm-level variance (FIRMt). It provides a CAPM-equivalent decomposition of average total risk into market risk and average idiosyncratic risk, with the considerable advantage that it by passes the need to estimate betas for each firm. Carrol (2007) note that rising average idiosyncratic risk, together with unchanged market risk, implies a decrease in the average correlation amongst the portfolio’s assets, but they do not provide a theoretical specification of this relationship. Although it is intuitive that average correlation must decline if the average idiosyncratic risk rises with a constant level of market risk, it is not trivial to predict what patterns in average correlation might emerge when, for example, average firm-level risk and market risk vary in the same direction but at different rates of change. To see the full set of possible configurations of market and idiosyncratic risk, we rewrite the MKT term by converting it to matrix notation. The equation tells us that, at least for an equally weighted market portfolio, we can interpret average correlation as the parameter that, for any given level of averag e total risk, divides the latter into market risk and idiosyncratic risk. By differentiating rt in respect to the ratio of average idiosyncratic variance to average total variance, we obtain  dr  d( FIRM / VAR ) t = -1 Equations show that the variation in average correlation is inversely proportional to the variation in the ratio of average firm-level variance to market variance. The larger the number of stocks included in a portfolio, the more it resembles an equally-weighted portfolio and the better is the approximation provided by the equation.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Average correlation is strongly influenced by the extent to which firms diversify internally. The more the average firm diversifies (the more it resembles the market portfolio), the higher will be the average correlation for each given level of covariance risk in the economy (MKTt). The opposite is true for average firm-level variance. Stock values are usually determined by use of their net present values therefore should a change in policy affect the expected net present value; the effect will be reflected in the value of stock returns in several ways. Through the use of arbitrage, new policy changes will change the market rates of stocks hence affecting the opportunity cost for an investor in continuing to hold such stocks. Therefore it will affect inversely the NPV of future cash flows from the stocks against the discounting factor. In addition change in international policy will affect the productivity of the stock in the short to medium term. The U.S monetary policy changes hav e also contributed to the volatility of the Irish stock through policies that impact the supply of money, non- borrowed money in reserves, the discounting rate and the targeted rate set by the federal reserve. Monetary policies are usually undertaken by the central bank over a given period in time which they find suitable. The policies made usually take into account the time or period of interest and the variable that the central bank wishes to control. Early studies estimated the following model: _Pt = a + b(_Mat − _Met ) + _t (1) Where: _Pt is the percentage change in the stock price; _Mat is the announced change in the money stock; _Met is the expected change in the money stock obtained from survey data; and _t is the error term. With the change in monetary policy regimes towards targeting short term interest rates, more recent studies examine the impact of changes in the policy rate target on asset prices. It still begs the question of how to decompose policy rate changes into (un)anticipated changes. With the advent of federal funds future contracts in the late 1980s researchers have focused on the information contained in the federal funds futures rate to identify expectations of changes in future policy. Changes in monetary policy decision have been including in the mean equation whereby the main focus is restricted to the days when the monetary policy decision was made. This is usually done in order to control other variable that might have occurred during those days. In addition it is also done in order to control other variables that influence the rate of returns of the assets. Real variable that have been included in the equation include the GDP and the unemployment figures in the region while nominal variable have included the rate of inflation, money supply and the interest rate decisions. Any policy announcements are usually made in two ways; there are policy changes that are usually fixed to be announced at a particular time thus one knows when the change takes effect on the calendar Campbell et al (2001), notices that the conditional volatility of the Irish stocks is greatly influenced by the integration of the international stock markets. Particularly, the London and the EC stock markets play a major role in the volatility of the Irish stocks hence whatever influence they face; its effect will be seen on