EVALUATING THE CRITICISMS OF FAIR TRADE1

This article critically examines some of the most common arguments used to support the view that Fair Trade should be rejected by consumers and businesses seeking to socialise their economic decisions. Overall the paper finds that the majority of such criticisms lack evidential rigour and sophisticated theory but instead rely on a high degree of rhetorical aptitude. While this does not naturally lead to the position that Fair Trade is necessarily beneficial, the conclusion reflects on a substantial amount of positive evidence to suggest that Fair Trade should not be abandoned by consumers or businesses.     

DEVELOPMENT THROUGH FAIR TRADE: CANDOUR OR DECEPTION?

Proponents of development through Fair Trade allege the movement can seek out the most disadvantaged in ways an impersonal market cannot. While in theory Fair Trade could provide these qualities in a market‐based framework, the evidence herein shows the current Fair Trade movement is failing when measured against these objectives.     

A SURVEY OF THE ECONOMICS OF FAIR TRADE

Fair Trade has spread in developing countries as an initiative aimed at lifting poor smallholder farmers out of poverty by providing them with premium prices, availability of credit, and improved community development and social goods. Fair Trade is also viewed as a niche market for high value products in a context of globalization and trade liberalization policies that affect smallholder farmers in developing countries. This paper provides an overview of the potential effects of Fair Trade, both theoretical and empirical, on small‐scale producers in developing countries. Our review discusses the empirical evidence on prices and income, as well as the importance of limited market access and productivity. We discuss evidence on labor markets and human capital investments as well.     

FAIR TRADE AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

This paper examines how the expansion of mainstreaming of Fair Trade over the last decade and the increasing corporate attention to social responsibility during the same period is resulting in Fair Trade evolving as a form of corporate social responsibility. We further examine the challenges this poses for the Fair Trade movement.     

Smith and Living Wages: Arguments in Support of a Mandated Living Wage

Adam Smith was a proponent of living wages for labor for reasons of growth and for reasons of equity. There is ample evidence in the body of Smith's work to support the thesis that Smith would support public policies that might ensure the achievement of a living wage. The argument rests, in part, on the conclusion that Smith had reservations concerning the ability of the economy to experience sufficient growth and the ability of growth, if achieved, to secure living wages. This article argues that, given Smith's views about justice and given Smith's ideas, as part of the Scottish Enlightenment, of how the rules of justice evolve, a living wage law could be one of the general rules of which Smith could approve.     

产业内贸易的技术进步效应研究——以我国高技术产业为例

本研究根据1996-2008年的相关数据,以我国高技术产业的产业内贸易和技术进步为研究对象,在对高技术产业的产业内贸易程度和技术进步率进行定性分析的基础上,采用Engle-Granger协整检验和回归等方法,对我国高技术产业产业内贸易对于技术进步的影响进行实证分析。结果表明,我国高技术产业的产业内贸易对我国技术进步具有一定的正面效应。因此,我们应该充分利用产业内贸易引发的技术外溢与技术扩散效应,不单纯的引进和模仿他国技术,而是自主开发和技术创新,提高我国高技术产业的技术含量,提升高技术产品各产业链的整体竞争力。     

我国农产品应对绿色贸易壁垒问题研究

文中在把握绿色贸易壁垒基本概念的基础上,深入分析了绿色贸易壁垒的形成原因。在分析了欧盟、美国、日本对我们实施的具体绿色贸易壁垒政策特点之后,研究了绿色贸易壁垒对我国农产品所造成的负面影响。在此基础上,从宏微观不同角度提出我国农产品应对绿色贸易壁垒的对策和建议。     

中国对美国的贸易成本变动及影响因素研究

作为影响国际交换能否发生的重要因素,贸易成本已成为国际贸易研究的重要领域。在采用Novy模型就1995年至2012年中国对美国的贸易成本进行有效测度的基础上,对影响贸易成本变动的多种因素进行分析,结果显示：中国对美国贸易成本总体上呈现波浪式下降趋势;人民币过快升值会对贸易成本的降低产生不利影响;中国商业环境改善、进口关税水平降低等因素有助于降低贸易成本;原油价格变动对贸易成本的影响不大;FDI、美国进口关税水平与中美贸易成本之间不存在长期均衡关系。基于进一步分析发现,中国对美国贸易成本还有下降的空间,中国应充分挖掘贸易成本下降的途径,以进一步提高出口商品的竞争力。     

The Merchant and Mr. Reagan:

A BSTRACT . This paper brings to note for the historical record a facet of Reaganomics with a mercantilist hue. In particular, it is an examination of President Ronald Reagan's 1985 speech, "U.S. Trade Policy: Free and Fair Trade," President Reagan's major statement on trade policy. The address is shown to have been largely a retaliatory mercantilist tract.     

解读斯密分工理论,构建社会和谐分工

劳动分工不是一个新的论题,我们的前人早已看到了分工的重要性,分工是社会发展的需要。政治经济学之父亚当·斯密在《国富论》中阐述了分工理论,现在读来其思想的闪光点依然为我们所见。本文引入斯密分工理论,结合现实,提出新时代的分工思想,对建立社会劳动和谐分工作一探讨。     

What drives market construction for fair trade,organic, and GlobalGAP certification in the global citrus value chain? Evidence at the importer level in the Netherlands and the United States

Because national governments have limited power to regulate the conditions of production abroad, voluntary certification schemes have come to play a significant role in transnational regulation of many global supply chains, particularly in the food sector, where multiple regulatory issues are in play and different certification schemes compete. However, we still know relatively little about the political-economic factors that shape the construction of certified citrus markets for these competing standards. Based on an original dataset from a comparative survey of US and Dutch importers, this paper investigates factors that shape the construction of certification markets for citrus, focusing on the construction of markets for different kinds of certification schemes including Fair Trade, Organic, and GlobalGAP certification. The paper investigates from a comparative perspective whether the construction of markets differs across the US and Dutch political economies. The results show both the enduring effects of national political economies and the importance of global value chain dynamics. Across competing schemes, the industry-sponsored business-to-business certification systems have outcompeted consumer-facing label systems.     

