Chapter 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chapter 11 - Essay Example Overall, their impact on national and global economies has been benign. Irrespective of the cyclical booms and busts of technology driven economies, they tend to improve the standard of living for people. 3. Many people believe that the government should regulate business with respect to privacy online, but companies say self-regulation is more appropriate. Which approach would benefit consumers most? Business? A self-regulatory approach will be a better option, for it frees online businesses of cumbersome governmental regulation, which would have thwarted technological progress. Moreover, consumers can take care of their own interests, in that they can promote or condemn a particular brand based on the quality and safety it offers. So allowing businesses to self-regulate would be the best option. Intellectual property is the concept of ownership associated with a creative work. This work could either be technological innovation or artistic creation. Owners of intellectual property can protect their rights by taking a patent or copyright for their work, which will give them legal protection against theft and false claims of ownership. Bioethics refers to the field of inquiry pertaining to ethical and moral dimensions of biological research. Since most of the moral principles are derived from a human standpoint, it is possible that the rights to existence and fair treatment of lesser species are taken lightly. Of late, the advent of stem-cell research has opened up new dimensions of ethical dilemma, as it entails human cloning. Given the controversies surrounding GM foods, it is prudent to label them as such. So far, no extensive studies have been done on the effects of prolonged consumption of GM foods for humans. And till such a time comes when the safety of the GM variety is firmly established, it is an ethical imperative for agricultural companies to forewarn consumers of possible risks. A strategic

Managerial Economics Individual Work wk1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managerial Economics Individual Work wk1 - Essay Example Some of these are discussed below: Scarcity is the excess of human wants over the resources he holds (Devlin, 2014). As the resources available to the world are limited while wants are unlimited, therefore we say that the resources are scarce in relation to human wants. Opportunity cost means trade-off of one desire for the choice of another. Since resources are scarce compared to human wants, every person needs to make choice of what he should purchase with his limited resources (ICAP, 2013). It is not possible for a person to buy everything with his resources. Hence if a person has two choices of buying a burger or some bread and he chooses to buy a burger, then the amount of bread he ignored for that burger is the opportunity cost of that burger. It shows those economic activities in which income earned by one factor is the expense of the other factor (Hirschey, 2008). For example, in a commercial organization, labor provides factor services and in return the organization pays the labor wages. These wages are income for the labor whereas expense for the organization. Market efficiency is directly related to property ownership. It may be explained as whenever there is a factor of property ownership in a specific region, there will be economic stability which will then lead to efficient markets. Let us take the example of America where property ownership is not very difficult. For this reason, the people in that region, after ownership of the property, look towards further investments in the region. It is a well-known fact that where investment increases, markets get more and more competitive leading to market efficiency. Illegal immigration means moving or living in a country without its citizenship or legal visa of the country. In almost all the countries of our world, illegal immigration is strictly prohibited. These countries quickly deport such immigrants as soon as they

English Language Learners Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

English Language Learners - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that when one viewed the wealth of materials regarding the topic ‘English Language Learners’ from the online search medium, one would be awed at the magnanimity of results amounting to more than 16 million in various informational categories. The fact signifies the extensive interest on the topic manifested by an array of practitioners and users, especially in the field of education. This area of education would thereby be more explored in the current research to proffer pertinent details that led to the development and continued focus on English Language Learners (EELs) in the contemporary academic setting. This area is chosen to enhance one’s awareness on the subject of interest and thereby enable one to share the knowledge, including crucial information to assist and guide other ELLs that one would potentially interact with in the near future, specifically in terms of improving learning outcomes. The discourse would initially present the de finition of key terms, evolution, historical development and continued growth within this area of academic discipline. Likewise, one would determine current legislation that shapes it in contemporary times; in conjunction with expounding on the best practices related to curriculum and instruction utilized in English as the Second Language (ESL) setting. In addition, one would also identify and describe specific technological applications and future trends that influence and affect English Language Learners (ELLs). ... 