the Irish stocks. In addition, the European stock market ensures that the financial and business policies in the region are implemented by all the members and ISEQ complied with the policies thus is subjected to the same forces as other stock markets in the region. However, there has been a controversy between the influences of the GARCH model on whether it affects the volatility of the ISEQ or not. The GARCH volatility model is used in getting the returns of equity since it is modeled in the belief that returns and volatility are interdependent. The return in equity is given by the following formulae: Rt = ln (St )/St−1 Where; St = closing level security of the day our proxy for the unanticipated change in the German policy rate between 1989 and 1998 is the first day change in the 3-month Euromark futures rate. With the introduction of the euro in January 1999, we proxy surprise changes in the ECB policy rate by the one day change in the 3-month Euribor futures rate.9 For the UK, our proxy for the unexpected change in the policy rate is the one day change in the 3-month sterling futures contract. Finally, we also analyse the impact of Irish interest rate changes on the ISEQ. Given our methodology, an obvious problem is the lack of a futures market for Ireland stock market. We attempt to circumvent this problem by defining the unexpected change in monetary policy as the one day change in the 1-month Dublin interbank offer rate (DIBOR).11 The DIBOR was closely related to the Short-term Lending Facility (STF), the rate at which the Central bank uses. Early studies estimated the following model: _Pt = a + b(_Mat − _Met ) + _t (1) Where _Pt is the percentage change in the stock price; _Mat is the announced change in the money stock; _Met is the expected change in the money stock obtained from survey data; and _t is the error term. With the change in monetary policy regimes towards targeting short term interest rates, more recent studies examine the impact of changes in the policy rate target on asset prices. It still begs the question of how to decompose policy rate changes into (un)anticipated changes. With the advent of federal funds future contracts in the late 1980s researchers have focused on the information contained in the federal funds futures rate to identify expectations of changes in future policy. When determining the volatility persistence of the Irish stocks, one looks at three key issues, mean reversion, volatility clustering and persistence, and the volatility half life. These three factors determine how long the volatility effect on a stock will last. There are numerous external factors that are considered in determining the volatility of Irish stocks. For the Irish stock market in the last decade, the stability of inflation and output has been greatly influenced by the significance of the monetary policy. The monetary policy affects the stock prices in various ways. First, alterations in the monetary policy significantly influence the output in the short and medium-term, and also the changes affect future cash flows by the alterations in markets. Secondly, through arbitrage, the change in the monetary policy rate also affects other market returns, thus determining the opportunity cost of investing in such stocks. Bredin et al (2004) studied the effect of changes in monetary policy on treasury stocks and discovered that policy rate changes increase the treasury rates especially in the short term. Bredin et al (2004) says the introduction of a common European currency and the recent tendency of stock prices has shown the co rrelation between the monetary policy and security prices. The decomposition of the Irish policy rate changes into (un) anticipated parts also significantly affects the volatility of the market. However, with the emerging relevance of interest rates in future markets, investors can derive market expectations of policy variables. Also, the markets are driven by the expectations theory of the term structure of interest rates. Coval (2001) observes that changes in United States policy rate negatively influenced the volatility of the Irish stock market in the past decade. For the US, unexpected alterations in the federal funds target rate had an adverse effect on the ISEQ returns. Domestically controlled interest rates also have an influence on the Irish stock market. Kearney (1998) studies conditional volatility of shares and concludes that the asymmetric component there is a significant correlation between conditional volatilities and correlation estimates, and the dynamics of firm-le vel correlations. Relationship to previous studies A great deal of current literature regarding individual stock volatilities has been based on the findings of the 2001 paper by Xu, Malkiel, Campbell and Lettau. It had been previously assumed that unsystematic risk accounted for little in explaining the volatility of stock returnsMany studies done on the Irish stock market have been based on the findings conducted in 2008 by Carrol Collins. It had been assumed that unsystematic risk had no or