SPE 578 Complete Class - 2363 Words

SPE 578 Complete Class - DOES NOT Include Week 3 Individual SPE 578 Models, Theories and Instructional Strategies for SPE - DOES NOT Include Week 3 Individual Check this A+ tutorial guideline at http://www.assignmentcloud.com/SPE-578/SPE-578-Complete-Class-Guide For more classes visit www.assignmentlocud.com SPE 578 Week 1 DQ 1 Using what you have learned from the readings, discuss why you think lesson plans are important to teaching and which part(s) of the lesson plan will you find most helpful? Check this A+ tutorial guideline at http://www.assignmentcloud.com/SPE-578/SPE-578-Week-1-DQ-1 For more classes visit www.assignmentlocud.com SPE 578 Week 1 DQ 2 It seems that for every university and every teacher there is a†¦show more content†¦Create a learning goal related to this content area and grade level. Write one developmentally appropriate learning objective for the goal related to each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Follow the ABCD format described in the Writing Observable and Measurable Instructional Goals and Objectives when writing your objectives. Reflect and discuss how teachers adjust instruction based on objectives. Write a summary statement explaining how lesson plan objectives relate to instruction. Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment. For more classes visit www.assignmentlocud.com SPE 578 Week 3 DQ 1 Discuss the different strengths and weaknesses of formative and summative assessments and where you would best use them in your classroom. Check this A+ tutorial guideline at http://www.assignmentcloud.com/SPE-578/SPE-578-Week-3-DQ-1 For more classes visit www.assignmentlocud.com SPE 578 Week 3 DQ 2 Discuss how instructionally sound assessments support Response to Intervention (RTI) and student learning. Check this A+ tutorial guideline at http://www.assignmentcloud.com/SPE-578/SPE-578-Week-3-DQ-2 For more classes visit www.assignmentlocud.com SPE 578 Week 3 DQ 3 Professional Learning CommunitiesShow MoreRelatedCarrefour Financial Report42411 Words   |  170 PagesEQUIVALENTS Cash and cash equivalents totaled 3,849  million euros at December  31, 2011, compared with 3,271  million euros one year earlier, an increase of 578  million euros. The year-on-year change breaks down as follows: (in millions of euros) 2011 2,360 (117) 104 (229) 2,118 (2,330) 495 1,329 108 (398) (811) (126) 853 (1,132) 46 (1,170) 28 578 3,271 3,849 2010(1) 2,914 (729) 635 (84) 2,736 (1,832) 196 (320) (351) (2,307) (864) (943) 221 907 335 (344) (114) (29) 3,300 3,271 Cash ï ¬â€šow fromRead MoreExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagesdifï ¬ culties identiï ¬ ed in the case. There are also over 33 classic cases on the Companion Website. These are a selection of cases from recent editions of the book which remain relevant for teaching. The case studies are intended to serve as a basis for class discussion and not as an illustration of either good or bad management practice. They are not intended to be a comprehensive collection of teaching material. They have been chosen (or speciï ¬ cally written) to provide readers with a core of cases whichRead MoreMedicare Policy Analysis447966 Words   |  1792 Pagescarry out health insurance exchange subsidies. Sec. 542. Offering of exchange-participating health benefits plans through cafeteria plans. Sec. 543. Exclusion from gross income of payments made under reinsurance program for retirees. Sec. 544. CLASS program treated in same manner as long-term care insurance. Sec. 545. Exclusion from gross income for medical care provided for Indians. Subtitle B—Other Revenue Provisions PART 1—GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. Sec. Sec. Sec. 551. 552. 553. 554

Essay on Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Frank Capra’s â€Å"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington† In Frank Capra’s 1939 people’s fable â€Å"Mr. Smith goes to Washington â€Å"Jefferson Smith, a young, idealistic, and naà ¯ve hero from a Midwestern state is thrust into public notoriety through a chance course of events. His journey will compel him to contemplate the veracity of the political foundation which supports American democracy and confront the corruption which seeks to erode it. Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, an organization closely based on the Boy Scouts of America, becomes a state hero after â€Å"single-handedly† putting out a forest fire. Like a fabled hero, his statewide popularity burgeons, particularly amongst his state’s youth. When an unexpected†¦show more content†¦In so doing, Smith stumbles into the movie’s central struggle. While directly Capra’s film powerfully illustrates Smith’s own intense confrontation with a seemingly omnipotent political machine; his ultimate victory is a condemnation of all industrial greed as well as a reaffirmation of the power of the citizen to make an impact in a government that through all its shortcomings is still democracy. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Capra’s film is dramatically enhanced by its patriotic representation of our National’s capitol, with particular emphasis on the splendor of the Capitol and strength of the Lincoln Memorial. These images are constant visual reminders of the freedom and strength of personal choice provided by our government. The film’s score composed of traditional renditions of patriotic melodies including â€Å"Yankee Doodle† and † Auld Lang Syne† only reinforces these sentiments. Capra’s most dramatic use of setting is the reconstruction of the Senate chamber, the site for the film’s most climactic and inspiring scene. Unwilling to allow the Senate to vote on his expulsion and empowered with the goal of uncovering the Willet Dam Project as fraud, Smith skillfully filibusters the Senate in hopes that his state’s populace will come to his support. Despite Taylor’s ruthless propaganda, Smith’sShow MoreR elatedEssay about Film Review: Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington1887 Words   |  8 Pages In Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a naà ¯ve Jefferson Smith sets off for Washington D.C. as a United States Senator, where he learns that politics is not as transparent as it may seem. Released in 1939, one of the most successful years for film, Mr. Smith became a smash hit, easily becoming the second largest blockbuster of that year. However, 1939 was also the year World War II had started, and coupled with the war’s association with the Great Depression, the hit film was bound toRead MoreJulius Caesar Essay1011 Words   |  5 PagesGlover’s Sydney Morning Herald article ‘Take a Moment to Mourn the Mainstream’, debating against the depreciation of the respect over radio stations between generations, and Frank Capra’s classic film ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’, which expresses the triumph of American ideals through the conflicting morals of Senator Jefferson Smith and Joseph Paine. In each we see how the respectiv e composers have used main protagonists as well as various literary and cinematic devices to express the theme of conflictingRead MoreMr. Smith Goes : Washington Analysis1180 Words   |  5 PagesMr. Smith Goes to Washington Analysis In Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a modern David and Goliath story of a man taking on a system way more powerful than himself is evident in its themes of patriotism and standing up in the face of injustice. James Stewart’s portrayal of a naà ¯ve and patriotic junior senator serves as a vehicle with which Capra exposed a side of American politics that previously had been beyond the eyes of the everyman. With the help of incredible supporting actorsRead MoreThe Grain of the Voice1312 Words   |  5 Pagesscreens. James Stewart: Mr Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939) In the early 1930s, many prominent stars with very recognizable voices surface in Hollywood, and one among these rising stars was James Stewart, whom was said to be made famous by Capra’s Mr Smith Goes to Washington. In Capra’s film, Stewart plays the character of Jefferson Smith, a kind-hearted and naà ¯ve young senator who finds himself trapped in the webs of dirty politics. As the story gradually unfolds, Smith finds his strengthRead MoreFrank Capra1544 Words   |  7 PagesFrank Capra Have you ever heard about the great filmmaker Francesco Rosario Capra? Perhaps you’ve heard of his 1946 film â€Å"It’s a Wonderful Life† (Laurie Boeder)? Or his 1941 film â€Å"Meet John Doe† (Laurie Boeder)? These two are just a few films of his great work. Capra was a unique filmmaker. He struggled to keep his dream alive and managed to become one of the most successful filmmakers ever. Frank Capra was born on â€Å"May 18, 1897 in Bisacquino, Sicily. On May 10, 1903, his family left for AmericaRead More Destry Rides Again, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and the Fall of the Hollywood Studio System3533 Words   |  15 PagesRides Again, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and the Fall of the Hollywood Studio System Thomas Schatz cites the 1950’s as the inevitable end of the Hollywood film studio system, with the signs appearing as early as the height of the second World War (472). However, the seeds of discontent and disintegration within the system were apparent as soon as the late 1930’s, exemplified in such films as Destry Rides Again (1939, George Marshall) and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939, Frank Capra). TheRead MoreThe Power Of Big Business1183 Words   |  5 Pagescourse of the year (PBS; 2007). During this turmoil and chaos abroad, the United States clings to its principles of freedom and democracy, described in Roosevelt’s 1939 State of the Union (â€Å"Franklin Delano Roosevelt†). So when the film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, criticizes the very governmental foundations the country so desperately clings to, the film is not met with enthusiasm but rather controversy. The movie criticizes the power of big business and its influence on public opinion, insinuatingRead MoreThe Studio System Essay14396 Words   |  58 Pagespercent of all box-office receipts. The Hollywood Studio System =========================== MGM --- * Known For: glitz and glamour * In Charge: Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg * Directors: George Cukor, Frank Borzage * Actresses: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow * Actors: Clark Gable, Robert Taylor, William Powell, Walter Pidgeon, Melvyn Douglas, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, James

