Japan, Inc. is a descriptor for that country’s traditional, highly centralized economic system. In a sense, Japan since the 1980s has been defined by a corporate culture of capitalism and export profits. Despite its rapid growth of corporatism, the country experienced prolonged periods of economic stagnation with low GDP growth and low interest rates.
Vicarious liability is a situation in which one party is held partly responsible for the unlawful actions of a third party. The third party also carries his or her own share of the liability. Vicarious liability can arise in situations where one party is supposed to be responsible for (and have control over) a third party and is negligent in carrying out that responsibility and exercising that control.
A renewable resource is one that can be used repeatedly and does not run out because it is naturally replaced. A renewable resource, essentially, has an endless supply such as solar energy, wind energy, and geothermal pressure. Other resources are considered renewable even though some time or effort must go into their renewal (e.g., wood, oxygen, leather, and fish). Most precious metals are renewable also. Although precious metals are not naturally replaced, they can be recycled because they are not destroyed during their extraction and use.
Quality control (QC) is a process through which a business seeks to ensure that product quality is maintained or improved. Quality control requires the business to create an environment in which both management and employees strive for perfection. This is done by training personnel, creating benchmarks for product quality and testing products to check for statistically significant variations.
A currency swap, sometimes referred to as a cross-currency swap, involves the exchange of interest – and sometimes of principal – in one currency for the same in another currency. Interest payments are exchanged at fixed dates through the life of the contract. It is considered to be a foreign exchange transaction and is not required by law to be shown on a company’s balance sheet.
An outlay cost is a cost incurred in order to execute a strategy or acquire an asset. Outlay costs are also paid to vendors to acquire goods such as inventory or services like consulting or software design. They are concrete expenses which are actually incurred in order to achieve a goal. Outlay costs are easy to recognize and measure because they have actually been paid to outside vendors, as opposed to opportunity costs which are not actually incurred and paid to outside parties by the company. For corporations, outlay costs for new projects include start-up, production, and asset acquisition costs. They can also include hiring costs for strategies or projects that require an addition to the workforce in order to be carried out.
A due from account is an asset account in the general ledger used to track money owed to a company that is currently being held at another firm. It is typically used in conjunction with a due to account and is sometimes referred to as intercompany receivables.
A multilateral trading facility (MTF) is a European term for a trading system that facilitates the exchange of financial instruments between multiple parties. Multilateral trading facilities allow eligible contract participants to gather and transfer a variety of securities, especially instruments that may not have an official market. These facilities are often electronic systems controlled by approved market operators or larger investment banks. Traders usually submit orders electronically, where a matching software engine pairs buyers with sellers.
A micro-investing platform is an application that allows users to regularly save small sums of money. Micro-investing platforms aim to remove traditional barriers to investing, such as brokerage account minimums, to encourage people to invest even if they have limited incomes and assets.
The Wall Street Journal Prime Rate is an aggregate average of the various prime rates that 10 of the largest banks in the United States charge to their highest credit quality customers for loans with relatively short-term maturities. This combined rate is obtained by way of a market survey and published regularly by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).