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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Entkapitalisierung

English translation:

Decapitalizing/Decapitalization

Added to glossary by Marina Stubinski
Nov 25, 2013 09:33
10 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term

Entkapitalisierung

German to English Bus/Financial Economics
Greetings Colleagues!

This term is from an article on coffee prices. Is there a reliable, standard English term?
Context:

"Die niedrigen Preise führen zur Enkapitalisierung der Kaffeeanbauern." warnt der Präsident des Anbauverbandes.

The deadline is tight, so I would grateful for any quick and reliable assistance. References would be most appreciated, as the term is not in the Kudoz glossary.

Thank you!
Proposed translations (English)
4 Decapitalizing/Decapitalization
5 Decapitalisation / losses
4 impoverishment
References
Definition of 'Entkapitalisierung'
Change log

Nov 26, 2013 10:45: Marina Stubinski Created KOG entry

Discussion

Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 26, 2013:
@Marina I have long turned in my translation, using your suggestion - I will close it after I write this. The definition is for my own enlightenment, because how can I deepen my knowledge to create beauty, when I do not understand the terms in which to couch it? You have contributed so much, and yet I'm still circling my prey. Have my ind regards and a good day.

@Nora the verb form, quite well. The noun form? I believe with both terms in their noun forms - decapitalization and capitalization - refer to a taking away or giving of whatever to empower a person or group to exercise capitalist activities. Both are highly nebulous and simply do not have a solid image to work with. That's just fine by me, because nebulous is also an image. But your question is an excellent one. Have you been/are you a gifted teacher?
Marina Stubinski Nov 26, 2013:
Probably my last contribution here! Ramey, when I wrote 'the latter is a consequence of the former' this means that decapitalizaion, and not asset stripping, is the consequence. But I fear we are venturing into the kind of detail not required by your translation, indeed going somewhat off-piste.
If you are interested in the SFO's (Serious Fraud Office) definition of Asset Stripping :
http://www.sfo.gov.uk/fraud/what-is-fraud/corporate-fraud/as...
It will give you an idea of how this activity is viewed by the authorities. It is a specific term for a deliberate action whereas other terms such as impoverishment can be caused by a number of factors including market forces and even the weather if we think of other types of farming.
I suppose you could put decapitalization somewhere in between the two.
But you are right, the meanings overlap and I would agree that often complexity is unnecessarily added to straightforward notions – that’s the beauty of language.
Nora Morrison Nov 26, 2013:
Good morning, Ramey, I am wondering whether you find the term 'capitalization' more easily definable?
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 26, 2013:
Good morning Everyone! So if asset stripping, impoverishment and loss of one's mean to survive are consequences of decapitalization, then decapitalization is an umbrella term for all of the above? I still don't have a concrete image of this term. Is it so vague and hard to define? Why do we use words that are not definable?
Yorkshireman Nov 25, 2013:
@Hi Marina No intention at all of offering it as an alternative or synonym - just an example of one of its nastier permutations - in fact I was a victim of the same when a US concern took over the German company I worked for here in Han(n)over.
Marina Stubinski Nov 25, 2013:
Sorry, final point upon reading previous entry. I wouldn't use asset stripping as a synonym for decapitalization; the latter is a consequence of the former. Just in case Ramey goes off and uses that in this translation. But I'm sure he wouldn't!
Not minimising previous rant at all btw. Whole new discussion.
Yorkshireman Nov 25, 2013:
More confusion There's a nasty side to big business that is also a form of decapitalization. It goes by the name of asset stripping.

The movie "Other People's Money" with Danny de Vito as "Larry the Liquidator" is a fine and very funny example of decapitalization and asset stripping - buying out failing companies (companies making losses!) and selling off their assets before closing them down.

On a sadder note, many companies in the former GDR were the victims of such actions - the best example being Interflug. Although British Airways and Air France had made excellent offers to keep the airline running and make it a profitable concern, Lufthansa clinched the deal with a lower offer and stripped the company’s assets to get their hands on valuable Interflug properties in Berlin.

Sorry, my rant for today - it's over 20 years ago and still makes me seethe.