Stress Management Among Working Womens in India Free Essays

Stress refers to the pressure and reactions to our environment which results inpsychological and physical reactions. Whilst some stress is good for motivationand increasing efficiency, too much stress can result in negative impacts such asreduced effectiveness and efficiency. More and more people are feeling isolatedand disrespected at work, and this has led to greater occupational stress. We will write a custom essay sample on Stress Management Among Working Womens in India or any similar topic only for you Order Now Manycompanies have taken to consulting experts and professionals on ways toincrease connectedness and motivation of their employees. Some companies organize parties and make their employees feel valued atwork. These are measures to motivate employees and help them to feel secureat their jobs, translating into greater productivity. However, not all companieshave such measures in place, and some have not gotten it quite right. Hence, itis up to you to make sure that you can cope with stress at your workplace, anduse it to help you work better. Here are 3 simple steps to help you with copingwith stress in the workplace. Step 1: Raising Awareness Help yourself to identify when you are facing rising levels of stress, tipping thescales from positive to negative. This is important, as being able to identify signsof being stressed can help you to take steps to ensure that your overall quality of life does not drop. If left unacknowledged, the problem will only snowball, leadingto disastrous consequences to your health and overall wellbeing. You can identify if you are feeling stressed by checking if you have any physicalor psychological reactions, such as excessive sweating or heart palpitations, or the onset of headaches, irritability or the need to escape. If you experience anyof these reactions, identify if you are feeling any overwhelming negativeemotions, and if you are constantly worried. Step 2: Identify the Cause You need to be able to analyze the situation and identify what is causing the risein stress. These stressors can be external and internal. External stressors refer 18 to things beyond your control, such as the environment or your colleagues atwork. Internal stressors refer to your own thinking and attitude. Often, we onlystart reacting to stress when a combination of stressors working together exceeds our ability to cope. Keep a diary or a list of events that have caused you to feel strong negativeemotions, or that are likely stressors. This will help you to identify the causes of your stress. Whilst it is not always possible to eradicate them, we can change theway that we cope with it. Step 3: Coping with Stress In order to deal with the situation that is causing you stress, you need to calmyour mind and body so as to stave off the reactions and cope with it in a positiveway. This can be through different methods, such as taking time off. If a situationis triggering your stress and you are unable to calm down, remove yourself fromit. Go outside and take a walk to calm down. Alternatively, you can tryimplementing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing. If it is an internalstressor, stop your thought process until you are able to deal with it logically. The key to making these 3 steps work for you is to practice them. These are notinstantaneous solutions, and you need to condition your mind and practice themso that you can implement it when you are feeling stressed. (1. 2. 5) Stress Management Stress management is the need of the hour. However hard we try to gobeyond a stress situation, life seems to find new ways of stressing us out andplaguing us with anxiety attacks. Moreover, be it our anxiety, mind-bodyexhaustion or our erring attitudes, we tend to overlook causes of stress and theconditions triggered by those. In such unsettling moments we often forget thatstressors, if not escapable, are fairly manageable and treatable. 19 Stress, either quick or constant, can induce risky body-mind disorders. Immediate disorders such as dizzy spells, anxiety attacks, tension,sleeplessness, nervousness and muscle cramps can all result in chronic healthproblems. They may also affect our immune, cardiovascular and nervoussystems and lead individuals to habitual addictions, which are inter-linked withstress. Like â€Å"stress reactions†, â€Å"relaxation responses† and stress managementtechniques are some of the body’s important built-in response systems. As arelaxation response the body tries to get back balance in its homeostasis. Somehormones released during the ‘fight or flight’ situation prompt the body to replacethe lost carbohydrates and fats, and restore the energy level. The knottednerves, tightened muscles and an exhausted mind crave for looseness. Unfortunately, today, we don’t get relaxing and soothing situations withoutasking. To be relaxed we have to strive to create such situations. Recognizing a stressor: It is important to recognize whether you are under stress or out of it. Many times,even if we are under the influence of a stressful condition and our body reacts toit internally as well as externally, we fail to realize that we are reacting under stress. This also happens when the causes of stress are there long enough for us to get habituated to them. The body constantly tries to tell us throughsymptoms such as rapid palpitation, dizzy spells, tight muscles or various bodyaches that something is wrong. It is important to remain attentive to suchsymptoms and to learn to cope with the situations. 20 How to cite Stress Management Among Working Womens in India, Essay examples

An Essay on Baudrillard free essay sample

Baudrillard’s impact will be discussed in relation to social theory, namely structuralism and post modern theory. Furthermore, in order to completely understand Baudrillard’s view it is essential to apply the element of simulation and the hyperreal to today’s society. As Baudrillard boldly stated that ‘the gulf war did not take place,’ this discussion will look at the current media portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian situation and the current, on-going intifada. References to relevant scholarly literature will be made to support opinions and justify statements. Although Baudrillard’s many writings on post modernism gained him a substantial following, Social theorist, Andrew Hussey explains that Baudrillard’s most famous commentaries would have to be his identifications of the terms Simulation and the Hyperreal. â€Å"Jean Baudrillard is celebrated for his ideas of simulation and hyperreality, which he uses to describe a world in which, as he sees it, images have replaced reality to the extent that objective truth about any human experience from art to war has become impossibility. † (Hussey, A. 2003, p. 33) To elaborate, Baudrillard’s most ecognisable notion that â€Å"the Gulf war of 1991 did not take place† (Hussey, A. 2003, p. 33) simply means that what audiences or media consumers were offered wasn’t a ‘real war,’ it was in fact a construction of media. It was a war, devoid of bloodshed and suffering – a mere media circus. Hussey, in ‘The Game of War states the Gulf war confirmed Baudrillard’s theories of simulacrum and hyperreality. † (Hussey, A. 2002, p50) To expand, the terms simulation and hyperreality refer to Baudrillard’s idea that reality no longer exists; that reality is replaced with images, signs and codes that are created by and take place in the mass media. Generally the role of media is thought to be, to represent or report on reality. However, Baudrillard’s main argument is that media no longer acts as a mechanism for mere representation, but is, as Douglas Kellner explains â€Å" coming to constitute a hyperreality, a new media reality – more real than real – where ‘the real’ is subordinate to representation leading to an ultimate dissolving of the real. † He continues in upholding Baudrillard’s view that the â€Å"media neutralizes and dissolves all content†¦leading to a collapse of meaning and to the destruction of distinctions between media and reality. (Kellner, D. 1989, essay UCLA) Ultimately, Baudrillard’s claim is based on the premise that mass media is responsible for the eradication of truth and certainty in the representation of society. Furthermore, arguing that representation no longer exists. This means that what is ‘represented’ is in fact fabrica ted to portray a more desirable concept of reality. This view is representative of, what Baudrillard refers to as â€Å"third order simulation† (Lane, R. 2000, p86). Where as first and second order simulation make allowances for the existence of reality â€Å"third-order simulation †¦ generates what he calls ‘hyperreality – that is, a world without a real origin. † (Lane, R. 2000, p86). Through various definitions and references to social theorists, the terms of simulation and hyperreality have taken shape. In addition it has become evident that Baudrillard’s assertion that mass media are responsible for the annihilation of the real is the main focus of this discussion. However, to simply define and discuss Baudrillard’s notion of simulation and hyperreality doesn’t succeed in the task of analysis. In order to successfully analyse this specific element of Baudrillard’s many theories, it is necessary to look at the strengths and the weaknesses of the case that he presents. Touted by many as being ‘More McLuhan than McLuhan;† Baudrillard takes McLuhan’s theory of â€Å"the medium is the message† and makes it the foundation for his argument of simulation and the hyperreal. Timothy Luke agrees by saying that â€Å"McLuhan’s formula†¦is appropriately the key formula of the era of simulation. † (Luke, T. 1991, p. 347). McLuhan presented a revolutionary theory that was widely accepted by, and enthralled many. To have a viable and heavily supported theory as the basis for an argument surely generates widespread interest and trust, to a certain degree. Baudrillard takes McLuhan’s theory and applies it to the post-modern world. Therefore his theory of simulation and hyperreality shares strengths with that of McLuhnaism. Like McLuhan, Baudrillard’s theory is concerned with mass media effects on a â€Å"macro-level† rather than being concerned with the impact on the individual. Furthermore, with technologies’ constant evolution, the notions of simulation and the hypereal continue to â€Å"enjoy longevity† (Baran Davis. 2003, p302) as new advances are made. An additional strength of Baudrillard’s argument is that he manages to blur the lines of media and audience, and, sender and receiver. This blurring of boundaries is what essentially upholds his notion of simulation. His whole point rests in the argument that â€Å"where the distinction between poles can no longer be maintained, one enters into simulation and hence almost absolute manipulation†¦not passivity, but the non-distinction of active and passive. † (Luke, T. 1991, p347). In order to successfully analyse Baudrillard’s notion of simulation and hyperreality, it isn’t sufficient to only present the theory’s strengths. Weaknesses are prevalent in Baudrillard’s argument and therefore need to be addressed. Just as the previously mentioned blurring of boundaries can been viewed as strength, Baudrillard, as Luke stresses is guilty of â€Å"lumping everything into the category of seduction. † (Luke, T. 1991, p348). Luke explains that Baudrillard overlooks factors such as politics, sex, money, power and economy and assumes that they are â€Å"one universal force† (Luke, T. 1991, p348). A major weakness is that Baudrillard underestimates the various factors of society, underestimates their power and most importantly overlooks the capacity of the individual. His theory assumes a ‘mass media approach’ that undermines the individual’s ability to choose to interact with media. Ultimately, Luke states that â€Å"Baudrillard makes claims and never really demonstrates definitely how this all works with carefully considered evidence. † (Luke, T. 1991, p348). As a famous structuralist, Baudrillard had a profound impact on communication theory. Structuralism refers to the notion that the world is made up of â€Å"relationships rather than things† and that an â€Å"entity or experience cannot be perceived unless and until it is integrated into the structure of which it forms a part† (Hawkes, T. 992, p18. ) Baudrillard’s main contribution was the observation that codes and symbols are all connected to the various discourses of media. Simulation and hyperreality stem from Baudrillard’s observation that media produces ‘hyperreal’ forms of nature. What Baudrillard doesn’t consi der is that interpretation of the ‘hyperreal’ differs from individual to individual due to each persons own unique ideology. Eventually, Baudrillard’s contribution has been significant and somewhat controversial. Whether one agrees with Baudrillard’s observations or not; Hussey states that â€Å"today, Baudrillard is everywhere, even in the places he never expected or wanted to be. (Hussey, A. 2003, p33). Whether his views echo through the Big Brother house or more poignantly, in the ‘media’s’ Middle East, is yet to be explored. Baudrillard’s concept of simulation and hyperreality is evident in society today. A prime example is the current Israeli – Palestinian situation. Is what audiences see in the media a ‘real’ portrayal of the situation in this tiny corner of the Middle East? Or is it once again â€Å"the hyperreal television image† (Lewis Slade, 2000, p. 92). To illustrate it is necessary to draw on a scenario provided by Mitchell G. Bard. â€Å"During the intifada it was common for the media to portray the battle in David versus Goliath terms, an image reinforced by pictures of children tossing stones at heavily armed soldiers. The situation was actually quite different, as U. S. journalist Sidney Zion discovered during an august 1988 visit to Bethlehem. Zion was nearly struck by a rock while riding in a taxi cab. It’s a good thing the rock missed me†¦. It was clear the Arabs weren’t aiming for dead air . Zion said that American media reports had led him to believe that the rock throwers were aiming at the Israeli Army, not at taxicabs. Did you ever see anything on TV? Did you read anything contrary in the newspapers? Kids were tossing stones at soldiers, that’s all! It simply didn’t occur to me that American journalists would suppress news of a life and death danger†¦On any given day in the West bank, Israeli civilians are getting brain damaged from these nice little Arab youngsters and their pebbles† Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab Israeli Conflict Mitchell G. Bard (2002, p316) This scenario indicates that Baudrillard’s concept of the ‘hyperreal’ is relevant in today’s society. Baudrillard’s claim that the media machine is generating, a simulated version of truth can be seen in the example of the coverage of Israeli-Palestinian situation. Tamar Liebes refers to the media’s coverage of the Palestinian intifada (Palestinian resistance and uprising) by using the terms â€Å"Our War† and â€Å"Their War† (1992, p44). Liebes is referring to Israeli and American coverage. The two concepts can be compared as in today’s global society; Israeli’s have both representations at the flick of a switch. Israeli news presents â€Å"Our War† and CNN presents â€Å"Their War. Therefore, Baudrillard, although radical in his views, to a degree, is still very much relevant today. As an Australian, if one asks any Israeli ‘Do you really catch a bus to work? They’re always blowing up! ’ Most will answer, with an ironic smirk â€Å"If I could afford not to catch the bus everyday, then I could probably afford not to work! Media consumers are more likely to believe the media’s version of reality, rather than the natural reality. Baudrillard claims â€Å"We no longer believe what we see until we have seen it on television. † (Lewis Slade, 2000, p. 92). There are many ways that Jean Baudrillard has been described. However, what is most important is to analyse the relevance of what he actually claims. His concept of simulation and hyperreality has been well documented throughout mass communication theory and various opinions exist on the merits, relevance, strengths and weaknesses of his arguments. To successfully anaylse the major element of simulation and hyperrealty it was necessary to define the terms and to outline the major argument. Furthermore, successful analysis is incomplete without identifying the key strengths and weaknesses of Baudrillard’s claims. Various strengths and weaknesses have been highlighted and elaborated upon. Baudrillard’s impact on communication theory was discussed. However, this impact is best explained when related to an existing media situation. The media’s coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian situation exemplifies that Baudrillard’s concept of simulation and hyperreality is relevant in today’s society.

