Effects of Foreign Direct Investment Essay Example for Free

Effects of Foreign Direct Investment Essay The possible positive and  negative effects of FDI  inflows Ing. Tomà ¡Ã… ¡ Dudà ¡Ã… ¡, PhD. Possible positive effects FDI provides capital which is usually missing  in the target country Long term capital is suitable for economic  development Foreign investors are able to finance their  investments projects better and often cheaper Foreign corporations create new workplaces Possible positive effects FDI bring new technologies that are usually  not available in the target country. There is empirical evidence that there are spillover effects as the new technologies usually spread beyond the foreign corporations Foreign corporations provide better access to  foreign markets Ex. Foreign corporations can provide useful  contacts even for their domestic subcontractors Possible positive effects Foreign corporations bring new know-how and  managerial skills into the target country Again, there is a spill-over effects – as people leave the corporations they leave with the knowledge and know-how  they accumulated Foreign corporations can help to change the economic  structure of the target country With a good economic strategy governments can attract  companies from promising and innovative sectors Possible positive effects â€Å"Crowding in† effect The foreign corporations often bring additional  investors into the target country (ex. their usual subcontractors) Foreign corporations improve the business  environment of the target country Ethical business or rules of conduct Possible positive effects Foreign corporations bring new â€Å"clean†Ã‚  technologies that help to improve the  environmental conditions Foreign corporations usually help increase the  level of wages in the target economy Foreign corporations usually have a positive  effects on the trade balance Possible negative effects Foreign corporations may buy a local company  in order to shut it down (and gain monopoly  for example) â€Å"Crowding out† effect We can see this effect if the foreign corporations  target the domestic market and domestic  corporations are not able to compete with these  corporations Possible negative effects Foreign corporations may cut working  positions (privatization deals or MA  transactions) Foreign corporations have a tendency to use  their usual suppliers which can lead to  increased imports (no problem if the  production is export driven) Possible negative effects Repatriation of the profits can be stressful on the  balance of payments The high growth of wages in foreign corporations  can influence a similar growth in the domestic  corporations which are not able to cover this growth  with the growth of productivity  The result is the decreasing competitiveness of domestic  companies Possible negative effects Missing tax revenues If the foreign corporations receive tax holidays or  similar provisions The emergence of a dual economy The economy will contain a developed foreign  sector and an underdeveloped domestic sector Possible negative effects Possible environmental damage  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Incentive tourism†

Characters In Jekyll And Hyde English Literature Essay

Characters In Jekyll And Hyde English Literature Essay This essay will examine the role of the minor characters in the novel Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. It will mainly focus on Lanyon, Enfield, Carew, and Poole and how does Uttersons connection to each of these men serve to advance the plot. Hastie Lanyon was a healthy doctor, who then became a letter writer. Richard Enfield was Uttersons cousin and a companion for strolling. Sir Danvers Carew was a member of parliament and client of Mr.Utterson. Poole was a butler at Jekylls house and he kept an eye on the activities done at Jekylls house. Each of these characters help to unpack the case of Mr.Hyde. The novel began with Richard Enfield and Utterson. They both went for a walk and Enfield tells about Hyde. He says that he saw a little man trampling a young girl. Her family was also there and soon the crowd surrounded her. Due to the crowd, the little man got frightened so he asked the family to follow him. He took them to his house and he gave them a cheque of 100 pound. After telling the story, Utterson asked the name of the man but Enfield hesitated to tell but later on, he declared that it was Mr.Hyde. Utterson had always thought that Mr.Hyde was with Jekyll for benefit but the story which Enfield recited, made him stressed about Hydes crime. Utterson became curious about Hyde. He started to look for him and he spotted him near his house. After Utterson saw Hyde, he went to Jekylls house but Jekyll was not there. Instead Utterson talked to Poole and he questions him about Hyde and Poole said O dear no,sir. He never dines here, Indeed,we