Your fault Ramey - you shouldn't post such dirty words like Entkapitalisierung! :-) Rant over.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
@Nora So decapitalization actually means stripped of all means to survive. I wish people would use comprehensible language. There are enough 50 cent words out there. It has taken me nearly ten hours to understand one word!
MANY THANKS!!!!!
philgoddard Nov 25, 2013:
Ramey Thanks for the extra context, and I've suggested an answer.
Nora Morrison Nov 25, 2013:
Yep, more or less, I suppose. Except that it's not always banks but neighbors, shop owners, etc. and, they would not leave their land either - where would they go? Some of the coffee growers do not have plantations or enterprises. These families just have some land and grow coffee on it. When coffee is booming, they have something similar to capital; when the price drops, they have nothing.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
@Nora I must have a blocked brain, or this is so abstrakt that I can't grasp it. Here's what I've understood (legalese in German knocks me for a loop):
the coffee farmers borrow on the next crop; prices sink and they earn less than predicted, so they owe more than they have the prospect of earning. This repeats itself, deepening their debt and increasing the probability of not being able to get out of debt for several years at a stretch. They leave the land/coffee plantation and tell the banks to deal with it. They are now decapitalized?
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
@Phil Here you go, the entire paragraph from the Frankfurter Rundschau of Nevember 21st:
Auch in Brasilien macht das Wort von der 'Crise do Café' bereits die Runde. das Land ist mit einem Weltmarktanteil von rund 25 Procent größter Kaffeehersteller. "Die niedrigen Preise führen zur Enkapitalisierung der Kaffeeanbauern." warnt der Präsident des Anbauverbandes.
Die 'Café Cultores' pochen auf staatliche Intervention, den viel kommen wegen ausbleibender Einnahmen mit ihren Krediten in der Bredouille.
Nora Morrison Nov 25, 2013:
@ Ramey: My friend recently told me that in Gambela Region of Ethiopia, where she is from, coffee growers enjoy a good life during the coffee season, while they resort to borrowing (on the next crop) during the rest of the year. Comparing this fact with the definition of *Entkapitalisierung* in my link might provide the clue you’re missing...
philgoddard Nov 25, 2013:
If this is a headline, the word itself (or a similar idea) presumably appears in the text. I know you've already handed in the job, but could you give us the relevant sentence(s)? It's often hard to translate headlines without knowing what the article says.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
I used decapitalization in the translation, with a note to my client to make sure I used it properly. I am just obsessed at the moment because I can't get a clear image of the term. Have a good week Marina, and thank you so very much for your time and patience.
Marina Stubinski Nov 25, 2013:
Not depreciation which has a distinct accounting significance. Devaluation would be one option if you're not comfortable with decapitalization, but isn't identical.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
Given up? I don't blame you. Thanks for all you assistance and input.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
or depreciation? You people are being awfully patient with me. Can I help you out with anything literary?
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
AHA! devaluation?
Marina Stubinski Nov 25, 2013:
I wouldn't say the land or any other physical assets directly but the value thereof, if farmers are facing low prices for their goods.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
So, Oliver the reduced coffee prices cause the farmers to lose not only money, but also land, workers or goods? Decapitalization is something you cannot recover? I'm still looking for the metaphor or simile, sorry if I appear dense, but this is truly a foreign word to me, even in my own language.
Andrew Bramhall Nov 25, 2013:
Look at it this way! You can suffer losses without suffering decapitalisation , but you can't suffer decapitalisation without incurring losses; losses may simply be missed or delayed sales opportunities; decapitalisation is the actual reduction of your business asets in reality and on a balance sheet; hope this makes it clearer.
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
@ Marina and Yorkshireman well, sort of. It is all rather abstract, but not metaphorical enough to be clear. Something like the difference between sad and glum.
Yorkshireman Nov 25, 2013:
Decapitalization / losses The way I understand it is as follows:

Decapitalization is the withdrawal of capital or the prevention of capital creation by various means - embargoes, taxation. closed markets, refusal of further credit.