Battle of Beaver Dams in the War of 1812

Battle of Beaver Dams in the War of 1812 The Battle of Beaver Dams was fought June 24, 1813, during the War of 1812 (1812-1815). In the aftermath of the failed campaigns of 1812, newly re-elected President James Madison was compelled to reassess the strategic situation along the Canadian border. As efforts in the Northwest were stalled pending an American fleet gaining control of Lake Erie, it was decided to center American operations for 1813 on achieving victory on Lake Ontario and the Niagara frontier. It was believed that victory in and around Lake Ontario would cut off Upper Canada and pave the way for an strike against Montreal. American Preparations In preparation for the main American push on Lake Ontario, Major General Henry Dearborn was directed to shift 3,000 men from Buffalo for assaults against Forts Erie and George as well as position 4,000 men at Sackets Harbor. This second force was to attack Kingston at the upper outlet of the lake. Success on both fronts would sever the lake from the Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River. At Sackets Harbor, Captain Isaac Chauncey had rapidly built a fleet and had seized naval superiority from his British counterpart, Captain Sir James Yeo. Meeting at Sackets Harbor, Dearborn and Chauncey began to have concerns about the Kingston operation despite the fact that the town was only thirty miles away. While Chauncey worried about possible ice around Kingston, Dearborn was fretted about the size of the British garrison. Instead of striking at Kingston, the two commanders instead decided to conduct a raid against York, Ontario (present-day Toronto). Though of insignificant strategic value, York was the capital of Upper Canada and Chauncey had word that two brigs were under construction there. Attacking on April 27, American forces captured and burned the town. Following the York operation, Secretary of War John Armstrong chastised Dearborn for failing to accomplish anything of strategic value. Fort George In response, Dearborn and Chauncey began shifting troops south for an assault on Fort George in late May. Alerted to this, Yeo and the Governor General of Canada, Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost, immediately moved to attack Sackets Harbor while American forces were occupied along the Niagara. Departing Kingston, they landed outside of the town on May 29 and marched to destroy the shipyard and Fort Tompkins. These operations were quickly disrupted by a mixed regular and militia force led by Brigadier General Jacob Brown of the New York militia. Containing the British beachhead, his men poured intense fire into Prevosts troops and compelled them to withdraw. For his part in the defense, Brown was offered a brigadier generals commission in the regular army. To the southwest, Dearborn and Chauncey moved forward with their attack on Fort George. Delegating operational command to Colonel Winfield Scott, Dearborn observed as American forces conducted an early morning amphibious assault on May 27. This was aided by a force of dragoons crossing the Niagara River upstream at Queenston which was tasked with severing the British line of retreat to Fort Erie. Meeting Brigadier General John Vincents troops outside of the fort, the Americans succeeded in driving off the British with the aid of naval gunfire support from Chaunceys ships. Forced to surrender the fort and with the route south blocked, Vincent abandoned his posts on the Canadian side of the river and withdrew west. As a result, American forces crossed the river and took Fort Erie (Map). Dearborn Retreats Having lost the dynamic Scott to a broken collarbone, Dearborn ordered Brigadier Generals William Winder and John Chandler west to pursue Vincent. Political appointees, neither had meaningful military experience. On June 5, Vincent counterattacked at the Battle of Stoney Creek and succeeded in capturing both generals. On the lake, Chaunceys fleet had departed for Sackets Harbor only to be replaced by Yeos. Threatened from the lake, Dearborn lost his nerve and ordered a retreat to a perimeter around Fort George. Carefully following, the British moved east and occupied two outposts at Twelve Mile Creek and Beaver Dams. These positions allowed British and Native American forces to raid the area around Fort George and keep American troops contained. Armies Commanders: Americans Lieutenant Colonel Charles Boerstlerapproximately 600 men British Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon450 men Background In an effort to end these attacks, the American commander at Fort George, Brigadier General John Parker Boyd, ordered a force assembled to strike at Beaver Dams. Intended to be a secret attack, a column of around 600 men was assembled under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles G. Boerstler. A mixed force of infantry and dragoons, Boerstler also was assigned two cannon. At sunset on June 23, the Americans departed Fort George and moved south along the Niagara River to the village of Queenston. Occupying the town, Boerstler quartered his men with the inhabitants. Laura Secord A number of American officers stayed with James and Laura Secord. According to tradition, Laura Secord overheard their plans to attack Beaver Damns and slipped away from the town to warn the British garrison. Traveling through the woods, she was intercepted by Native Americans and taken to Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon who commanded the 50-man garrison at Beaver Dams. Alerted to American intentions, Native American scouts were deployed to identify their route and set up ambushes. Departing Queenston in late morning on June 24, Boerstler believed he retained the element of surprise. The Americans Beaten Advancing through wooded terrain, it soon became apparent that Native American warriors were moving on their flanks and rear. These were 300 Caughnawaga led by Captain Dominique Ducharme of the Indian Department and 100 Mohawks led by Captain William Johnson Kerr. Attacking the American column, the Native Americans initiated three-hour battle in the forest. Wounded early in the action, Boerstler was placed in a supply wagon. Fighting through the Native American lines, the Americans sought to reach open ground where their artillery could be brought into action. Arriving on the scene with his 50 regulars, Fitzgibbon approached the wounded Boerstler under a flag of truce. Telling the American commander that his men were surrounded, Fitzgibbon demanded his surrender stating that if they did not capitulate he could not guarantee that the Native Americans would not slaughter them. Wounded and seeing no other option, Boerstler surrendered with 484 of his men. Aftermath The fighting at the Battle of Beaver Dams cost the British approximately 25-50 killed and wounded, all from their Native American allies. American losses were around 100 killed and wounded, with the remainder being captured. The defeat badly demoralized the garrison at Fort George and American forces became reluctant to advance more than a mile from its walls. Despite the victory, the British were not strong enough to force the Americans from the fort and were forced to content themselves with interdicting its supplies. For his weak performance during the campaign, Dearborn was recalled on July 6 and replaced with Major General James Wilkinson.

The Role of Bells Theorem in Quantum Physics

The Role of Bells Theorem in Quantum Physics Bells Theorem was devised by Irish physicist John Stewart Bell (1928-1990) as a means of testing whether or not particles connected through quantum entanglement communicate information faster than the speed of light. Specifically, the theorem says that no theory of local hidden variables can account for all of the predictions of quantum mechanics. Bell proves this theorem through the creation of Bell inequalities, which are shown by experiment to be violated in quantum physics systems, thus proving that some idea at the heart of local hidden variables theories has to be false. The property which usually takes the fall is locality - the idea that no physical effects move faster than the ​speed of light. Quantum Entanglement In a situation where you have two particles, A and B, which are connected through quantum entanglement, then the properties of A and B are correlated. For example, the spin of A may be 1/2 and the spin of B may be -1/2, or vice versa. Quantum physics tells us that until a measurement is made, these particles are in a superposition of possible states. The spin of A is both 1/2 and -1/2. (See our article on the Schroedingers Cat thought experiment for more on this idea. This particular example with particles A and B is a variant of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, often called the EPR Paradox.) However, once you measure the spin of A, you know for sure the value of Bs spin without ever having to measure it directly. (If A has spin 1/2, then Bs spin has to be -1/2. If A has spin -1/2, then Bs spin has to be 1/2. There are no other alternatives.) The riddle at the heart of Bells Theorem is how that information gets communicated from particle A to particle B. Bells Theorem at Work John Stewart Bell originally proposed the idea for Bells Theorem in his 1964 paper On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen paradox. In his analysis, he derived formulas called the Bell inequalities, which are probabilistic statements about how often the spin of particle A and particle B should correlate with each other if normal probability (as opposed to quantum entanglement) were working. These Bell inequalities are violated by quantum physics experiments, which means that one of his basic assumptions had to be false, and there were only two assumptions that fit the bill - either physical reality or locality was failing. To understand what this means, go back to the experiment described above. You measure particle As spin. There are two situations that could be the result - either particle B immediately has the opposite spin, or particle B is still in a superposition of states. If particle B is affected immediately by the measurement of particle A, then this means that the assumption of locality is violated. In other words, somehow a message got from particle A to particle B instantaneously, even though they can be separated by a great distance. This would mean that quantum mechanics displays the property of non-locality. If this instantaneous message (i.e., non-locality) doesnt take place, then the only other option is that particle B is still in a superposition of states. The measurement of particle Bs spin should, therefore, be completely independent of the measurement of particle A, and the Bell inequalities represent the percent of the time when the spins of A and B should be correlated in this situation. Experiments have overwhelmingly shown that the Bell inequalities are violated. The most common interpretation of this result is that the message between A and B is instantaneous. (The alternative would be to invalidate the physical reality of Bs spin.) Therefore, quantum mechanics seems to display non-locality. Note: This non-locality in quantum mechanics only relates to the specific information that is entangled between the two particles - the spin in the above example. The measurement of A cannot be used to instantly transmit any sort of other information to B at great distances, and no one observing B will be able to tell independently whether or not A was measured. Under the vast majority of interpretations by respected physicists, this does not allow communication faster than the speed of light.