less influence in the volatility of stocks but that investors had portfolios that were fully diversified and thus less prone to risks. In order to explain this issue, Campbell suggested that on industry level, volatility of the stocks was of interest to the investors since they had large stock holdings which may not have been diversified as suggested by other financial theories. Studies by Campbell have put forth a number of ideas to explain the various causes of volatilities for example, leve rage, financial innovation and changes in executive compensation. He also concluded that the U.S stocks were not as volatile as believed. Kearney et al (1998) studied the volatility of stocks found in the European market. They suggested that the European stocks trend moved in the same direction as the U.S stocks in such a way that majority of the stocks were diversified thus a positive idiosyncratic volatility. Bredin et al. (2004) studies showed a â€Å"calm before a storm† effect which he suggested that it resulted from unexpected US monetary and financial policy. Therefore if a higher rate policy is expected, the ISEQ volatility increases by a significant ratio. Source of data The data collected for this review was from the ISEQ 20. The data was analyzed from 2000- 2009 which gives a ten year period to effectively determine the factors influencing the volatility and correlation of the Irish stocks. The information gathered also looked into the international factors influen cing the volatility of the stocks. This information can be found in the following links: https://www.ise.ie/ http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1018725.shtml Proposed methods For the purpose of this study, I looked into the return on equity methods as put forth by Flannery Protopapakis (2002) where he divided his study into three issues, market level and idiosyncratic firm level. Campbell approach the matter by showing that returns will be decomposed without requiring the estimation of covariance’s or betas for industries or business. Campbell et al (279) defines this as follows: Rjit = excess returns of jth stock, in ith industry, at time t; Rit = ∑jei wjit Rjit = excess returns of ith industry at time t; Rmt= ∑iwit Rit = market excess returns at the time t. To measure the industries volatility, one can use CAPM which is defined as: Rit =ÃŽ ²im Rmt + eit. However in this case the variable, (eit ) that is estimated using the first equation, requires that one has the knowledge of ÃŽ ²im taking into assumption that the CAPM theory is the equilibrium model. Alternatively, one can use; Rit = Rmt + eit. However, Rmt and eit are not orthologonal, hence we shall use, Var(Rit = Var(Rmt ) + Var (eit ) +2Cov (Rmt, eit) Since the equation above contains the industries beta, the Var(Rit) will contain the covariance between the Rmt and eit. However it does not require for one to be aware of the covariance between Rmt and eit to estimate the weighted average industry risk. Secondly, Carrol Collins (325) looked into the different volatility models applicable to the ISEQ. Thus I plan to use econometrics tests in the application of data before making a final decision on the specific model and procedure to choose. Kuttners (2001) approached the issue with the following regression analysis of the ISEQ; _ISEQt = _0 + _1_FFet + _2_FFut + _t Where: _ISEQt = is the percentage change in the ISEQ index between t and t+1; _FFut is the first change in t he federal funds futures rate on day t of a change in the federal funds target rate; _FFet is the expected change in the federal funds target at date t. Thus the expected rate in change in the federal funds will be calculated as the difference between the federal fund rate target and the rate of change in the expected in the future. In addition, we shall look into the (un)expected changes occurring in the European stock markets. Since there are no financial instruments that keep check on the trends of the policies rates, we can use interest rates future contracts since they are influenced by the current market expectations. In addition the impact of the Irish domestic interest rates plays a great influence in the changes in the ISEQ. Due to lack of future markets in Ireland, we shall use the Dublin interbank offer rate which is used by the central bank in lending to banks and in turn the rate is reflected in the Dublin wholesale market (Gurkaynak Sack, 2002). Conclusion Coval (2001 ) studies put +forth have shown that the ISEQ, volatility has declined over the time. In particular there was a decline in volatility before announcements in change financial markets. Hence the Irish stocks appear to be dependent on the monetary policies made by the U.S. Bredin et al. (2005) shows that there is a direct influence of international and domestic interest rates whish directly influence the volatility of the Irish stocks Our purpose in this paper has been to examine the trends in market and firm level volatility in European equity markets. Using over 2,300 daily observations from 2000 to 2008 on 6 European