Foreign Parameters Research Articles

Afro-centric Ethics of Development in a Global Capitalist Order

As African scholars interested in Africa’s development, we have consistently attributed the problems and complexities of Africa’s development to the exogenous programmes and policies from the West. There is always the claim that the values that promote development in the African continent are foreign and strange to African cultures and that accounts for the slow pace of development in Africa in spite of the enormous efforts towards improving Africa’s situation. This work acknowledges such sentiments of foreign invasion on African cultural values in the quest for Africa’s development. But the problem that Africa faces in this situation and the subsequent goal to overturn the present development logic in which foreign parameters are exclusively applied on African situation is that Africa has no articulated development ethics as we find in the West as being advanced by Denis Goulet and Des Gasper. Theories, policies and programmes of development in Africa which originate from the Western-based multilateral and multinational organizations have conformed to the logics of development advanced by these scholars. Adopting the analytical approach, we argue that African cultures are rich in values and have capacity to drive Africa’s development with their own standard ethical framework that can answer the questions of development confronting Africa. This way, African agents of development would embrace policies and programmes with more commitments towards Africa’s development activities. Keywords: African situation, development logic, cultural values, Afro-centric ethics development, Africa, Indigenous values

Risk, Contract Terms, and Maturity in the Sovereign Debt Market

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the relations between risk, the choice of foreign or local contract terms (parameters), and maturity in the sovereign debt market. Our primary finding is that the maturities of bonds that carry a meaningful degree of risk are greater when the bonds are written under foreign parameters. This finding is consistent with the Credible Commitment Theory. Relinquishing certain key contractual parameters (governing law, jurisdiction, currency, listing) precludes the issuing sovereign from taking actions that would diminish the wealth of its bondholders after the bonds have been issued. Correspondingly, the yield on lower-grade bonds, written under foreign parameters, is less than the yield on bonds written under local parameters. Investors are willing to pay a premium for lower-grade bonds if they are written in foreign parameters. Finally, we find a positive relation between maturity and S&P ratings for the subsample of lower-grade bonds. However, we find no such relation for the subset of high-grade bonds.

BACK TO THE HOLY LAND

In 2022, in the Kingdom of Jordan, at the mouth of the Jordan River, where Jesus Christ was baptized, Georgia was given 4 thousand square meters. meter plot of land, where the Georgian Culture Center will be built in the near future. The transfer of land to Georgia, adjacent to the Jordan River, is an expression of goodwill from His Majesty King Abdullah II, Prince Ghazi, as well as Archbishop Christophoros of Amman and Patriarch Theophilus of Jerusalem. In the perspective of Georgia and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, there are much more prospects for cooperation than it seems at first glance, and the deepening of this cooperation is beneficial and beneficial for both sides. The first steps of this partnership have already been taken, a memorial stele was erected on the plot of land transferred to Georgia near the place of the Epiphany near the Jordan River. The Prime Minister of Georgia awarded the highest award “Order of the Golden Fleece” to the King of Jordan. Prince Ghazi and the Archbishop of Amman were actively involved in the events organized during the visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia to Jordan. Historical sources confirm that the Georgians founded spiritual centers in the holy land since the fifth century. The first and foremost among them is the Georgian theologian and philosopher Petre Iber, Bishop of Mayumi, founder of the Georgian monastic school in the Holy Land. It is not surprising that the earliest Georgian inscription, was also found on holy ground. In the era of the late Middle Ages, the impoverished and ruined Georgian kings and princes had difficulty directing the necessary funds for the normal functioning of churches and monasteries in the holy land. “Therefore, Georgians from Jerusalem were gradually forced to pledge the property of monasteries and churches.” As a result of the conquest of Georgia by Russia and the abolition of the Georgian Apostolic Church in the 19th century, the existence of Georgian spiritual centers in the Holy Land became impossible. Only today, in 2022, through the efforts of the Georgian government and the goodwill of the Jordanian royal family, it became possible to transfer to Georgia a piece of land on holy land, near the Jordan River, where, according to tradition, the Savior was baptized. In connection with the tradition of epiphanies on the Jordan River, the most interesting and important is the holy place of Al-Mahtas. The territory that is located in the territory of the Kingdom of Jordan. Al-Mahtas has been associated with the place of baptism of Jesus Christ since the late Roman-Adrebyzantine era (IV-VI centuries). The facility is located east of the Jordan River, close to the ancient road to Jerusalem and Transjordan. In Al-Mahtas, in 1996, an international team of scientists discovered the original baptismal site of the Savior. This area, as we mentioned, is not far from the place where the Jordan flows into the Dead Sea, it is located in the Bethany Valley, in the village of Wadi al-Harar. The place of baptism of Jesus Christ was located forty meters to the east of the current bed of the Jordan River. The reason for this was the change in the course of the Jordan River in the 5th century and the cutting of a new bed. “Georgian Holy Land” is already located in the vicinity of this place. Georgia-Jordan rapprochement is related to the “Holy Land”, which will become more versatile in the future, the prospects of this partnership are clear considering the resources of the two countries and other domestic and foreign parameters. Georgian-Jordanian bilateral cooperation is quite realistic and feasible in the near future and a project bringing benefits to both sides. So, by returning to the “holy land”, Georgia acquired a necessary prospective partner in the form of Jordan along with Christian holiness.

