New Economy and New Culture

Global Business Environment

New Economy and New Culture

Moving towards a New Economy. Traditionally an economy was defined in terms of deciding factors influencing the distribution of limited and scarce resource among the competing forces in highly competitive environment. The scope of the subject was limited to efficient performance of production processes. The agenda of fairness has been rarely incorporated in the economic system.

Economic theories were not contributing enough to resolve the economic and practical problems. Freedom of mind lost its connection with reality and introduced hypothetical theories to resolve the economic issues prevalent in the environment. These theoretical frameworks present comprehensive and ample method of evaluating the individual behaviors but at same time produce variety of testable issues which demand extensive and profound scrutiny.

Behaviors of individuals are examined and analyzed by numerous economic endeavors and economic agents. It is very difficult to define culture as it implies numerous meanings, transformed into various aspects without any mutually agreed definition.

Culture is associated with the subject of humanities and social sciences and its meaning varies widely across disciplines. It ascribed different meanings in different centuries and the most recent one focused on the intellectual development of entire civilization and entire lifestyles of individuals which supplement the cultural values. Culture is social frame work which defines the attitudes, beliefs, norms values shared by large group. The main objective of relating economy with cultural dimensions is to investigate the role of cultural instruments in economic development and economic performance of the society (Throsby, 2001).

New Economy and New Culture

Some of the extremists believed that new economy would be free of all the inflationary problems which would lead to recession or economic downturn because of technological development. According to (Wired, 1998) new economy would evolve with the help of technological change, globalization in the economy and skills and creativity of individuals in the society.

Development in information technology would largely impact the work in production industry. Technological change is revolutionary change which enhances the workers ability and skills and affects the social choices of individuals (Zuboff, 1988).

Globalization would narrow down the geographical boundaries and expand the market across the borders and scope of the new economy would be globalized. This globalization would redesign the rules of competitiveness in the economy. It has differential effect in the society and has enabled to achieve free market mechanism against protectionism (Brink Lindsey, 2001).

The effect of globalization has also deprived local culture from its unique cultural factors. So the cultural factors have also evolved along with the economy because of dramatic changes in the world. New economy demands completely new skill set among workers. Ne economy values creativity and innovation of the individuals to compete in global market.

New economy capitalizes on the value of intangible assets and provide dynamic and information rich environment for operation to its workers. (Malone, 1999) New economy has produced heterogeneity and flexibility in cultural instruments of the society and has established unique relationship between culture and economy. Contribution of creative sector in the economy has highlighted that the problems of cultural policy are almost the same as problems of economic policy.

New economy is described as global, networked and information rich economy with creative and innovative workforce. It generates niche- marketed goods and services staffed by intelligent and culturally rich workers and satisfy the creative and cultural needs of individuals. Cultural needs of individuals evolve with the growth in creative sector of the society (Healy, 2002).

The focus of cultural values has shifted from direct economic contributions produced by creative industries towards indirect economic benefits like creativity and innovation, employability and social inclusion. Social and cultural values, capital and human characteristics are highly considered factors in the formulation of cultural policy which is associated with the economic policy (Böhm & Land, 2009).

Development in the work life and labor markets demands the understanding of motivational factors of workers. Creativity and innovation has generated new appeal for culture in the new economy. Cultural context of economics can be easily explained as economic agents observe and breather in the cultural environment which regulates their behaviors and outline their preferences. Cultural economy helps to scrutinize the social and economic dimensions of the society.

Contemporary Business and Economy

Evolution in the economy and international standards have created intimidating business environment for several multinational companies and their brands operating globally. Newly evolved business environment poses challenges of economic downturn, high cultural sensitivity because of cultural shifts in the society, lack of motivation and job satisfaction among the workforce and corporate scandals leading to lack of trust in capital markets.

These challenges are attributed to globalization of market, development in information and technology and diversity in the workforce. Organizations operating in this highly unpredictable working environment are struggling to restore their trust in the corporate world. Some organizations are trying to regain their position in this hostile environment by setting ethical standards, strict rules, establishing transparent processes, addressing public concerns, performing cultural audits and by establishing social challenging performance targets. All these efforts pave path towards the formation of new economy and new culture collectively described as cultural economy (Goodman, 2004).

Organizations in contemporary business environment are highly susceptible to social, cultural and moral issues of the society. Changes in the operating environment of businesses largely sway the skill requirement of businesses.

