Trade Deals Research Articles

Karakalpak bazaars in the XIX – early XX centuries: the peculiarities of functioning and its role in people’s life

The object of this research is the Karakalpak bazaar, which as any oriental bazaar, was the center of public life of the city and its vicinity. The entire economic, social and cultural life of the local population developed around the bazaar. It was a place of attraction for all trade deals, latest news, and everyday communication. The Karakalpak bazaar was located in the central part of the city, which played a major role for the establishment and development of the city throughout history. Most bazaars of the Karakalpaks of that time were located along the streets, resembling the poles stretching from one wall to another and with reed roofing or covered with cloth to protect from the heat and rain. The bazaar consisted of the rows of street-stands depending on what they were selling. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that this article is first within the Russian historiography to analyze history of the Karakalpak bazaars of the XIX – early XX centuries based on examination of archival sources and field materials acquired by the author. The city bazaars played an important role in domestic trade, in addition to selling goods, also included barter of agricultural commodities for industrial products. The bazaars of the period under revview were held twice a week, on specific days. Most profitable were considered Khodjeyli, Chimbay, Kungrad, and Turtkul bazaars, which served the population of the adjacent localities.

Reconnecting Exchange Rates with Gravitas

We uncover a strong, temporal connection between trade and the exchange rate factor structure by instrumenting trade with trade deals. A typical agreement raises bilateral trade by 50 percent over five years which, in turn, reduces the systematic risk of the pair's exchange rate by a third of its standard deviation across countries. Our structurally estimated gravity model endogenizes the factor structure and shows that deals excel at pulling peripheral countries into the trade network's core, mitigating their currencies' systematic risk. Overall, our paper underscores that trade deals are not just about trade.

Europe faces delays in research funding

Squabbles over a proposed budget for the European Union’s new flagship research funding program, Horizon Europe , have delayed the project’s rollout. Researchers may face funding gaps as grants under the previous scheme, Horizon 2020, run out amid discussions about how non-EU countries can participate in the program. Lengthy negotiations on the UK’s Brexit from the EU consistently ran past their deadlines in 2020 and are partly to blame for the delay—the EU wanted to finalize a trade deal with the UK before setting the terms by which non-EU countries can join Horizon Europe. “The union hasn’t wanted to put all its cards on the table,” says Kurt Deketelaere , secretary general of the League of European Research Universities. This hesitancy means questions remain over how to implement the 7-year program, and it will likely take months to answer them. Enrolling the UK in Horizon Europe will likely take even

Inventory Management, Dealers’ Connections, and Prices in OTC Markets

We propose a new model of interdealer trading. Dealers trade together to reduce their inventory holding costs. Core dealers share these costs efficiently and provide liquidity to peripheral dealers, who have heterogeneous access to core dealers. We derive predictions about the effects of peripheral dealers' connectedness to core dealers and the allocation of aggregate inventories between core and peripheral dealers on the distribution of interdealer prices, the efficiency of interdealer trades, and trading costs for the dealers' clients. For instance, the dispersion of interdealer prices is higher when fewer peripheral dealers are connected to core dealers or when their aggregate inventory is higher.

The US-China Phase One Trade Deal: An Economic Analysis of the Managed Trade Agreement

In light of the recent tit-for-tat trade dispute between China and the US, interest in quantifying the effects of the so-called phase one agreement has risen. To this end, the paper quantifies the impact of the asymmetric managed trade agreement using such a multi-country open-economy dynamic general equilibrium model. Besides assessing the direct implications for China and the US, trade diversion effects are also analyzed. The model-based analysis finds noticeable positive (negative) impacts of the agreement for the US (China) as well as negative spillover effects for countries not directly affected by the managed trade deal due to trade diversion. The impact of possible future trade agreements is also examined.

