In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset, for either financial or social goals. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses and organizations raise, allocate and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. ... Buyers bargain for good prices while sellers put forth their best front in Chichicastenango Market, Guatemala. ... In business and accounting an asset is anything owned which can produce future economic benefit, whether in possession or by right to take possession, by a person or a group acting together, e. ... Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in finance and economics, related to saving or deferring consumption. ...

Divestment for financial goals

Often the term is used as a corporate strategy, in which a company sells off a business unit in order to focus their resources on a market it judges to be more profitable, or promising. Sometimes, such an action can be a spin-off. Other times divestment can occur when required by the Federal Trade Commission before a merger is approved. A company can divest assets to wholly owned subsidiaries. Competitive Strategy is often used in place of Corporate Strategy and vice versa. ... A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a new company formed from a university research group. ...

The largest, and likely most-famous, corporate divestiture in history was the 1984 US Department of Justice-mandated breakup of the Bell System into AT&T and the seven Baby Bells. 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. ... The break up of AT&T was initiated in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Justice anti-trust suit against the telephone monopoly. ... The Bell System was a trademark and service mark used by the US telecommunications company American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) and its affiliated companies to co-brand their extensive circuit-switched telephone network and their affiliations with each other. ... AT&T Inc. ... The Regional Bell operating companies (RBOC) are the result of the United States antitrust action against AT&T in 1983. ...

Divestment for social goals

The term also refers to the reduction of investment in firms, industries or countries for reasons of political or social policy.

Examples of divestment for social reasons have included:

• the withdrawal of American firms from South Africa during the 1980s due to Apartheid
• discussion over whether it is ethical to invest in companies that sell tobacco
• the recent selling/commitment to nonpurchase of assets implicated in funding the government of Sudan, in acknowledgement of acts of genocide perpetrated in the Darfur conflict. This divestment has taken place both at the state level (including Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Maine) and at many American Universities, notably Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Amherst College, Yale University, Brown University, the University of California, and Brandeis University. The Sudan Divestment Task Force [1]has organized a nationwide group which advocates targeted divestment, to minimize any harm on Sudanese civilians.

Discussion of divestment for social, environmental and political reasons has arisen frequently on college campuses. For example, taking into account faculty and student opinion, several university boards of trustees voted to divest from South Africa entirely during the 1980s, in some cases after widespread protests occurred. MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... Ethics (from Greek ἦθος meaning custom) is the branch of axiology, one of the four major branches of philosophy, which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to distinguish that which is right from that which is wrong. ... Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing... The country of Sudan The Darfur conflict is an ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a militia group recruited from local Arab tribes, and the non-Arab peoples of the region. ... Harvard University campus (old map) Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Stanford redirects here. ... Dartmouth College is a private academic institution in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. ... Amherst College is an independent liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. It is the third oldest college in Massachusetts. ... Yale redirects here. ... Brown University is an Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States of America. ... The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. ... Brandeis University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ...

In 2004, the Presbyterian USA church voted to selectively divest from companies with ties to the Israeli military (such as Caterpillar Inc.) in order to pressure Israel into ending the occupation of disputed land in the West Bank and Gaza. In 2005, the World Council of Churches followed suit. The New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, at its Annual Conference session held June 8-11-2005, voted to urge the divesting of funds from companies that support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories. The resolution stated: Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... Caterpillar Inc. ... Gaza City (alternatively, simply Gaza; Arabic غزة Ġazzah; Hebrew עזה Azza). ... The World Council of Churches (WCC) is the principal international Christian ecumenical organization. ... The United Methodist Church is the largest Methodist, the largest mainline, and, after the Southern Baptist Convention, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. ...

• Whereas the United Methodist Church should not profit from the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land or the destruction of Palestinian homes, orchards, and lives,
• Whereas we are committed to ensuring that our denomination’s money is used in a manner consistent with our beliefs, with international law, and with Christ’s teaching,[2].

The United Church of Christ also followed suit.pdf This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... This page is about the title. ... Emblem of the UCC The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States, generally considered within the Reformed tradition, and formed in 1957 by the merger of two denominations, the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches. ...