Business organizations are adapting and transforming their operating activities according to the cultural, social and moral standards of the society. This transformation largely influences the competitive position of the business in competitive landscape. It also helps in developing positive image and repute of the business in the society.

Change agents like economic environment, technology and globalization have forced the organizations to capitalize on the cultural economy in order to adapt and perform landmark success in their industry. Implications of contemporary issues raised by the environment could be easily modified and capitalized by balancing their business environment with new economy and new culture (Crane & Matten, 2010.).

Importance of New Economy and New Culture

Cultural processes and values adapt to material environment. The role of culture in the economic development of third world countries could be effective by identifying their cultural integrity and cultural aspirations of poor people and improving their material circumstances according to their cultural traditions. Development of culture and economic circumstances are intertwined in the society.

Development projects introduced by NGOs in under developing countries for raising their living standards and economic conditions largely depend on the understanding of their cultural traditions. This explained that culture determines the scope of material process in economic context (Throsby, 2001). The driving force in international market is culture and creativity. The impact of culture is evident not only to the economy but also to their society. Increase importance of culture in economy and society has transformed the way of creation, consumption and enjoying cultural products.

Culture is not only significant mean towards economic growth but also fundamental factor in social cohesion and development of human civilization. Cultural industries deal with the conception, production and commercialization of creative products which have social and economic importance in the market.

From 1999 to 2003, growth in cultural and creative industry in European Union was 12.3% more than economic growth. In 2004 cultural sector employed 5.8 million people in Europe. Moreover the jobs created by cultural and creative sector provide sense of assurance and commitment, job involvement and satisfaction to their workers.

Cultural industries contribute towards enhancing the economic performance of the countries. The Great Wall of China as cultural heritage is source of tourist income and attracts national investment. It enhances the value of the brand of the national products and mobilizes the economy. This example illustrated the economic and social contribution of culture in the society (Pol, 2007).

The concept of knowledge-based economy provides economic support to creativity and talent and emphasizes on the framework of cultural growth and development. Traditional production factors have evolved and change in the new economy. Key underlying factors of social and economic growth are knowledge, creativity, innovation and skills. It has not only changed the economic structure but revolutionized the development of economy and society.

Economic growth and development largely relies on the application new ideas and creativity in the cohesive economy. Influential component of culture, behavior of individuals and social groups emphasize and lead toward the development of society. The idea of cultural materialism enabled better understanding of the relationship between culture and economic development. Development of society largely depends upon the development of culture and arts.

The UN is also taking initiatives, passing resolutions and policy papers to ensure that to introduce cultural industries in the policy formation of developing and under-developed countries. This explained that efforts are being done to shift from narrative importance of cultural economy towards the performative. Realizing the importance of cultural economy, international and national organizations are taking practical initiatives to incorporate cultural dimension in their economy (Anon., 2009).

New Economy
New Economy

Qualitative research on arts and culture have exhibited that it positively contribute towards the better health and well-being of individuals, improve the social identity and cohesion, community development and economic benefits to the society. Cultural and art oriented projects enhance the personal motivation of individuals and provide social esteem leading to healthy benefits to the society. Cultural economy fosters intercultural understanding which helps to accommodate diversity in cultures and populations.

Cultural exhibitions and festivals played significant role in validating the diversity in the workforce and overcome the problem of social isolation in the work environment (Coalter., 2001). Highly competitive nature of business demands the workforce to be highly motivated and satisfied which in turn would contribute towards the high productivity and improved economic performance. Economic effect of art and culture could be explained by dollar value generated by creating jobs for artists, investment in tourism and revenue generated from the cultural artifacts. Cultural economy helps in the creation of energetic and creative work environment which is very crucial for contemporary business and economy (Azmier, 2002).

Historically business environment was confined to geographic boundaries but globalizations and development in technology has revolutionized the business environment. Human capital is considered as most important asset for the enhancing the productivity and economic activity of the businesses.

Cultural economy nourishes the creative and social needs of employees and work as knowledge multiplier in securing sustainable competitive advantage for organizations. Cultural economy has also enlightened the creative insight of businesses to develop products and services matching the cultural traditions and integrity of the people. It is also encouraging workforce to actively participate in contemporary business environment. Policy makers and businesses largely comprehend the significance of cultural industry in the economy and its importance to survive in global and competitive market.

In contemporary business environment market value of the products largely rely on the uniqueness of products its performance and innovative appeal in establishing unique competitive edge from the market. Customers highly value the innovative and unique product which is coherent with their cultural identity (Thomasian, 2009).

