Facebook and the Web 2.0 Business Model Term Paper

Facebook and the Web 2.0 Business Model - Term Paper Example While every one of these roads have their qualities in the business condition, they additionally have their own inadequacies that have negative ramifications for the general population and the business too. Oppressing Facebook and the web 2.0 plans of action to a political monetary examination will uncover their effect on the business condition. The web 2.0 plan of action is one of the open doors that the business world has exploited from the dynamism of the web innovation. As Shuen (2008) brings up, the web 2.0 is another stage for cutting edge business improvement that is by a long shot a lot of better than its ancestor the web 1.0 stage. Rather than the web 1.0 stage that was static and uneven, this new web stage is increasingly intelligent and permits both the advertisers and the clients to interface. The reception of this new innovation has a wide scope of advantages to a business framework. One advantage of this stage is related with the capacity for an association to build up a concentrated site that contains all business subtleties and item portrayals. Along these lines, the association can reveal its items to the clients on the web. Given that the web is a worldwide stage, the business can draw in clients from everywhere throughout the world and promote its items to the objective clients in the market. Subsequently, the stage straightforwardly benefits the association by expanding the quantity of clients by catching a more extensive geological degree. Another advantage related with the web 2.0 stage is its capacity to give a client intuitive page that permits the clients to give their input and suggestions. For an association to get by inside its promoting specialty, it ought to have a superior comprehension of its objective clients by finding out about their preferences and preferences. In end, the Facebook and the web 2.0 plans of action are predominant business weapons with a wide scope of chances and advantages. Through the web stage, associations can utilize these models to publicize, dispatch their items, direct statistical surveying and get client inputs on their items. In a word, this is a headway of the web 1.0 time when online business was restricted and unviable.â

A Look at the Valley and Ridge

A Look at the Valley and Ridge Seen from over, the Valley and Ridge physiographic region is one of the most characterizing highlights of the Appalachian Mountains; its substituting, slender edges and valleys nearly take after a corduroy design. The region is arranged west of the Blue Ridge Mountain region and east of the Appalachian Plateau. Like the remainder of the Appalachian Highlands Region, the Valley and Ridge moves from southwest to upper east (from Alabama to New York).â The Great Valley, which makes up the eastern segment of the Valley and Ridge, is known by in excess of 10 diverse local names over its 1,200-mile way. It has facilitated settlements on its ripe soils and filled in as a north-south travel course for a long time. The western portion of the Valley and Ridge is contained the Cumberland Mountains toward the south and Allegheny Mountains toward the north; the limit between the two is situated in West Virginia. Numerous mountain edges in the region rise as much as 4,000 feet. Geologic Background Topographically, the Valley and Ridge is altogether different than the Blue Ridge Mountain territory, despite the fact that the neighboring territories were formed during a large number of a similar mountain building scenes and both ascent to better than expected heights. The Valley and Ridge rocks are for the most part sedimentary and were at first saved during the Paleozoic period. During this time, a sea secured quite a bit of eastern North America. You can discover numerous marine fossils in the territory as proof, including brachiopods, crinoids and trilobites. This sea, alongside the disintegration of circumscribing landmasses, produced a lot of sedimentary rock.â The sea in the end found some conclusion in the Alleghanian orogeny, as the North American and African protocontinents met up to frame Pangea. As the landmasses impacted, the silt and rock stuck between them had no place to go. It was put under worry from the moving toward landmass and collapsed into incredible anticlines and synclines. These layers were then pushed up to 200 miles westward.â Since mountain building stopped around 200 million years prior, the stones have disintegrated to shape the present-day scene. Harder, more disintegration safe sedimentary rocks like sandstone and aggregate top the highest points of edges, while milder rocks like limestone, dolomite and shale have dissolved into valleys. The folds decline in disfigurement moving west until they vanish underneath the Appalachian Plateau.â Spots to See Normal Chimney Park, Virginia - These transcending rock structures, arriving at statures of 120 feet, are the aftereffect of karst geology. Hard sections of limestone rock were kept during the Cambrian and withstood the trial of time as the encompassing stone dissolved away.â Overlays and blames of Georgia - Dramatic anticlines and synclines can be seen inside roadcuts all through the whole Valley and Ridge, and Georgia is no special case. Look at Taylor Ridge, Rockmart record folds and the Rising Fawn push fault.â Tidy Knob, West Virginia - At 4,863 feet, Spruce Knob is the most elevated point in West Virginia, the Allegheny Mountains and the whole Valley and Ridge province.â Cumberland Gap, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky - Often referenced in people and blues music, the Cumberland Gap is a characteristic go through the Cumberland Mountains. Daniel Boone previously denoted this path in 1775, and it filled in as the passage toward the West into the twentieth century.â Horseshoe Curve, Pennsylvania - Although to a greater degree a chronicled or social milestone, Horseshoe Curve is an extraordinary case of geologys effect on human progress and transportation. The impressive Allegheny Mountains since quite a while ago remained as a hindrance to proficient travel over the state. This designing wonder was finished in 1854 and decreased the Philadelphia-to-Pittsburgh travel time from 4 days to 15 hours.

