FORCES AFFECTING MODERN MARKETING

FORCES AFFECTING MODERN MARKETING
Of all the forces affecting modern marketing, perhaps none is more important than globalization. Since the 1980s, technological advances such as global telephone and computer networks have reduced geographic and even cultural distance. As a result, companies can now buy supplies and produce and sell goods in countries far from their home offices. Products conceived in one country are now being manufactured and then sold in many others. For example, Sony (Japan), Nestlé (Switzerland), Bic (France), and Volkswagen (Germany) have become household words around the world.

Although being able to market goods far from home presents corporations with many new opportunities, it also means they face new competition. Local companies that never even considered international competition now find foreign competitors stocked on shelves right alongside their own products. Some economists argue that local companies should be protected from such competition through legislation that regulates the flow of goods through trade barriers and other measures. Others oppose such regulation, arguing that it only raises prices for consumers.

Globalization, however, is only one force changing the way companies market their products or services. Another involves changes in the very interests and desires of consumers themselves. Consumers today are more sophisticated than those of past generations. They attend school for a much longer period of time; they are exposed to newspapers, magazines, motion pictures, radio, television, and travel; and they have much greater interaction with other people. Their demands are more exacting, and their taste changes more volatile. Markets tend to be segmented as each group calls for products suited to its particular tastes. “Positioning” the product—that is, determining the exact segment of the population that is likely to buy a product, and then developing a marketing campaign to enhance the product’s image to fit that particular segment—requires great care and planning. This type of campaign is known as target marketing.

Competition also has sharply intensified, as the number of firms engaged in producing similar products has increased. Each firm tries to differentiate its products from those of its competitors. Profit margins, meaning the profit percentages made by a business per dollar of sales, are constantly being lessened. Although costs continue to rise, competition tends to keep prices down. The result is a narrowing spread between costs and selling prices. An increase in a business’s sales volume is necessary to maintain or raise profit.

Another force affecting modern marketing is the influence of the consumer rights or consumer protection movement. This movement insists on safe, reputable, and reliable products and services. Both consumer groups and government agencies have intensified their scrutiny of products, challenging such diverse elements as product design, length and legitimacy of warranty, and promotional tactics. Warranty and guarantee practices, in particular, have been closely examined. New legislation has generally defined and extended the manufacturer’s responsibility for product performance.

Environmental concerns have also affected product design and marketing, especially as the expense of product modification has increased the retail cost. Such forces, which have added to the friction between producer and consumer, must be understood by the marketer and integrated into a sound marketing program.

Even the way a firm handles itself in public life—that is, how it reacts to social and political issues—has become significant. No longer may a corporation cloak its internal decisions as private affairs. The public’s dissatisfaction with the actions and attitudes of a firm has sometimes led to a reduction in sales; conversely, consumer enthusiasm, generated by a firm’s intentional establishment of a good public image or public relations, has led to increased sales.

MARKETING DEVELOPMENTS

SPECIALIZED MARKETING DEVELOPMENTS
The success of specialized marketing developments has caused many older organizations to revise their operating methods. In recent years, for example, franchise distribution has become an important force in retailing. Under this plan, the retailer is given the right to sell, within a certain area, without competition from another retailer dealing in the same product.

Many consumers now find it more desirable to rent products than to purchase them outright. For example, a homeowner may find it preferable to rent an electric floor polisher when needed, rather than purchase the appliance at the list price, use it only infrequently, and then have to provide storage space within the home. Another item consumers have found easier and less expensive to rent is the automobile. The renting of equipment also figures in large industry. Corporations are finding it to their economic advantage to rent computers and office and industrial machinery, thereby assuring themselves of product servicing and repair and allowing a changeover, without great expense, to newer equipment models as they become available.

Businesses must strive daily to outdo competitors. The methods available to businesses for distinguishing their commodity from others in the market are subject only to their ingenuity. Such methods may include product improvement, a unique promotional campaign, a new twist in servicing, a change in distribution channels, or an enticing price adjustment.