market indices and 42 stocks from the Eurostoxx50 index, we analysed the time series behaviour of market risk, idiosyncratic risk, and aggregate correlations between the indices and between the individual stocks. In addition to extending the Davis (2008) methodology to provide a full description of the relation between changes in market risk, aggregate idiosyncratic ri sk and return correlations, we also applied the asymmetric version of the DCC-MVGARCH model of Bredin (2004) and Kearney (1998) to capture the time series behaviour of the conditional correlations between the market indexes and between the individual stocks in the Eurostoxx50 index. In addition to the market risk in the U.S. and in Europe, we find that both market risk and aggregate idiosyncratic risk appreciate in our sample, and that the deterministic time drift at work in the latter is stronger than in the former. The rise in idiosyncratic risk implies that it takes more stocks to achieve a given level of diversification, and is consistent with the results reported by Davis (2008) for United States markets. We also find that aggregate firm-level return correlations are trended weakly downwards in the euro-zone. Part of this finding might be explained by the fact that our sample includes large stocks that have a significant degree of diversification built into the cash flows assoc iated with their businesses. In contrast to this, however, the average correlation amongst the 5 euro-zone stock market indices and the Eurostoxx50 index has risen significantly over our sample period. This, we argue, is not surprising in view of the ongoing process of economic and financial integration in the euro-zone area. In applying the DCC-MVGARCH model to further examine the behaviour of euro-zone correlations, we find that, consistent with Davis (2008) and Bom (2003), all our conditional correlation time series estimates display significant degrees of persistence. At the market index level, we can reject the restriction that the parameters of the correlation process sum to unity, but there is strong evidence of a structural break in the mean shortly before the introduction of the Euro. This explains both the strong persistence of the correlation time series and its significant rise over the sample period. We also find that the conditional correlation process is strongly asym metrical with a negative but very small deterministic time trend. The asymmetry of the stock returns correlation process also explains why the shiftiness of market index returns, as reported in Table 2, is always negative whereas stock returns have either negative or positive shift. Our finding that correlations amongst euro zone stock returns display a much weaker tendency to decrease than reported by Davis (2008) suggests the existence of different correlation dynamics in the euro-zone area and in the United States, at least over the portion of our sample period that overlaps (from 2000 to 2009). A number of explanations of this disparity can be tentatively advanced. Commensurate with a corporate culture in Europe that emphasis external capital markets somewhat less than in the United States, companies in Europe have probably pursued less diversification strategies than in the United States. Another possible explanation is that the tendency for companies to access the equity marke t at earlier stages in their life cycle is less pronounced in Europe than in the United States. Moreover, the level of average correlation in our sample, especially in the case of the DCC-MVGARCH estimates, is generally higher than in the Davis (2008). A higher ratio of market to total variance and a lower ratio of firm-level to total variance, this suggests that the portion of total risk represented by idiosyncratic risk in euro-zone equity markets might be smaller than in the United States, implying a lower benefit to diversification in the European markets. In other words, the opportunity-cost of not diversifying is relatively lower. Part of this difference might be explained by the fact that our sample comprises large stocks that have a significant degree of built-in diversification. Nevertheless, our results suggest that fund managers should think through the full ramifications of seeking more cost-effective diversification by adopting the passive strategy of investing in marke t indexes rather than a selection of stocks from each country. Reference List Bom, M.,(2003). Preannouncements news and volatility. Journal of banking and finance, Vol 27, 133-151. Bomfim, A.(2001). Making News: Financial Markets Effects of Federal Reserve Disclosure Practices, Manuscript. Federal Reserve Board, Vol 21. 