The twentieth century is dominated by knowledge workers and challenges of global market place. These global challenges demand the creativity and innovation in the business processes and products offered by businesses. Cultural economy serves the dynamic needs of global marketplace and contributes creativity by ensuring the sustainable competitive advantage based on creative and innovative workforce.

According to (FREY, 2009) institutional effect of culture on economy is extremely challenging to evaluate. Some of the researchers examine the institutional effect by estimating social value created by cultural institutions. Social value is subjective in nature and cannot quantify the value created by cultural institutions in the society. Cultural economics is considered as branch of economics which incorporates psychological and social elements in economic to influence the intrinsic motivation of individuals.

Monetary value of economic effect of cultural economy could be easily evaluated by the revenue generated, creation of new jobs and with the ancillary businesses attached to it. Hence this new term of cultural economics is largely affecting and supporting the contemporary businesses and economy. It helps to overcome the challenges of competitive, global and technologically efficient market place and intrinsically motivate it workforce by fulfilling the cultural and social needs

Relationship with the Banking Industry

The agenda of this study is to investigate the normative assumption which states that cultural economy completely relies on the real economy of the world. The business environment under study is financial services sector or banking sector. Cultural economy has evolved and restructured its long term relationship with the economy and social factors.

The basic assumption is that cultural economy is largely substituting the finance and manufacturing industry in the urban society. The research conducted by Pratt in 2012 explained that normative connection between culture and economy is inconsistent. The experience of recent recession has forced the economist to reconsider the relationship of culture with the economy.

The assumption that is recession cultural industry would hit a setback was completely rejected when in recent austerity creative industry flourished as compare to other periods. While banking industry was highly leveraged and with risky loans caused failure of banking systems. The problem rose because of over extension of assets which multiplied the problem and state financed the bank’s debt it lead to the issue of sovereign debt (Pratt, 2012).

The relationship of cultural economy and financial institutions like banks are questioned frequently because of financial and sovereign debt crisis. Investigation of this relationship leads to the formation of new economy concentrated on the logical position of cultural economy.

Social mobility of people from lower class and middle class towards cultural products to have fun and luxurious aspect of cultural factors forced cultural market modernize the way of entertainment. Banking industry provided finances to Greek state but with the shrinkage in public or state investments cultural consumption by the people remain same. In comparison to financial sector it flourishes and exploits the city resources  (Souliotis, 2013).

These empirical researches exhibit that cultural economy has more complex and intricate relationship with the banking industry. In case of recession cultural industry and financial service industry move in opposite directions. Prior researches could not clearly identify the underlying reason behind this deviation form normative assumptions of cultural economy. Moreover it is proposed that economic desire is based on the individualistic behaviors while cultural desires are based on collective behaviors of the society.

These evidences explained the fact that banking industry is not influenced or affected by cultural economy. These two parts of economy stand alone. Underlying reason may be the social mobilization of the social classes in economy. Upward social mobilization and luxurious entertainment were some the driving forces which motivated the cultural consumption even in austerity.

While at the same time shrinkage of public funds and shortage of bonuses for the employees of financial services in the period of recession explained that it portrays negative relation during crisis. There may be some hidden underlying variables which demand more research on this complicated phenomenon between cultural industry and banking sector.

References

Anon., 2009. Measuring The Economic Contribution Of Cultural Industries. 2009 Framework for Cultural Statistics Handbook No. 1. Montrea: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Azmier, J.J., 2002. Culture and Economic Competitiveness: An Emerging Role for the Arts in Canada. Canada West Foundation.

Böhm, S. & Land, C., 2009. No measure for culture? Value in the new economy. Capital & Class, 33(1), pp.75-98.

Brink Lindsey, 2001. Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism. New York: Wiley.

Coalter., F., 2001. Realising the Potential of Cultural Services: Making a Difference to the Quality of Life. London: Local Government Association.

Crane, A. & Matten, D., 2010.. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.

FREY, B.S., 2009. Cultural Economics. CESifo DICE Report.

Goodman, D.M.B., 2004. Meeting the Global Challenges of the Contemporary Business Environment. New York: Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts.

Healy, K., 2002. What’s New for Culture in the New Economy? The Journal of Arts, Management, Law and Society, 32(2), pp.86-103.

Malone, M.S., 1999. Reflecting on a New World of Business. In Impart, pp.36-42.

