GLOSSARY OF AMERICAN TERMS

Compiled by M. Rechcigl, Jr.

Accountability - The condition of being answerable to higher authority in connection with the discharge of official duties, for the physical and/or monetary integrity, completeness or unimpairment of funds or property placed in one's custody, including rendering an accounting thereof.

Accrual - Services or shipment performed against an obligation, but voucher not yet paid.

Administrative Approval - The initial approval of an invoice or voucher received for payment. The approving officer is an employee directly concerned with the supplies, services, etc., billed. The approval is necessary before the invoice or voucher is certified for payment by the authorized certifying officer, except as may be specifically exempted by the Agency.

Administrative Reservation - Funds which have been set aside to cover a specific, planned obligation during the current fiscal year.

Advanced Developing Country (sometimes called middle income countries) - Countries which are economically between the most advanced and the LDCs.

Allotment - A portion of an appropriation for which accountability has been delegated for specific purposes.

Annual Budget Submission (ABS) - The Agency's detailed budget requirements and the initial document in the annual budgeting.

Appropriate Technology - Set of useful technologies imposing least intellectual economic, social, or even environmental costs to the country.

Apportionment - A distribution made by the Office of Management and Budget of amounts of money available for obligation or expenditure in an appropriation
or fund account into amounts available for specified time periods, activities, functions, projects, or combinations thereof.

Appropriation - An act of Congress permitting Federal agencies to incur obligations for specific purposes.

Audit - The systematic examination of records and documents and the securing of other evidence by confirmation, physical inspection, or comparison.

Authorization - Substantive legislation which establishes legal operation of a Federal program, either indefinitely or for a specific period and sanctions particular program funding levels.

Authorized Certifying Officer - Government employee authorized in writing by the head of an agency, or his designee, to certify vouchers for payment from the agency's appropriation.

Baseline Data - The collection, compiling and analyses of specific data over a period of time to be used as a point of reference for later inquiry.

Basic Needs - The minimum requirements of a community for a decent standard of life, adequate food, shelter, and clothing plus some household equipment and furniture.

Bid Bond or Guaranty - A bond or guaranty that accompanies a bid, when invitations for bids require it, to assure that the bidder will, if his/her bid is accepted, execute the contract.

Bilateral Assistance - Economic assistance provided directly by a country to a country or intended to, benefit one or more countries indirectly.

Bioconversion - A biological process in which one form of energy is converted into another form of energy of plants or microorganisms.

Biological Pest Control - Control of pests in various ways as an alternative to the use of chemical pesticides.

Biotechnology - Any technique that uses a living organism to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals or to develop microorganisms for specific uses.

Brooke Amendment - An amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act which prohibits assistance to countries more than one year in default on the repayment of loans made under U.S. Appropriations Act.

Budget - Financial plan for use of a fund or funds.

Capital - intensive Production - A method of production, which uses relatively more capital and capital goods than labor per unit produced.

Centrally Planned Economies - Economics of those countries in which the government is the predominant owner of the means of production.

Closeout - A formal process initiated by the Office of Procurement to officially conclude expired contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements.

Collaborative Assistance - A method of providing long-term technical assistance involving the professional collaboration of an educational institution or international research center and a cooperating country institution for problem solving-type activities to develop new institutional forms and capabilities, to devise operating systems and policies, and to conduct joint research and development, including training.

Commerce Business Daily - Publication of the U.S. Department of Commerce which synopsizes procurement information for USAID and other U.S. Government Agencies.

Commitment - An executed contract, purchase order or other commitment document.

Commodity Import Program (CIP) - A form of non-project assistance by which USAID makes dollars available to a cooperating country to finance the importation of categories of commodities under a loan or grant agreement.

Conflict of Interest - The pursuit of private goals incompatible with the public interest.

Congressional Presentation - Annual submission to Congress of Agency-wide funding requirements.

Contract - An acquisition instrument used to purchase service, commodities and construction.

Contributions, In-kind - A general term used to describe a United States and/or cooperating country contribution to an approved project or cooperative service entity in a form other than cash under a program authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961,as amended.

Cooperating Country - The country receiving SAID assistance.

Cost/Benefit Analysis - The relation between social benefits and social costs associated with the operations of a system under study.

Cost Effectiveness Analysis - Quantitative examination of alternative prospective systems, for the purpose of identifying the preferred systems and its associated equipment, organizations, etc.

Cost Sharing - Contributions by a recipient of an USAID grant or cooperative agreement toward the allowable costs of the agreement.

Country Development Strategy Statement (CDSS) - Prepared annually by the SAID Mission, this document summarizes (in about 50 pages) the Host Country's social and economic development status; progress and constraints to development; the Host Country's development plan and resources; and the SAID Mission's overall and sectorial assistance strategy, within the framework of current AID/Washington policy and guidelines.

