Sakuntala India Essay Example for Free

Sakuntala India Essay Kalidasas Sakuntala is the best-known Sanskrit drama, and widely considered a masterpiece. It is based on an episode from the Mahabharata (book 1, ch. 62-69), though Kalidasa takes significant liberties in his version. Widely translated there were no fewer than forty-six translations in twelve different languages in the century after Sir William Jones groundbreaking first translation (1789) alone, Dorothy Matilda Figueira notes in Translating the Orient new editions continue to appear regularly. Barbara Stoler Millers, published along with translations of Kalidasas two other dramas (and three explanatory essays) as Theater of Memory, appears to have become a standard version, and certainly the classroom text of choice (at least in the US); it also has the advantage of being relatively easy to find (which is not the case with most of the other translations). The eighty pages of essays, covering three different aspects of Kalidasa and Sanskrit drama, and the solid critical apparatus (though the actual notes are a bit thin), as well the fact that it makes the other two Kalidasa plays easily available, does make this an appealing edition. It is not, however, ideal. Millers translation is solid, with a few inspired touches, but it does not stand out among the competition. In addition, more supporting material, and more extensive notes focussed specifically on the play would have been welcome. Sakuntala is a play in seven acts. It begins with a remarkable Prologue, in which the director of the play briefly discusses the planned nights entertainment with the lead actress. Hes worried about impressing his learned audience, and tells her: I find no performance perfect until the critics are pleased; the better trained we are the more we doubt ourselves. (Critics with its newspaper-reviewer connotations is an unfortunate choice here; Kalidasa clearly only means hes worried about the opinion of this generally well-informed audience.) The actress manages to reassure him with a brief song: she is so utterly convincing and enrapturing that he forgets what play he wanted to put on (after just having  mentioned it moments before). Its a hard scene to pull of on the stage, but on the page it can convince, and its a stunning start to the play (and also sets the bar very high). The play proper then begins, with King Dusyanta on a hunting expedition. Hes going after an antelope, but a monk stops him, telling him the antelope belongs to the local hermitage: Your weapon should rescue victims, not destroy the innocent ! The king does as he is asked. Invited to the hermitage he looks around the grove, and comes across Sakuntala and two friends but he hides before they see him. Sakuntala is the daughter of the head sage, Kanva (who is away at the time), or so the king has been told. In fact, she is only the adopted daughter, and is actually the daughter of a royal sage and a celestial nymph (which is important, as the it wouldnt be appropriate for the king to be involved with a commoner). Sakuntala is coming into her own, and one of the first things the king sees is Sakuntala asking one of her friends to loosen the no longer quite form-fitting bark dress she is wearing. As the friend says: Blame your youth for swelling your breasts. (Ryder translates this much more successfully: You had better blame your own budding charms for that.) The king finally shows himself, but hes uncertain whether to reveal his true identity and pretends to be someone else. He finds out that Sakuntala would be an appropriate mate, but theres still a bit of romancing to do. He does, however, give her the ring of the title an embellishment of Kalidasas that isnt found in the original source-material, but that will allow the king to come of looking better than he originally did. The second act begins with a Shakespearean buffoons monologue: the character of the fool transposed to India. The king is by now completely smitten. As the buffoon notes: She must be delectable if youre so enticed. The king is indeed filled with enthusiasm but by the end of the act realises that the buffoon may let something about his passion slip back home at the palace, which might not go over so well, and so he tells him: I really feel no desire for the young ascetic Sakuntala. What do I share with a rustic girl reared among fawns, unskilled in love ? Dont mistake what I muttered in jest for the real truth, my friend ! The audience knows better, and in the third act their true feelings cant be hidden any longer though both the king and Sakuntala suffer for their passion before they can embrace each other: SAKUNTALA: I dont know your heart, but day and night for wanting you, love violently tortures my limbs, cruel man. KING: Love torments you, slender girl, but he completely consumes me daylight spares the lotus pond while it destroys the moon. The king wants to marry Sakuntala, but she is worried that the proposed rushed and secret marriage wouldnt be appropriate. Fulfillment of desire is fraught with obstacles, the king sighs. Sakuntala gives in but only off stage, in between scenes. When the fourth act opens the king has returned home, promising to send for Sakuntala later. Still enraptured, Sakuntala neglects her duties and is cursed by the angry sage Durvasas: the king wont remember who she is at least until he sees the ring of recollection. (In the original version of the story in the Mahabharata there is no curse or ring: the king is simply a cad: he remembers her well enough, but pretends not to.) But Sakuntala is sp swept away she doesnt even realise whats happened. Much of the fourth act is filled with the sweet sorrow of parting, as Sakuntala prepares to  leave the idyllic grove and the hermitage. Its all the more poignant because she is not aware of the terrible fate shes facing (while the audience knows exactly whats coming). In act five Sakuntala arrives at the kings court and doesnt get quite the