Central banks and monetary policy Research Paper - 1

Central banks and monetary policy - Research Paper Example The main purpose of a central bank is, briefly, to supervise a nation's currency. This is attained by setting monetary policy. Following are the five important objectives of central banks; Price Stability: The main objective of a central bank is price stability, or in other words, a stable and low rate of inflation. â€Å"Price stability is defined as a year-on-year increase in the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the euro area of below 2%.The Governing Council has also clarified that, in the pursuit of price stability, it aims to maintain inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over the medium term† (The Definition of Price Stability n.d para 2). Conversely, the existing view between economists is that in the long run, given that inflation is stable and low, monetary policy only influences nominal aggregates, for instance inflation, the nominal exchange rate and nominal interest rates, and not only their long-term development levels in actual terms. In the long run monetary policy consequently controls its monetary value, which are general prices. Real Stable Growth: In the banking system of urbanized countries there is a stable connection between various interest rates. The lowest price is the one charged to banks by the central bank. â€Å"This rate is normally 1-2.5 percent higher than the rate of inflation, depending on the monetary policy stance.† (Trade and Development Report 2008 by United Nations Conference On Trade and Development 2008). In actual terms, all these rates stay close to the actual growth rate of the financial system. One of the most significant circumstances for successful growth is the growth of various sectors including, the financial sector, which cannot deviate enduringly from the growth of price added of the financial system as a whole. Financial Stability: Financial stability illustrates the situation where the financial intermediation method functions easily, and where there is assurance in the operatio n of important financial organizations and markets within the financial system. Central banks have traditionally played an important role in the management of economic crises, lending to solvent, other than illiquid organizations as a last resort, still if this role has rarely been buttressed or formalized by legal authorities. Central banks consequently have objectives that are reliable with a leading role in a special resolution regime. They can also organize tools that are already in their area (LOLR) to maintain financial stability. They can, additionally, draw on expertise in the study of financial stability, containing the significant ability to measure the crash in markets, payment methods, and the financial communications at large. Interest Rate Stability: Interest rates provide global savers a reason to transfer money from one country to another in search of the safest and the highest yields. The central bank must support interest rate stability in short term and long term maturities. The short term rates are simple enough to understand that a central bank controls the discount rate, and that it can strongly target the federal funds price. Long term rates can be straightly targeted by central banks, other than that the latter typically favor to let financial market participants perform the job and not to affect them directly by credible policies.

Formal Research-Based Persuasive Report Research Paper

Formal -Based Persuasive Report - Research Paper Example I reviewed seven empirical resources, which focused on the effects of workplace flexibility on employee welfare and general company performance and image. Attached is the result of my research and recommendations. My secondary research suggests that a compressed work week produces benefits of reduced work-life conflict and stress, better productivity, and improved health for employees, which translates to gains in productivity and morale in the workplace. Higher employee morale is related to employee satisfaction, which will draw future talented employees, while recruiting and retaining highly-engaged ones. Workplace flexibility is also related to corporate social responsibility and corporate image. Thus, reducing work days contributes to better employee welfare and corporate reputation and performance. The company must be prepared of parking and other logistics. Longer work hours for four days can have strains on company resources during that time. Without sufficient resources and other support, the positive effects of a compressed work week might be reduced or lost altogether. If Coastal Sunbelt would make a rotating 4-day work week, this can result to more maximized parking spaces. For example, half of the employees will work normal shift for one week, and then for the second week, they work only for 4 days. The second half of the employees will work 4 days in the week, where the first group worked 5 days. This system would free up parking, and it will save Coastal Sunbelt the cost of building a parking garage. 7 Some of the pressing issues common to many organizations are work-life conflict and the recruitment and retention of high-performing and dedicated employees. Coastal Sunbelt faces theses issues, among others, which affects its efficiency and effectiveness. To motivate employees, the organization must offer innovative solutions, one of which is shifting from a five-day to a four-day work week. This proposal argues that to motivate and engage

Management and Leadership in nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Management and Leadership in nursing - Essay Example As clinical nurse, in a leadership role, is involved in the provision of direct care to patients and works continuously to improve the quality of care provided by influencing others. It must be understood in this context that leadership cannot be considered to be simply a set of tasks or skills, but is rather the development of an attitude that relies extensively on informed behavior and remains consistent with enhancing performance and effectiveness on a long term basis along with benefit to everyone involved. This clearly means that leaders simply do not control others, but simply perform the role of visionaries, who encourage and guide their colleagues in planning, leading, organizing and controlling their tasks and responsibilities (Bernadette Melynk, 2005). Modern literature defines leadership in many different ways although the inherent traits possessed by a leader possess several common features that fit virtually every associated definition. For instance, leadership is often viewed as a process that exerts influence, acts on a group setting and is used as a way to attain a common goal. Leadership exists at all levels although the style used to deliver leadership varies from person to person. For instance, autocratic leadership is one form that facilitates the attainment of a goal without providing enough opportunities for others to be involved in the decision-making process. a leadership mechanism is termed to be bureaucratic when the person adheres strictly to rules and procedures when delivering decisions (Gladys Husted, 2001). In contrast, participative leadership provides for every member of the community or staff to be an intergral part of the decision making process and actively requires everyone to provide their contributions . This increased involvement among members increases the commitment of members towards the goals. A more liberal form of leadership is the laissez faire format that