Delegation of Authority - The assignment of decision-making authority and responsibility to lower ranking officials in a bureaucratic hierarchy.

Democratization - The act or process of making or becoming democratic (based upon the principles of democracy) Deobligations - Unexpended funds obligated for a specific activity
which are subsequently withdrawn, following a determination that they are not required for that activity.

Developing Country - A country in which large segments of the economy are still comparatively underdeveloped and the majority of the population is very poor.

Development - Process of economic and social betterment, resulting from increased production, more rational or equitable distribution of benefits from this activity, the adoption of principles of national and individual more conducive to economic growth, and general institutional and structural change in a society.

Development Strategy - The coordinated package of programs and projects dictated by a government's development policy which aims to achieve a particular kind of development.

Diffusion of Technology - Transfer of a new technology from the first commercial use to a number of competing users.

Disallowance - An item claimed that is not certified for payment.

Disbursement - Actual payment of a voucher or payroll.

Discount - Any allowance or payment to or for the benefit of a buyer.

Donor Country - A country providing assistance to a developing country.

Earmark - Funds appropriated by Congress for a specific purpose.

Economic Feasibility - Projects or technologies may be infeasible if they require more resources than are available. Strictly economic feasibility is studied evaluating costs at marginal values. The term is sometimes stretched to cover financial feasibility as well, evaluating resources at actual or nominal costs.

Economy of Scale - A type pf comparative economic advantage dependent on size
of installation, quantity of items produced, or volume of throughput.

Electronic Mail - Process of sending, receiving, storing, and forwarding messages in digital form over telecommunication facilities. Also called E-mail.

Empirical - Based upon experience or experiment alone, without using science or theory.

Entropy - Abstract concept of the process of loss in the relative order or arrangement of the constituent elements of a closed system.

Environment - The sum of all external conditions which affect the life, development, and survival of an organism.

Environmental Assessment - A written environmental analysis to determine whether a proposed activity would significantly affect the environment.

Environmental Degradation - Degradation of the human or natural environment, usually as a result of negative human interventions.

Environmental Im~act Statement - A document required of federal agency for major projects or legislative proposals significantly affecting the
environment.

Expert System - Methods and techniques for constructing human-machine systems with specialized problem-solving expertise.

Facsimile - An equipment configuration that facilitates the transmission of images over a common carrier network.

FAX - Facsimile

Feasibility Study - Analysis of the practicality of a proposal.

Fiscal Year - The financial year of the United States Government which covers the twelve calendar months from October 1 through September 30.

Fixed Price Contract - A contract in which the contractor undertakes to provide specified goods or services in return for an amount fixed at the execution of the contract.

Food for Peace - Public Law (PL)480, also known as the Food for Peace program, was enacted in 1954 as an agricultural surplus disposal measure. Since then, legislation has been substantially rewritten to emphasize the "use of the abundant agricultural productivity of the U.S. to combat hunger and malnutrition and to encourage economic development in the developing countries."

Formal Competitive Bidding - A system of procurement under which sealed bids are solicited through adequate advertising of a full statement of well-defined requirements and specifications and all the conditions to be considered in the selection of the successful bidder together with the date for the submission of bids. Bids submitted before the closing date are evaluated in terms of the advertised conditions and the award is made to the lowest price responsive and responsible bidder.

Fringe Benefits - The portion of an organizations' indirect expenses covering benefits which accrue to its employees (e.g., vacation, sick leave, workmen's compensation)

Genetic Diversity - Natural genetic variety within or between species needed o sustain ecosystems over time and maintain the wealth of genetic material needed for both natural and artificial regeneration life forms.

Genetic Engineering - A technique of biotechnology based on genetic manipulation of microorganisms whereby a transfer of genes takes place between organisms of different species.

Goal - The reward sought for an effort expended.

Global Warming - An increase in temperature resulting from the greenhouse effect whereby dioxide in the atmosphere acts like the glass of a greenhouse, letting the sun's ultraviolet rays heat the earth's surface, but preventing the heat from begin re-radiated back into space.

Grants - An assistance instrument used to make conditional gift.

Green Revolution - The revolutionary effect of the increase in food production in areas where new varieties of crops, particularly rice, wheat, and others, able to make maximum use of fertilizers have been introduced.

Greenhouse Effect - The gradual warming of earth's atmosphere resulting from a buildup of carbon dioxide that traps the. sun's radiation.

Hardware - Physical components or equipment that make up a computer system, such as a keyboard.

Holistic - An approach to research, analysis, or other activities characterized by an emphasis on completeness or wholeness.

Incremental Funding - Partial funding of a project, contract, grant, or cooperative agreement, which is periodically increased up to the total obligated amount.

Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC) - A contract that provides for the purchase of an indefinite quantity, within stated limits, of specified supplies or services during the period of the contract, with deliveries scheduled by placement of delivery orders.

Indirect Costs - Indirect costs (overhead type) consist of those costs which cannot be identified or which it is expedient to attempt to identify, with specific substantive activities. Indirect costs normally arise through common service functions of an administrative or operating support nature.

Infrastructure - Supporting elements, usually applied in connection with some category of social, economic, or cultural~activity.

Innovation - The act or an instance of innovating: the instruction of something new; something that deviates from established doctrine or practice.

Input - As used in the logical framework for project design, the A. I.D.-financed technical assistance, training, construction of facilities, or provision of equipment/materials needed to produce defined outputs in order to achieve project objectives.

Institutional Grants - Assistance instruments used to make grants, to educational and research institutions in the United States to strengthen their capacity to develop and carry out programs concerned with economic and social development of less developed countries.

Integrated Pest Management - Ecological or holistic approach to pest management which eschews the use of chemical pesticides.

Intellectual Property Rights: Any rights to the products of one's intellectual effort, such as those protected. by:

copyright - the right to copy a printed document, work of art, computer
program, design
drawings, etc.
patent - the rights to a product or process
plant breeders rights - the rights to new crop varieties or other new plants

Intensive Farming - Farming involving deep plowing, the heavy use of fertilizers, herbicides, high-yield crops, and several crops a season.

Internal Audit - The independent appraisal activity within an organization for the review of the accounting, financial, and related operations as a basis for protective and constructive services to management.

International Agriculture Research Institutes - Internationally sponsored agricultural research centers supported by CGIAR. Their research is mainly directed to specific food crops, the development of appropriate farming systems or the examination of livestock and health problems.

Invitation for Bids (IFBS) - A solicitation of offers from potential suppliers of specified commodities and/or services under formal competitive bidding procedures.

Less Developed Country (LDC) - Referring to a country in the bottom 100 in the world in per capita gross national product.

Least Developed Country - in the bottom 4.0 or so per capita GNP.

Letter of Commitment - An agreement between USAID and U.S. bank under which the bank is authorized to make payments to contractors and suppliers for eligible commodities and services. The bank is reimbursed by USAID for payments made in accordance with the letter of commitment.

Letter of Commitment - A guarantee by USAID to pay suppliers for eligible commodities and services provided under USAID or Host Country contracts.

Letter of Credit - An USAID financing instrument used in connection with grants or contracts with state and local governments in the United States, with educational and nonprofit institutions, and with grants to international organizations. It permits frequent small advances as needed while avoiding premature withdrawals from the Treasury. Also, an instrument of credit extended by a bank to a supplier guaranteeing payment to the supplier upon compliance with the terms and satisfaction of the conditions established by
the Letter of Credit.

Life of Project - The duration of a project from the signing of the obligating document, up to the Project Assistance Completion Date.

Loans - Assistance which must be repaid.

Local Currency - The currency of the country in which a USAID is located, or any other non-U.S. currency or currencies commonly used in that country.

Longitudinal Data - Data about a specific population over an extended period of time, generally months or years, in which the researcher returns at
intervals to collect identical kinds of data from the same population under study.

Market Economies - Also termed demand economies as distinct from the "command or centrally planned economies." Economies of these countries in which private ownership of property and commerce dominate. Decisions relating to the allocation of resources, production, investment, and distribution theoretically made by demand and supply and movements of markets.

Monoculture - The cultivation of a single crop and the dependence of a given economy for its foreign exchange earnings upon that single crop.

Networking - Creating linkages between people and clusters of people.

Non-cost Extension - An extension in~time to an existing contract, grant, or cooperative agreement without additional funds added.

Non-formal Education - The offering of learning opportunities outside the formal education system.

Non-nroiect Assistance - The transfer of resources, under USAID financing, for the purpose of promoting economic development and/or political stabilization by means of short-term relief from budgetary or balance of payments constraints on the economy of a cooperating country.

Objective - An end or goal toward which efforts are directed.

Obligation - Legal commitment of budget authority. This commitment consists of a signed agreement between the U.S. Government and the Host Government, a contractor or (with a grant) to an organization.

Operational Research - An experimental and applied science devoted o observing, understanding and predicting the behavior or purposeful man-machine system.

Operational Year Budget - Financial plans for the current fiscal year.

Option - A choice among alternatives.

Outputs - As used in the logical framework for project design, the specifically intended kind of results that can be expected from good management 0 the inputs provided.

Overhead - An audited percentage covering certain types of organizational administrative expenses.

Paradigm - A set of relationships like a model, but more abstract and less quantitatively defined than a model.

Participating Agency Services Agreement (PASA) - A contract with another Federal agency for specialists to perform services overseas.

Peer Review - The formal examination of papers, reports, proposed research, proposals, or findings of one scientist by others working in the same field.

