The emergence of agricultural commodity markets in China

By conscious design, reformers in China only gradually focused their efforts on expanding the role of markets for the allocation of goods and services in the economy. As a result, markets—especially in the agricultural sector—developed slowly. Throughout the 1990s there was a heated debate about the degree to which markets had emerged. The main goal in this paper is to bring together a number of simple and revealing facts on the emergence of China's markets. To do so we examine several sets of price data and analyze spatial patterns of market prices contours over time and text the extent to which market prices are integrated among China's regions. According to our analysis, we find that to a remarkable degree, agricultural commodity markets have emerged; price patterns look much like those in market economies in the rest of the world and prices are highly integrated across space.     

A conceptual framework for analysis of primary commodity markets

The paper begins with a critique of the traditional neoclassical theory as a tool for analysing commodity markets, and suggests that a viable theory needs to be developed from the concept of ‘market power’, as expressed in the relative bargaining strengths of transnational corporations active in the commodity production and trade of developing countries, and of the governments and business interests of host countries. A discussion of the principal elements comprising relative bargaining strength, divided into commodity-specific, country-specific and international, is followed by a brief consideration of alternative policy options for developing countries aimed at improving their share of the benefits from their commodity exports to developed countries.     

Freedom and management in primary commodity markets: US imports from developing countries

New US data are employed to ascertain the share which intra-firm transactions make up of US primary commodity imports. This share is frequently very high and, for many commodities, well above the average for total US imports. An attempt to explain divergences between intra-firm prices and average prices by differential tax rates and foreign exchange controls yielded only weak results in the cases of bananas, iron ore, rubber and tea but strong ones in that of coffee. Analysis of transfer pricing behaviour is clearly very important in many commodity markets but requires more data than could here be brought to bear.     

The long and short of commodity tails and their relationship to Asian equity markets

We aim to determine if the relative tail risk of commodities remains consistent over time and whether there is association between commodity tail risk and Asian equity markets. We examine the tail risk of 24 commodities over a 12 year period. Tail risk is measured using Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR), which measures volatility beyond a specified threshold. We classify tails for individual commodities as long and short based on their CVaR relative to the market. Overall, livestock commodities have the lowest CVaR risk, with some of the energy and metals commodities having the highest. However, the most interesting finding is that there is no consistency in relative tail risk rankings among commodities over time, and commodities having among the shortest tails in one period can have some of the longest in another period. Thus the relative tail risk of commodities changes significantly over time. We find that measured by CvaR, commodities generally have higher risk than Asian equities and that the relationship between equities and commodities is inconsistent in both strength and direction over time.     

Labour markets during apartheid in South Africa1

Anecdotal evidence shows that despite extensive restrictions on the hiring of African workers, these workers were increasingly employed in semi‐skilled occupations throughout the apartheid era. This article shows that White skill acquisition throughout the apartheid era reduced the supply of White semi‐skilled workers and led to the removal of job reservation, the process of reserving skilled and semi‐skilled jobs for Whites. Although job reservation declined, there is little evidence of a decline in racial segregation in the labour market. It is concluded that the transformation in the labour market was driven by White economic incentives rather than any evident change in White preferences regarding racial segregation.     

论企业商品包装伦理

作为企业经营伦理建设的一部分,商品包装伦理纳入人们视野的时间还不长,许多问题还有待于进一步研究,本文就企业商品包装伦理建设的基本原则和基本要求进行了深入的探讨。     

Demographic change in the former Soviet Union during the transition period

This paper examines patterns of mortality and other demographic changes across the former Soviet Union. Using regional data from the early 1990s, a simultaneous equations model of fertility, marriage, divorce, infant mortality and abortion is estimated as a function of economic and social variables. The paper then looks at determinants of life expectancy and specific causes of death. Demographic scenarios are then forecast on the basis of specific economic environments; these forecasts in turn are used to forecast life expectancies in the coming decades. In plausible environments, there is little reason to anticipate a rapid recovery in male or female life expectancies, while further declines in fertility appear imminent.     

