The Safety Of Seafarers Going To Sea Engineering Essay

The Safety Of Seafarers Going To Sea Engineering Essay This report aims to educate readers about the safety of seafarers going to sea and the possible dangers that they face. The report will also elaborate about the ongoing issues and measures taken to ensure the safety of the seafarers. Marine Industry has been a major platform for investment and income since the ancient times. Seafarers face possible dangers from collision of ships, fire and weather conditions. Therefore, the casualties onboard a ship have been increasing due to lack of awareness towards safety on board the ship. The International Maritime Organisation( IMO) took steps to prevent such disasters from happening. Rules have been set up to make sure the equipments onboard the ship are up to date, certified and are regularly inspected. Workers onboard must be well trained in the safety aspects. According to the International Maritime Organisation(2009),ship safety is a subject that is currently receiving high attention by most countries. The International Maritime Organisation(2009) said that this was due to a number of serious vessel casualties that have occurred in recent years. 1.3 Methodology The information for this report was obtained from the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 1974 edition, reference books, research about shipping companies and the internet. Case studies were taken from online news articles. 1.4 Scope As there are many possibilities that could happen onboard a ship, this report will investigate solely about the possible cause of fire at sea, preventive measures, consequences of fire, actual events that took place due to fire, types of fire and much more. 2.Fire Hazards onboard the Ship 2.1 Causes of Fire According to John G. Antherson (2000),the causes of fire on a ship arent a lot different than the causes of fires in any urban setting. As there are electrical circuits onboard the ship, there is a chance for an electrical fire is to occur. Machinery onboard a ship can get hot when its operating. An overheating bearing could cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) Ships uses combustion systems to generating steam, and internal combustion engines are used generate electricity. These combustion system will get very hot and can cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) Closed machinery spaces and the volatility of fuel, lubricants and hydraulic fluids around the hot machinery can lead to a fire or an explosion. A collision at sea could initiate a fire. The galley where food is prepared is another fire hazard on board a ship.(John G. Antherson 2000) During ship repairing, metal cutting and welding equipment is carried and used to faulty equipment. Sparks from this equipments could also start a fire. There are some more possible ways fires could be started. Fire hazards in the cabin could also cause fire to occur. An article (Anon: Fires In Ships 2002) states that careless smoking is the main cause of fires in ships. In one case scenario, sixteen Chinese nationals have been taken to the hospital after a fire broke out in their ship(APL Columbia) at port Botany on 5 January 2010.A crew member onboard the 45,000 tonne APL Columbia(IMO:9252242) noticed a fire in his cabin about 1.30am.The man tried to put out the fire but was unsuccessful.The crew members had suffered from smoke inhalation and the fire was put out about 5.30 am using the ships own firefighting equipment. In another case scenario, a fire broke out in the engine room. A Maersk container ship (Maersk Duffield) crossed Brisbanes Moreton Bay with its engine room on fire and the Emergency Management Queensland helicopter is en route to assist. One crew member required treatment. Shipping Database,2009-2010[Online] Available from: http://www.shippingdatabase.com/ [Accessed 31 January 2010] Figure 1 [International Maritime Statistics Forum 2007 p.g 15] Figure 2 [International Maritime Statistics Forum 2007 p.g 16] According to the chart ( figure 1) made by the Maritime Institute in Gdansk(2007), most fire accidents occur during ship repairs. Fire caused from ship repairs take up 79.3% of most fire accidents in their case study. Meanwhile, figure 2 showed that 24.11% of fire occurring on board a ship is located at the Cargo holds and tanks. 2.2 Classes of Fire There are 4 types of fire that might occur onboard a ship. There are Class A , Class B , Class C and Class D fires. The U.S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service(2007) said that Ordinary combustible fires are the most common type of fire, and are designated under Class A fire . These occur when a solid, organic material such as wood, cloth, rubber, or plastic become heated to their flash point and ignite. This class of fire is fairly simple to combat and contain .According to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 2008),the most common way to do this is by spraying the burning material with water, oxygen can also be removed by smothering the fire with foam from a fire extinguisher. Meanwhile, flammable liquid are categorized under Class B fire. The National Fire Protection Association(2008) reports that this fire follow the same basic fire tetrahedron (heat, fuel, oxygen, chemical reaction) as ordinary combustible fires, except that the fuel in question is a flammable liquid such as gasoline, or gas such as natural gas. An efficient way to extinguish a liquid or gas fueled fire is to disrupt the chemical chain reaction of the fire, which is done by dry chemical and Halon extinguishing agents. According to an extract from Industrial Hygiene and Information Management (2008): ESH Manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, class D fire are fires that are caused by flammable or combustible metals. Examples given by the ESH manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, of such metals are titanium , sodium ,magnesium, potassium, uranium and calcium. Generally, metal fire risks occur when sawdust, machine shavings and other metal are present. These fires can be ignited by the same types of ignition sources that would start other common fires. Wikipedia, Fire Classes [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_classes [Accessed 1 February 2010] A crew onboard a fishing vessel said that If a fire was to start onboard a ship, crew members onboard must know what type of fire it is. If a wrong extinguisher or method is being used, the fire might spread even more. ( Florida Sport Fishing Crew 2002) 3. Consequences of fire 3.1 Loss of Revenue and Marine Environment The International Maritime Organisation (2009) said that most accidents onboard a ship will result in a loss of revenue. Cargos onboard a ship might be damaged and millions of dollars worth of cargos and resources will be affected. Fire onboard a tanker ship will have a high chance of causing an explosion and fuel leaked into the sea will cause water pollution and that will affect the marine environment. Thousands of dollar will be used to clean up the oil spill. A case study given by the Port State Information exchange (2006) was that of Hyundai Fortune where an accidental fire broke out on 21st March 2006. The combined cost of the ship and damaged cargo is estimated at over 300 million US dollars. According to an online article by Brisbane Times, oil spill clean-up can be rather costly. In a case study by the article, an insurer of a Hong Kong-based cargo ship had to foot the bill for a 20 tonnes of diesel fuel into waters off Stradbroke Island. Authorities announced that the estimated cost of the clean-up will reach about $100,000 a day and take seven days to complete. Daniel Hurst 2009 , Oil spill clean-up to cost $100,000 a day[Online] Brisbane times Available from: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/oil-spill-cleanup-to-cost-100000-a-day/2009/03/12/1236447368184.html [Accessed on 7th February 2010] 3.2 Political Fallout Political fallout might also occur if swift action is not taken. Political fallout will cause the reputation of the government or authority to be at stake.(M.Masellis and S.W.A.  Gunn 1992) The disasters that occur within the Maritime Industries can be used as an example for opposition parties to blame the government and this might change the mindset of the society towards the government. According to an online article by BBC news, an oil well in the Timor Sea off the north-west coast of Australia caught fire. The oil rig had been leaking oil and marine fire fighters were struggling for ten weeks to stop the leak. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help combat the fire and other teams such as the Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby. However, an opposition spokesman accused the Environment Minister of Australia of doing nothing to stop the oil leak. BBC News 2009 , Australia well catches fire [Online] Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8336564.stm 3.3 Human Casualties Accidents onboard a ship will also cause human casualties to occur. Fire especially will be life threatening onboard a passenger ship and it will cause chaos and panic among passengers. ( L.M. Collins 1999) A good way to ensure that human life is not lost is for the crew and passengers to follow instructions given by the Captain. If the passengers follow the instructions swiftly, they will be able to escape from the ship safely.( L.M. Collins 1999) One of the major events that had many human casualties was that of RMS Titanic. According to David G , Titanic was struck by an iceberg and sank in two hours and forty minutes on 15 April 1912. The sinking of the Titanic resulted in 1517 deaths out of the 2223 people on board. The high casualty rate was due to the fact that the ship was not carrying enough lifeboats for everyone onboard. Brown, David G. (2000). The Last Log of the Titanic. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0071364471. Most fire cases are quickly dealt with and the only losses that the crew face are the cargos or raw materials onboard. Up to this day, passenger ship have not faced any fire incidents that resulted in major human casualties. 4.Fire Safety Measures 4.1 Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS) M.  Masellis and S.W.A.  