Competitive Adjustment and Advancement in Global Commodity Chains II: The Case of the Singapore Garment Industry

This is the second part of a contribution to the debate on the possibilities of leveraging economic globalisation — through incorporation in international production networks and global commodity chains (GCCs) — as a strategy for developing countries to industrialise and advance their position in the world economy. In the first part, we analysed the experience of the East Asian apparel industry and addressed the issues of sustaining positions, upgrading to more rewarding roles, and advancing to less dependent positions within production networks and GCCs. We developed an analytical framework at both the firm and industry levels, and subsequently identified alternative firm- and industry-level strategies and trajectories. The present paper deals with these issues in the context of the Singapore apparel industry. Based on extensive empirical research, we demonstrate that although the East Asian experience of upgrading and repositioning within the GCC is to some extent emulated in the case of the Singapore apparel industry, the outcomes have been less favourable in terms of the depth, extent and strength of these trajectories. The differing outcomes can be explained in terms of different (systemic) conditions in the Singapore business environment, including the agency of local players, the geography of sourcing networks, and the role of the state and prevailing business attitudes. Our conclusions merit continued attention in both research and policy circles on the development of capabilities at the firm level, and the role of local business and institutional environments in local industry development processes under globalisation.     

Issues of Globalization and Reflexivity in the Japanese Tourism Production System: The Case of Whistler,British Columbia

This article examines contemporary Japanese overseas tourism from a supplier‐side perspective using the concept of production systems. We first outline characteristics of the evolving structure of Japanese overseas tourism, with an emphasis on the global spread of Japanese travel companies. This provides a frame for presenting an empirical account of the transactional relationships in the Japanese package tour production system in Whistler, British Columbia, where Japanese tour operators play a pivotal role. We conclude that the recent expansion of Japanese travel companies is fostering the functional integration of the global tourism production system and exhibits increasing reflexivity.     

Markets, ethnicity and environment in a vulnerable landscape: the case of small-scale vegetable production on the Jos Plateau, Nigeria, 1991–2001

This paper explores changing socio-environmental interactions in the vegetable producing areas of the Jos Plateau over the decade 1991–2001. It considers the pressures of market forces and ethnic competition and the tensions which arise as interactions between the two are played out in a fragile physical, social and institutional environment. The region has seen a remarkable expansion in irrigated vegetable production, as dry season surveys in 1991 and 2001 attest. Local farmers appear extremely positive in their perceptions of change, pointing not only to expanded production, but also to other improvements, like growing percentages of children in school and improved transport. But behind this rosy view of change there are tensions and a series of unresolved questions which may soon have to be addressed. We examine the changing nature of socio-environmental interactions over the decade and ask whether and how current levels of production can be sustained in the context of a currently largely unregulated production system and growing competition for land. Given the important role of the Plateau as a source of temperate fruit and vegetables in West Africa, these questions have significance far beyond the Plateau region itself.     

The rate of grain release by pore-ice sublimation in cold-aeolian environments

Pore‐ice sublimation is a prerequisite for aeolian activity in cold environments where surface sediments hold significant amounts of frozen water. Few quantitative studies have defined the rate of grain release from cemented surfaces by pore‐ice sublimation. In 1996–1997, controlled field experiments at Presqu'ile Beach, Ontario, were implemented to measure sediment release from frozen surfaces. The release rates were compared to the local wind regime, ambient temperature and humidity. In additional field experiments, the effect of sediment water content on grain release by sublimation was examined. From the experimental results, an equation which predicts grain release based on local wind speed, ground temperature, humidity, and surface water content is proposed. Predicted release rates show reasonable agreement with natural deflation measured on the beach at Presqu'ile Provincial Park.     

国外漂白粘土和澄清粘土的产销现状综述

漂白粘土和澄清粘土应具有较大的表面积、较高的吸附性能及褪色能力,多由膨润土经活化(酸化)处理后制成。当前,德国、美国在世界漂白土生产中占据重要地位。漂白粘土和澄清粘土世界市场销量约86万t/a,其中70％～80％用于食用油和油脂工业。漂白粘土的发展受食用油工业发展的影响最大,亚洲还有较大的发展空间。澄清粘土多用作葡萄酒、果汁等的澄清剂,也有一定的发展前景。漂白土再利用的途径,仍在探索中。     

Recent ventifact development on the central Oregon coast,western USA

The unusual location of ventifacts, on a boulder‐built jetty at the mouth of the Siuslaw River, Oregon coast, western USA, allows ventifact age and wind abrasion rates to be estimated with some precision. The jetty was built mainly between 1892–1901 and extended throughout the twentieth century. Consideration of historical shoreline position and the history of jetty construction and repair suggests the ventifacts have formed since about 1930. Morphologically the ventifacts are aligned south‐to‐north reflecting winter winds and sediment transport from the adjacent beach. Wind‐parallel grooves and ridges with sharp, sinuous crests are developed on inclined boulder surfaces on top of the jetty and reflect suspended sand transport in wind vortices. Deeply pitted surfaces on steep boulder surfaces nearest the beach reflect impact by saltating sand grains. Based on present wind regimes (1992–2000) from three regional weather stations, southerly winds above the sand transport threshold occur for 21·9–29·6 per cent of the time. Based on estimated depth of loss from boulder surfaces, wind abrasion rates are calculated to be on the order of 0·24–1·63 mm a^?1. This is the first well‐constrained field estimate of ventifact age and ventifaction rate from a modern coastal environment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Short‐term erosion rates from a 7Be inventory balance

Detailed soil erosion studies bene?t from the ability to quantify the magnitude of erosion over time scales appropriate to the process. An inventory balance for ⁷Be was used to calculate sediment erosion in a 30·73 m² plot during a series of runoff‐producing thunderstorms occurring over three days at the Deep Loess Research Station in Treynor, Iowa, USA. The inventory balance included determination of the pre‐ and post‐storm ⁷Be inventories in the soil, the atmospheric in?ux of ⁷Be during the event, and pro?les of the ⁷Be activity in the soil following the atmospheric deposition. The erosion calculated in the plot using the ⁷Be inventory balance was 0·058 g cm^?2, which is 23 per cent of the annual average erosion determined using ¹³⁷Cs inventories. The calculated erosion from the mass balance is similar to the 0·059 g cm^?2 of erosion estimated from the amount of sediment collected at the outlet of the 6 ha ?eld during the study period and the delivery ratio (0·64). The inventory balance of ⁷Be provides a new means for evaluating soil erosion over the time period most relevant to quantifying the prediction of erosion from runoff. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

专题地图的生产制作

介绍使用计算机制作专题地图的工艺流程,及计算机制图在印刷前的生产制作的工作步骤和方法,指出了在制作中需要注意的事项,对出版高质量的地图在各环节如何加以控制提出了建议。