1). On the other hand, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) differentiated analogous terms such as ELL, ESL (English as Second Language), LEP (Limited English Proficiency) and EFL (English as Foreign Lanuage), as summarized in Table 1 below: Table 1: Definitions of Key Terms KEY TERMS DEFINITIONS ELL (English Language Learner): an active learner of the English language who may benefit from various types of language support programs. This term is used mainly in the U.S. to describe K–12 students. ESL (English as a Second Language): formerly used to designate ELL students; this term increasingly refers to a program of instruction designed to support the ELL. It is still used to refer to multilingual students in higher education. LEP (Limited English Proficiency): employed by the U.S. Department of Education to refer to ELLs who lack sufficient mastery of English to meet state standards and excel in an English- language classroom. Increasingly, English Language Lear ner (ELL) is used to describe this population, because it highlights learning, rather than suggesting that non-native-English-speaking students are deficient. EFL (English as a Foreign Language)Students:nonnative- English-speaking students who are learning English in a country where English is not the primary language. Source: (National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), 2008, p. 2) Historical Development The origin of instruction to ELL was actually traced as early as the 1600s and 1700s when some states were reported to establish private and public schools with bilingual education regulations during the European colonization of the United States

The Fears Of Crime And The Outcomes Criminology Essay

The Fears Of Crime And The Outcomes Criminology Essay The outcomes of the fear of crime were for very long time overlooked by criminologists and psychologists and only in last 25 years fear has become a important research topic (McGarrell et al 1997). Recently, more attention has been put on this matter which is now recognised as a growing phenomenon which significantly influences the quality of life. Some may argue that the fear of crime is a consequence of individual having contact whether directly or indirectly with criminal events (Sparks, 1992). Saying that, it is important to remember that the indirect contact with crime may occur through the media representation or interpersonal communication and have a damaging effect on individuals quality of life. Worrying fact is that many researchers such as Hindelang (1974), Fowler and colleagues (1974) or Boggs (1971) have established that the relationship between the levels of fear of crime and experience of it are two different things. This means that although, the number of reported cri mes continues to drop and according to statistics, the chance of becoming the victim of crime is the lowest it has been for last twenty years (Home Office, 2009), society is increasingly becoming more anxious about safety (Home Office, 2006). Therefore, from this observation it can be speculated that the fear of crime is the problem itself, not the crime. So, this essay will firstly introduce to overview of the crime and the fear of it, including statistics and the lack of accordance between what has been found about the crime levels and the fear of crime. Secondly it will engage with theoretical assumptions related to the topic and critically evaluate theoretical assumptions. Thirdly, this paper will demonstrate the influence of the mass media on the increase of the fear of crime. And finally, it will draw the relevant conclusion based on proposed arguments and clarify that the fear of crime is a problem in its own right. To begin with it is relevant to familiarise with statistics of the actual levels crime, the fear of it and demographic groups. According to the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) the relationship between these three aspects is rather not proportional. As found by Skogan (1976), the fear of crime is more common within the demographic groups which were least frequently victimised such as women or elderly. He found that although, the most incidents of victimisation were reported by young, Black male this group is least fearful of becoming a victim of crime. Instead, older females, both Black and White have been accounted to be most fearful of crime (Skogan, 1976). Many researches challenged this inconsistency and for instance, Stinchcombe and colleagues (1977) introduced the idea of vulnerability in order to explain the higher levels of fear in the elderly and women. Briderman (1976) however, made the connection between the primary fear of crime and strangers and came up with the hypothesis that fear of crime is the fear of strangers. However, this theory can not be confirmed in practice. Although women are being told from the young age to be conscious of strangers, they are actually more likely to become a victim of an intimate partner, friend or another relative than by a stranger and according to study by Rennison (2001) fifty four percent of violent assaults reported by women are carried out by someone known to the victim. Although, there is a noticeable progress within the victimization perspective which has occurred in recent years in order to distinguish difference between the fear, worry, risk and concern the results did not change drastically (Sparks, 1992). Analysing the more recent statistics it can be noticed that this kind of demographical segregation of fear is still prevalent (Home Office, 2006). In