Community Trade Research Articles

The small world of global marine crude oil trade based on crude oil tanker flows

Global marine crude oil trade is a direct reflection of global economic trends. This study uses the real-world historical ship automatic identification system (AIS) data from 2014 to 2017 to explore the flows of crude oil tanker trade between ports and construct a port-node global crude oil trade model. An analysis framework of “AIS data -> crude oil tanker trade flows -> port-node crude oil trade network -> port-node crude oil trade backbone network” is proposed to realize the progressive analysis of global marine crude oil trade. The global port-node crude oil trade network is a small world, in which there are multiple small world port-node trade communities. Compared with the community structure of the global port-node crude oil trade in previous years, the Middle East–Southern Africa–South Asia–Oceania–Asia Pacific community and the Southern Africa–China community have more activities in port nodes and trade links in 2017, which reflects that the Asia-Pacific region, especially East Asian countries, is making efforts to expand the Oceania and African markets and increase the diversity of crude oil import sources to ensure the security of crude oil supply and demand.

Hypertension and Socioeconomic Status in South Central Uganda: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Background:Limited studies exploring the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on hypertension in Africa suggest a positive association between higher SES and hypertension. The economic development in sub-Saharan African countries has led to changes in SES and associated changes in lifestyle, diet, and physical activity, which may affect the relationship between hypertension and SES differently compared with higher income countries. This cross-sectional study from a large population-based cohort, the Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS), examines SES, hypertension prevalence, and associated risk factors in the rural Rakai Region in south-central Uganda.Methods:Adults aged 30–49 years residing in 41 RCCS fishing, trading, and agrarian communities, were surveyed with biometric data obtained between 2016 and 2018. The primary outcome was hypertension (systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 130 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 80 mmHg). Modified Poisson regression assessed the adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) of hypertension associated with SES; body mass index (BMI) was explored as a potential mediator.Results:Among 9,654 adults, 20.8% had hypertension (males 21.2%; females 20.4 %). Participants with hypertension were older (39.0 ± 6.0 vs. 37.8 ± 5.0; p < 0.001). Higher SES was associated with overweight or obese BMI categories (p < 0.001). In the multivariable model, hypertension was associated with the highest SES category (aPR 1.23; confidence interval 1.09–1.38; p = 0.001), older age, male sex, alcohol use, and living in fishing communities and inversely associated with smoking and positive HIV serostatus. When BMI was included in the model, there was no association between SES and hypertension (aPR 1.02; CI 0.90–1.15, p = 0.76).Conclusion:Hypertension is common in rural Uganda among individuals with higher SES and appears to be mediated by BMI. Targeted interventions could focus on lifestyle modification among highest-risk groups to optimize public health impact.Key Messages What is already known about this subject? Hypertension is an important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease.There are few large epidemiological studies that investigate the relationship between hypertension and socioeconomic status in low-income countries. What are the new findings? Hypertension is common among adults in rural South–Central Uganda, particularly among those with higher socioeconomic status.BMI is a mediator of the relationship between hypertension and socioeconomic status. How might it impact on clinical practice in the foreseeable future? These findings suggest that public health interventions and community efforts to prevent chronic cardiovascular disease and hypertension should focus on lifestyle modification by elucidating obesity risk perception and health risk awareness, particularly among those of higher socioeconomic status.

Once again to the problem of estimating the number of Genoese merchants in Byzantium at the end of the 13th century using the methods of mathematical statistics

One of the actual problems of Byzantine studies is the estimation of the size of the Genoese trading community of Constantinople, which played a critical role in the fate of late Byzantium. To solve this problem the historian A.L. Ponomarev proposed to use mathematical methods based on data from indirect sources - notarial deeds preserved in the State Archives of Genoa. These deeds were drawn up to fix commercial transactions, agreements on the creation of commercial partnerships, the hiring of ships, wills, the purchase and sale of houses, goods and people. In addition to the obligatory mention in the deed form of the names of the contracting parties and witnesses to the transaction, it may also, depending on its type, contain the names of guardians, recipients of the will and other third parties. Thus, these data on the clientele of Genoese notaries represent a rather impressive and valuable array of information, which may indirectly indicate the size of the entire trading Genoese community of Byzantium. To solve this problem, the author of this paper draws on the ideas and methods of the theory of random placements, which is an intensively developing area of mathematical statistics. It is based on constructing a linear estimate of the value and assumes a random sample. The result obtained is compared with the estimate from the previous paper by the author, which is based on another method of mathematical statistics and is quite close to the value of A.L. Ponomarev - 688 people.

DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITIES OF TRADERS AND PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS IN REALIZING INDEPENDENT WELFARE THROUGH THE MOVEMENT OF LOVE TO SAVING SHARE (GERMAS) IN GAMPONG BLANG PULO AS A EXAMPLE OF GAMPONG INVESTMENT

In the industrial era 4.0 technology has emerged and people's thoughts are increasingly democratic. Nowadays, we see a lot of phenomena in coffee shops where young people with their laptops can buy company shares through investment and get dividends. This investment activity will encourage a country's economy, absorb labor, increase output resulting in foreign exchange savings or even increase foreign exchange. Investment aims to get a fixed income in each period, meet future needs and so on. Thus, the increase in the value of this investment is expected to help economic growth for the welfare of the community. (www.idx.co.id) The condition of the community in Blang Pulo Village is in a position that is still in the lower middle-class community where most people earn from farming and trading. Almost the average community does not have savings prepared for the future. Others are in a weak economic position where their income is only enough for their daily meals. With the investment village, it is hoped that the trading community in Gampong Blang Pulo will be willing to follow directions to save shares every month on a regular basis to get the maximum profit possible. (https://kampungkb.bkkbn.go.id) An investment village is an activity to introduce investment to the community and invite people to save shares. As well as providing guidance on how to invest properly and correctly that can generate future returns without any element of usury. With the investment village program, it is expected to be able to develop the potential that has been pioneered by the community to be more developed. The investment village will be held in Gampong Blang Pulo and will be assisted by local village officials in its implementation. The Investment Village Extension activity began with recording and visiting people's homes and then making friendly gatherings to increase friendship. After that, conducting counseling to invite people to save shares regularly every month and provide guidance on the capital market and conduct socialization in Gampong Blang Pulo to make the investment village program a success.

Deep Reinforcement Learning for Trading—A Critical Survey

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has achieved significant results in many machine learning (ML) benchmarks. In this short survey, we provide an overview of DRL applied to trading on financial markets with the purpose of unravelling common structures used in the trading community using DRL, as well as discovering common issues and limitations of such approaches. We include also a short corpus summarization using Google Scholar. Moreover, we discuss how one can use hierarchy for dividing the problem space, as well as using model-based RL to learn a world model of the trading environment which can be used for prediction. In addition, multiple risk measures are defined and discussed, which not only provide a way of quantifying the performance of various algorithms, but they can also act as (dense) reward-shaping mechanisms for the agent. We discuss in detail the various state representations used for financial markets, which we consider critical for the success and efficiency of such DRL agents. The market in focus for this survey is the cryptocurrency market; the results of this survey are two-fold: firstly, to find the most promising directions for further research and secondly, to show how a lack of consistency in the community can significantly impede research and the development of DRL agents for trading.

Engagement of Contemporary Communities with the Shared Heritage Resources of the Dwindling Minorities of Central Calcutta

The accelerated growth of Calcutta as a trading center under the British between the mid-18th and early 20th centuries brought an influx of diverse trading communities, including Armenians, Baghdadi Jews, Parsis, and Chinese, who settled in the historic bazaar nucleus of the city known today as Central Calcutta. These ethnoreligious communities erected significant heritage buildings reflecting their cultures. But with large-scale emigration and a rapidly dwindling local population, this shared built heritage is in neglect and has little or no relevance for Central Calcutta’s contemporary communities. This paper discusses the issues faced by these heritage resources and offers recommendations for enhancing community engagement, initiating co-management and developing common goals amongst contemporary communities so as to effectively safeguard this built heritage of dwindling minorities.