THE MARKETING PROFESSION
As marketing has become increasingly more complex, a need has arisen for professional marketers trained in the social sciences that also possess statistical, mathematical, and computer backgrounds. Many colleges and universities now have programs designed to train marketing executives. Courses are offered at the undergraduate and the graduate level in such specialized fields as advertising, administrative practices, financial management, production, human relations, retailing, and personnel administration.

In recent years, as many U.S. manufacturing industries such as steel and automobiles have been weakened because of foreign competition, marketing departments have become increasingly responsible for generating profitable sales volume. Thus, their stature in top-level business decision-making has been enhanced. This trend gives every indication of continuing in the foreseeable future. As competition continues to increase and businesses become even more diversified, the marketing profession is likely to provide more personnel in the ranks of top management.

University of Oxford

INTRODUCTION
Oxford, University of, oldest institution of higher learning in the English-speaking world. The university is located in Oxford, England.

HISTORY
The town of Oxford was already an important center of learning by the end of the 12th century. Teachers from mainland Europe and other scholars settled there, and lectures are known to have been delivered by as early as 1117. Sometime in the late 12th century the expulsion of foreigners from the University of Paris (see Paris, Universities of) caused many English scholars to return from France and settle in Oxford. The students associated together, on the basis of geographical origins, into two “nations,” representing the North (including the Scots) and the South (including the Irish and the Welsh). In later centuries, geographical origins continued to influence many students' affiliations when membership of an Oxford college or hall became customary. Members of many religious orders, including Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians, settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, gained influence, and maintained houses for students. At about the same time, private benefactors established colleges to serve as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest were the parents of John Balliol, King of Scotland; their establishment, Balliol College, bears their name. Another founder, Walter de Merton, a chancellor of England and afterwards bishop of Rochester, devised a series of regulations for college life; Merton College thereby became the model for such establishments at Oxford as well as at the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, an increasing number of students forsook living in halls and religious houses in favor of living at colleges.

The new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onward. Among university scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of the Greek language, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar. With the Reformation and the breaking of ties with Catholicism, the method of teaching at the university was transformed from the medieval Scholastic method to Renaissance education, although institutions associated with the university suffered loss of land and revenues. In 1636 Chancellor William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, codified the university statutes; these to a large extent remained the university's governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the university press, and he made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library, the main library of the university.

The university was a center of the Royalist Party during the English Civil War (1642-1649), while the town favored the opposing Parliamentarian cause. Soldier-statesman Oliver Cromwell, chancellor of the university from 1650 to 1657, was responsible for preventing both Oxford and Cambridge from being closed down by the Puritans, who viewed university education as dangerous to religious beliefs. From the mid-18th century onward, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts.

Administrative reforms during the 19th century included the replacement of oral examinations with written entrance tests, greater tolerance for religious dissent, and the establishment of four colleges for women. Women have been eligible to be full members of the university and have been entitled to take degrees since 1920. Although Oxford's emphasis traditionally had been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded in the course of the 19th century and now attaches equal importance to scientific and medical studies.

The roster of distinguished scholars at the University of Oxford is long and includes many who have made major contributions to British politics, the sciences, and literature. Since its founding in 1823, the Oxford Union, a university club devoted to formal debating and other social activities, has numbered among its members many of Britain's most noted political leaders.

BUILDINGS AND LIBRARIES
Notable amid the predominantly Gothic architecture of the university is Christ Church's Tom Quad, the largest quadrangle in the university. It houses above its gateway Great Tom, a 7-ton bell. Other famed structures are the Sheldonian Theatre, designed by the English architect, scientist, and mathematician Sir Christopher Wren and used as an assembly hall, and the domed Radcliffe Camera, used as one of the reading rooms of the Bodleian Library.

The main university library, the Bodleian, was built in the early 17th century as an extension to the university's existing 15th-century library. Its collections were established in 1602 by the English scholar and diplomat Sir Thomas Bodley, who gave the university a collection of books he had purchased in Europe. The present collection of bound volumes and manuscripts includes valuable holdings of biblical codices, Far Eastern literature, and material on British history. Like the British Library, the Bodleian is a copyright library, entitled to receive a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom.
Among several university museums is the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, with fine collections of Eastern and European art and Middle Eastern archaeology. The first public museum in Great Britain, it was founded by the English antiquary Elias Ashmole and was opened in 1683.