general, according to the findings from the British Crime Survey in 2008/09 it has been found that 16 percent of people, who were asked, thought that they were very likely to become a victim of crime; however it has been found that only 2 percent were actually a risk (Home Office, 2006). Moreover, the segregation of crime, such as personal/property, single/multiple or direct/indirect was designed to improve the understanding why some demographic groups are more fearful of becoming a victim, however in fact did not have much effect in practice. The following part of this paper will link the issue of the fear of crime to the broader theoretical assumption and introduce to different models of victimisation. The earliest research on the fear of crime was based on the victimisation model which linked the fear of crime to experience of it (Snell, 2001). Although Skogan and Maxfield (1981) documented that association, others found that such as connection does not exist or the impact of victimisation on the level of fear is minimal (Liska et al, 1988). Furthermore, this model was repeatedly questioned as those who are at the highest risk of victimisation are least fearful and those who are at the lowest risk are the most concerned about becoming a victim (Skogan, 1976). Therefore the Indirect Victimisation Model was developed. This theory assumes that people who recognize themselves as the most defenceless and vulnerable to crime, such as elderly or women, will have the highest levels of fear (Snell, 2001). The Community Concern Model, firstly recognised by Taylor and Hale (1986) assumes that the level of the fear increases within the communities which report their neighbourhood as less satisfying due to the loss of the social control over them. There is a lack of attachment between the neighbours what increases the fear of victimisation within own neighbourhood (Snell, 2001). However, it can be argued that by introduction of CCTV or the Neighbourhood Watch and therefore increase of the social control could cause even higher concern of criminal activities in the area and therefore, higher fear of crime. The Subcultural Diversity Model theorises that the fear of crime increase if living close to someone whose has got a different cultural background (Snell, 2001). The study suggests that foreign behaviour due to the cultural beliefs may become difficult to understand and therefore fearful (Merry, 1981). Secondly, it is important to acknowledge the power of media representation, or rather we should say, misrepresentation, which increase the level of the fear of crime. According to the study by Surette (1998) who measured the impact which media representation has got on the fear of crime, it has been found that readers of those newspapers which tend to report crime in dramatised and excessive way are more fearful of crime. The concept of the moral panic feed by the mass media was firstly acknowledge by Cohen(1987) who described it in the term of amplification of the perception of disorder between the Mods and Rockers. The relationship is that similarly, the tabloid press is responsible for the misrepresentation of the actual level of crime by focusing on selective crime news which win the audience and therefore sell the newspaper. He also believed that by the increase of misrepresentation by the media can increase the level of reporting crime and therefore pressure the police to incre ase arrests (Cohen, 1987). Therefore, it needs to be recognised that through the exaggeration and overrepresentation, media can stir up public indignation and create the social problem and moral panic in society. Even more worrying is the fact that although the media covers only those erratic stories not sensible ones, the majority of people, when asked about the actual level of crime; attribute their knowledge to TV and newspaper gossip (Williams and Dickinson, 1993). This use of the limited information gained from the unreliable sources such as media is also called symbolic interactionism (Ferraro, 1995). However, as it has been noticed by Yin (1980), media representation of crime has got the most influence on the elderly people especially if the victim of the story was also an elderly person. Therefore, that is another example of the fear being greater that the actual level of crime as older people are least likely from all demographical groups to experience the victimization (Lee, 1982). That may be attributed to the fact that elderly are not to be seen on the busy street on Friday night as most of young people, therefore they less likely to become victimise. Lawton (1981) suggested that vulnerability of elderly may become the foundation of the fear of crime. He also researched that during the criminal activity such as robbery of physical attack, elderly are more likely to experience serious physical injuries which in effect may lead to helplessness and dependency which they may fear more than the crime itself. Consequently, that can have an effect on the quality of life of elderly. It has been speculated that if the incident of attack on older person took place outside his/her home that may lead to this person fearing to stay out the house for any reasons. The same can be hypothesised about the burglary. If elderly persons house was robbed while they were not there, they may not want to leave the house again as they feel they should stay in and protect they belongings in case of another robbery. Therefore, it shows the loose of control, freedom and quality over their lives and some may say isolation from society. The study by Hough (1995) is a great example of life