Gunn(1992) said that fire casualties on ships lead almost certainly to disastrous results because of the limited and isolated areas of the vessels and the lack of immediate and easy access for the rescue team. Preventive measures are therefore much more effective in the effort to avoid such casualties than rescue and fire-extinguishing procedures or devices. [Marine fire casualties in merchant ships: the Greek statistics 1992 Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h8362077847j9127/] In 1914, The International Maritime Organisation had a convention among international leaders and maritime leaders to talk about maritime safety. Of all the international conventions dealing with maritime safety, the most important is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS). There have been many versions of SOLAS adopted by the International Maritime Organisation but the present version was adopted in 1974 and entered into force in 1980.The SOLAS conventions have all covered many aspects of safety at sea. The convention in 1914 included chapters on safety of navigation, construction, fire protection and life-saving appliances.(International Maritime Organisation 2009) This shows that the International Maritime Organisation is constantly trying to find ways to improve the aspects of safety at sea to ensure the safety of seafarers life by introducing the Safety Of Life at Sea(SOLAS) and updating it. 4.2 Fire Safety Test and Safety Equipment One of the fire safety measures is to conduct fire safety test for the ship. Fire safety of ships is an extremely important area. Before any material can be used onboard a ship, it must have successfully passed strict tests and have been certified for use. This is to ensure that the material or equipment does not pose a fire hazard onboard the ship. (SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden 2008) Another safety measure is to install safety equipments on the ship. Equipments such as fire extinguisher, sprinkler system , gas monitor and other safety equipments are being implemented. The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) is taking steps to introduce new and more sophisticated equipments onboard the ships. IMO hope to reduce the amount of accidents from occurring onboard the ship and will rely on this new equipments to combat the problem more efficiently. 4.3 Service of ships and Equipments According to The Safety of Life At Sea 1974 edition, the ship and its safety equipments have to undergo service once every few years. Safety equipments include components that can deteriorate over time. Therefore, this can decrease the effectiveness of the equipment. Examples of such equipments stated in the Safety Of Life At Sea 1974 edition (SOLAS) are fire extinguishers, EPIRBs, flares, life jackets, life rafts and smoke signals. Servicing of the equipment must be done by the manufacturer or an authorised agent by the expiry date. The expiry date must be clearly marked on the equipment. Most life raft needs to be serviced every two or three years. Equipment that cannot be serviced or no longer works must be replaced if it is to be carried as part of the safety equipment onboard the ship.(The International Maritime Organisation 2009) In the event that an emergency were to occur and the safety equipments were to be faulty as they were not sent for servicing, the manufacturer should not be blamed as the expiry date have been stated clearly on the equipment. It is the duty of the crew onboard and its owner to send the equipments for servicing once the expiry date is over. According to the IMO 2009, maintenance and inspections of equipments must be recorded to provide objective evidence that these work have been carried out according to the manufacturers instructions. 4.4 Proper training for the crew According to the Maritime Port Authority Singapore(MPA) 2010, Seafarers working on board a ship must have the valid certification or endorsements. In Singapore, these are issued by the Training Standards Department of MPA. Seafarers working on board a ship are required to have a valid Certificate of Competency (CoC) or endorsement, which comply with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). The crew must also be well trained in fire fighting and First Aid. Those who wish to work onboard a ship must have an Advance Fire Fighting Course certificate and Elementary First Aid certificate as well before they are qualified to work onboard (Maritime Port Authority Singapore 2010). The crew will also conduct regular safety drills after each departure from port. The crew are to follow their duty that had been assigned on the Muster List. By having proper trained crews onboard a ship, this will minimise the chance of human error and accidents from occurring. Furthermore, the crew are well trained to handle any emergencies such as fire . The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) 2009 once said that the quality and familiarisation are directly affected by the frequency and quality of the drills carried out. IMO added that a crew debrief after each drill is essential to emphasise lessons learned and to give additional training where necessary. 5. Conclusion 5.1 Further Improvements Every year, the International Maritime Organisation and other Maritime Body are working hand in hand to improve a seafarers life in terms of their living condition and to ensure that they are working in a safe environment. The organisation are trying to find constant improvement to reduce marine casualties, loss in revenue due to unwanted accidents. One improvement that can be introduce to the ship is the All-in-One fire extinguisher. This extinguisher would be able to combat any types of fire such as Class A , Class B, Class C or Class D fires. By having this fire extinguisher onboard the ship, the crew will not need to waste time to find different methods to combat different types of fire. Another improvement that could be introduced is the fire isolating system. This system will isolate the fire from spreading to other rooms and this will reduce the damage caused towards the ship. The Maritime Port Authority said that this new inventions will further improve the safety aspects but it still needs to undergo more tests before it can be implemented towards the ships. 5.2 Human Error is still the Main Cause The International Maritime Organisation have taken steps to ensure that the technology and safety equipments being implemented are up to date. Even thought this is so, nothing can be done if the accident caused is by human error. Even if the crew had gone for proper training, human error will still occur. An article by B.S Dhillon(2007), human error costs the Maritime Industry $541 million per year and a study of 6091 major accident claims revealed that 62% of the claims were attributed to human error. B.S Dhillion(2007) added that human error contributes to 84% to 88% of tanker accidents. [B.S Dhillon 2007. Human Reliability and Error in Transportation Systems, Springer Series in Reliability Engineering . Page 1.] These incidents will result in crew injuries or death and the ship will be delayed or damaged. Even if there is mechanical failure, human error can play a role in terms of lack of maintenance , monitoring or a breakdown in communication. The Bahamas Maritime Authority added that crew fatigue and complacency can be a major factor in this incident. The Bahamas Maritime Authority said that Good equipment can cost more, but safety should be accorded a higher priority because a ship cannot be operated safely without the seafarer.

Climate Change Essay

To put it in its simplest terms, climate change refers to the long term change in the earth’s temperature, particularly an increase in the average atmospheric temperature (Dictionary.com). Although there are some natural causes for climate change, most scientists are in agreement that humans are at least in part responsible for some of the effects we have already seen and must therefore take corrective action immediately to slow the process before it is too late and irreversible catastrophic damage has been done. The consequences of climate change, also known as global warming include extreme weather instances such as extensive drought, severe hurricanes and tornadoes, increased wild fires and melting of the polar caps (dosomething.org). In addition, there are hotter, longer lasting heat waves causing added health issues and even death, especially to the already frail elderly or those who are already sick and may be more easily susceptible to health risks (dosomething.org). Si nce 1870, sea levels have risen by about eight inches globally. Coral reefs are in danger due to the warmer water temperatures and higher sea levels. The coral reefs are lacking the sun they need to thrive and are becoming diseased. Here in the United States, temperatures have risen by two degrees over the last 50 years and precipitation is up by 5% (dosometing.org). According to Motherjones.com, the 2000’s was the hottest decade on record in the US and 2012 was the hottest year ever. With the rise of sea levels, comes the loss of land across the world. Globally the average land loss is eight inches. What that means to America is we are shrinking. Those in danger are people who live closest to the shoreline. It varies storm by storm, but those living closest to the shoreline during each mega storm, such as Hurricane Sandy, are in critical danger of losing not only their personal property and their lives but the actual earth beneath their feet. Everything could all be swept away by the wind and sea. There are currently almost five million A mericans living within four feet of the ocean at high tide. It is expected that over the next century, sea levels will rise by anywhere from one to four feet (Motherjones.com). Climate change affects rainfall as well and it can be devastating. A warmer planet means the air can hold more water vapor. That means when it rains it pours. The United States has seen record precipitation and flooding â€Å"significantly above average†Ã‚  (Motherjones.com), especially since 1991. The Northeast alone has seen a 71% increase in precipitation since 1958 (Motherjones.com). Nowhere has climate change left its mark more so than in Alaska. Due to melting glaciers no longer insulating the land, arctic storms are battering the now unshielded coastline that used to be protected by the now steadily melting glaciers. Additionally, 80% of the state has permafrost beneath its surface and as it thaws, the ground is literally giving way causing damage to roads and infrastructure. Currently, Alaska is spending about $10 million annually in repairs due to permafrost thawing and is projecting $5.6 to 7.6 billion for infrastructure repairs by 2080 (Motherjones.com). Extreme heat waves are becoming commonplace. Texas had one of the â€Å"hottest and driest summers on record† (Motherjones.com) in 2011 reaching over 100 degrees for 40 days in a row. It’s projected that if we continue on the same path, we could have a â€Å"once every 20 years extreme heat day† every two to three