Global Warming, El Nino, and other Climate Phenomena

A dangerous atmospheric devation, El Nino, and other Climate Phenomena The climate we experience is a sign of the atmosphere we live in. Our atmosphere is influenced by an unnatural weather change, which has prompted many watched changes, including hotter ocean temperatures, hotter air temperatures, and changes in the hydrological cycle. What's more, our climate is additionally influenced by characteristic atmosphere marvels that work more than hundreds or thousands of miles. These occasions are frequently cyclic, as they reoccur at time interims of different lengths. A dangerous atmospheric devation can influence the power and return interims of these occasions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave its fifth Assessment Report in 2014, with a section dedicated with the impacts of environmental change for these huge scope atmosphere wonders. Here are some significant discoveries: Rainstorm are regular breeze inversion designs joined by noteworthy precipitation. They are capable, for instance, for the mid year rainstorm periods in Arizona and New Mexico, and the heavy deluges in India’s blustery season. By and large, storm examples will increment in region and force with proceeded with environmental change. They will begin prior in the year and end later than what had been the average.In North America, where rainstorm are restricted to the U.S. Southwest area, no adjustment in precipitation because of an Earth-wide temperature boost has been obviously watched. A diminishing in the length of the period has been watched, however, and rainstorm are required to be deferred during the year. So there gives off an impression of being not a single alleviation to be seen for the watched (and anticipated) increment in recurrence of outrageous summer temperatures in the U.S. Southwest, adding to drought.The measure of precipitation from storm downpours is anticipa ted to be higher in the more negative situations considered by the IPCC. In a situation of proceeded with dependence on petroleum product and the nonappearance of carbon catch and capacity, all out precipitation from storms, internationally, is assessed to increment by 16% before the finish of the 21st century. The El Niã ±o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a huge territory of strangely warm water that creates in the Pacific Ocean off South America, influencing climate over a huge part of the globe. Our capacity to display future atmospheres while considering El Niã ±o has improved, and apparently changeability in precipitation will increment. As such, some El Niã ±o occasions will deliver more precipitation and snowfall than anticipated in certain territories of the globe, while others will create less precipitation than expected.The recurrence of tropical tornados (hurricanes, storms, and hurricanes) is probably going to remain the equivalent or diminishing, internationally. The power of these tempests, both in wind speed and precipitation, is probably going to increment. There are no reasonable changes anticipated for the track and force of North American extra-typhoons (Hurricane Sandy got one of those cyclonic tempests outside of the tropics).â â Prescient models have improved essentially over the most recent couple of years, and they are at present being refined to determine remaining vulnerabilities. For instance, researchers have little certainty when attempting to anticipate changes in rainstorm in North America. Pinpointing the impacts of the El Niã ±o cycles or the power of tropical tornados in explicit zones has additionally been troublesome. At long last, the marvels depicted above are to a great extent know by the general population, yet there are numerous different cycles: models incorporate the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the Madden-Julian Oscillation, and the North Atlantic Oscillation. The communications between these marvels, territorial atmospheres, and an Earth-wide temperature boost make the matter of downsizing worldwide change forecasts to explicit areas bewilderingly unpredictable. Source IPCC, Fifth Assessment Report. 2013. Atmosphere Phenomena and their Relevance for Future Regional Climate Change.