Pipeline - The difference between obligation and expenditure accruals.

Priorities - Any systematic methodology to put first things first.

Private voluntary Organization (PVO) - A non-profit tax-exempt and non-governmental organization established and governed by a group of private citizens whose purpose is to engage in voluntary, charitable and development assistance operations overseas.

Privatization - The return to the private sector or industries, or services previously state owned or ~dominated by majority of share holding.

Program - A coordinated set of Agency-financed activities directed toward specific goals. for example: maternal child health, nutrition education and family planning projects designed to promote the~spacing of children may comprise a program to reduce infant deaths.

Project - A single activity designed to generate specific results.

Project Agreement (PROAG) - Prepared by the USAID Mission in negotiation with Host Country counterparts, after approval of the PP by the AID/Washington Regional Bureau. This document summarizes the essential elements of the objective and rationale for the PP, the amount and type of funding, and the responsibilities of the U.S. and the Host Country implementing the project.

Project Assistance - USAID assistance through the financing of projects.

Project Elements - A term used to describe the resources necessary to achieve
the desired outputs of a particular project.

Project Identification Document (PID) - The document that outlines the description, rationale, and estimated cost for a new project.

Project Implementation Orders (PIO) - Prepared by the Project Officer during project implementation, the PlO is the principal means for earmarking project funds.

Project Officer - The principal implementation officer of an USAID project.

Project Paper - The document that presents the rationale, a thorough analysis, plan, schedule, cost estimate, and recommendation for a new project, complete with supporting documents, tables, schedules, and special studies.

Proprietary Procurement - The procurement of goods by reference to a trade name, special. design requirements, or specifications that can be made by the product of only one producer.

Public Law 480 (P.L. 480) - The Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended, which governs administration of the U.S. Food for Peace program (term is often used to describe the food aid).

Public Sector - The sector of the economy of a cooperating country managed, directed, or otherwise controlled by the governmental or quasi-governmental entities, national, regional, or local.

Purchase Order - An executed document authorizing a vendor to deliver materials or equipment or to perform services. Upon acceptance, the document constitutes the purchase contract.

Relief - Help in the form of food, clothing, bedding, shelter and medical supplies, brought to an area suffering from some form of natural disaster.

Request for Proposal (RFP) - A solicitation of offers from potential suppliers of described services for negotiation contract.

Request for Technical Proposals (RFTP) - A solicitation of offers for the prdvision of specific technical work.

Research Management - Includes the dynamic process of planning, organizing, leading, performing, administering, coordinating, and evaluating scientific study, experimentation and for organizations in applied research, development, and production, the translation of that basic knowledge on new products, processes, and techniques.

Reservations - A setaside of funds to cover potential obligating document in the draft or clearance stage.

Resource Recovery - A concept signifying the recovery for additional use of resources already utilized at least once.

Science Indicators - A concept of the measurement of level of scientific effort or achievement.

Science Infrastructure - The institutions necessary for the support of scientific research but which neither perform research nor control it.

Science Policy - A deliberate and coherent basis for national decisions, influencing the investment, institutional structure~ creativity and utilization of scientific research.

Self-reliance - The full use of local manpower and resources while depending
on developed countries for financial and technological help, and expertise.

Side Effects - Unintended and often undesirable effects that may occur during
technological innovation.

Social Indicators - Statistics and all other forms of evidence that enable us
to assess where we stand ahd are going with respect to our values and goals,
and to evaluate specific programs and
determine their impact.

Software - Programs or instructions that tell a computer what to do.

Sole Source Procurement - A procurement plan in which goods or services can be obtained from only one person or firm.

Special Letter of Credit - An irrevocable letter of credit issued by a U.S. bank, at A.I.D.'s request, the beneficiary of which is designated by the cooperating country.

Spin-off - A shorthand term for a sequence in which technology developed expressly for major governmental purposes is then applied elsewhere with economic benefit.

State-of-the-Art - A general term of applied science1 referring to the level of useful development in some category of technology

Subsistence Agriculture - Family-oriented farming that ordinarily produces only enough food for the family's needs, with no surplus for sale.

Sustainable Development - Development that can be kept up over time because it does not erode its natural resource base and the natural environment in which it must take place.

Technology Assessment - A generalized process for the generation of reliable, comprehensive information about the chain of technical, social, economic, environmental, and political consequences of the substantial use of technology to enable its. effective social management by decisionmakers.

Technology Transfer - Third World - A collective term designating the developing countries.

Trade-off - Foregoing, some portion of one benefit in order to achieve some increase portion of another benefit.

Trickle-down Theory - Development notion whereby investment in large-scale physical infrastructures -- dams, ports, highways, and electrification schemes -- will boost an economy in general, because the benefits can be expected to trickle down to the poorer sectors of society.

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