years by the year 2100 (Motherjones.com). In addition, we are feeling some of the driest conditions we’ve experienced in some 800 years. This has resulted in a loss to agriculture of as much as $10 billion in Texas and Oklahoma in 2011 & 2012 (Motherjones.com). Because we have more heat and drought, we have the potential for more wildfires. We have had record setting wildfires in both 2007 and 2011. And to make matters worse, these very wildfires, as dangerous and deadly as they are also add to the climate change problem. Wildfires actually release more carbon from the ground and only make the climate problem even worse. According to Mothorjones.com, â€Å"a single large fire in 2007 released as much carbon to the atmosphere as had been absorbed by the entire circumpolar Arctic tundra during the previous quarter century,† (Motherjones.com). There are some natural causes of climate change that we can do nothing about, but we have fast tracked global warming since the start of the industrial revolution. While volcanoes and solar patterns certainly are a small contributor to climate change, humans make a much greater impact. Due to deforestation and the massive amounts of fossil fuels consumed, there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than at any point in the last 800,000 years (Dosomething.com). Carbon dioxide is widely believed to be the most harmful of all greenhouse gasses. The US alone emits approximately 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year; 40% of which comes from power plants. As early as the 1700’s, we began emitting  more and more greenhouse gasses, mainly carbon dioxide by using coal, oil and gas to run our cars, trucks and factories (Dosomething.com). It is the increasing use of fossil fuel along with deforestation that is keeping greenhouse gasses closer to the earth not allowing it to escape the atmosphere thereby raising the earth’s temperature (Dosomething.com). We can’t fix this problem overnight, but the solution begins with us. The NRDC, National Resources Defense Council suggests a five step plan to insure a longer lasting planet for our children and we must begin today. 1. Set Limits on Global Pollution 2. Invest in Green Jobs and Clean Energy 3. Drive Smarter Cars 4. Create Green Homes and Buildings 5. Build Better Communities and Transportation Networks Some of these steps are already in place. Take for instance the Clean Air Act which established emissions and fuel economy standards for all cars. For power plants and factories, the impact could be as great as 560 million tons of carbon per year by 2026 under the Act. This is estimated to avoid anywhere from $25-60 billion in health costs (NRDC.com). Another great option is electric cars. They save on carbon emissions because they do not require gas to run. They are also cheaper to run for that very same reason. Case in point: Paul Scott from Santa Monica, CA bought an all-electric version of the Toyota Rav4 in 2002. It runs purely on sunlight and he charges the battery with the solar panels he heats his home with so essentially it costs him nothing to run. He hasn’t been to a gas station in 12 years (NRDC.com). If you can’t afford a new electric vehicle, at least you should be driving a high-mileage vehicle to cut down on emissions. Drive only what you need. We must cut down our dependence on oil and thereby reduce our consumption of fossil fuel. We can invest in retrofitting our homes; install energy star appliances, insulation and seal leaks where cool and warm air is escaping. This can save hundreds to over a thousand dollars annually to the homeowner but if just one in five American homes were retrofitted to save energy, we could avoid the need to build 13 mid-sized power plants every year. On a national level, we could cut as much carbon pollution as taking half a million cars off the road if every  house in America were energy efficient (NRDC.com). There are folks who believe global warming is a fallacy or work of fiction; people who think that because of the recent cold weather that we experienced in the Winter of 2013 and 2014, the Polar Vortex for example that global warmi ng cannot possible be real. These are people who have done no research or who do not have any facts. That very cold trend was a result of climate change (Climtecentral.org). There are also those that will cite â€Å"facts and myths† and counter with their own version of beliefs. They simply do not want to believe what is so vastly evident in research. Robert M. Carter, a research professor has written a myth v. fact document (globalresearch.ca) disputing the facts. Everyone is entitled to their opinion; that’s what makes our country so great. Based on my research, it is my belief that humans are in fact greatly responsible for the increase in climate change. Global warming is probably the wrong terminology and it makes perfect sense that it has been updated to climate change however there are still skeptics. There probably will always be nonbelievers. But I feel the data is undisputable. It is up to us to make the necessary changes before it is too late. We must make changes or we could face dire consequences. There are so many ways each individual can make small changes. Every one of us must do our part and we must begin today! Your new America (observed temperature changes over the last 22 years). National Climate Assessment. Source: Motherjones.com, National Climate Assessment Reference List 1. Multiple sources. (date unavail.). 11 Facts About Global Warming. www.DoSomething.Org. Retrieved from https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-global-warming 2. Carter, Robert N. (2009, Dec. 9). www.Globalresearch.org. Global Warming: Ten Facts and 10 Myths on Climate Change. Retrieved from http://www.globalresearch.ca/copenhagen-and-global-warming-ten-facts-and-ten-myths-on-climate-change/16467 3. Mooney, Chris. (2014, May 6).

The Silence Of God Existentialism And Religion - 1930 Words

The Silence of God: Existentialism and Religion in The Seventh Seal The Seventh Seal is a Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film takes place in Sweden in the time of the bubonic plague; it follows the adventures of the crusader knight Antonius Block and his squire Jà ¶ns. Antonius Block has returned from his crusade, downtrodden he lays on a beach with Jà ¶ns next to a chessboard. He is approached by a pale-faced man in black, who introduces himself as none other than Death himself. The movie goes on to chronicle the actions of Antonius, Jà ¶ns, and their steadily growing band of followers as Antonius battles Death in a game of chess. The Seventh Seal is a film concerned with more than just the misadventures of the knight and his squire, it is a piece of philosophical interest that deals with the one unanswerable question: what is the purpose of life, is it God—or is there no purpose. Antonius first meets with Death on the shores of Sweden, and challe nges him to a game of chess. The first move is not yet made before the scene switches to a cliffside, and the two travelers come across a man and his dog. Jà ¶ns attempts to converse with the man, but upon inspection the man is dead, and has no eyes. When asked by Antonius whether the man had given him any direction, Jà ¶ns says that the man said nothing. Antonius asks if the man was mute, and Jà ¶ns replies that the man was in fact eloquent, but, â€Å"what he had to say was most depressing.† (Bergman). Here is theShow MoreRelatedExistentialism as Exemplified in ‘the Seventh Seal’1115 Words   |  5 PagesExistentialism as Exemplified in ‘The Seventh Seal’ The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film offers interwoven storyline. It starts with a game of chess between a medieval knight, Antonius Block, and Death – in which if Block won, Death will prolong the knight’s life. 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Essay The Problem of Universals - 3365 Words

Metaphysics The Problem of Universals The Ontological problem has occupied many philosophers and intellectuals since the very beginning of human thought. What seems to be a simple and rather ridiculous question to the average person, ‘what exists?’ or ‘what is there?’ serves as the general question for the ontological problem. Almost everyone accepts the existence of physical objects, to which I will now refer as ‘particulars’. Actual pencils, buildings, cats, humans and planets are all examples of particulars. In fact, any physical object that is perceivable by sense perception qualifies as a particular. A particular exists at one place at a given moment in time. For example, an individual such as President George W. Bush cannot be†¦show more content†¦How can we see it? Well, the realists answer: The fact that we think that we do not notice it, or do not perceive it (the universal) does not prove that it does not exist. It is enough for us to see that the tiger exemplifi es the universal, in order to know that it exists. Moreover, realists argue that the same universal, that of ‘whiteness’, is the same one being referred to by all predicates in sentences such as: ‘this tiger is white’, or the ‘house walls are white’ or ‘white is a color’. It is the same exact object, same universal, that is being exemplified by all those particulars. If this is not the case, then we would have a big problem when accounting for similarities between particulars, for example: two red spots, which are indistinguishable (to us). The Realists claim that we do actually see universals. We see them when we look at a red spot for example. That is, we see the universal of ‘red’ or ‘redness’, but we do not know that we see it. In fact, whenever we look at a red object (assuming we look at red objects with the exact same shade), we see the same universal. This strikes us as counter-intuitive. How can a nything exist in multiple locations at the same time? How can we know that there is a universal there while we can’t see it? It seems like the realist has many difficult questions to answer. The realists who argue for the existence of universals, say that in those sentences whose predicates qualify as universals (the realists must explainShow MoreRelatedA Theory Of Ontology And A Position On The Problem Of Universals Essay1319 Words   |  6 Pagesand a position on the problem of universals. The problem of universals questions the existence of universals. Universals are properties and relations which are held in common by shared qualities. In comparison, particulars are concrete entities. The debate is centred around two opposing viewpoints – nominalist and realists. Realists believe in universals, nominalists do not. 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Syllabus Res 341 - 4034 Words