US Role in the ME Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

US Role in the ME - Assignment Example decades been engaged with undertakings of the Middle East with the point of guaranteeing strength, majority rule government, and cultivating monetary associations with nations in this locale. Be that as it may, the primary point of the US contribution and impact doesn't appear to be soundness or vote based system, yet rather, control of the rich oil asset from this locale (Shah). The US or some other Western super force ought not be straightforwardly associated with the undertakings of the Middle East and the Gulf locale in light of the fact that their contribution is for their own financial advantage yet not for the people living there. This so looked for of strength is intended to sustain the norm which is useful for America and other western super powers yet it is exceptionally awful for other a lot of Middle Easterners who need to follow through on the cost. In the supposed solidness includes useless common wars, wars between nations, stifles free idea, battle for opportunity, and self assurance. There is absolutely no development or advancement, no accomplishment openings and no advantages accumulating for the majority whose circumstance is thought of as steady. As long there is no unsettling influence as the Americans need, the Middle Eastern keep on living in mistreatment and neediness, and they are steady (Levy). Proof †similarly as Africa, the Middle East is an area exceptionally wealthy in human and common asset but then it is the second most in reverse district after Africa essentially as a result of the obstruction and undesirable contribution of the west. The residents of these districts can not restrict awful principle in the steady countries as saw by the U.S and the west since they activities would be believed to be upsetting the harmony but then, they keep on mulling in wretched neediness. The West have put degenerate Arab pioneers in power and bolstered the ousting of those pioneers that they have considered as troublesome in order to keep up their predominance, impact and command over the area. Moreover, this has served to put the number of inhabitants in these nations under control and consequently those pioneers

Elegant Tips For Marketing To New Customers

Elegant Tips For Marketing To New Customers Make Money Online Queries? Struggling To Get Traffic To Your Blog? Sign Up On (HBB) Forum Now!Elegant Tips For Marketing To New CustomersUpdated On 02/06/2015Author : HBB Editorial StaffTopic : MarketingShort URL : http://hbb.me/1FrSL6c CONNECT WITH HBB ON SOCIAL MEDIA Follow @HellBoundBlogWhether you work with a local marketing company or do all of your marketing yourself, it is usually easy to see how you should market yourself to repeat customers. These are people you already know like your goods and services enough to spend money on them. You simply have to stay visible and relevant. You have to show them when new products come out and make sure they do not forget about you, and there is a good chance that they will buy something again. This does take work, but it is easier than marketing to new customers.The thing about new customers is that you have to get them to convert. They may never have purchased products like the ones that you make. They may buy them, but they might g et them from a different company. You have to work harder to draw them in and make a sale. These are people who may not even be interested in what you have to offer, and you have to both rouse their interest and get them to buy something.First, it is important just to get their attention and make them curious. You want them to desire to learn more. You can do this by introducing your products in a way that shows them what they can do how the products can make their life easier without giving them all of the details. This will inspire them to contact you or visit your website to learn more, at which point you can work to make that conversion.READ3 Affiliate Marketing Steps That You Should Take Care Of SeriouslyIt is also important to remember that you need to show them why they need your products. They are not already convinced, as your repeat customers are. You have to show them how the products are useful and valuable. This could include telling them about things that they may no t have thought of on their own. You have to show them that they have a need in their life, even if they didnt realize it, and how your products can fulfill it.Finally, it is important to directly compete with other companies in the business. These people may be buying similar products from these sources. You need to show how yours are better than the competition, how they are more desirable or how they simply cost less for the same results. This can lure those people away from the direct competition.