Voluntary Disclosure Behaviour of Kuwait Companies

Voluntary Disclosure Behaviour of Kuwait Companies BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1.1 Introduction Disclosure of information in corporate annual reports has attracted a number of researchers in both developed and developing countries. The voluntary disclosure information in excess of mandatory disclosure, has been receiving an increasing amount of attention in recent accounting studies. Because of the inadequacy of compulsory information, the demand for voluntary disclosure provides investors with the necessary information to make more informed decisions (Alsaeed, 2006). Voluntary disclosure of decision-useful corporate information is considered to be the first step in solving the alleged problems of traditional financial reporting (Leadbetter, 2000). Its objectives are well defined: closing (or narrowing) the gap between a companys potential intrinsic market value and its current market value. Voluntary disclosure, in the context of globalization of the worlds financial markets, has received a great deal of attention in the accounting literature in recent years (Hossain, Berera and Rahman, 1995). This is due to the following reasons: Firstly, additional disclosures may help to attract new shareholders thereby helping to maintain a healthy demand for shares, and a share price that more fully reflects its intrinsic value. It is possible that poor disclosure could lead to an undervalued share making it attractive to a potential predator. Secondly, increased information may assist in reducing informational risk and thereby lower the cost of capital (Spero, 1979). A lower cost of capital should mean that marginal projects become profitable. Thirdly, in order to raise capital on the markets, companies will increase their voluntary disclosure. Consequently, listed companies are more likely to have a higher level of disclosure than unlisted companies and multiple listed companies those raising capital on the international markets will have a higher level of disclosure than domestically listed companies. Fourthly, multiple listed companies often have an interest in foreign capital markets since foreign operations are often financed by foreign capital (Choi and Mueller, 1984). Disclosure levels might be increased to adapt to local customs to meet the requirements of banks and other suppliers of capital; finally, listed and multiple listed companies might increase their social responsibility disclosures to demonstrate that they act responsibly (Watts and Zimmerman, 1979). Companies may have attained their status on the securities markets and be able to attract new funds, not least because they act responsibly. According to Healy and Palepu (2001) a companys disclosure decision could be a response to innovation, globalization or changes in business and capital market environments. Kuwait is the focus of this study for three reasons. First, Kuwait is a small rich country, relatively open economy with crude oil reserves of about 10% of world reserves. Second, over the last decade, the Kuwaiti government has initiated several far-reaching reforms at the Kuwait Stock Exchange to mobilize domestic savings and attract foreign capital investment. These measures include privatization of state corporations through the stock exchange and allowing foreign investors to own shares in the listed companies since 2000, tax free. Third, the Kuwait Stock Exchange is becoming an important capital market in the region. It is ranked the second largest market in the Arab world (after Saudi Arabia) in terms of total market capitalization. Its total market capitalization was US$128,951 million as of December 2006 (Arab Monetary Fund 2006). These reasons could motivate investors to diversify their investment portfolios into that market. As a result, investors may be interested in the information disclosure practices of listed companies in Kuwait (Al-Shammari, 2008). 1-2 Problem Statement Many developing countries strive to mobilize financial resources from domestic as well as international sources with a view to attaining their economic and social development goals. Domestic and international investors utilize financial and non-financial information available on potential investment targets for assessing risk and making critical investment decisions. Thus, the availability of financial and non-financial information in sufficient quantity and of sufficient quality has an important bearing on efforts geared towards mobilizing investment for financing economic and social development. Adequate reporting and disclosure of financial and non-financial information will reduce asymmetric information problem, hence are likely to improve investor confidence and a lower cost of investment. According to Gray, Meeks and Roberts (1995) investors demand information to assess the timing and uncertainty of current and future cash flows so that they may value firms and make other investment decisions such as choosing a portfolio of securities. Companies satisfy this demand in part by supplying voluntary accounting information, thereby enabling them to raise capital on the best available terms (Gray et al., 1995). Given the faster pace of globalization, the growing interdependence of international financial markets and increased mobility of capital, developing countries need to attach greater importance to corporate transparency and disclosure. Policy makers, legislators and regulators, in recognition of the significant influence that corporate transparency has on decisions of investors, need to strengthen further the various components of corporate disclosure infrastructure so that domestic and international resources are mobilized more efficiently. Kuwait is one of the developing countries that face difficulties to attract foreign investments. Birgit Ebner at Germanys Frankfurt Trust, who helps manage a Middle Eastern stock fund, said Kuwait was not an attractive investment compared with others in the region (www.gulfnews.com). One of the main reasons that interpret this matter is the absence of voluntary disclosure as a result of sharp low supply of information by companies. According to Birgit Ebner, We are underweight in Kuwait because in Kuwait there are many holding firms dominating the market. And on top of it, the transparency is currently lower than in other Gulf States. In opinion of many analysts in Kuwait, the problem of gulf bank is related to absence of voluntary disclosure. Moreover, Kuwait stock exchange report that issued in (2007) revealed that 156 companies listed in Kuwait stock exchange from among 177 companies listed in Kuwait stock exchange are violating disclosure guidelines (www.alaswaq.net 2007). The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the influence of several firm characteristics on the level of voluntary disclosure of companies listed in Kuwait and whether disclosure level improves over the years given changes in the accounting environment of the country and globalization that have taken placed. There are many studies have examined the relationship between a company`s characteristics and the level of disclosure in both developed and developing countries such as Canada (Belkaoui and Kahl, 1978); United Kingdom (Firth, 1979, 1980); Nigeria (Wallace, 1987); Sweden (Cooke, 1989); Japan (Cooke, 1992); United States (Imhoff, 1992; and Lang and Lundholm, 1993); Bangladesh (Ahmed and Nicholls, 1994); Switzerland (Raffournier, 1995); Hong Kong (Wallace and Naser, 1995), Egypt (Mahmood, 1999); Jordan (Naser, Alkhatib and Karbhari, 2002); Saudi Arabia (Alsaeed, 2006b) and United Arab Emirates (Aljifri, 2007). However, to my knowledge, little attention has been devoted to the role of voluntary disclosure in the Middle East countries, more specifically Kuwait (see Al-Shammari, 2008). The aim of this study is to understand what motivate or demonstrate a companys disclosure by empirically investigate the association between a number of company characteristics and the extent of voluntary disclosure in the annual reports of companies listed in the Kuwait Stock Exchange in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. In addition, the influence of the reporting year on voluntary disclosure will also be examined to assess the progress of disclosure activities in Kuwait. Given that Ashammaris study only cover the year of 2005, the execution of this study is fully justified. 1.3 Research Questions In general, this study seeks for explanation on voluntary disclosure behaviour of Kuwait companies. The followings are the research questions:- 1- What is the relationship between the firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion, profitability, audit firm size, industry sector and voluntary disclosure level? 2- Does reporting year influences voluntary disclosure? 3- To what extent do the above factors affect the voluntary disclosure? 1.4 Research Objectives To determine the influences of firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion, profitability, audit firm size, industry sector and reporting year on the level of voluntary disclosure of companies listed in Kuwait. 1.5 Significance of the Study The significance of study can be viewed from contributions given to Accounting academic discipline and to the practitioners and policymakers. Contribution to Accounting body of knowledge This study contributes to the literature on corporate financial reporting and disclosure practices in one of the important capital markets in the Middle East in which International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) are mandatory and the government controls the accounting and auditing profession. It also contributes to the corporate governance literature on whether the company characteristics found to be significant in companies operating in developed countries are similar to those a developing country like Kuwait. This study is important in enhancing our understanding of corporate financial reporting in Kuwait. It explores the determinants that help explain voluntary disclosure in Kuwait. Contribution to the practitioners and policy makers Knowledge on firms characteristics that influence voluntary disclosure would enable policy makers to target training and monitoring activities to suitable target companies in order to improve disclosure level in the country. This is important because higher disclosure among companies could improve investors confidence and help attracting more foreign investment into the country. The study is also able to show whether the external environment in Kuwait have improved the voluntary disclosure activities. 1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study This study investigates the relationship between firm characteristics and voluntary disclosure of non financial companies listed in Kuwait. Financial companies (banks and insurance companies) were eliminated as the characteristics of their financial reports are different from those of non financial firms (Alsaeed, 2006). A disclosure index was constructed as a yardstick to measure the level of disclosure by the listed firms. The construction of the disclosure index is based on the information that firms supply in their annual financial reports to shareholders. Albeit not as conclusive, financial reports serve as a widely accepted (Knutson, 1992). The disclosure index does not intend to be comprehensive, nor does it intend to specify what firms ought to disclose. Rather, the index is crafted solely for the purpose of capturing and measuring differences in disclosure practices among firms. The selection of items embedded into the index was entirely guided by Meek, Rober and Gray (1995), Botosan (1997), Naser and Nuseibeh (2003) and Alsaeed (2006) 1.7 Organization of the Study The reminder of this study is organized as follows: Chapter Two discusses the literature review related to the study; Chapter Three consists of research methodology including theoretical framework, hypothesis development and model specification for the study. The measurement, sampling and instrumentations are also discussed in this chapter. Chapter Four presents the empirical findings and results. Finally, Chapter Five provides the discussion, implications and recommendation of the study as well as suggestions for future research. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This Chapter discusses and summarizes the literatures review, which looks at many aspects of voluntary disclosure and the factors which affect the degree of voluntary disclosure in a firm. The discussion is segmented into five sections. The first section presents an overview of disclosure requirements in Kuwait so as to provide foundation knowledge of the issue understudy. Section two discusses the concept and measurement of voluntary disclosure. This is followed by section three which presents the firm-related determinants of voluntary disclosure as found from prior theoretical and empirical literature. These variables include firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion, profitability, audit firm size. 2.2 Disclosure Requirement in Kuwait Mandatory disclosure refers to firms disclose information about their operations because of legal requirements. For the efficiency of markets and the protection of investors, mandatory disclosure of information concerning the firms operating in capital markets has important consequences (Shin, 1998). 2.3 Voluntary disclosure level More detailed disclosure by the firms beyond the level of information disclosed within the mandatory disclosure process is called voluntary disclosure. Voluntary disclosure means making public the financial and non-financial information regarding the firms operations without any legal requirement (Fishman and Hagerty (1997), Meek et al. (1995), Botosan (1997), Naser and Nuseibeh (2003) and Alsaeed (2006). Alsaeed has identified a more comprehensive items for voluntary disclosure based on Meek et al. (1995), Botosan (1997), Naser and Nuseibeh (2003). These items are as in Table 2.1 Table 2.1: Voluntary disclosure items in Alsaeed (2006) No. Disclosure items 1 Strategic information 2 Brief history of company 3 Information on events affecting future years results 4 Board directors names 5 Top managements names 6 Majority shareholders 7 Information on different types of products 8 Information statistics for more than two years 9 Information on dividends policy 10 Information on future expansion projects 11 Percentage of foreign and national labor force 12 Information on training and workers development 13 Information on social and environmental activities 14 Statement of corporate goals and objectives 15 Principle markets 16 Average compensation per employee 17 Market share 18 Information on events affecting current years results 19 Competitive environment 20 Forecasted profits Many studies have examined the relationship between a companys characteristics and voluntary disclosure level. Alsaeed, (2006) argued that firm size, profitability and auditor firm size influence the level of voluntary disclosure. Naser et al., (2002), Jensen and Meckling, (1976); Fama and Jensen, (1983) Donnelly and Mulcahy, (2008), Camfferman and Cooke (2002), studied the association between companys firm size, debt ratio, owner ship and auditor firm size and the level of disclosure. 