One Language In The World

One Language In The World As countries communicating more and more today and without any doubt to be a larger extent in the future, people often predicate that if the world developed to be united enough and then all people will speak the same language for daily communication. Is it realistic? How long will it take to fulfill such a dream? English, as the acknowledged official language for international communication, has been accepted by more and more people over the world since it can bring benefit for almost all who can speak it. Many countries also make policies to train the young people to become good English speakers. Can English become the only one language in the future and other languages will be eradicated? This essay will give analysis from some perspectives. The essay will start with discussing about what will happen if the prediction of eradication of variation of existing languages came true. In this part, it will also introduce the history of Esperanto which is acknowledged as world language by most people. Following this, it will introduce what are languages related to mainly in five perspectives which are history, culture, social status, profession and worldview. Finally, the essay will focus on whether English has the possibility to become the only one language in the future. It would be Perfect if Variation of Existing Languages could be Eradicated It is true that the world will be operated more harmoniously if all people speak the same language. Generally speaking, as the most important tools for communication among people, language is also considered as the first factor differing human from animals (Lonely Publications, 2007). It is developed as society occurred and developed. People who often speak the same dialect in the same nation can live together with less confliction. Due to the good communication, a nation can bind together as time goes. Finally, the nation become an integrate body, by which the human race developed more and more rapidly and leave the animals behind far away. Therefore, it can be concluded that language homogeneity promote the group developing more. However, language homogeneity does not exist among the whole word due to the long time of separation of people from different continents. As some nations have the ability to travel across seas and reach other continents, communication become source of ther e divisions. Wars then become the consequences of this misunderstanding of languages. To some extent, it is true that language is the divisive force for different groups and areas (Crystal, 2001). In fact, some elites of the old years have given serious thought about whether it was possible for people from different countries and nations can solve the conflicts through promoting implementation of the same language across the world. Hundreds of years before, they started to dream that there was a kind of language which can be called world language could be produced to make the world get united in short time. Actually, in the human history, world language did have been created. Esperanto, a language invented by an eye doctor named Lazaro Ludoviko has been acknowledged as the world language by people. Although after creation of the language more than 50 thousands of works have been published in Esperanto, it finally did not avoid being eliminated by the time (Polinsky Comrie Matthews, 2003). As an ideal trial, the invention of Esperanto reflected the dream that people want to create a completely impartial language to benefit the world. It was failed due to lack of root in any n ations economic and cultural life. The consequence also proved that language had to set root on the nations history and experience. Impossibility of Eradication of Languages Although it can be seen that language homogeneity can produce much benefit for the human race politically and economically, it is impossible for the entire world speak the same language in the foreseeable future. People once predicted that when the worlds economic system come to stable enough and people really believed that only one language is superior to language varieties for their life, the nation and languages differences will go to elimination and will be taken place by language homogeneity (ONeill, 2008). However, how long will this consciousness come to be true in the future? It is obviously that at least in the next 100 years this will not be reached by the human race. Actually, formulation of languages is more complex than people thought. It is at least being affected by the following five factors: Firstly, Language development is an outcome resulted by long history to become the current mature communicative system. From the ancient times, as people invented their native language, it has been continuously improved to be more effective for communication (Putz, Martin Marjolyn, 2000). It can be seen that after being developed through thousands of years modern people can hardly recognize their native languages ancient edition. If they check back their ancient language, they would find it was not so easy to express precisely what they want. For instance, Chinese people have to spend large amount of time to learn the old language since most of their characters have already change their original meanings. Actually, all languages have taken a long period of time to evolve to the current forms, which will be difficult for a new language to achieve in short time. If a world language has been created now, can people have the patience to use it with a lot of confusions? The answer is obv ious. The world would be impossible have such far-sight to benefit their offspring to enjoy the language homogeneity. To some extent, language is spontaneous and can not be created on purpose. An existing language has been tested by its speakers through long period of time. It is naturally produced to meet needs for communication and developed also to meet need for better communication. English is now being learned by people from all over the world and have been impulsively promoted by authorities from many governments for nearly 100 years. Nevertheless