The Profitablity Marketing And Economic Impact Of Port Investment Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

As far as investing in port assets is concerned, there are two ways, almost in contrast with one another, of regarding the port: The port may be considered a public service that is generally useful to the economy, justifying the tax system being utilized for the purpose of funding the investments required. The port may be considered a business system that operates within a highly competitive market and requires investment projects to be selected with efficiency. The line drawn between these two functions changes, depending on the country, environment, business, social and political culture, period and political trends. In most institutional models, the large infrastructures that either provide access to a port or are used for general purposes attract public investments, while terminal superstructures are instead invested in by the terminal company itself. The port of Durres is located in the heart of Durres city, which is approximately 39 from Tirana. The port of Durres is Albanias largest sea port. Durres is one of Albanias oldest cities and was founded as a Greek colony in 627 B.C. Since then, the city has grown and expanded while preserving monuments of the ancient city. Now Durres is the second largest and one of the most economically developed cities in Albany due to the large port that allows trading in the Adriatic Sea. The recent construction of a motorway that links Durres with Tirana has cut down the traveling time to the capital to only 30 minutes. Tirana is also accessible by train, between Durres and Tirana there is a frequent and cheap rail service. Also the construction of the motorway that links Durres and Prishtina will cut down the traveling time and cost between Albania and Kosova. The port of Durres, beyond its physical dimensions, is historical, and certainly the reality is that in the future it will be an important actor in the lives of not only this city of our country but also throughout the region. Always important strategic point in the eastern Adriatic coast, the port has been developed in years as a privileged institution that has enjoyed particular attention. Thousands of people, workers, managers, leaders and important personalities have given their contribution to its development. Financing of investment in the Port of Durres is one of the main priorities for the Albanian Government and foreign financial institutions as the World Bank, European Union and the European Investment Bank. World Bank with an investment of $ 23 million has completed the rehabilitation project for the Port of Durres which includes rehabilitation of the pi ers, warehouses and buildings. European Union Fare Program with an investment of ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬ 4.4 million, has completed the project which includes rehabilitation of the Ferry Terminal, pier reconstruction of 120 ml and 60 ml of building the new pier. TDA Trade and Development Agency (USA) $ 9.1 million. This project involves studying the feasibility of new container terminal and its equipment at the Port of Durres. TDA has also given a grant of $ 1.4 million to purchase two reach stacker, a spreader plumber and some other assets. The project has been completed. European Investment Bank (IEB) with investment of ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬ 17 million. The project includes financing the construction of Container Terminal, drainage systems, emergency excavation for the entrance channel and the aquarium, and the purchase of a mobile crane for the Port of Durres. Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project. The project started its implementation. Now it i s buying mobile crane with a capacity of processing 120 tons of containers and continues the implementation of two other components of the project: Laying asphalt, drainage works worth about ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬ 10.4 million. Digging for emergency and incoming channel port aquarium worth ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬ 3.3 million. In early 2006 there was inaugurated the completion of paving works on the sites after the piers, which was conducted by the Croatian company Montmontaza. II. PROFITABILITY, SOCIAL DESIRABILITY AND PORT INVESTMENTS Investment is a variation of the total stock of capital goods used in productive activities. In the port sector this is necessarily a variation in instrumental assets, as the product the throughput is a service and therefore cannot be stocked. Investment is carried out by a port business in order to have the desired level of throughput capacity at its disposal. Investing in ports, therefore, has a direct impact on overall port capacity and supply. Neoclassical production theory expresses investment as a variation over time of the level of capital used by a business. It usually hypothesizes a standard (Cobb-Douglas) production function as; (1) where L and K are, respectively, the amounts of labor and capital employed over a period of time, investment is the variation in capital levels ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  K, which takes place between one period and the next. According to neoclassical economists, the investment decision is a direct function of the amount o f capital needed to produce the level of output Q deemed optimal by a business (for example, the amount needed to maximize its profits), and an inverse function of the interest rate, which is the cost of the investment. The investment, as a variation in the level of capital, will be equal to; (2) According to Keynesian theory, investment takes place if the marginal efficiency of capital is higher than the market interest rate, which represents the return of the other possible uses of the resources employed. It is also normally considered that the rate of profit expected from the investment should be greater than the interest rate plus a spread (to reward the risk of the profit achieved proving to be lower than that originally expected). Since the potential investor will rank possible investment projects starting from those with the highest marginal efficiency, the well-known inverse relationship results between (cumulated) investment and the market interest rate. In the port