Crossing Eurasia: trans-regional Afghan trading networks in China and beyond

An expanding body of literature in the field of Central Asian studies has brought attention to the problems of considering the region's complex dynamics through the lens of its nation-states. Comparatively less attention has been paid to the role played by trans-regional circulations in connecting parts of Central Asia to the wider world. This paper situates ethnographic work on trans-regional networks of Afghan traders in China, Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine and the UK in relation to the literature on trans-regional connections and circulation societies. Ethnographically it demonstrates the multi-polar nature of these trans-regional networks, and the importance of trading nodes, especially the Chinese city of Yiwu, to their formation and ongoing vitality.     

The manufacturing of Islamic lifestyles in Tajikistan through the prism of Dushanbe's bazaars

ABSTRACT

This article traces the multiple ways of ‘manufacturing’ Islamic lifestyles in the urban environment of Tajikistan's capital city, Dushanbe. The city's bazaars serve as a lens through which to observe the conjunction of its booming trade business with Dubai alongside its growing Islamic commodity culture and a religious reformism that is inspired by the materiality and non-materiality of a progressive and hybrid Dubai Islam. Bringing together long-distance trade, urban consumption practices and new forms of public piety in the mobile livelihood of three bazaar traders and sellers, the article provides insights into how the commodification of Islam informs notions of urbanity and modernity in Tajikistan. These notions correspond to the launching of urban renewal and the meta-narrative of Dushanbe's future as a modern city on the rise. Furthermore, the article illustrates the ways in which Dushanbe's Muslims turn bazaars into an urban laboratory for religious agency and cultural identities.     

Protectionist Executives

The trade policy literature long presumed that legislatures favor relatively more protectionist policies than executives do, but more recent studies have found little evidence to support the idea. This article clarifies these mixed results with a simple formal model. It finds that legislative protectionism requires very specific circumstances involving the combination of universalistic legislative norms and a particular economic geography, with trade policy interests large relative to legislative districts but small compared to countries. Empirical evidence on this latter point suggests that the necessary spatial patterning is likely to have diminished in many countries since the 1930s, when the Smoot-Hawley Tariff and the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act focused attention on institutional differences. The assumption of legislative protectionism based on theories and measures of that era thus may not hold today, and widespread presumptions about institutional preferences may accordingly be uncomfortably fragile.     

Decoding hidden darknet networks: What we learned about the illicit fentanyl trade on AlphaBay

The opioid epidemic, impacted from the proliferation of fentanyl, has added impetus to the need to detect fentanyl, sources of fentanyl, and places where fentanyl and drugs adulterated with fentanyl are available. Many darknet marketplaces (DNMs) have rules that ban fentanyl. However, it is unclear how these affect the fentanyl market. Using the AlphaBay DNM as a case study, we conducted mixed methods qualitative research. We scraped and analyzed data from the AlphaBay I2P website using, among other methods, content and social network analysis, to uncover hidden fentanyl networks. Our research highlights the next evolution of darknet marketplaces – the migration of DNMs from Tor to I2P and the methods that can be used identify fentanyl networks, irrespective of where sites are: I2P, Tor, or multihomed on I2P and Tor. Despite its ban in the Global AlphaBay Rules, our research revealed the sale of fentanyl on the AlphaBay DNM. Unlike previous studies, our findings predominantly revealed the covert sale of fentanyl on AlphaBay and predatory vendors selling illicit drugs, which unbeknownst to buyers, contained fentanyl. To a lesser extent, our findings identified the overt sale of fentanyl patches on AlphaBay. Although we examined only one DNM, the prevalence of the covert sale of fentanyl and the presence of predatory vendors underscores the importance of research that decodes the language of vendors who surreptitiously sell fentanyl or drugs adulterated with fentanyl or other illicit substances. The results of our research can inform strategies aimed at disrupting and dismantling DNM fentanyl networks.     

当代知识产权制度发展的形势和特点

知识产权已成为一个全球性问题和世界热点问题。当代知识产权制度发展的形势和特点主要表现在以下几方面:知识产权与贸易直接相关并成为贸易本身的标的、知识产权成为发达国家跨国公司垄断技术和市场的重要手段、知识产权与国际政治经济紧密相连并出现全球保护主义和独占主义思想、发展中国家和发达国家在知识产权保护方面存在激烈冲突、知识产权国际化趋势进一步增强。     

上海自由贸易试验区对我国涉外经济法制转型的影响

上海自贸区正式获准成立,这是中国法治转型中的重大创新。上海自贸区内通过临时性的授权调整,逐步推进行政审批体制改革,实行准入前国民待遇和"负面清单"管理模式,以此推进政府职能转变;在投资领域努力扩大服务业的投资开放、促进外商投资准入制的转轨、构筑对外投资服务促进法律体系;在贸易领域积极推动贸易结构的转型升级、提升国际航运服务能级;在金融领域应加快金融制度创新,增强金融服务能力,实现"在岸金融"与"离岸金融"的互动;并在争议解决机制构建方面也进行了卓有成效的探索。     

我国绿色贸易壁垒法律制度的性能评价体系研究

随着世界进入"环保时代",绿色贸易壁垒法律制度对一国的经济贸易的影响越来越突出和重要,面对我国绿色贸易壁垒法律制度立法、执法、司法绩效不容乐观的情况,以新制度经济学的制度绩效为主要的理论基础,设立我国绿色贸易壁垒法律制度的性能评价体系,能够为我国绿色贸易壁垒法律的制度设计和实践操作开创定量评判的崭新标准。     

新发展格局下中国国际税制竞争力的提升路径

国际税收法律制度竞争是国际税收竞争的核心,一国的国际税收竞争力从根本上取决于其税制的竞争力。近年来,各国提升国际税制竞争力的主要举措包括从全球税制向有限属地税制转型、加强税收协定中消极所得预提税税率的法律协调以及对吸引外资的税收优惠制度进行调整。在全球竞争的大背景下,中国应当在总结国内外国际税制改革先进经验的基础上,对自身的国际税制进行系统性改革,即加快从全球税制向有限属地税制转型,完善税收协定中的消极所得条款,调整企业所得税优惠以应对支柱二规则带来的挑战。     

亚太经合组织中区域利益和成员利益的冲突与协调——APEC成立十周年回顾与展望

亚太经合组织（ＡＰＥＣ） 是区域利益的代表。作为成员利益的集中体现,ＡＰＥＣ 的区域利益主要由贸易投资自由化和经济技术合作两大部分组成。由于发达成员和发展中成员在以上两个方面有不同的利益追求,ＡＰＥＣ 中区域利益和成员利益一直存在着冲突。在过去的十年中,贸易投资自由化和经济技术合作的不平衡发展使这种冲突逐渐表面化。展望未来,ＡＰＥＣ 的持续发展有赖于成员经济体享有充分灵活性的基础上,通过协商一致,处理好发达成员和发展中成员的利益分歧     

Meeting the challenges of the handicraft industry in Africa: Evidence from Nairobi

This article presents findings on observed productivity constraints of handicraft firms in Nairobi, Kenya. The goal is to help NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, and national governments in their efforts to foster local handicraft industries in Africa and beyond. One-hundred and two respondents were interviewed about their business, cost structure, hiring practices, and other intra-industry relationships. This article points out a number of practical problems hindering productivity and limiting livelihoods, including problematic labour practices, conditions of adverse selection, the context of proprietary information in small scale manufacturing, and the tendency of the industry toward hypercompetition.