Knowledge makes the money go round: Conflicts of interest and corporate finance in London’s financial district

This paper argues that the conflicts of interest cases brought against Wall Street investment banks in the early 2000s were neither geographically nor institutionally isolated events. Rather, by combining recent work on financial knowledges in both economic geography and the social studies of finance with the growing interest in topological spatial imaginaries, I explore how London’s corporate finance industry was unable to distance itself from both the conflicts of interest allegations and the ensuing regulatory changes of the ‘Global Settlement’ in the US. Analysis of 36 semi-structured interviews conducted in London in the early 2000s is used to explore how a range of individual interests, institutional demands and structural changes within London’s financial district affected analysts’ ability to produce ‘objective’ research. As well as pointing to the problematic nature of certain aspects of knowledge rich ‘communities of practice’ [Wenger, E., 1998. Communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge], I explore how the resulting contingent and situated nature of research practice is at odds with a weakly defined notion of ‘objective’ research that underpins the Financial Services Authority’s regulatory response.     

Interactive spatiotemporal modelling of health systems: the SEKS–GUI framework

This paper describes the spatiotemporal epistematics knowledge synthesis and graphical user interface (SEKS–GUI) framework and its application in medical geography problems. Based on sound theoretical reasoning, the interactive software library of SEKS–GUI explores heterogeneous (spatially non-homogeneous and temporally non-stationary) health attribute distributions (disease incidence, mortality, human exposure, epidemic propagation etc.); expresses the health system’s dependence structure using (ordinary and generalized) spatiotemporal covariance models; synthesizes core knowledge bases, empirical evidence and multi-sourced system uncertainty; and generates a meaningful picture of the real-world system using space–time dependent probability functions and associated maps of health attributes. The implementation stages of the SEKS–GUI library are described in considerable detail using appropriate screens. The wide applicability of SEKS–GUI is demonstrated by reviewing a selection of real-world case studies. An erratum to this article can be found at     

The geo-politics of Brexit,the euro and the City of London

In this review, we call for more engagement with the geo-political dimension of the finance economy that epitomises the 21st-century capitalist order within the European Union. Using the example of financial clearing and settlement, key processes in global trade and finance mechanisms in which London leads the world, we discuss the entangled political and economic dimensions in the shadow of Brexit to come, and its potential impact on the City’s complex financial ecosystem. The aim here is not to consult the crystal ball and predict London’s future as a financial centre. Yet, euro clearing is of geo-political relevance: if the UK leaves the EU, euro clearing would be taking place outside of the ECB’s regulatory space of intervention. This can become highly problematic, as the nominal euro sums involved in a major crisis are immense. We believe that these processes illustrate the pressing need to engage with finance’s geo-economics and geo-politics in more depth, both empirically and conceptually.     

Global pesticide use and trade database (GloPUT): New estimates show pesticide use trends in low-income countries substantially underestimated

Assessments of pesticide impacts globally and holistic policies to address them require accurate pesticide use data, but good use data are difficult to find. For comparable estimates across countries, researchers and policymakers depend upon pesticide use data collected by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). We analyze the FAO database and find declines in data reporting and data quality since 2007. We present a novel method that uses bilateral paired mirror trade statistics and an index of reporter reliability to add, update and/or replace data for 137 countries. The resulting Global Pesticide Use and Trade (GloPUT) database shows pesticide use in low and lower-middle income countries has been substantially underestimated. Over the last decade, global pesticide use grew 20% by volume; use in low-income countries grew by 153% over the same period. GloPUT estimates more accurately reflect social science findings on recent agrichemical supply chain restructuring and agrarian development, which indicate substantial increases in pesticide use. Significant issues with data reporting and quality mean that the impacts of recent changes in pesticide production, availability and adoption were not reflected in the FAO database, and, as a result, neither are they reflected in high profile environmental assessments.     