it is still not mastered by most people from the countries learning it. A hundred-year time actually is very short for language development process. Therefore, the unification of language is hardly to achieve in one or two generations. Secondly, language is produced due to the need of communication but has developed to a more complex product which is also reflecting the culture of a nation, which also enhances difficulty of people from one nation quitting their current language (Botha . C. Knight, 2009). In other words, language is a kind of art and has been merged into many national feelings. For some people, their native language is not just for communication since they can also enjoy a lot more from appreciating it (Gordon, 005). Many people would have the experience of reading translated article from foreign great writers. Nevertheless it is always difficult to understand the original meaning of the author although the article is translated by the best linguists or translators. English learners usually find it is finally losing the beauty of the original works when reading it in their native language edition. And further, some works is classical not just due to its meaning but also attribute to its rhyme. This will make it impossible to reaching the feeling when it has been translated to other languages. And also, many people are pursuing in other jobs relating to languages such as Chinese calligraphy. A language has evolved to an art which is mainly emphasizing on its look and image. Therefore, the eradication of one language will not just force people dropping their familiar communicative tools but also will ask them to drop a long history of art which may be considered as their national treasure. Thirdly, social status of speakers of one language affects significantly whether it can develop into prosperity or go to extinction. There are thousands of sorts of languages ever being created and spoken by people all over the word in the history. But 90% of the languages can not avoid going to extinction and being forgotten forever by their native speakers, which was caused by the lower social class of the speakers (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000). It is true that languages also have their social status as their speakers and they have been undergoing fierce competition from the time when created. From some examples this phenomenon can be explained in details. Why English gets some much attention all over the world today? Why many countries choose English as their second language. Its speakers social status may matter a lot to give the reason. After entering the 20th century, English speaking countries has developed to be the most powerful and wealthy areas, which means their dominance in ec onomical and political fields in the international interaction. If the word is perceived as a society, Americans and west Europeans are in the upper class without any doubt. Then English established its advantage in the competition process and now develop to be a language spoken by more than 2 billion speakers. From the example it can be seen that the power of a language is in deep relation to its speakers. Therefore, for a new created world language, its fate of development to some extent decided by whether the upper class have the interest to speak it. If it just can be promoted in a small group of people in lower social class, soon or later it will suffer from the result of those extinctive languages. In the foreseeable future, English is still the first consideration for most countries to communicate in international issues. If word language can come along, it is only can be English for its social status. Fourthly, language difference exists also connecting with the speakers profession. People can always guess what the persons job just through the way of his talk. Politician will always give speech agitatively while scientists speak in a way hard to understand but precise. University students will always talk their slang from which their status can be easy to tell. In addition to their talking style, profession vocabulary is also a decisive factor for language difference. For a non-native speaker, it is almost impossible for him or her to recognize the professional but important words. Therefore, as a mature developed language, it not just contains the daily communication and large amount of professional vocabulary should also be included to fulfill the professional need. Does it possible for a new language to get the complexity in short time? A world language as a good will to the world development may have difficultly to fulfill this requirement unless experiencing long history of e volution. The existence of this problem would lead to it is only possible to choose one widely used language to be the world language in the future. English may be the first consideration while there are also other possibilities such as French and Chinese and other languages that have developed to be a well round system. Fifthly, as a complex system, language is also a reflection of the speakers worldview. There are some explanations about what worldview is. The most direct one is that worldview is the overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world (Geoffrey, 2002). It has been proved that different nations have different worldview and people are taking a totally different perspective on those basic ontological issues from that in other nations. For some nations, their religious belief which differs from others can be reflected in their own language. But in another language, it may be difficult to find out vocabulary or expression to interpret their religious thought or behavior. However, religious beliefs for all nations are always the very important consideration for them to merge. For some people, religious belief is their motivation to be alive and if they can not find their religious belief in language change things will get seriously. Religious conflicts have led to a lot of w ars to world and this may happen when the languages of the word are forced to be get unified. Therefore, worldview of speakers of different