Partner reciprocity,telecommunications flows and balance of trade patterns between the United States and latin America

From 1982 to 1994, the balance of trade deficit for U.S. telecommunications services increased by tenfold. The Central and South American countries contributed greatly to this increase. Our analysis identifies partner reciprocity as a core issue of the international long-distance industry. We apply an economic anthropology perspective to suggest that the antecedent conditions of cultural distance, economic nearness and relative country-risk will affect a foreign partner's reciprocity and examine U.S.- Latin American contracts over 11 years to test our respective hypotheses.     

Fair trade slippages and Vietnam gaps: the ideological fantasies of fair trade coffee

Fair trade coffee sales have boomed since the late 1980s, making it one of the most recognised forms of ‘ethical consumerism’ in the world. Around the same time exports of lower quality coffee beans from Vietnam also boomed, launching Vietnam from an insignificant coffee exporter to the world’s second largest with historically unprecedented speed. These disparate projects have had significant impacts on thousands of farmers – with Vietnam’s new class of coffee producers representing three and a half times the number of coffee families certified by fair trade. Northern actors, however, have given far more public and positive attention to fair trade. This article will argue that this difference does not stem from a strictly objective appraisal of the relative merits and shortcomings of each project, but from the compatibility of fair trade with ‘free trade’ and its emotionally charged ideological fantasies. This includes unconscious beliefs and desires around individualism, voluntarism, democracy and the affirmation of the exaggerated power of Northern consumers – as opposed to the Southern agency and complicated collective action implied by Vietnamese coffee statecraft.     

Analysis of food expenditure patterns of industrial workers and their families in a developing country

This paper employs data from a single socio‐economic group within the Indian population to throw some light on three related topics—the impact of urbanization on the demand for food, the nature of the income‐elasticity of expenditure on food for this group, and the importance of particular socio‐economic variables as determinants of the demand for food.

The income‐elasticity of demand for food has become liable to maltreatment in the process of development planning; all too often an estimate of this parameter is employed unquestioningly to evaluate the food requirements of developing countries, although it is well known that as incomes rise the income‐elasticity of demand for food falls. The following pages show that, like other characteristics of a developing system, the income‐elasticity of the demand for food is far from being a ‘fixed’ parameter. Firstly, as development proceeds, it is subject to change in a particular manner and direction. Secondly, the particular value of the income‐elasticity is subject to considerable variation within the country at a point in time. Thirdly, other variables than income exert significant pressure on behaviour, as evidenced by food expenditure patterns.     

Country size and trade concentration

The paper attempts to provide some evidence on the nature of the relationship between country size and commodity and geographic concentration in trade, and on the effects of economic development and dependence on trade on this relationship. It suggests that the inverse relationship between country size and trade concentration is not as strong as a priori reasoning suggests; that there is no association between export concentration and economic development, nor between export concentration and dependence on trade; and that neither the dependence on trade of small countries should lead to extra export concentration, nor their export concentration should mean an impediment to economic development.     

The GATT agreement on trade related investment measures: Implications for developing countries and their relationship with transnational corporations

This article addresses three issues. First, it argues that the use of trade related investment measures (TRIMs) by LDCs can only be analysed in the context of their dealings with transnational corporations (TNCs). Second, it considers the applicability of existing GATT rules to TRIMs and shows that they are inadequate and can pose difficulties for LDCs seeking foreign direct investment by TNCs. Third, it suggests a framework for regulating TRIMs as one element of host‐TNC relations. The article concludes with proposals for enhancing the capacity of LDCs in their dealings with TNCs.     

春光无限的中澳经贸关系

1月15日,国务院总理温家宝在菲律宾宿务会见澳大利亚总理霍华德时说,自去年4月中澳双方就发展21世纪互利共赢的全面合作关系达成共识以来,中澳各领域的交流与合作取得了许多新进展,双边关系继续呈现良好的发展势头;事实证明,中澳关系完全可以成为不同社会制度和文化背景国家之间和谐共处的典范.正如温总理所说,刚刚过去的2006年对于中国与澳大利亚来说,的确是不同寻常的一年.     

WTO agricultural trade battles and food aid

Recent agricultural trade battles at the WTO between the US and the EU have important implications for the Global South, in particular with respect to food aid. The current Doha round of trade talks hinges closely on agreement in the area of agriculture, and a key issue of disagreement between the US and the EU is the question of whether the WTO should impose disciplines on food aid and agricultural export credits. The US has also challenged the EU at the WTO over trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The outcome of this dispute will affect food aid, as many countries have in recent years rejected GM food aid from the US on the grounds that it would harm their export markets in Europe. Decisions on both of these battles should be forthcoming within the next year or two, and the outcomes will affect food aid policies.     

Negotiating sustainable trade: explaining the difference in social standards in US and EU preferential trade agreements

Since the early 2000s, both US and EU Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) include social standards that aim to protect workers and the environment. However, the US and the EU have chosen fundamental different approaches for the enforcement of these clauses. While the US pursues a sanction-based approach, the EU solely relies on dialogue and cooperation mechanisms. Hence, to the surprise of many, social standards in U.S PTAs appear to be stricter than the ones in EU PTAs. Why do the two biggest trade powers of the world handle social clauses in PTAs so differently? In this paper, I argue that disparities in domestic politics account for their different strategies towards social standards. Drawing on the principal-agent literature, the paper analyses the PTA negotiations of the US and the EU with Peru and Colombia.     

中美贸易摩擦的背后

2005年,针对中国的贸易摩擦加剧,中国连续11年位居全球贸易摩擦目标国榜首,全年共有18个国家和地区对我国发起63起"两反两保"调查,涉案金额21亿美元.从涉案产品看,主要集中于轻工、纺织、机电等我国具有出口竞争力的产品,其中尤以纺织品贸易摩擦更为突出.任何一个国家经济发展到一定程度后,就必然会产生各种贸易摩擦.     

欧盟贸易保护主义日益抬头

近一时期,欧盟内外的保护主义现象不断抬头,根源于近年欧盟传统经济社会发展模式受到来自内部和外部的严峻挑战,其经济长期徘徊,福利改革推进步履维艰,政府、企业及民众对国际竞争疑惧心理上升等因素,值得密切关注.     

Tansnationals and foreign trade: Evidence from Brazil

A recursive model of exports and imports of manufactures, in which imports depend in part on exports, is estimated using data for a cross‐section of 17,053 industrial firms. In this sample, 652 firms are foreign‐owned. Explanatory variables include firm size, skill intensity, advertising and other variables in addition to foreign ownership. Foreign ownership has a large, independent effect on both export performance and import propensities, but foreign ownership in itself explains little of the relatively low export/import ratios registered by affiliates of transnationals.     

Eight supreme court cases that have changed the face of public administration

This article examines eight recent Supreme Court decisions that have important implications for public administrators. The areas examined include public personnel policy, solid waste management, budgeting and finance, taxation, privacy, and public school education.