2.4 Determinants of Voluntary Disclosure 2.4.1 Firm size Most of the firm disclosure studies used firm size as a control variable (see for example, Alsaeed (2006); Donnelly and Mulcahy (2008); Brammer and Pavelin (2004); Meek et al, (1995), Mitchell et al, (1995), Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993), Aitken et al. (1997), Bradbury, (1992), Zarzeski (1996), Brennan and Hourigan, (2000), Naser et al.,(2002), Wallace and Naser (1995), Firth, (1979), Eng and Mak (2003) and Hossain et al.(1994). Many studies found a positive relationship between firm size and disclosure level of companies. For example, Alsaeed (2006) conducted a study to investigate the relationship between firm characteristics of non-financial Saudi firms listed on the Saudi Stock Market in 2003 and voluntary disclosure level by those companies. He found that there was a positive relationship between the firm size and the level of disclosure. Alsaeed (2006) argues that agency costs are higher for larger companies because shareholders are widespread, therefore, additional disclosure might reduce these costs (Watts and Zimmerman, 1983). This finding is consistent with other studies such as Meek et al, (1995), Donnelly and Mulcahy (2008), Foster (1986), Hossain et al, (1995) and Al-Shammari, (2008). In addition to what Alsaeed (2006) has mentioned above, they argued that large companies might have sufficient resources to afford the cost of producing information or the user of annual reports. Secondly, small companies might suffer from a competitive disadvantage if they provide additional disclosure. Thirdly, large companies might be of interest to different users of annual reports including government agencies. 2.4.2 Debt ratio There is no consensus among researchers about the relationship between debt ratio and voluntary disclosure. Most of studies found a significant positive relationship between debt ratio and voluntary disclosure such as Naser (1998), Mitchell, Chia and Loh (1995); Hossain et al. (1995), Al-Shammari, (2008) and Bradbury, (1992). Jensen and Meckling, (1976) found the voluntary disclosure level can reduce the agency costs by facilitating debt ratio suppliers assessment of the firms to ability to meet its debts ratio. In relation to this, Al-Shimmiri, (2008) argued that the companies with higher debt in their structure of capital are prone to higher agency cost, hence they will be more likely to disclose additional information in order to reduce agency costs and information asymmetry with shareholders. Alsaeed, (2006) argued that when firms increase their level of leverage, they have to disclose more information in order to reduce asymmetric information between the firm and its creditors. Hence he argued that firms with high leverage will have high level of disclosure. In addition, Zarzeski (1996) argued that firms with higher debt ratio are more likely to share private information with their creditors. Thus, voluntary disclosures can be expected to increase with leverage. However, Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993), Hossain, Berera and Rahman (1994), Aitken, Hooper and Pickering (1997), Brennan and Hourigan, (2000) and Eng and Mak (2003) studied the relationship between the voluntary disclosure and leverage found no relationship. While Meek et al (1995) mention that there is negative relationship between voluntary disclosure and leverage for US, UK, and European MNCs, Wallace, Naser and Mora (1994). 2.4.3 Profitability Many studies refer the profitability as the factor that affects voluntary disclosure level such as Singhvi and Desai (1971); Foster (1986), Richard (1992), Meek et al. (1995) and Naser et al. (2002) they argues that when the level of firms profitability increase, the firms have to disclose more information that can be an indicator to good management and also have incentives to show to the investors and the public that their profitability has increased. However, Ahmed and Courtis (1999) identified 12 studies that investigated the relationship between profitability and disclosure with mixed results. Akerlof (1970) argued that larger profitable companies may disclose more information to be distinguished from less profitable companies. Watts and Zimmerman (1986) argued the firms with larger profits are more interested in disclosing detailed information in their annual reports in order to justify their financial performance and to reduce political costs. However Wallace et al. (1994) found no significant relationship between the comprehensiveness of disclosure and the profit margin of listed and unlisted Spanish firms. Inchausti (1997) elaborated that agency theory suggests that managers of larger profitable companies may wish to disclose more information in order to obtain personal advantages like continuance of their management position and compensation. Raffournier (1995), Wallace and Naser (1995) and Alsaeed, (2006) observed no significant relationship between the disclosure and the profitability, because none of the performance related variables provides an explanation of the disclosure level. Ho and Wong (2001), Barako, Hancock and Izan (2006) and Barako (2007) on the other hand found profitability to be positively and significantly related with two of the four disclosure categories, financial and forward looking disclosures, whereas other categories ware negative and significant with the disclosure of general and strategic. This result is similar with that of Eng and Mak (2002) study on Singapore listed companies. For example, companies in the manufacturing sector were found to disclose less of financial information, and instead disclosed more on general and strategic information to explain in detail factors affecting their poor financial performance. 2.4.4 Ownership dispersion The ownership dispersion represents the percentage of shares owned by outsider after subtracting shares owned by the insider. Many studies found positive relationship between voluntary disclosure level and ownership, as explained by the agency theory which suggests that difference in the proportion of the companys shares owned by outsider shareholders causes differences in the voluntary disclosure level. This is because the companies with more outsider ownership are more likely to disclose more information than companies with less outsider ownership and also the demand for publicly available information is likely to increase (Wallace and Naser 1995). Gelb (2000) and Barako et al. (2006) found significant relationship between outsider ownership and disclosure level. Leftwich, Watts and Zimmerman (1981), Fama and Jensen (1983), Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993) and Aitken et al. (1997) mentioned the detailed disclosure in annual reports that may allow outsider to monitor their interests more efficiently. Eng and Mak (2003) argued that voluntary disclosure is a substitute for outside monitoring and so is negatively related to managerial ownership. They found evidence consistent with this prediction. Many studies found negative relationship between voluntary disclosure level and ownership dispersion. Hossain et al. (1994) found evidence on Malaysian listed companies having significant negative association between voluntary disclosure and ownership dispersion. A later study by Haniffa and Cooke (2002) also found similar result. Naser et al. (2002) examined the affect of ownership on US companys disclosure and his results indicated that firms with a lower level of managerial ownership are more likely to receive higher ratings for the disclosure provided in their financial reports. Ho and Wong (2001) found negative relationship between family ownership structure and voluntary disclosure. Chau and Gray (2002) also found negative relationship between family ownership structure and voluntary disclosure of companies listed in Hong Kong and Singapore but found positive associated with outside ownership. Donnelly and Mulcahy (2008) on the other hand found no evidence that ownership structure is related to disclosure level. 2.4.5 Audit firm size According to Jensen and Meckling (1976) large audit firms act as a mechanism to reduce agency costs and exert more of a monitoring role by limiting opportunistic behavior by managers and are less likely to be associated with clients that disclose lower levels of information in their annual reports. In terms of size, audit firms can be divided into two; large or small. Large audit firms are identified as being one of these Big Four (or Big Five or Six formerly) international auditing firms, and smaller audit firms are the rest; the firms are more likely to choose a Big Six auditing firm. Such choice of audit firms signals to investors that the contents of the annual reports are audited with high quality (Craswell and Taylor, 1992). Furthermore, the large audit firms are widely spread in the world while small firms are domestically; hence the large audit firms have more capability to disclosure of the information and have higher reputation and power to affect the voluntary disclosure level related to the smaller audit firm (Alsaeed, 2006). Several studies found that audit firm size have significant relationship with voluntary disclosure level. Firth (1979), Craswell and Taylor (1992), Wallace and Naser, (1995), Ahmed (1995), Raffournier (1995), Inchausti (1997), Mahmood (1999), S.M. Ho and Wong (2001), Camfferman and Cooke (2002), Nasser et al. (2002) and Al-Shammari, (2008) found significant relationship between the voluntary disclosure level and audit firm size. Forker (1992) and Wallace et al. (1994) claim there are positive relationship between voluntary disclosure and audit firm size but not significant, while Hossain et al. (1994), Raffournier (1995), Wallace and Naser (1995), Depoers (2000) and Haniffa and Cooke (2002) they didnt fine significant association. 2.4.6 Industry sector According Cook (1989) disclosure level is more likely to vary from one industry to the other due to the likelihood that leading firms operating in a particularindustry could produce a bandwagon effect on the level ofdisclosure adopted by other firms working in the same industry. Cooke (1992) found evidence that Japanese manufacturing firms tend to provide more information than other non-manufacturing firms. Other studies that found significant effect of industry types are Wallace and Naser (1995) and Camfferman and Cooke (2002), while McNally et al.(1982); Wallace (1987): Wallace et al. (1994); Raffournier (1995); Inchausti, (1997); Patton and Zelenka (1997); Naser (1998); Owusu-Ansah (1998), Naser and Alkhatib (2000) and Alsaeed (2006) found insignificant effect. Table 2.2: Summary of independent variables influence on voluntary disclosure: Study Independent variable findings Akerlof (1970) Profitability Positive relationship Singhvi and Desai, (1971) Profitability Positive relationship Jensen and Meckling, (1976) Debt ratio and audit firm size Positive relationship with debt ratio and audit firm size. Firth, (1979) Firm size and audit firm size Positive relationship with debt ratio and audit firm size. Leftwich, Watts, and Zimmerman (1981) Ownership dispersion positive relationship with ownership dispersion McNally et al.(1982) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector Fama and Jensen (1983) Ownership dispersion positive relationship with ownership dispersion Watts and Zimmerman (1983). Firm size positive relationship with firm size Foster, (1986) Firm size, profitability Significant positive with firm size and found positive with profitability. Watts and Zimmerman (1986) Profitability positive with profitability Wallace (1987) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Cook (1989) Industry sector Positive with industry sector. Bradbury (1992) Firm size and debt ratio. Significant positive with firm size and debt ratio. Richard, (1992) Profitability Positive with profitability. Forker (1992) Audit firm size Positive but insignificant with audit firm size. Craswell and Taylor (1992) Audit firm size Positively significant with audit firm size. Cooke (1992) Industry sector positive with industry sector Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993) Firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion. Positive with firm size and ownership dispersion and negative with debt ratio. Hossain et al. (1994) Firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion and audit firm size. Positive with firm size and ownership dispersion but negatively with debt ratio and audit firm size. Wallace et al. (1994) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Meek et al, (1995) Firm size, debt ratio, profitability. Positive with firm size and profitability whereas significant, negative with debt ratio. Hossain et al. (1995) Firm size and Debt ratio Significant positive with firm size and debt ratio. Mitchell et al. (1995) Firm size and Debt ratio. Significant positive with firm size and debt ratio. Wallace and Naser (1995) Firm size, profitability, Ownership dispersion Positive with firm size, ownership dispersion and industry sector but- ,audit firm size and industry sector Negatively with profitability and audit firm size. Ahmed (1995) Firm size and audit firm size Positive significant with firm size and audit firm size. Raffournier (1995) Profitability, audit firm size and industry sector. No significant with profitability and industry sector, but significant positive with audit firm size Zarzeski (1996) Firm size and debt ratio Positive with firm size and debt ratio Aitken et al. (1997) Firm size, Debt ratio and owner ship dispersion Positive with the firm size and ownership dispersion but negative with debt ratio. Inchausti (1997) Profitability, audit firm size and industry sector. Positive with profitability and significant positive with audit firm size and insignificant with industry sector. Patton and Zelenka (1997) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Naser (1998) Debt ratio and industry sector. Significant positive with debt ratio but insignificant with industry sector. Owusu-Ansah (1998), Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Mahmood (1999) Audit firm size Significant with audit firm size. Brennan and Hourigan, (2000) Firm size and debt ratio. Significant positive with firm size and significant negative with debt ratio. Gelb (2000) Ownership dispersion Negatively with Ownership dispersion Depoers (2000) Audit firm size No significant with audit firm size. Naser and Alkhatib (2000) industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Ho and Wong (2001) Profitability, ownership dispersion and audit firm size. No significant with profitability but negatively with ownership dispersion and positive significant with audit firm size. Naser et al. (2002). Firm size, Profitability, ownership dispersion and audit firm size. Positive significant with firm size and audit firm size but positive with profitability and no significant with ownership dispersion. Eng and Mak (2002) Profitability No significant with profitability Chau and Gray (2002) Ownership dispersion Positively with outside ownership dispersion. Camfferman and Cooke (2002) Profitability, audit firm size