The Relationship between Regulation and Market Structures and How Regulation Affects the Market

The Relationship between Regulation and Market Structures and How Regulation Affects the Market With a long history of bilateral and multilateral trade, policies and trade liberalization, negotiations of creating independent market environments have been a major issue of discussion in the recent past.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Regulation and Market Structures and How Regulation Affects the Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Free market entails allowing markets rule themselves by allowing the free flow of goods and services, but in the past the government has had to regulate the market either by introducing trade tariffs, which seek to protect the internal industries or other tools which seek to set the market in order to guide the economy in an acceptable manner. Economic or industrial regulation can be described as the interference of the market by the government. Government’s aim of interfering with the market is to influence the behaviors of firms or even individual s in the private sector engaging in the provision of goods and services. These regulations are aimed at protecting the public from exploitation. Several tools exist through which the market regulation takes place and they include: price controls, taxes, interests and quotas thus regulations are used to improve the efficiency to which the society is allocated resources and alter income distribution in order to achieve certain goals. Industrial regulation affects oligopolies in such a way that for example with an oligopolist mutually aware his action will trigger reactions from others, tend to have stronger incentives to substitute anti competitive with cooperation for vigorous competition thus what may follow is a coordinated interaction. This causes the intervention by the government to regulate chances of cartel formations and thus the operations of oligopolies are interfered with as they cannot raise the prices as they would wish. The government allows them only to raise prices to levels which are socially acceptable. Another market structure affected is the operation of a monopoly. This is due to the fact that industrial regulation controls the market power by allowing free competition, market stabilization, and expansion of investments. This in return introduces more market players, several buyers and several sellers and operation of monopolies becomes curtailed.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Social regulation is the imposition and enactment of laws and policies, which seek to protect the society from harmful or hazardous corporate or individual behavior. It is simply concerned with the protection of the society against over exploitation, for example: production methods, the product attribute such as its quality, information disclosure for instance on the usage and includes the government rule on environmental protection, healthy, and f airness among the market players. It promotes what is deemed or has been assessed and declared as socially desirable. Social regulation affects both the private and public entities. The government ensures that what the private sector provides in the market is suitable for the public both in terms of quality and quantity. Thus social regulation protects the consumers, workers and environment from deceptive acts of the private sector. By introducing commissions such as the Environment Policy Act, the government ensures that the activities of the private sector do not threaten or overlook the safety regulations of the public as a whole. Through this, the public sector is not cheated, duped or exploited by the private sector. Social regulation differs from industrial regulation in that it is usually applied across the board too many or all industries and usually affects many people since it involves the government regulating all the details of production thus everybody involved in the p roduction process has to comply. The private sector argues that social regulation is not economical as most of the times marginal costs exceeds marginal benefits leading to over regulation. This causes most of the private entities to change their production processes for example by adopting new technologies that support the required guidelines thus causing disposal of assets before their period. A natural monopoly is a firm producing a single homogenous product which other industry would like to produce but cannot due to cases of government protection or the capital required for such venture is not affordable or even the importance of the product to the society thus it might be deemed unsafe allowing everybody to provide the service.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Regulation and Market Structures and How Regulation Affects the Market specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Natural monopolies are u sually established as a result of government special interests as they enhance efficiency by encouraging innovations. Costs of production, which make one producer more efficient than the other, can also force the establishment of a natural monopoly due to the expected high returns of scale. As a matter of fact, high market concentration does not always guarantee the absence of competition; sometimes it can reflect the success of a firm. In the production theory, sometimes monopolies can be favored by their better chances of exploiting the economy of scales reaching market equilibrium faster by producing more goods or services at a relatively low cost than it would be in a competitive market. Since these firms make profits at an abnormal rate, this may lead to adoption of advance technologies in the long run which can aid at producing quality products for consumers at a reduced price. Monopolies often exist in provision of basic services, for example, in the water industry where exis tence of several firms would result in multiplication of water pipes which would be costly to both the public and the private sector and thus most of the times the government gives natural monopolies to certain government affiliated companies to provide the services (Joskow, 2005). Premised on the fact that free trade benefits the economy, the antitrust laws of the USA seeks to prevent the anti competitive business behaviors which could be displayed by some of the major firms. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was the first antitrust law, which has since then undergone amendments with the most well known being the â€Å"Clayton Act of 1914 and the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936.Congress also created a regulatory agency to administrate and enforce the law, under the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914† ( Hartman, 1997: Par 3) The four major pieces that the antitrust laws seeks to control areAdvertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More â€Å"Agreements between competitors, contractual arrangements between sellers and buyers, the pursuit or maintenance of monopoly power, and mergers†, (Hartman, 1997: Par 2) Agreements between competitors is checked under the Sherman Act of 1890, which seeks to prohibit every contract or conspiracy between two or more companies which seek to monopolize market for any product. The act authorized the Federal Government to dissolve trusts and established penalties for the persons convicted for establishing such combinations. The Clayton act which also falls under the antitrust laws seeks to address specific practices where the effect may interfere with free and perfect competition. This act covers practices such as creation of mergers and acquisitions which may lead to a creation of a monopoly. The act prohibits exclusive sales contracts, local price cutting to freeze other market players. The only secluded sectors are the labor unions and agricultural cooperatives from these co mbinations that restraint trade. Robinson- Patman Act is another antitrust legislation which seeks to deal with discriminatory prices in the market charged to competitors. The purpose of this act is to protect small businesses by controlling the ability of large firms to engage in large discriminatory discounts due to their huge purchasing power. This law specifically bans the charging of different prices to different buyers. The act seeks to help the small buyers who might be disadvantaged when it comes to competition with the larger firms. The Federal Trade commission Act is the last piece of antitrust law and this act seeks to disallow the use of unfair and deceptive practices under this act, behavior which might not be illegal under the other said acts may however be unlawful under the FTC act. The Federal Trade Commission simply enhances consumer confidence by enforcing the federal laws which seek to protect consumers. It also ensures that consumers are well equipped with free information which can help them in exercising their rights and spots to avoid deception. The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which is served with the function of ensuring compliance in line with the laws, regulations and any existing tariffs that exist in USA. The next commission is the Postal Regulatory Commission which advises the government on the legislations that need to be enacted with matters concerning market products and the expected consumer price index cap. Another commission is the Federal Communications Commission which has the jurisdiction over radio, telephone communication and television the commission is served with the function of regulating the monopolistic nature of firms search as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. The other commission, Securities and Exchange Commission interprets federal security laws, issues new rules and amends the existing ones while also overseeing the inspection of securities firms, brokers and investment advisers among others and finally the US Federal Nuclear Commission whose main function is to protect the people of USA from nuclear compounds by ensuring the safety of nuclear production and other civilian uses of nuclear substances. With the increased attention towards civil rights, environmental concerns and consumer issues, there has been establishment of regulatory agencies which are: The Equal employment Opportunity Commission which is served with administering of civil rights, the commission coordinates the federal efforts at affirmative action for the employment of minority races and women. It enforces law against discrimination and investigates discrimination complaints against race, gender, age and religion. The second regulatory commission is the Environment Protection Agency which is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that industries adhere to the set rules which ensure that there is limited water and air pollution and also the disposition of hazardous wastes by companies is checked by this commission. It does this through by writing and enforcing rules as directed by the congress. The Occupation Safety and Healthy Review Commission is another regulatory commission charged with the role of developing regulations at work place. It is supposed to conduct inspections at work place and ensure that the working standards under which workers are exposed to are conducive. It ensures employees work under environment free of toxic compounds. The Consumer Product Safety Commission ensures that safety standards on potentially lethal and dangerous items such as hand tools and lawn mowers, flammable products, children toys are enforced by the industry players involved any unreasonable injury which may result from using such items is checked by this commission. Finally we have the Federal Election Commission which is an independent regulatory conducted in the US. The commission regulates election financing since its main function is to disclose the source of money use d during election campaigns. They do this through enforcing the provisions of the law such as the limits and oversee the funding of presidential elections Reference List Hartman, S. (1997). Antitrust Laws: Wests Legal Directory Law Information Center. Web. Joskow, P. L. (2005). Regulation of Natural Monopolies: Centre for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. Retrieved from http://ceepr.mit.edu/