Pol, H.v.d., 2007. Key role of cultural and creative industries in the economy. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Pratt, A.C., 2012. A world turned upside down: the cultural economy, cities and the new austerity. In Pratt, Andy C. “A world turned upside down: the cultural economy,. Proceedings of the Regional Studies Association Winter Conference., 2012.

Souliotis, N., 2013. Cultural economy, sovereign debt crisis and the importance of local contexts: the case of Athens. Elsevier, 33, pp.61-68.

Thomasian, J., 2009. Arts & the Economy: Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development. Washington: National Governor Association.

Throsby, D., 2001. Economics and Culture. Cambridge University Press.

Wired, 1998. Encyclopedia of the New Economy. Wired Magazine.

Zuboff, S., 1988. In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work. New York: Basic Books.

The Economic Environment Project

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Micro-Economic Environment

Explain the Importance of the Micro-Economic Environment to Business Organizations

Business in a literal term is collective work of bunch of people with similar interests in production of goods and services for trading purpose at any market and draws some monetary reward for this whole exercise”. There are so many factors which effect the business organizations one of them is the Micro-Economic environment. This type of environment basically related to the analysis of small area or the marginal aspects of the any organization. The factors which are analyzed in micro economic environment are as following:

  • Characteristics of organization’s human resource and their ability to manage the organization are analyzed.
  • Both types of customers (major and minor) are evaluated.
  • Dig about the means of generating money by organization.
  • Information is gathered about the suppliers of raw material and their network.
  • Analysis of local communities , competitors and their business performance is conducted (Hiriyappa,B, 2008)

From above discussion if we conclude that Micro-Economic environment has direct relation to any business organization then it would not be wrong and we are going to discuss the effect of Micro-Economic environment on the performance of any company that how these micro economic environment affect the performance of any company. The company which would be under discussion is Vodafone which falls in the services sector. Vodafone is included in one of the leading companies in communication sector which is providing services in 30 countries and having partnership networks in over 40 countries. Customer count is 360 million in the world and it is 19 million only in United Kingdom. Vodafone started working on 1 January 1985 at London. Vodafone is having more than 8,000 employees in UK. Until 2013 Vodafone was earning £429 million profit.

Micro economic Environment Importance for Business

Micro-Economic environment is very important for business organizations as it could be said that it is complementary for the business organizations because micro economics studies the basic factors which affect the individual business like consumer behavior, market environment, competition in the market and demand and supply forces prevalent in the market place. For the better understanding and explanation of effects of Micro-Economic environment on business organization it is necessary to discuss it which the help of a case study on Vodafone in terms of services. If Vodafone wants to deliver its services in certain country or area then it has to apply certain Micro-Economic principles in order to check the feasibility of business environment in that area. First of all Vodafone has to evaluate the market environment whether market of that particular area is feasible for that kind of business or not.

Micro-Economic environment also includes the environment of the marketplace which is further subdivided into location and governmental policies. Vodafone has to check whether these both factors are in harmony with their business policies or not. They have to check how much tax and other duties they have to pay if Vodafone starts business in that particular country. Micro-Economic environment also include the location for setting up the office for starting business. Vodafone has to find place where it can target its potential customers easily and customers could have easy access to their services. I deal location could be any business hub where lots of offices are located and have to use the telecommunication services on daily basis and want any company with fastest service, better signals, voice quality and internet services.

Survey of other communication networks working in that country would also help the Vodafone to identify how much competition it has to face if it set up their business at any place.

So identification of Micro economic environment is very important for any business organization if it has to do or start new business at any particular place. Regular survey of the micro economic environment also helps the organizations to do their SWOT analysis and keep pace with the ever growing business in the market (Ejim Esther, 2014).

Business Objectives and Behaviour Analysis

In managerial economics the basic purpose of business organization is to maximize the profit of organization. So in economics terms profit maximizes when certain condition of marginal revenue equals the marginal cost (MR=MC) is met. Diagram below is the analysis of changing circumstances which effect the business objective of profit maximization in an imperfectly competitive market in other words monopoly. Profit maximization is considered most important objective of any business when dealing in any type of market whether competitive, oligopolistic, or monopolistic.

Micro-Economic Environment Dissertation
Micro-Economic Environment Dissertation

There are different objectives ahead of any organization and they also affect the performance of organization in certain ways.

Satisfaction Behavior

This kind of behavior is adopted by the business organizations to set and minimum but acceptable level of revenue and profit collection for business for example a firm has set a certain amount for sale growth or return on any capital which it is acceptable for firm if they get it in case of minimum revenue and profit. In other words it is could be called as the scale for measuring profitability of firm.

