Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Research Paper - Essay Example els of those gases, by emitting carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels such coal, oil, and natural gas; methane and nitrous oxide produced by agricultural activities and changes in the use land use; and by some industrial gases that do not occur naturally but are long lived in the atmosphere. Emissions of poisonous gases from vehicles are also constantly polluting the air. In fact, a large proportion of harmful gases in the atmosphere are being emitted from the vehicles. With the development of civilization, the rate of transportation has also increased. Today, most of the vehicles are run by fossil fuels, like petrol, diesel, coal etc. the burning of these fuels emit hazardous gases in the atmosphere and enhances the risk of global warming. In order to protect the Universes from the curse of global warming, the immediate need is to reduce the emission of those gases that are responsible for global warming. In order to reduce emission level, the prime requirement is to discover alternative sources of energy other than fossil fuel. The vehicles, therefore also need to be run by the energy whose production does not need petrol, diesel or coal. Scientists are experimenting several alternatives to the traditional source of energy for the vehicles. Fuel cell cars are being treated by many scientists and car making company as the greener versions of the modern day cars. It is being increasingly expected that these fuel cars will be able to reduce pollution level and offer great fight against global warming. But the issue of concern is how far these expectations will be materialized in reality. A number of questions relating to fuel cell cars will be addressed in this paper including the questions like what the concept of fuel cell cars is all about? What are its advantages and dis-advantages? And will it be able to provide a strong fight against global warming? All these questions will be addressed in the following sections of this paper. Fuel cell car is a

Strategic Information Systems Analysis

Strategic Information Systems Analysis Information systems that are developed in response to the corporate plan are called Strategic Systems. The main goal is to give the organisation a competitive lead. Strategic Systems can provide products or services that are less expensive, varied and focused on particular market segments or pioneering. Business strategies are implemented by strategic information systems as they have the systems in which resources are applied to information services and strategic business opportunities with an intention of companys computer system to perform well. Strategic information systems are always systems that have evolved in response to the corporate initiative. In other cases, the idea came from business people and Operational Information Services supplied the technological potential to realize profitable results. Most systems seemed to support activities such as business. They mechanize the operations of greater efficiency, control and efficiency, but they are not in themselves to increase business profitability. They are easy to use, more than enough reliable information to management in order to keep the business running smoothly, and they are used in the analysis plan for new directions. Strategic Information Systems, on the other hand, is an integral and necessary part of business, and directly affect the market share, profits and all other aspects of the Market Square to profitability. They can even bring in new products, new markets, new ways of doing business. They directly affect the organizations competitive stance, which gives him an advantage against competitors. ISSUES In 1980, the number of frameworks have appeared analyzing information systems from a strategic perspective. General problems in a dozen of their strategic information systems frameworks (frameworks SIS), has been described, including the following. Most of the frameworks of the SIS is American (and thus may be culturally related).Since there are a large number of frameworks available, each is at the best of a relative benchmark. Also, because of the variety it can be costly to find a suitable framework, and even more expensive one to find inappropriate. SIS frameworks are usually post-hoc requests for global strategic framework and so do not contain any special features of the computer world, where it was not clear if the frameworks were developed. It has been argued that,the SIS frameworks are externally imposed, meanings and restrain creativity, focus away from the bright ideas and are generated internally, creates the conditions for a power struggle over its meaning, and move the focus of control of the SIS from the outside. Finally, even the simplest framework can be understood in more ways than one, creating the possibility to the hidden divisions. SONY CORPORATION Sony Corporation announced the creation of Corporate IS Solutions (ISS), by April 1, 1998. The new organization will prepare for Sony in the emerging digital age by strengthening the management information system. Sony Corporation has a number of corporate structural changes in recent years. Sony divisional company structure was first introduced in 1994, and was further strengthened in 1996. Sony has also reorganized its board of directors and corporate executive officer positions created in 1997. In response to changes in business environment due to digitization and the growth of a networked society, the Sony Group has diversified its business to digital satellite broadcasting, electronics, entertainment, insurance and finance to take. Sony hopes to use the ISS for further information systems capabilities to enhance the speed and flexibility of management decisions to improve. The purpose of the ISS will be to increase the efficiency of the management of Sonys information systems (MIS) to improve the infrastructure and the role of MIS in the strategic planning and business promotion to increase. ISS proposes an advisory committee will consist of people from outside consultants and IS representatives of the worldwide operations of Sony. The Advisory Committee will counsel the president on technology issues for the strategic planning of information systems from Sony. In addition, ISS representatives are located in each of the ten divisions of corporate companies to implement projects that contribute in the firm. Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications and information technology for the consumer and professional markets. Its music, pictures and computer entertainment operations make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Business Strategy The companys competitive strategy can be featured as a hybrid strategy where the low cost(cost leadership), invested in a low price with a differentiation aggregated on the basis of quality, reliability, flexibility, innovation and create sustainable value for all key stakeholders. The companys current business strategy can be featured as a sales strategy that the companys acquisition and subsequent integration of these followed in MNE SBU structures. The turnaround strategy is not driven by poor financial performance but by the desire of the new shareholders to increase productivity and change organisational culture and structure, the required measures to claim dependable competitive advantage at a low cost, lean and entrepreneurial enterprise. IS Strategy From a strategic perspective, the problem is the extent to which improvements in information processing power can help improve the way the knowledge is created and shared both in and around the organisation. Competitive pressures have resulted in the maintaining high quality the strategic IS is developed centrally so the approach to corporate strategic planning information can be regarded as an incremental. Overall, the strategy aimed at integrating existing IS as external integration with broader chain partners in order to support both cost leadership and differentiation strategy. STRATEGIC INFORMATION AND PLANNING METHODOLOGIES AT SONY The role of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Strategic information systems planning are a big change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on the needs of users based on business strategy. Also, strategic information systems planning changes planned features in major ways. Thus, the time horizon for planning changes from one year to three years or more and development driven by current and future business needs rather than incremental needs of the user. Increasing the time horizon is a factor that results in poor response from the top management to the strategic information systems planning process is difficult to keep their attention for a long period. Other questions related to strategic information systems planning on the scope of the planning study, the focus of the planning exercise corporate organization against strategic business unit, the number of studies and their sequence, c hoosing a strategic information planning systems or develop a methodology if one is not suitable, the target of planning and deliverables. Because of the complexity of strategic information systems planning process and the uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to address. Vitale et al. (1986) classify SISP methodologies into two categories: impact and alignment. Impact methodologies help create and justify new uses of IT, while the methods in the adaptation category placing IS objectives with organizational goals. Business systems planning: This method, developed by SONY, which combines top-down bottom-up implementation planning. This methodology focuses on business processes, which in turn is derived from the organizations business mission, objectives and tasks. Business process analysis of the data needs and then determine the data classes. Similar data for the classes are combined to develop databases. BSP final plan describes the general architecture of information systems, as well as a timetable for the installation of individual systems. Following are the strength and weaknesses of BSP Strengths Because BSP combines a top-down business analysis approach with a bottom-up strategy for implementation, it represents an integrated approach. In it stop-down strategy, BSP is similar to CSF method in that it develops a general understanding of the business plans and supporting IS needs through joint discussions. SONY the supplier of this method has the advantage of better known to top management than other methods. Weaknesses: BSP requires a clear commitment of senior management and their great commitment. requires a high degree of IT experience within the BSP schedule team There is a problem of the gap between top down and bottom-up planning implementation. Does not have a software design methodology. The main weakness of BSP is the considerable time and effort required for the successful implementation. Strategic systems planning Also known as PROplanner and developed by Robert Holland, this method is similar toBSP. A business functional model is defined by analyzing major functional areas of acompany. Data architecture is derived from the business function model by combining information requirements in the generic data entities and subject databases. New systems and their implementation schedules are derived from this architecture. This architecture is then used to new systems and the implementation schedule to be identified. Although the steps in the SSP process are similar to those in the BSP, a major difference between SSP and SSPs BSP is automated processing of the data collected during the SISP process Information Engineering This method was developed by James Martin (1982) and provides techniques for building enterprise, data, and process models. These models combine a comprehensive knowledge base that is used to create and maintain information systems to form. Basic concept of this technique is the use of structured techniques in all tasks related to planning, analysis, design and construction of enterprise wide information systems. Such structured techniques are expected to result in well integrated information systems. IE is based on a pyramid for an information systems company. The pyramid has three sides by the organisation to display the activities the organisation performs using the data and the technology used in the implementation of information systems. Value chain analysis The concept of the value chain is examined at length by Michael Porter (1984).According to him every company is a collection of activities performed to design, produce, market, deliver and support its product. All these activities can be represented using a value. Porter goes on to explain that information technology is one of the major activities supporting the value chain.Information technology system is a particular role in the value, since every value activity creates and, uses information. .. The recent, rapid technological changes in information systems are having a major impact on competition and competitive advantage due to the decisive role of information in the value chain. Change in the way office functions can be executed one of the main types of technological trends that today many companies, but few devote substantial resources to it. Thus, value chain analysis: (A) Is a form of economic activity, an analysis firm in its entirety falls apart. Information derived from this analysis. (B) Helps to develop information systems that the total profits of an enterprise to increase. (C) Helps to identify the potential for mutual business benefits of the constituent companies in the same or related industries, available from information exchange. (D) Focuses on value added activities and is independent of the organizational structure. Strengths: The main strength of value chain analysis is that it concentrates on direct value adding activities of an enterprise and therefore places information right in the realm of value rather than cost cutting. Weaknesses: Although a very useful and intuitively appealing, value chain analysis suffers from several weaknesses, namely Only provides a higher level information model for a firm and not the address to the design and implementation issues. Because of its focus on internal operations instead of data, not to define a data structure for the company. The basic concept of a value chain is difficult to apply to non-industrial organizations where the product is not tangible and there is no obvious commodity. Does not provide automated support for performing analysis. Value chain analysis, therefore, must be used in combination with some other method that addresses the development and implementation issues and define a data structure. Critical success factors Critical success factors analysis can be considered both an impact as well as adjustment methodology. Critical Success Factors (CSF) in the context of SISP are used to interpret more clearly the objectives, tactics and operations in terms of key information needs of an organization and its managers and strengths and weaknesses of the existing systems of the organization. Rockart (1979) defines critical success factors as a companys limited number of areas where the results, if satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization. CSFs exist on a number of levels. They represent the few key areas where things have to go for business to flourish. Consequently, critical success factors are areas of activity that should receive constant and careful attention from management. The CSF approach originally developed as a means of understanding the information needs of CEOs. The approach is then applied to the overall business and has expanded into a broader plan methodology. It is made from the root of much consultation practices and has achieved significant results in which the property is used. CB can exist on a number of levels, i.e., industry, organizational, business unit or manager. CBs at a lower level are derived from the preceding level. The CSF approach introduces information technology in the first stages of the planning process and helps a realistic assessment of the IT contribution to the organization. Strengths: CB-analysis provides a very powerful method for focusing on key information requirements of an organization, a business unit, or a manager. This allows management to focus resources on developing information about these requirements.CSF analysis is also easy to perform and can be performed with few resources. Weaknesses: (a) although a useful and widely used technique, CSF analysis alone is not enough to carry out comprehensive SISP its not data architecture to define or provide automated support for analysis. To be of value, the CSF analysis easily and directly be related back to the objectives of the business unit under review. It is the experience of people using this technique in general loses its value when used in the third level in a hierarchy BARRIERS: Analysis of IS practices and procedures Porter and Miller (1985) argue that the management information systems can no longer be the sole province of EDP work such as accounting and bookkeeping, which focuses on control and reduce costs. Advanced information systems in the value chain of activities can help companies improve the competitiveness of differentiation as well as to achieve cost leadership and thus obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. In other words, the ability to pursue cost reduction and differentiation at the same time justify the use. Earl (1998) argues that the IS has the potential to be a strategic weapon, at least one of the following: (1) gain a competitive advantage, (2) improve productivity and performance, (3) create new ways to manage and organize; (4) developing new businesses. These views show that the utilization of strategic and coherent action is more important than their use in operational situations (Soo 2002). The following part of the study will analyze and critically evaluate the com panys practices in the treatment of low-and intra- external integration of its information systems and its negative effects on the production value. The company has always tried its business efficiency and increase effectiveness by reassessing the internal operations such as purchasing, warehousing, materials management and distribution. It has used techniques such as Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRPII) and Just-In-Time (JIT) to the internal value chain effectiveness and efficiency. The company has exported its major ERP system in the early 1990s. The company achieved a relatively high internal integration processes within the value chain of the company. The situation for the company a step back in their internal integration efforts for the sake of uniformity of the group. The major obstacle towards full integration of internal information systems of the company therefore represents the diversity of applications used for different processes. This shows poor strategic information system planning (SISP) at a multinational level, in the context of a rapidly growing group (through external acquisitions) is true is not seen as a s trategic weapon, but rather an operational information processing tool. The cost versus the value quantification of the IS integration is problematic (subject multinational had group has the extra dimension of intra-SBU / corporate integration, which is considered a major problem at the corporate level. The firm decision on the main platform for integration is still not considered, but a feasibility study conducted by a team of internal and external experts showed that the most viable solution in the medium term lies in building the data warehouses at the top existing applications to ensure the collection, integration, storage and sharing of information available to users. Moreover, historically strong focus on internal integration reduces the potential value of the whole value which the company operates and the cost leads to duplication, maintenance of redundant systems, and investment in inefficient processes, such as manual data entry and machine sources are available. The company is in todays highly competitive global market place obligated to review its business operations and explore both internal processes and external relationships with business partners to meet the changing needs of their customers, to respond to the initiatives and new business models of their competitors and opportunities as new technologies (Chaffey 2002). CONCLUSION Information-based companies should be planned in an integrated manner, involving all stages of the lifecycle implemented to bring about the skill, quality and productivity. This integration is similar in nature to the integration of the product life cycle of an enterprise. Current methods, however, tend to support planning information as an island separated from the wealth of information resources. A new approach would require tapping into these resources to capture and characterize the company to allow for the integration of information systems planning stages of development and support of adaptive and a shortened cycle. This approach is a small first step to a great task: to develop a framework and a theory for strategic, planning of information systems. The need for such a framework is established by the problems in implementing SISP methods and also because of what these methods themselves lacking. The company was part of a multinational competing in global markets within the global industry value chain with strong competition. The funds are used by competitors are very similar (technology, people, money); the difference is how these resources are used / managed. Today, financial markets are looking for a broader view to the prospects of the companies that often do not clearly understand the accounts. Intellectual capital management business information systems skills are often the distinguishing factor of perspective and profitable businesses and encourage the companies value (Couger 1995). At the Company has traditionally focused on supporting internal efficiency. Companies need trust relationships with each other and the B2B market is to allow members to penetrate this deep in each others internal business processes. Has potential to generate value in inspiration, creation and support of collaborative value networks rather than reducing the internal data processing costs. Th e company realized the challenge and is a step in the right direction in terms of their integration in the evolving industry value chain to provide value to all stakeholders to generate.