deprivation due to the fear of crime as he found that among women age 60 who live in the city more than one in ten never went out after dark. The media representation of crime is also accountable for the formation of social exclusion which is mainly concerned with inequalities between different groups of people and different areas. It has been argued by Young (1988) crime itself is an exclusion: as are the attempt to control it by barriers, incarceration and stigmatization (p. 26). It has been found that the fear of crime whether on the street or at home is higher among poor population than privileged (Home Office, 2009). That may be due to the fact of allocation, as residents of housing estates are more likely to witness the violence on the street or antisocial behaviour in their local area in comparison to privileged population. Crime is seen both as a product of social exclusion and a cause of it, where social exclusion is seen as a series of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, hight crime environments, bad health and family breakedown. (Pantazis et al 2006, p.275) Furthermore, it is fundamental to acknowledge the current concern about terrorism which by the attack on the innocent, civilian people made the society realise that we are all potential victims. However, in this case it is the government and the military officials who with the facilities of mass media deliver information, or rather we should say, fear to society (Balkin, 1979). Some may argue that crime is politically popular as it sets out new moral targets for the government which can use it as a tool during the campaigns. However, in fact it is another example of creation of the moral panic which separates differences between nationalities and therefore limits social mixing between them and increases fear, paranoia and the mistrust between different groups (Cohen, 1987). Meads (1934) has argued that there is an existence of the generalises other in society which recognises us as good and them as bad. Therefore there is a tendency to exclude them for our security due to the fear of crime from them and that is an evident example of social exclusion. Summarising, the primary purpose of this essay was to indicate that the fear of crime is a problem itself not the actual level of crime. It has been demonstrated that although the level of crime is falling down and is at the lowest point for last twenty years, public fear of victimisation is growing up. Statistics from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) have been used in order to demonstrate that paradoxical phenomenon. In order to validate the statement that the fear of crime is a problem in its own right and to help with understanding why some groups are more fearful of crime than others, the theoretical models have been included. These, demonstrated that some populations due to the physical inability to defend themselves also called vurnability (women, elderly) or social and economic position may fear the crime grater than others (man, privileged). Moreover, this essay has critically evaluated the media misrepresentation of the act ual crime level and how that falsification can shape the moral panic and social exclusion in society. It has been also acknowledged that the concern about terrorism acts, which are often used by politicians during campaigns, is responsible for increasing the level of the fear of crime is society. Overall, it has been learnt that the fear of victimisation is greater than the actual level of crime therefore the fear of crime is a problem in its own right because it affects peoples lives and controls their everyday actions. It is suggested for the society to not relay on the media representation and discontinue thinking about being victimised since as the real statistics show it is not very likely to become a victim of crime. However, it is important to remember that the fear of crime may also not always be a negative thing as it may encourage assertiveness and prompt the implementation of preventative measures.

The Effects of Symbols In Tobias Wolffs Say Yes Essay -- Tobias Wolff

The Effects of Symbols In Tobias Wolff's "Say Yes"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author of the short story "Say Yes," Tobias Wolff, uses a number of symbols to express his different views on racism throughout the story. Wolff uses this literary device to express a message to his readers. Symbols, something representing something else by association resemblance or convention, are used efficiently in this short story. Wolff uses colors to symbolize a hatred for an alternative race in this short story. The husband more than once makes reference to dark colors which shows the reader that the husband sees this world in black and white. The husband sees the world as good vs. evil, white vs. black society. Furthermore, the reference to color in the short story ?Say Yes?, symbolizes the husbands strong dislike for African Americans. Wolff symbolize the husbands strong dislike for African Americans when the husband states, ?The water had gone a flat gray? (Wolff 518). To some this statement might not mean much. Wolff?s decision to make reference to dark colors symbolizes the characters dislike for an alternative race. The choice of dark colors shows it is one of the African American race. The husband made reference to colors briefly after he and his wife started discussing differences over the idea of interracial relationships. The heated argument caused the wife to clean the dishes poorly resulting in dirty dishes. The husband threw the dishes back into the sink and the water se...