welcome she expected. It should all be easy enough to clear up, even Sakuntala realises: this ring will revive your memory and remove your doubt. But, alas theres no ring on her finger ! It must have fallen off .. Sakuntala has other evidence, describing their meetings, but that isnt enough to convince the cursed king, and he continues to worry: Since its unclear whether Im deluded or she is speaking falsely should I risk abandoning a wife or being tainted by another mans ? Act six begins with more comic relief, as a fisherman is interrogated by the police about a ring he found the missing royal ring of recollection, of course. Now, finally, the king remembers. and he sets off to regain her. Sakuntala has by now given birth to a child, a boy who looks much like the king (and who should so the kings promise to Sakuntala long ago be his successor). But the king can barely believe that there is any hope left for him: learning the boys mothers name is Sakuntala he moans: But names can be the same. Even a name is a mirage a false hope to herald despair. But, finally, there is the happy reunion and ending. Much of the power of the play is as a character study of Sakuntala, as Kalidasa shows her in these different circumstances. Her love, her despair, her anger are all impressively displayed. Much of this and, indeed, the success of much of the rest of the play depends on the poetry of the play, and while there are some very successful bits, Millers translation does fall short. Sanskrit is a difficult language to translate in any case. The nominal compounds (similar to the German, except that they can be much more elaborate) pose a particular problem, and the Sanskrit verses with their own complex rules are also very difficult to convey. Miller knows her stuff, and the substance of the play is well-conveyed. But much goes  missing especially that sense of poetry. Some of the problems can be guessed at from the explanation she offers of the plays title in the notes (one of the few terms she explains at greater length): Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection This is not a literal rendering of the Sanskrit compound Abhijnanasakuntala, whose exact form and meaning are controversial even among Sanskrit critics and commentators. The word abhijnana means recognition or recollection; it is used in the play to refer to the ring Dusyanta gives as a token to Sakuntala () A more exact translation of the title might be [The drama of] Sakuntala [remembered] through the ring of recollection, where the entire compound refers to the implied word nataka (drama),and a word like smrta (remembered) may be supplied according to a rule of Sanskrit grammar governing elision in compound verbs. Unfortunately, there are probably few words (and verses) in the text that dont warrant as much or more explanation. Miller goes for the grounded, straightforward approach, not rhyming the verses, for example (Ryder, on the other hand, imposes a rhyme on all the verses). Enough of the original comes through to get a decent sense of the plays qualities, but it rarely reaches the transcendent heights the original is reputed to have. A useful edition, with some decent supporting material (though more would have been welcome), it nevertheless isnt entirely satisfying. Return to top of the page

The End of Make Believe Essay -- Analysis, Claudia Kalb

In a culture saturated in high tech toys that explode with dynamite sounds and whirling lights, children spend countless hours watching television and playing video games and less time engaging in creative and imaginative play. In Claudia Kalb’s article â€Å"The End of Make Believe,† she introduces the Knott family from Cleveland, Ohio. Kris Knott and her husband, parents of three active children, are striving to get back to the basics of play by increasing family time and decreasing their children’s television and video game usage. During the summer months, it would not be uncommon to find the entire family outside enjoying a pleasant evening together. Mrs. Knott states that â€Å"entertainment is not play† and children need carefree, less structured time to use their imaginations (Kalb, par.1). While the Knott’s children have plenty of organized activities such as after school sports, their parents recognize the importance of using imaginatio n and creativity as a source of play (Kalb, par.1). In the same manner, parents must limit children’s time engaging in technology by creating quality family time and encouraging more creative and imaginative play for intellectual, emotional, and social skills to develop. In addition to television, today’s children are inundated with a wide variety of technological choices such as video games, Internet games, and other interactive activities. Despite these advanced technologies, television continues to play a large role in today’s society and while it began as an element to unite the family, it appears to be dividing the family apart now (Winn 437). While television provides us with hours of entertainment, stirs emotions deep inside, and is a tool for gathering information, most experts agree ... ...roviding the â€Å"box† for more creative and imaginative play. In addition, parents must gather around the dinner table and create family traditions that will last forever in their children’s memories. Parents must emulate the Knott family who are creating memories by spending time together outdoors instead of watching television in separate rooms. As a result, these children develop intellectually, emotionally, and socially and contribute both to their family and community. Elyssa Knott, at the young age of 11 states, "How much fun could you possibly have if you didn't use your imagination?" (Kalb, par.1) As parents follow Kris Knott and her family’s example, they will see their own family beginning to change and acknowledge the importance of spending quality time together, letting go of the television remote and stepping back to the basics of play.