Mitigation potential of global ammonia emissions and related health impacts in the trade network

Ammonia (NH3) emissions, mainly from agricultural sources, generate substantial health damage due to the adverse effects on air quality. NH3 emission reduction strategies are still far from being effective. In particular, a growing trade network in this era of globalization offers untapped emission mitigation potential that has been overlooked. Here we show that about one-fourth of global agricultural NH3 emissions in 2012 are trade-related. Globally they induce 61 thousand PM2.5-related premature mortalities, with 25 thousand deaths associated with crop cultivation and 36 thousand deaths with livestock production. The trade-related health damage network is regionally integrated and can be characterized by three trading communities. Thus, effective cooperation within trade-dependent communities will achieve considerable NH3 emission reductions allowed by technological advancements and trade structure adjustments. Identification of regional communities from network analysis offers a new perspective on addressing NH3 emissions and is also applicable to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions mitigation.

Evolution of Global Food Trade Patterns and Its Implications for Food Security Based on Complex Network Analysis.

Global food trade is an integral part of the food system, and plays an important role in food security. Based on complex network analyses, this paper analyzed the global food trade network (FTN) and its evolution from 1992 to 2018. The results show that: (1) food trade relations have increased and global FTN is increasingly complex, efficient, and tighter. (2) Global food trade communities have become more stable and the trade network has evolved from “unipolar” to “multipolar”. (3) Over the nearly 30-year period, the core exporting countries have been stable and concentrated, while the core importing countries are relatively dispersed. The increasingly complex food trade network improves food availability and nutritional diversity; however, the food trade system, led by several large countries, has increased the vulnerability of some countries’ food systems and brings about unsafe factors, such as global natural disasters and political instability. It is supposed to establish a food security community to protect the global food trade market, address multiple risks, and promote global food security.

Enabling Supply Chain Visibility and Compliance Through Voluntary Information Sharing With Customs: A Case Study of the Global Quality Traceability System in China Customs

The promotion of digital customs and data analytics have led customs administrations to seek to improve their analytics capabilities and exploit data from the trade community. Despite the increased data analysis capabilities of Customs, the data available to them are still limited to the current mandated declaration. If businesses are willing to share additional commercial information with Customs, it will enable them to make a more accurate risk assessment and ensure compliance. As a new form of Customs and business partnership, voluntary information sharing can be a supplementary data source to the mandated declaration and enable Customs to exploit additional commercial information. This study analysed an exploratory case study on the Global Quality Traceability System (GQTS) initiated by China Customs to investigate how voluntary information sharing can be achieved, and to explore the benefits for the participants. This study demonstrated that voluntary information sharing with Customs implemented through a data pipeline enhanced supply chain visibility and ensured compliance. The private companies who shared information contributed to the supply chain visibility and in return benefited from it.

AS A RESULT OF THE TRANSFORMATION IN PRODUCTION RELATIONS, THE SEARCH FOR A NEW VISION IN TURKISH LABOR UNIONISM

After experiencing its half-century golden period between 1950-2000, the system of trade unionism and collective bargaining, which arose with the concern of turning the class political struggle, which entered the agenda of humanity into a peaceful situation, faced a crisis of existence and function. A change in the understanding of Labor Relations and Business Management, a change in the perspective of working and production with modern human resource management techniques, has led to the need to reproduce the system of trade unionism and collective bargaining. Globalization, international competition and small businesses succumbing to mass production have led to trade union monopolism and cumbersome organizations. Trade union organizations have fallen behind the human resource vision they represent and have begun to fade in the trap of wage unionism. This led to a trend of changes in the way trade unionism was conducted, but the components of new trade unionism did not fall into place. The traditional collective bargaining system, which can find a living space thanks to the introduction of wage costs against the price-quality-sales performance in production, has had to express itself again as this cycle begins to be questioned. The main concerns about trade unionism have changed as follows: It has become vital that unionism is peace-oriented rather than fight-oriented, compromise-oriented rather than debate-oriented, solution-oriented rather than Problem-Oriented, Development and life-oriented rather than wage-oriented, strategy and employment-oriented rather than bargaining-oriented. Therefore, especially in trade unionism, it is clear that there is a need for “trade unionism and community bargaining system reform”, which begins with the qualifications and election times of trade union managers and extends to managing flexible working models and from there to the correct perception and correct interpretation of international company relations and paves the way for entrepreneurship. Keywords: Trade Unionism, Collective Bargaining, Labor, Industrial Relations, Productivity, Innovation, Human Resources