saw very little of him on this side of th e house; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory  [1]  . He also said that Hyde has the key to the lab and Jekyll has given the order to his servants to follow Hydes instructions. This made Utterson think that Jekyll was blackmailed by Hyde. At this point , Hydes case was a unsolved mystery and solving it became Uttersons aim. After one year, the news of murder was spread all over London. Sir Danvers Carew was killed by Hyde with a walking cane. The police found a letter near Carew. The letter had the name and address of Utterson. Police informed Utterson and he arrived. He recognized the body and later Utterson came to know that Hyde killed Carew. He took the police to Hydes house but Hyde was not there but still they entered and start searching for evidence. They noticed a half-burned checkbook and the other half of the walking stick. Uttersson recalled that it was the same walking cane,which he gave to Jekyll. The suspicion starts to grow even more as they do not find any picture of him and even the servants said that they saw him twice. Utterson assumed that Jekyll was hiding Hyde. After some time, Lanyon and Utterson met. Utterson wanted to discuss about Jekyll but Lanyon refused. Due to the gaps growing between Lanyon and Jekyll , Utterson wrote a letter to Jekyll to complain about what is happening between him and Lanyon. Week after that, Lanyon died but he left an envelope. Utterson opened the envelope but inside it, he gets another envelope stating not to be opened till the death or disappearance of Dr. Henry Jekyll  [2]  . The two deaths had been a shock for Utterson but he also started connecting Hyde with Jekyll. Whenever Hyde did anything wrong, he talked to Jekyll. At this stage, he had found an envelope that soon revealed the reality. Some time later, Poole came up to Uttersons house and said that he felt that there had been a disgusting game played at his home. Utterson got surprised. Then Poole asked Utterson to follow him and they went to Jekylls house. Poole took Utterson near Jekylls laboratory door and requested Jekyll to open the door for Utterson for but he refused. Poole told Utterson: I have been sent flying to all the wholesale chemists in town. Every time I brought the stuff back, there would be another paper telling me in return, because it was not pure, and another order to a different firm .This drug is wanted bitter bad,sir,whatever for.  [3]   Poole showed the notes that he has been receiving from Jekyll. The notes had addressed the needs of Jekyll. Then he kept disclosing his experiences with the noises in the laboratory. Poole told that he heard someone weeping. Utterson demanded Jekyll to open the door but he heard a voice saying Utterson for Gods sake,have some mercy  [4]  . Utterson identified the voice and insisted Poole to breakdown the door. After breaking down the door, they entered and found out dead body of Hyde. Utterson thought that Jekyll might have fled. He looked around the lab and he saw a religious book, a glass, the drug (that Poole used to bring) and papers with a brief note mentioning to read the papers after reading Lanyons letter. His letter revealed the fact of Jekyll. Lanyon wrote that Jekyll asked him to bring vials and powders to his house and to let the visitor to come along with him. Lanyon mixed powders in the vials and it turned into a portion, which the visitor drank. Soon after drinking the portion, the visitor turned into Jekyll. Lanyons letter let us to know about Jekyll being Hyde. Then, Jekylls letter is read. He says that trampling the girl and the murder, was done by his evil side, Hyde. Carew had a high position in the society so when Hyde killed him, he felt powerful. Jekyll also mentioned that he needed help with the portions because slowly he was turning into Mr.Hyde permanently. He took Lanyons help to get the portion and he confessed front of Lanyon that he was Mr.Hyde. Soon Lanyon died so he had to take Pooles help. However, the experiment was not a big success because it led to his death. This essay has demonstrated how each minor character advanced the plot and it has examined the role of them. First Enfield told the story about the girl that was trampled, and that made Utterson to carry on the investigation of Hyde. Then Sir Danvers Carew and Lanyon died. When Carew died, Utterson went to Hydes house and found materials that make him believe that Jekyll was hiding Hyde. When Lanyon died, he left a letter. At the end, Poole took Utterson to the laboratory and there he discovered the papers. When the papers and letter were revealed , truth came out. Whatever the wrong things he did, were done by his evil side. The mystery of his dark side was exposed by Utterson, the minor characters and at the end by his papers, in which he wrote about his motives and experiences.