Writing Deficiencies in Today

Employers rank oral and written skills as some of the most valuable qualifications desirable when looking for new hiring candidates (Gray, 2005). Writings need to be informative, concise, free of spelling and grammatical errors. Additionally, effective business communication needs to be accurate and clear in meaning. Implications of poor grammar skills of today's employees on company profitability can quickly add up into the billions. Company productivity can be effected due to poor communication between employees and customers.The need to have material interpreted by different employees because of poorly written material causes lost time and productivity. Instructions being misinterpreted due to poorly written material causes unnecessary time being lost. The academic community has long debated the need to teach grammar skills and its benefits to students. Unfortunately; college students are graduating every day without the simple basic knowledge of sentence structure, spelling or gr ammar (College Bad, The National Commission on Writing for America's Families, Schools, andColleges, 2004). Traditionally, two different approaches have been used. In the ass's, a â€Å"rule-based†, approach which used repetitive drills and sentence diagramming was employed. This theory was proven ineffective by Weaver in 1 996 (Weaver, 1996), and a â€Å"context-based†, theory was adopted, which focused on students learning language by using a specific content. Regardless of the approach taken it is clear that it is necessary to take charge of our students need to learn grammar skills at an early age and to reinforce Hess skills throughout their school age years.

Study On The Variability In Foreign Exchange Rate - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3535 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? 1.0. Introduction Variability in foreign exchange (FX) rate has been one of the major economic and financial factors affecting cash flows and common stocks value. After the collapse of post-war Bretton Woods fixed exchange rates in the 1970s, the relative prices of currencies began to fluctuate. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On The Variability In Foreign Exchange Rate" essay for you Create order The rapid expansion in international trade and adoption of floating exchange rate regimes by many countries led to increase exchange rate volatility. As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. In this context, it is very important to mention that virtually all existing empirical studies estimate currency exchange rate exposures on the basis of share prices. However, the assessment of cash flow and stock price exposures which will be studied in this research will represent a rational alternative to the analysis of stock price exposures. In fact, it is the impact of exchange rate risk on corporate cash flows rather than equity prices per se, that is emphasized in the theoretical literature on corporate risk management, either for tax reasons, managerial performance, bankruptcy, investment decisions or compensation purposes. Jacque (1996) points out that change in a companys earnings due to unexpected foreign currency exchange rate changes relatively to their domestic currency is considered as foreign exchange rate risks. Changes in exchange rates may affect firms profitability and value. Exchange rate changes can also impact on the level of competitiveness of the firms which are exposed to exchange rate risk, or affect the value of their net assets denominated in foreign currencies. Adler and Dumas (1984) show that even firms whose entire operations are domestic may have affects of exchange rates of foreign currencies, if their output and input prices are influenced by currency movements. Moreover, Eiteman et al. (2006) says that in general, firms are exposed to three types of foreign exchange risk: translation exposure, transaction exposure and economic exposure. Translation and transaction exposures are accounting based and defined in terms of the book values of assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency. In practice, economic exposure is computed as the net sensitivity of some aggregate measure of firm value to currency fluctuations. Economic exposure contains of the direct and indirect effects of currency fluctuations by focusing on the net sensitivity. At the corporate level, changes in exchange rates affect the firm value, because future cash flows of the firm will change with exchange rate fluctuations. In other words, exchange rate changes have important implications for financial decision-making and for firm profitability. It is widely believed that changing exchange rates affect the competitiveness of firms engaged in international competition. According to Luehrman (1991), a falling home currency promotes the competitiveness of firms in home country by allowing them to undercut prices charged for goods manufactured abroad. Many simple partial equilibrium models (e.g. Shapiro) predict an increase in the