[pic] School of Business Course Design Guide RES/341 Version 6 Research and Evaluation I Copyright Copyright  © 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. University of Phoenix ® is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft ®, Windows ®, and Windows NT ® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply†¦show more content†¦| |Week One | | |Individual Assignment: Current Business Research Project Paper |3 | |Week Two | | |Individual Assignment: Research Terminology Matching Assignment |2 | |Learning Team Assignment: Research Process Paper |5 | |Week Three | | |Individual Assignment: Survey Paper |8 | |Individual Assignment: Statistical Symbols and Definitions Matching Assignment |3 | |Learning Team Assignment: Data Collection Paper |5 | |Week Four | | |Individual Assignment: Exercises From the E-Text |3 | |Individual Assignment:Show MoreRelatedAmerican Woman Essay2106 Words   |  9 Pagesinterdisciplinary look at American life. Communication There is a Blackboard site for this course: http://pcc.blackboard.com/ You’ll find course material there, including lecture outlines, class updates, and required readings, which are marked (BB) on the syllabus. Grading Expectations Grading will follow the standard scale: A = 90 – 100; B = 80 – 89; C = 70 – 79; D = 60 – 69; F = 59 and below Written Work: There are no exams in this course, only papers. Topics will be posted on the (BB). AllRead MoreCma Solutions63195 Words   |  253 PagesEntrance Examination Syllabus Reference Material Copyright 2006 The Society of Management Accountants of Canada All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the copyright holder. Entrance Examination Syllabus Reference Material Introduction The purpose of this reference material is to assist you in reviewing your technical knowledge of selected topics listed in the CMA Entrance Examination Syllabus. 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It is designed to cater for students with a wide range of abilities who differ substantially in their knowledge and understanding of mathematics. y g g Key features †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ HSC courseRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagesthe instructor resources that accompany this text. The items in the test bank reï ¬â€šect the data-in-context philosophy of the text’s exercises and examples. Advanced Placement Statistics We have designed this book with a particular eye toward the syllabus of the Advanced Placement Statistics course and the needs of high school teachers and students. Concerns expressed and questions asked in teacher workshops and on the AP Statistics Electronic Discussion Group have strongly inï ¬â€šuenced our exposition

Corporate Governance and Financing Decisions by Saudi Companies Free Essays

string(108) " the degree to which corporate governance affect the financing decisions of Saudi Arabian listed companies\." Corporate Governance and Financing Decisions by Saudi Companies Ali Al-Nodel College of Economy and Administration, Qassim University, P. O. Box 4667, Burydah 51412 Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. We will write a custom essay sample on Corporate Governance and Financing Decisions by Saudi Companies or any similar topic only for you Order Now Email: nodl@qu. edu. sa Khaled Hussainey Ain Shams University, Egypt Accounting Finance Division Stirling Management School Stirling University Stirling FK9 4LA United Kingdom Email: Khaled. Hussainey@stir. ac. uk 1 Abstract Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the corporate governance literature in emerging economies by examining the effect of some corporate governance mechanisms on financing decisions in Saudi Arabian listed companies. Methodology: A multiple regression model is used to examine the association between financing decisions and corporate governance mechanisms for a sample of 37 listed Saudi companies. In particular, we examine the effect of board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting on the debt-to-equity ratio. Corporate governance reporting is measured by the content analysis approach. Findings: After controlling for companies’ profitability and their growth opportunities, we found that both board size and ownership concentration are positively associated with debt-to-equity ratio. Research limitations: We limit our analysis to a small sample of firms that use the internet to communicate corporate governance information between October 2005 and January 2006. Practical implications: The findings suggest that managers are likely to choose higher financial leverage when they have stronger corporate governance (large number of directors on the board and higher ownership concentration). However, we did not find any statistical association between corporate governance disclosure and debt-to-equity ratio. This suggests that firm’s asymmetric information is not an important driver of the financing decision of Saudi Arabian companies. This might be due to the nature of the Saudi business environment. Originality: We strongly believe that this paper provides a novel contribution to the existing literature as we are the first to examine this issue in Saudi Arabia. Keywords: Corporate governance, financing decisions, emerging economies, Saudi Arabia. Paper type: Research paper. 2 1. Introduction This paper aims to contribute to the corporate governance literature by examining the effect of corporate governance characteristics on financing decisions in Saudi Arabian listed companies. In particular, it examines the effect of board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting on the debt-to-equity ratio. The investigation of these research issues in Saudi business environment could extend prior research and give different explanations to those carried out in more developed countries Research related to determinant of corporate capital structure is a well established part of the accounting and finance research. Modigliani and Miller (1958) is the first to study this area of research. They also provided another study in the same area of research after modifying some assumptions such as relaxing the prefect market assumptions and considering corporate tax into their models (Miller and Modigliani, 1963). In their later study, they suggested that firm value will be enhanced if the level of debt increases because interest rate is a tax deductible and consequently companies would enjoy debt tax shield when funding their activities by long-term debt. Further accounting and finance research studies were more expressive. Those researches were concentrated on examining some determinants of corporate capital structure. For example, the association between board size and capital structure decisions have been suggested by a number of empirical studies (see for example Mehran 1992, Berger et al. 1997, Wiwattanakantang 1999, Wen et al. 2002, Du and Dia 2005, Abor and Biekpe 2005 and Al-Najjar and Hussainey 2010a and 2010b). Another determinant of capital structure decision which received significant attention is the ownership concentration (see for example Wiwattanakantang 1999, and Al- 3 Najjar and Hussainey 2010a and 2010b). More recently, number of studies have, also, investigated the association between asymmetric information and corporate decisions (see for example Li and Zhao, 2006 and Bharath et al. 2009). The results of these research studies suggest that firm value will be enhanced if the level of debt increases, board size and ownership concentration are associated with capital structure decisions and firms with higher levels of information asymmetric are more likely to use debt in financing their activities than equity. Unfortunately, the results of these research studies cannot be generalized for number of reasons. First, these results provided mixed evidence. For example, Mehran (1992), Berger et al. (1997), and Abor and Biekpe (2005) found a significant negative association between the size of the board of directors and debt-to-equity ratios, while Jensen (1986) found a positive association between higher debt ratios and larger board size. Further, other researchers found that there is no significant association between board size and debt-to-equity ratios (i. e. Wiwattanakantang, 1999; Wen et al. , 2002; and Al-Najjar and Hussainey, 2010). A second reason for the difficulty behind generalizing the results of these esearch studies are that the majority of them were carried out in most developed countries such as U. S and European continental. More precisely, in developing countries the conclusions of this line of research are likely to be challenged due to the business environmental differences between those of developed and those of developing countries. In another words, in a different busi ness environment such those of the Middle Eastern countries, there are significant environmental factors that may affect corporate capital structure decisions. Hove (1986 and 1990) asserted the importance of political, economical, and social systems on corporate decisions. 4 Third reason for the difficulty of generalising the evidence of prior research examining determinants of corporate capital structure is that there are very limited numbers of studies that have examined determinants of capital structure in developing countries and even fewer such studies may be found in the Middle East countries, leaving significant doubt about the applicability of these evidence in the business environment of Middle east countries Accordingly, a natural area of extending the lines of the accounting and finance research related to determinant of corporate capital structure decisions is to explore other drivers of corporate capital structure decisions and to consider suggested drivers within a different business environment. In the present paper, we aim to examine the degree to which corporate governance affect the financing decisions of Saudi Arabian listed companies. You read "Corporate Governance and Financing Decisions by Saudi Companies" in category "Papers" We focus only on three corporate governance mechanisms. These are board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting. The main reasons for concentrating on these issues are the possibility of making comparison with other studies because these are the most studied issues in the literature, the availability of data regarding these issues1, and the importance of advising regulators whom are more concern about these issues in the process of regulating corporate governance in Saudi Arabia. To help us in focusing on a group of firms that report corporate governance information on their websites, we utilised a sample of 37 companies listed in Saudi Stock Market in January 2006. This was based on a recent paper by Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008) who collected their sample from Saudi listed companies’ websites 1 Cost of capital is an important factor in corporate capital structure decisions; however data for capital structure was not available. 