montaigne and descartes on doubting Essay -- essays research papers

Montaigne and Descartes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Montaigne and Descartes both made use of a philosophical method that focused on the use of doubt to make discoveries about themselves and the world around them. However, they doubted different things. Descartes doubted all his previous knowledge from his senses, while Montaigne doubted that there were any absolute certainties in knowledge. Although they both began their philosophical processes by doubting, Montaigne doubting a constant static self, and Descartes doubted that anything existed at all, Descartes was able to move past that doubt to find one indubitably certainty, â€Å"I think, therefore I am†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How often do we question what is real or true? Descartes believed that doubting everything that he knew to be truthful knowledge was the only way to find out what was actually true and real. He turned doubting into a key principle for his methods of philosophy. Descartes would ask what we really knew beyond the shadow of a doubt. To do this he resolves to search within himself (Descartes 9). First though, since he decided to doubt everything, he had to put aside all of the knowledge that he supposedly knew, to search out the truth (Descartes 13). He did this blindly, not knowing whether the truth is the knowledge that he already knew and was forcing himself to put aside, or that the truth is some knowledge he did not know that would replace his previous forms of knowledge. Descartes decided that he did not need to prove that all of his knowledge was false, but only that all of his knowledge was not certain. He did not, however, spend time examining every one of hi s bits of knowledge. Instead after setting all of his previous knowledge aside he tried to find one thing outside of his knowledge that was certain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only did Descartes set aside all of his previous knowledge, but he also set aside all knowledge he had gained, and that he continued to gain from his five senses. He would not believe what his eyes saw, or what his hand felt, because he could not yet determine his senses as giving him knowledge that could be turned into certainties. He did not have any reason to believe that he could rely on his senses. Descartes doubting of his senses also caused him to reject any knowledge that he had gained through life experience. Most of the knowl... ...se which†¦belong exclusively to the mind†¦things are sensed through understanding, understood through senses (Montaigne 414)†. It is also important to realize that our mind doubts things because it knows its own limits. Thus since we know nothing to be certain it is important to use softening phrases such as â€Å"perhaps, somewhat, some, they say, I think, and so on (356)†. Montaigne was constantly amazed at how much knowledge we claimed to be sure of.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout Montaigne’s and Descartes written work they used doubt as a method to attaining knowledge about the world and about themselves. Descartes believed that preconceived knowledge gained through learning and the senses must be set aside in order to discover certainties. Montaigne believed that there were no certainties because our knowledge was attained through our senses, and thus everyone’s knowledge would be different, because everyone senses things differently. Either way both men turned into themselves to find the knowledge they described in their philosophies. They both left us with one important bit of knowledge to carry with us throughout our lives, accept nothing, and question everything.

The Role of Computers in Manufacturing Engineering :: Technology

The Role of Computers in Manufacturing Engineering The use of the computer has had a positive impact on manufacturing engineering in many ways. Engineering is a term applied to the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences, gained by study, experience and practice, is applied to the efficient use of the materials and forces of nature. The term engineer denotes a person who has received professional training in pure and applied sciences. The first and biggest positive impact on engineering has been the use of Computer Numerical Control machines (CNC); computers were first introduced to these controls in the early 1970’s. CNC machines typically replace or work in conjunction with some existing manufacturing process. For example before CNC machines a person using a drill press to machine holes would have to do a lot of work for themselves. They would have to place a drill in the drill chuck is secured in the spindle of the drill press. They can then select the desired speed for rotation, and activate the spindle. Then they manually pull on the quill lever to drive the drill into the work piece being machined. As you can see, there are a lot of manual steps required to use a drill press to drill holes. While this way may be acceptable for a small number of holes or parts. However, as quantities grow, so dose the likelihood for fatigue due to the tediousness of the operation. There are also more complicated machin ing operations that would require a much higher skill level of the person running the machining tool. The CNC machining center can be programmed to perform this operation in a much more automatic fashion. Everything that the drill press operator was doing manually will now be done by the CNC machine, including: placing the drill in the spindle, activating the spindle, positioning the work piece under the drill, machining the hole, and turning off the spindle. CNC works from a source code made on a computer that you just save as a file on your disk and insert it into the machine. The code can be made using two different ways, the first is just understanding the code, and by using the notepad program on you computer, you can just type it right out. This is the easiest way for very simple process, which doesn’t require much code. The second way is by using computer aided drafting (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) programs on your computer.