value of the home country firm in response to a real drop in the value of the home currency. Economic theory suggests that under a floating exchange rate regime, exchange rate appreciation reduces the competitiveness of export markets; it has a negative effect on the domestic stock market. Conversely, if the country is import denominated, exchange rate appreciation may have positive affect on the stock market by lowering input costs. Problem statement As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. Also, the internationalization of capital markets has resulted in inflow of vast sums of funds between countries and in the cross listing of equities. This has therefore made investors and firms more interested in the volatility of exchange rate and its effect on stock price and stock market volatility. According to Yucel and Kurt (2003), floating exchange rate appreciation reduces the competitiveness of export markets; and has a negative effect on share prices as well as the domestic stock market. On the other hand, for import dominated country, it may have positive effect on the stock market by lowering input costs. Malaysia presents an example of an open economy which engages in international trade with several countries and hence susceptible to foreign exchange rate volatility. Malaysian exchange and trade system have been liberalized for many years. Malaysia now follows a floating exchange rate policy. Malaysian economy has been suffered from Asian financial crisis 1997 and World financial crisis 2008. As a result volatility in foreign exchange rate and deviation from purchasing power parity might become persistent in the economy. Most of the firms operating in Malaysia are affected in many ways from these economic conditions. The firms have faced higher business risk and foreign exchange risk. However, empirical evidence on the influence of foreign exchange market volatility on stock market is largely inconsistent. These have been in the contest of developed economies. Mishra (2004) found no theoretical consensus on the interaction between stock prices and exchange rate. However, Solnik (2000) argues that there is a negative correlation between stock market and local currency. The openness of a countrys economy is recognized as a cause of volatili ty of its market. Malaysia presents a classic example of an open economy which engages in international trade transaction. Moreover, with advert of globalization, developing economies are becoming more integrated into developed economies as the results of increasing flow of imports and exports. Malaysia is not an exception. A cursory examination of foreign exchange rate history in Malaysia shows some considerable level of volatility. Therefore, it would be interesting to explore the effect of its foreign exchange volatility on cash flows as well as stock prices of its non-financial companies. Again, much work on the effect of the exchange rate volatility in the developing country like Malaysia has not been done. Thus, for that reason the study intended look at the effect of foreign exchange exposure on companies cash flows and stock prices in Malaysia. Research objectives Objective of the current research is to determine whether cash flows and stock prices of companies are affected by exchange rate exposure. This research project attempts to assess the economic exposures of the firms chosen from the Bursa Malaysia Main market. The issues are important for investors as well as corporate risk management. To examine the relationship between cash flows of the companies and exchange rates; To examine the relationship between stock prices of the companies and exchange rates; To determine which currencies have major influence on the companies cash flows? To determine which currencies have major influence on the companies stock prices? Research questions The research aims to find answers to the following questions: Whether cash flows of the companies exposed to exchange rate risk? Whether stock prices of the companies exposed to exchange rate risk? Which currencies have major influence on the companies cash flows? Which currencies have major influence on the companies stock prices? Significance of the study The estimation of exchange rate exposure is a relatively new area in international finance. After 1973, managers and economists become more concerned about the exchange rate fluctuations on firms. Also, for the past decade, researchers have been empirically investigating the exchange rate exposure of the firms. Following Adler Dumas (1984) most of the research measures the exposure as the elasticity between change in firm value and exchange rate. Empirically, this exposure elasticity is obtained from a regression of stock returns on an exchange rate change (Bodnar Wong, 2000). In practice, there is little general agreement on the use of appropriate choice of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"aggregate measure. In this research project it is focused on the impact of economic exposure of Malaysian firms values. Corporate