Optimization of Sales Revenue

Revenue of any business organization is considered maximum when the certain assumption is fulfilled which is Marginal revenue (MR) = 0.

Managerial Satisfaction

Williamson opined to increase the utility of managerial level through high revenue from sales of firm, a good share achieved in market or through output targets are included in all this.

Constrained Sales Revenue Maximization

Managers would give shareholders free hand to design a constraint which could be minimum profit gaining constraint in order to support their shares worth.

Every business has its own paradigms and at profit maximization level every business organization operates in separate way. If business behavior is summarized then few things are kept in mind while taking decisions such as competitors’ reaction towards policies made by particular organization. Local demands and competitions from rivals make it necessary to give managers authority to set the prices.

Diagram illustrates that how change in objectives affects the business in terms of price and output (Samuelson, 2010).

Market Structures Impact on Business Organizations

Business organizations are categorized on the basis of market structure in which these are serving. Various variables are induced in market which determine its structure and affect the organization’s business working in that market. Variables are costs, mutual dependence, free entry and exit etc (Baumol, 1982; Colton, 1993). Following are the different type of market structure and these variables act under any of these types.

  • Perfect competition: Gives liberty to many sellers of same product to enter in the market.
  • Monopolistic Competition: There are lots of sellers in market but also offering different products.
  • Oligopoly: limited number of sellers but products could be same or different.
  • Monopoly: Only one seller ruling the market.

Market structure has very profound impact on the business organizations because it has direct effect on different business dynamics such as motivations, opportunities, and business organizations’ decisions. This basic theme of analysis of market structure’s impact on business organizations is to study these effects separately and make the market more predictable for business organizations (McNulty 1968; Broaddus, 1991).

In order to study the impact of market structure on the business organizations, it is very important to define market because product substitutability is important task performed by the market structure which is very key element in the working of any organization (Broaddus, 1991). But any economist from Adam Smith to onwards is not able to crack this hard nut.

Through market structure analysis business organizations become able to predict market and act accordingly in order to generate more revenues and compete with their rivals. Market structure analysis also helps business organizations to keep pace with the changing dynamics and challenges of market.

In case of mobile network performance Vodafone increased its mobile network speed up to Mbps which shows that Vodafone is on track of achieving their target of 3Mbps. Vodafone held maximum market share in year 2013 too according to analysis of its relative market share performance report. Vodafone has increased their dividend up to 7% consecutively three years. Revenue collection was not much satisfactory in year 2013 as it remained -1.9% and £40.9 billion in case of services which was less than last year (Vodafone annual report 2013).

References

Hiriyappa, B. (2008) Strategic Management for Chartered Accountants, New Age, pp 3, 30 Micro-Economic Environment.

Ejim, H (2014) What Is the Relationship between Micro-Economics and Business? Wise Geek Micro-Economic Environment

Samuelson, (2010) Micro-Economics and the Micro-Economic Environment 19th edition, McGrawhill

Baumol, W J., (1982). Contestable Markets: An uprising in the Theory of Industry Structure. American Economic Review (March): 1-15.

Colton, R D. (1993) Consumer Information and Workable Competition in Telecommunications, Journal of Economic Issues 27(3) (September):775-792.

McNulty, P, J. (1986) Economic Theory and the Meaning of Competition Quarterly Journal of Micro-Economic Environment (November: 639-656.

Broaddus, A (1991) The Structure of the Market for Banking Services. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Monthly Review Micro-Economic Environment (November): 35-42

Vodafone Group Plc (2013) Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2013, the way ahead Introducing Vodafone 2015”.

Office of National Statistics, 2013, Statistical bulletin: Gross Domestic Product Preliminary Estimate, Q2 2013.

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Fashion Industry Economy

The Contribution Of Art And Fashion Industry To The National (UK) Economy

According to a report released by the British Research Council (2014), the fashion industry in Britain contributes £26 billion to the country’s economy. This is a 22 % increase from the contribution made in 2009 which added up to £21 billion. The report was released by the council during the London Fashion Week. These statistics intrigue various questions relating to the contribution of art and fashion to the economy of the country. Although art and fashion have been part of the UK’s culture for many years, their impact on a country’s economy has not been greatly considered over the years. However, in the recent years, the expansion of the global market has greatly impacted the art arena, which has further impacted the economy either positively or negatively.

Research Question: Is the art and fashion industry influential enough in the economy to attract both local and foreign investments in the long-term?