Providences Black Chinese: A Love Story :: China Short Stories Papers

Providence's Black Chinese: A Love Story On the morning of February 23rd, 1901, Chung Yick stood chatting with Mr. Joseph Hoffman, the proprietor of the picture frame shop on the ground floor of the Charles Street house the two men shared with several other tenants. The house wasn't much better than a tenement building, with its dirty wooden face and narrow crooked stairs. A crude sign on one side said "PICTURES" in bold letters, marking the entrance to Hoffman's store. The Yicks lived on the other side, along with the Rileys and the widow Driscoll, who were cramped up on the second floor. Still, it was a decent street to live on, with a mixture of small shops and residential homes and the Mosshassuck River creeping alongside it like an emaciated and sleepy serpent. Chung was a gaunt man in his forties with hollow cheeks and intense brown eyes-he projected a certain gravity that was somehow incongruous with popular notions of the jolly, docile Chinaman. Instead of the traditional Chinese collarless jacket, he sported a conservative brown suit, complete with vest, tie, and polished black shoes. Chung was a cook by trade and a good one, too-well enough respected for the Providence Journal to dub him one of the city's "best-known Chinese restauranteurs." Most likely, he was an employee of the Wah, Yee, Hong & Co. eating house, the Chinese restaurant located closest to his home, just a brisk fifteen-minute walk away at the bottom of College Hill. It was a windy Saturday morning with temperatures well below freezing, and Chung relished these last moments of warmth inside the store before he'd have to venture out into the cold. Several thousand miles away from his old home in southern China, where temperatures fluctuated between hot and hotter, Chung still hadn't quite adjusted to Providence's bitter winters. That walk would be especially brisk today! "John," Mr. Hoffman said suddenly, addressing Chung by his chosen American name, "What's all that racket?" Indeed, some great noise-frantic footsteps and shouting-could be heard coming from the general direction of Chung's kitchen where, minutes earlier, he had left his wife and stepdaughter bustling about their morning chores. "It's a fire!" someone shouted from outside. "The attic's on fire!" The first official Chinese resident in Rhode Island appeared on the state census in 1865, but there may have been at least one "Chinaman" in Providence even earlier.

Sister Maude

Sister Maude In this essay I am going to write about called sister maude. Sister maude is about two sisters who don’t really get along very well, also this poet is ambigious becase the poem is unclear the reader does not now how the my dear died or the parents and the my shame, also this poem is written in (1830 – 1894) by christina Rossetti. The propse of the poem is to describe how jelousy sisters cuased a death of another. Christina Rossetti uses a range of techniques to show the feelings of the sisters. In Sister Maude the sister's crime becomes a matter of good and evil.Christina Rossetti uses a range of techniques such as oxymoron a qoute to prove this is â€Å"comeliest corpse† the poet has used two opposite feelings together,the letter â€Å"c† is a plosive and echoes her anger to her sister Muade, also â€Å"comeliest corspe† and suggest that even as a corpse, he is still handsome enough and worthy to embrace the queen,in the second stanza it shows the narrators passion for her dead lover. His once beautiful hair is now â€Å"clotted†, also the writer uses letters â€Å"c† to show alliterations to show to her sister, sister Maude.Another technique used by Christina Rossetti is alliteration, the poet has used alliteration such as â€Å"cold he lies, as cold as a stone with clotted curls about her face† the letter â€Å"c† is a plosive and echoes her anger, also the quote says â€Å"cold he lies as cold as stone†this is the first thing you notice that the my dear died because it say cold he lies as cold as stone, alliteration’s used in the last two lines â€Å"sister Maude oh sister Maude, bide you with death and sin† also the quote used by the poet is angry with sister Maude that is why he used repetition

Superhero and Comic Book

Superhero By Numbers – Lisa Watson and Phil Stocks January 29, 2009 by angelan Abstract: This paper reports on results of a statistical analysis correlating superhero characteristics such as powers, motivations, weaknesses, and costumes with commercial viability as represented by comic book sales and number of appearances in new media such as cinema and television. Results indicate that features of a character have little impact in the comic book market, and that new media trends support a move away from god-like, untouchable heroes to heroes displaying more human frailties and highly visual super abilities.Introduction The superhero is an ingrained part of popular culture that has seen resurgence in the last decade through the introduction of prominent characters to new audiences through expanded media. There was a time when superheroes were entrenched firmly in the comic book medium. However, advances in technology and changes in distribution channels have changed the superh ero industry considerably. With comic books barely achieving a fraction of early sales volumes, publishers are trying to revive their comic book