The Southern Ocean Is the Fifth and Newest World Ocean

The Southern Ocean Is the Fifth and Newest World Ocean In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization created the fifth and newest world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. The new Southern Ocean completely surrounds Antarctica.​ The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the worlds five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). Are There Really Five Oceans? For some time, those in geographic circles have debated whether there are four or five oceans on Earth. Some consider the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific to be the worlds four oceans. Now, those that side with the number five can add the fifth new ocean and call it the Southern Ocean or the Antarctic Ocean, thanks to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). The IHO Makes a Decision The IHO, the  International Hydrographic Organization, has attempted to settle that debate through a 2000 publication that declared, named, and demarcated the Southern Ocean. The IHO published the third edition of Limits of Oceans and Seas (S-23), the global authority on the names and locations of seas and oceans, in 2000. The third edition in 2000 established the existence of the Southern Ocean as the fifth world ocean. There are 68 member countries of the IHO and membership is limited to non-landlocked countries. Twenty-eight countries responded to the IHOs request for recommendations on what to do about the Southern Ocean. All responding members except Argentina agreed that the ocean surrounding Antarctica should be created and given a single name. Eighteen of the 28 responding countries preferred calling the ocean the Southern Ocean over the alternative name Antarctic Ocean, so the former is the one that was selected. Where Is the Fifth Ocean? The Southern Ocean consists of the ocean surrounding Antarctica across all degrees of longitude and up to a northern boundary at 60 ° South latitude (which is also the limit of the United Nations Antarctic Treaty). Half of the responding countries supported 60 ° South while only seven preferred 50 ° South as the oceans northern limit. The IHO decided that, even with a mere 50% support for 60 °, since 60 °S does not run through land (50 °S does pass through South America) that 60 °S should be the northern limit of the newly demarcated ocean. Why the Need for a New Southern Ocean? A great deal of oceanographic research in recent years has been concerned with ocean circulations, first because of How Big Is the Southern Ocean? At approximately 20.3 million square kilometers (7.8 million square miles) and about twice the size of the U.S.A., the new ocean is the worlds fourth largest (following the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). The Southern Oceans lowest point is 7,235 meters (23,737 feet) below sea level in the South Sandwich Trench. The sea temperature of the Southern Ocean varies from -2 °C to 10 °C (28 °F to 50 °F). Its home to the worlds largest ocean current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that moves east and transports 100 times the flow of all the worlds rivers. Despite the demarcation of this new ocean, its likely that the debate over the number of oceans will continue nonetheless. After all, there is but one world ocean as all five (or four) oceans on our planet are connected.

Leisure time Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leisure time - Essay Example Moreover, gender differences also determine certain variance that exists in leisure, as men seem to engage more in leisure as compared to the females. Free and leisure time remains a crucial period for adolescents, especially those below the age of fifteen, for developmental purposes. Such development is influenced by the parental attitude towards interest and control with the motivational style on the adolescent as the mediating aspect (Olszewska and Roberts, 2009). Based on such a perspective, this paper seeks to make a determination on which goods and services are marketable in the coming decade for leisure activities for children aged fifteen years and above. Kids usually engage in various activities as a means of spending their leisure time, most especially on activities of highest interests. Considering the tremendous technological development that the world is experiencing today, the kinds of activities that kids engage in during their leisure time, have equally taken a different dimension. A majority of kids spend their leisure time on activities affiliated to technology rather than in other social activities. Ideally, on an average day, kids spend approximately 2.7 hours in a possible free time of five hours watching TV. Majorities of TV stations today vary in their programming, and, therefore, provides kids with an opportunity of broadening their view. Kids of fifteen years and above are at a particular stage of their lives in which the happenings in their environments determine their behavior and activities. Additionally, the activities that interest them most are the same ones that the kids get involved in mostly. From the chart, it is a clear indication that kids ideally, spend a better part of their leisure time in watching TV, which takes a substantive part of their leisure time at 2.7 hours of a possible five hours. TV watching is far followed by socializing and communication, which takes approximately thirty-eight minutes of the five