language may be also a disturbing parameter to hinder they merge into each other. Possibility of English Developing into the only one Language of World When the world rolled into the 20th century, English speaking countries established their advantages in political and economical and cultural fields. In the 20th century, countries of the world went to together rapidly due to some transnational events such as the two world wars and communication in scientific and cultural and academic arrears. America became the dominant country of the word and has input much into other areas including technology and culture. Added to English basis left in the colonial countries across the world, English then has been chosen to be the most popular language for many countries (Mithen, 2005). In the 21st century, as globalization continues to evolve into deeper extent, the need of one international language would be more necessary for all the countries and it can be seen that English will continually take this important role. However, can the English become the first language for all the countries in the foreseeable future if it is developing as fast a s countries go to together? The answer is no. To some extent, English is the world language for transnational issues when people from different countries have to communicate for benefit. But no matter how English will be popular, it is still the first choice for non English speaking countries to communicate internationally, not the native language for their daily communication at family or at parties with local friends. As what has been said above, language is related to history, culture, social status, profession and worldview of the speakers. To accept English as the daily language and eradicate their current one, it is still far away from the communication just in official occasions. From the history it can be seen that only colonialism can input language into another countries and force them to forget their original language with high speed. But it will always bring tragic loss for the human race in many other areas. Therefore, English may still be the most popular language of t he world in the next centuries but will have no way to become the only one among the countries in the world. Conclusion In conclusion, the formulation of a language is more complex than people think. It is at least related to five aspects as the essay has discussed, which make it impossible for a new created language to reach the conditions. To become a language accepted and implemented broadly by people across world, the language should experienced long history of evolution to have the cultural basis. And also, it should be accepted by people from the main stream and from various religious groups. In addition, the new language would be possible contain vocabulary in many professional fields. Most of these features of language have to develop through thousands of years of implementation by people who take it. If possible, English may become the only one langue spoken by people all over the word in the future nevertheless it would be unable to realize in the next centuries. Therefore, it is impossible in the foreseeable future that variation within existing languages can be eradicated.

The Shape of the Water Stain

With my eyes heavy from exhaustion, I roll over and glance at the clock for the eighth time tonight: 2:37am. As I turn back over, my thoughts echoing stresses from the day I just survived, I sigh in desperation. It's only Wednesday, and despite my intense fatigue and futile attempts, for the third time this week, I cannot fall asleep. While I study the shape of the water stain on my ceiling, I try to imagine how many hours I have spent staring at that same spot and how many hours of sleep I have lost over the years. It's maddening. How can I be so incredibly tired but still find it nearly impossible to fall asleep? When I do finally fall asleep, why do I wake up still feeling exhausted? Why does this keep happening to me?Insomnia is acommon sleeping disorder that causes perpetual sleeplessness, and millions of people suffer from this disorder every day. According to Dr. David N. Neubauer of the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, â€Å"thirty percent ofadults experience insomnia at least occasionally, and ten percent have persistent insomnia. † Furthermore, women, elderly people, and those with specific medical conditions are even more susceptible to the effects of insomnia. Routinely experiencing an insufficient amount of sleep has been linked to many extremely dangerous side effects. As stated by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults with sleep insufficiencies are at a high risk for developing chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, and obesity, as well as cancer, increased mortality, and reduced quality of life and productivity (â€Å"Insufficient Sleep†). In the book, Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation, written for the National Academy of Sciences by the Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research, Harvey Colten and Bruce Altevogt note, â€Å"compared to healthy individuals, those suffering from sleep loss and sleep disorders are less productive, have an increased health care utilization, and have an increased likelihood of injury,† and alarmingly, â€Å"almost 20 percent of all serious car crash injuries in the general population are associated with driver sleepiness.† With an estimated 50 to 70 million adults in the US suffering from chronic sleep disorders (Colten and Altevogt), this issue and its side effects continue to grow even more concerning.Possible CausesBehavioral IssuesOne possible cause of insomnia are behavioral issues. In the book Adolescent Insomnia, Dr. J. R. Morrison, a professor of counseling, and Brian Storey, a research assistant at the University of San Diego, explain that, â€Å"behavioral issues that cause insomnia include ‘lifestyle' problems that are not conducive to sound sleep.