外文報(bào)刊選讀單詞名詞解釋

1、一、Human Resources Manager redirects here. For the 2010 Israeli film, see The Human Resources Manager.Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute

2、 to the achievement of the objectives of the business.1 The terms human resource management and human resources (HR) have largely replaced the term personnel management as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations.1 In simple words, HRM means employing people, devel

3、oping their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement.二、Letter of creditAfter a contract is concluded between buyer and seller, buyers bank supplies a letter of credit to seller.Seller consigns the goods to a carrier in exc

4、hange for a bill of lading.Seller p bill of lading for payment from buyers bank. Buyers bank exchanges bill of lading for payment from the buyer.Buyer provides bill of lading to carrier and takes delivery of goods.A standard, commercial letter of credit (LC1) is a document issued mostly by a financi

5、al institution, used primarily in trade finance, which usually provides an irrevocable payment undertaking.The letter of credit can also be source of payment for a transaction, meaning that redeeming the letter of credit will pay an exporter. Letters of credit are used primarily in international tra

6、de transactions of significant value, for deals between a supplier in one country and a customer in another. In such cases the International Chamber of Commerce Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits applies.2 They are also used in the land development process to ensure that approved p

7、ublic facilities (streets, sidewalks, storm water ponds, etc.) will be built. The parties to a letter of credit are usually a beneficiary who is to receive the money, the issuing bank of whom the applicant is a client, and the advising bank of whom the beneficiary is a client. Almost all letters of

8、credit are irrevocable, i.e., cannot be amended or canceled without prior agreement of the beneficiary, the issuing bank and the confirming bank, if any. In executing a transaction, letters of credit incorporate functions common to giros and Travelers cheques. Typically, the documents a beneficiary

9、has to present in order to receive payment include a commercial invoice, bill of lading, and documents proving the shipment was insured against loss or damage in transit. However, the list and form of documents is open to imagination and negotiation and might contain requirements to present document

10、s issued by a neutral third party evidencing the quality of the goods shipped, or their place of origin or place.三、The JV parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They both exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, e

11、xpenses and assets. There are other types of companies such as JV limited by guarantee, joint ventures limited by guarantee with partners holding shares.In European law, the term joint-venture is an elusive legal concept, better defined under the rules of company law. In France, the term joint ventu

12、re is variously translated as association dentreprises, entreprise conjointe, co-entreprise and entreprise commune. But generally, the term societe anonyme loosely covers all foreign collaborations. In Germany,joint venture is better represented as a combination of companies (Konzern)1On the other h

13、and, when two or more persons come together to form a temporary partnership for the purpose of carrying out a particular project, such partnership can also be called a joint venture where the parties are co-venturers.The venture can be for one specific project only - when the JV is referred more cor

14、rectly as a consortium (as the building of the Channel Tunnel) - or a continuing business relationship. The consortium JV (also known as a cooperative agreement) is formed where one party seeks technological expertise or technical service arrangements, franchise and brand use agreements, management

15、contracts, rental agreements, for one-time contracts. The JV is dissolved when that goal is reached.Some major joint ventures include Dow Corning, MillerCoors, Sony Ericsson and Penske Truck Leasing.四、A floating exchange rate or fluctuating exchange rate is a type of exchange rate regime wherein a c

16、urrencys value is allowed to fluctuate according to the foreign exchange market. A currency that uses a floating exchange rate is known as a floating currency. It is not possible for a developing country to maintain the stability in the rate of exchange for its currency in the exchange market.There

17、are economists who think that, in most circumstances, floating exchange rates are preferable to fixed exchange rates. As floating exchange rates automatically adjust, they enable a country to dampen the impact of shocks and foreign business cycles, and to preempt the possibility of having a balance

18、of payments crisis. However, in certain situations, fixed exchange rates may be preferable for their greater stability and certainty. This may not necessarily be true, considering the results of countries that attempt to keep the prices of their currency strong or high relative to others, such as th

19、e UK or the Southeast Asia countries before the Asian currency crisis. The debate of making a choice between fixed and floating exchange rate regimes is set forth by the Mundell-Fleming model, which argues that an economy cannot simultaneously maintain a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement, a

20、nd an independent monetary policy. It can choose any two for control, and leave third to the market forces.In cases of extreme appreciation or depreciation, a central bank will normally intervene to stabilize the currency. Thus, the exchange rate regimes of floating currencies may more technically b