McDonalds & KFCs Success in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

McDonalds & KFCs Success in China - Essay Example In 2004 KFC opened its 1000th restaurant in China, and enjoyed a great deal of success. KFC entered the Chinese market before McDonalds, that’s why the latter had to come up with a strategy to deal with this dilemma. McDonald used the same strategy as of KFC’s. They looked for partners when they entered China; chose Guy Russo as Greater China international relationship partner. International expansion of both the fast food giants lies in franchising. Successful franchising lowers expenses that they would otherwise have to bear and also increases brand loyalty. For instance, KFC entered Asia in 1970. The franchising strategy worked like this; they gave franchising rights to a joint venture company, including two Japanese and one local when they entered Taiwan in 1984. Many claim that KFC’s early entry into China is one of the major factors that contributed to their huge success in terms of revenues and expansion in China. On the other hand, McDonalds used a simila r strategy; in 1971, the first McDonalds restaurant opened in Tokyo’s Ginza district. It was a marketing strategy that was following the rival KFC’s. It seems like economics Game theory; one competitor opens an outlet somewhere, the other follows, strangling the hold on market share. The move into Asia of both the giants seems like a ball game; one makes the move, the other reacts. And reaction was what McDonalds needed in China. KFC was cashing in a lot more than McDonalds. McDonalds with its 1000 outlets in China compared to 2300 of KFCs was raking in less revenue per outlet. Some put it at $900,000 per outlet compared to KFC’s $1.2 Million per outlet. This was the dilemma that McDonald faced. So what was their strategy? One of the many problems that McDonalds faced was either go for replication or adaptation.  

Parks and recreation Essay Example for Free

Parks and recreation Essay Chicago is a major medical and dental center supported by high-class hospitals and research services offering to its dwellers. Chicago offers life science and biotech entrepreneurs with a balance of capital, community. The local companies are experienced vanguarding the diagnostics, therapeutics, medical equipment, food and environmental biotechnologies, and research and development related activities (World business Chicago, 2005). Transportation Chicagos boasts a major inland port and the railroad hub of the US, while the OHare International Airport is the worlds busiest airports. The city has 1,084,127 number of passenger cars and 55,585 trucks (B plates) and 17,807 Trucks (RV) and Busses with total CTA passenger figure of 450,530,411 as per 2000. There are 3 airports, which handled 1,663,784 metric tons of cargo in 2000. The detail is shown in the table 1. 4 (Chicago Public Library, 2005). Lagos is connected by rail and road to all the major cities of Nigeria, while the city main Airport is Murtala Muhammad International Airport situated in city center. Ferries and highways form the transportation link for the city, but transport links within Lagos are crowded due to chaotic and unplanned geography of the city. Its volatile population, broken roads and reckless drivers, worsens the situation (Simmie, 2001) Table 1. 4 Chicago has total 791 parks, which includes baseball, basketball, bathing beaches, field houses, playgrounds, football, golf courses, driving ranges and gymnasiums with total area of 7,337 acres. There are also 5,327 harbor facilities and swimming pools, and zoos. (Chicago Public Library, 2005) In Lagos near the lagoon, Ebute Metta, multitude of wooden homes and shops are built over the frail silt which offer cheap living and food. The people sit in the middle and enjoy meals in the middle of stink, naked kids and beggars. The shops are made by these people to have a living, as government doesn’t seem to bother about their miseries. A council of elders resolves the issues inside the slums as government has little concern for these poor people (Smith, 2000). Water, sewerage and sanitation system The Chicago city has elaborate and well-developed water and sewerage, sanitation and recycling system. The city daily water pumpage is 969,225,00 gallons, while the water tunnels and lake covers an area of 63 miles. The city residential waste was about 1. 1 million ton as per 2000, while the total amount of recycling reached about 296,425 tons. The total length of sewers is about 4300 miles with 148000 main holes. Lagos is built on poorly drained marshlands. The city suffers flooding not only in the rainy season, but sewage blockage floods the city slums regularly. Just like other third world cities, Lagos is riddled with garbage and waste disposal littered everywhere. The explosive population has led the boom in construction industry, but without any planning as a result the building constructed with cheap material collapse giving rise to series of accidents frequently. The city is infamous for its traffic jams, as some times a 10 km distance can take up to three hours. Lagos has the reputation of the most dangerous city in the Africa. As the few bridge connects 3,500 square km of islands, swamp and the mainland, the highways run through mountains of garbage and wastelands with dirt and dust in the air passing through its 200 slums eternally drenched in sewage, garbage and industrial waste (Hall, 2001). The city haphazard planning has given rise to chaotic development, causing shortage of houses, roads, power, water and constant traffic jams. About 90 percent of the Nigerian people have access to electricity with Lagos consuming 45 percent of the energy (Octchet, 2005).