On May 27th 2006, representing more than 200,000 workers, delegates to The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) - Ontario convention in Ottawa voted overwhelmingly to support the global campaign, supported by many North American churches, 20 Quebec organizations, and others that is boycotting Israel over its treatment of Palestinians until it sees Israel recognizing the Palestinians' right to self-determination. They also condemned what they called Israel's "apartheid wall," saying it is illegal under international law. [3] The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE, French: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well and has also started to dabble in international politics... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English Flower White trillium Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 4th 1... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant Location City Information Established: 1850 as Bytown Area: 2,778. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Flower White garden lily Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total  - Land  - Water    (% of total)  Ranked 2nd 1,542,056 km² 1,183... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...

On the 27th of April 2005, The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Citizens Peace Committee of Pakistan has called for a total boycott of US and British products to protest declaring war on weak nations [4]. Their release cites:“The local chains pay their American principals a royalty of 5 % on each sale for using their brand names. It is this 5 % that goes to bloat the coffers of the US corporations most of whom are major contributors to the state of Israel. Thus, consuming American fast food goes to strengthen the US and Israeli armed forces, US aggression worldwide and the Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians".

Pro-Palestinian student groups at many colleges and universities petitioned their schools to divest from companies with ties to the Israeli military in 2002-2004, but most divestment campaigns at universities were unsuccessful in swaying the schools' administrations' investment decisions. Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers famously called those campaigns "anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent." For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Larry Summers Lawrence Henry Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American economist, politician, and academic. ...

Divestment campaigns have brought the notion of "socially conscious investing" into the public eye. Under such a philosophy, investors intentionally invest in companies whose policies they believe to be especially aligned with their own interests, for instance, supporting environmental protection or avoiding businesses in the alcohol, tobacco, or pornography industries. (See, for instance Ave Maria Mutual Funds.) Devils Punchbowl Waterfall, New Zealand. ... In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. ... Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... Pornographic movies Pornography (from Greek πορνη prostitute and γραφία written material) (also informally referred to as porn or porno) is the representation of the human body or sexual activity with the goal of sexual arousal. ... Ave Maria Mutual Funds is a mutual fund family that targets clients interested in financially sound investments in companies that do not violate certain religious principles of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

By divesting from certain sectors of the economy, and investing in others, such investors may intend to provide a market-based incentive for corporate social responsibility. Investment is a term with several closely related meanings in finance and economics. ... A physical marketplace in Portugal enables buyers and sellers of produce to do business with each other. ... In economics, an incentive in anything that provides a motive for a particular course of action — that counts as a reason for preferring one choice to the alternatives. ... Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an expression used to describe what some see as a company’s obligation to be sensitive to the needs of all of the stakeholders in its business operations. ...

Criticisms of divestment for social goals

Some hold that divestment campaigns are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how equity markets work. John Silber, former president of Boston University, observed that while boycotting a company's products would actually affect their business, "once a stock issue has been made, the corporation doesn't care whether you sell it, burn it, or anything else, because they've already got all the money they're ever going to get from that stock. So they don't care." [5] Regarding the more specific case of South Africa, he recalled: A stock market is a market for the trading of publicly held company stock and associated financial instruments (including stock options, convertibles and stock index futures). ... John Robert Silber (born August 15, 1926 in San Antonio, Texas) is a controversial former president of Boston University. ... For the unrelated Jesuit university in Chestnut Hill, see Boston College. ...

...when the students were protesting the South African situation, I met with them, and they said BU must divest in General Motors and IBM. And I said, “Why should we do that? Is it immoral to own that stock?” Absolutely immoral to own it. And I said, “So then, we're supposed to sell it to somebody? We can't divest unless we sell it to somebody. And if we burn the stock, that just helps General Motors, because it reduces the amount of stock outstanding, so that can't be right. If we sell it to somebody, we have just gotten rid of our guilt in order to impose guilt on somebody else.” [6]

External links

• General divestment information from the Sudan divestment movement
• Pensions for Peace ~ ACT for the Earth
• CAMERA information on divestment.
• University of Wisconsin Divestment website.
• City of Seattle Divest.
• Mainline churches launch a policy to punish Israel by Eugene Kontorovich, in the Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2005.
• Palestine Solidarity Movement

The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ...

See also

• Financial economics
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Corporate social responsibility
• Tax resistance