5 etween October 2005 and January 2006 representing a total number of 77 companies listed in the Saudi Stock Exchange at that time. We found that both board size and ownership concentration are positively associated with the debt-to-equity ratio. However, we did not find a significant association between corporate governance reporting and the debt-to-equity ratio. The findings seem to suggest that managers are likely to choose higher financial leverage when they have stronger corporate governance (large number of directors on t he board and higher ownership concentration). However, firm’s asymmetric information seems to be not a driver of the financing decision of Saudi Arabian companies. A possible explanation is that decisions relate to capital structure are affected by the Islamic view of financing which prohibits interests and in turn to the public view who disrespects such practice. This is enhanced by the weakness of the business reporting practice in Saudi Arabia which could provide pave for a different mean of getting information by parties related to loan agreements. The results of this paper may be of use to the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (SACMA, thereafter) who issued a guidance in 2006 that recommends all listed companies to disclose corporate governance information to the public. This would help SACMA to explore the attitude of companies to voluntarily report corporate governance rather than being enforced to do so. The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 reviews prior research on the determinants of corporate capital structure. In Section 3, a description of the Saudi business environment is provided. Sections 4 and 5 discuss the development of the research hypotheses and the research model. Section 6 is the data description. The 6 main regression results are presented in Section 7. Section 8 concludes and suggests areas for future research. 2. Literature Review Although the relationship between corporate governance and capital structure has been the subject for an extensive research in developed countries2, a limited research has been carried out to investigate the issue in business environment of developing countries. The association between board size and capital structure decisions have been well established in prior accounting and finance research. In particular, Mehran (1992), Berger et al. (1997), Wiwattanakantang (1999), Wen et al. (2002), Du and Dia (2005), Abor and Biekpe (2005) and Al-Najjar and Hussainey (2010a and 2010b) examined the association between board size and corporate capital structure decision, but the results are mixed. Mehran (1992), Berger et al. (1997), and Abor and Biekpe (2005) reported a significant negative association between the size of the board of directors and debt-toequity ratios. However, Jensen (1986) revealed a positive association between higher debt ratios and larger board size. Other researchers found that there is no significant association between board size and debt-to-equity ratios (Wiwattanakantang, 1999, Wen et al. , 2002, Al-Najjar and Hussainey, 2010). 2 Examples include the UK (see, for example, Demirag 1998; Ezzamel and Willmott 1993; Writer 2001; Vinten 2001), The Netherlands (Groot, 1998), and Canada (Elloumi and Gueyie, 2001). Other researchers compared the corporate governance practice between developing countries. For instance, Vinten (2000) compared the corporate governance practice between the UK and the US. Another comparative study is Charkham (1994) which found significant differences in the corporate governance practices in five countries: Japan, Britain, France, the United States and Germany. 7 Ownership concentration is considered as one of the key determinants of capital structure decision. Wiwattanakantang (1999) reported that managerial shareholdings have consistent positive influence on family-owned firm leverage. In addition, Al-Najjar and Hussainey (2010a) found that insider ownership is positively and significantly associated with the debt-to-equity ratio. However, Al-Najjar and Hussainey (2010b) did not find the expected significant results. A relatively recent and growing number of studies have investigated the association between asymmetric information and corporate decisions (see Li and Zhao, 2006 for more details). For example Bharath et al. (2009) used a novel information asymmetry index and examined the extent to which information asymmetry is a determinant of capital structure decisions. They found that information asymmetry affects capital structure decisions of US companies. In particular, they found a significant positive association between information asymmetry and debt-to-equity ratio. In other words, their results suggest that firms with higher levels of information asymmetric are more likely to use debt in financing their activities than equity. On the other hand, other research found that voluntary disclosure is negatively related to asymmetric information. For example, Hussainey et al. 2003) found higher levels of voluntary disclosure reduce information asymmetry between the firm and investors and hence increase investors’ ability to better anticipate future earnings. Research investigating corporate governance in developing countries is much beyond in considering the impact of issues of corporate governance on corporation capital structure. A review of research investigating issues of corporate governance revealed that most such research approach th e issue whether to describe the state of 8 orporate governance from an official perspective or from the perspective of what should the practical applications of its principles be. For example, Al-Motairy (2003) explored the state of corporate governance practices in Saudi Arabia. He concluded that there is a vital need for (1) a review of these regulations to reflect the current practices of corporate governance, (2) the issuance of guidance for best practices for management and financial affair in corporations and (3) the establishment of an organisation to accelerate the adoption of best practices of corporate governance. Similarly, Fouzy (2003) evaluated the practices of corporate governance’s principles in Egypt. He recognised the development in Egyptian official regulations toward the application of best practices of corporate governance. He then argued that these developments are not met enough by Egyptian companies in their practical applications. Another example is the study which was carried out by Oyelere and Mohammed (2005) investigating the practices of corporate governance in Oman and how it is being communicated to stakeholders. They recommend enhanced regulation and communication for the Omani stock market to keep pace with the international developments. Finally, a research paper by the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE, 2003) examined the corporate governance practice in four Middle Eastern countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Lebanon). It found that corporate governance practice is approached differently by each country depending on the sophistication of the financial market in each country. The research paper further provided several 9 ecommendations to improve the application of the principles of corporate governance in the region as a whole. The impact of the corporation attitude toward their corporate governance on their financing decisions needs further investigation giving the unique of the Saudi business environment and the mixed results of the accounting and finance research relating to the determinants of corporate capital structure. This is evident by the unique aspects of the business environment of Saudi Arabia which will be discussed in the following paragraph. 3. Saudi business environment This section provides a general description of the environment of the Saudi business practices. The discussion will be directed to the most important environmental factors, as suggested by the literature. The main aspects of the Saudi business practices that will be discussed are the social, economical, and political systems. Also, some highlights will be given to the 1965 Company Law that regulates the practice of Saudi businesses and the guidance of corporate governance issued by SACMA in 2006 which regulates corporate governance reporting. As a conservative society, a significant number of Saudis are adherent to Islamic values such as avoiding loan interests. This does not mean there is no such type of transactions but to mean that the majority of Saudis do not openly accept such transactions. Saudi society is also characterized by the impact of the personality and power of particular individuals, the role of family and friend relationships over regulations, privilege given to personal relationships over tasks, and the existence of a high level of secrecy (Al-Rumaihi 1997; Al-Nodel 2004). 0 The economy of Saudi Arabia is an oil-based economy and government exercises strong controls over major economic activities. Since the discovery of oil in 1938, oil revenue represents the biggest contribution to the economy. In 1990s, it accounted for around 35% of nominal GDP, about 75% of government revenues, and 85% of export receipts (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2003). Table 1 presents the country’s budgetary revenues, e xpenditures and net surplus or (deficit) for the last three years. Insert Table 1 here Similar to most developing countries, Saudi businesses are characterized by the domination of family businesses, the deep involvement of the government in the private sector, and the existence of a number of foreign-owned and controlled companies based on joint venture agreements with domestic companies. Al-Nodel (2004) reported that joint-stock companies represent only 1. 