ESP教学——外贸英语教学现状及几点教学策略

随着经济全球化进程的加速,多元文化不断接触融合,各国之间的经贸活动越来越频繁。客观上看,融入世界经济的中国不再需求单一的外语人才,单纯的语言培训已经不能满足快速运行的经济对语言人才的需要。如何在外语教学过程中有计划、有目的、有系统和有效率地实施ESP(English for Specific Purposes)教学已成为外语教学共同关注的焦点。本文通过对外贸英语的现状及框架分析,从多个角度讨论了外贸专业英语的教学法并指出外贸专业英语教学是建立在基础英语和外贸专业知识教学这两块基石上的。     

外贸依存度对GDP增长影响的实证分析

改革开放以来,我国外贸依存度不断提高。正确认识外贸依存度问题直接影响我国经济结构和外贸战略的调整。本文通过实证研究表明:虽然我国外贸依存度较高,但对GDP增长的贡献不显著,应正确认识我国较高的外贸依存度问题。     

Russia’s and Kazakhstan’s agro-food sectors under liberalized agricultural trade: a case for national product differentiation

Russia is a major importer of agro-food products in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), whereas Kazakhstan’s agro-food sector is more export-oriented. Based on a multi-market-model with bilateral trade, the paper investigates how a Common Agricultural Market (CAM) and World Trade Organization (WTO) accession would affect prices, quantities, and welfare on agro-food markets in both countries. Trade diversion effects are expected because of a changed tariff structure. Kazakhstan’s agro-food sector will loose price competitiveness on Russia’s markets if liberalization is too narrowly focused on import tariffs. Simulations also suggest that national product differentiation can be part of a strategy for Russian agro-food industries to cope with stronger international competition.     

Mexican Maquiladoras and the North American Free Trade Area

The maquiladora program has been in existence for nearly three decades. Understanding the concept of maquiladoras, how they are established, their benefits and harms to the US., Mexico and to other countries and how they are impacted by the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, are of utmost importance to international marketers and policy makers all over the world In this paper, the history, the present state and the future potential of the maquiladora program is discussed and the process of establishing a maguiladora is presented. Maquiladoras influence the process of Mexican-American-Canadian multilaleral invesanent and trade relationshin Even though the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) is expected to reduce their importance for American and Canadian companies, we argue here that maquiladoras will remain a significant part of the Mexican manufacturing sector and will continue to attract Pacific and European investments seeking inexpensive labor, oil and other basic resources, god manufacturing environment and significant consumers markets, all in one place. Maquiladuras may indeed change ownership but will remain a significant contributor to the economy of Mexico for years to come.     

Factors of trade in Europe

We analyze how a set of determinants affect trade among European countries over the period 1992–2008. The factors encompass variables from the areas of geography, culture, institutions, infrastructure, and trade direction. Trade is analyzed for four types of goods: primary goods, parts and components, capital goods, and consumer goods. For each type of good we also distinguish its definition in terms of flows, intensive margin, and extensive margin. Methodologically, we first derive country-pair fixed effects over all possible pairs of export–import partners, and in the second stage we relate fixed effects with a set of influential factors. We show (i) the intuitive and varying effects of geographical, cultural, and institutional factors; (ii) the beneficial effects of soft and hard infrastructure; and (iii) the key importance of trade between old and new EU members.     

我国应对国际贸易的技术贸易壁垒分析

随着经济全球化进程的加快,技术性贸易壁垒作为更隐蔽、更强大的壁垒,已逐渐成为一国调节贸易利益的重要手段。文章通过探讨技术性贸易壁垒的概念及实质,分析了我国产品出口现状和遭受技术性贸易壁垒的原因,以及技术性贸易壁垒对我国产品出口贸易的影响,并提出我国应采取的应对措施。     

中美水产品产业内贸易实证分析

从1998年到2012年,中美双边水产品贸易快速发展。文章运用G-L指数,Bruelhart指数和Thom&McDowell水平、垂直产业内贸易指数,采用联合国贸易数据库(UN COMTRADE)的数据,对中美水产品产业内贸易进行实证分析。结果表明,中美水产品产业内贸易水平较低,贸易的增长主要来源于产业间贸易;从两国的产业内贸易结构看,垂直型产业内贸易占优势。因此,中美水产品产业内贸易的发展应从增加水产品贸易的差异化;推动水产品加工技术创新等方面着手。     

我国国际保理业务发展现状及对策分析——基于对人民币升值背景下广交会遇冷的思考

近来,由于人民币连续升值且存在进一步升值的预期,出口企业签订合约日趋谨慎,导致中国进出口商品交易会(广交会)遭遇小幅度冷场。事实上,国际保理业务是出口商尤其是中小企业规避汇率变动等风险的一个较好选择,并且它已经在欧美得到了广泛的应用,但我国国际保理业务的发展还处于初级阶段。本文根据我国国际保理业务的现状,分析了其发展较缓慢的原因,并提出了发展对策。     

DO SUBSIDIES JUSTIFY RETALIATORY PROTECTIONISM?

A theoretical case can be made to justify trade protectionism on the ground that foreign governments are subsidising export industries. This case is based on overall international welfare grounds. However, the country receiving the subsidised products benefits from the subsidies. Furthermore, imposing retaliatory protectionist measures risks encouraging rent‐seeking behaviour. In practice, it is impossible to define exactly what behaviour does and does not amount to the grant of subsidies by the government of an exporting country.