121-132. Bredin, D. Caroline G., Gerard, O. (2004). The influence of domestic and international interest rates on the ISEQ. The Economic and Social Review, Vol. 34, 249–265. Bredin, D., Caroline G., Gerard, O. (2005). US monetary policy announcements and Irish stock market volatility. Applied Financial Economics, Vol. 15, 1243–1250. Campbell, J. (2001). Have Individual Stocks Become More Volatile? An Empirical Exploration of Idiosyncratic Risk. Journal of Finance Vol 56, 1-43. Carrol, T., Collins, J. (2007). Volatility models and the ISEQ index. Journal of financial report, Vol 23, 12-24. Coval,M. (2001).The Geography of Investment: Informed Trading a nd Asset Prices. Journal of Political Economy,Vol 109, 811-841. Davis, I. (2008). The World’s Worst-Performing Stock Market. The Growth Stock Wire, 8. Web. Flannery, M., Protopapakis, A. (2002). Macroeconomic Factors do Influence Aggregate Stock Returns. Review of Financial Studies, Vol 15, 751-782. Gurkaynak, R., Sack B.(2002). Market based measures of monetary policy expectations. Finance and economics Discussion series working paper, Vol 40, 658-721. Kearney, C. (1998). The causes of volatility in a small, internationally integrated stock market: Ireland, July 1975 – June 1994. The Journal of Financial Research, Vol. XXI, 85-104. This report on Volatility of Irish stocks was written and submitted by user Casey Carter to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

spanking effect essays

spanking effect essays Children are as same as plants. If you take good care of plants than plants will grow healthy and give you more flowers. This is also same for children. If you treat them well they became good person in future. Childhood is the foundation of human. Person who was very happy in his childhood he will remain happy in his all life. In young age children need extra attention. Parents play important role in young age of their children. Children behavior depends on parent behavior. Instead of spanking their children they just convinced them what is correct and what is wrong by telling them meaning full stories. I strongly believe that spanking the children is very dangerous because it effect on childrens mental health, on childrens education. Children also become violent by spanking . Spanking has a dangerous effect on children mind. If parent beat their children at very young age than children mind will not develop properly. In young age the effect of spanking remain in children mind for forever. According to Ashley Montagu, The effect remains with the victim forever and becomes an unforgiving part of his or her personality. When I was in primary school I had one friend. His parent always beat him on small problems. Because of this he frustrated and do not able to any thing accurately. I saw him always in sad mood. And eventually he got depression of that that he is not good in any things because thats what his parent told him everyday. After some time he became mad and he did suicide. I believe that this was very heartbreaking. Parent should think on negative side of spanking. Spanking is also not good for childrens education. Spanking create fear on children mind. And this fear cause harmful effect on childrens education. Dr. Daniel Whiteside has mention in article that corporal punishment of children actually interferes with the process of learning. Because of spanking ...

The Complete List of SAT Subject Tests

The Complete List of SAT Subject Tests SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The SAT Subject Tests are a chance for you to show where you have specialized knowledge. With these tests, you can indicate to colleges which subjects interest you and which you've taken the time to get to know well. With that being said, how can you decide which SAT Subject Test to take? First, let's take a look at all the SAT Subject Tests from which you can choose. List of SAT Subject Tests In total, there are21 SAT Subject Tests (we're counting Biology E and Biology M as two separate tests). Nine of these tests cover four core subject areas- English literature, history, math, and science: Literature US History World History Math Level 1 Math Level 2 Biology - Ecological Biology - Molecular Chemistry Physics The other12 Subject Tests cover nine different languages. Half of these tests have a listening component: French French with Listening German German with Listening Spanish Spanish with Listening Modern Hebrew Italian Latin Chinese with Listening Japanese with Listening Korean with Listening Simply put,there are 21 different variations of tests to choose from. All SAT Subject tests cover 13 subject areas- four core courses and nine languages. Now, let's take a look at how many students take each SAT Subject Test, from most to least. We'll also show you the average scores these students achieve on the tests: SAT Subject Test Average Score # of Test Takers (2016-18) Math Level 2 693 427,765 Chemistry 666 208,588 US History 640 178,258 Physics 667 169,950 Math Level 1 605 162,998 Literature 607 150,361 Molecular Biology 650 116,622 Ecological Biology 618 91,866 Spanish 647 51,808 World History 622 43,660 French 628 18,725 Chinese with Listening 760 13,173 Latin 626 7,088 Spanish with Listening 662 6,937 Korean with Listening 761 5,364 French with Listening 668 3,819 Japanese with Listening 703 3,436 German 620 1,875 Italian 666 1,396 German with Listening 618 1,297 Modern Hebrew 612 980 Source: SAT Subject Tests Percentile Ranks As you can see, the