industry, the product is throughput, and the investment is the creation of throughput capacity. Port investments are those increases in capital goods that allow greater throughput via an increased efficiency in using the production factors. These include the following: infrastructures, such as breakwaters, dams and lock systems that enable access along canals and rivers, the excavation or dredging of riverbeds and the construction of new piers, wharfs, yards, etc.; terminal superstructures (cranes, means of transport, buildings used for storage or port services); and other assets useful for the production of port services. Most port investments particularly infrastructural investments bear the following features: their profitability is at least in part indirect, since they are part of collective capital, which acts as a location factor for business activities and generates positive externalities; they also generate environmental costs and negative externalit ies; the construction of infrastructures brings with it significant indivisibilities, owing to economies of scale, financial requirements and network economies; they require considerable time to be accomplished, including a lengthy planning and design period, and subsequently boast an extremely long economic life. As a result, there is a hefty time lag between costs (incurred primarily before the port comes into operation) and revenues, and a long payback period for the investment itself; high risk and high uncertainty of expected profit, due in part to the difficulty of estimating costs; in the case of general purpose assets (such as dams, canals and basins) cost cannot be imputed to individual users, while the benefit for each user cannot be quantified either; and infrastructure costs are sunk (i.e. lost whenever the investor decides to withdraw from the market), and therefore act as exit barriers that jeopardize the markets contestability and create the risk of a m onopoly. Comparing direct usefulness (profitability), be it positive or negative, with external usefulness (be it positive or negative) produces four possible combinations, shown in Fig. 1 as a Cartesian graph, where direct profitability (profit forecast) is shown along the abscissa and social utility (net benefit) is shown along the ordinate. Fig. 1. Direct Profitability and Social Utility of Investment. Assuming that the coordinates at the origin of the axes are, respectively, market interest rate (to which a risk premium may be added), and 0 (or, alternatively, the above-mentioned standard socioeconomic internal rate of return), the bisector of quadrants II-IV separates the situations bearing total (direct+external) positive utility, above the bisector, from those bearing total negative utility, below the bisector. Private profitability normally stems from the private nature of benefits (port services or assets are private goods, featuring excludability and rivalry be tween users): in the port arena, this can be the case for services (both to goods or to ships), superstructures (cranes) and, to a lesser extent, terminal infrastructure. Public profitability stems from the existence of long-term external benefits, such as hinterland accessibility, public or club goods such as nautical assets (dredging, breakwaters, locks, etc.), land based networks and general local accessibility. Fig. 1 shows the situations that may then arise. Quadrant I contains those situations where investment is driven by private profitability and also implies a public benefit. It is promoted by the market and there is no reason for it to be halted by the public administration (although it may be regulated in order to enhance public benefit). On the opposite side, quadrant III clearly shows investment projects that appear neither profitable nor socially desirable and, therefore, should never be promoted. Quadrant II features investments deemed socially useful (external economies, accessibility, etc.) but with little or no direct profitability. If the balance is positive (i.e. above the bisector), investments should be promoted by adopting the appropriate policies, which might include grants and public-private partnerships (PPPs), capable to shift profitability (as represented by vector b) even if the offsetting costs reduces overall utility, and therefore moves the point closer to the bisector. What is an unprofitable investment for private capital may, nevertheless, be regarded as socially desirable (for example, as a driver of regional economic development). Ports have often been regarded, be it rightly or wrongly, as drivers of regional development as well as a source of considerable external benefits. Nowadays the local net external benefit is less certain, although ports are regarded more than before as essential gateways for the competitiveness of the hinterland. This may drive forward an investment even with no private profitability. T he investment can be entirely public, or (if public resources are scarce) publicly co-financed in order to supplement private profitability and push it above the threshold that is critical for the private investor (i.e. interest rate+risk premium). Yet, the risk is to promote investments that are actually below the bisector. If we assume that any compensation policy shifting benefits/costs from one sector to another does have a cost, then no policy can make the point shift from below to above the bisector. Quadrant IV shows investments that are profitable for the investor, but a source of net external costs. This situation is common nowadays, and increases in port capacity required by terminal and logistics companies often gives rise to conflict and opposition at a local level, due to there being no (or very few) external benefits in comparison with external costs. An investment should nevertheless be encouraged for projects placed above the bisector, through the offsetting an d reduction of external costs to shift the investment towards quadrant I, as represented by vector a (even if offsetting costs reduces the investments overall utility, and again it moves the point closer to the bisector). Investments where social disutility of external costs exceeds direct profitability (below the bisector) must instead be prevented by way of appropriate bans and restrictions, etc. A pure market economy would promote all and only