14% of the total number, and account for less than 40% of the total capital of the registered businesses. Since the type of businesses is mostly small to medium size companies, there was an apparent need for more foreign investors and involvement of the government in the private sector to carry some important activities which cannot be carried out or provided by local companies. This has left the country with significant number of foreign-owned and controlled companies based on joint venture agreements with domestic companies and significant involvement of government in some major business activities (Presley, 1984; Aba-Alkhail, 2001). The political system of Saudi Arabia is a monarchy, headed by the King. Within the political system, there are three legislative bodies, which have the authority to initiate and/or approve policies, regulation or rules: the Council of 11 Ministers, the Consultative Council, and various individual Ministries (Al-Amari, 1989; Al-Rumaihi, 1997). The legal system of Saudi Arabia is derived from Islamic law (Shariah; Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah3), and coded laws for a number of specific fields, such as commerce, tax and labour. Al-Amari (1989) reported that Islamic law prevails in legal disputes. Two of the most important aspects of the Islamic values relating to corporate financing are that Islamic law prohibits loan interests whether giving or taking by individuals or business institutions and obligation of Zaket4 which should be giving, calculated based on the capital of the business or individual, and given to specific groups as mentioned by Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah. Taxes duty is imposed on non-Saudi or Gulf States companies operate in Saudi Arabia. There are some differences between Zaket and Taxes whether on whom to impose, the manner of collection, or calculation. For example, Zaket is based on the wealth of the business with some specific deductions for specific items as indicated by Shariah; Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah, while Tax is based on the net income with some deduction according to the law of Taxes. The 1965 Company Law regulates the practice of businesses in Saudi Arabia. It sets conditions for several aspects of businesses such as legal frameworks through which business companies can be established, the registration requirements, minimum capital to be maintained, number of partners, number of directors, accounts, the 3 Alqur’an Alkareem is the Holly book of Islam and Sunna Alsharifah is the interpretations, speeches and actions of prophet Mohamed Peace be up on him. Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah provide the main of Islamic instructions. 4 Zaket is a financial religious duty and represents the third pillar. Alqur’an Alkareem and Sunna Alsharifah explain to Muslim the compliance with the Zaket duty. 12 annual audit of the accounts, and so on. Shinawi and Crum (1971) asserted that the origin of the 1965 Saudi Company Law goes back to the British Companies Act of 1948. The similarity between the 1965 Saudi Company Law and the UK acts issued in 1948, 1967 and 1976 was also reported by Kahlid (1983). The reporting requirements which are imposed by the 1965 Company Law represent the only rules that should be observed. It requires the issuance of a balance sheet, a profit and loss account, and a report on the company’s operations and financial position every fiscal year. It further stipulates that all corporations and limited liability companies must issue annual financial statements audited by an independent auditor licensed to practice by the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Similar to stock markets in developing countries, the Saudi stock market is new and small. In 1984, the Royal Decree No. 81230 was issued as an attempt to officially regulate the stock exchange (Abdeen and Dale, 1984; El-Sharkawy, 2006). Under this Royal Decree, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was given actual control over the stock exchange through national commercial banks. The significant change was in 2003 when the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (SACMA) was established to oversight the exchange of Saudi stocks (Ramady, 2005). This period observed significant increase of the number of listed companies, regulations for the market in general and reporting in specific. Table 2 compares some key numbers of the Saudi stock market between 1996- 2005. Insert Table 2 here 13 For example, in 2006 SACMA issued a draft for reporting requirements of corporate governance for listed companies. The draft provides recommendations of the criteria for the best corporate governance practice that should listed companies counsel. It has covered to some extent the main five principles issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): the rights of shareholders, the equitable treatment of shareholders, the role of stakeholders in corporate governance, disclosure and transparency, the responsibility of the board of directors. According to the recommendations of SACMA, listed companies are required to report to SACMA about their compliance with the criteria of corporate governance as issued by SACMA or reasons for uncompliance if any. The disclosure contains, for example, the board of directors’ functions, responsibilities, formation, committees of board of directors; audit committee; Nomination and Remuneration Committee; Meetings of the Board and Remuneration and Indemnification of Board Members5. Finally, SACMA asserted that the criteria for the best corporate governance practice mostly constitutes the guiding principles for all listed companies unless any other regulations, laws or rules require such requirement. 4. Research hypotheses To examine the effect of corporate governance characteristics on financing decisions in Saudi Arabian listed companies we formulated three research hypotheses; 5 Detailed information about these regulations is discussed in the following articles (SACMA, 2006): Article 9: Disclosure in the Board of Directors’ Report; Article 10: Main Functions of the Board of Directors; Article 11: Responsibilities of the Board; Article 12: Formation of the Board; Article 13: Committees of the Board; Article 14: Audit Committee; Article 15: Nomination and Remuneration Committee; Article 16: Meetings of the Board; Article 17: Remuneration and Indemnification of Board Members. 14 he effect of board size; ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting on the debt-to-equity ratio as following. Board size hypothesis Given that prior research investigating the association between board size and debt-to-equity ratios gave mixed result (see section 2), we also revisited this research area and examined the association between board size and capital structure for Saudi Arabian companies. We set the following first research hypothesis for the impact of board size on capital structure: H1: Ceteris paribus, there is a relationship between board size and debt-to-equity ratio. Ownership concentration hypothesis Given the results of the prior research are – to some extent – mixed, we also revisited this research area and examined the association between ownership concentration and capital structure for Saudi Arabian companies. We set the following second research hypothesis for the impact of ownership concentration on capital structure: H2: Ceteris paribus, there is a relationship between ownership concentration and debt-to-equity ratio. Corporate governance reporting To examine the role of the information environment on capital structure decision in Saudi Arabian companies, we used a corporate governance voluntary disclosure index as a measure of a firm’s information environment and set the 15 following third research hypothesis for the impact of corporate governance reporting on capital structure: H3: Ceteris paribus, there is a relationship between corporate governance reporting and debt-to-equity ratio. 5. Model Development In order to test the above hypotheses, we regress debt-to-equity ratio on some corporate governance characteristics and some control variables. The study will investigate the following model: Levit = ? + ? ? X it + ? it Where: Levit is defined as long term debt to equity ratio; ? is the intercept. ? ? is the slope coefficient estimates of regressors. X it is the corporate governance variables (and control variables) for firm i at time t. Dependent variable: The dependent variable ( Levit ) is defined as the long term debt to equity ratio. Independent variables: We have three independent variables and two control variables. We identified three types of corporate governance variables: 1) Board size (BOARD): This represents the number of executive and non executive directors on the board. (2) Ownership concentration (OWNERSHIP): This represents the total percentage of the company’s shares that owned by owners. 16 (3) Corporate governance reporting (DISCLOSURE): This is calculated as the number of sentences that include at least one corporate governance related information. Control variables: (1) Profitability (PROF): we used return on total assets as a measure for firms’ profitability. (2) Growth opportunity (MB): we used share price to book value ratio as a measure for firm’s growth opportunity. . Data Our data collection is based on a recent paper by Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008). This helped us to focus on a group of firms that report corporate governance information on their websites. We focused on firms that disclose information through internet because prior research argued that internet reporting is one of the most important sources of voluntary disclosure and this source is more likely to complement published annual reports (Aly et al, 2010). Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008) collected their sample from Saudi listed companies’ websites between October 2005 and January 2006. At that time, the total number of companies listed in the Saudi Stock Market was 77 representing eight sectors: agriculture, services, cement, industrial, banks, electrical, telecommunication and insurance. They used TADAWUL website (www. tdwl. net) and Google website (www. google. com) to access every company’s website. They deleted some companies from their analysis for a number of reasons. These include 11 firms without websites; one firm with a website under construction and one firm with a restricted website. This reduced their sample to 64 companies. We also further excluded 27 firms because of missing corporate 7 governance and accounting information. This led to a sample of 37 listed firms for the current study. Data on debt-to-equity ratio, Board size, ownership concentration, profitability and price-to-book value ratio were collected from TADAWUL website. Following Hussainey and Al-Nodel (2008), we used the content analysis approach to measure the number of sentences that contain corporate governance information. Accordingly we used the corporate governance disclosure index developed by Hussainey and AlNodel (2008) to analyse the content of every company’s website. 