Mirror: Sylvia Plath Essay

Sylvia Plath is the author of the poem â€Å"Mirror†, written in the early 1960s. Plath had a history of severe depression due to her father’s death when she was a child and her failed attempts of suicide throughout her life. Many of her poems reflect her emotions, whether they are sad, angry or depressing, and â€Å"Mirror† is one of those poems. â€Å"Mirror† deals with the topic of a woman’s self-consciousness and her vanity in a way that is unusual, yet very effective to the reader. Part of the unusual aspect of this poem is that the entire piece is written from the perspective of the mirror. This is just one example of the personification used in â€Å"Mirror†. Another example is â€Å"The eye of a little god† which contains the woman’s vanity in the way that it is almost a self-worshipping and the fact that the mirror is a very powerful item. This one line depicts the woman’s view of what the mirror is to her and her image. The mirror is given many different actions throughout the poem. For example, â€Å"I meditate on the opposite wall† and â€Å"I have looked at it so long† both describe the mirror performing very human actions and this gives the mirror a personality. The impact on the reader is one of interest and curiosity and this continues throughout â€Å"Mirror† when the theme of personification is explored even further. The mirror is claimed to be â€Å"exact† and â€Å"truthful† in this piece. There is a word in almost every line that continues this theme until the reader gets to line 14: â€Å"She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands†. There are a few interesting techniques used in this to make the reader question the truthfulness of the mirror. For example it is an oxymoron as tears are usually regarded as a bad thing and to be rewarded is usually something good. Just those five words make the reader think that the mirror could potentially have emotions, and a dark side. The impact on the reader at this point is huge as the mirror’s personality is not only one of cruelty but it had been lying and saying it was fair. The words â€Å"I am† are repeated several times in the poem and is another example of personification as the mirror is not a being yet it is still calling itself â€Å"I†. This shows that the mirror is very important and thinks highly of itself, yet further continuing the personification. A woman appears in this poem and is similar to Narcissus, who stared at his reflection in a river and didn’t dare touch the water or go away in fear of losing his image. He eventually died of thirst due to his own vanity. The woman clearly treasures the mirror and the mirror knows this: â€Å"I am important to her† and she is said to repeatedly use the mirror many times a day for quite a while, as shown by the references to a great passing of time in â€Å"she comes and goes† and â€Å"day after day†. Plath uses this form of repetition very well in describing a passing of time and making it seem as if no time had passed at all for the reader which leaves an impact. The woman isn’t mentioned until the middle of â€Å"Mirror†, when the mirror personifies itself as a lake and that the woman was â€Å"bent over it†, which is yet another link to the Narcissus myth. Shortly thereafter, the poem describes the candles and the moon as â€Å"liars† as they only shed a little light upon her features and don’t show every little detail as the mirror does. When the woman observes her own reflection in the mirror she was very distraught and started crying which shows the reader that she didn’t like the way that she looked and went back every day to try and discover what she really was on the inside. However, the line that has the largest impact on the reader are the very last lines of the poem: â€Å"In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. † These lines – especially the final one – make the reader shocked and horrified at the woman’s horrible self image. For someone to think of themselves as a terrible fish is almost unimaginable yet the woman feels so strongly about this image that she is openly admitting that she looks like one. Additionally, these two lines continue on with the original themes of the poem to counteract that phrase. â€Å"In me she has drowned† is an extended metaphor of the lake description and â€Å"day after day† continues the theme of time passing by quickly. As previously explored, Plath has used many powerful poetic techniques to have a huge impact on the reader. Although it is a short poem – only 18 lines – it perfectly outlines the themes of vanity and superficiality and the pain this can cause a person. The unusual narrator in this poem gives the reader an entirely different viewpoint on vanity: what it actually looks like from an unbiased source. The poem outlines many aspects of vanity and all of its cruel components that makes the reader contemplate what it really means to be vain. An obvious effective technique used was personification; of the mirror and the candles and the moon. This gives the reader a sensation that an animate object is narrating when it is only a mirror: something so simple and ordinary that it completely changes the perspective of the poem. To conclude, â€Å"Mirror† is a very powerful piece of literature that was written with great expertise. Plath successfully used many poetic techniques and utilised them effectively. Both the style in which it was written and the narrator deal with the topic of self-image very well and gives the reader a great impact. Secondly, the use of the surprising language in the poem had a great effect. The word â€Å"fish† at the end is completely different to the rest of the poem which makes it stand out greatly. The reader doesn’t expect such a vulgar description of the woman and that impact is also huge. Finally, the message portrayed in â€Å"Mirror† was delivered very well. It says that we should look beyond the superficial and value what we are on the inside, something that Plath had struggled with over her life.

