Commodities, GSP, and Least Developed Countries in Trade
Commodities in International Trade
From the late nineteenth century, when the first agreements took place in commodity-exporting countries, such goods began to see the need to regulate the market for these products. Commodities have great importance in the context of international trade for two reasons: volatile markets and the economic dependency that you would expect from many developing countries producing and exporting them.
The volatility in commodity prices may be due to causes that affect:
- The
Key Concepts in Corporate Finance and Investment
1. Capital Budgeting
Capital budgeting is the process by which a business evaluates and selects long-term investment projects to determine their profitability and alignment with the firm’s strategic objectives. This involves estimating future cash flows, assessing risks, and deciding whether the investment is worthwhile.
Characteristics of capital budgeting:
- Long-term focus: It involves decisions about projects or assets that generate returns over several years.
- Large capital outlays: Significant financial
Budgetary Control and Cost Accounting in Organizations
Limitations of Budgetary Control
Budgetary control starts with the formulation of budgets, which are mere estimates. Therefore, the adequacy or otherwise of a budgetary control system, to a very large extent, depends upon the adequacy or accuracy with which estimates are made.
Budgets are meant to deal with business conditions which are constantly changing. Therefore, budget estimates lose much of their usefulness under changing conditions because of their rigidity. It is necessary that the budgetary
Read MoreStrategic Management: Competitive Advantage and Industry Analysis
Competitive Advantage
Competitive Advantage: Superior performance* relative to other competitors in the same industry or the industry average.
Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Outperforming* competitors or the industry average over a prolonged period.
Competitive Disadvantage: Underperformance* relative to other competitors in the same industry or the industry average.
Competitive Parity: Performance* of two or more firms at the same level.
Competitive advantage is always relative, not absolute.
To
Demand Elasticity and Law of Demand in Microeconomics
Elasticity of Demand and the Law of Demand
Elasticity of demand is a measure of how responsive the quantity demanded of a good or service is to changes in its price or other influential factors. It’s a fundamental concept in microeconomics that helps businesses, policymakers, and economists understand consumer behavior and make informed decisions.
Types of Elasticity of Demand
- Price Elasticity of Demand: Measures how responsive the quantity demanded is to changes in the price of the good or service.
Oil Price Impact on Inflation and Global Finance Since 1973
The Rise in Oil Prices and Inflation Trends
The new monetary system is characterized by high volatility but also by great flexibility in the two main adjustment mechanisms: the exchange rates of major Western currencies and movements in the balance of payments. This feature facilitated the absorption of the imbalance that occurred in international payments after the first oil shock of 1973. The rising oil prices resulted in a decrease for Western economies of some 150 billion dollars between 1973
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