managers will also be interested in the exposures of corporate cash flow measures such as sales, operating cash flow and earnings for reasons of corporate planning and risk management. Scope of the study The current study one of the new studies in international finance and risk management. In general, the research will assess the economic exposures for the companies listed in Bursa Malaysia Main Market from the years 2000 to 2008. For the research, first, all sample companies stock returns will be regressed on exchange rate change and market return. In the second step, companies will be examined according to one specific character, which is export volume. LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction It is also noticeable whether the firms cash flows are sensitive to exchange rate movements. Perhaps we should also point out the fact that Grambovas and McLeay (2006) are convinced that empirical analysis confirm that currency fluctuations may affect firm values, especially with consideration to the influence of foreign exchange rate movements on the firms cash flows and their accounting earnings, and on their stock prices. Previous literature Miller Reuer (1998) conducted a study on the implications of differences in strategy and industry structure for firms economic exposures to foreign exchange rate movements. According to their results, 13-17 % of US manufacturing firms exposed for foreign exchange rate movements. Also they indicated that foreign direct investment reduces economic exposure to foreign exhange rate movements. Martin and Mauer suggest that economic exposure, which typically has a longer-term time dimension, encompasses the competitive and indirect effects of exchange rate risk. Many academics such as Hodder (1982), Marston (2001) Pringle (1995), Shapiro (1975) and von Ungern-Sternberg von Weizsacker (1990) argue that unlike transaction exposure, economic exposure can affect even domestic firms. Economic exposure arises from changes in the sales prices and volumes, and the cost of inputs of the firm and its competitors as a result of exchange rate changes. Miller Reuer (1998) and Sundaram Black (1 992) argued that geographically positioning production, sales, sourcing, and financing operations is effective for reducing economic exposure. Glaum, Brunner and Himmet (2000) examined the economic exposure of German corporations to change in DM/US dollar exchange rate. They found that German firms are significantly exposed to changes in DM/US dollar rate. Several studies focused on the some companies and they demonstrated that exporter firms stock values are more sensitive to change in foreign exchange rates (Mao and Kao, 1990; Bortov and Bodnar, 1992). The study by SÃÆ' ¶hnke M. Bartram (2007) found significant exposure of several firms to at least one of the foreign exchange rates, and significant exposures found by them were more frequent at long-term horizons. They also argue that the impact of exchange rate risk on share prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a correlated set of economic factors. Moreover, Dominguez and Tesar (2006) found that exchan ge rate movements do matter for a significant fraction of firms, though which firms are affected and the direction of exposure depends on the specific exchange rate and varies over time, suggesting that firms dynamically adjust their behavior in response to exchange rate risk. Exposure is correlated with firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and trade at the industry level. Martin and Mauer (2003) pointed out that cash flow effects are greater for long-term lags than for short-term lags in exchange rate movements. This result may occur because transaction exposure is easier to assess and hedge, whereas economic exposure is more difficult to recognize and hedge. While Bartram (2007) suggests significant exposure of several firms to at least one of the foreign exchange rates such as CAD, JPY and EUR, and significant exposures determined by Bartram (2007) were more frequent at long-term horizons. The percentage of firms observed fo r which stock price and earnings exposures were considerably different was relatively low, though it increased with time horizon. Finally, he was convinced that the impact of exchange rate risk on stock prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a related set of economic factors. Batram and Karolyi (2006) took a new look at the exposure puzzle by studying the potential impact of the introduction of the Euro on stock returns of 3,220 non-financial firms from 20 countries. Their findings suggest that the introduction of the Euro decreased foreign exchange rate exposure, but these changes are statistically and economically small. According to Tesar and Dominguez (2006), factors such as firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and trade at the industry level may influence economic exposure of the companies. These factors may either increase the companies economic exposure or decrease. These factors influence on the companies economic