Books were first printed for the university in 1478, soon after William Caxton printed the first book in England. Today the Oxford University Press annually publishes hundreds of distinguished books of scholarly and general interest, including the renowned Oxford English Dictionary

Distance Education

Distance Education, methods of instruction that utilize different communications technologies to carry teaching to learners in different places. Distance education programs enable learners and teachers to interact with each other by means of computers, artificial satellites, telephones, radio or television broadcasting, or other technologies. Instruction conducted through the mail is often referred to as correspondence education, although many educators simply consider this the forerunner to distance education. Distance education is also sometimes called distance learning. While distance learning can refer to either formal or informal learning experiences, distance education refers specifically to formal instruction conducted at a distance by a teacher who plans, guides, and evaluates the learning process. As new communications technologies become more efficient and more widely available, increasing numbers of elementary schools, secondary schools, universities, and businesses offer distance education programs.

Nearly every country in the world makes use of distance education programs in its education system. Britain’s nationally supported Open University, based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, has one of the best-known programs. A vast majority of the school’s 133,000 students receive instruction entirely at a distance. More than 20 other countries have national open universities in which all instruction is provided by distance education methods. This method of education can be especially valuable in developing countries. By reaching a large number of students with relatively few teachers, it provides a cost-effective way of using limited academic resources. Many businesses use distance education programs to train employees or to help them update skills or knowledge. Employees may take such programs in the workplace or at home in their spare time.

PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES
In the United States, institutions of higher education, business, and the armed services all use distance education methods. Millions of students have enrolled in television courses produced by certain colleges and universities around the country. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) delivers these courses to students at over 2000 institutions. A growing number of private businesses, including multinational corporations, operate satellite television networks to deliver vocational training to employees throughout the world. The United States Army offers distance education programs to military personnel stationed in different parts of the country. These programs are conducted by the Army Logistics Management College, based in Fort Lee, Virginia, and delivered over the Internet and in one-way video/two-way audio systems to over 70 locations. The United States Air Force also offers distance education programs through the Air Technology Network (ATN), a division of the Air Force Institute of Technology. The ATN uses one-way video/two way audio telecommunications systems to reach students at every Air Force base in the continental United States.

Distance education offered through colleges and universities in the United States provides instruction in a wide range of academic and vocational subjects. The National University Teleconference Network (NUTN) is a consortium of approximately 260 colleges and universities that offer distance education programs in most fields of knowledge. The National Technological University (NTU), based in Fort Collins, Colorado, offers hundreds of courses taught by faculty at dozens of major universities. The Agricultural Satellite Corporation provides courses on agricultural topics to many colleges and universities. HealthNet, an institution operated by Boston University Medical School, carries continuing education courses for health care professionals. The Black College Satellite Network (BCSN) broadcasts primarily from Howard University with programs aimed at colleges around the country.

A number of institutions offer complete college degree programs via computer conferencing. The Online Campus of the New York Institute of Technology offers bachelor’s degrees in science. A distance education program called Connect Ed offers a master’s degree in Technology and Society in conjunction with the New School for Social Research in New York City. The University of Phoenix Online, a program at the University of Phoenix, offers computer-based courses leading to degrees in business and management. The Open University in Britain offers a master’s degree in the field of distance education to anyone in the world who can access the Internet.

INSTRUCTION
Each medium of communication carries certain advantages over the other. The most effective distance education employs several telecommunications media linked together so that learners can benefit from the strengths of each one. For example, a student may watch an instructor’s lecture on a video monitor, respond with questions through electronic mail on a computer, and then participate in class discussions through telephone audio-conferencing. Distance education programs require teams of media producers, teaching specialists, and experts in academic subjects to design effective teaching strategies. Other specialists plan and facilitate communications with learners. Because such programs can be expensive to produce, institutions usually design distance education courses for relatively large audiences and wide geographic areas.