heroes by taking them from the â€Å"Silver Age† to the silver screen and other fora.However, with greatly advanced media come great financial risks. In order to secure their investments, the sponsors of these types of ventures must have a solid understanding of the modern superhero audience and what it is looking for in an iconic protagonist. Heroes and villains express cultural values regarding what society reveres as admirable and fears as deviant (Klapp 1962). Bradford Wright’s (2001) book â€Å"Comic Book Nation† outlines the evolution of comic book stories and characters mimicking cultural change; however, this discussion was done retrospectively (as were others).These types of observations tell us that what was popular during the golden age of comic book heroes will surely not be desirable in today’s socie ty. It would be useful if publishers were able to determine what readers are drawn to now so that they might better meet the demands of this generation of reader. Empirically studying the popular appeal of superhero traits can give us insight into our society and trends within its development. What makes a character popular or prominent as we enter the Aquarian age? How important is boundless virtue or courage in the face of insurmountable odds?How relevant is the softer, vulnerable side of a character? Do readers have preferred super powers? Is an Achilles’ heel necessary? Moreover, what characteristics are enduring? Answers to these sorts of questions should provide the insights that will tell companies which avenues should prove the most lucrative and least risky to pursue in bringing superheroes back to the masses. The aim of this study is to analyse trends in superhero characteristics empirically in order to establish current popular superhero traits.Following standard p ractice for writing academic articles in the applied social science of marketing, study findings are then used to develop a series of managerial implications for businesses. In this instance, findings may be used to reduce risk in choosing existing heroes to introduce to modern audiences, or to create a new breed of hero that is better able to reach the target readers, viewers and players of the future. Literature Review Superheroes made inroads into popular culture in the 1930s at newsstands around America.The â€Å"Golden Age† of comics set a precedent of seemingly indestructible superheroes who held secret identities and were dedicated to upholding truth and justice (Bongco, 2000). After struggling to maintain reader interest through the early 1950? s, the â€Å"Silver Age† of comics saw revamping and reintroduction of characters thought to be buried deep in the archives at the Hall of Justice, this time bringing some more human qualities to the fore. Now, â€Å"wh en you think of Superman, you most likely think of the Superman that was in vogue when you were a child.There’s been a Superman for every decade since the character was created† (Fingeroth, 2004, p. 20). Even today, one man’s Dark Knight is not necessarily another boy’s Batman. The eighties and nineties saw a bold break from tradition as comic publishers started directly targeting more mature readership by introducing not just human struggles within the characters, but hints of amoral and anti-heroic tendencies as well (Bongco, 2000). Do superhero fans of today prefer the altruistic heroes of yesteryear like Spiderman, the bad-boy good guys like Wolverine, or looking into the darkest depths of the Dark Knight?The comic book companies that own our superheroes have used in-your-face tactics to increase sales figures before. The Justice League of America and The Avengers were, after all, â€Å"the fictional result of the real world commercial desire to gathe r the company’s most popular heroes into one magazine or animated series† (Fingeroth, 2004, p. 104). However, when companies are betting multi-billion dollar budgets on public interest in particular superheroes, they should be sure they are choosing wisely. Only the most popular of the comic book superheroes can make it to the silver screen or video game monitor.Which character is the right one? Which iteration is the right one? Or should we abandon our superheroes of yesteryear and create new ones, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, exclusively through new media to show us the way? It is impossible to have a discussion of superheroes without the issue of gender being raised. Superwomen generally are parts of super teams rather than stand alone characters, and often they are in relationships with male counterparts. However, both partners need not be super, and significant others can be used as plot devices in stories.Therefore, it is worth exploring whether being in these s orts of relationships increases a character’s popularity. What do we look for in our superheroes? Kevin Smith (2003) has a simple view: â€Å"altruism and clothes† (p. unknown). On a more serious note, Fingeroth (2004) asserts that strength of character, positive values, and a determination to protect them start the list. So what separates superheroes from our other heroes? Bongco (2000) offers a costumed, secret identity (p. 102). Fingeroth (2004) argues that they have to possess skills and abilities that normal humans do not.Physical, mental and sensory attributes may be heightened. They may have superhuman powers that can range from magical gifts, to