U.S.-China Trade Relations in the Biden Era: Trade War, Industrial Policy, and Rule-Based International Order

Presidential candidate Joe Biden's team declared President Trump's trade war with China a failure when Democratic nominee Senator Kamala Harris told Vice President Mike Pence at the U.S. vice presidential debate that “You lost that trade war.” Half a year has passed since Biden took over the White House, the U.S.-China trade war is still going on, though in a much less pompous manner than what President Donald Trump once liked it to be. President Biden refused to make significant change to Trump's tough stance on U.S.-China trade relations on the ground of the accusations of China's “stealing” intellectual property (IP), state subsidies to enterprises, forced technology transfer from foreign companies, among others. On the other hand, China has not backed off from the trade war, though it arguably made many concessions in the so-called “Phase 1 trade deal” signed by the United States and China on January 15, 2020, in which China pledged to buy US$ 200 billion more of American goods and services in 2020 and 2021, in addition to the commitments to strengthen protection and remove forced technology transfer. Evidence suggested that China was still far behind prorated targets of a full year when Biden assumed presidency in January 2021. More significantly, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been taking the opportunities offered by the trade war to remake the Chinese economy toward state capitalism. Additionally, as the trade war was happening, the Trump administration intensified its assault on the multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and effectively paralyzed the Appellate Body, a crucial part of the WTO's Dispute Settlement System.

Concealing Conflict Markets: How Rebels and Firms Use State Institutions to Launder Wartime Trade

AbstractAlthough rebel groups are players on the international stage, little is known about their financial strategies at this scale. Existing research suggests that rebels succeed in cross-border trade by using informal networks that evade state authority. Yet rebels face a critical challenge: they operate in a normative environment that values state recognition and penalizes their illegitimate status. New evidence reveals that rebels can overcome this barrier and better connect to global economies not by evading the state but by infiltrating its institutions. Drawing on unprecedented data—the internal records of armed groups and their trading partners—I examine how rebels use state agencies in conflict zones to manufacture a legal cover for wartime trade. By using state agencies to provide false certification, rebels can place the stamp of state on their trade deals. This strategy of legal appropriation is a fundamentally different model of how conflict markets skirt sanctions and connect to global buyers. I develop a framework for how this strategy works that traces how international sovereignty norms and sanctions regimes create incentives for rebels, firms, and bureaucrats to coordinate around this legal veneer across the supply chain. The framework and evidence contribute theoretical and policy understandings for rebel governance, state building and fragmentation, and illicit global markets.

Sunflower Price Differentials Attributed to the Disparity of Traditional Cost Accounting and Conventional Methods in Tanzania

Sunflower is among the key cash crops in Tanzania, which contribute significantly to the country’s economy. As it is the case for other crop subsectors, sunflower is also grown in abundance by smallholder farmers. Nevertheless, they had been living in poverty throughout their careers in agriculture which on the other hand benefited the counterparties in the trading deals. The unfair price offered to sunflower farmers was discovered in this study to be a misfortune in their investments. The conventional average farm-gate price of TZS. 622.449/Kg was found to be out of the price ranges that were backed by traditional cost accounting system, leaving farmers making losses of minimum TZS. 99.889/Kg. This study was conducted in Singida Region, Tanzania where a sample of 206 household farmers was used to obtain primary data on activity costs while the secondary data concerning the conventional price were obtained from the Districts’ sales reports and farmers’ records. Inferential statistics with one-sample test model was used alongside the IBM SPSS 26.0 statistical package in the quantitative data analysis. It was recommended, further studies to be conducted to explore more about the production cost that is backed by the activity-based costing (ABC) system, as it is more effective in assigning overheads to cost object than the traditional costing.