Content and Functional Purpose of the Duty in Modern Conditions

The duty as a source of budget formation and a regulator of foreign trade activity contributes to improving the macroeconomic situation and the state's entry into the international trade community. Therefore, the study of the essence and functional purpose of the duty becomes particularly relevant since it makes it possible to increase the efficiency of its functioning in modern conditions. The purpose of the study is to consider the tax and foreign trade nature of the duty, establish its essence and specific characteristics, identify the main functions and substantiate changes in the roles of duty functions in modern conditions. The specifics of the scientific tasks that make up the subject of research required the use of a set of special methods (general scientific and private scientific, theoretical and empirical), the use of which helped identifying the content of the duty, consider its functional purpose and establish the reasons for the weakening of the role of duty functions in different countries of the world. In the course of the study, two approaches to the interpretation of the essence of duty were established: as a tax and as a specific foreign trade payment. The author's definition of the duty was proposed and its main essential characteristics were clarified. It has been established that there are no unified approaches to the definition of duty functions in the scientific literature, and only two main ones (fiscal and regulatory) are substantiated. It was also covered that due to the entry of most countries into the World Trade Organisation and the establishment of restrictions on the growth of customs rates, the regulatory function of the duty is weakening. It was established that in developed countries, due to international restrictions on the application of custom rates, the role of the fiscal function of duty has decreased. It was determined that in less developed countries, in conditions of limited budget revenue sources, the fiscal function of duty continues to be the main one. The practical value of the study lies in the fact that clarifying the content and functions of duty in modern conditions makes it possible to increase the effectiveness of customs tariff regulation to protect national interests during the intensification of international integration processes

The Burden of Infectious Diseases: A Trend Appraisal in Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Trade Blocs

Purpose: The study aimed at presenting a comparative appraisal of the trends of the two most prevalent infectious diseases bedeviling the region: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB). Subject &amp; Methods: Data on fourteen ECOWAS member countries and also fourteen member countries of the SADC bloc. This represents about 93.3% and 87.5% membership of the ECOWAS and SADC blocs respectively. Although the choice of sample size is determined largely by the availability of data, the choices were carefully made to maximize available observation. The data were sourced from World Development Indicators online database published by the World Bank. We use two measures of infectious diseases: the prevalence rate of human immunodeficiency virus and the incidence of tuberculosis. Results: The HIV prevalence rates and incidence of TB were uneven in the two selected trade blocs. The magnitude and the severity of the diseases varied. The burden of both diseases was higher for SADC and lesser for ECOWAS. The average prevalence rate of HIV in the SADC bloc over the study period was 600% of the prevalence rate in ECOWAS (SADC = 12.5%, ECOWAS = 2.1%). Likewise, in the same period, the average TB incidence per 100,000 people was 578.8 and 181.7 respectively in the SADC and ECOWAS blocs. Conclusions: The study finds that the magnitude and severity of the diseases vary widely between the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) trade blocs. And, while concerted efforts at curbing the diseases have yielded results, there is still much to be done in both blocs.

