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.     

‘Fair trade gold’: Antecedents, prospects and challenges

This paper critically examines the challenges with, and impacts of, adopting the models in place for fair trade agriculture in the artisanal gold mining sector. Over the past two years, an NGO-led ‘fair trade gold’ movement has surfaced, its crystallization fuelled by a burgeoning body of evidence that points to impoverished artisanal miners in developing countries receiving low payments for their gold, as well as working in hazardous and unsanitary conditions. Proponents of fair trade gold contest that increased interaction between artisanal miners and Western jewellers could facilitate the former receiving fairer prices for gold, accessing support services, and ultimately, improving their quality of life. In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, however, the gold being mined on an artisanal scale does not supply Western retailers as perhaps believed; it is rather an important source of foreign exchange, which host governments employ buyers to collect for their coffers. It is maintained here that if the underlying purpose of fair trade is to improve the livelihoods and well-being of subsistence producers in developing countries, then the models that have proved so successful in alleviating the hardships of agro-producers of ‘tropical’ commodities such as coffee, tea, bananas and cocoa, should be adapted to artisanal gold mining in sub-Saharan Africa. Campaigns promoting ‘fair trade gold’ in the region should view host governments, and not Western retailers, as the ‘end consumer’, and focus on improving governance at the grassroots, organizing informal operators into working cooperatives, and addressing complications with purchasing arrangements - all of which would go a long way toward improving the livelihoods of subsistence artisanal miners. A case study of Noyem, Ghana, the location of a sprawling illegal gold mining community, is presented, which magnifies these challenges further and provides perspective on how they can be overcome.     

我国工业化进程中的结构调整与对外贸易

本文分析了我国工业结构失衡—调整—再失衡所产生的问题与原因,工业结构再调整的必要性以及起步环境与条件。提出建立农业、轻纺工业与外贸之间以及重工业内部的两条产业链,并且通过对外贸易更深入地参与国际分工,以缓解国内结构缺陷。     

中国外商投资企业出口贸易的收敛性与作用机制验证

利用σ收敛、β收敛、俱乐部收敛、全局Moran’s I指数和局部Moran’s I指数对中国内地外商投资企业出口贸易的收敛性进行了剖析,发现中国外商投资企业出口贸易存在着一定程度的收敛性,并且收敛性存在与否很大程度上会因区域的不同以及不同的衡量标尺呈现出一定程度的差异性;利用空间计量方法对中国外商投资企业出口贸易收敛性的作用机制进行了研究,发现外商直接投资对外商投资企业出口贸易有着显著的正向刺激效应,工资水平对外商投资企业出口贸易无显著影响,全国和西部地区外商投资企业出口贸易分别存在着一定程度的正向邻接空间效应,东部和中部地区分别存在着一定程度的负向邻接空间效应。     

2001~2013年中国与“一带一路”沿线国家贸易网络分析

采用社会网络的分析方法分析了“一带一路”沿线国家贸易网络的基本特征以及贸易网络组团的结构变化,贸易网络的核心边缘及其演化情况,并在最后对中国与东南亚国家的子贸易网络进行了核心边缘分析。结果表明：“一带一路”沿线国家贸易网络密度增强,中国在“一带一路”沿线国家贸易网络中的核心度在逐渐提高,在2013年已经成为最核心的国家,且在中国与东南亚国家构成的子贸易网络中,中国也成为了最核心的国家。     

中国东北三省对外贸易空间格局研究

分析了东北三省整体的对外贸易规模及贸易伙伴,在此基础上,分别从省级和地市级尺度比较研究了东北三省内部对外贸易空间格局,以及东北三省在不同贸易空间方向上的商品结构。研究结果表明：① 东北三省与东南亚、中东等地区贸易规模有所增长,但日韩、德国、美国和俄罗斯等依然是其主要的贸易伙伴;② 东北三省对外贸易的商品多为原材料、初级加工品和劳动密集型产品等,且商品结构趋同明显,不利于发挥地区的比较优势;③ 大城市和沿海港口城市是东北三省对外贸易重要的空间载体。根据东北三省及各自的对外贸易现状和面临的挑战,提出了差异化的进出口贸易空间格局优化策略。     