Vaccine set to be a game‐changer in 2021

▀ Ravaged by the pandemic, 2020 likely saw the UK economy suffer its steepest fall in GDP in more than three centuries. But we expect 2021 to see a strong recovery, pushing the UK close to the top of advanced economy (AE) growth rankings. Four themes will shape UK prospects this year:▀ 1. Speedy vaccine rollout will allow a rapid lifting of Covid‐related restrictions. The government plans to vaccinate all vulnerable groups by the end of Q1. This should allow a meaningful relaxation of social distancing restrictions from Q2, triggering a strong, consumer‐led, recovery. ▀ 2. Services will outperform industry. 2020 was a rare year when industry has fared better than services. But the lifting of social distancing restrictions should spark a strong revival in sectors relying on social consumption. Industry will also be more heavily affected by the introduction of the new UK‐EU trading relationship, with increased costs and supply‐chain disruption likely. ▀ 3. Policymakers will stay on the accelerator. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already loosened the fiscal stance by 2% of GDP this year relative to pre‐pandemic plans, and we think chances of more support are greater than of premature tightening. Similarly, the BoE has already committed to £150bn worth of gilt purchases this year, and the MPC's bias is towards further loosening, even though base effects will likely push inflation back to target by end‐2021. ▀ 4. Brexit will remain in the news, particularly in early‐2021. Notwithstanding the UK‐EU trade deal, the realities of life outside the single market and customs union will quickly become apparent in the early part of this year. Goods trade between the UK and EU will take longer and involve a substantial increase in bureaucracy. This will help keep Brexit in the public eye, even if the short‐term macroeconomic impact is limited.

МЕХАНИЗМЫ ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЙ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ С ПОСТАВЩИКАМИ ПРИ ИМПОРТНЫХ ОПЕРАЦИЯХ

This article is devoted to the consideration of the key mechanisms of the enterprise’s interaction with suppliers in import operations in the foreign trade. The article studies the import transactions’ nature and types, the operations’ main stages and considers the features in documenting them. The primary focus is made on the mechanisms of interaction during those operations. The authors characterize elements of the coordinated interaction’s mechanism in the system “customer-supplier”, they are: the interaction mechanism’s forming principles, the choice of the interaction’s coordinating parameters, conducting the basic interaction procedures, finding a compromise for the relations’ stability. The article describes the content and role of international agreements’ terms standardized in accordance with the Incoterms’ requirements in documenting the export-import operations. It presents the terminology most frequently used in the foreign trade operations and deals in differences in the book-keeping accounting and tax accounting of foreign economic activity from similar operations between internal divisions of the organization and operations within the country. The authors emphasize the importance of taking into account all the opinions of stakeholders – participants in the chain of the foreign economic activity linking the producer to the consumer of goods (and there may be more than 10 of them in global value chains). They also list principal operations that must be performed when organizing the delivery of goods. Conclusions are drawn about the importance of the ability to find compromises for an effective business management in the foreign trade transacting.

Local Economic and Political Effects of Trade Deals: Evidence from NAFTA

Local Economic and Political Effects of Trade Deals: Evidence from NAFTA

Институт дарообмена у обских угров в антропологическом дискурсе

Introduction: the work is written in the discourse of economic anthropology. The relevance of the institute of gift-giving among the Ob-Ugric peoples is determined by the interest in the study of their traditional culture, as well as the desire to determine its role and functions in the modern global world. Objective: to consider and analyze different types of gift exchange and related communications among the Ob-Ugric people in the past and in modern practices. Research materials: the author’s field materials collected among different groups of Ob-Ugric people; works of authors of the second half of the XIX – beginning of the XX centuries, containing descriptions of trade deals with the participation of the indigenous population of the Ob North. Results and novelty of the research: on the materials about the Ob Ugrians the kinship and friendship gifts connected with the custom of guesting, exchange of gifts in the rites of transition, gift exchange with spirits, gift exchange with the authorities during the period of integration into the system of Russian statehood and elements of gift exchange relations in trade are studied. The essence of the institution of gift-exchange is revealed through the theoretical developments of the classics of economic anthropology, first of all, M. Moss. Gift-giving in Khanty and Mansi culture has both real and symbolic value. The first one is equivalent to the value of things or services, and the second is determined by the fact that gifts are perceived as a pledge of success and prosperity in the future. The gift was a peculiar mechanism of maintaining ties both between different collectives within the community and with the outside world, including otherworldly forces.