scientifically engineered mutations, to high-tech equipment or weaponry combined with an inexplicable ability to walk away from every battle unscathed. But most importantly, they always have to win in the end. By considering a wide range of these characteristics, we hope to be able to determine which combinations of the se characteristics are related to commercial success in a modern market. Method A database of superheroes was constructed incorporating a wide range of superhero characteristics.The purpose of this article is to determine what characteristics are most popular and commercially viable in today’s market. Marvel and DC Comics make up two thirds of the comic book market; thus it was decided that limiting characters to those in these comics would not be detrimental to sampling frame representativeness. An initial breakdown of character attributes and super abilities, including numerical rankings, was derived from information from fantasy role-playing games written for the Marvel and DC universes, specifically Marvel Super Heroes by TSR, Inc. , and DC Heroes by Mayfair Games.Independent variables included attributes and powers listed in the role playing games, as well as variables for their secret identities, weaknesses, motivations, costumes, significant others, and whether they ar e human, not human or mutant. The Marvel Super Heroes template and numeric scale was used and DC characters were translated from the DC Heroes system into the Marvel one. Both systems relate their numeric rankings to feats accomplishable in real-world terms (e. g. , able to lift 100 tons) and the attributes and powers are similar enough that this translation is formulaic and involves negligible speculation.Costume variables consisted of whether the heroes wear a cape and whether their costumes are primarily spandex. Significant other variables included whether the significant other is aware of their secret identity and whether he or she is used as a plot device; however, because not enough information was readily available about this variable it could not be used in the final analysis. Cape and secret identity were dichotomous (yes/no) variables. Weaknesses, motivation, humanness and spandex were short scales. Weakness scaled from none to debilitating (0-2). An example debilitating weakness is Superman’s vulnerability to Kryptonite.An example intermediate weakness is Iron Man’s alcoholism. Motivation ranged from none-given (0) to vigilante/revenge (1) to sense of duty (2) to desire to serve (3). Humanness extended from not human (0) to mutant (1) to human (2). Spandex ranged from no spandex (0) to sometimes appears in spandex (1) to all spandex all the time (2). Because the majority of superpowers are unique, they were grouped according to common attributes: powers derived from weaponry or equipment, the power to manipulate matter or energy (external to oneself), powers that are inherent to one’s physical body, powers of the mind, and magical powers.The very common powers of being impervious to harm and being able to fly were given separate entries. These variables were regressed on dependent variables representing commercial popularity to see which combinations of characteristics should prove most successful in the current marketplace. Tw o dependent variables were used to determine characters’ commercial success. The first was the collective number of movies, television programs and video games in which they have featured as main characters. The sampling frame for this data was the Internet Movie Database (http://www. mdb. com, 2005). The second variable was an estimated comic book sales figure for 2004. It used the monthly Top 300 comic sales lists published by ICV2. com (2004) to calculate the total number of Top 100 comic issues sold in 2004 that featured each of the heroes as central characters (based on title characters for individual titles and feature characters in the case of group titles). While these data can not be entirely accurate, they should provide reasonable estimates of heroes’ market popularity in popular media.Results There are 75 heroes in our database; some individual data points are missing for some characters. This sample is small for the number of independent variables in our a nalysis. Therefore, the first step was to conduct a factor analysis to group individual measures together to create a smaller, but still representative, variable list. A principal components analysis with a varimax rotation was used. It yielded 9 factor components. Factor loadings above 0. 400 may be seen in Table 1.The first factor was labelled â€Å"Physical Attributes,† incorporating health, strength, fighting ability, endurance and agility. Wearing a cape also loaded onto this factor, suggesting that particular fashion item is reserved for only the most powerful of superheroes. Apparently the new cape-less trend started by top superhero designer Edna â€Å"E† Mode has not yet caught on with the big boys. The second factor, â€Å"Sensory Attributes,† included karma, intuition and psyche, which may represent such characteristics as â€Å"spidey senses. † The third factor included resources, reasoning ability, popularity and motivation.This combination s uggests someone who is smart, rich, resourceful, charming and philanthropic, and was thus labelled â€Å"Appeal. † The fourth factor seemed to consist of the most stereotypical traits of