Comparative Studies on Trade and Value-Added Trade along the “Belt and Road”: A Network Analysis

With the deepening of regional industrial transfer, traditional trade data cannot fully explain the real level of trade in a region. This paper aims to reveal the changing pattern of real trade along the “Belt and Road” by establishing a value-added trade (VAT) network of the “Belt and Road” countries and comparing it with the trade network. Applying a network method, we analyze and compare the structures, characteristics, evolutions, and underlying dynamisms of both networks. With a thorough interpretation and visualization of the network density, network centrality, trade communities, and influencing factors of both networks in the three time sections of 2005, 2010, and 2015, we come to the following findings: (1) the connectivity of both networks has been greatly enhanced, reflecting a more integrated regional economy. (2) The center-external structure of both networks has been further strengthened and the polarization of the VAT network is more obvious than that of the trade network. (3) The organizations of trade communities and VAT communities are largely different. Specifically, China rapidly increased its core position in the VAT network and incorporated more and more countries into its VAT community. (4) The underlying factors have similar impacts on both networks. While the growth of regional economic size and free trade agreements will enhance both trade and VAT, the economic gaps and population differences among the “Belt and Road” countries will prohibit regional economic ties. Based on these findings, we propose suggestions on further regional economic cooperation by taking advantage of China’s core position to promote regional VAT, construct broad trade channels, and enhance trade governance.

Design and development of Machinga mobile trading application: A participatory and design science research

In Tanzania, street traders face the challenge of limited markets caused by employing weak marketing and promotion strategies. This study developed a mobile application to solve the problem addressed using participatory design. Qualitative data were collected using focus group discussions and brainstorming from 80 respondents involving both street traders and customers in different workshops and meetings. Data were used for the design and development of the Machinga application. Furthermore, quantitative data for application evaluation were collected from 96 respondents using questionnaires. In addition, 20 interviews were conducted to validate the evaluation results. Thematic and descriptive analysis were performed for both qualitative and quantitative data. The results show that the mobile application has prospective features which solve the problem of limited markets in the street trading community. The application is perceived positively by end-users because of embracing their prior requirements and meeting the evaluation criteria of usefulness, ease-of-use, learnability, and user satisfaction. The study recommends further training of users to enable the application to attain its multiplier effect on the vast population. This study confirms the relevance of participatory design in ICT4D projects for informal workers as it allowed the involvement of end-users and reflected their voices in terms of the technology they desire.

Critical Examination of the Intellectual Property Regimes in the Gulf-Co-operation Council (GCC) States

The research focuses on the intellectual property developments made by the member states of the GCC and how intellectual property development and subsequent deployment, can act as a catalyst for financial prosperity. The main purpose of the research is to analyse and examine the intellectual property provisions currently in existence within the states of the GCC. The aim is to provide recommendations to improve the current level of intellectual property protection at both a national level and at a state level in the GCC through an integrated intellectual property protection model. There have been three main stages in the development of intellectual property in the Gulf states; a pre Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) stage, the current level of TRIPS compliance and a push towards TRIPS Plus. To date, each individual Gulf state has developed its intellectual property laws at varying rates. Post 2000, the Gulf states all display a set of intellectual property laws that are largely compliant with TRIPS. Therefore a question arises as to how much scope there is in the current laws to accede to more stringent intellectual property provisions. The research will show this is a key question for the GCC, its international partners and the wider trading communities of the WTO. The findings of the research are that the GCC does not have the capacity to take on TRIPS Plus provisions without compromising its sharia laws and value and that instead an integrated intellectual property protection model is needed.

Provincializing Mecca? (1924–1969)

ABSTRACT This article argues that in the moments leading up to decolonization, Indian Muslims living in East Africa sought to refuse their minority status through the excessive language of universal Islam. Groups with an established presence like the Khoja and Bohra trading communities, as well as new arrivals like the Ahmadis, sought to escape the deterministic logic of demography that had increasingly come to characterize African nationalist thought. Critically, however, this article argues that such an escape also had them recast and even rewrite the very substance of that universality, detaching Islam from its Arab provenance in order to reposition it anew out of the African context; in effect, provincializing Mecca. The article thus connects the intellectual histories of these minority communities to that of the poet and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal, who once claimed that for Islam to be universalized across difference it would first need to shed the weighty inheritance of ‘Arabian Imperialism.’