My Development as a Writer Essay -- Reflection of my Writing

My English Literature major has helped me to achieve an outstanding level of appreciation, enjoyment, and knowledge of both American and British Literature. As a high school AP English student, I struggled through great works like Hamlet and To the Lighthouse. My teacher’s daily lectures (there was no such thing as class discussion) taught me merely to interpret the works as critics had in the past. I did not enjoy the reading or writing process. As a freshman at Loras, I was enrolled in the Critical Writing: Poetry class. For the first time since grade school, my writing ability was praised and the sharing of my ideas was encouraged by an enthusiastic and nurturing professor. Despite the difficulty of poetry, I enjoyed reading it. Because of my wonderful experience in Critical Writing, my love for reading and writing was renewed and my confidence in my abilities as a writer had been restored. I decided to take a second chance on English by declaring Literature and Writing a s my majors. Over the past three and half years, my love to read and write has been continually nourished and supported by the English department at Loras. Professors enlightened me to the real meanings and values of great literary pieces. Class discussions fueled by ideas and questions from both the professor and the students helped me to form my own ideas about literature and to think about literature on a higher level. My ability to analyze, synthesize, critique, research, and make my own judgments flourished because I finally had professors that truly were passionate about literature and helping their students. More importantly, the personal attention and wonderful feedback I received on my papers and assignments strengthened and honed my writing ... ...sm are fundamental to pharmacy. As a pharmacist, I will be analyzing the effects of medication on patients, researching and developing new drugs, and studying the criticism of specific drug therapies and trials. While I may only see my patients through the window at the pharmacy counter, I will be able to relate to them on a deeper level because the study of literature has helped me better understand human nature. In addition, literature has played a significant role in shaping and affirming my morals and values. Consequently, I will bring a high standard of ethics to a field in which they are essential. Today, pharmacists are the most trusted professionals in the United States. I know that the passion, the skills, and the abilities that I have developed as a result of my English Literature major will provide me with a strong foundation to build my pharmacy career.

Reaction Paper Information Security Essay

Right now we are living in a world where information is very abundant and mostly open to everyone because of the internet. Security and privacy are big issues nowadays and someone has to do some actions regarding these issues. People dealing with the security and privacy of information belong to the field of Information Security, and we are lucky to meet someone knowledgeable about this field of work. Last February 27 at BA Multimedia Room of Saint Therese Building, we held a seminar about Information Technology and our speaker was Mr. Ferdinand Samaniego and together with him is a Computer Engineering graduate of Adamson University, Mr. Tet Aguila. Mr. Samaniego is the Lead Penetration Tester of Bitshield. His task is to find possible threats on applications and provide remedy to these threats. The seminar was delayed for about an hour because Mr. Samaniego and Mr. Aguila were caught in traffic. Most of us lost their enthusiasm about the seminar because of the delay. But when Mr. Samaniego and Mr. Aguila arrived and started the seminar, everyone became very excited and the eagerness to learn came back to us because Mr. Samaniego told that he will tackle issues about hacking. I think it is normal for us Computer Engineering students to get excited whenever the topic is hacking. We had already attended several seminars and whenever the topic is hacking it usually get all our attention throughout the seminar. So as expected, the seminar was very lively and interactive. Students raised their questions and Mr. Samaniego and Mr. Aguila willingly addressed these questions. At the beginning of the seminar, Mr. Samaniego asked us which operating system we are using in our computers. All of us answered Microsoft Windows  Operating System. He laughed and then challenged us that if we are using Linux Operation System just raised our hand and he will give some freebies to us. But no one raised his/her hand. He again laughed and told us that we must try and explore Linux Operating System because it is more flexible and more secure than Windows Operating System. Mr. Samaniego advised us that when we arrived at our home that day, we try to install Linux OS in our computers or download a Virtual Machine and run Linux OS in that VM. After he discussed Linux OS and Virtual Machines, Mr. Samaniego asked us how many programming languages we learned here in Adamson University. We answered 5 programming languages namely, C++, Assembly, C#, Java and C. He advised us to study more programming languages because it is our key to enter the industry world if we want to venture on Programming or Information Security. Mr. Samaniego told us that if we want to enter the field of InfoSec we must equipped ourselves with scripting languages like Ruby and Python because it is the most common language use to analyze threats on applications. He said that based on what programming languages we knew it will be very easy for us to study other programming languages because most of the programming languages are based from C Language. The last part of the seminar was the most interactive part of the seminar, when we are allowed to raise any question we had in our minds. As expected most of the questions were about hacking and some were about Linux Operating System. Mr. Samaniego and Mr. Aguila answered all of our questions and even shared some of their experiences in the industry. Mr. Samaniego shared to us that he once worked with Globe Telecoms as an Information Security officer. There was a time when hackers found a hole in their network and used it to have a free internet connection as long as they have one peso load. It took them weeks to found out that issue and a couple of days to provide a solution regarding the issue. Mr. Samaniego was the one who provided the solution. He told us that the problem was very simple and the hackers were too clever to use it to have an internet connection. The hackers route the DNS of a website to a different IP address, and that IP address gives them internet connection. The solution Mr. Samaniegp provided was also simple, but it was a secret he joked us. He also gave us a list of websites where we  can study Information Security, websites like easycouncil.com, gsn3.org, ic2.org, securityfocus.com, cisecurity.org and other more websites where we can start studying InfoSec. At the end of the day, I was very thankful for this seminar about Information Security. This seminar opened a new career path for me and taught me new things. Mr. Samaniego and Mr. Aguila were truly knowledgeable people from the field of InfoSec and I was lucky to meet them and listened to all their advices and lessons. I realized that Information Technology offers a broad career path and we must not stop learning because IT world is continuously developing and we must cope to these developments. A seminar like this is necessary for us to learn new things and get inspired by IT professionals.

Singin in the Rain

Jenna Zeringo Singin’ in the Rain In 1952 Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen directed MGM’s musical comedy â€Å"Singin’ in the Rain†. Fifty five years later in 2007 it ranked number five on the American Film Institute list of â€Å"List of Greatest Films†. It’s evocative to Americans and is generally considered the best Hollywood musical film; it was not a Broadway production until several years later. Gene Kelly not only directed the classic but he also choreographed and starred in it as Don Lockwood. Debbie Reynolds played the part of Lockwood’s love interest Kathy Selden. Major roles included Donald O’Connor as Gene’s best friend and pianist Cosmo Brown and Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont. Based in 1920’s before sound was available to moving pictures the basis of the romantic musical comedy was about turning a film into a â€Å"talkie†, essentially a film with sound. Don Lockwood plays opposite Lina Lamont in the big screen, but her harsh tacky articulation just didn’t cut it in the recording booth. Kathy Selden, a chorus girl Lockwood met in two extraordinary instances is given the chance to dub over Lina with her singing voice and in secret make a musical. Lockwood and Kathy eventually fall in love. There are many elements that brought this film together. The musical aspect of the era it was produced was said to be cheerful, delightful and light hearted. Songs ranging from titles like â€Å"Make ‘Em Laugh† to â€Å"Moses Supposes† to â€Å"Singin’ in the Rain†. The songs also went hand in hand with the dancing. The tap dancing style choreography with the elements of real life tie in an amusingly â€Å"harder than it looks† way. When Gene Kelly is actually singing in the rain it seems like there’s a monsoon pouring on his elaborate footwork. There is also a slapstick comedy portrayed throughout the movie, physical sense of humor, and playful jesting. All of these elements transpired the picture to be as famous and well liked as it was and still is. It has all of the things an audience interested in musicals wants. It shows fun in secrets, romance, portrayed as hard to get, sly humor and witty jokes. All with such enthusiasm. Even today pop culture refers to it in formality and humor. Ultimately it is the most famous musical of Hollywood and will remain that way, because it’s classic.