and industry sector Voluntary Disclosure Behaviour of Kuwait Companies Voluntary Disclosure Behaviour of Kuwait Companies BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1.1 Introduction Disclosure of information in corporate annual reports has attracted a number of researchers in both developed and developing countries. The voluntary disclosure information in excess of mandatory disclosure, has been receiving an increasing amount of attention in recent accounting studies. Because of the inadequacy of compulsory information, the demand for voluntary disclosure provides investors with the necessary information to make more informed decisions (Alsaeed, 2006). Voluntary disclosure of decision-useful corporate information is considered to be the first step in solving the alleged problems of traditional financial reporting (Leadbetter, 2000). Its objectives are well defined: closing (or narrowing) the gap between a companys potential intrinsic market value and its current market value. Voluntary disclosure, in the context of globalization of the worlds financial markets, has received a great deal of attention in the accounting literature in recent years (Hossain, Berera and Rahman, 1995). This is due to the following reasons: Firstly, additional disclosures may help to attract new shareholders thereby helping to maintain a healthy demand for shares, and a share price that more fully reflects its intrinsic value. It is possible that poor disclosure could lead to an undervalued share making it attractive to a potential predator. Secondly, increased information may assist in reducing informational risk and thereby lower the cost of capital (Spero, 1979). A lower cost of capital should mean that marginal projects become profitable. Thirdly, in order to raise capital on the markets, companies will increase their voluntary disclosure. Consequently, listed companies are more likely to have a higher level of disclosure than unlisted companies and multiple listed companies those raising capital on the international markets will have a higher level of disclosure than domestically listed companies. Fourthly, multiple listed companies often have an interest in foreign capital markets since foreign operations are often financed by foreign capital (Choi and Mueller, 1984). Disclosure levels might be increased to adapt to local customs to meet the requirements of banks and other suppliers of capital; finally, listed and multiple listed companies might increase their social responsibility disclosures to demonstrate that they act responsibly (Watts and Zimmerman, 1979). Companies may have attained their status on the securities markets and be able to attract new funds, not least because they act responsibly. According to Healy and Palepu (2001) a companys disclosure decision could be a response to innovation, globalization or changes in business and capital market environments. Kuwait is the focus of this study for three reasons. First, Kuwait is a small rich country, relatively open economy with crude oil reserves of about 10% of world reserves. Second, over the last decade, the Kuwaiti government has initiated several far-reaching reforms at the Kuwait Stock Exchange to mobilize domestic savings and attract foreign capital investment. These measures include privatization of state corporations through the stock exchange and allowing foreign investors to own shares in the listed companies since 2000, tax free. Third, the Kuwait Stock Exchange is becoming an important capital market in the region. It is ranked the second largest market in the Arab world (after Saudi Arabia) in terms of total market capitalization. Its total market capitalization was US$128,951 million as of December 2006 (Arab Monetary Fund 2006). These reasons could motivate investors to diversify their investment portfolios into that market. As a result, investors may be interested in the information disclosure practices of listed companies in Kuwait (Al-Shammari, 2008). 1-2 Problem Statement Many developing countries strive to mobilize financial resources from domestic as well as international sources with a view to attaining their economic and social development goals. Domestic and international investors utilize financial and non-financial information available on potential investment targets for assessing risk and making critical investment decisions. Thus, the availability of financial and non-financial information in sufficient quantity and of sufficient quality has an important bearing on efforts geared towards mobilizing investment for financing economic and social development. Adequate reporting and disclosure of financial and non-financial information will reduce asymmetric information problem, hence are likely to improve investor confidence and a lower cost of investment. According to Gray, Meeks and Roberts (1995) investors demand information to assess the timing and uncertainty of current and future cash flows so that they may value firms and make other investment decisions such as choosing a portfolio of securities. Companies satisfy this demand in part by supplying voluntary accounting information, thereby enabling them to raise capital on the best available terms (Gray et al., 1995). Given the faster pace of globalization, the growing interdependence of international financial markets and increased mobility of capital, developing countries need to attach greater importance to corporate transparency and disclosure. Policy makers, legislators and regulators, in recognition of the significant influence that corporate transparency has on decisions of investors, need to strengthen further the various components of corporate disclosure infrastructure so that domestic and international resources are mobilized more efficiently. Kuwait is one of the developing countries that face difficulties to attract foreign investments. Birgit Ebner at Germanys Frankfurt Trust, who helps manage a Middle Eastern stock fund, said Kuwait was not an attractive investment compared with others in the region (www.gulfnews.com). One of the main reasons that interpret this matter is the absence of voluntary disclosure as a result of sharp low supply of information by companies. According to Birgit Ebner, We are underweight in Kuwait because in Kuwait there are many holding firms dominating the market. And on top of it, the transparency is currently lower than in other Gulf States. In opinion of many analysts in Kuwait, the problem of gulf bank is related to absence of voluntary disclosure. Moreover, Kuwait stock exchange report that issued in (2007) revealed that 156 companies listed in Kuwait stock exchange from among 177 companies listed in Kuwait stock exchange are violating disclosure guidelines (www.alaswaq.net 2007). The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the influence of several firm characteristics on the level of voluntary disclosure of companies listed in Kuwait and whether disclosure level improves over the years given changes in the accounting environment of the country and globalization that have taken placed. There are many studies have examined the relationship between a company`s characteristics and the level of disclosure in both developed and developing countries such as Canada (Belkaoui and Kahl, 1978); United Kingdom (Firth, 1979, 1980); Nigeria (Wallace, 1987); Sweden (Cooke, 1989); Japan (Cooke, 1992); United States (Imhoff, 1992; and Lang and Lundholm, 1993); Bangladesh (Ahmed and Nicholls, 1994); Switzerland (Raffournier, 1995); Hong Kong (Wallace and Naser, 1995), Egypt (Mahmood, 1999); Jordan (Naser, Alkhatib and Karbhari, 2002); Saudi Arabia (Alsaeed, 2006b) and United Arab Emirates (Aljifri, 2007). However, to my knowledge, little attention has been devoted to the role of voluntary disclosure in the Middle East countries, more specifically Kuwait (see Al-Shammari, 2008). The aim of this study is to understand what motivate or demonstrate a companys disclosure by empirically investigate the association between a number of company characteristics and the extent of voluntary disclosure in the annual reports of companies listed in the Kuwait Stock Exchange in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. In addition, the influence of the reporting year on voluntary disclosure will also be examined to assess the progress of disclosure activities in Kuwait. Given that Ashammaris study only cover the year of 2005, the execution of this study is fully justified. 1.3 Research Questions In general, this study seeks for explanation on voluntary disclosure behaviour of Kuwait companies. The followings are the research questions:- 1- What is the relationship between the firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion, profitability, audit firm size, industry sector and voluntary disclosure level? 2- Does reporting year influences voluntary disclosure? 3- To what extent do the above factors affect the voluntary disclosure? 1.4 Research Objectives To determine the influences of firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion, profitability, audit firm size, industry sector and reporting year on the level of voluntary disclosure of companies listed in Kuwait. 1.5 Significance of the Study The significance of study can be viewed from contributions given to Accounting academic discipline and to the practitioners and policymakers. Contribution to Accounting body of knowledge This study contributes to the literature on corporate financial reporting and disclosure practices in one of the important capital markets in the Middle East in which International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) are mandatory and the government controls the accounting and auditing profession. It also contributes to the corporate governance literature on whether the company characteristics found to be significant in companies operating in developed countries are similar to those a developing country like Kuwait. This study is important in enhancing our understanding of corporate financial reporting in Kuwait. It explores the determinants that help explain voluntary disclosure in Kuwait. Contribution to the practitioners and policy makers Knowledge on firms characteristics that influence voluntary disclosure would enable policy makers to target training and monitoring activities to suitable target companies in order to improve disclosure level in the country. This is important because higher disclosure among companies could improve investors confidence and help attracting more foreign investment into the country. The study is also able to show whether the external environment in Kuwait have improved the voluntary disclosure activities. 1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study This study investigates the relationship between firm characteristics and voluntary disclosure of non financial companies listed in Kuwait. Financial companies (banks and insurance companies) were eliminated as the characteristics of their financial reports are different from those of non financial firms (Alsaeed, 2006). A disclosure index was constructed as a yardstick to measure the level of disclosure by the listed firms. The construction of the disclosure index is based on the information that firms supply in their annual financial reports to shareholders. Albeit not as conclusive, financial reports serve as a widely accepted (Knutson, 1992). The disclosure index does not intend to be comprehensive, nor does it intend to specify what firms ought to disclose. Rather, the index is crafted solely for the purpose of capturing and measuring differences in disclosure practices among firms. The selection of items embedded into the index was entirely guided by Meek, Rober and Gray (1995), Botosan (1997), Naser and Nuseibeh (2003) and Alsaeed (2006) 1.7 Organization of the Study The reminder of this study is organized as follows: Chapter Two discusses the literature review related to the study; Chapter Three consists of research methodology including theoretical framework, hypothesis development and model specification for the study. The measurement, sampling and instrumentations are also discussed in this chapter. Chapter Four presents the empirical findings and results. Finally, Chapter Five provides the discussion, implications and recommendation of the study as well as suggestions for future research. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This Chapter discusses and summarizes the literatures review, which looks at many aspects of voluntary disclosure and the factors which affect the degree of voluntary disclosure in a firm. The discussion is segmented into five sections. The first section presents an overview of disclosure requirements in Kuwait so as to provide foundation knowledge of the issue understudy. Section two discusses the concept and measurement of voluntary disclosure. This is followed by section three which presents the firm-related determinants of voluntary disclosure as found from prior theoretical and empirical literature. These variables include firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion, profitability, audit firm size. 2.2 Disclosure Requirement in Kuwait Mandatory disclosure refers to firms disclose information about their operations because of legal requirements. For the efficiency of markets and the protection of investors, mandatory disclosure of information concerning the firms operating in capital markets has important consequences (Shin, 1998). 2.3 Voluntary disclosure level More detailed disclosure by the firms beyond the level of information disclosed within the mandatory disclosure process is called voluntary disclosure. Voluntary disclosure means making public the financial and non-financial information regarding the firms operations without any legal requirement (Fishman and Hagerty (1997), Meek et al. (1995), Botosan (1997), Naser and Nuseibeh (2003) and Alsaeed (2006). Alsaeed has identified a more comprehensive items for voluntary disclosure based on Meek et al. (1995), Botosan (1997), Naser and Nuseibeh (2003). These items are as in Table 2.1 Table 2.1: Voluntary disclosure items in Alsaeed (2006) No. Disclosure items 1 Strategic information 2 Brief history of company 3 Information on events affecting future years results 4 Board directors names 5 Top managements names 6 Majority shareholders 7 Information on different types of products 8 Information statistics for more than two years 9 Information on dividends policy 10 Information on future expansion projects 11 Percentage of foreign and national labor force 12 Information on training and workers development 13 Information on social and environmental activities 14 Statement of corporate goals and objectives 15 Principle markets 16 Average compensation per employee 17 Market share 18 Information on events affecting current years results 19 Competitive environment 20 Forecasted profits Many studies have examined the relationship between a companys characteristics and voluntary disclosure level. Alsaeed, (2006) argued that firm size, profitability and auditor firm size influence the level of voluntary disclosure. Naser et al., (2002), Jensen and Meckling, (1976); Fama and Jensen, (1983) Donnelly and Mulcahy, (2008), Camfferman and Cooke (2002), studied the association between companys firm size, debt ratio, owner ship and auditor firm size and the level of disclosure. 