A Backward Scenario Planning Overview of the Greenhouse Gas Emission in Iran by the End of the Sixth Progress Plan

Taking Iran as the 7th Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission source of the world, the country contains a high potential for the emission management plans and studies. As the economy is a significant factor in the greenhouse gas emission, studying the economy and GHG emission integrated relations must be taken into account of every climate change and environmental management plan. This paper investigates the relationships among the economic, demographic, foreign policies, and many other domestic and foreign parameters, which are illustrated by sixth Iranian document over development and GHG emission in three progress scenarios made for this plan. In this paper, all the significant GHG emissions such as CO<sub>2</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>x</sub>, hydrocarbons, and CO in the period of 2014-2020 are being studied. As the results show, the number of emissions is directly related to domestic and foreign parameters, which means a better economic status in Iran causes an increase in the number of emissions. The foreign policies are more effective in the Iranian economy and emissions than the domestic policies and parameters. The scenarios and the results show that the Iranian economy and energy systems have a significant potential for efficiency development plans. However, one thing is clear that Iranian emissions will be increased to 800 million tons by the end of the plan period (by 2021). This significant increase in the amount indicates the importance of optimization and efficiency development plans in Iran, which is predicted to control and fix this increment around 3-4%.

Pricing Sovereign Debt: Foreign versus Local Parameters

AbstractSovereign bonds may be issued under either local or foreign parameters. This decision involves a tradeoff between the sovereign retaining discretion in managing the issue and relinquishing control to third parties. Examining three key bond parameters − governing law, currency, and stock exchange listing − we find that investors generally consider foreign‐parameter debt to be less risky than comparable local‐parameter debt issued by same sovereign. By matching the foreign‐ and local‐parameter bonds of sovereigns that have issued both, we find that, with few exceptions, both investment grade and non‐investment grade sovereigns are able to issue their foreign‐parameter bonds at relatively lower yields.

Pricing Sovereign Debt: Foreign versus Local Parameters

A sovereign seeking to raise funds in the bond market may choose to issue the debt under either local or foreign parameters. This decision involves a tradeoff between the sovereign retaining discretion in managing the issue on the one hand and relinquishing control of the issue to third parties on the other. Examining three key bond parameters—governing law, currency, and stock exchange listing—we find that, with few exceptions, investors consider foreign-parameter debt to be less risky than comparable local-parameter debt of the same sovereign. Starting with a sample of 22,605 issuances by 111 sovereigns from 1990 through 2016, we identify a set of 33 sovereigns that have issued foreign- and local-parameter bonds that can be closely matched by issue date and tenor. With the exception of six countries in this set, we find that both investment grade and non-investment grade sovereigns are able to issue their foreign-parameter debt at lower yields relative to their local-parameter debt.

Pricing Sovereign Debt

The Greek restructuring of March 2012 illustrates how non-price contract terms can have a significant effect on the pricing of sovereign debt. In the Greek restructuring, bonds governed by local law suffered NPV haircuts in the range of 60-75%, whereas those bonds governed by foreign law were paid in full and on time. Other contract parameters such as the currency in which the debt is denominated and the exchange on which it is listed can also affect the leeway a sovereign debtor has in dealing with its creditors. In general, we find that sovereigns with strong institutions and investor protections are able to issue bonds under local parameters at relatively lower interest rates. In contrast, sovereigns with relatively weak investor protections have lower bond ratings and are forced to pay relatively higher interest rates on their debt. The important exceptions are those lower rated sovereigns who issue debt under foreign parameters. We believe that these sovereigns are able to obtain lower rates because by issuing bonds under foreign parameters, they reduce (eliminate) their ability to expropriate investors’ wealth once the debt is issued.

O Gabinete Biométrico da Escola de Educação Física do Exército: medir e classificar para produzir corpos ideais, 1930-1940*

This paper analyzes biometrical and biotypological practices of the Biometric Cabinet of the Escola de Educação Física do Exército (Physical Education School of the Army) in Rio de Janeiro in the 1930s and 1940s, published in Revista de Educação Física do Exército. It was necessary to classify, monitor the results of the exercises periodically and measure morphological aspects of the bodies. The classifications were made in accordance with foreign parameters and an attempt was made to classify by type, quality and defects. The analysis of the practices of the Cabinet shows that biometrics and biotypology were complementary aspects of physical education, aiming at the standardization of bodies.