Distance education has created a major shift in how educators and students think about teaching and learning. By allowing students to learn in more convenient locations and often at more convenient times, distance education opens educational opportunity to previously un reached populations. It also enables more people to extend the period of their education from a limited number of schooling years to a lifelong learning process. In addition, it changes power and authority relationships between teachers and learners, often encouraging more equal and open communication than occurs in conventional educational settings. Because distance education enables institutions to reach students all over the world, learners gain increased opportunities to experience other cultures and enrich their educational experience.

Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur, one who assumes the responsibility and the risk for a business operation with the expectation of making a profit. The entrepreneur generally decides on the product, acquires the facilities, and brings together the labor force, capital, and production materials. If the business succeeds, the entrepreneur reaps the reward of profits; if it fails, he or she takes the loss.

In his writings, the Austrian-American economist Joseph A. Schumpeter stressed the role of the entrepreneur as an innovator, the person who develops a new product, a new market, or a new means of production. One important example was Henry Ford. In the industrialized economies of the late 20th century, giant corporations and conglomerates have largely replaced the individual owner-operator. There is still a place for the entrepreneur, however, in small businesses as well as in the developing economies of the Third World nations.

INTRODUCTION
Business Education, field of training in business practices and in specific skills such as accounting, information processing, keyboarding/typewriting, recordkeeping, and shorthand. Business education in the United States is conducted on two distinct levels: education for administrative support personnel in business and industry and collegiate education for business administration and for business teacher preparation.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
Business education for administrative support personnel is included in the programs of almost every high school and community college, as well as in independent business colleges. Included in such curricula are courses in secretarial skills; bookkeeping and accounting; data processing; business communication, mathematics, and law; computer programming; and business management. These courses are important to the U.S. economy because they provide a steady flow of office workers who are in great demand.

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Colleges and universities provide professional education for persons who function at the administrative and management levels and also for those who teach business at the secondary and collegiate levels. The first business school at the collegiate level was the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, founded in 1881 at the University of Pennsylvania. Today about 1200 colleges offer programs leading to a bachelor's degree in business administration. More than 600 schools have graduate programs leading to the master's, and about 100 have doctoral programs in the field.

The typical college of business administration offers concentrations in accounting, finance, marketing, manufacturing, management information systems, operations management, and international business. Many business schools now offer education in areas not usually classified as business, such as governmental or public administration and institutional management. Enrollment in undergraduate schools of business administration is now more than 2.5 million students, and graduate enrollment is about 200,000.

ORGANIZATIONS AND JOURNALS
The largest professional organization in the U.S. devoted exclusively to serving business education is the national Business Education Association. Professional associations also exist in each specialized field of business. The professional association serving college business programs is the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. While no single publication covers all fields, Business Education Forum and the Journal of Education for Business deal with a variety of areas included in education for business. Individual fields are served by such journals as the Journal of Accountancy and the Journal of Marketing.

MODERN TRENDS
The development of the computer has effected many changes in business education. At the vocational level it has led to the establishment of training programs for computer operators and programmers. At the collegiate level the emphasis has been on utilization of more efficient management information systems to provide data for making business decisions.

Education-Vocational

INTRODUCTION
Education, Vocational, instruction in skills necessary for persons who are preparing to enter the labor force or who need training or retraining in the technology of their occupation.

The impact of technology on occupations, the tendency of employers to set higher educational requirements, and the need for employees with specialized training have made vocational preparation imperative. Part-time programs are essential in order to provide occupational mobility among workers and to overcome the effects of job obsolescence.

In the U.S., vocational education programs are conducted in public secondary schools and community colleges and are financed in part by federal funds. Other programs are conducted by business and industry, labor organizations, the armed forces, and private vocational-technical schools. Programs in both public and private institutions are general in scope, providing training for several jobs in an occupational cluster; programs conducted by business, industry, and the armed forces usually focus on particular interests. Under the Vocational Education Amendments (1968), vocational programs are administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

RANGE OF PROGRAMS
Vocational education programs range from short-unit (ten weeks or less) to long-term programs up to two years in length. The programs include numerous occupational areas, such as office skills, agriculture, various trades, health services, and technical training. The scope of vocational education is broad, ranging from occupations requiring little skill to those requiring a high degree of skill and scientific knowledge. Jobs requiring minimum training are not generally included in formal programs because the necessary skills can be readily learned on the job.