Nairobi Securities Exchange

Investors use earning information to calculate the level of cost of equity capital. The cost of equity for a firm is computed by adding up the risk free rate and a premium for exposure to systematic risk as follows: Cost of equity = Risk-free rate + (risk measure) x (Market risk premium) 1.4 Nairobi Securities Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange offers a trading platform for both the local and international investors who are looking to gain exposure to Kenya and Africa's economic growth. NSE play a critical role in the growth of Kenya's economy by encouraging savings and investment by helping local and international companies access cost-effective capital. NSE is regulated by the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya. CMA approves public listing and fosters investor's confidence by ensuring rules, regulations and requirements for trade are complied with and market integrity is sustained in order to guarantee orderly, fair and efficient markets (CMA, 2016). CMA retains investor's confidence by ensuring rules, regulations and requirements for trade are complied with and market integrity is maintained. CMA also plays an important responsibility of mobilization and allocation of capital resources in the economy in order to provide incentives for long term investments (NSE, 2016) In Kenya, listed firms are required to produce quarterly, semi-financial statements and audited annual reports. Financial statements are prepared according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and audited using International Standards on Auditing (ISA). The CMA guidelines encourage firms to disclose additional information on director and management remuneration (CMA, 2016). The performance of the NSE is an indication as to whether the investors have trust in the safety of their investment, trading goes down significantly with low investor's confidence.NSE is categorized into three different market segments namely the Main Investment Markets (MIMS), the Alternative Investment Markets (AIMS) and the Fixed Income Securities Market Segment (FISMS). According to CMA (2017) as at December 2017, listed companies at the NSE were 64, categorized into 11 sectors namely: Agricultural sectors, Automobiles and Accessories sector, Banking sector, Commercial and Services sector, Construction and Allied sector, Energy and Petroleum sector, Insurance sector, Investment sectors, Manufacturing and Allied sector, Telecommunication and Technology sector and Growth and Enterprise Market Segment sector Banking sector is the largest sector represented with 18% of the total firms listed at the NSE, second is commercial and Services sector and Manufacturing and Allied with 15% each, Agricultural sector which is one of the country major economic sector is represented by 11% of the total firms quoted. Telecommunication and Technology and Growth and Enterprises Market sectors were the lowest each with 2% of the total firms quoted. Through NSE, disclosures have had an impact on how investors trade, when the level of disclosure is high, investors confidence increases hence higher level of trading. The CMA guidelines encourage firms to disclose additional information on director and management remuneration (CMA, 2016). The performance of the NSE is an indication as to whether the investors have trust in the safety of their investment, trading goes down significantly with low investor's confidence.1.5 Statement of the Problem Inherent shortcomings of traditional reporting have prompted development of voluntary disclosure models. Transparency and disclosure creates and sustains confidence of investors, stakeholders and the winder society and provides opportunity for continuous improvement of business structure and processes. Corporate governance is currently an area broadly being researched on by many scholars, due to increased application of corporate governance practices all over the world after major corporate scandals due to lack or improper disclosure. This study targets one pillar of corporate governance on the cost of equity capital, which is voluntary disclosure. Disclosed information provides a signal with an aim of revealing the state of a company to the investors for consideration in investment activities. Information has important and vital role, information should be understandable, complete, accurate, timely and reliable (Fahdiansyah, 2013). Information is considered informative if it is relevant and can change stakeholder's belief and gives confidence to investors. Annual reports are important tools in communicating essential information about a company both financial and non financial information (Barako, 2007). The key drivers of corporate value in critical areas of the business are not reported under the traditional accounting model, as such theorist and researchers have begun to develop models for additional voluntary information disclosure. The concept of voluntary disclosure has been growing given the needs to keep with the clients expectations. Investors and clients have challenged companies on the need to provide more than what is required by the law and regulations. In Kenya, investors obtain essential information regarding trading activities of listed companies in NSE through their annual reports and other bulletins from CMA. Studies done in Kenya context include a study Mwangi and Mwiti (2015) investigated the impact of voluntary disclosure on stock performance, Mutiva (2015) examined the effect of voluntary disclosures on financial performance of firms quoted at NSE, Lopokoiyit (2012) investigated the effect of the corporate governance practices on share prices of companies listed at the NSE, these studies found a direct relationship between voluntary disclosure and company performance. Study by Asava (2013) investigated the effect of voluntary disclosure on stock returns of listed companies, her study reveals that there was no correlation between voluntary disclosure and stock returns. Barako (2007) in his study of determinants of voluntary disclosure in Kenyan listed company's' annual reports, observed that companies cannot link their board disclosure, foreign ownership and firm size significantly affect financial performance. Studies by Diamond and Verrecchia (1991), Botoan (1997), Hail (2002), Botosan and Plumlee (2002), Richard and welker (2001) and Lopes and Alencar (2008), shows a negative association between voluntary disclosure and the cost of equity capital using direct approach. However these studies were done in developed economies with few studies done in the context of developing nations, these studies tested the association between voluntary disclosure and several aspects such as profitability (Verracchia and Webber, 2006) stock liquidity. However most of these literatures are leaning more on factors that influence the extent of voluntary disclosure. Literatures from previous studies conducted locally have skewed more to factors that influence extent of voluntary disclosures with few on the effect of voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity capital on firms listed in NSE, the motivation of this research is developed by the fact that majority of past research have given conflicting arguments creating a dilemma that necessitates further research on the effect of voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity capital of firms in Kenya. 