America Needs Affirmitive Action :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦granting modest advantages to minorities and women is more than fair, given hundreds of years of discrimination that benefited whites and men.† (Fromkin) Affirmative Action is not only justifiable, but it is necessary in today’s world. Affirmative Action can be seen throughout United States History as a leading fighter for equal opportunity. Affirmative Action can assist in creating a more equal opportunity for people regarding higher education, employment and the work force, and creating a more diverse equal community in all aspects. Affirmative Action, in contrast to many people’s beliefs, does not promote â€Å"reverse discrimination† or create quotas for groups to adhere to. On the contrary, it gives minorities and women the opportunity to have jobs and positions they are already qualified for. Affirmative Action â€Å"calls for minorities and women to have special consideration in employment, education, and contracting decisions†(Fromkin). Although the name â€Å"affirmative action† has only been applied in recent times, there is a history of affirmative action actions taken in the United States. This history is an example for the endless fight for equality among women and all minorities. These actions can be seen in amendments to the constitution, especially the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments. They abolished slavery, granted citizenship to the former slaves, that the right for United States citizens to vote can not be denied or reduced on the account of race or color, and lastly the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. Furthermore, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, title VI, states that the use of literacy or other voter-qualifications cannot be used to keep any minority off the voting lists, reassuring an equal voice in the democracy of the US. I n addition, former President Johnson and Kennedy used executive orders 11246 and 10925 to show government support of affirmative action through the â€Å"equal employment opportunity† and the establishment of the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity respectively. The downfall in affirmative action history is the passing of Proposition 209 and the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) which ended affirmative action in California. Affirmative Action has played a large role in history, as a fighter for equal opportunity, despite race or gender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Affirmative Action provides women and minorities equal opportunity in higher education Affirmative Action in higher education allows minorities and women not given the opportunity of a prestige education to go further in life and attend side by side with students given better opportunities.

Intersectionality and assignment Essay

Intersectionality Assignment The definition of intersectionality states that it is the social theory suggesting various socially and culturally constructed categories of discrimination interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, contributing to systematic social inequality. Intersectionality holds that the classical models of oppression within society, such as those based on race/ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, class, or disability do not act independently of one another; instead, these forms of oppression interrelate creating a system of oppression that reflects the â€Å"intersection† of multiple forms of discrimination. (http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Intersectionality) I think the author intended to include intersectionality in the story to show that people have the tendency to categorize others immediately without even getting to know them. As humans we judge others way too much for our own good and we don’t even realize we are doing it majority of the time. I think Morrison’s main purpose in Recitatif is to make the reader a lot more aware of their stereotypical judgements about different races based on the use of different signs that Twyla and Roberta display as characters throughout the story. By writing with this technique of using hidden signs in the text it makes the reader begin to try to naturally figure out the races of Twyla and Roberta. She also includes things in this story such as their views on intelligence, physical appearance, racial tensions, wealth and social class. I think Morrison hopes to make her readers aware that we are all guilty of using stereotypes that this society has created for us. It’s just what we have known all our lives. Maybe a learned behavior from our parents, grandparents, or anyone we are around a lot. Everyone, even if they are racist or the most non-racist human being on earth, makes judgments on a â€Å"different† person that doesn’t fit into their â€Å"norm †. If I had to take a guess I would say Twyla is black and Roberta is white. One part in the story Roberta says that â€Å"they never washed their hair and they smelled funny†,  referring to Twyla. Roberta also said this about Twyla’s mother â€Å"She was big. Bigger than any man and on her chest was the biggest cross I’d ever seen. I swear it was six inches long each way. And in the crook of her arm was the biggest bible ever made.† This description sounds like a big African American mother because that’s what you could picture her as. Being Christian, not interested in being friends with Roberta’s mother, and storming away from her gets my mind visualizing that she is the attitude black big momma type of woman. Another thing I decided to look at to help me decide was their names. As the story goes on it gets harder to keep the same the same thought process on who’s apart of what race because of the different stereotypes and statements that are made by the characters when they continue to cross paths later in life. Also because as an individual you start to realize that you are judging and trying not to. For me that begun a whole new way of thinking and continuously changed my opinion about the reading several times At times Roberta could possibly be the black girl and Twyla could be white. In conclusion, its basically left up to you to decide who’s what race and its really going to open your eyes to how judgmental you can be and how big of a role these everyday stereotypes really have on your mind, even when it seems that you have no racism or judging in you.