Many public and private schools offering vocational instruction operate on a so-called open-door policy, that is, anyone may attend who can profit from the instruction. The goal of the public school program is to provide access for all persons to high-quality instruction that will meet occupational opportunities. Every state department of education in the U.S. employs staff specialists in vocational education.

CAREER COUNSELING AND GUIDANCE
Although the vocational guidance and vocational education movements developed separately during the early 1900s, they later became closely associated. Today career counseling is recognized as being important for all persons. The basic principle of career counseling and guidance is that a person is better equipped to make occupational plans after determining his or her own characteristics, examining the requirements of various occupations, and matching the two sets of facts with the aid of a skilled counselor.

Various standardized tests and inventories have been developed to measure skills, aptitudes, interests, and other abilities and traits. In addition to school records, job-shadowing techniques, computerized programs, and audiovisuals are also used to assist students with occupational selection.

WORK EXPERIENCE
A major aspect of career counseling and guidance is knowledge of the world of work. Ignorance of the many ways in which people earn a living has been a great deterrent to freedom of occupational choice. To help solve this problem, some schools provide opportunity for students to gain actual work experience as part of their educational preparation. The value of work experience in education has long been recognized and is now emphasized in the counseling of youth.

Vocational education and career counseling have had the active support and participation of the trade unions and, more recently, of business and industry because both contribute to the goal of an educated labor force.

The two national professional associations concerned with vocational education and career counseling and guidance are the American Vocational Association and the National Career Development Association. Accreditation is provided by the National Association of Trade and Technical Schools.

Condom

INTRODUCTION
Condom, type of birth control in the form of a physical barrier that prevents sperm from reaching and fertilizing an egg. Condoms are available for use by both men and women. The male condom is a thin, form-fitting sheath worn on the erect penis during sexual intercourse (see Human Sexuality). The female condom, approved for use in the United States in 1993 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), consists of a thin polyurethane pouch with a ring on each end. The smaller, closed ring is placed inside the vagina and the larger, open ring remains outside the body at the opening of the vagina.

MALE CONDOM
Male condoms have been used for thousands of years, dating back to ancient Egypt when men wore colorful sheaths to cover their penises. Condoms were first used to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy in the 1600s when King Charles II of England used condoms made of sheep intestines. Early versions of the modern condom were developed and became popular in the 18th century.

Today about 18 percent of American women 15 to 44 years old who use contraception rely on male condoms. Condoms are the most common form of birth control among teenagers, single women, women with no children, and women who want to have additional children. With typical use, condoms are 84 percent effective in preventing pregnancy.

The male condom must be placed on the erect penis before the penis is inserted into the vagina. A condom can be used only once and should be removed immediately after ejaculation to prevent sperm from leaking out or the condom from slipping off.

Most male condoms are made of latex, although a small number of condoms available in the United States are made of animal tissue such as sheep membrane. Only latex condoms provide protection against STDs, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Male condoms are available without prescription in retail stores. They may be dry or lubricated and may contain spermicide (foam or jelly that kills sperm). Condoms with spermicide provide additional contraceptive protection, especially if the condom accidentally breaks or slips off. Condoms with spermicide may also increase protection against STDs. Lubricated condoms do not offer additional contraceptive or STD protection, but lubrication may help prevent the condom from tearing during intercourse. Dry condoms can be lubricated with water-based products or contraceptive foams or jellies, but they should never be coated with oil-based products such as petroleum jelly, since these products can weaken the latex and cause the condom to tear.

Condoms may break, tear, or slip off during intercourse. Condoms stored close to the body, such as in a pants pocket, may break or tear more readily because heat harms the latex. A couple must interrupt sexual activity to put on a condom before sexual intercourse. In addition, some men object to the change in sensation associated with wearing a condom. An allergy to latex prevents some individuals from using condoms.

