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Trade Networks (trade + network)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	55%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	33%

Selected Abstracts

FREE TRADE NETWORKS WITH TRANSFERS,

THE JAPANESE ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2005
TAIJI FURUSAWA
We investigate the network of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in the context of a network formation game with transfers. In a previous paper we showed that without international transfers countries with different industrialization levels cannot sign an FTA, so that the global free trade network, in which every pair of countries signs an FTA, is not in general pairwise-stable. In this paper we show that, even if the world consists of fairly asymmetric countries, the global free trade network is pairwise-stable when transfers between FTA signatories are allowed. Moreover, it is a unique pairwise-stable network unless industrial commodities are highly substitutable. [source]

The Impact of Fair Trade on Social and Economic Development: A Review of the Literature

GEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 6 2008
Ann Le Mare
This article explores the outcomes of Fair Trade for producers, artisans and their organisations. It asks the question, ,what happens to people who are involved in Fair Trade?', and reviews the case studies and empirical research conducted on Fair Trade for a range of products in different countries. The article is organised around important aspects of development which Fair Trade seeks to influence, including market relations, institutional development, economic development and reductions in poverty, social development, gender equity and sustainable development. The outcomes are diverse and complex, though, most studies found significant impact on social and economic aspects of development, contributing to the capacity to improve and diversify livelihoods. Fostering sustainable commercial organisations is an important contribution of Fair Trade networks. However, there appears to be less success in achieving gender equality and dealing with issues of importance to women. Both the enactment of partnership and the achievement of development goals require continuous commitment, a variety of strategies and cooperation with other actors, such as government and non-governmental organisations. [source]

FREE TRADE NETWORKS WITH TRANSFERS,

An overview of bitumen trade in the Near East from the Neolithic (c.8000 BC) to the early Islamic period

ARABIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY, Issue 1 2010
Jacques Connan
The aim of the paper is to summarise the present state of knowledge concerning bitumen trade in the Near East from the Palaeolithic (70,000 BP) to the Early Islamic period. During the Palaeolithic and Early Neolithic period, bitumen utilisation was mostly concentrated in settlements close to oil seeps. From the Ubaid 3 period, bitumen from the Mosul area became more important and was traded as far as the southern Persian Gulf. The Uruk period is a turning point for Mesopotamian history as settlements evolved into city-states. These cities had a great need for raw materials, and this marks the beginning of large-scale exploitation of Hit bitumen. This bitumen was traded at settlements along the Euphrates, where a large trade network was established. Hit bitumen entered the Persian Gulf at the turn of the second millennium (Dilmun period). Bitumen from Iraq (Mosul and Hit) became predominantly used in most settlements along the southern coast of the Gulf. During this period Iranian bitumen was also exported and this supply tended to increase, especially during the Partho-Sasanian period. Dead Sea bitumen had its own exchange network, which was concentrated across present-day Israel and Egypt where it was extensively used for mummification. [source]

ARCHAEOMETRICAL INVESTIGATION OF SICILIAN EARLY BYZANTINE GLASS: CHEMICAL AND SPECTROSCOPIC DATA*

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 1 2010
R. ARLETTI
A series of early Byzantine glasses, recovered in Ganzirri (Sicily, Italy), was analysed for major, minor and trace elements. All the analysed fragments were found to be natron-based silica,lime glass. Concerning minor and trace elements, the samples can be divided into two groups: glass with high Fe, Ti and Mn contents (HIMT glass) and glass with low levels of Fe, Ti and Mn. These results, strictly in agreement with literature data for glass of the Mediterranean region, can be interpreted as a consequence of the wide trade network established in this region and of the intense circulation of raw glass and artefacts from different Mediterranean areas. X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies at Fe and Mn K-edges, performed on HIMT glass, indicate that Fe is in the oxidized form while Mn is in the reduced form. [source]