exposure will depend on how significantly these factors are correlated with the companies cash flows and operations, and if there are significant correlation between them, we should also point out whether these significant correlations are positive or negative. Empirical analysis by Grambovas and McLeay (2006) confirmed that exchange rate fluctuations will affect firm values, especially with regard to the influence of exchange rate movements on the cash flows and accounting earnings of companies with international exposure, and on their stock prices. Recent studies by Priestley and Odegaard (2007) studied the exchange rate exposures by orthogonalizing the market returns with respect to changes in exchange rates and a set of macroeconomic factors. Their findings suggest that the extent of exposures is only fully exposed when it is subdivided the sample period into regimes and at the same time used an orthogonalized market portfolio in the regression. Batram and Karoly i (2006) studied the exposure puzzle by looking at the potential impact of the introduction of the Euro on stock returns of 3,220 non-financial firms from different 20 countries. It was found that the introduction of the Euro had decreased foreign exchange rate exposure, but the changes were statistically and economically very small. However, Bae, Kwon, and Li (2008) having studied the exchange rate exposure and risk premium by using data on American depositary receipts (ADR) of Australia, France, Japan and the U.K., found that changes in the exchange rates were negatively correlated with the underlying shares of ADRs, but they were positively correlated to ADR returns observed in the U.S. markets. Moreover, they discovered that U.S. and local investors require different risk premiums for exchange rate risks presented in ADR investments. Griffin and Stulz (2001) found weak evidence of statistically significant exchange rate exposures, and the economic significance of the estimate d exposures was low. A first main study of the foreign exchange exposure fact done by Jorion (1990) found a significant impact of foreign exchange rate risk on share prices for 5.2 percent of the analyzed 287 U.S. MNCs at the 5 percent level. Choi and Prasad 1995 developed a model and examined the exchange rate sensitivity of 409 US multinational firms. Their findings indicated that change in exchange rate affected firm value. They found that 60 percent of firms had significant exchange rate exposure. In their study, Choi and Prasad (1995) found that 14.9 percent of the individual firms in the U.S. and 10 percent of the industry portfolios showed a significant exchange rate exposure at the 10 percent level, corroborating earlier findings. Domely and Sheehy (1996) found contemporaneous relation between the foreign exchange rate and the market value of large exporters in their study. Comparable results were found outside the United States by He and Ng (1998). For instance only s ome multinational companies in Japan (26.3% and 53.8% for different time periods) showed a significant exchange rate exposure with regard to a multilateral exchange rate index. Some studies look into the exposure of industry portfolios in several countries, there were found percentage yields of companies with significant exposure of 15% (United States), 4% (Japan) and 6% (United Kingdom) by Prasad and Rajan (1995), or 23% (United States), 21% (Canada) and 25% (Japan) by Bodnar and Gentry (1993) at the 5% level. Study by Bartram and Karolyi (2006) suggests that the FX rate exposure of non-financial firms is systematically linked to firm characteristics such as sales, the percentage of foreign sales in general and in Europe in particular, regional factors like geography, strength of currency and industry characteristics like competition, traded goods. Study examined by Allayannis and Ihrig (2001) speak about stock price exposure to international trade activities of U.S. industries, an d Bodnar et al. (2002) mention the significance of pass-through for exposure. Moreover, Starks and Wei (2004) found that the scale of exchange rate exposure is linked to proxies for probabilities of financial distress, product uniqueness and growth opportunities. However, the evidence of corporate foreign exchange rate exposures on a cash flow basis is very thin and inadequate to individual case studies. Garner and Shapiro (1984) investigated the foreign exchange rate exposure of Vulcan Materials Company by regressing changes of its quarterly operating cash flows on changes in the exchange rate of USD against GBP, and showed only small and statistically irrelevant foreign exchange rate exposures. Moreover, Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) use quarterly changes of total cash flow, commercial cash flow and sales revenue as dependent variables in the exposure analysis of Volvo Cars. Results by Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) indicate that the financial situation of the company reduces expo sures with regard to changes in the DEM/SEK exchange rate only to a