† Examples of such habits include irregular bedtimes and rising hours, long naps during the day, and use of stimulants like coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages. Irregular bedtimes and excessive napping alters a patient's internal clock and makes it difficult for their brain to decipher whether it is the appropriate time for sleep or not. Additionally, The National Sleep Foundation states that, â€Å"certain substances and activities, including eating patterns, can contribute to insomnia.† In the article, â€Å"What Causes Insomnia?† the NSF mentions that consuming stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, as well as alcohol and heavy meals can cause sleep disruption. Ingesting or using any of these substances creates high levels of brain activity. A hyperactive brain can make it extremely difficult to fall asleep and remain asleep.Even though lifestyle choices are considered to be a very prevalent cause of insomnia, there are certain researchers who believe otherwise. In the Medical News Todayjournal, Peter Crosta, who studied at Columbia University, says that â€Å"[T]here is often an underlying medical condition that causes chronic insomnia.† He continues to explain that lifestyle choices should not be considered a true cause of insomnia. Crosta believes that insomnia is not based on decisions that a patient makes for themselves, and it is solely based on medical factors alone.Chronic Medical ConditionsAnother potential cause for insomnia are chronic medical conditions. The National Sleep Foundation gives examples of these medical issues; those include â€Å"nasal/sinus allergies, gastrointestinal problems, endocrine problems, arthritis, asthma, and parkinson's disease.† These certain medical conditions create symptoms like crippling pain, runny nose, constant coughing, difficulty breathing, and tremors. Such symptoms make it nearly impossible for patients to be able fall asleep and stay asleep.In the article, â€Å"Ask Yourself 8 Questions,† in the Current Psychiatryjournal, Dr. David N Neubauer, describes how, â€Å"pain or discomfort caused by a medical condition may undermine sleep quality.† Neubauer goes on to explain that, â€Å"certain cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, rheumatologic, and orthopedic disorders are associated withinsomnia.† Essentially, he is saying that these medical conditions can cause symptoms that would make insufficient sleep more likely. Although these medical conditions causing insomnia is a widely accepted theory, J. R. Morrison and Brian Storey mention in their book, Adolescent Insomnia, that they believe that, â€Å"poor sleep is a learned habit,† as opposed to something caused by a medical condition. They explain that this theory is based upon how people can examine and adjust their sleeping habits and cure their insomnia. They do not believe that this would be possible if it were truly caused by those specific medical conditions.Psychological DisordersAnother possible cause of insomnia is an underlying psychological disorder. The National Sleep Foundation has found that â€Å"Insomnia can be caused by psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety.† Based on their studies, they have found that patients with major depressive disorders are at a much higher risk of developing insomnia. Furthermore, they described that certain symptoms of anxiety, such as tension and excessive worrying, cause high levels of brain activity which leads to chronic sleep deprivation.In the book Adolescent Insomnia, Dr. J. R. Morrison and Brian Storey discuss and explore several different aspects of insomnia. Morrison and Storey state that â€Å"psychological factors [of insomnia] include anxiety and depression.† The pair go on to explain that people who deal with anxiety often struggle to initially fall asleep, while those with depression tend to frequently awaken early in the morning and find themselves unable to fall back asleep. In either scenario, the psychological issue clearly creates a condition where the person is unable to gain sufficient sleep.Even though the evidence seems unambiguous, there is a possibility that psychological issues are not at the root of insomnia. â€Å"Although many people believe that psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety cause insomnia, the reverse may actually be true,† argues Henry Olders, an assistant professor of psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal. Olders bases his claim off of research done by The National Institutes of Mental Health. Their studies found that, â€Å"the risk of developing new depression was 39.8 times higher for insomniacs than for those without sleep problems.† Essentially, both the NIMH and Henry Olders have found that insomnia leads to an onset of depression and anxiety, as opposed to the other way around. Considering the results of this study, there is no way to fully conclude that insomnia is actually caused by psychological disorders.The most likely cause of insomnia is behavioral and lifestyle choices. There are more people in the United States that drink excessive amounts of caffeine, smoke cigarettes, and eat heavy meals before bedtime, than people with serious psychological or medical conditions. This means that most people with insomnia, most likely have made specific lifestyle decisions that caused it. If we do not do anything about the climbing rates of insomnia, our society will experience a higher rate of sleep deprivation. This will add to an already growing rate of motor vehicle accidents due to drowsy driving, as well as other sleep deprivation related disasters. On top of that those struggling with insomnia will e

The Mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Essay - 2868 Words

The Mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke It was the age of discovery that first provoked intrigue and curiosity of new lands, particularly the Americas, and how the Europeans could expand to fit their society within the borders of this unknown and unexplored land. By the 1580s, more had been learned about the Americas, but any colonization until this point had not even been attempted. And so it was the English, under Queen Elizabeth Is rule, that were issued to establish a colony along the east coast of North America. However, when this great accomplishment was finally made in 1587, it was not long founded until its ultimate fate ended in the disappearance of the colony three years later, instantly creating one of the greatest†¦show more content†¦To his great disappointment, the queen refused permission for Raleigh to go and command the mission himself, so he passed the task along to his cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, who had already gained quite the reputation in leading voyages which provided him with the necess ary respect that was needed to successfully carry out the expedition that Raleigh expected. In April of 1585, Grenville was finally ready to set sail, with his acquired seven ships complemented by nearly six hundred men, one hundred of whom were to be settlers. Among this initial company were Ralph Lane, a professional soldier, who was also to be governor of the colony, John White, an artist, and Thomas Hariot, a scientific observer. On June 26 the expedition reached Ocracoke Island of the North Carolina coast but it was not until July 29 that they moved to Roanoke Island where they planted a settlement. The month of time in between had been occupied with exploring rivers and sounds of the region. By the time Grenville sailed away on August 25, to return to England, the party of men had unloaded the vessels, traded with the Indians, collected information about the country, erected huts, and prepared a settlement, Fort Raleigh,Show MoreRelatedThe Mystery Of The Lost Colony Of Roanoke2021 Words   |  9 PagesThe mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke is a puzzling mystery a bout what happened to the first English settlers in America. The question is, what actually happened to them, because even with evidence and research no one knows for absolute certain what actually did happen. 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Capital Structure And Financial Policies Example For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1520 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? This paper review Omer Bravs empirical study on capital, capital structure and financial policy on privately held firms in respect of their public counterparts. Focus will be put on the main authors findings along with the brief description of the methodology and data used in support of the findings. Introduction Brav has empirically examined relatively unexplored topic from the perspective of privately held firms. He provides evidences that public and private companies have systematic differences regarding their financial policies, due to the fact that private equity capital is more expensive than the public equity capital. As main factors contributing to this, are stated ownership structure and information asymmetry. Moreover, he shows that access to public equity capital has influence on other aspects of firms funding and investments such as cash management and dividend policy. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Capital Structure And Financial Policies Example For Free" essay for you Create order Methodology and Data Brav tests the trade-off and pecking order theories regarding their predictions of the systematic differences between public and private firms. He refers to the Myerss and Majlufs pecking order theory (1984) and its prediction that firms will rely less on equity and more on debt, as asymmetric information between insiders and outsiders increases. Author also refers to the trade off theory which predicts that firms tend to create optimum capital structure where marginal costs of the equity and debt equals. At the optimal debt ratio, private firms will prefer internal financing as it becomes more expensive to raise capital in the external markets. He groups the predictions into level and sensitivity effect. The consequence from level effect is that the probability that private firms choose equity over debt is lower compared to public firms, because for them equity has higher relative cost compared to the debt. The consequence from sensitivity effect is that private firms have more passive financial policies than public firms, as it is more costly for them to obtain equity capital. Under the assumption that private equity is more expensive than public equity, Brav formulated and examined the following level effect (L1, L2) and sensitivity effect (S1, S2, S3, S4) hypothesis: L1: Private firms have higher debt ratios than public firms; L2: Conditional on visiting the external capital market and facing the debt-equity choice, private firms are less likely to use equity than public firms; S1: Compared to public firms, private firms financial policies are more passive, that is, private firms are less likely to raise or retire capital; S2: Compared to public firms, private firms leverage is more sensitive to operational performance and less sensitive to other variables that the traditional trade-off theory predicts to be determinants of a firms capital structure; S3: The leverage of private firms exhibits greater persistence and lower adjustment s peed; S4: Compared to public firms, private firms financial policy is less in line with the target adjustment hypothesis. That is, the debt-equity choice of private firms exhibits a weaker tendency to move leverage toward its target. Concerning the data, Brav used several databases to obtain information about UK public and private firms for the period of 1993 to 2003: Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME) database; SDC Platinum, Zephyr, Worldscope and World Development Indicators (WDI). The sample includes medium and large companies in compliance with the auditing requirements that is, companies which have annual sales of more than 350,000 pounds per annum before June 2000 and annual sales of more than 1,000,000 pounds after June 2000. Findings Summary Statistics show significant differences between private and public firms. For example, private firms have higher average and median short term debt ratios of 63.7% and 72.7% respectively, compared to the public firms with 36.9% and 29.0%, respectively. Brav