Gender and Biodiversity: A New Approach to Linking Environment and Development

GEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2007
Janet Henshall Momsen
The 1992 Convention on Biological Conservation and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (1996) reflect the growing importance of biodiversity for environmental conservation and as a way of maintaining the genetic variety needed for plant breeding and providing new sources of medicines. More recently, agrobiodiversity has been seen as vital for food security in developing countries. This article considers the need to understand decision-making for biodiversity at the grassroots. To achieve this, gender roles, as influenced by gender divisions of labour in food production and the gendered use of different environmental spaces, have to be considered. Women's roles in seed selection and seed saving and use of wild plants for food and medicines play a major role in biodiversity conservation, but these roles are not unchanging and are increasingly influenced by global trade networks and geographical context. [source]

Inferring ancient Agave cultivation practices from contemporary genetic patterns

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 8 2010
KATHLEEN C. PARKER
Abstract Several Agave species have played an important ethnobotanical role since prehistory in Mesoamerica and semiarid areas to the north, including central Arizona. We examined genetic variation in relict Agave parryi populations northeast of the Mogollon Rim in Arizona, remnants from anthropogenic manipulation over 600 years ago. We used both allozymes and microsatellites to compare genetic variability and structure in anthropogenically manipulated populations with putative wild populations, to assess whether they were actively cultivated or the result of inadvertent manipulation, and to determine probable source locations for anthropogenic populations. Wild populations were more genetically diverse than anthropogenic populations, with greater expected heterozygosity, polymorphic loci, effective number of alleles and allelic richness. Anthropogenic populations exhibited many traits indicative of past active cultivation: fixed heterozygosity for several loci in all populations (nonexistent in wild populations); fewer multilocus genotypes, which differed by fewer alleles; and greater differentiation among populations than was characteristic of wild populations. Furthermore, manipulated populations date from a period when changes in the cultural context may have favoured active cultivation near dwellings. Patterns of genetic similarity among populations suggest a complex anthropogenic history. Anthropogenic populations were not simply derived from the closest wild A. parryi stock; instead they evidently came from more distant, often more diverse, wild populations, perhaps obtained through trade networks in existence at the time of cultivation. [source]

Chihr de l'encens (Yémen)

ARABIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY, Issue 1 2010
Claire Hardy-Guilbert
Frankincense burners found in al-Shihr's excavations in Yemen, a frankincense harbour during the Islamic period, represent a rare corpus of this type, which is an indication of both specific use and goods from South Arabia. Although associated with the pre-Islamic South Arabian kingdoms, the frankincense burner evolved throughout the Islamic period. This is proved by the long chronological sequence of the al-Shihr site (780,1996). Texts quoting the presence of frankincense, its use and its trade in al-Shihr are cited in this article to support the reputation of this harbour-town, which is part of the maritime trade networks of medieval Islam. The aim of this article is to create a renewal of interest in future archaeological research about this object, which is so often neglected in spite of its importance as a testimony of the customs and exchanges that are deeply rooted in Arabian civilisation. [source]

Formation of buyer-seller trade networks in a quality-differentiated product market

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2006
Ping Wang
Abstract We examine the formation of buyer-seller links when exchange can take place only if such a link exists. Sellers produce products of different qualities, and multiple sellers can form a sellers' association to pool their customers setting uniform prices. Buyers form trade links with individual sellers or sellers' associations. We show which buyer-seller links will form and find the set of links that are stable and show how these links influence prices. We also show that a trade network mismatch may occur where a high-quality good remains unsold even without an economy-wide excess supply of goods. Les auteurs examinent le processus de formation de liens acheteurs-vendeurs quand l'échange ne peut s'effectuer que si de tels liens existent. Les vendeurs produisent des biens de différentes qualités et un nombre de vendeurs peuvent former une association pour mettre en commun leurs clients et imposer des prix uniformes. Les acheteurs forment des liens commerciaux avec des vendeurs individuels ou avec leurs associations. On montre quels liens acheteurs-vendeurs vont se former, quels liens vont s'avérer stables, et comment ces liens influencent le niveau des prix. On montre aussi qu'un réseau de commerce peut être mal adapté et un bien de haute qualité resté sans preneur même s'il n'y a pas offre excédentaire de biens dans toute l'économie. [source]