tests based on core courses- i.e., literature, math, history, and science- tend to attract the largest number of students. When it comes to tests that have listening and non-listening options, more students typically opt for the non-Listening option. You'll also notice a large variation in the average scores of SAT Subject Tests. A higher mean score does not necessarily mean that the test is easier; instead,it likely means that students who opt for that test know that subject really, really well. Check out our analysis of which SAT Subject Tests are the easiest based on their average scores and other factors. Now that you know what options you have, how can you decide which Subject Test to take? How to Decide Which SAT Subject Tests to Take In order to decide which Subject Tests to take, you'll need to think about a variety of factors, from what kinds of tests colleges want to what subjects you're especially skilled at. We introduce three important questions to ask yourself before you commit to a particular Subject Test. #1: What Do the Colleges You're Applying to Want? First off, you need to know the testing requirements of the colleges you're applying to.How many Subject Tests does each of your schools want you to take? Is one a technology school that'll take a close look at your knowledge in math and science? Or is one a liberal arts college that wants you to demonstrate a range of abilities by taking one test in literature and another in math? Some colleges have adoptedtest-optional or test-flexible policies,which means you might be able to submit scores from Subject Tests in place of scores from the general SAT or ACT. Check out our article for the full list of colleges with these policies. These approaches can be really helpful for you to know as they let you shape your application in a way that's best for you. Another factor to consider is placement in college classes. Some colleges might prefer listening language tests to non-listening language tests, for example, because they demonstrate that extra dimension of fluency. If you're a native speaker, the listening language test will likely be pretty easy for you to achieve a great score on. If you're not a native speaker, however, you want to make sure that your language skills have reached a very high level before taking a language Subject Test. College requirements and expectations play the biggest role in which SAT Subject Tests you decide to take. But within those requirements, you might still have several options. Now you have to consider where you can best demonstrate your subject mastery. #2: Which Subjects Do You Know Best? The SAT Subject Tests test your knowledge of a particular subject rather than your reasoning skills. In this way, they're closely aligned with your high school classes and the finals or AP exams you take to demonstrate your content and conceptual knowledge. Since people often devote more time to learning about things that actually interest them, the SAT Subject Tests essentially tell a story about you- what you're interested in and have dedicated time to understanding. For instance, ifyou love reading and analyzing books, you should probably take the Literature test. Not only will you be more likely to get a high score on it, but you'll also be indicating your personal interests to admissions officers. As you can see, the SAT Subject Tests offer one more way you can individualize your college applications and tell a story about your personality and identity. By the way, did you know you have six chances a year to take a Subject Test?In other words, you don't have to wait until your junior year to take one. You might be ready to take the Biology or Chemistry tests, for example, at the end of your freshman or sophomore year. The two Math tests, on the other hand, typically require several years of high school-level math. Despite the many opportunities you have to take an SAT Subject Test, generally speaking,the best time to take one isnear the end of the school year,when you've been studying all the relevant material and the content is still fresh in your mind. #3: Which Format Is Best for You? The third and final factor has to do with the format of the Subject Test. As we've touched on above, some tests have language components while others don't, and others- such as the Biology tests- have two different versions to choose from. Language Tests As mentioned previously, the French, Spanish, and German language tests offer listening and non-listening options. If you have strong listening skills, the listening versions of the tests will be a great way to demonstrate fluency. They might also place you in a higher level once you get to college. (Check with the individual college on this policy as some have their own placement tests.) If you don't feel confident in your listening skills, on the other hand, your best bet would be to take the non-listening option or another SAT Subject Test altogether. The language tests tend to be difficult to score highly on if your language skills are limited to a classroom environment. Biology