Tying governments' hands in commodity taxation

In the 1970s, taxation of 'windfall' profits from primary productsand intervention in trade and production tempted governmentsinto expansionary fiscal policies, whilst stifling the privatesector and depressing growth. However, the experience of themid-1990s coffee boom has so far been more favourable: thoseAfrican countries which liberalised and left a large share ofthe 'windfall' with the private sector, and which committedthemselves to fiscal austerity via adjustment programmes, haveshown better results in terms of fiscal stability, private sectorresponses and economic growth than countries which did not reform.These findings suggest that constraints on discretionary governmentpolicies are desirable, and that domestic institutions and internationalcommitments could serve this purpose.     

International commodity agreements: Shadow and substance

The rationale for intervention is that markets produce excessive price fluctuations causing micro and macroeconomic damage. Theoretical arguments for price stabilization are reviewed. The links with other objectives are discussed and reasons why ultimate objectives such as income stabilization may not be achieved are set out. The paper points out how actual agreements have been far from ideal because of political and practical problems. The sheer technical difficulties of operating a buffer stock are demonstrated by a simulation experiment which traces the reactions to exogenous shocks with and without the interventions of the buffer stock.     

深圳商品流通业增长分析

经过20余年的发展,深圳的商品流通业已具备了一定的规模,成为深圳经济结构中极为重要的行业。2002年全市社会消费品零售总额690亿元,贸易业批发总额547.2亿元,进出口贸易总额872亿美元。其中,出口总额465.6亿美元。商贸流通企业上缴增值税、营业税和所得税总额48.7亿元,占全市3     

中港会计准则的若干差异及对我国上市公司会计报表的影响

商品市场价值贬值是作者目睹市场上许多商品的竞争能力由盛到衰过程而提出的新的概念 ,并对其贬值的原因从商品本身、消费者本身、竞争环境、信息传播这四个方面作了较全面深入的分析 ,同时也给出了相应的对策 ,以便政府、企业借鉴。     

International commodity agreements: Design and performance

This article traces the design and performance of the five currently or recently active international commodity agreements (ICAs): in cocoa, coffee, natural rubber, sugar, and tin. Following detailed discussion of each of these, the author makes three observations — that ICAs can only be successful provided that they command a consensus in their industries; that existing agreements are not robust enough with regard to exchange rates; and that existing agreements are poorly drafted. The author argues that the collapse of the tin agreement in October 1985 may have marked the end of the postwar chapter in the commodity intervention story; he finds it improbable that new ICAs will emerge and suggests instead that more of the existing agreements will lapse.     

中国封建地租与商品经济

本文以宋代为典型，论证由地租所形成的消费需求，在中国封建社会一定历史阶段，是拉动商品经济和城市化发展的主要因素。     

深入研究劳动力商品问题

目前应邀参加了一个《劳动力商品》的专题讨论会，会上首先碰到的当然就是社会主义条件下劳动力是否商品这个最根本的问题。 果然，在这个我只参加了半天的会上，有的(包括个别有影响的)同志提出了不同意社会主义条件下劳动力是商品的意见。他们并且声明十几年来本人一直坚持劳动力非商品论，说劳动……     

加入WTO对深圳商业流通领域的影响

一、加入WTO对深圳商业流通领域的影响 1、市场开放对深圳商业流通领域的正面影响 第一，引入新的竞争因素带来的压力和外商投资企业的示范效应有助于加快流通体制和商业企业的改革。一个开放的市场要求具有健全的法制环境和良好的市场秩序，要求形成符合国际惯例、遵循市场经济规律的规范的市场运作和管理规则。……     

构筑物流平台,推进流通现代化

一、流通现代化的关键是物流 推进流通现代化是新世纪我国经济领域的重要动向,对于促进我国下一个阶段的经济发展和提高整个国民经济素质有重要意义。而物流是解决流通现代化的关键。这一点从前几年电子商务的实践我们已经有