21、e known as a managed float. A central bank might, for instance, allow a currency price to float freely between an upper and lower bound, a price ceiling and floor. Management by the central bank may take the form of buying or selling large lots in order to provide price support or resistance, or, in

22、 the case of some national currencies, there may be legal penalties for trading outside these bounds.五、A fixed exchange rate, sometimes called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of exchange rate regime wherein a currencys value is matched to the value of another single currency or to a basket of othe

23、r currencies, or to another measure of value, such as gold.A fixed exchange rate is usually used to stabilize the value of a currency against the currency it is pegged to. This makes trade and investments between the two countries easier and more predictable, and is especially useful for small econo

24、mies where external trade forms a large part of their GDP.It can also be used as a means to control inflation. However, as the reference value rises and falls, so does the currency pegged to it. In addition, according to the Mundell-Fleming model, with perfect capital mobility, a fixed exchange rate

25、 prevents a government from using domestic monetary policy in order to achieve macroeconomic stability.There are no major economic players that use a fixed exchange rate (except the countries using the euro and the Chinese yuan). The currencies of the countries that now use the euro are still existi

26、ng (e.g. for old bonds). The rates of these currencies are fixed with respect to the euro and to each other. The most recent such country to discontinue their fixed exchange rate was the Peoples Republic of Chinacitation needed, which did so in July 2005.1 However, as of September 2010, the fixed-ex

27、change rate of the Chinese yuan has already increased 1.5% in the last 3 months六、International monetary systems are sets of internationally agreed rules, conventions and supporting institutions that facilitate international trade, cross border investment and generally the reallocation of capital bet

28、ween nation states. They provide means of payment acceptable between buyers and sellers of different nationality, including deferred payment. To operate successfully, they need to inspire confidence, to provide sufficient liquidity for fluctuating levels of trade and to provide means by which global

29、 imbalances can be corrected. The systems can grow organically as the collective result of numerous individual agreements between international economic actors spread over several decades. Alternatively, they can arise from a single architectural vision as happened at Bretton Woods in 1944.七、Common

30、market redirects here. For the European Common Market, see European Economic Community. For the hip-hop group, see Common Market (band).A single market is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area (for goods) with common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of th

31、e factors of production (capital and labour) and of enterprise and services. The goal is that the movement of capital, labour, goods, and services between the members is as easy as within them. The physical (borders), technical (standards) and fiscal (taxes) barriers among the member states are remo

32、ved to the maximum extent possible. These barriers obstruct the freedom of movement of the four factors of production. To remove these barriers the member states need political will and they have to formulate common economic policies.A common market is a first stage towards a single market, and may

33、be limited initially to a free trade area with relatively free movement of capital and of services, but not so advanced in reduction of the rest of the trade barriers.The European Economic Community was the first example of a both common and single market, but it was an economic union since it had a

34、dditionally a customs union.八、The infant industry argument is an economic rationale for protectionism. The crux of the argument is that nascent industries often do not have the economies of scale that their older competitors from other countries may have, and thus need to be protected until they can

35、 attain similar economies of scale. The argument was first explicated by Alexander Hamilton in his 1790 Report on Manufactures, was systematically developed by Daniel Raymond,1 and was later picked up by Friedrich List in his 1841 work The National System of Political Economy, following his exposure

36、 to the idea during his residence in the United States in the 1820s.1Many countries have successfully industrialized behind tariff barriers. For example, from 1816 through 1945, tariffs in the USA were among the highest in the world.1 According to Ha-Joon Chang, Almost all NDCs Newly Developed Count

37、ries had adopted some form of infant industry promotion strategy when they were in catching-up positions. In many countries, tariff protection was a key component of this strategy, but was neither the only nor even necessarily the most important component in the strategy.2Despite this, infant indust

38、ry protection is controversial as a policy recommendation. As with the other economic rationales for protectionism, it is often abused by rent seeking interests. Even when infant industry protection is wellintentioned, it is hard for governments to know which industries they should protect; infant i

39、ndustries may never grow up relative to adult foreign competitors. For example, during the 1980s Brazil enforced strict controls on the import of foreign computers in an effort to nurture its own infant computer industry. This industry never matured; the technological gap between Brazil and the rest