12 Things You Should Never Say At Work

12 Things You Should Never Say At Work At work, we sometimes speak without thinking especially when feeling stressed or overwhelmed. The words being said can be taken out of context and can get you on bad terms with both your employer and co-workers. Here are 12 things you should never  say at work and the alternative of what you should  say instead.Source [ Headway Capital ]

What do you know about computers essays

What do you know about computers essays Prior to attending this class I thought I knew a lot about computers. What Ive learned is that all I really knew was "buzz" words: megahertz, gigabyte, ram, megabyte, etc. I also assumed bigger was better, and there "may" be some truth to that statement. However, it is equally true that bigger is not always necessary. I needed to purchase a computer that would satisfy all the needs and wants of the family. I needed a system that could run accounting software, my wife needed the ability to run graphic programs and the children needed educational software. In addition to having a system with sufficient power to handle these tasks, I wanted the ability to expand the system at a later date, if necessary. Finally, I needed a sufficient warranty. After listening to the advice of friends and sales people, I was no better off than when I started. So I decided to go out on faith and buy what I thought was the best deal for my money. I researched Compaq, Dell, Gateway and some no frills machines. The no frills systems were immediately ruled out; the price was right, the warranty was not. In some instances the warranty was ok, but I was not sure if I would ever see the person who built the system again. I purchased a Gateway select 600 for $2273.00. The system had: 600 MHz Athlon chip, 128 MB ram, 20.0 GB hard drive, CD-RW, DVD, ZIP, 16 MB video, 17" Color monitor(15.9 viewable), HP scanner and Epson 740 stylus color printer(ink jet). All things considering I dont think I did bad, but I now realize that all that hardware was not necessary. I could have forgone the ZIP drive, my main purpose for it purchase was storage, which I now realize that the CD-RW could have done the same job. Not to mention that the CD-RW can hold up to 650 MB, as opposed to the 100 MB on the ZIP. I could have also forgone the DVD, the CD-RW is sufficient. I figured that maybe one day I would watch movies on the system. Not purchas...

The 5 Sectors of the Economy

The 5 Sectors of the Economy A nation’s economy can be divided into various sectors to define the proportion of the population engaged in different activities. This categorization represents a continuum of distance from the natural environment. The continuum starts with primary economic activity, which concerns itself with the utilization of raw materials from the earth, such as agriculture and mining. From there, the distance from natural resources increases. Primary Sector The primary sector of the economy extracts or harvests products from the earth, such as raw materials and basic foods. Activities associated with primary economic activity include agriculture (both subsistence and commercial), mining, forestry, grazing, hunting and gathering, fishing, and quarrying. The packaging and processing of raw materials are also considered to be part of this sector. In developed and developing countries, a decreasing proportion of workers is involved in the primary sector. Only about 2 percent of the U.S. labor force is engaged in primary sector activity today, a dramatic decrease from the mid-19th century when more than two-thirds of the labor force consisted of primary-sector workers. Secondary Sector The secondary sector of the economy produces finished goods from the raw materials extracted by the primary economy. All  manufacturing, processing, and construction jobs lie within this sector. Activities associated with the secondary sector include metalworking and smelting, automobile production, textile production, the chemical and engineering industries, aerospace manufacturing, energy utilities, breweries and bottlers, construction, and shipbuilding. In the United States, a little less than 15 percent of the working population is engaged in secondary sector activity. Tertiary Sector The tertiary sector of the economy is also known as the service industry. This sector sells the goods produced by the secondary sector and provides commercial services to both the general population and to businesses in all five economic sectors. Activities associated with this sector include retail and wholesale sales, transportation and distribution, restaurants, clerical services, media, tourism, insurance, banking, health care, and law. In most developed and developing countries, a growing proportion of workers is devoted to the tertiary sector. In the United States about 80 percent of the labor force is tertiary workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts non-agriculture self-employed into its own category, and that accounts for another 5 percent of workers, though the sector for these people would be determined by their job. Quaternary Sector Although many economic models divide the economy into only three sectors, others divide it into four or even five sectors. These final two sectors are closely linked with the services of the tertiary sector. In these models, the quaternary sector of the economy consists of intellectual activities often associated with technological innovation. It is sometimes called the knowledge economy.   Activities associated with this sector include government, culture, libraries, scientific research, education, and information technology. These intellectual services and activities are what drives technological advancement, which can have a huge impact on short- and long-term economic growth. Quinary Sector Some economists further subdivide the quaternary sector into the quinary sector, which includes the highest levels of decision making in a society or economy. This sector includes top executives or officials in such fields as government, science, universities, nonprofits, health care, culture, and the media. It may also include police and fire departments, which are public services as opposed to for-profit enterprises. Economists sometimes also include domestic activities (duties performed in the home by a family member or dependent) in the quinary sector. These activities, such as child care or housekeeping, are typically not measured by monetary amounts but contribute to the economy by providing services for free that would otherwise be paid for.

Federal Express Canada Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Federal Express Canada Analysis - Case Study Example Hence, the company must immediately respond to these issues in order to ensure long terms sustainability. Logistics computerization is one of the most recommendable policies for the FedEx to improve its logistics and customer service operations. The company has to raise additional finance. It also has to recruit more skilled employees to implement the planned changes. Finally, the FedEx should develop potentials systems to monitor the performance efficacy of the implemented changes. Background Federal Express or FedEx is a North American shipping company notable for its ‘fast response to customer requests and constant tracking of every shipment’ (McDougall & Dorken, 1998). The company (as cited in McDougall & Dorken, 1998), employs nearly 137,000 people worldwide (including 3,500 in Canada) and offers shipping services to 212 countries; and every night, FedEx planes carry approximately 2.9 million packages weighing a total of nearly 2 million pounds. The FedEx maintains 60 shipping facilities in Canada to meet Canadian shipping needs from coast to coast. The organization gives primary focus on Quality Management and Assurance and attained ISO 9000 for its operations worldwide. FedEx is the first service based company that has won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the US. The company has a good reputation in the shipping sector and maintains a huge potential customer base. Statement of Issues While analyzing the case scenario, it is clear that the FedEx has some potential issues with its logistics management and customer service practices. McDougall & Dorken (1998) clearly indicate that the company failed to meet shipping requirements of Desktop Innovators and the situation caused the DI to suffer from huge business loss. The DI placed a shipping order on FedEx to send two boxes from Kitchener, Ontario to Simpsonville, South Carolina. The DI wanted to get those two boxes at the destination by 12th October so that the firm’s deale r would get plenty of time to transfer them on to Charlotte, where the trade show had been arranged. However, only one of those boxes was delivered at Simpsonville on time and therefore the DI could not display its software packages at the trade show stalls. Similarly, the FedEx did not timely and properly respond to queries raised by the DI’s Office Manager Anita Kilgour. Hence, Kilgour could not get actual status of the DI’s goods in transit and this situation caused great confusion to both Kilgour and the dealer. While scrutinizing the FedEx’s service delivery policies, it is obvious that the company violated its delivery terms and conditions, which the client had been had been promised at the time of order placement. Situation Analysis The identified issues relating to the two management areas (logistics management and customer service management) raise many potential threats to the FedEx’s long term sustainability. Effective logistics management is c rucial to customer satisfaction since customers are the end users of a firm’s all logistics activities. It is obvious that every shipment is intended for a particular purpose and therefore it will be of no use if the shipped goods are delivered late. In other words, the FedEx’s weakness in logistics management would lead to huge troubles in future since the company handles millions of packages every day. If once a customer

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Kemalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Kemalism - Essay Example This is the official cult. His biography is read like hagiography of saints. After more than half a century after his death most of the Turks with bated breath speak about the penetrating gaze of his blue eyes, his tireless energy, strength of mind and indomitable will. Mustafa Kemal was born in Thessaloniki in Greece. At that time the area was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. His father was a middle-ranking customs official, his mother - a peasant. After a difficult childhood, lived in poverty due to early death of his father, the boy entered the Salonica Military School, then the Monastir Military High School and in 1889, finally, the Ottoman Military Academy in Istanbul. There, in addition to military disciplines, Kemal studied the works of Rousseau, Voltaire, Hobbes and other philosophers and thinkers that certainly influenced his views. At the age of 20, during training, Kemal and his friends joined a secret revolutionary society - Vatan ve Hà ¼rriyet (Motherland and Liberty). Failing to come to understanding with the other members of the society, Kemal left Vatan and joined the Committee of Union and Progress, which has collaborated with the movement of the Young Turks (Turkish bourgeois revolutionary movement, setting a task to replace the sultan’s autocracy with constitutional order). Kemal was personally acquainted with many key figures in the Young Turk movement and was involved in the coup in 1908. At the outbreak of the World War I, Kemal, who despised the Germans, was shocked by the fact that the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire became their ally. However, in spite of the personal views, he skillfully commanded the troops entrusted to him. So, in Gallipoli, in April 1915, he blunted the attack of the British forces several weeks, earning the nickname â€Å"Savior of Istanbul†. It was one of the few victories of the Turks in the war. He told his subordinates not only to attack but to die. It is

We are a caring community of well-rounded individuals who embrace Essay

We are a caring community of well-rounded individuals who embrace leadership, learning, service, and global awareness. With this in mind, which of these characteristics appeal most to you, and why - Essay Example Through learning, I have been able to overcome challenging activities such as the high school process and intensive dance training (FSU, par. 1). I also consider learning as a crucial characteristic since personal experiences have taught me that there is an opportunity for leaning in everyday life. As a result of learning, I have competed as well as won competitions at the Youth American Grand Prix in Orlando, FL and NYC. I consider learning a phenomenal aspect; through learning, I have realized that the best way to be successful in life is by putting more effort. This is exemplified by the struggles I have had as a freshman in upper level honors classes. I have also learnt to cope, especially in my association with new people. Learning had been part of my junior levels when I took my first AP classes. I learnt study skills as well as work ethics that made me prepared for college life. I have developed a desire for learning through my curiosity and inquisitiveness. Through my curiosity, I have developed a learning culture, and I have grabbed every learning opportunity that has come in my life. At my junior level, I learnt vocabularies, carried out tests every Friday, wrote lab reports, conducted projects, and prepared for the AP test. I was able to achieve significant success in these aspects given my desire to learn and acquire new knowledge. I also learnt college algebra at Palm Beach State College, where I also learnt how to develop friendships with other students in college, as well as their lifestyles. I consistently put a lot of effort in my work and persevered a lot; this makes me value learning as a highly crucial aspect in the Florida State University. I also consider learning as a crucial characteristic of the Florida State University since it has enabled me to acquire the qualities of a well rounded individual, as embodied in all the characteristics of Florida State

Summary on Creep Behavior of Discontinuous SiC-Al composites Essay

Summary on Creep Behavior of Discontinuous SiC-Al composites - Essay Example The first experiment tested compressed creep on SiC with 3-5 wt. percentages of Li at a temperature of 505-866k. The results showed that Li increases the strengthening power of SiC and its wetting behavior. The second experiment tested the creep behavior of SiCw and SiCp covered with aluminum alloy at a temperature of 505-644k. The results showed that both composites were steady but SiCW was more resistant to creep compared to SiCp. The results were because of the variations in the components load bearing abilities, their strengths and the applied temperatures. The conducted experiments revealed that the quality of creep rates depend on the applied temperatures and stress (Mohamed, Park & Lavernia 22). The article also used the shear lag method to test the creep rate of discontinuous composites by applying stress and geographic parameters. In this method, the composite has short fibers inserted in the creeping matrix; the shear transports the load from the matrix to fiber and this ap proach applies creep power law. This method is efficient in transferring the load from matrix to fiber and handling stress level within the fiber. ... In the experiment, the composite phase acted as a regular aligns and there was periodic array of fibers. The experiment applied the creep power law by ensuring that reinforcement phase remains elastic (Mohamed, Park & Lavernia 26). The results indicated that matrix develops higher stress, which reduces composites creep rates. It also showed that geometry arrangements affect the quality of the creep rate. Indeed, the results note that creep law favors the Ag-40wt. percentage composites only but not the composites of SiC-Al (Mohamed, Park & Lavernia 27). Considering the obtained results, the article explains the deformation models using dislocation motion. It analyses whether similar dislocation processes can be applicable for both DS alloy creep and the SiC-Al composites creep. In addition, the article also evaluates successfully the characteristics of deformation process on DS alloys and SiC-Al composites. The article highlights the strain exponent of creep and identifies the followi ng assumptions. Firstly, the high stress exponent and variations results from threshold stress. Additionally, the threshold stress and strength applied on the creep depends on applied stress and lastly, the activation energy for SiC-Al composites and DS alloys are similar (Mohamed, Park & Lavernia 30). The article concludes that SiC-Al composites and DS alloys have similar creep behaviors regardless of their stress exponent and activation energies. Importantly, the article identifies that shear log assumptions on the creep behavior of SiC-al are inconsistence. Indeed, the study offers the similarities in the creep behavior among composites, the evidential calculations and dissimilarities among activation

Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Portfolio - Assignment Example They are a similar, and at the same time different aspect of assessing performance. Venn (2000) defines an assessment portfolio as a systematic collection of artifacts that uses a selection of work, measured against pre-determined scoring criteria, to evaluate a person’s skills, achievements and growth over a specified period of time. Student portfolios are designed with the main objective of efforts, achievements and progress of the students. Purposes Portfolios are used for various purposes. They provide a collection of student work that aids in assessing the quality of the past or ongoing performance of the student. Moreover, they help in demonstration of achievements that is essential to students as it helps them demonstrate the capability to master chief topics in a program. Design and Format Portfolios come in different formats and designs. The format to use is determined by the type of material included, intended use of the portfolio and the target audience. Regardless of the format, all portfolios must contain the name of the student, a brief introduction about the student, several pieces of work selected using criteria specified carefully and fields where progress in the selected work is recorded over a period of time. Students may also choose to give an explanation on the reasons behind the selection of the subjects as well as specify criteria for evaluating the quality of the work. Types of portfolios As discussed earlier, portfolios come in a variety of types depending on the kind of material included, intended use of the portfolio and the target audience. Danielson and Abrutyn (1997) suggest that there are three main types of portfolios; working, display and assessment portfolios. (a) Working Portfolios As the name suggests, it contains work in progress as well as finished work samples. It acts as a store for this work in progress that may be selected later on for a more permanent assessment. It is an intentional collection of work that is g uided by learning objectives and differs from a work folder. Its main audience is the student, guided by the teacher. (b) Display/ Showcase Portfolios This is among the most rewarding use of student portfolios and is used to display the best works of the students. The students and their teachers become committed to the process most when they exhibit their best work and infer the meaning. The core objective of this type of portfolio is to demonstrate the highest achievement level attained by the student. It may be maintained yearly with new work samples being added yearly to document growth. (c) Assessment Portfolios They are designed primarily to document what a student has learned and may be used to demonstrate the student’s mastery in a certain curricular area, the quality of the student’s work as well as the level of growth and effort, attitude and progress. The work selected for the portfolio is determined by the content in the student’s curriculum. Advantag es of assessment portfolios An assessment portfolio can have a lot of benefits to users when designed and implemented properly. The following are some of these benefits. (a) Promotes reflection, self evaluation and critical thinking among the students. (b) Provides flexibility when measuring how students achieve the set learning goals (c) Facilitates sharing of responsibility (among students and teachers) for setting goals and evaluating progress to meeting the set goals. (d) Provides a process for structuring

Commercialisation of Sport Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Commercialisation of Sport - Essay Example From the local levels, individuals are competitively seeking to attain professional status to gain from the lucrative industry, whereas others are striving to build competitive teams to benefit from the lucrative sport industry as well. The gains attained, or profits generated are dependent on the situation of the team, the better teams are relatively poised to benefit most from lucrative deals (Howe, 2004: 49). This is based on the assumption that these better teams attract bigger audiences as opposed to dismally performing teams. This accords the team’s sponsors a bigger market to appeal to and helps in creating a global image which is not easy to achieve in the ever competitive corporate world. Besides, the teams themselves have slowly revolutionalised their settings as they also want to be seen as global brands. Sports commercialization has paved way for multiple challenges, mostly legal challenges as these new trends have to ascribe to set rules and regulations. This is e xplained by the multiple legal cases bordering on sports that have found their way to courts especially the European Court of Justice. This study implores on the process of sports commercialization, it also examines and represents the role government play in the sport business. Role and Development of Sports Historically, sports had been viewed as a social activity whose ownership mainly lay under private companies or mutual associations (NEBRASKA, BAHLS, & PETERSON, 1978). The ownerships would oversee progress and participate in awarding competitive athletes for their role in delivering a sporting†product†. In doing so, they participated in creating a competitive platform for sports that was governed differently from the normal approaches adopted in running of businesses (Whannel, 2008:240). Sports associations or clubs did not seek to profit maximize and did not affiliate themselves with the â€Å"entertainment business†, this is irrespective of their roles as e ntertainers through different sporting competitions. The main focus of these clubs and associations was to achieve success on the sporting field, irrespective of the professional game they participated in. For the better part of the century sporting took this compassionate business approach. Despite many of the sporting clubs having huge financial burdens the stakes at the time were still low and this ensured that the sporting activities took on a rather predictable course (Maguire et al, 2002:126). However, this situation was not to persist for long as wide spread changes in the past two decades distorted this sporting setting, and the benign sporting culture. The new situation came along with worrying trends which since the turn of the millennium have brought forth questions on the very role of professional sports, especially in Europe (Fort, 2004). These concerns were echoed by the current UEFA chief, Michel Plattini, who feared that current sporting trends were first contributin g to the erosion of the fundamental purposes of sports. Sports, he said, has always been a strong catalyst for social and cultural integration, he feared that emphasis on the economic aspect of sports would inevitably lead to extinction of these two crucial elements of sport (Hudson, 2012:2). Further, extinction of the social and cultural role of sporting would upset the relationship that exists between sport and society. Concerns

Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Portfolio - Assignment Example They are a similar, and at the same time different aspect of assessing performance. Venn (2000) defines an assessment portfolio as a systematic collection of artifacts that uses a selection of work, measured against pre-determined scoring criteria, to evaluate a person’s skills, achievements and growth over a specified period of time. Student portfolios are designed with the main objective of efforts, achievements and progress of the students. Purposes Portfolios are used for various purposes. They provide a collection of student work that aids in assessing the quality of the past or ongoing performance of the student. Moreover, they help in demonstration of achievements that is essential to students as it helps them demonstrate the capability to master chief topics in a program. Design and Format Portfolios come in different formats and designs. The format to use is determined by the type of material included, intended use of the portfolio and the target audience. Regardless of the format, all portfolios must contain the name of the student, a brief introduction about the student, several pieces of work selected using criteria specified carefully and fields where progress in the selected work is recorded over a period of time. Students may also choose to give an explanation on the reasons behind the selection of the subjects as well as specify criteria for evaluating the quality of the work. Types of portfolios As discussed earlier, portfolios come in a variety of types depending on the kind of material included, intended use of the portfolio and the target audience. Danielson and Abrutyn (1997) suggest that there are three main types of portfolios; working, display and assessment portfolios. (a) Working Portfolios As the name suggests, it contains work in progress as well as finished work samples. It acts as a store for this work in progress that may be selected later on for a more permanent assessment. It is an intentional collection of work that is g uided by learning objectives and differs from a work folder. Its main audience is the student, guided by the teacher. (b) Display/ Showcase Portfolios This is among the most rewarding use of student portfolios and is used to display the best works of the students. The students and their teachers become committed to the process most when they exhibit their best work and infer the meaning. The core objective of this type of portfolio is to demonstrate the highest achievement level attained by the student. It may be maintained yearly with new work samples being added yearly to document growth. (c) Assessment Portfolios They are designed primarily to document what a student has learned and may be used to demonstrate the student’s mastery in a certain curricular area, the quality of the student’s work as well as the level of growth and effort, attitude and progress. The work selected for the portfolio is determined by the content in the student’s curriculum. Advantag es of assessment portfolios An assessment portfolio can have a lot of benefits to users when designed and implemented properly. The following are some of these benefits. (a) Promotes reflection, self evaluation and critical thinking among the students. (b) Provides flexibility when measuring how students achieve the set learning goals (c) Facilitates sharing of responsibility (among students and teachers) for setting goals and evaluating progress to meeting the set goals. (d) Provides a process for structuring

D4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

D4 - Assignment Example They can also request the school to correct any documents that are misleading or inaccurate and also a right to receive formal hearing should appropriate action not be taken. Schools should be discreet with information and must obtain rights from either the student or the parent to release information from the records. However some parties such as school and audit official, parties aiding the student financially, accreditors, organizations conducting studies on behalf of the school have been exempted from this exception. As an early childhood educator, I should recognize this rule and ensure compliance to the latter. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides the legal provisions that govern services to children with disabilities (Staples 376). The lessons learnt from the video clip and the review of the Act relates to the following facts: The Act dictates how the state provides early intervention, special education to eligible infants and youths with disabilities. In part B, children and youth between 3-21 years receive services while the infants and toddlers receive services under the C part. As an early childhood educator, I am equipped with the knowledge that it is important to offer a child quality learning experience. It is equally important that the children with disabilities are well prepared before joining the kindergartens with a strong foundation for success in school. The Act provides me with an adequate base of learning on the need to care and help the state in acknowledging and helping transform the lives of the challenged. Child abuse is prevalent especially towards infants and minors. Child abuse and neglect exists in many ways and has various causes relating to the thought pattern, beliefs and behaviors of guardians. In many cases, parents use child rearing techniques that are abusive or inflict harm when frustrated. Various states and organizations have come up to fight against this vice and strict

Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Nigerias Development

Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Nigerias Development Chapter One 1.1 Introduction The drying up in the early 1980’s of commercial bank lending to developing economies made most countries eased restriction on foreign direct investment (FDI) and many aggressively offered tax incentives and subsidies to attract foreign capital (Aitken  and Harrison, 1999). Private capital flow to emerging market economies reached almost $200 billion in 2000. This is almost four times larger than the peak commercial bank lending years of the 1970’s and early 80’s. FDI now accounts for over sixty percent of private capital flow (Levine and  Carkovic, 2002). However, while the explosion of FDI flow remains unmistakable, the growth effect remains unclear. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been a topic high on the policy agenda in emerging markets. This is due to the contributions FDI make to a country’s external financing and economic growth. The extent of regulation of FDI and other form of capital flow are also issues policymakers take a stand on and economic research has devoted a large effort to these issues. The experience of small number of fast-growing East Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs), and recently china, has strengthened the belief that attracting FDI is needed to bridging the resource gap of low-income countries and avoiding further build-up of debt while directly tackling the cause of poverty (UNCTAD, 2005). Even though the Asian crisis sounded a cautionary note to premature financial liberalization the call for more accelerated pace of opening up FDI have intensified on the assumption that this will bring not only more stable capital inflow but also greater technological know-how, higher paying jobs, entrepreneurial and workplace skills and new export opportunities (Prasad  et  al., 2003). The increased importance of FDI has brought about international relationships, trade and policies materializing into export and imports between nations. This in turn results financial rewards to host countries. Policy makers across the region of Africa have hoped that attracting FDI with the bait of high tariff protection and generous incentives packages would provide the catalyst for a â€Å"late industrialization† drive (Thandika, 2001). The debt crises in the early 80’s and policies introduced by several countries in Africa also witnessed increased FDI as necessary for economic development. The pursuit of responsible macroeconomic policies combined with an accelerating pace of liberalization, deregulation and above all privatization were expected to attract FDI to Africa (WorldBank, 1997).  However, the record of the past two decades with respect to reducing poverty and attracting FDI as a result of policy changes has been disappointing at best (Ayanwale, 2007). The importance of FDI varies across different sector in the recipient countries. However, in all major country groups, the extractive sector accounts for a significant share of inflow of FDI: for example, Australia, Canada and Norway among developed countries; Botswana, Nigeria and South Africa in Africa; Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela in Latin America and the Caribbean; and Kazakhstan in South-East Europe and the  CIS  (UNCTAD, 2006a). The important of this sector is due to the fact that oil and gas are crucial to the contemporary global economy and their prices are key components of economic forecasts and performance. Crude oil and refined petroleum products constitute the largest single item in international trade, whether measured by volume or value (Steven, 2005). Thus, oil and gas are strategic resources in national, regional and global economies. Despite this significant and strategic influence, empirical evidence suggests that oil and gas abundant economies are among the least growing economies (Sachs and Warner, 1997,  Gelb, 1988, Stevens, 1991, Steven, 2005). This phenomenon is often conceived within the prisms of the â€Å"resource curse† and â€Å"Dutch disease†. Both of which are manifestations of inefficient utilization of resources rather than the inevitable outcome of the availability of oil and gas resources.  The impact of FDI on economic growth of recipient country has been one of varying opinions among authors. A huge literature exists concerning different effects of foreign investment on economic development in a recipient economy. Currently FDI sustains the most dynamic development in the world economy in comparison with other forms of foreign financing (De Gregorio, 1992). Most theoretical and empirical findings (see chapter 3) imply that FDI has a strong positive growth impact on the recipient economy. Within the African context, the Nigerian economy is a unique case, not because it is a developing economy and is quite large, but because during last 15 years the country has not managed to attract significant amounts of FDI (Asiedu, 2002). Typically investment risks are so high in Nigeria that only high profits in export oriented extractive industries (e.g. fuel industry) have attracted much foreign direct investment. This sector exerts a prominent influence on the economy as a key revenue earner. While oil and gas resources have very high revenue yields due to increasing international demand the question of aggregate FDI impact on economic growth remains an open question. This paper attempts to find some answers.   Over the last decade, the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Western and Southern Africa has become one of the most promising oil exploration areas in the world with a convergence of interest between African governments, multinational oil companies, international Financial Institutions  (Jerome  et  al., 2007). Nigeria falls among the six countries which have become key players in the world of energy stake. However, the economic record and lived experience of mineral-exporting countries has generally been disappointing. The World Bank classification of Highly Indebted Poor Countries include: twelve of the world 25 most mineral dependent states and six most oil dependent. When taken as a group, all â€Å"petroleum rich† less developed countries has witnessed erosion in their living standards and many rank bottom one-third of United Nations Human Development Index. In addition to poor growth records and entrenched poverty, they are also characterized by high level of corruption and a low prevalence of democratization  (Jerome  et  al., 2007).† 1.2 FDI Defined Various classifications have been made of foreign direct investment. For instance, FDI has been described by the Balance of Payment Manual 5th  edition (BPM5) as a category of international investment that reflects the objective of a resident in one economy (the direct Investor) obtaining a lasting interest of a resident in another economy (the direct investment enterprise). The lasting interest implies the existence of a long-term relationship between the direct investor and the direct investment enterprise and a significant degree of influence by the investor on the management of the enterprise. A direct investment relationship is established when the direct investor has acquired 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares or voting power of an enterprise abroad (IMF, 1993). This comprises not only the initial transaction establishing the FDI relationship between the direct investor and the direct investment enterprise but all subsequent capital transactions between them and among affiliated enterprises resident in different economies (Patterson  et  al., 2004). Once a firm undertakes FDI, it becomes a  multinational enterprise  (MNEs). Policymakers believe that foreign direct investment produces positive effects on host economies. Some of these benefits are in the form of  externalities  and the adoption of foreign technology which could be in the form of licensing, agreements, imitation, employee training and the introduction of new processes by the foreign firms (Alfaro  et  al., 2004). Multinational enterprises are said to diffuse technology and management know-how to domestic firms (Tang  et  al., 2008). FDI is conventionally used as a proxy to measure the extent and direction of  MNE  activities (Jones, 1996). Like any other business,  MNEs  have a major objective of maximizing profit and reducing costs. Hence,  MNEs  consider regions with higher returns on investment and enabling environment for business success. This is one of the reasons for more FDI in some places than others. Accordingly  MNE  will invest higher in regions that provide the best mix of the traditional FDI determinants (Berg, 2003). The motivation for investment by multinationals in certain countries much more than others  is discussed elaborately in chapter three 1.3. Background The involvement of  MNEs  (through FDI) in extractive industries has had a chequered history. In the early twentieth century, these industries accounted for the largest share of FDI, reflecting the international expansion of firms from the colonial powers. With a growing number of former colonies gaining independence after the Second World War, and the creation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1960, the dominance of these  MNEs  s declined, as did the share of extractive industries in global FDI. From the mid-1970s, in particular, the share of oil, gas and metal mining in world FDI fell steadily as other sectors grew much faster. However, as a result of rising mineral prices, the share of extractive industries in global FDI has recently increased, although it is still much lower than those of services and manufacturing. It is therefore an opportune timeto revisit the impact of FDI into theextractive industries has on economic development. Measuring the effect of FDI on economic growth occupies a substantial body of economic literature. Many theoretical and empirical studies have identified several channels through which FDI may positively or negatively affect economic growth (Akinlo, 2003,  Mello, 1997). Not many studies have reported on the effects of FDI in Africa and most existing studies have concentrated on economies with high FDI in the manufacturing industries unlike economies with high FDI inflow in the extractive sector (as the case of Nigeria). Several factors suggest that the indirect benefits of FDI maybe less in extractive sector especially oil industries. Reasons given for this are that: firstly, the extractive sector (such as oil  sub-sector) is often an enclave sector with little linkages with the other sectors. Secondly, the knowledge and technology embedded in the sector is extremely capital intensive and so transfer of knowledge and technology maybe less. Also, the capital requirement and large economies of scale may not attract new entrants into the sector as in the manufacturing sector.  Furthermore, not all sector of the economy have the same potential to absorb foreign technology or create linkages with the rest of the economy (Hirschman, 1958).  Finally, sales in this sector are foreign market oriented and require fewer input of materials and intermediate goods from local suppliers. Hence will have less forward and backward linkages  (Akinlo, 2004). The  sensitivity of project to world commodity pric e also make it been view as a volatie sector (WorldBank, 2005) Given the pattern of foreign direct investment flow to Nigeria (mostly in oil and gas sector) and the angst-ridden as regards the benefits from the extractive FDI, it is apposite to examine empirically the situation in Nigeria. This constitutes the objective of this research. An analysis of this will be done for the period between 1980 and 2006 1.4  Overview of Foreign Direct Investment 1.5  Natural Resources and Economic Development Since the 1950’s, economists have been concerned that economies dominated by natural resources would somehow be disadvantaged in the drive for economic progress. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, this concern was based upon deteriorating terms of trade between the â€Å"centre† and â€Å"periphery† (Prebisch, 1964) coupled with concern over the limited economic linkages from primary product exports to the rest of the economy (Hirschman, 1958). In the 1970’s, it was driven by the impact of the oil shocks on the oil exporting countries (Wijnbergen  and Van, 1986,  Mabro  and Monroe, 1974). In the 1980’s, the phenomenon of â€Å"Dutch Disease† (the impact of an overvalued exchange rate on the non-resource traded sector) attracted attention (Corden, 1984). Finally in the 1990’s, it was the impact of revenues from oil, gas and mineral projects on government behaviour that dominated the discussion (Stevens, 1991,  Gelb, 1988). The common thread running through these concerns is that the development of natural resources should generate revenues to translate into economic growth and development. Thus the revenues accruing to the economies should provide capital in the form of foreign exchange overcoming what was seen as a key barrier to economic progress. This could be explained both in terms of common sense (more money means a better standard of life) and development theories the requirement for a â€Å"big-push† (Murphy  et  al., 1989), capital constraints (Lewis, 1955,  Rostow, 1960) and dual-gap analysis (Shibley  and  thirlwall, 1981). However, the reality appeared to be the reverse. Countries with abundant natural resources appeared to perform less well than their more poorly endowed neighbors. Thus the term â€Å"resource curse† began to enter the literature (Vanderlinde, 1994). More recently there has been a revival of interest in the phenomenon of â€Å"resource curse†. Furthermore, this has drawn the attention of a much wider audience than previously. Growing concern among a number of non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) regarding the negative effects of oil, gas and mineral projects on developing countries has had several effects. It has forced the World Bank group to consider their role in such projects. This has culminated in the creation of â€Å"the Extractive Industry Review† based in Jakarta to consider whether the World Bank Group should, as a matter of principle, have any involvement with such projects. Disagreement within and between the World Bank and the IMF have further fuelled the debate over how such revenues should be managed.   NGO  concern has also encouraged the more responsible petroleum and mineral corporations to consider the impact of their investment in such projects on the countries concerned. However, in the literature that has focused on â€Å"resource curse†, there are references to countries that allegedly managed to avoid a â€Å"curse† and instead received a â€Å"blessing†. For example, even the report produced by  Oxfam  America (Ross, 2001) which is strongly negative towards such projects, states †¦ â€Å"There are exceptions: some states with large extractive industries – like Botswana, Chile and Malaysia – have overcome many of the obstacles †¦ and implemented sound pro-poor strategies†. There are similar references elsewhere to â€Å"success† stories – Botswana (Hope, 1998, Love, 1994), Chile (Schurman, 1996), Indonesia (Usui, 1996), Malaysia (Rasiah  and Shari, 2001), and Norway (Wright and  Czelutsa, 2002). Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with close to 132 million inhabitants. However, approximately 55% of the population lives on less than the value of one US dollar per day. The Nigerian economy depends heavily on the oil sector, which contributes 95% of export revenues, 76% of government revenues and about a third of gross domestic product. Before the establishment of democracy in 1999, the country was governed by military generals, under whose rule Nigeria’s economic performance had taken a beating for 15 consecutive years (Datamonitor, 2007). Nigeria has a dual economy with a modern segment dependent on oil earnings, overlaid by a traditional agricultural and trading economy. At independence in 1960 agriculture accounted for well over half of GDP, and was the main source of export earnings and public revenue. The oil sector, which emerged in the 1960s and was firmly established during the 1970s, is now of overwhelming importance to the point of over-dependence. Undoubtedly, Africa and indeed Nigeria is facing an economic crises situation featured by inadequate resources for long-term development, high poverty level, low capacity utilization, high level of unemployment and other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) increasingly becoming difficult to achieve by 2020. Foreign direct investment has assumed prominent place in her strategy as a way of boosting economic rival and growth. It is also seen by policy makers at all levels as a way of bridging the resource gap of the country and avoiding further debt build-up (UNCTAD, 2005). This has brought about several changes in policy and regulations in order to encourage foreign investor to invest in the country. Other measures include – the liberalization of the foreign investment regime to allow major foreign ownership, lifting foreign exchange controls and the privatization of Nigeria’s public enterprises. This research is aimed to take an in-depth analysis of the major private capital flow foreign direct investment to a growing economy; Nigeria. This investment trend will be narrowed down to the extractive sector and in particular the oil and gas sector with the aim of investigating how investment in this sector translate to economic growth. 1.6 Research Gap During the last decade, a number of interesting studies in the role of foreign direct investment in stimulating economic growth has appeared. Several authors have observed that the major reason for increased effort in attracting more FDI has been stemmed from the belief that FDI has several positive effects (Levine and  Carkovic, 2002, Caves, 1996). In contributing to the importance of FDI, it has also been shown that FDI is three times more efficient than domestic investment (De-Gregorio, 2003). Available evidence for developed countries seems to support the idea that productivity of domestic firms is positively related to the presence of foreign firms (Globerman, 1979). The result for developing countries are not clear, with some finding positive spillover (Blomstrom, 1986,  Kokko, 1994), and others reporting limited evidence (Aitken  et  al., 1997). Earlier studies on FDI showed that target countries receive very few benefits and in most cases negative effect on economic growth (Singer, 1950;  Prebisch, 1968;  Saltz, 1992;  Bos  et  al., 1974 cited in (Katerina  et  al., 2004). A positive  effect is only contingent on the ‘absorptive capacity’ of the host country  (Durham, 2004).  Many research have shown that FDI stimulates economic growth (Borensztein  et  al., 1998, Amy Jocelyn and  Kamal, 1999) as seen in china’s economic growth (Dees, 1998 cited in (Ayanwale, 2007) and Latin American countries (Mello, 1997) showing that inflow of capital brings about increase in investment level. FDI has also been shown to have both a positive and negative effect on economic development depending on the variables[1]  that are used along side the test equation  (UNCTAD, 1998; 1999). Its effect has also been more positively acclaimed in countries with higher institutional capabilities (Olofsdotter, 1998) and economically less advanced countries (like Philippines and Thailand) but negatively on more economically advanced countries like Japan and Taiwan (Bende-Nabende  and Ford, 1998). In essence, the impact FDI has on growth of any economy may be country an period specific and as such there is a need for country specific studies. Several studies have shown varying relationship between FDI and economic growth in Nigeria. For example,  Odozi  (1995)  study showed that Structural Adjustment Policies (SAP hereafter) of Nigeria contributed to the FDI-growth relationship. He revealed that macro-policies before SAP discouraged foreign investors.  Ogiogo  (1995) reported a negative contribution of public investment to GDP growth for the reason of distortion. However, positive linkage effect of FDI-growth relationship was shown by  Aluko  (1961). Private domestic investment was also shown by  Ariyo  (1998)  to contribute positively to raising GDP-growth rate for the period 1970-1995. Oyinlola  (1995) using  Chenery  and Stout’s two-gap model found a positive relationship between FDI and economic growth.  Ekpo  (1995) using time series data revealed that political regime, real income per  capita, inflation rate, credit rating and debt service were key factors explaining variability  in FDI into Nigeria. Using unrelated regression model, FDI was shown to be pro-consumption and pro-import hence showing a negative relationship to domestic investment (Adelegan, 2000 cited in  Ayanwale, 2007) and statistically insignificant effect was shown for FDI-growth (Akinlo, 2004). More recent findings by  Ayanwale  (2007) revealed that FDI contributes positively to Nigeria’s economic growth with the communication sector accounting for the highest potential to grow that economy. He also opined that FDI in the manufacturing sector has a negative relationship with economic growth suggesting that the business climate is not healthy enough for the manufacturing sector to thrive and contribute to positive growth. Crude oil discovery and exploration has been said to have both positive and negative effect on Nigeria. The negative side is seen in term of the environmental degradation, deprived means of livelihood and other economic and social factors experienced by surrounding communities where the oil wells are exploited while the positive side is viewed from the large proceeds from domestic sale and export of petroleum products. However, its effect on the growth of the Nigerian economy as regards returns and productivity is still questionable (Odularu, 2007). This review shows that the debate on the impact of FDI on economic growth is far from being conclusive. The role of FDI can be country specific and its relationship with growth can either be positive, negative or insignificant depending on the macroeconomic dispensation (economic,  institutional  and  technological  conditions) in the recipient country (Zhang, 2001). Even though none of these studies controlled for the fact that must of the FDI was concentrated in the extractive industry, they did not specifically investigate the relationship between oil-FDI and economic growth. This is the focus of this study. 1.7 Research Objectives and Questions Few research on FDI into Sub-Saharan Africa have shown empirical evidence of FDI and economic growth as ambiguous (Ayanwale, 2007). In theory FDI is believed to have several positive effects on the economy of host country (such as productivity gains, technology transfers, the introduction of new processes, managerial know-how and skills, employee training etc), promoting its growth and in general, a significant factor in modernizing the host country’s economy (Katerina  et  al., 2004). However, there is no clear understanding of its contribution to growth (Bora, 2002). This research was driven by the following questions: Has foreign direct investment into Nigerian oil and gas sector brought about economic development? What is the transmission mechanism through which FDI brings about growth 1.8 Methodology 1.9 Dissertation Outline The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Chapter Two: This chapter is the literature review and shall be discussed in three subsection. The first two sections shall seek to review the theories and motivation for Foreign direct investment and the third section deals with the theoretical and analytic review of literature on FDI Growth linkages. This shall seek to answer the question on the mechanism through which FDI result in economic growth. Chapter Three: This chapter discusses the case study Nigeria and reviews the contribution performance and challenges of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. Also, the impact of this sector on economic growth is discussed. Chapter Four: The methodology and theoretical framework for the analysis is the objective of this chapter. This section discusses the research approach and data collection mode. The variables for analysis and the model for shall be derived. Chapter Five: Data Analysis of the result and findings shall be the aim of this chapter. Chapter Six: This chapter shall form the conclusion of the research and give a summary of the findings, suggestion for improving economic growth in Nigeria and recommendation for further study. Chapter Three Literature Review 3.0 Introduction Foreign direct investment is in general motivated by both â€Å"pull† and â€Å"push† factors. The push factors are external to developing countries and focuses majorly on growth and financial market conditions in industrial countries. On the other hand, the pull factors are dependent (on a lot of factors) domestic policies and characteristics of host countries. While the push factors determine the totality of available resources, the push factors determine its allocation between countries (Ajayi, 2004). The diversity of theoretical and empirical explanations for the impact and influence of FDI (and growth) is without doubt very rich. Many studies among others have emphasized conducive macroeconomic policy, increased liberalization of markets, large domestic markets, liberal trade regime, low labour cost, availability of natural resources, good infrastructure and investment in human capital (bring about an educative workforce) (Ajayi, 2003). This review therefore draws from many of these works with the particular aim of providing an understanding of the theoretical and empirical background, views and present thought on the relationship between FDI and economic growth. The discussion shall be presented in three sections. The first two sections shall discuss the theories and motivation for FDI and the third section involves theoretical and empirical review of the literature of FDI and economic growth from four perspectives: trade or export (openness), linkages and spillover effect, knowledge and technology transfer and human capital. 3.1 Theories of FDI FDI can take the form of a Greenfield investment in a new facility or an acquisition of or merger with an existing local firm. Majority of cross-border investment is in the form of merger and acquisition rather than Greenfield investments. According to estimates by United Nations, 40 to 80 percent of all FDI inflows between 1998 and 2005 were in the form of mergers and acquisition (Hill, 2009). However, FDI flows into developed nations are different from those of developing nations. For developing nations only about one- third of FDI is in the form of cross-border merger and acquisition. This may simply reflect the fact that there are fewer firms to acquire in developing nations (Hill, 2009). For the purpose of this research, I have concentrated on two theories of FDI which are relevant to the study. The first perspective explains why firms in the same industry often undertake FDI at the same time and why certain locations are favoured over others (i.e. the observed pattern of FDI). The second is known as the eclectic paradigm. This perspective is eclectic because it combines the best aspects of other theories into a single explanation. In proceeding with the discussion, we define some terms. When goods are produced at home and then shipped to the receiving country for sale, it is known as exporting. The process of granting a foreign entity (the licensee) rights to produce and sell the firm’s product in return for a royalty fee on every unit sold is known as Licensing. Foreign direct investment has been view as an expensive and risky venture compared to exporting and licensing. This is because firms bear the cost of establishing production facilities in a foreign country or acquiring a foreign enterprise and the risk of doing business in countries with different culture. In exporting, firms need not bear cost associated with FDI and risk can be reduced by the use of local sales agents. Similarly, under licensing, the licensee bears the cost and risks. However, it is worth noting in summary that firms will choose FDI over exporting as an entry strategy when transportation costs or trade barriers make exporting unattractive. Furthermore, firms will favor FDI over licensing (or franchising) when it wishes to maintain control of technological know-how or over its operations and business strategy or when firm’s capabilities are simply not amenable to licensing (Hill, 2009). 3.1.1 The Pattern of FDI 3.1.1.1 Strategic Behaviour The idea that FDI flow reflects strategic rivalry between firms in the global marketplace is the basis for one of the theories of FDI. In studying the relationship between FDI and rivalry in oligopolistic industries F. T. Knickerbocker proposed a variation to this argument. An oligopoly is an industry made up of a small number of large players (for example, an industry in which four firms control 80 percent of a domestic market). One key features of such market is the interdependence of major players: the action of one firm have immediate impact on the major competitors, forcing a response in kind. This interdependence leads to imitative behaviour; rivals are usually quick to imitate opponents in and oligopoly – â€Å"the bandwagon effect†. Imitative behaviour can take many forms in an oligopoly. Some good examples are price war and capacity increase. Rivals imitate lest they be left at a disadvantage in the future. F. T. Knickerbocker argued that the same kind of imitative behaviour characterizes FDI. Although Knickerbockers’ theory and its extensions can help to explain imitative FDI behaviour by firms in oligopolistic industry, it does not explain the choice and efficiency of FDI over exporting or licensing. This is explained by the internalization theory. 3.1.1.2 The Product Life Cycle Theory The product life cycle theory was proposed by Raymond Vernon in the mid-1960s and was based on the observation that for most of the 20th century, a very large proportion of the world’s new products had been developed by U.S. firms and sold first in the U.S. market (e.g. automobiles, photocopiers, televisions and semiconductor chips). Vernon opined that the wealth and size of the U.S. market gave U.S. firms a strong incentive to develop new consumer products and the high labour cost also gave firms in the U.S. an incentive to develop cost-saving process innovations. The theory went further to argue that early in the life cycle of a typical new product, while demand is starting to grow rapidly in the United States, demand in other advanced countries does not make it worth while for firms in those countries to start producing the new product, but it does necessitate some export from the United State to those countries. However, over time the demand for new product starts to grow in other advanced countries. As this happens, foreign producer begin to produce at home for their own market and growing demand causes U.S. firms to setup production facilities in those advanced countries. This limits the potential for export for the United States. Finally, at maturity product becomes standardized, cost consideration start to play a greater role in the competitive process and producer in advanced countries with lower labour cost than the U.S. might now begin to export to the United States. Under intense cost pressure, the cycle by which the United State lo st its advantage to other advanced countries might be repeated once more as developing countries begin to acquire a production advantage over advanced countries (Hill, 2009). The effect of these trends is that over time the United States switches form being an exporter of the product to an importer of the product as production becomes concentrated in lower-cost foreign locations. The product life cycle seems to be an accurate explanation of international trade patterns. However, the product l Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Nigerias Development Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Nigerias Development Chapter One 1.1 Introduction The drying up in the early 1980’s of commercial bank lending to developing economies made most countries eased restriction on foreign direct investment (FDI) and many aggressively offered tax incentives and subsidies to attract foreign capital (Aitken  and Harrison, 1999). Private capital flow to emerging market economies reached almost $200 billion in 2000. This is almost four times larger than the peak commercial bank lending years of the 1970’s and early 80’s. FDI now accounts for over sixty percent of private capital flow (Levine and  Carkovic, 2002). However, while the explosion of FDI flow remains unmistakable, the growth effect remains unclear. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been a topic high on the policy agenda in emerging markets. This is due to the contributions FDI make to a country’s external financing and economic growth. The extent of regulation of FDI and other form of capital flow are also issues policymakers take a stand on and economic research has devoted a large effort to these issues. The experience of small number of fast-growing East Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs), and recently china, has strengthened the belief that attracting FDI is needed to bridging the resource gap of low-income countries and avoiding further build-up of debt while directly tackling the cause of poverty (UNCTAD, 2005). Even though the Asian crisis sounded a cautionary note to premature financial liberalization the call for more accelerated pace of opening up FDI have intensified on the assumption that this will bring not only more stable capital inflow but also greater technological know-how, higher paying jobs, entrepreneurial and workplace skills and new export opportunities (Prasad  et  al., 2003). The increased importance of FDI has brought about international relationships, trade and policies materializing into export and imports between nations. This in turn results financial rewards to host countries. Policy makers across the region of Africa have hoped that attracting FDI with the bait of high tariff protection and generous incentives packages would provide the catalyst for a â€Å"late industrialization† drive (Thandika, 2001). The debt crises in the early 80’s and policies introduced by several countries in Africa also witnessed increased FDI as necessary for economic development. The pursuit of responsible macroeconomic policies combined with an accelerating pace of liberalization, deregulation and above all privatization were expected to attract FDI to Africa (WorldBank, 1997).  However, the record of the past two decades with respect to reducing poverty and attracting FDI as a result of policy changes has been disappointing at best (Ayanwale, 2007). The importance of FDI varies across different sector in the recipient countries. However, in all major country groups, the extractive sector accounts for a significant share of inflow of FDI: for example, Australia, Canada and Norway among developed countries; Botswana, Nigeria and South Africa in Africa; Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela in Latin America and the Caribbean; and Kazakhstan in South-East Europe and the  CIS  (UNCTAD, 2006a). The important of this sector is due to the fact that oil and gas are crucial to the contemporary global economy and their prices are key components of economic forecasts and performance. Crude oil and refined petroleum products constitute the largest single item in international trade, whether measured by volume or value (Steven, 2005). Thus, oil and gas are strategic resources in national, regional and global economies. Despite this significant and strategic influence, empirical evidence suggests that oil and gas abundant economies are among the least growing economies (Sachs and Warner, 1997,  Gelb, 1988, Stevens, 1991, Steven, 2005). This phenomenon is often conceived within the prisms of the â€Å"resource curse† and â€Å"Dutch disease†. Both of which are manifestations of inefficient utilization of resources rather than the inevitable outcome of the availability of oil and gas resources.  The impact of FDI on economic growth of recipient country has been one of varying opinions among authors. A huge literature exists concerning different effects of foreign investment on economic development in a recipient economy. Currently FDI sustains the most dynamic development in the world economy in comparison with other forms of foreign financing (De Gregorio, 1992). Most theoretical and empirical findings (see chapter 3) imply that FDI has a strong positive growth impact on the recipient economy. Within the African context, the Nigerian economy is a unique case, not because it is a developing economy and is quite large, but because during last 15 years the country has not managed to attract significant amounts of FDI (Asiedu, 2002). Typically investment risks are so high in Nigeria that only high profits in export oriented extractive industries (e.g. fuel industry) have attracted much foreign direct investment. This sector exerts a prominent influence on the economy as a key revenue earner. While oil and gas resources have very high revenue yields due to increasing international demand the question of aggregate FDI impact on economic growth remains an open question. This paper attempts to find some answers.   Over the last decade, the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Western and Southern Africa has become one of the most promising oil exploration areas in the world with a convergence of interest between African governments, multinational oil companies, international Financial Institutions  (Jerome  et  al., 2007). Nigeria falls among the six countries which have become key players in the world of energy stake. However, the economic record and lived experience of mineral-exporting countries has generally been disappointing. The World Bank classification of Highly Indebted Poor Countries include: twelve of the world 25 most mineral dependent states and six most oil dependent. When taken as a group, all â€Å"petroleum rich† less developed countries has witnessed erosion in their living standards and many rank bottom one-third of United Nations Human Development Index. In addition to poor growth records and entrenched poverty, they are also characterized by high level of corruption and a low prevalence of democratization  (Jerome  et  al., 2007).† 1.2 FDI Defined Various classifications have been made of foreign direct investment. For instance, FDI has been described by the Balance of Payment Manual 5th  edition (BPM5) as a category of international investment that reflects the objective of a resident in one economy (the direct Investor) obtaining a lasting interest of a resident in another economy (the direct investment enterprise). The lasting interest implies the existence of a long-term relationship between the direct investor and the direct investment enterprise and a significant degree of influence by the investor on the management of the enterprise. A direct investment relationship is established when the direct investor has acquired 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares or voting power of an enterprise abroad (IMF, 1993). This comprises not only the initial transaction establishing the FDI relationship between the direct investor and the direct investment enterprise but all subsequent capital transactions between them and among affiliated enterprises resident in different economies (Patterson  et  al., 2004). Once a firm undertakes FDI, it becomes a  multinational enterprise  (MNEs). Policymakers believe that foreign direct investment produces positive effects on host economies. Some of these benefits are in the form of  externalities  and the adoption of foreign technology which could be in the form of licensing, agreements, imitation, employee training and the introduction of new processes by the foreign firms (Alfaro  et  al., 2004). Multinational enterprises are said to diffuse technology and management know-how to domestic firms (Tang  et  al., 2008). FDI is conventionally used as a proxy to measure the extent and direction of  MNE  activities (Jones, 1996). Like any other business,  MNEs  have a major objective of maximizing profit and reducing costs. Hence,  MNEs  consider regions with higher returns on investment and enabling environment for business success. This is one of the reasons for more FDI in some places than others. Accordingly  MNE  will invest higher in regions that provide the best mix of the traditional FDI determinants (Berg, 2003). The motivation for investment by multinationals in certain countries much more than others  is discussed elaborately in chapter three 1.3. Background The involvement of  MNEs  (through FDI) in extractive industries has had a chequered history. In the early twentieth century, these industries accounted for the largest share of FDI, reflecting the international expansion of firms from the colonial powers. With a growing number of former colonies gaining independence after the Second World War, and the creation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1960, the dominance of these  MNEs  s declined, as did the share of extractive industries in global FDI. From the mid-1970s, in particular, the share of oil, gas and metal mining in world FDI fell steadily as other sectors grew much faster. However, as a result of rising mineral prices, the share of extractive industries in global FDI has recently increased, although it is still much lower than those of services and manufacturing. It is therefore an opportune timeto revisit the impact of FDI into theextractive industries has on economic development. Measuring the effect of FDI on economic growth occupies a substantial body of economic literature. Many theoretical and empirical studies have identified several channels through which FDI may positively or negatively affect economic growth (Akinlo, 2003,  Mello, 1997). Not many studies have reported on the effects of FDI in Africa and most existing studies have concentrated on economies with high FDI in the manufacturing industries unlike economies with high FDI inflow in the extractive sector (as the case of Nigeria). Several factors suggest that the indirect benefits of FDI maybe less in extractive sector especially oil industries. Reasons given for this are that: firstly, the extractive sector (such as oil  sub-sector) is often an enclave sector with little linkages with the other sectors. Secondly, the knowledge and technology embedded in the sector is extremely capital intensive and so transfer of knowledge and technology maybe less. Also, the capital requirement and large economies of scale may not attract new entrants into the sector as in the manufacturing sector.  Furthermore, not all sector of the economy have the same potential to absorb foreign technology or create linkages with the rest of the economy (Hirschman, 1958).  Finally, sales in this sector are foreign market oriented and require fewer input of materials and intermediate goods from local suppliers. Hence will have less forward and backward linkages  (Akinlo, 2004). The  sensitivity of project to world commodity pric e also make it been view as a volatie sector (WorldBank, 2005) Given the pattern of foreign direct investment flow to Nigeria (mostly in oil and gas sector) and the angst-ridden as regards the benefits from the extractive FDI, it is apposite to examine empirically the situation in Nigeria. This constitutes the objective of this research. An analysis of this will be done for the period between 1980 and 2006 1.4  Overview of Foreign Direct Investment 1.5  Natural Resources and Economic Development Since the 1950’s, economists have been concerned that economies dominated by natural resources would somehow be disadvantaged in the drive for economic progress. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, this concern was based upon deteriorating terms of trade between the â€Å"centre† and â€Å"periphery† (Prebisch, 1964) coupled with concern over the limited economic linkages from primary product exports to the rest of the economy (Hirschman, 1958). In the 1970’s, it was driven by the impact of the oil shocks on the oil exporting countries (Wijnbergen  and Van, 1986,  Mabro  and Monroe, 1974). In the 1980’s, the phenomenon of â€Å"Dutch Disease† (the impact of an overvalued exchange rate on the non-resource traded sector) attracted attention (Corden, 1984). Finally in the 1990’s, it was the impact of revenues from oil, gas and mineral projects on government behaviour that dominated the discussion (Stevens, 1991,  Gelb, 1988). The common thread running through these concerns is that the development of natural resources should generate revenues to translate into economic growth and development. Thus the revenues accruing to the economies should provide capital in the form of foreign exchange overcoming what was seen as a key barrier to economic progress. This could be explained both in terms of common sense (more money means a better standard of life) and development theories the requirement for a â€Å"big-push† (Murphy  et  al., 1989), capital constraints (Lewis, 1955,  Rostow, 1960) and dual-gap analysis (Shibley  and  thirlwall, 1981). However, the reality appeared to be the reverse. Countries with abundant natural resources appeared to perform less well than their more poorly endowed neighbors. Thus the term â€Å"resource curse† began to enter the literature (Vanderlinde, 1994). More recently there has been a revival of interest in the phenomenon of â€Å"resource curse†. Furthermore, this has drawn the attention of a much wider audience than previously. Growing concern among a number of non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) regarding the negative effects of oil, gas and mineral projects on developing countries has had several effects. It has forced the World Bank group to consider their role in such projects. This has culminated in the creation of â€Å"the Extractive Industry Review† based in Jakarta to consider whether the World Bank Group should, as a matter of principle, have any involvement with such projects. Disagreement within and between the World Bank and the IMF have further fuelled the debate over how such revenues should be managed.   NGO  concern has also encouraged the more responsible petroleum and mineral corporations to consider the impact of their investment in such projects on the countries concerned. However, in the literature that has focused on â€Å"resource curse†, there are references to countries that allegedly managed to avoid a â€Å"curse† and instead received a â€Å"blessing†. For example, even the report produced by  Oxfam  America (Ross, 2001) which is strongly negative towards such projects, states †¦ â€Å"There are exceptions: some states with large extractive industries – like Botswana, Chile and Malaysia – have overcome many of the obstacles †¦ and implemented sound pro-poor strategies†. There are similar references elsewhere to â€Å"success† stories – Botswana (Hope, 1998, Love, 1994), Chile (Schurman, 1996), Indonesia (Usui, 1996), Malaysia (Rasiah  and Shari, 2001), and Norway (Wright and  Czelutsa, 2002). Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with close to 132 million inhabitants. However, approximately 55% of the population lives on less than the value of one US dollar per day. The Nigerian economy depends heavily on the oil sector, which contributes 95% of export revenues, 76% of government revenues and about a third of gross domestic product. Before the establishment of democracy in 1999, the country was governed by military generals, under whose rule Nigeria’s economic performance had taken a beating for 15 consecutive years (Datamonitor, 2007). Nigeria has a dual economy with a modern segment dependent on oil earnings, overlaid by a traditional agricultural and trading economy. At independence in 1960 agriculture accounted for well over half of GDP, and was the main source of export earnings and public revenue. The oil sector, which emerged in the 1960s and was firmly established during the 1970s, is now of overwhelming importance to the point of over-dependence. Undoubtedly, Africa and indeed Nigeria is facing an economic crises situation featured by inadequate resources for long-term development, high poverty level, low capacity utilization, high level of unemployment and other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) increasingly becoming difficult to achieve by 2020. Foreign direct investment has assumed prominent place in her strategy as a way of boosting economic rival and growth. It is also seen by policy makers at all levels as a way of bridging the resource gap of the country and avoiding further debt build-up (UNCTAD, 2005). This has brought about several changes in policy and regulations in order to encourage foreign investor to invest in the country. Other measures include – the liberalization of the foreign investment regime to allow major foreign ownership, lifting foreign exchange controls and the privatization of Nigeria’s public enterprises. This research is aimed to take an in-depth analysis of the major private capital flow foreign direct investment to a growing economy; Nigeria. This investment trend will be narrowed down to the extractive sector and in particular the oil and gas sector with the aim of investigating how investment in this sector translate to economic growth. 1.6 Research Gap During the last decade, a number of interesting studies in the role of foreign direct investment in stimulating economic growth has appeared. Several authors have observed that the major reason for increased effort in attracting more FDI has been stemmed from the belief that FDI has several positive effects (Levine and  Carkovic, 2002, Caves, 1996). In contributing to the importance of FDI, it has also been shown that FDI is three times more efficient than domestic investment (De-Gregorio, 2003). Available evidence for developed countries seems to support the idea that productivity of domestic firms is positively related to the presence of foreign firms (Globerman, 1979). The result for developing countries are not clear, with some finding positive spillover (Blomstrom, 1986,  Kokko, 1994), and others reporting limited evidence (Aitken  et  al., 1997). Earlier studies on FDI showed that target countries receive very few benefits and in most cases negative effect on economic growth (Singer, 1950;  Prebisch, 1968;  Saltz, 1992;  Bos  et  al., 1974 cited in (Katerina  et  al., 2004). A positive  effect is only contingent on the ‘absorptive capacity’ of the host country  (Durham, 2004).  Many research have shown that FDI stimulates economic growth (Borensztein  et  al., 1998, Amy Jocelyn and  Kamal, 1999) as seen in china’s economic growth (Dees, 1998 cited in (Ayanwale, 2007) and Latin American countries (Mello, 1997) showing that inflow of capital brings about increase in investment level. FDI has also been shown to have both a positive and negative effect on economic development depending on the variables[1]  that are used along side the test equation  (UNCTAD, 1998; 1999). Its effect has also been more positively acclaimed in countries with higher institutional capabilities (Olofsdotter, 1998) and economically less advanced countries (like Philippines and Thailand) but negatively on more economically advanced countries like Japan and Taiwan (Bende-Nabende  and Ford, 1998). In essence, the impact FDI has on growth of any economy may be country an period specific and as such there is a need for country specific studies. Several studies have shown varying relationship between FDI and economic growth in Nigeria. For example,  Odozi  (1995)  study showed that Structural Adjustment Policies (SAP hereafter) of Nigeria contributed to the FDI-growth relationship. He revealed that macro-policies before SAP discouraged foreign investors.  Ogiogo  (1995) reported a negative contribution of public investment to GDP growth for the reason of distortion. However, positive linkage effect of FDI-growth relationship was shown by  Aluko  (1961). Private domestic investment was also shown by  Ariyo  (1998)  to contribute positively to raising GDP-growth rate for the period 1970-1995. Oyinlola  (1995) using  Chenery  and Stout’s two-gap model found a positive relationship between FDI and economic growth.  Ekpo  (1995) using time series data revealed that political regime, real income per  capita, inflation rate, credit rating and debt service were key factors explaining variability  in FDI into Nigeria. Using unrelated regression model, FDI was shown to be pro-consumption and pro-import hence showing a negative relationship to domestic investment (Adelegan, 2000 cited in  Ayanwale, 2007) and statistically insignificant effect was shown for FDI-growth (Akinlo, 2004). More recent findings by  Ayanwale  (2007) revealed that FDI contributes positively to Nigeria’s economic growth with the communication sector accounting for the highest potential to grow that economy. He also opined that FDI in the manufacturing sector has a negative relationship with economic growth suggesting that the business climate is not healthy enough for the manufacturing sector to thrive and contribute to positive growth. Crude oil discovery and exploration has been said to have both positive and negative effect on Nigeria. The negative side is seen in term of the environmental degradation, deprived means of livelihood and other economic and social factors experienced by surrounding communities where the oil wells are exploited while the positive side is viewed from the large proceeds from domestic sale and export of petroleum products. However, its effect on the growth of the Nigerian economy as regards returns and productivity is still questionable (Odularu, 2007). This review shows that the debate on the impact of FDI on economic growth is far from being conclusive. The role of FDI can be country specific and its relationship with growth can either be positive, negative or insignificant depending on the macroeconomic dispensation (economic,  institutional  and  technological  conditions) in the recipient country (Zhang, 2001). Even though none of these studies controlled for the fact that must of the FDI was concentrated in the extractive industry, they did not specifically investigate the relationship between oil-FDI and economic growth. This is the focus of this study. 1.7 Research Objectives and Questions Few research on FDI into Sub-Saharan Africa have shown empirical evidence of FDI and economic growth as ambiguous (Ayanwale, 2007). In theory FDI is believed to have several positive effects on the economy of host country (such as productivity gains, technology transfers, the introduction of new processes, managerial know-how and skills, employee training etc), promoting its growth and in general, a significant factor in modernizing the host country’s economy (Katerina  et  al., 2004). However, there is no clear understanding of its contribution to growth (Bora, 2002). This research was driven by the following questions: Has foreign direct investment into Nigerian oil and gas sector brought about economic development? What is the transmission mechanism through which FDI brings about growth 1.8 Methodology 1.9 Dissertation Outline The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Chapter Two: This chapter is the literature review and shall be discussed in three subsection. The first two sections shall seek to review the theories and motivation for Foreign direct investment and the third section deals with the theoretical and analytic review of literature on FDI Growth linkages. This shall seek to answer the question on the mechanism through which FDI result in economic growth. Chapter Three: This chapter discusses the case study Nigeria and reviews the contribution performance and challenges of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. Also, the impact of this sector on economic growth is discussed. Chapter Four: The methodology and theoretical framework for the analysis is the objective of this chapter. This section discusses the research approach and data collection mode. The variables for analysis and the model for shall be derived. Chapter Five: Data Analysis of the result and findings shall be the aim of this chapter. Chapter Six: This chapter shall form the conclusion of the research and give a summary of the findings, suggestion for improving economic growth in Nigeria and recommendation for further study. Chapter Three Literature Review 3.0 Introduction Foreign direct investment is in general motivated by both â€Å"pull† and â€Å"push† factors. The push factors are external to developing countries and focuses majorly on growth and financial market conditions in industrial countries. On the other hand, the pull factors are dependent (on a lot of factors) domestic policies and characteristics of host countries. While the push factors determine the totality of available resources, the push factors determine its allocation between countries (Ajayi, 2004). The diversity of theoretical and empirical explanations for the impact and influence of FDI (and growth) is without doubt very rich. Many studies among others have emphasized conducive macroeconomic policy, increased liberalization of markets, large domestic markets, liberal trade regime, low labour cost, availability of natural resources, good infrastructure and investment in human capital (bring about an educative workforce) (Ajayi, 2003). This review therefore draws from many of these works with the particular aim of providing an understanding of the theoretical and empirical background, views and present thought on the relationship between FDI and economic growth. The discussion shall be presented in three sections. The first two sections shall discuss the theories and motivation for FDI and the third section involves theoretical and empirical review of the literature of FDI and economic growth from four perspectives: trade or export (openness), linkages and spillover effect, knowledge and technology transfer and human capital. 3.1 Theories of FDI FDI can take the form of a Greenfield investment in a new facility or an acquisition of or merger with an existing local firm. Majority of cross-border investment is in the form of merger and acquisition rather than Greenfield investments. According to estimates by United Nations, 40 to 80 percent of all FDI inflows between 1998 and 2005 were in the form of mergers and acquisition (Hill, 2009). However, FDI flows into developed nations are different from those of developing nations. For developing nations only about one- third of FDI is in the form of cross-border merger and acquisition. This may simply reflect the fact that there are fewer firms to acquire in developing nations (Hill, 2009). For the purpose of this research, I have concentrated on two theories of FDI which are relevant to the study. The first perspective explains why firms in the same industry often undertake FDI at the same time and why certain locations are favoured over others (i.e. the observed pattern of FDI). The second is known as the eclectic paradigm. This perspective is eclectic because it combines the best aspects of other theories into a single explanation. In proceeding with the discussion, we define some terms. When goods are produced at home and then shipped to the receiving country for sale, it is known as exporting. The process of granting a foreign entity (the licensee) rights to produce and sell the firm’s product in return for a royalty fee on every unit sold is known as Licensing. Foreign direct investment has been view as an expensive and risky venture compared to exporting and licensing. This is because firms bear the cost of establishing production facilities in a foreign country or acquiring a foreign enterprise and the risk of doing business in countries with different culture. In exporting, firms need not bear cost associated with FDI and risk can be reduced by the use of local sales agents. Similarly, under licensing, the licensee bears the cost and risks. However, it is worth noting in summary that firms will choose FDI over exporting as an entry strategy when transportation costs or trade barriers make exporting unattractive. Furthermore, firms will favor FDI over licensing (or franchising) when it wishes to maintain control of technological know-how or over its operations and business strategy or when firm’s capabilities are simply not amenable to licensing (Hill, 2009). 3.1.1 The Pattern of FDI 3.1.1.1 Strategic Behaviour The idea that FDI flow reflects strategic rivalry between firms in the global marketplace is the basis for one of the theories of FDI. In studying the relationship between FDI and rivalry in oligopolistic industries F. T. Knickerbocker proposed a variation to this argument. An oligopoly is an industry made up of a small number of large players (for example, an industry in which four firms control 80 percent of a domestic market). One key features of such market is the interdependence of major players: the action of one firm have immediate impact on the major competitors, forcing a response in kind. This interdependence leads to imitative behaviour; rivals are usually quick to imitate opponents in and oligopoly – â€Å"the bandwagon effect†. Imitative behaviour can take many forms in an oligopoly. Some good examples are price war and capacity increase. Rivals imitate lest they be left at a disadvantage in the future. F. T. Knickerbocker argued that the same kind of imitative behaviour characterizes FDI. Although Knickerbockers’ theory and its extensions can help to explain imitative FDI behaviour by firms in oligopolistic industry, it does not explain the choice and efficiency of FDI over exporting or licensing. This is explained by the internalization theory. 3.1.1.2 The Product Life Cycle Theory The product life cycle theory was proposed by Raymond Vernon in the mid-1960s and was based on the observation that for most of the 20th century, a very large proportion of the world’s new products had been developed by U.S. firms and sold first in the U.S. market (e.g. automobiles, photocopiers, televisions and semiconductor chips). Vernon opined that the wealth and size of the U.S. market gave U.S. firms a strong incentive to develop new consumer products and the high labour cost also gave firms in the U.S. an incentive to develop cost-saving process innovations. The theory went further to argue that early in the life cycle of a typical new product, while demand is starting to grow rapidly in the United States, demand in other advanced countries does not make it worth while for firms in those countries to start producing the new product, but it does necessitate some export from the United State to those countries. However, over time the demand for new product starts to grow in other advanced countries. As this happens, foreign producer begin to produce at home for their own market and growing demand causes U.S. firms to setup production facilities in those advanced countries. This limits the potential for export for the United States. Finally, at maturity product becomes standardized, cost consideration start to play a greater role in the competitive process and producer in advanced countries with lower labour cost than the U.S. might now begin to export to the United States. Under intense cost pressure, the cycle by which the United State lo st its advantage to other advanced countries might be repeated once more as developing countries begin to acquire a production advantage over advanced countries (Hill, 2009). The effect of these trends is that over time the United States switches form being an exporter of the product to an importer of the product as production becomes concentrated in lower-cost foreign locations. The product life cycle seems to be an accurate explanation of international trade patterns. However, the product l