基于工业无线网络WIA技术的储油罐监测系统

在分析现有的储油罐区监测技术的基础上,提出了一个基于工业无线网络WIA技术的储油罐监测系统方案,详细介绍了该方案的系统运行原理、系统结构及系统功能.     

World cities and territorial states under conditions of contemporary globalization II: Looking forward, looking ahead

The influence of globalization on the future study of political geography is investigated through research on world cities. It is argued that political geography, like most social science, has been excessively state-centric in its organisation and that this will not help in understanding new transnational processes within contemporary globalization. Study of the state should not be abandoned, of course, but it must be set in a new context where much politics takes place beyond the state. This is illustrated through using the world city network as an alternative spatial framework to the world political map. The political geography of the twenty first century will have to incorporate traditional concern for political areas with new concerns for power networks in more subtle geographies than heretofore.     

G. Stanley Hall,Child Study,and the Teaching of Geography

Abstract

G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924), founding president of Clark University, was a leader in the child study movement and a significant figure in psychology and education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Hall had pronounced opinions on many educational subjects, including the teaching of geography. His criticisms and program for the reform of school geography were based on a mix of European ideas of heimatkunde or “home geography,” developmental or “genetic” psychology, and his work in the child study and nature study movements. This article traces Hall's involvement with geographic pedagogy from the 1880s through World War I, including his sponsorship of the first American Ph.D. dissertation in the teaching of geography, completed at Clark in 1906.     

中国地理学的二元结构

中国地理学的发展成就有目共睹,但是,在繁荣的表象背后也蕴藏着许多问题,其中最突出是中国地理学的二元结构。中国地理学正在分化为以西方地理学理论和方法论为指导的"外生地理学"和根植于本土实践的"内生地理学"两个部分,而这两个部分之间缺乏交融。中国的内生地理学需要用科学的实证方法进行规范,而外生地理学也需要更扎实的本土实证来进行充实,这其中尤其需要关注建设的是区域地理学。中国需要发展基于本土实证,同时使用科学方法的地理学研究。这是社会发展对地理学的需求所在,也是地理学学科发展之需。     

地学计算的研究进展与问题分析

对西方地学计算的起源、概念、知识体系以及存在争议的问题进行了概括地介绍和评述。地理计算的发展动因在于探索空间复杂性的需要,发展源流则在于计算科学,技术主线可以归结为：计算机科学→计算科学→计算地理学→地理计算科学。地理计算与地理信息系统(GIS)具有密切关系,需要运用定量地理学的全套工具,横跨自然、人文两大领域,可望成为一个全新的知识领域,甚至有可能发展出一种新的研究范式。地理计算科学在西方发展迅速,但也存在一些令人不安的问题,其中之一便是缺乏知识建构的核心。由于地理计算具有超越地理学的意向和趋势,本文建议以计算地理学为主体之一,以“利用模型寻求理解”为原则,建立一个相对收敛的知识体系。     

内陆区域中心城市金融产业集聚的演化机理——以郑东新区为例

基于演化和制度经济地理学,构建了区位机会窗口、金融机构衍生、区域产业分叉、制度厚度“四位一体”的分析框架,以郑州为案例,以郑东新区金融产业集聚区为对象,通过问卷调查和深度访谈,研究了中国内陆区域中心城市金融产业在特定空间的集聚过程与演化机理。研究发现：在金融产业集聚起步阶段,郑东新区开发建设为金融业发展打开了区位机会窗口;在快速发展阶段,金融机构衍生是金融业集聚和集群化发展的重要内生动力;在全面提升阶段,区域产业分叉是金融业态创新和高端要素集聚的主导力量;在郑东新区金融业集聚演化的全过程中,持续改进的政府支持与制度安排使制度厚度不断加厚,自增强机制使制度空间的粘性作用不断增强。与制造业的企业衍生、产业分叉过程不同,金融业集聚演化缺乏从大学实验室、科研机构、已有产业衍生和分叉出以技术为纽带的相关企业的实践,但对制度空间的粘性作用有更强的依赖。