Losses may be an effect of such means. Reduced revenues or a negative EBIT may be described as losses. Losses are an operational factor. Decapitalization is generally institutional.
Marina Stubinski Nov 25, 2013:
'losses' are more directly related to reduced revenue whereas reduction of assets/capital assets also indicate reduced value of any related assets. Hope this helps
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
@Marina Thank you so much for the life-saving (well, the job-saving, in any case) efforts! I still don't understand the difference between losses and decapitalization, but that will have to wait until after I've met the deadline. Take care!
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
Is there a difference between decapitalization and severe losses? This is driving me nuts. Stating the obvious, aren't they?
Marina Stubinski Nov 25, 2013:
sorry I meant due to the LOW prices
Marina Stubinski Nov 25, 2013:
Noun form is fine, even:
coffe farmers suffer from/are affected by decapitalization due to the prices

type "coffee farmers decapitalization" into search engines and you will see this term used in various publications
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
Okay, then Would this be correct usage of the term?
“Low prices are leading to a decapitalization of our coffee farmers,”
Or would the verb form be more appropriate? I hate when I don't fully comprehend a word. Of course the low prices are causing severe losses! Is there a nuance of decapitalization that I'm missing?
Marina Stubinski Nov 25, 2013:
Yes, assets/capital assets/profits (the growers' capital, which has various forms) are reduced or lost
Ramey Rieger (X) (asker) Nov 25, 2013:
Of course decapitalization - it's usually so direct, but has nothing to do with capitalist or capitalizing, per se, more with a loss of profits. do I have that right?

Proposed translations

7 mins
Selected

Decapitalizing/Decapitalization

see page 690 of this industry report

plus further link below
Reference:

http://center.theparentscircle.org/images/2fc5c83435a447c3acf6054ea7bc24bd.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X96000964

Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "This is what I used in the translation and the client, although he was also stumped to define it, agreed to its use. Thank you all for your endless patience and guidance with this term and my ignorance of it."
9 mins

Decapitalisation / losses

"Low prices lead to decapitalisation (i.e., losses, a loss of/ reduction in capital assets) for the coffee farmers", warns the coffee farmers association president.
Something went wrong...
9 hrs

impoverishment

I think "decapitalization" sounds odd and is not easily understood. Based on the extra context in the discussion box, it just means that growers are being left impoverished by low prices.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2013-11-25 19:10:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Maybe something got lost in translation between Portuguese and German.
Note from asker:
Yes, Phil, I've been puzzling over this all day. I did use decapitalization in the article, but was not happy with it at all since I simply didn't understand it. Now I do, I think, but how do award points?
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

7 hrs
Reference:

Definition of 'Entkapitalisierung'

Im Zuge der Subprime (bonitätsschwach)-Krise benutzter Begriff in der Bedeutung:
Banken in den USA vergeben Kredite zum Hausbau und Hauskauf an nahezu jedermann, weil sie kaum ein Risiko eingehen, indem sie die Forderungen aus dem jeweiligen Kredit in einen Pool einbringen, diesen an eine Zweckgesellschaft übertragen, wo die Summe der Beträge im Pool aufgeteilt (tranchiert) und als Verbriefungspapiere in alle Welt abgesetzt wird.
Dadurch steigt die Nachfrage nach Wohnimmobilien in den USA an und der Marktpreis (Verkehrswert) der Immobilien insgesamt erhöht sich, was viele Eigentümer veranlasst, eine zusätzliche Hypothek auf den sich erhöhten Verkehrswert aufzunehmen.
Iin den USA ist es typische Praxis, ein Haus bis zu hundert Prozent des Verkehrswertes zu beleihen (in Deutschland liegt die Beleihungsgrenze in aller Regel bei 60%) und das ausbezahlte Darlehen zum Kauf von Konsumgütern und Reisen auszugeben.
Kapital wird so in Konsum umgewandelt. Sobald der Verkehrswert des Hauses unter die darauf lastenden Hypotheken sinkt, ziehen die Hausbesitzer aus und senden der Gläubigerbank den Schlüssel zu.
Reference:

http://www.aktien-prognose.de/boersenlexikon/Entkapitalisierung/

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