7. Empirical Results This section discusses the descriptive analysis, the correlation analysis and the empirical results. Descriptive analysis Table 3 shows the descriptive analysis (mean, minimum, maximum and the standard deviation). It shows that on average the number of directors on board in Saudi Arabia companies is around 8, with a minimum of 4 members and a maximum of 11 members. Mean ownership concentration is 35. 6 and the mean corporate governance disclosure is 5 sentences with a minimum of zero corporate governance sentence and a maximum of 21 corporate governance sentences. A broad range of variation in financial variables is also evident in our sample. The debt-to-equity ratio ranges from 0 to 97 with a mean of 24. 52 and a standard deviation of 32. 576. The return on total assets ratio ranges from -37. 3 to 71. 74 with a mean of 8. 8535 and a standard deviation of 13. 81767. The share price to book value ratio ranges from 0 to 21 with a mean of 5. 03 and a standard deviation of 5. 336. On 18 average, our sample covers large firms as the mean firm size is 23240077. 81. Finally, our sample covers nine sectors as follows: Banks (9 firms), Chemical (8 firms); Cement (6 firms); Retailers (2); Energy (I firm); Agriculture (7 firms); Telecommunication (2 firms); Advertising (1 firm) and Insurance (1 firm). Insert table 3 here Table 4 shows the correlation analysis. The correlation between each of the independent variables is not too high. The highest correlation found between corporate governance disclosure and share price to book value ratio (MB) is 43. 5, which is acceptable. This confirms that no multicollinearity problem exists between the independent variables. Insert table 4 here Table 5 shows our empirical results. It shows that the coefficient estimate on board size is positive significant with a p-value of 0. 059 (see model 4). This is consistent with Jensen (1986) who also found a positive association between higher debt ratios and larger board size. Our finding indicates that larger board size puts Saudi Arabian firms in a good position to finance their activities by using debt. This is consistent with the fact that higher quality of corporate governance improves companies’ financial performance (Bhagat and Bolton, 2008) and hence leads increase the ability of the company to obtain debt. Liang and Zheng (2005) provided an explanation for this positive sign. They argued that boards with a large board size are more likely to have a difficulty in getting an agreement because of different and conflict opinions and views. Accordingly, firms with large number of directors on board might not choose equity financing which requires high transaction cost to resolve communication and coordination dilemma. In addition, they argued that 19 directors would choose debt for financing their activities because this source of finance will not dilute the equity of current shareholders and change their current position. This leads us to accept hypothesis 1. Table 5 also shows that the coefficient estimate on ownership concentration is positive significant with a p-value of 0. 005 (see model 4). This result is consistent with Wiwattanakantang (1999) Al-Najjar and Hussainey (2010a). This indicates that when the total percentage of the company’s shares is concentrated internally, managers will prefer to use debt to finance their companies’ activities. This is because – as mentioned in Liang and Zheng (2005) – debt will not dilute the equity of current shareholders and change their current position. This leads us to accept hypothesis 2. Insert table 5 here Finally, corporate governance disclosure as a proxy for asymmetric information between managers and investors is expected to be negative and statistically significant. However, Table 5 shows that the coefficient estimate of DISCLOSURE variable is positive, indicating that firms with higher levels of corporate governance disclosure (less information asymmetry) has higher debt-toequity ratio. This finding is statistically insignificant and not consistent with prior research. This leads us to reject hypothesis 3. . Conclusion The aim of this paper was to examine the effect of corporate governance mechanisms on capital structure for Saudi Arabian listed companies. Our results show that the corporate capital structure decisions in Saudi Arabia is driven by some of the same corporate governance determinates suggested in prior research. Based on 20 a sample of 37 Saudi Arabian listed companies, our results show that the number of dir ectors on boards and ownership concentration are the main drivers of Saudi companies for capital structure decisions. Our results, however, show that corporate governance reporting was not an important driver of Saudi companies for capital structure decisions. This might be due in part to the nature of the Saudi business environment where there is a weak reporting requirement of the practice of corporate governance in the country. This fact could have encourage parties to loan agreements approach different means to get the needed information rather than the traditional reporting mechanisms which is likely to be practical in a small community of businesses. This is also likely to be affected by the characteristics of Saudi society whereas the impact of the personality and power of particular individuals, the role of family and friend relationships prevail over regulations, and tasks, and the existence of a high level of secrecy. The main limitation of the study is that it did not cover the whole market so the sample may not be representative of the population of Saudi companies. This, however, is justified by the nature of the study, which relied on the availability of data needed. Further recheck was carried for companies which are not included. We found that these companies are in general small and less likely to affect the results. Nevertheless, a study with a large number of companies is needed for future research. A future research may also try to overcome the limitation of the availability of data and investigate other determinants of capital structure decisions by utilising other mean of research tools such interviews with parties involved in loan agreements. 21 References Aba-Alkhail, K. (2001). Regulating the auditing profession in Saudi Arabia: the formulation of early auditing standards. PhD Thesis. University of Essex. Abdeen, A. and Dale, S. (1984), The Saudi Financial System in the Context of Western and Islamic Finance, John Wiley ; Sons. Abor, J. and Biekpe, N. 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Com (Accessed on 10th July 2008). 24 Tab le (1): Saudi Arabia budgetary revenues, expenditures and net surplus or deficit 2005-2007 Annual government budgeting ( estimates ) Million Saudi Riyals ($1= 3. 75 SR) Total Non-oil Total (Deficit)/ Oil revenues revenues revenues expenditures Surplus Amount Amount % Amount % Amount Amount 2005 280000 220000 79% 60000 21% 280000 0 2006 390000 320000 82% 70000 18% 335000 55000 2007 400000 330000 83% 70000 17% 380000 20000 Source: SAMA (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency) annual report (2007). 25 Table (2): Key Figures of Saudi Stock Market between 1996-2005. YEAR 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 NO. OF TRANSACTIONS (THOUSAND)) 284 460 377 438 498 605 1,034 3,763 13,320 46,607 TRADED STOCK (MILLION) 138 314 295 528 555 692 1,736 5,566 10,298 12,281 Source: TADAWUL website accessed on 29th September 2006 26 MARKET VALUE ($ MILLIAR ) 46 59 43 61 68 73 75 157 306 650 INDEX 1,531 1,958 1,413 2,029 2,258 2,430 2,518 4,438 8,206 16,713 Table (3) Descriptive Statistics ; Industry Classification a) Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Lev 37 0 97 24. 52 32. 576 Board 37 4 11 7. 89 1. 822 Ownership 36 .0 82. 7 35. 550 27. 7875 PROF 37 -37. 30 41. 74 8. 8535 13. 81767 MB 37 .00 66. 87 9. 9181 10. 56721 Total assets 37 0 Disclosure 37 0 136950480 23240077. 81 21 b) Industry Classification Sectors Number of firms Banks 9 Chemical 8 Cement 6 Retailers 2 Energy 1 Agriculture 7 Telecommunication 2 Advertising 1 Insurance 1 27 5. 03 3. 888E7 5. 336 Table (4) Correlation analysis Disclosure Board Ownership Lev MB PROF 1. 000 .077 .246 .301 .435** -. 139 .649 .149 .070 .007 .410 37 37 36 37 37 37 Pearson Correlation .077 1. 000 .234 .395* .083 .212 Sig. (2-tailed) .649 .170 .016 .626 .207 Disclosure Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Board N 37 37 36 37 37 37 .246 .234 1. 000 .504** .097 .064 .149 .170 .002 .574 .711 36 36 36 36 36 36 Pearson Correlation .301 .395* .504** 1. 000 .109 -. 062 Sig. (2-tailed) .070 .016 .002 .520 .716 37 37 36 37 37 37 .435** .083 .097 .109 1. 000 -. 019 .007 626 .574 .520 37 37 36 37 37 37 Pearson Correlation -. 139 .212 .064 -. 062 -. 019 1. 000 Sig. (2-tailed) .410 .207 .711 .716 .910 37 37 36 37 37 Ownership Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Lev N MB Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N PROF N **. Correlation is significant at the 0. 01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0. 05 level (2-tailed). 28 .910 37 Table (5) Reg ression analysis 5. 1 Model summary R Square Adjusted R Square 1 .617 a .380 .277 28. 002 2 .616b .379 .299 27. 565 3 .602c .363 .303 27. 492 4 .576d .332 .291 27. 726 Model R Std. Error of the Estimate a. Predictors: (Constant), PROF, MB, Ownership , Board , Disclosure b. Predictors: (Constant), PROF, Ownership , Board , Disclosure c. Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board , Disclosure d. Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board 29 5. 2 ANOVA analysis e ANOVA Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Regression 14436. 181 5 2887. 236 3. 682 .010a Residual 23524. 187 30 784. 140 Total 37960. 368 35 Regression 14405. 109 4 3601. 277 4. 739 .004b Residual 23555. 258 31 759. 847 Total 37960. 368 35 Regression 13774. 798 3 4591. 599 6. 075 .002c Residual 24185. 570 32 755. 799 Total 37960. 368 35 Regression 2592. 380 2 6296. 190 8. 190 .001d Residual 25367. 988 33 768. 727 Total 37960. 368 35 Model 1 2 3 4 a. Predictors: (Constant), PROF, MB, Ownership , Board , Disclosure b. Predictors: (Constant), PROF, Ownership , Board , Disclosure c. Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board , Disclosure d. Predictors: (Constant), Ownership , Board e. Dependent Variable: Lev 30 5. 3 Coefficient estimat es Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Model a Standardized Coefficients t Sig. -1. 839 .076 .315 2. 079 .046 .181 .400 2. 619 .014 1. 064 1. 032 .174 1. 031 .311 MB -. 101 .507 -. 032 -. 199 .844 PROF -. 311 .352 . 132 -. 886 .383 -39. 272 20. 901 -1. 879 .070 Board 5. 669 2. 696 .312 2. 102 .044 Ownership .475 .178 .401 2. 672 .012 Disclosure .971 .906 .159 1. 072 .292 PROF -. 315 .346 -. 134 -. 911 .369 -38. 586 20. 831 -1. 852 .073 Board 5. 185 2. 637 .285 1. 967 .058 Ownership .466 .177 .393 2. 630 .013 Disclosure 1. 113 .890 .182 1. 251 .220 (Constant) -35. 046 20. 814 -1. 684 .102 Board 5. 196 2. 659 .286 1. 954 .059 Ownership 4 .519 .173 .438 2. 990 .005 21. 252 5. 721 2. 752 .474 Disclosure 3 -39. 090 Ownership 2 Std. Error Board 1 B (Constant) (Constant) (Constant) a. Dependent Variable: Lev 31 Beta How to cite Corporate Governance and Financing Decisions by Saudi Companies, Papers