Commercial whaling,tourism, and boycotts: An economic perspective

Commercial whaling is highly contentious, angering animal rights groups and conservation organizations, who threaten boycotts. Proponents of whaling argue that many whale stocks are plentiful enough to support sustainable harvests. In terms of economic efficiency, a nation's decision to engage in whaling depends on rents from the whaling industry, ecological and market linkages, and the potential for boycotts. We analyze the tradeoffs involved in a nation's decision to engage in whaling, whale-watching, and fishing. Scenarios exist in which whaling is economically rational. Indeed, sometimes it makes economic sense to subsidize whaling. In other circumstances, market pressures make commercial whaling inefficient.     

商代含高放射性成因铅的青铜器矿料来源与古蜀三星堆在矿业贸易中的地位

含高放射性成因铅是商代青铜器的重要特征,但对其矿料来源的讨论众说纷纭,莫衷一是。本文收集了河南郑州商城、山西垣曲商城、湖北盘龙城、四川三星堆、陕西汉中（地区）、江西新干大洋洲、河南安阳殷墟和陕北（地区）覆盖整个商代的8个遗址/地区700件出土青铜器样品的铅同位素组成数据,并与全国606个Pb—Zn、Cu、Sn多金属矿床4025件矿石样品的铅同位素组成数据进行比对分析,探讨商代青铜器的矿料来源和古蜀国在矿业贸易中的地位。研究表明：（1）河南郑州商城、湖北盘龙城、陕西汉中、山西垣曲商城、河南安阳殷墟和陕北6个遗址/地区的青铜器很可能采用了含异常铅和正常铅的两类铅料;而四川三星堆与江西新干大洋洲出土的青铜器则主要采用了含异常铅的铅料。四川三星堆、陕西汉中和陕北3个遗址/地区出土的青铜器很可能采用了含异常铅和正常铅的两类铜料;而河南郑州商城、湖北盘龙城、山西垣曲商城、河南安阳殷墟与江西新干大洋洲出土的青铜器采用的铜料很可能以含正常铅为主,但不排除采用含异常铅铜料的可能性。（2）对比全国Cu、Pb—Zn、Sn及多金属矿床铅同位素资料,商代遗址出土的青铜器中的高放射性成因铅的铅料,最有可能来自四川云南交界处的MVT型Pb—Zn矿床;而含高放射性成因铅的铜料,则最可能来自四川云南交界处的IOCG型Cu矿和山西中条山铜矿峪Cu矿床。（3）综合三星堆遗址得天独厚的地理位置,三星堆青铜文明的兴衰时间及其与其他文化交流与贸易往来的路径,推测古蜀三星堆很可能是商代含高放射性成因铅的铅料及部分铜料贸易的大型中转地,商代含高放射性成因铅的青铜器的兴盛与衰落则很可能与三星堆青铜文明的开启与消亡有关。     

Impacts of neoliberal policies on non-market fishing economies on the Yukon River,Alaska

This paper describes how and why a relatively minor, mostly native non-market economy founded on subsistence-caught Chinook salmon in Alaska has become the object of controversy and increasing regulatory pressure. Small-scale exchanges of cash for subsistence-caught fish conflict with a neoliberal emphasis on markets, profit maximization, and private property. This paper clarifies the role of neoliberal policies in shaping and even causing the controversy over these exchanges, and the consequences for management of Chinook salmon on the Yukon River.     

Chain of custody as an organizing framework in seafood risk reduction

Changes in the terms and direction of international trade in seafood, an increased understanding of and concern for the public health risk imposed by seafood products, and advances in information management technology combine to open opportunities to manage more effectively seafood-borne risk. Present regulatory mandates and programs lack sufficient integration for effective risk mitigation and do not adequately reflect the trans-national nature of seafood trade or the increased complexity of seafood production. This paper argues that the concept of a "chain of custody" - from the ocean to the final consumer - provides a useful integrating framework for understanding and refining efforts to reduce public health concerns surrounding the consumption of seafood.