modest degree. One more study by Bartram (2005) investigated the exposure of a large nonfinancial company based on proprietary internal as well as external capital markets data. Analysis by Bartram (2005) illustrated that the irrelevance of foreign exchange rate exposures of wide-ranging performance measures such as total cash flow and/or share price can be explained by hedging at the company level. Several studies focused on the some companies and they demonstrated that exporter firms stock values are more sensitive to change in foreign exchange rates (Mao and Kao, 1990; Bortov and Bodnar, 1992). In the most of the studies foreign exchange exposure was measured by regression analysis by using stock returns. Adler and Simon (1986) measured economic exposure as the slope of stock return on exchange rate change. Jorions (1990) model was established by adding the return of the market to control for market movemen ts. As Jorion, Booth and Rotenberg (1990) and Bodnar and Gentry (1993) examined economic exposure with market return, Miller and Reuner (2000) estimated economic exposure by multivariate modelling approach. They applied three-currency model, also add some specified macroeconomic variables such overall stock market return and interest rates. Flanney and James (1984) and Sweeney and Warga (1986) also used interest rates in their models. Doneely and Sheehy (1996) formed a porfolio with 39 companies, and examined the relationship between abnormal return on exporting firms portfolio and return on sterling. Khoo (1994) estimated mining companies economic exposure by using exchange rates, interest rates and price of oil. METHODOLOGY 3.0. Economic Exposure Measurement In order to measure Malaysian companies economic exposure I decided to follow Adler Simon (1986) model. I will measure economic exposure as the slope coefficient from a regression of stock returns on exchange rates. R it = ÃŽÂ ±i + ÃŽÂ ²i et + eit (1) ÃŽÂ ±i = constant term R it = Stock return for company i. et = Percentage change in exchange rate The coefficient ÃŽÂ ²i represents the sensitivity of a company is stock returns to exchange rate movements. In the model exchange rate quotation is direct quotation for Malaysia. In other words it is shown as MYR per one unit of the foreign currency. Positive value of ÃŽÂ ²i means that a depreciation of MYR corresponds to an increase in the value of company i. In the study, I will apply another model as Jorion approach. Jorian introduced another macroeconomic variable market return to control for market movements. To control for the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"common macroeconomic influences on total exposure elastici ties; most emprical studies include the return to a market portfolio with the exchange rate variable in their emprical models (Bodnar Wong, 2000). R it = ÃŽÂ ±i + ÃŽÂ ²1i et + ÃŽÂ ²2i Rmt + eit (2) ÃŽÂ ±i = constant term R it = Stock return for company i. et = Percentage change in exchange rate Rmt = Market return Ordinary least squares regression was used to estimate models. Exchange rate movements can be measured in nominal or real terms. Real movements are defined as nominal movements adjusted for price level changes across countries. In some studies (Khoo, 1994; Bodnar and Wong, 2000), since real and nominal exchange rates are highly correlated both or one of them are used. Also in some studies trade weighed foreign exchange rate used. The exchange rate used in the study is real effective exchange rate, which is calculated by the Bank Negara (Malaysian Central Bank). The market index I employ will be FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index. In both mod el, it will be focused on individual firm value. Choi and Prasad (1995) state that examining exchange rate risk on aggregate level, on portfolio or market index, may not reveal the true exchange risk sensitivity of firm value. They claim that a firm level study is necessary to understand whether and why individual firms display varying sensitivity to exchange risk. I follow their approach in my analysis. 3.1. Data In order to examine Malaysian companies economic exposure, I constructed a sample. Sample companies stocks are publicly traded in FTSE Bursa Malaysia market. Only medium and big sized companies will be included. It will be used monthly data to estimate exchange rate sensitivity of the equity for the period from January 2000 to December 2008. Sample companies economic exposure will be examined in two steps. First, all sample companies stock returns will be regressed on exchange rate change and market return. In the second step, companies will be examined according to one specific character, which is export volume. The companies will be divided into two: exporter and non-exporter firms. It will be identified companies as an exporter company, if their foreign sales level is at least 20% of total sales in 2000. Individual stock returns for companies and FTSE Bursa Malaysia market return data will be collected from Bursa Malaysia sources and DataStream in UUM Library.