FEMALE CONDOM
The female condom acts as a barrier by forming a sheath between the penis and the vagina, preventing sperm from reaching and fertilizing an egg. The female condom is made of plastic so it can be used with both water- and oil-based lubricants. Like the male condom, it should be used only once and removed immediately after ejaculation. With typical use, the female condom’s effectiveness in preventing pregnancy is 79 percent. It is not yet clear how much protection the female condom provides against STDs.

The female condom is available without a prescription in retail stores. It can be inserted in the vagina several hours before intercourse. Some users find it difficult to insert. In addition, the outer ring can slip into the vagina and the condom can twist during intercourse. Some couples find it irritating to the penis or the vagina.

Foreign Trade

INTRODUCTION
Foreign Trade, the exchange of goods and services between nations. Goods can be defined as finished products, as intermediate goods used in producing other goods, or as agricultural products and foodstuffs. International trade enables a nation to specialize in those goods it can produce most cheaply and efficiently. Trade also enables a country to consume more than it would be able to produce if it depended only on its own resources. Finally, trade enlarges the potential market for the goods of a particular economy. Trade has always been the major force behind the economic relations among nations.

EMERGENCE OF MODERN FOREIGN TRADE
Although foreign trade was an important part of ancient and medieval economies, it acquired new significance after about 1500. As empires and colonies were established by European countries, trade became an arm of governmental policy. The wealth of a country was measured in terms of the goods it possessed, particularly gold and precious metals. The objective of an empire was to acquire as much wealth as possible in return for as little expense as possible. This form of international trade, called mercantilism, was commonplace in the 16th and 17th centuries.

International trade began to assume its present form with the establishment of nation-states in the 17th and 18th centuries. Heads of state discovered that by promoting foreign trade they could mutually increase the wealth, and thus the power, of their nations. During this period new theories of economics, in particular of international trade, also emerged.

ADVANTAGES OF TRADE

ADVANTAGES OF TRADE
In 1776 the Scottish economist Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, proposed that specialization in production leads to increased output. Smith believed that in order to meet a constantly growing demand for goods, a country's scarce resources must be allocated efficiently. According to Smith's theory, a country that trades internationally should specialize in producing only those goods in which it has an absolute advantage—that is, those goods it can produce more cheaply than can its trading partners. The country can then export a portion of those goods and, in turn, import goods that its trading partners produce more cheaply. Smith's work is the foundation of the classical school of economic thought.

Half a century later, the English economist David Ricardo modified this theory of international trade. Ricardo's theory, which is still accepted by most modern economists, stresses the principle of comparative advantage. Following this principle, a country can still gain from trading certain goods even though its trading partners can produce those goods more cheaply. The comparative advantage comes if each trading partner has a product that will bring a better price in another country than it will at home. If each country specializes in producing the goods in which it has a comparative advantage, more goods are produced, and the wealth of both the buying and the selling nations increases.

Besides this fundamental advantage, further economic benefits result when countries trade with one another. International trade leads to more efficient and increased world production, thus allowing countries (and individuals) to consume a larger and more diverse bundle of goods. A nation possessing limited natural resources is able to produce and consume more than it otherwise could. As noted earlier, the establishment of international trade expands the number of potential markets in which a country can sell its goods. The increased international demand for goods translates into greater production and more extensive use of raw materials and labor, which in turn leads to growth in domestic employment. Competition from international trade can also force domestic firms to become more efficient through modernization and innovation.

Within each economy, the importance of foreign trade varies. Some nations export only to expand their domestic market or to aid economically depressed sectors within the home economy. Other nations depend on trade for a large part of their national income and to supply goods for domestic consumption. In recent years foreign trade has also been viewed as a means to promote growth within a nation's economy. Developing countries and international organizations have increasingly emphasized such trade.

GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS

GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS
Because foreign trade is such an integral part of a nation's economy, governmental restrictions are sometimes necessary to protect what are regarded as national interests. Government action may occur in response to the trade policies of other countries, or it may be resorted to in order to protect specific industries. Since the beginnings of international trade, nations have striven to achieve and maintain a favorable balance of trade—that is, to export more than they import.