Comparative study of the China and U.S. import trade structure based on the global chromium ore trade network

As a critical mineral with highly effective strategic uses, chromium is highly unevenly distributed, leading to frequent international chromium ore trading. As the two most important global economies, China and the U.S., the chromium ore importing market is essential to utilize different trading partner structures. This paper constructed chromium ore import trade networks using trade volume and trade increment. The research then tests the similarities of China's trading partner structures and the U.S. chromium ore importing market combined with a Kendall correlation analysis and Quadratic Assignment Procedure. We aim to verify the correlation and dependence of chromium ore import trade patterns between China and the U.S. while analyzing the chromium ore importing trading communities globally. The results show that the trading partner structure of China and the U.S. is different, which is respectively “small community with more partners” and “large community with fewer partners”. Their chromium ore importing markets operate and develop independently. China is more influential in global importing market. For development demand and structural stability, building more partnerships is necessary for both countries. China also needs to maintain colossal production and consumption, while the U.S. needs to improve trade security.

Blockchain Based Transaction System with Fungible and Non-Fungible Tokens for a Community-Based Energy Infrastructure.

Renewable energy microgeneration is rising leading to creation of prosumer communities making it possible to extract value from surplus energy and usage flexibility. Such a peer-to-peer energy trading community requires a decentralized, immutable and access-controlled transaction system for tokenized energy assets. In this study we present a unified blockchain-based system for energy asset transactions among prosumers, electric vehicles, power companies and storage providers. Two versions of the system were implemented on Hyperledger Fabric. Assets encapsulating an identifier or unique information along with value are modelled as non-fungible tokens (NFT), while those representing value only are modelled as fungible tokens (FT). We developed the associated algorithms for token lifecycle management, analyzed their complexities and encoded them in smart contracts for performance testing. The results show that performance of both implementations are comparable for most major operations. Further, we presented a detailed comparison of FT and NFT implementations based on use-case, design, performance, advantages and disadvantages. Our implementation achieved a throughput of 448.3 transactions per second for the slowest operation (transfer) with a reasonably low infrastructure.

Trade structure and risk transmission in the international automotive Li-ion batteries trade

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are an essential part for electric vehicles (EVs) and have experienced rapid growth with the strong demand for EVs. Concerns over the sustainable supply of EV-LIBs have been voiced, but only a few studies have investigated the international trade in EV-LIBs, which has a significant impact on EV production in the complicated and volatile international trade environment. To fill this gap, this study investigates the international EV-LIB trade from a dynamic perspective. First, the dynamic structural evolution of the EV-LIB trade from 2012 to 2019 is explored from three perspectives, i.e., backbone structure, geospatial characteristics and trade communities, by constructing a weighted and directed network. Second, the hidden systemic risks in the international EV-LIB trade are revealed by the proposed trade network risk transmission (TNRT) model in two supply shortage scenarios. The results show a heterogeneous structure in the backbone network, and the trade barycenter is transitioning from Asia to Europe. In addition, a “robust-yet-fragile” characterization is revealed in the global EV-LIB trade network, and the hidden risks in leading EV-LIB exporter nodes and trade edges are uncovered. The findings will support authorities seeking effective strategies to manage the EV-LIB trade and build a more resilient trade system.

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Determinant Factors of the Intra-Regional Trade Community Structures of the Indian Ocean Region

The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has become one of the main economic forces globally, and countries within the IOR have attempted to promote their intra-regional trade. This study investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of the community structures of the intra-regional trade and the impact of determinant factors on the formation of trade community structures of the IOR from 1996 to 2017 using the methods of social network analysis. Trade communities are groups of countries with measurably denser intra-trade ties but with extra-trade ties that are measurably sparser among different communities. The results show that the extent of trade integration and the trade community structures of the IOR changed from strengthening between 1996 and 2014 to weakening between 2015 and 2017. The largest explanatory power of the formation of the IOR trade community structures was the IOR countries’ economic size, indicating that market remained the strongest driver. The second-largest explanatory power was geographical proximity, suggesting that countries within the IOR engaged in intra-regional trade still tended to select geographically proximate trading partners. The third- and the fourth-largest were common civilization and regional organizational memberships, respectively. This indicates that sharing a common civilization and constructing intra-regional institutional arrangements (especially open trade policies) helped the countries within the IOR strengthen their trade communities.