a superhero: being bullet proof or indestructible, the ability to fly, and a desire to help protect mankind. As such, it was decided to call this factor â€Å"Golden Age† attributes. Factor five consisted of powers derived from weapons and/or equipment and the power to manipulate matter and/or energy, and was thus labelled â€Å"External Powers. † The sixth factor was labelled â€Å"Secret Identity. Powers associated with the body loaded negatively with secret identity, suggesting that characters without superhuman defences are more likely to require secret identities to protect themselves. The next factor, labelled â€Å"Mysticism,† included magical powers and powers of the mind. These powers were also associated with capes, which are still used by such modern media mag ical superheroes as Harry Potter. At first glance, factor eight appeared to be a bit of a mosaic of collected variance; however upon further inspection it is quite enlightening.This factor encompasses a weakness combined with powers related to the character’s body and high endurance. This factor captures the Achilles heel of the character, along with the struggle to overcome it; thus it was assigned the label of â€Å"Tenacity. † The ninth factor demonstrates the humanness of the character. Amusingly, wearing spandex is positively related to being human. It must just fit better under a wider variety of everyday street clothes. [pic]These factors were used as independent variables in two regression models relating the factors first to appearances in movies, TV shows and video games (new media), and then to comic book sales volumes (as outlined in the method section). Neither of the dependent variables was normally distributed, so natural log transformations were conduct ed on each of them before analyses were conducted. When the superhero factors were regressed on the new media variable, residual analysis uncovered a non-random error distribution that suggested weighted least squares was required.Thus, a weighted least squares regression analysis was conducted using unstandardized residuals as the weighting factor. The model returned an adjusted R? value of 0. 77, meaning that 77% of the variance in new media appearances for superheroes could be explained by the nine superhero factors (Table 2). Four factors had significant effects on how often a character appeared in new media. Sensory abilities, external powers and humanness had positive relationships with new media appearances. It is easy to see why external powers would be desired in today’s visually focused media.Interestingly, the Golden Age factor had a negative relationship with new media appearances, with Golden Age characteristics making a character 35% less likely to appear on scr een. Some of our favourite superheroes have been recreated and revamped over the years. An example of a Golden Age character shedding these stereotypical powers in new media would be the television program Smallville, in which Superman can’t fly and has not yet devoted his life to saving mankind. This example is also an apt one for demonstrating the appeal of the other two factors, humanness and sensory attributes.Directional results indicate that audiences want characters to be less untouchable and more human and to have an innate ability to understand their fellow man. They want to empathize in some way with the protagonist in the story. These results could describe the hardened street smart Batman or the gentler Tobey Maguire version of Spiderman, both of whom are due to make reappearances at the box office, and both of whom will be sporting spandex. Alternatively, these results could be used as a skeleton around which to build new characters to debut in video format. [pic ]A second regression analysis was conducted using comic book sales figures estimates as the dependent variable. The mass audience for movies is a much broader one than the comic book niche market, and as such is looking for more sophisticated superhero stories. Thus, what these two audiences are looking for in superhero characteristics may also be very different. As in the first analysis, the 9 superhero factors were regressed on the transformed dependent variable, in this case Top 100 comic book sales. Linear regression results did not require weighting. Results can be seen in Table 3.Only one of the measured superhero factors, tenacity, played a significant role in determining comic book sales. The ability to overcome weakness in the face of insurmountable odds is something that comic book fans have come to expect from their superheroes over the decades. When writers gave their characters flaws in the Silver Age it was meant to make them look even better when they beat the bad guy (Lang and Trimble, 1988). Apparently the formula still works. These results indicate that changing superhero characters, or developing new ones, will have little effect on sales. pic] This stagnancy with respect to characters may be caused by a general shift among comic book fans away from emphasizing characters and more towards purchasing issues based on their artists (Brown, 1997). Alternatively, this is a small market that is steeped in tradition. Fans involve themselves heavily in these products and are quick to point out inconsistencies. They may simply not be open to change, meaning that the superheroes themselves are hardly considered at this point, so long as they are