Purpose and objectives

The aim of the research is to assess the impact of the arts and the fashion industry on the economy in the UK in accordance to information revealed by the Arts Council and the British Fashion Council. The main objectives of the research will be to review and collate existing research relating to the economic impact of the arts and the fashion industry in the country. The other objective is to understand the measures and methodologies put in place for assessing the effect of creative industries, programmes, facilities and projects. Assessing the quality and comprehensiveness of the existing evidence is another objective of the research.  The research also aims at informing the future agenda for effective research within the sector. It will also include evidence-founded making of policies by the Arts Council and Fashion Council. Identifying fundamental research needs that will assist in improving the research’s robustness is another scope of the research. The proposal will also include a practical resource to help the parties working in the sector.

Theoretical Framework

The Keynesian theory states that the production of goods and services by the businesses is influenced by consumers’ ability to spend. The twenty first century has experienced changes in issues relating to increase in consumer spending, hence the increase in production of various goods and services. The arts and fashion industry has not been alienated from this impact. The rapid expansion of economies that started taking place in the late twentieth century through to the twenty first century has been of great impact globally. It is believed that one of the most impacted is the arts and fashion industry.

The consumption, investment, government and net exports characterize the Keynesian theory. This research will analyse these concepts in relation to the oil and arts industry, and how they have affected the economy in the UK. The research is also sensitive to the impact of the local fashion industry on its economy. It is relevant to assess whether the most impact is evident from exports or products bought by the local consumers. The household disposable income and the general GDP are of relevance to this research. It is relevant to understand the past scenarios relating to the industry and steps that have been taken to heighten the industry to the current position. As evidently put by Keynes, the increase in consumer spending will increase the production of goods. Consequently, a decrease in consumer spending will also decrease production in the industry. It is relevant to understand the individual contribution of the various sectors in an economy. This will allow the relevant parties to make decisions relating to the present and the future of the industry in question. In this case, it will be identified whether the impact on the economy, if any, is long-term. It is relevant to understand whether it can attract investors.

Empirical / Contextual Literature Review

The Art Council England and British Fashion Council provide various reports that reveal the financial/economic impact of the arts and the fashion industry in the economy. Other economic related sources will be assessed in order to realize the share of the industry on the overall economic figure. Research will be carried out in some areas such as the Research Department of the Arts Council. The research may also include email, telephone or postal inquiries from the Culture, Media and sports Department. Other sources include the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales, the Scottish Arts Council, among others.

Fashion Industry Economy
Fashion Industry Economy

After the research process, a small number of studies will be gotten, read and evaluated with the use of Draft Standards for Reporting on Statistics (Hutton, 2001). Sharp and Benefield (2001) insist that the NFER (National Foundation for educational Research) guidelines to be incorporated in order to present quality research. The researcher will also scrutinize the references in order to assess whether there are other potential materials that are relevant. The review will mainly cover research that is done in the United Kingdom. This will include England, Wales and Scotland. In order to make the research more comprehensive, statistics relating to other countries such as the USA and Australia will be included.

The research will include literature which has information concentrating on the economic contribution of the fashion and arts sectors. The inclusion of the arts sector will also lead to the inclusion of some aspects of the creative industry and culture in the UK. The research will briefly give the social-economic aspect of the industry, due to issues relating to the employment arena and the general impact of the people’s livelihoods. The materials considered are gauged on various levels. They include a widened geographical spread, diversified study foci, diversified methodologies and approaches, research quality and studies target groups. Other issues relate to issues addressed or policy area, research date in question, impact on the sector and best evidence presentation. Blake (2000) reminds researchers that a review does not have to reproduce in detail the articulated claims relating to the economic impact of the fashion or arts industry. This is because they have been covered adequately in these resources. The researchers only need to find the information relevant to their topic and then integrate it accordingly in order to answer their research question (Jermyn, 2001).

The study design that will be used is the historical approach. Babin et al (2012) states that the historical approach is one in which information is collected by reviewing the historical data presented by older reports or valid sources of information. This empirical report should not be altered. In order to place more emphasis on historical study, Gillham (2008 state that historical method is something that exceeds simple data-gathering. It involves analyzing, and confirming the information retrieved from these sources by engaging other research methods. For example, interviews will be included in this research method. The true meaning of data collected should be reported from the point of view of the objectives and the basic assumption of the project under way. The facts obtained may be accurate expressions of central tendency, deviation or correlation; but the report is not research unless discussion of these data is carried up to the level of adequate interpretation. Data must be subjected to the thinking process in terms of ordering reasoning. The design also saves on time. The researchers are also able to present factual information from the target resources using cheaper means.