2.4 Determinants of Voluntary Disclosure 2.4.1 Firm size Most of the firm disclosure studies used firm size as a control variable (see for example, Alsaeed (2006); Donnelly and Mulcahy (2008); Brammer and Pavelin (2004); Meek et al, (1995), Mitchell et al, (1995), Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993), Aitken et al. (1997), Bradbury, (1992), Zarzeski (1996), Brennan and Hourigan, (2000), Naser et al.,(2002), Wallace and Naser (1995), Firth, (1979), Eng and Mak (2003) and Hossain et al.(1994). Many studies found a positive relationship between firm size and disclosure level of companies. For example, Alsaeed (2006) conducted a study to investigate the relationship between firm characteristics of non-financial Saudi firms listed on the Saudi Stock Market in 2003 and voluntary disclosure level by those companies. He found that there was a positive relationship between the firm size and the level of disclosure. Alsaeed (2006) argues that agency costs are higher for larger companies because shareholders are widespread, therefore, additional disclosure might reduce these costs (Watts and Zimmerman, 1983). This finding is consistent with other studies such as Meek et al, (1995), Donnelly and Mulcahy (2008), Foster (1986), Hossain et al, (1995) and Al-Shammari, (2008). In addition to what Alsaeed (2006) has mentioned above, they argued that large companies might have sufficient resources to afford the cost of producing information or the user of annual reports. Secondly, small companies might suffer from a competitive disadvantage if they provide additional disclosure. Thirdly, large companies might be of interest to different users of annual reports including government agencies. 2.4.2 Debt ratio There is no consensus among researchers about the relationship between debt ratio and voluntary disclosure. Most of studies found a significant positive relationship between debt ratio and voluntary disclosure such as Naser (1998), Mitchell, Chia and Loh (1995); Hossain et al. (1995), Al-Shammari, (2008) and Bradbury, (1992). Jensen and Meckling, (1976) found the voluntary disclosure level can reduce the agency costs by facilitating debt ratio suppliers assessment of the firms to ability to meet its debts ratio. In relation to this, Al-Shimmiri, (2008) argued that the companies with higher debt in their structure of capital are prone to higher agency cost, hence they will be more likely to disclose additional information in order to reduce agency costs and information asymmetry with shareholders. Alsaeed, (2006) argued that when firms increase their level of leverage, they have to disclose more information in order to reduce asymmetric information between the firm and its creditors. Hence he argued that firms with high leverage will have high level of disclosure. In addition, Zarzeski (1996) argued that firms with higher debt ratio are more likely to share private information with their creditors. Thus, voluntary disclosures can be expected to increase with leverage. However, Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993), Hossain, Berera and Rahman (1994), Aitken, Hooper and Pickering (1997), Brennan and Hourigan, (2000) and Eng and Mak (2003) studied the relationship between the voluntary disclosure and leverage found no relationship. While Meek et al (1995) mention that there is negative relationship between voluntary disclosure and leverage for US, UK, and European MNCs, Wallace, Naser and Mora (1994). 2.4.3 Profitability Many studies refer the profitability as the factor that affects voluntary disclosure level such as Singhvi and Desai (1971); Foster (1986), Richard (1992), Meek et al. (1995) and Naser et al. (2002) they argues that when the level of firms profitability increase, the firms have to disclose more information that can be an indicator to good management and also have incentives to show to the investors and the public that their profitability has increased. However, Ahmed and Courtis (1999) identified 12 studies that investigated the relationship between profitability and disclosure with mixed results. Akerlof (1970) argued that larger profitable companies may disclose more information to be distinguished from less profitable companies. Watts and Zimmerman (1986) argued the firms with larger profits are more interested in disclosing detailed information in their annual reports in order to justify their financial performance and to reduce political costs. However Wallace et al. (1994) found no significant relationship between the comprehensiveness of disclosure and the profit margin of listed and unlisted Spanish firms. Inchausti (1997) elaborated that agency theory suggests that managers of larger profitable companies may wish to disclose more information in order to obtain personal advantages like continuance of their management position and compensation. Raffournier (1995), Wallace and Naser (1995) and Alsaeed, (2006) observed no significant relationship between the disclosure and the profitability, because none of the performance related variables provides an explanation of the disclosure level. Ho and Wong (2001), Barako, Hancock and Izan (2006) and Barako (2007) on the other hand found profitability to be positively and significantly related with two of the four disclosure categories, financial and forward looking disclosures, whereas other categories ware negative and significant with the disclosure of general and strategic. This result is similar with that of Eng and Mak (2002) study on Singapore listed companies. For example, companies in the manufacturing sector were found to disclose less of financial information, and instead disclosed more on general and strategic information to explain in detail factors affecting their poor financial performance. 2.4.4 Ownership dispersion The ownership dispersion represents the percentage of shares owned by outsider after subtracting shares owned by the insider. Many studies found positive relationship between voluntary disclosure level and ownership, as explained by the agency theory which suggests that difference in the proportion of the companys shares owned by outsider shareholders causes differences in the voluntary disclosure level. This is because the companies with more outsider ownership are more likely to disclose more information than companies with less outsider ownership and also the demand for publicly available information is likely to increase (Wallace and Naser 1995). Gelb (2000) and Barako et al. (2006) found significant relationship between outsider ownership and disclosure level. Leftwich, Watts and Zimmerman (1981), Fama and Jensen (1983), Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993) and Aitken et al. (1997) mentioned the detailed disclosure in annual reports that may allow outsider to monitor their interests more efficiently. Eng and Mak (2003) argued that voluntary disclosure is a substitute for outside monitoring and so is negatively related to managerial ownership. They found evidence consistent with this prediction. Many studies found negative relationship between voluntary disclosure level and ownership dispersion. Hossain et al. (1994) found evidence on Malaysian listed companies having significant negative association between voluntary disclosure and ownership dispersion. A later study by Haniffa and Cooke (2002) also found similar result. Naser et al. (2002) examined the affect of ownership on US companys disclosure and his results indicated that firms with a lower level of managerial ownership are more likely to receive higher ratings for the disclosure provided in their financial reports. Ho and Wong (2001) found negative relationship between family ownership structure and voluntary disclosure. Chau and Gray (2002) also found negative relationship between family ownership structure and voluntary disclosure of companies listed in Hong Kong and Singapore but found positive associated with outside ownership. Donnelly and Mulcahy (2008) on the other hand found no evidence that ownership structure is related to disclosure level. 2.4.5 Audit firm size According to Jensen and Meckling (1976) large audit firms act as a mechanism to reduce agency costs and exert more of a monitoring role by limiting opportunistic behavior by managers and are less likely to be associated with clients that disclose lower levels of information in their annual reports. In terms of size, audit firms can be divided into two; large or small. Large audit firms are identified as being one of these Big Four (or Big Five or Six formerly) international auditing firms, and smaller audit firms are the rest; the firms are more likely to choose a Big Six auditing firm. Such choice of audit firms signals to investors that the contents of the annual reports are audited with high quality (Craswell and Taylor, 1992). Furthermore, the large audit firms are widely spread in the world while small firms are domestically; hence the large audit firms have more capability to disclosure of the information and have higher reputation and power to affect the voluntary disclosure level related to the smaller audit firm (Alsaeed, 2006). Several studies found that audit firm size have significant relationship with voluntary disclosure level. Firth (1979), Craswell and Taylor (1992), Wallace and Naser, (1995), Ahmed (1995), Raffournier (1995), Inchausti (1997), Mahmood (1999), S.M. Ho and Wong (2001), Camfferman and Cooke (2002), Nasser et al. (2002) and Al-Shammari, (2008) found significant relationship between the voluntary disclosure level and audit firm size. Forker (1992) and Wallace et al. (1994) claim there are positive relationship between voluntary disclosure and audit firm size but not significant, while Hossain et al. (1994), Raffournier (1995), Wallace and Naser (1995), Depoers (2000) and Haniffa and Cooke (2002) they didnt fine significant association. 2.4.6 Industry sector According Cook (1989) disclosure level is more likely to vary from one industry to the other due to the likelihood that leading firms operating in a particularindustry could produce a bandwagon effect on the level ofdisclosure adopted by other firms working in the same industry. Cooke (1992) found evidence that Japanese manufacturing firms tend to provide more information than other non-manufacturing firms. Other studies that found significant effect of industry types are Wallace and Naser (1995) and Camfferman and Cooke (2002), while McNally et al.(1982); Wallace (1987): Wallace et al. (1994); Raffournier (1995); Inchausti, (1997); Patton and Zelenka (1997); Naser (1998); Owusu-Ansah (1998), Naser and Alkhatib (2000) and Alsaeed (2006) found insignificant effect. Table 2.2: Summary of independent variables influence on voluntary disclosure: Study Independent variable findings Akerlof (1970) Profitability Positive relationship Singhvi and Desai, (1971) Profitability Positive relationship Jensen and Meckling, (1976) Debt ratio and audit firm size Positive relationship with debt ratio and audit firm size. Firth, (1979) Firm size and audit firm size Positive relationship with debt ratio and audit firm size. Leftwich, Watts, and Zimmerman (1981) Ownership dispersion positive relationship with ownership dispersion McNally et al.(1982) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector Fama and Jensen (1983) Ownership dispersion positive relationship with ownership dispersion Watts and Zimmerman (1983). Firm size positive relationship with firm size Foster, (1986) Firm size, profitability Significant positive with firm size and found positive with profitability. Watts and Zimmerman (1986) Profitability positive with profitability Wallace (1987) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Cook (1989) Industry sector Positive with industry sector. Bradbury (1992) Firm size and debt ratio. Significant positive with firm size and debt ratio. Richard, (1992) Profitability Positive with profitability. Forker (1992) Audit firm size Positive but insignificant with audit firm size. Craswell and Taylor (1992) Audit firm size Positively significant with audit firm size. Cooke (1992) Industry sector positive with industry sector Mckinnon and Dalimunthe, (1993) Firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion. Positive with firm size and ownership dispersion and negative with debt ratio. Hossain et al. (1994) Firm size, debt ratio, ownership dispersion and audit firm size. Positive with firm size and ownership dispersion but negatively with debt ratio and audit firm size. Wallace et al. (1994) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Meek et al, (1995) Firm size, debt ratio, profitability. Positive with firm size and profitability whereas significant, negative with debt ratio. Hossain et al. (1995) Firm size and Debt ratio Significant positive with firm size and debt ratio. Mitchell et al. (1995) Firm size and Debt ratio. Significant positive with firm size and debt ratio. Wallace and Naser (1995) Firm size, profitability, Ownership dispersion Positive with firm size, ownership dispersion and industry sector but- ,audit firm size and industry sector Negatively with profitability and audit firm size. Ahmed (1995) Firm size and audit firm size Positive significant with firm size and audit firm size. Raffournier (1995) Profitability, audit firm size and industry sector. No significant with profitability and industry sector, but significant positive with audit firm size Zarzeski (1996) Firm size and debt ratio Positive with firm size and debt ratio Aitken et al. (1997) Firm size, Debt ratio and owner ship dispersion Positive with the firm size and ownership dispersion but negative with debt ratio. Inchausti (1997) Profitability, audit firm size and industry sector. Positive with profitability and significant positive with audit firm size and insignificant with industry sector. Patton and Zelenka (1997) Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Naser (1998) Debt ratio and industry sector. Significant positive with debt ratio but insignificant with industry sector. Owusu-Ansah (1998), Industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Mahmood (1999) Audit firm size Significant with audit firm size. Brennan and Hourigan, (2000) Firm size and debt ratio. Significant positive with firm size and significant negative with debt ratio. Gelb (2000) Ownership dispersion Negatively with Ownership dispersion Depoers (2000) Audit firm size No significant with audit firm size. Naser and Alkhatib (2000) industry sector Insignificant with industry sector. Ho and Wong (2001) Profitability, ownership dispersion and audit firm size. No significant with profitability but negatively with ownership dispersion and positive significant with audit firm size. Naser et al. (2002). Firm size, Profitability, ownership dispersion and audit firm size. Positive significant with firm size and audit firm size but positive with profitability and no significant with ownership dispersion. Eng and Mak (2002) Profitability No significant with profitability Chau and Gray (2002) Ownership dispersion Positively with outside ownership dispersion. Camfferman and Cooke (2002) Profitability, audit firm size and industry sector