Are you intrigued by populations and energy flow within systems? Or do you prefer to know how cells work and talk about the ins and outs of photosynthesis? There are two options for the Biology Subject Test: Ecological Biology and Molecular Biology. While both tests share a core 60 questions, each also has an additional 20 questions with either an ecological or molecular focus. You can further explore the differences between these two tests and try practice questions here. Math If you're taking a math Subject Test, you have to decide between Math Level 1 and Math Level 2. For Level 1, you'll need to have taken at least two years of algebra and one year of geometry. By contrast, for Level 2, you should have taken these plus some trigonometry and pre-calculus. Both tests require you to use a graphing calculator, but Level 2 requires more complex use of the calculator. You can learn more about the Math Level 1and Math Level 2tests by visiting the College Board website. As is the case with the listening language tests, Math Level 2 has a higher mean score and lower standard deviation, meaning most students who take it score near the relatively high mean score of 693. Therefore, if you're not super confident in your math skills, it'll likely be harder to score in a high percentile. And don't be alarmed if you score an 800 on SAT Math 2 and see you're only in the top 79th percentile- getting a perfect score matters more than what percentile it is! Conclusion: Finding the Best SAT Subject Tests for You Ultimately, you're the expert on your own learning. You know what captivates you or makes you fall asleep. You also know whether you learn best by seeing, listening, doing, or combining some of these methods. You've probably already been drawn to and chosen the high school classes that'll determine which exams on this list of SAT Subject Tests you should take. You know yourself better than anyone else, so as long as you research the Subject Tests and have a strong sense of what'll be on them- and know what your colleges' requirements are!- you will make the right decision about SAT Subject Tests. What's Next? Another important consideration about SAT Subject Tests is when to take them- especially when you have to schedule them around the regular SAT/ACT and all your other activities. Check out our article on thebest dates to take the SAT Subject Tests. Are you also studying for the SAT or ACT?Read all about when you should start preparing and how you can design a balanced SAT/ACT schedule. Want that coveted 1600 SAT score or 36 ACT score? Read our famous guides to scoring a perfect SAT score and a perfect ACT scoreto get started! Need a little extra help prepping for your Subject Tests? We have the industry's leading SAT Subject Test prep programs (for all non-language Subject Tests). Built by Harvard grads and SAT Subject Test full or 99th %ile scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Learn more about our Subject Test products below:

Motivational Methods Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Motivational Methods Paper - Essay Example Process theories are equity and objective-setting methods that provide guidance and insight on how employees make decisions to work hard or not, depending on their personal preferences. An administrator should understand that workers should feel safe in their working environments, particularly when modifications like downsizing are required (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). In such a situation, most workers tend to quit their jobs or put less effort when performing their duties. An administrator is obligated to remove this alleged negative imbalance. For motivational purposes, workers should be guided to have a relaxed mind and understand that the downsizing process will affect every individual. Visible rewards will be provided to boost the morale of employees. The approach will improve the quality of their work. According to expectancy theory, the drive to work is based on the association between expectation and valance. Managers should understand that employees are motivated by accomplishing set objectives and retaining visible rewards to boost their valances (Lombardi & Schermerhorn, 2007). Consequently, it is necessary to create a relationship between efforts, performance, and results that workers value. Administrators can also employ stakeholder mapping when downsizing their departments. It involves the identification of those responsible for bringing change. Every worker should be informed about the external contributors to this modification (Zelman, McCue & Glick, 2009). For instance, a registration department can have two financial analysts. One may be dealing with in-patients and the other outpatients. However, it would be appropriate for a manager reduce the number of financial analysts to one since they perform similar tasks. A severance pay and other benefits should be offered to the employee affected by downsizing. Process theories, expectancy theory and stakeholder mapping are fundamental theories that managers