argues that these major differences are caused by the fact that private firms are limited to the short-term borrowing on the debt market in providing liquidity, while public companies have more options such as combining equity and public debt. Additionally, firms decision for going public is determined by the greater growth rates and need for capital. Also, he found evidences that private companies who go public afterwards have decrease in their leverage and increase in the equity issuing. What he surprisingly discovered is that public firms have larger proportion of cash to total assets. Further, author focused his research on the access to public capital and its impact on firms financial policy. Using cross-sectiona l regression, he discovered more supporting evidences for hypothesis L1 and S2. His results are in line with Faulkender and Peterson (2006) findings: when frictions in the debt (equity) channel are larger, firms exhibits a preference for equity (debt) financing. Moreover, Brav shows that frictions have impact on leverage sensitivity to other variables, not only on the leverages level. Author fails to reject S3 hypothesis and concluded that private firms are more passive in rebalancing their leverage. He retested the hypothesis by following Frank and Goyal (2003) disaggregating deficits approach, and provided further evidences in support of S3 hypothesis which show that private firms finance each component of their deficit with more debt than equity. Differences in decision making between public and private firms to raise or retire capital are also investigated. Results show that public and private firms raise external capital only when they have to, and smaller the company is greater the probability to raise or retire capital. Brav explains that public firms are more active in issuance because of the lower costs. However, he offers an alternative explanation for more active capital issuance of public firms. He refers to Easterbook (1984) who argues that public firms have higher dividend payouts due to conflict of interest between managers and owners. In general, evidences are in favour of S1 hypothesis. Regarding L2 hypothesis, results show that dummy variable for public firms is highly positively significant which indicates that public firms prefer more equity over debt. Moreover, for all public and private firms in the sample, he calculated predicted probability that firm will choose equity and find out that predicted probability is greater for public than for private companies. Tests also support S4 hypothesis with only one exception: profitability effect is larger for private firms in repurchase regression. Author argues that this is due to the di fficulties of unprofitable private firms to obtain permission from banks for refinancing their debt. Furthermore in his analysis, Brav reveals that ownership structure and information asymmetry is the frictions which influence public equity to be less costly than private equity. Public companies are more in favour for equity financing because of the management control concerns. Issuing stocks is positively (negatively) related to the extent of managers (shareholders) control i.e. more stocks issuing, less dominant shareholders and more powerful managers. Taking into consideration public firms feature of strict separation between ownership and management, managers in public firms are willing to use issuing equity as a tool for control keeping. Additionally, Brav re-examined the debt-equity choice from the perspective of information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders by using a smaller sample. He shows that as private firms are less transparent and as equitys value is more se nsitive to information asymmetry than debts value, equity is more expensive and less attractive for private firms compared to the public firms. Given the above mentioned findings, Brav examined how financial policy affects firms debt ratios, cash management, investment decisions and dividend policy. Results from regression demonstrate that debt ratios of private firms are more affected by their performance as they adjust the leverage less often through the external capital markets compared to the public firms. Also, limited access to capital affects private companies to preserve more cash when are operating in favourable market conditions and to reduce it faster in crisis circumstances. Thus, private firms investment decisions in a situation of an increased profitability are lagging. Opposite of private firms, public firms use without a delay extra cash made to enhance their investments. Regarding the dividend policy, his findings show that it is more stable and less affected by changes in performance for public rather than for private firms. Conclusion Empirical study of Omar Brav has documented significant differences between public and private firms regarding their capital structure and financial policy. First, Brav shows that private firms prefer debt over capital compared to public firms, because of the higher relative cost of equity to the debt capital. Also, private firms have more passive financial policies than public firms, as it is more costly for them to obtain equity capital. Second, he identified ownership structure and information asymmetry as main contributors to the different capital structure and financial policy of private and public firms. In this direction, issuing stocks is negatively related to the extent of shareholders control. Thus, as private firms usually have few shareholders with significant control power, issuing equity becomes more costly option for them. In addition, he shows that cost of equity is higher for private firms, because they are less transparent and their equity value is more affected b y the information asymmetry than the debt value. At the end, Brav shows that limited access to capital has influence on private companies to preserve more cash and to delay investments in good times. More concrete, private firms debt ratios, investment decisions and dividend policy are more sensitive to their performance compared to the public companies.