In a money economy, goods are not merely bartered for other goods. Instead, products are bought and sold in the international market with national currencies. In an effort to improve its balance of international payments (that is, to increase reserves of its own currency and reduce the amount held by foreigners), a country may attempt to limit imports. Such a policy aims to control the amount of currency that leaves the country.

Import Quotas
One method of limiting imports is simply to close the ports of entry into a country. More commonly, maximum allowable import quantities may be set for specific products. Such quantity restrictions are known as quotas. These may also be used to limit the amount of foreign or domestic currency that is permitted to cross national borders. Quotas are imposed as the quickest means to stop or even reverse a negative trend in a country's balance of payments. They are also used as the most effective means of protecting domestic industry from foreign competition.

Tariffs
Another common way of restricting imports is by imposing tariffs, or taxes on imported goods. A tariff, paid by the buyer of the imported product, makes the price higher for that item in the country that imported it. The higher price reduces consumer demand and thus effectively restricts the import. The taxes collected on the imported goods also increase revenues for the nation's government. Furthermore, tariffs serve as a subsidy to domestic producers of the items taxed because the higher price that results from a tariff encourages the competing domestic industry to expand production.

Nontariff Barriers to Trade
In recent years the use of nontariff barriers to trade has increased. Although these barriers are not necessarily administered by a government with the intention of regulating trade, they nevertheless have that result. Such nontariff barriers include government health and safety regulations, business codes of conduct, and domestic tax policies. Direct government support of various domestic industries is also viewed as a nontariff barrier to trade, because such support puts the aided industries at an unfair advantage among trading nations.

VISA?

INTRODUCTION
Visa, formal endorsement placed by government authorities on a passport, indicating that the passport has been examined and found valid by the nation to be visited, and that the bearer may legally go to his or her destination.

ENTRY VISA
An entry visa signifies that the bearer has received official permission to enter a country as a visitor; it does not, however, guarantee admission. Entry visas serve the general purpose of enabling a government to limit and control the entry of aliens into a country. These visas are of two general types: the passport entry visa, which is issued to persons who wish to enter a country for a visit of stated duration, and the immigration entry visa, which is issued to persons who want to enter and settle permanently in the country.

In the U.S., the requirement of entry visas became an integral part of the immigration system in 1917. Prior to that year aliens were permitted to enter the United States without a visa but were subject to exclusion on various grounds. The immigration laws were strengthened by Congress during World War I, when strict control over the entry of aliens was deemed essential to curtailing enemy espionage and sabotage. Several enactments passed since 1918 have fully defined the visa requirements for both immigrants and nonimmigrants and have rendered them increasingly stringent. Racial restrictions on the immigration and naturalization of aliens were removed and provision was made for the immigration of defectors from Communist countries by the terms of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. American consular officers may refuse entry visas to aliens only on specific grounds set forth in the immigration laws, including mental defects, affliction with a dangerous contagious disease, conviction for crimes involving moral turpitude or illicit narcotics traffic, fraud or willful misrepresentation in procuring a visa, membership in certain proscribed organizations, and prospective activities in the U.S. believed prejudicial to the public interest or dangerous to the welfare, safety, or security of the nation.

Aliens applying to U.S. consular officials abroad for immigration entry visas are normally required to present documentary evidence of their status as responsible and law-abiding citizens of their own country. They must submit to a mental and physical examination and establish their eligibility to receive an immigrant visa. Numerical limitations have been levied on the number of aliens who may immigrate to the United States each year. Certain classes of aliens, including the spouses and children of U.S. citizens, are exempt from numerical limitations.

EXIT VISA
Some nations require that their own citizens obtain exit visas—that is, government authorization to leave the country—before traveling or settling abroad. Exit visas are frequently required by countries in which unfavorable political, social, or economic conditions have resulted in a marked rise in emigration. By restricting exit visas, such countries can check or even halt the flow of emigrants. Notable among the governments that instituted the use of exit visas were the Fascist regime in Italy, from 1922 to 1943, and the National Socialist regime in Germany, from 1933 to 1945. China and a number of other countries have continued this practice to the present time.