Methodology

The main method will include reviewing the past and current statistical information available on the materials. However, interviews will be integrated in the research method. The interviews will be done in order to verify some of the unclear data, or place emphasis on the available information. Such technique will be used for target people who may provide more information other than the information available in the report. Since interviews are one-on-one, the researcher is able to read other forms of communication such as body language, hesitations, amongst others (Creswell, 2003). Interviews also limit the time that the information will reach the researcher.

Additionally, questionnaires will be handed to people who will not find time for interviews. It can be passed through emails or other communication channels agreed upon by the researcher and the target person. As indicated earlier, it is used to verify information that is unclear or that which has not been updated. VanderStoep & Johnston (2009) indicate that the measurement quality is highly dependent on the reliability of the instrument used to collect data. In order to follow this statement, the researcher will pre-test the questionnaires being used. Validity entails, whether the spirit of the questionnaires is in accordance with the purpose of the research. In order to confirm validity, selected questionnaires will be given to respondents in order to pre-test data collection. Once the questionnaires are returned, they will enable the accurate assessment of the validity of research instruments. The questions in the questionnaires will also be used to conduct the oral interviews. The questionnaires will not be included in the final analysis.

References

Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., Griffin, M., & Zikmund, W. G. 2012,. Business research methods (9th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Blake Stevenson Limited, 2000, “The Role of the Arts in Regeneration”, Scottish Executive Central Research Unit, Edinburgh.

Creswell, J. W. 2003, Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

Gillham, B. 2008, Small-scale social survey methods: Real world research. London: Continuum International Pub. Group.

Hutton, L, 2001, Draft Standards for Reporting on Statistics, The Arts Council of England. 110

Jermyn, H, 2001, The Arts and Social Exclusion: A review prepared for the Arts Council of England, The Arts Council of England, Londo.

Sharp, C and Benefield, P, 2001, Literature Reviews Course Notes, NFER, unpublished.

VanderStoep, S. W., & Johnston, D. D. 2009, Research methods for everyday life: Blending qualitative and quantitative approaches. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Economics Dissertation Topics

Economics Dissertation Topics

Writing an economics dissertation can prove to be a tough task and quality economics dissertation topics are hard to come by. The dissertation in hand allows you to investigate your ability for, and interest in doing economic research. Economics is not the easiest of subjects but it is one of the most interesting. Economics touches nearly every aspect of business and economic theory has been taught for centuries. Economics is seen as the analysis of production, consumption, distribution of wealth and allocation of limited resources to satisfy the needs of people and business. Nowadays, economics extends across national boundaries in the form of international business and global fiscal policy; this is noticeable with the formation of the European Union and flow of international finance.

Your economics dissertation is likely to be the biggest project you undertake at university or college. It can consist of anything between 10,000 to 15,000 words for a typical undergraduate dissertation and will involve in-depth research, time and dedication, you must organize your own time effectively in order to make it a success and set realistic goals. Here we have given a few thoughts and some advice on planning, researching and writing your dissertation. You will see a list of economics dissertation topics further on in this post.

Economics Dissertation Topics
Economics Dissertation Topics

Before you begin your economics dissertation, you must decide on an appropriate economics dissertation topic and title. Your dissertation should focus on a specific issue try to avoid generalizing as you may write a fragmented and disjointed piece of research. The topic should be interesting, something that can uphold in-depth research.

Choosing an economics dissertation topic and getting started

  • What is your topic question?
  • Do you have adequate background research?
  • Stay focused on it

In previous posts, I always stress to keep the research up to date and to engage the reader. There is no real benefit in writing an economics dissertation on outdated theory or defunct policy.

Choose a topic from an area you are familiar and comfortable writing about. Remember that this is a large project that will keep you engaged for most of your final year. It is advisable to revisit topics you have already covered on your degree as this may lead you to elaborate and base your dissertation on a project you have already completed. Writing your economics dissertation will be the ideal opportunity for you to use your intellect, skills, creativity, and economics training.

Economics Dissertation Advice

  • For empirical papers: Where will you get your data? How will it help answer your question?
  • What statistical techniques will you be able to use? Will you be able to identify causation or only correlation?
  • Theory papers typically are not just informal discussions. They tend to involve more mathematics than empirical ones, not less.
  • If you are having trouble understanding a topic, a good place to start is to look in several relevant textbooks to see how they handle it.