40、 of the world actually widened, while the protected industries merely copied low-end foreign computers and sold them at inflated prices.3 In addition, countries that put up barriers to imports will often face retaliatory barriers to their exports, potentially hurting the same industries that infant

41、industry protection is intended to help.Ernesto Zedillo, in his 2000 report to the UN Secretary-General, recommended Legitimising limited, time-bound protection for certain industries by countries in the early stages of industrialisation, arguing that However misguided the old model of blanket prote

42、ction intended to nurture import substitute industries, it would be a mistake to go to the other extreme and deny developing countries the opportunity of actively nurturing the development of an industrial sector九、This article is about the economics term. For industrial relations and social justice

43、issue, see Social dumping. For the tax avoidance term, see SUTA dumping.In economics, dumping can refer to any kind of predatory pricing. However, the word is now generally used only in the context of international trade law, where dumping is defined as the act of a manufacturer in one country expor

44、ting a product to another country at a price which is either below the price it charges in its home market or is below its costs of production. The term has a negative connotation, but advocates of free markets see dumping as beneficial for consumers and believe that protectionism to prevent it woul

45、d have net negative consequences. Advocates for workers and laborers however, believe that safeguarding businesses against predatory practices, such as dumping, help alleviate some of the harsher consequences of free trade between economies at different stages of development (see protectionism). The

46、 Bolkestein directive, for example, was accused in Europe of being a form of social dumping, as it favored competition between workers, as exemplified by the Polish Plumber stereotype. While there are very few examples of a national scale dumping that succeeded in producing a national-level monopoly

47、, there are several examples of dumping that produced a monopoly in regional markets for certain industries. Ron Chenow points to the example of regional oil monopolies in Titan : The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. where Rockefeller receives a message from Colonel Thompson outlining an approved st

48、rategy where oil in one market, Cincinnati, would be sold at or below cost to drive competitions profits down and force them to exit the market. In another area where other independent businesses were already driven out, namely in Chicago, prices would be increased by a quarter. 1A standard technica

49、l definition of dumping is the act of charging a lower price for a good in a foreign market than one charges for the same good in a domestic market. This is often referred to as selling at less than fair value. Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement, dumping is condemned (but is not proh

50、ibited) if it causes or threatens to cause material injury to a domestic industry in the importing country. 2十、An import quota is a type of protectionist trade restriction that sets a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country in a given period of time. 1 Quotas, li

51、ke other trade restrictions, are used to benefit the producers of a good in a domestic economy at the expense of all consumers of the good in that economy.Critics say quotas often lead to corruption (bribes to get a quota allocation), smuggling (circumventing a quota), and higher prices for consumer

52、s.In economics, quotas are thought to be less economically efficient than tariffs which in turn are less economically efficient than free trade.十一、A subsidy (also known as a subvention) is a form of financial assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government

53、 to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry (e.g., as a result of continuous unprofitable operations) or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor (as in the case of a wage subsidy). Examples are subsidies to encou

54、rage the sale of exports; subsidies on some foods to keep down the cost of living, especially in urban areas; and subsidies to encourage the expansion of farm production and achieve self-reliance in food production.1Subsidies can be regarded as a form of protectionism or trade barrier by making dome

55、stic goods and services artificially competitive against imports. Subsidies may distort markets, and can impose large economic costs.2 Financial assistance in the form of a subsidy may come from ones government, but the term subsidy may also refer to assistance granted by others, such as individuals

56、 or non-governmental institutions, although these would be more commonly described as charity.十二、Tariffs are usually associated with protectionism, a governments economic policy of controlling trade between nations for the better of its own. For political reasons, tariffs are usually imposed on impo

57、rted goods.In the past, tariffs formed a much larger part of government revenue than they do today.When shipments of goods arrive at a border crossing or port, customs officers inspect the contents and charge a tax according to the tariff formula. Since the goods cannot continue on their way until t

58、he duty is paid, it is the easiest duty to collect, and the cost of collection is small. Traders seeking to evade tariffs are known as smugglers.edit TypesThere are various types of tariffs: An ad valorem tariffs is a set percentage of the value of the good that is being imported. Sometimes these ar

59、e problematic, as when the international price of a good falls, so does the tariff, and domestic industries become more vulnerable to competition. Conversely, when the price of a good rises on the international market so does the tariff, but a country is often less interested in protection when the price is high.They also face the problem