1.6 Objective of the study The general objective of this study is to examine the effects of voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity of capital. The following are the specific objectives.i). To examine the effect of forward-looking information voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity capital.ii). To determine the effect of financial information voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity capital.iii). To evaluate the effect of corporate social responsibility information voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity capital. iv). To establish the effect of Board information voluntary disclosure on the cost of equity capital. 1.7 Research question The study will be guided by the following research questions.i. What if the effect of forward-looking information disclosure on the cost of equity capital?ii. What is the effect of financial information disclosure on the cost of equity capital? iii. What is the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility information disclosure on the cost of equity capital? iv. What is the effect of Board Size information disclosure on the cost of equity capital? 1.8 Significance of the study Voluntary disclosures provide an extra way for investors to judge a company's performance. This study will therefore enable the investors to make better investment decisions and better capital allocations. It will also emphasize on increased transparency which reduces information asymmetry that may exist between the investors and the management team. This study will likewise extend the literature on voluntary disclosure to academicians. The study will also help listed and unlisted companies in Kenya in understanding the role of voluntary disclosure in the management of their firms with aim to reduce cost of its equity capital.CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 IntroductionsThis chapter introduces theories that explain the subject of voluntary disclosure and past empirical studies relating to the variables under the study.2.2 Theoretical ReviewReporting and disclosure are the most important tools that companies use to communicate with interest-related parties. Several theories have been documented to relate voluntary disclosure. They are Agency theory, Capital Need theory, Signaling theory and Stakeholder theory. Literature review presents theories about the subject of voluntary disclosure. 2.2.1 Agency TheoryAgency theory was developed by Jensen and Meckling in 1976 who defined agency relationship as a contract under which one or more persons delegate decision making authority to another person to perform some services on their behalf. Agency theory explores the relationship between a principal and an agent. In the context of a company, the manager (agent) acts on behalf of the shareholder (Principal). Company owners empower managers to make decisions on their behalf. Shareholders do not actively participate in the management of their investments instead they engage managers to act on their behalf. This makes managers have information advantage hence creating incentive to maximize their own value as opposed to that of the shareholders. Scott (2012) stated that the application of agency theory is used to explain the conflict of interest between managers and investors. The agency problem arises due to conflict of interest between the investors and management because their goals are not in agreement. Agency theory is concerned with solving two problems arising in the agency relationship: an agency problem arises when there is a conflict between the goals of the principal and that of the agent making it difficult for the principal to accurately evaluate and determine the value of decision made by the agent. Secondly problem of risk sharing arising from diverse attitude of the principal and the agent towards risk, the problem is each tends to select a different action when the risk happens (Depoers, 2000). One way in which agency problem can be minimized is by means of contract, it helps in bringing shareholders interest in line with managers' interests (Healy and Palepu, 2001).These contracts require management to disclose relevant information to investors and to creditors. Consequently principal can check if the management complied with the contract agreements and evaluate if their decisions are in alliance with their interest, monitoring managers by mean of contract comes with a cost at the expense of manager's compensation and in order to reduce any potential conflict, principals incur monitoring costs while agents incur bonding costs which guarantees the interest of the principal is prioritized. Agency costs are the total of monitoring costs, bonding costs and residual loss. According to agency theory, disclosing information voluntary is viewed as a better mechanism of mitigating the agency problem between the agents and principals (Hawashe, 2014). Managers who posses private information about a firm are able to use their information they posses to make credible and reliable communication to interested parties to optimize the value of the firm (Barako, 2007), these disclosure may include investment opportunity and financing policy of a company, however managers who pursue their own interest may fail to make proper information disclosure. Managers increases the level of voluntary information which is expected to reduce the agency cost (Barako et al., 2006) and also to convince the external users that managers are acting in an optimal way (Watson et al., 2002). OCED (2004) states that a strong disclosure policy is one of the expected monitoring forms that is useful as a basis of adequate information for investment decision making by investors. 2.2.2 Capital Need TheoryThe main aim any company is to attract external finance to increase their capital either through debt or equity, however companies are disclosing more information voluntary as a measures of minimizing costs of raising its capital. The capital need theory can help to explain the reasons behind the disclosure