Communicable Disease Essay Sample free essay sample

Catching disease is defined as an infective disease catching ( as from individual to individual ) by direct contact with an affected person or the individual’s discharge or by indirect agencies ( Merriam Webster. m-w. com ) . A catching disease can be transmitted through unstable exchange or by a vector. Hepatitis B is a known catching disease still impacting the United States and worldwide. Hepatitis B is a viral infection that caused liver damaged from the Hepatitis B virus HBV ) . redness of the liver. In the first phases of HBV normally within the first six months a individual becomes infected naming it acute Hepatitis B infection. HBV can experience like holding the grippe or no marks of symptoms in which it could travel off on its ain in a few months. If it doesn’t it is called chronic HBV. which so last a life-time. Chronic HBV can take to liver scarring. liver malignant neoplastic disease and liver failure. Hepatitis B virus is found in the blood of people with HBV infection. it transmits through the organic structure by blood-to-blood contact. This paper will depict Hepatitis B. the attempts being made to command it. supply informations grounds. resource for intervention options. how it act upon the life styles and socioeconomic position. and farther bar recommendations such as immunisations. Heath Care Act which provide everyone with insurance to be treated. and instruction. Hepatitis B has similarities to the HIV virus as manners of transmittal. although is 100 times more infective. Both diseases are exposed through blood-to-blood contact from infected blood or merchandises. and from female parents giving birth to babies. Peoples can besides acquire HBV by sharing acerate leafs for injection of drug usage. inadvertent needle stick with a contaminated acerate leaf. tattooing equipment and sexual contact. HBV can distribute through insouciant contact and go life endangering. HBV symptoms range from bare minimal in early phases. to icterus. abdominal hurting. sickness. febrility and unease in the acute stage. Fatigue. appetite los. dark piss. itchiness and picket stools are other symptoms. HBV normally has a few symptoms after the initial infections. Worldwide Hepatitis B has infected two billion people saying to be one out of three people. Approximately 400 1000000s are inveterate infected and an estimated sum of 1 million people die each twelvemonth from Hepatitis B and its complications. that is approximately two people per minute that dies from Hepatitis B. In the United States 12 million Americans have been infected saying to be one out of 20 people. more than one million have it inveterate and 100. 00 will go septic each twelvemonth. 5. 000 people die from it each twelvemonth and about one wellness attention worker dies each twenty-four hours from Hepatitis B. ( Hepatitis B Foundation ) . In the metropolis of Las Vegas the Southern Nevada Health District states that 19 instances per 100. 000 have been studies up to the terminal of October 2012. There are about two million people in Las Vegas. bespeaking the 380 people have been infected in 2012 as of October 2012. There is a three shooting series to assist protect yourself and loved 1s against hepatitis B. The first injection is given at any clip the vaccinum is preferred to get down at infant ages. The 2nd injection is one month following the first injection and the three injections is six month following the first injection. The first Hepatitis B was approved by Food and Drug Administration in 1981. so discontinued in 1990 and no longer used in the U. S. The 1s presently use has been available since 1986. If infected by chronic HBV and immunisation is non an option. intervention programs are available. first by taking antiviral medicine to contend the virus and decelerate down the procedure of damaging the liver. If the liver is damaged beyond fix and graft could be an option. The United States offers several types of resources to assist instruction and handle patient with Hepatitis B. Valuable information can be located at Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Hepatitis B Foundation. and the state/city wellness territory centre. Organization support group can help person in understand option/treatments. instruction and or merely listen through the cyberspace and in individual such as. Hepatitis B Foundation. Hepatitis Foundation International. HBV and Liver Disease Support Group. and National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable. and many more throughout each community and province. Peoples with Hepatitis B should ever confer with with their primary attention physician to assist them integrate a intervention program. and possible topographic points to travel for support. At any given clip any one individual can be exposed to Hepatitis B but as any disease there are manner to assist forestall exposure to it. It is of import for people to hold their inoculation particularly out of state. where as HBV is most common in Asiatic and Pacific Island states every bit good as Africa. the Middle East. Caribbean. Eastern Europe. and South and Central America. Environmental factors that contribute to possible exposure is by sharing acerate leafs while making drugs. work forces who have sex with work forces. people having chemotherapy or immunosuppressive therapy. givers of blood. variety meats and seeds. people who have sex with septic individual and multiple spouses. Even the 1s who are at that place to assist such as physicians and nurses can be exposed at work by the blood merchandises and acerate leafs. Crowded urban abode. lower societal stratum and low educational attainment are major socioeconomic factors reported higher chronic Hepatitis B virus bearers. Peoples with lower income are unable to afford possible intervention programs or medicine. societal stigma and fright of favoritism. HBV is something everyone should be educated on and the hazard of exposure. every bit good as the instruction of sex and what possible disease can happen when people have sex with multiple spouses. seting themselves and other at hazard. Controling a disease is understanding it. acquiring the information out. to assist educate people particularly 1s who can’t afford it. Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) ’s. HHS’ Healthy People 2010 plan. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) ’ have helped trip vigorous attempts to shut the spread in immunisation. such as supplying intervention to kids who don’t have insurance and afford it. school doing it a required to hold the Hepatitis series prior to get downing. and acquiring the instruction out at that place of why it is of import. Immunizations. for both kids and grownups. have been identified as one of six cardinal countries in which Americans experience serious disparities in wellness results compared to their bulk opposite numbers. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will convey wellness insurance coverage to more than 30 million people while advancing disease bar. The Act will better patient entree to viral-hepatitis-related bar. attention. and intervention services. Hepatitis B virus is 100 times more contagious so HIV/AIDS. it is passed by blood-to-blood contact. and spreads to a babe during bringing from the female parent. HBV can be mild with no symptoms or can be terrible doing malignant neoplastic disease. liver damaged or necessitating a liver graft. Immunizations play a cardinal function in the bar of infection with the HBV virus. The immunisations are available for babies to adulthood. and extremely recommended to get down the series at babyhood. If infected there are possible options such as antiviral that can assist forestall harm to the liver while protracting life. A individual can be infected with HBV in about any setting no affair the ethnicity. or topographic point. but HBV is higher among the poorer. overcrowded urban countries. other states and is more common in the Asian and the Pacific Islander communities. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ends are to extinguish diseases. handle them and supply options for all people even with a preexistent status. The Act is besides taking for a Healthy America in 2020. giving the state with proper tools to be educated. treated and options to break their wellness. HBV is non merely impacting the U. S but it’s a worldwide job. HBV can be lifelessly and its doesn’t choose merely one peculiar type of individual. it infects anyone that crosses its way. Educating. take proper stairss. holding the immunisation series completed and maintain from holding multiple sexual spouses are great ways to protect yourself and the 1s you loves from Hepatitis B. Mentions: ( 2012 ) . Statistics. Heptatitis B Foundation Cause for a Cure. Retrieved from: World Wide Web. hepborg. /hepb/stastics. htm( 2012 ) . Hepatitis B. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from: World Wide Web. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. gov/hepatitis/b/World Wide Web. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. gov/hepatitis/Statistics/2010Surveillance/index. htmBlakely. C. . Crampton. P. . Howden-Chapman. P A ; Salmond. C. ( 2000 ) . Socioeconomic inequality in wellness: how large is the job and what can be done? Pacific Health Dialog. Vol. 7. No. 1. Retrieved from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. pacifichealthdialog. org. fj/Volume % 207/No1 % 20Maori % 20Health % 20in % 20New % 20Zealand/Reprint % 20Papers/Socioeconomic % 20inequalities % 20in % 20health % 20hotungsten % 20big % 20is % 20the % 20problem % 20and % 20what % 20can % 20be % 20done. pdf ( 1994-2010 ) . Battling the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis. United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from: World Wide Web. Department of Health and Human Services. gov/ash/initiatives/hepatitis/actionplan_viralhepatitis2011. pdf ( 2012 ) . Statistics. Surveillance A ; Reports. Southern Nevada Health District. Retrieved From:hypertext transfer protocol: //www. southernnevadahealthdistrict. org/stats-reports/disease-stats-2012qtr3. php