investments in quadrants I and IV (where direct profitability is higher than the market interest rate), while a centralized economy should promote all and only investments in quadrants I and II. If market failures are taken into account instead, the focus should be on promoting investments ranging above bisector II-IV. Indeed, area A of quadrant IV shows situations where the social effect of directly profitable investments needs to be mitigated through reductions and restrictions (even at the risk of limiting their profitability). In area B of quadrant II, private investment that would otherwise be uneconomical needs to be encouraged through incentives or through funding that is seen to stem directly from public investment. Only in quadrant I, are investments privately and socially profitable, although regulations and governance-oriented measures may be taken to amend the profitability mix. III. HOW TO CREATE A PORT INVESTMENT MODEL The port capacity installed by the investor (be it public or private) may be exploited by the investor itself, if it acts as the assets manager and charges the carrier for use. Alternatively, it may be leased to a stevedore, which manages it and charges the carrier. Moreover, the carrier and the terminal operator may be vertically integrated (the so-called dedicated terminals) and in some cases, the carrier may also overlap with the shipper, which may manage its own ships and sometimes its own terminal(s) as well. However, if only business functions are considered, the port investment chain involves the following players: (i) the investor investing in the port facility; (ii) the terminal operator; (iii) the carrier using the port, or its representatives; and (iv) the shipper, or its representatives. The investments return is determined by the stevedoring industrys profits, which in turn influence those of the shipping industry, logistics and eventually the profits of the manu facturers/shippers and the utility of consumers. This section investigates the effects generated by the port investment, so as to highlight significant relationships between players, as well as the implications for investment decisions and for the funding of investments. It focuses on the microeconomic effects of an investment, disregarding any macroeconomic benefits to employment, earnings and their distribution, any environmental benefits-costs (both direct environmental impact and the balance between the environmental impact of maritime transport and that of alternative transport). These macroeconomic effects are rather difficult to measure, while the environmental effects are uncertain, since the development of maritime transport through port investments leads to an increase in the environmental costs associated with a port and maritime transport, but on the other side it encourages a modal split with a more sustainable environmental impact. A port investment may be extens ive, if its aim is to increase productive capacity while average costs remain unchanged, or intensive, if its aim is to increase productivity and reduce unitary costs. From a theoretical perspective, the notion of a purely extensive investment may be viable when, for example, a terminal operator having to meet sharp rises in demand decides to increase its throughput capacity by adding new infrastructures that offer the same productivity as those already in use. When, on the other hand, demand is stagnant or competition from other operators is already fierce or on the rise, a terminal operator may well plump for a purely intensive investment, aimed at increasing productivity. Actually, though, it is very likely that in the former situation the new assets would be more productive than those already in place, thanks to technological improvements that are likely to have been introduced. As a result, an increase in quantity also translates into an increase in average productivity. I n the latter situation, a rise in productivity is normally achieved, thanks to the reduced time per unit of throughput, and the consequent increase in throughput per unit of time. It is therefore very realistic to assume that between these two theoretical extremes, the effects of the investment will, in practice, be distributed between an increase in quantity and a reduction in costs. In a market of perfect competition this cost reduction would turn into a correspondent reduction in price (or in generalized cost) without increase in profit. On the other hand, in a monopoly situation, or if demand is extremely inelastic, it could lead purely to a rise in profit, without any benefit being enjoyed by the user (with a reduction in price approaching or equal to zero). In any intermediate situation, the effect will be distributed, depending upon the elasticity of demand and the position of the cost curves, between an increase in profit and a reduction in price, accompanied by an increa se in throughput. From a microeconomic viewpoint, then, an investment in a port asset normally causes an increase in the level of throughput (total and per unit of time) as well as an improvement in the level of service. This causes a reduction in the generalized cost Cg of the port service (equivalent to a reduction in price) and/or an increase in the profits of the stevedore. The decrease in generalized cost will cause throughput to increase, at a rate that will be directly correlated to the degree of competition within the port services market: the greater the competition, the greater the reduction in price and the increase in throughput; the lower the competition, the greater the profits netted by the manager (unless demand is completely inelastic). The increase in throughput leads in turn to an increase in the stevedores profits, and usually to increasing returns to scale as well, thereby triggering a further fall in the cost of production, generalized cost, price and potentially a further increase in profits. Moreover, this reduction in generalized cost/price leads to a decrease in the generalized cost (price) of the whole transport cycle, triggering within the transport industry the same kind of effects: lower prices, higher volumes and higher profits. Again, an increasing return to scale is likely to occur, and these effects can therefore build up to become stronger. Finally, the same kind of effect will also be seen for shippers (and possibly for intermediate operators such as logistic operators, forwarders, etc.,): a lower generalized cost causes both volumes and profits to rise, with possible further increases due to economies of scale. The final decrease in prices for transported goods can eventually benefit final consumers. There is therefore a chain running from port investors, to port operators, carriers, forwarders or logistic operators, all the way through to shippers and consumers, as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2. Port Investment and its Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Consequences. Note: Inv = investment, C = cost, GC = generalized cost, s.l. = service level, P = price, Th = throughput, ÃÆ' Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ = profit. Assuming a linear demand function, such as; p = a bq (3) for every possible position that may be taken by E, then: US = q [a (a bq)]/2 = 1/2 bq2 (4) This is a parabola on an ever-upward slope in the first quadrant. The revenue function is then TR = aq bq2 (5) and the function of the long-run average cost (LRAC) is straight, expressed that is to say by the function TC = cq (6) and, total profit can therefore be expressed as; TÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   = TR TC = (a c)q bq2 (7) The profit-maximising quantity is given by d TÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   / dq = 0 (8) from which we obtain a c 2bq = 0 (9) q = (a c)/2b (10) The quantity that maximizes the sum of profit and consumers surplus, considering thus both direct and external profitability, i s then d (TÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   + US)/dq = 0 (11) from which we obtain a c 2bq + bq = 0 (12) with the optimal quantity emerging thus q = (a c)/b (13) As a result, the quantity that maximizes the sum of profit and consumer surplus Equation (13) is double the quantity that maximizes profit Equation (10). IV. INVESTMENT, PROFITABILITY, PRICING, PRIVATE AND PUBLIC FINANCING These results suggest some remarks on the financing of port investment. Port investment may produce both direct and indirect benefits. Direct benefits provide a funding channel by way of the pricing applied for the use of infrastructure, revenues and the consequent profit for the company that builds and/or manages the terminal (if two different companies are involved, the profit of the terminal operator will be used to pay the charge to the company that owns the port facility). Net public benefits justify the utilization of fiscal resources instead. So far, port investments have very often attracted public investment, due to the very features of the infrastructures and systems associated with ports. However, there has been no proper criterion in place to determine if only theoretically the extent to which the public taxation system should be involved in a port infrastructure. This particular issue is closely linked to the price charged for using infrastructure, for two r easons: (i) the pricing applied to, and the payment made for, the utilization of a port asset generates a level of private profit that is complementary to the public taxation system (the greater the resources obtainable from pricing, the lower the resources required from taxation, and vice versa); and (ii) the pricing criterion itself may reflect not only the port operators profit-maximizing strategies (or just its market strategies), but also the purpose of maximizing the welfare generated by the investment. V. BUSINESS STRATEGIES AND MARKET FORMS OF INVESTMENTS Two attributes of the investments that characterize even if not exclusively companies operating within ports are the degree to which investments are reversible and uncertainty, which is typical of every decision that has anything to do with the future. The first of these two attributes would appear to be of considerable importance in our case, since a growing number of private firms are being asked to invest not only in port superstructures, but also in actual infrastructures. Suffice it to consider, for example, the many dedicated terminals typical of the container transport sector, and similarly the cruise transport sector in which the transport company is vertically integrated to become a terminal company as well, thereby participating in the cost of the terminal investment proportionally to its share in the venture. In these situations, it is clear how at least part of the investment should be regarded as irreversible, making it interesting therefore to ascertain how this circumstance, together with the uncertainty as to how the operating environment will evolve, may cause the company to accumulate surplus, or insufficient, capital. According to authors irreversibility and uncertainty of investments involve two types of effect; the so-called user-cost effect, which leads firms to under-invest. This is because entrepreneurs are more reluctant to invest, given that their inability to disinvest results in a higher user-cost of capital in relation to current investment decisions; and the so-called hangover effect, indicating the reliance of current capital stock on past behavior, which leads firms to over-invest in the presence of irreversibility and uncertainty. 5.1. Stackelberg Equilibrium It is worthwhile remembering that the Stackelberg duopoly considers two firms known as L and F (leader and follower) that need to decide (not at the same time) how much capital to employ. The function of profits for these two firms may be expressed as; ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  L(KL, KF) = KL(1 KL KF) ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  F(KL, KF) = KF(1 KL KF) (14) This situation leads firm L (the firm to decide first, since it is the first to introduce a new technology or to enter a particular market) to select the amount of capital in such a way as to maximize its own profit function, while taking into account the reaction curve of firm F. This means that where; KF = RF(KL) = (1 KL)/2 (15) the equilibrium which is different from the Cournot equilibrium, based on companies making their choices at the same time makes the levels of capital employed equal to; KL = 1/2 KF = 1/4 (16) Profits and the ratio between them therefore emerge as; ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  L = 1/8 ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ €šÃ‚  F = 1/16 (17) ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  L/ÃÆ'Ã… ½Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  F = 2 The firm investing first therefore accumulates twice as much capital as the other, while also netting a profit that is double that realized by the follower. If at a later stage a rise in demand is expected, the model shows how both firms will increase their productive capacity to a similar extent, so that the ratio between the respective profits of the two firms remains unchanged. We are thus witnessing a game that repeats itself by the same procedures. In other words, this duopoly leads the firms to cover three-quarters of the amount that would be exchanged in a market of perfect competition, leaving unchanged their respective market share as leader and follower, with one twice that of the other. Compared with monopolistic equilibrium, this model guarantees that a higher amount is exchanged (50% more in fact). This gives rise to the capacity surplus seen in these types of oligopoly. VI. CONCLUSION Port investment is a key issue in modern port economics with regard to planning port development, financing and assessing the return on investment. In the literature, the topic of infrastructure investment has been historically tackled either from a pure macro-economic perspective or from the mere firms point of view (the managerial decision process related to port investment). These approaches focus mainly on the macro-economic costs and benefits of the port industry and, on the other side, on the economic efficiency of the port function for port users. This paper overcomes that kind of segmentation. It addresses some of the features related to port investment starting from the evaluation of the main paradigms that characterize the port industry from a global point of view, and focuses on the relations, synergies and conflicts between the numerous stakeholders actually involved. Profitability, economic impact and financing are seen as the most critical nodes in the complex c hain of port investment decisions. Port investment has been described as the result of the equilibrium of several interactions between different forces and interests, where the most relevant aspects are (i) the public/private combination, which imprints the port industry and (ii) the geographical scale of evaluation. The mix between public and private interests, and the specific role of public bodies, may in fact be seen as the core of a specific port investment theory, which evaluates direct and indirect effects as well as uncertainty in returns. The different perspectives of evaluating the impact of port investment can lead to a different evaluation of the costs and benefits involved, and their desirability. The framework of the paper has been primarily based on the description and critical evaluation of the public/private and local/global tradeoffs, which in turn affect the assessment of port impacts, the development of funding, pricing and tax systems, the competitive scen ario and distortions, which are likely to occur in inter-port and intra-port competitions. The main contribution of the paper may be seen in the effort of building up a comprehensive scenario where single aspects and variables related to port investments can fit into a general scheme of interrelationships, which identify feasible outcomes. The foreseeable outputs in terms of demand and supply provide insights for possible incentives to efficiency to be improved by decision-makers at different levels, promoting the reduction of conflicts and the synergies of interests. Although the topic has clearly practical implications, the work follows a theoretical approach rather than an empirical one. The proposal is, in fact, to develop an overall framework of analysis with a certain degree of originality in comparison with consolidated fields of the past literature, limiting at the same time the risk of a rapidly non-updated decision-support tool. The implementation of a number of o utlined policy guidelines can be considered as an implicit agenda for future research. SYMBOLS C = cost EIB = European Investment Bank EU = European Union GC = Generalized Cost Inv = Investment P = Price PPP = Public Private Partnerships s.l. = service level, TDA = Trade and Development Agency Th = Throughput US = Users Surplus WB = World Bank, ÃÆ' Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ = Profit

Essay on Jazz Music and Musical Recording - 637 Words

Chapter 1 Extra Credit Questions 1. Why is jazz hard to define? Describe some of the reasons why it is sometimes difficult to determine if a musical recording or a performance qualifies as jazz. Jazz does not have one set style, but rather many styles which leaves the definition of jazz hard to define. A jazz player can play any style they want and there aren’t really set rules they have to follow to be considered jazz, just a few guidelines that are taken into consideration. It can sometimes be difficult to determine if a musical recording or a performance qualifies as jazz because its styles can be heard in other kinds of music. Jazz can also be played with a variety of instruments so it can be confusing as to whether or not the†¦show more content†¦Rules that rhythm section instruments must adhere to is they must support the soloist even if that means they are playing while the soloist is playing. While supporting the soloist, they also have some freedom as to what they play by improvising in a more limited way. Chapter 1 Extra Credit Questions 1. Why is jazz hard to define? Describe some of the reasons why it is sometimes difficult to determine if a musical recording or a performance qualifies as jazz. Jazz does not have one set style, but rather many styles which leaves the definition of jazz hard to define. A jazz player can play any style they want and there aren’t really set rules they have to follow to be considered jazz, just a few guidelines that are taken into consideration. It can sometimes be difficult to determine if a musical recording or a performance qualifies as jazz because its styles can be heard in other kinds of music. Jazz can also be played with a variety of instruments so it can be confusing as to whether or not the music qualifies as jazz. 2. 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