consistent.In short, this small market is not where growth will happen and is not representative of a broader audience so pursuing alternative characters in this medium could prove to be a waste of resources. Managerial Implications Apart from shedding light on current cultural values, these findings can be ap plied commercially. While results suggested that the comic book market is not strongly character driven, results indicated that characters have a major impact on on-screen popularity.Television and movie audiences seem to want to see heroes that are intuitive human beings that have powers that are external to themselves, whether they stem from equipment or the ability to manipulate matter or energy outside of themselves. They are no longer interested in god-like characters that can fly and can’t be killed. This combination includes mutant characters. Results can be applied to choosing existing characters to introduce into these media, developing new characters specifically for those media, or altering existing characters to better suit the wants of the audiences viewing those media.For example, Iron Man fits these criteria, making him a perfect choice for an upcoming silver screen venture. Findings also suggest that Professor X would be a more popular character if he were to develop the ability to move things with his mind. Alternatively, an entirely new breed of superhero could be introduced to the world. A league of new and improved, culturally customized superheroes to rise from the wake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter, never having been restricted by the walls of a comic book panel.Limitations There are several issues that require the reader to interpret these results with caution. First, for reasons of practicality, we use quite a small sample of the most well established characters created by the two biggest comic book publishers for our analysis. Therefore, innumerable other superheroes developed by them, smaller companies and independents, as well as those that did not originate in comics, but in some other medium such as television or movies, are not accounted for.Next, much of our analysis was based on comic book sales figures, the overwhelming majority of which were published by Marvel and DC; however, these sales figures were us ed as a surrogate measure of character popularity. It must be recognized that collectors now often consider the comic book artists rather than the characters that they create when purchasing issues, as well as purchasing multiple copies of those they believe will be valuable (Brown, 1997).Thus, character popularity may not be as highly correlated with comic book sales figures as we assume in our analysis. Similarly, Marvel, DC and the majority of the new media depicting those superheroes come from North America. As such, our results may not be generalizable across cultures. Finally, audience demographics for Marvel Comics, DC Comics and the various other superhero media discussed here are proprietary, so we are unable to consider how the audiences for these media are similar or how they differ in our analysis.Instead we are making an assumption that there are differences and inferring that comic book producers have been successful in their bids to increase the superhero audience thr ough the use of new media channels. Future Research This study could be expanded to include a more representative sample of heroes from a wider range of publishers and media if a consistent system for quantifying many of the superhero traits could be agreed upon. Findings would be much more robust and reliable if this were achieved. Demographic or cross-cultural comparisons of preferred superhero traits and media could also be introduced.Villains should also be included in any future analyses. These additions would make the findings more inherently interesting because â€Å"comic book evildoers†¦help define the comic book hero† (Fingeroth, 2004, p. 15). Should further sociological analysis be of interest, a longitudinal study of these characters’ traits, their associated artists and their evolutions could be compared empirically to the observations provided to date and used to attempt to predict current popular trends and their changing sociological implications f or now and into the future.Little empirical work exists in the realm of superheroes as they relate to popular culture, leaving endless opportunity to test the many sociological theories being advanced about them. References Bongco, M. 2000. Reading Comics: Language, Culture, and the Concept of the Superhero in Comic Books. New York, NY: Garland Publishing. Brown, J. A. 1997. Comic Book Fandom and Cultural Capital. Journal of Popular Culture 30 (4): 13-34. Fingeroth, D. 2004. Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us about Ourselves and Our Society. New York, NY: Continuum.Grinfeld, M. J. 1997. Superheroes Impart Life’s Lessons. Psychiatric Times 14. Klapp, O. E. 1962. Heroes, Villains, and Fools: The Changing American Character. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lang, J. S. , and Trimble, P. 1988. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? An Examination of the American Monomyth and the Comic Book Superhero. Journal of Popular Culture 22 (3): 157-173. Smith, K. 2003. The Superhero. Rolling Stone, May 15. Wright, B. W. 2001. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.