Economics is a specialized and scientific subject that involves equations, mathematics, figures and tables, economic theory is often underpinned by statistics and you need to be mindful of this. The field of economics differs vastly from other business subjects such as marketing, strategy and information management. These subject areas tend not to rely heavily on statistics or equations to strengthen findings and recommendations.

Below is a list of economics dissertation topics that will help you

Economics Dissertation – Economic Deflation Concerns in the United Kingdom

Economics Dissertation – Macroeconomic Factors Affecting Exchange Rates

Economics Dissertation – Relationship Between Stock Price And Market Efficiencies

Economics Dissertation – Determinants Of Bank Performance In China

Economics Dissertation – Importance of Economic Integration for Developed Economies

I hope you have benefited from reading this post. Feel free to add comments or suggests that I may have left out. These will be considered and added to this post.

View Economics Dissertation Topics Here

Multi-Asset Portfolio Dissertation

How The Role Of Property In A Multi-Asset Portfolio Has Been Affected By The Credit Crunch

View This Dissertation Here

The existing literature argues property’s role in a multi-asset portfolio to be a means of risk reduction opposed to a method of returns. However, with the recent credit crunch having an adverse effect on the property market, this study will look into the affect it has had upon property’s role. To reach this finding, a combination of primary and secondary data will be used.

The secondary data was obtained through a literature review and the primary data from interviews and a questionnaire. The findings were that the credit crunch has left the UK property in a position where it can offer investors opportunity to make capital gains and a secure income through rents. This has led to property’s role now being mainly focused on returns but still included as a means of risk reduction.

Multi-Asset Portfolio Dissertation
Multi-Asset Portfolio Dissertation

In a multi-asset portfolio an investor will likely include property to diversify and better their overall returns. However, with property values falling, it is likely investors were wishing to pull out of this asset class, cut their losses and venture elsewhere due to their risk adverse attitudes. A negative correlation when comparing property with stocks and bonds makes the later pair appears the way forward. Reason being; they should theoretically be outperforming the current property market rectifying diversification in a multi-asset portfolio.

If investors make this decision and reduce the amount of real estate, levels of diversification will decrease, increasing specific risk. The chance of disposing their property is extremely slim however because of property’s liquidity being further extenuated by a market downturn. Property is evidently not offering the attributes investors’ want, yet they are unable to dispose of this unwanted asset. This puts investors in a very difficult situation of being left with a depreciating asset in their multi-asset portfolio.

A possible solution to this would be identifying potential emerging markets, such as Latin America and India, which may offer the desired benefits currently unattainable in the UK. So with property still existing among UK fund managers’ portfolios the role it now offers must be determined. This dissertation will be based on three key assumptions namely:

  • Investors’ main reason for including property in a multi-asset portfolio is to reduce risk
  • Due to the poor performance of property in recent years, investors are reducing the property exposure in a portfolio and replacing it with more traditional methods such as bonds
  • Even with the recession being a global problem, certain investors feel there are still benefits from international property investment

The opening chapter of this dissertation has been produced to give readers an understanding of the overall study and what the upcoming chapters will be exploring. Chapter two will be a literature review analysing applicable company publications and academic literature, relating to the use of property within a multi-asset portfolio. It will clarify why various investors wish to include property, its characteristics, alternative assets to invest in and overseas investment.

Each of these points will be tackled in their own independent section. The following chapter (three) will exhibit clearly the use of methodologies used throughout the dissertation to find out how the actions of investors has changed towards property during the credit crunch. Within the chapter it will also justify why these research methods were best suited for this field of research. The fourth chapter will bring together the results from the literature review, interviews and online questionnaire, clearly explaining what has been identified.

The final chapter of the dissertation shall be the conclusion. It will summarise the key findings answering the aims and objectives outlined at the start of the paper, identifying how the role of property within a multi-asset portfolio has been affected by the credit crunch. It will also make clear the limitations of the study and recommendations for similar studies in the future.

This research will help support many other studies that have been carried out over the years in regard to property’s role within a multi-asset portfolios. This paper will differ to previous studies, carried out by the like of Bryne and Lee, as it is primarily focusing on an economic downturn opposed to data over long periods with varying market conditions. There is a distinct lack of existing literature on this matter. By shedding light on this aspect, it will give an investor’s insight on how property is best used in a multi-asset portfolio during a struggling market.

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