Pandemics, food (in)security, and leaving the EU: What does the Covid-19 pandemic tell us about food insecurity and Brexit

Focusing on food (in)security, this paper argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has shed light on what has been so far neglected in the on-going Brexit discussions. The current pandemic has produced startling images of empty supermarket shelves, shortages of farm workers, increased use of food banks and heightened concern over the health of those at the lower end of the socio-economic scale. We argue that food insecurity was not created by the current pandemic but is a serious underlying issue in the UK, which has not been adequately considered in discussions about Brexit. In other words, the pandemic has simply highlighted the risk that Brexit will worsen food insecurity and the health of those already disadvantaged. We argue that the pandemic provides an opportunity for UK policy makers to consider the impact of food trade deals on food insecurity, one which we urge them to take.

Наука и инновации в 2019–2020 гг.: ресурсное обеспечение, первые посткризисные оценки

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on research and development (R&D) was a major factor for the global innovation activity in 2020. Prior to the pandemic, global R&D spending by both governments and private capital had been steadily increasing for a decade, resulting in a doubling of spending. In the US, growth was slower than in other countries, especially compared to China, causing the US share of global R&D to decline. At the end of 2020, it was clear that China's economy ended the year with fewer losses compared to the developed world, and local companies continued to increase R&D spending, which will contribute to Chinese innovation competition in the coming years. This 2020 report consists of several thematic blocks which will be retained in subsequent annual editions. First, there is a review and analysis of the most relevant information on countries' expenditures on research and development (R&D), in particular, the estimates of expenditures according to R&D World, the volume of federal funding for R&D in the USA for 2021, and the results of the annual European Innovation Scoreboard rating of innovative companies. Secondly, the results of international patenting data by country and industry are presented, using the latest available data for 2019. Third, given the importance of private companies' capital for innovation activity, a separate block includes the results of initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2020 on major stock exchanges (USA) and other platforms, as well as data on mergers and acquisitions, which remain the most important alternative to public offerings for raising capital by technology companies. Finally, the last block deals with changes in the innovation development strategies of the leading countries. The focus here is made on the implications of Brexit for the science and technology development of the UK and the EU, taking into account the parties' agreement on a trade deal for the period after the country's exit from the Union since January 1, 2021.

Fair Share? Equality and Equity in American Attitudes Toward Trade

AbstractAmerican politicians repeatedly and strenuously invoke concerns about fairness when pitching their trade policies to their constituents, unsurprisingly since fairness is one of the most fundamental and universal moral concepts. Yet studies to date on public opinion about trade have not been designed in such a way that they test whether fairness is important, nor whether the mass public applies fairness standards impartially. Drawing on findings in social psychology and behavioral economics, we develop and find evidence for an “asymmetric fairness” argument. In a national survey of Americans, we find strong evidence that fairness, conceived in terms of equality, is crucial for understanding support for potential trade deals and support for renegotiating existing ones. Americans view as most fair and most preferable outcomes in which concessions and benefits are equal across countries, especially when those equal benefits match productivity. However, we find that Americans have an egoistically biased sense of fairness, responding particularly negatively to any outcome that leaves the United States relatively worse off—a sense of injustice that does not extend to the same degree to relative gains for Americans.

Exititis in the UK: Gravity Estimates in the Aftermath of Brexit

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union has had disruptive effects on international trade. As part of its ‘Global Britain’ strategy, in the wake of Brexit, the UK is pursuing a series of Free Trade Agreements with countries around the world, including Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and possibly the United States. Closer to home, the UK is under mounting pressure to dissuade Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from seeking independence to regain the severed ties with the EU. We analyze the economic consequences of these scenarios with a state-of-the-art structural gravity model for major economies around the world. We find that ‘Global Britain’ yields insufficient trade creation to compensate for Brexit-induced trade losses. Our results also reveal that independence from the UK in itself would inflict greater post-Brexit economic harm on the devolved nations of Great Britain. Nevertheless, these effects could be entirely removed for each of these devolved nations conditional on a renewed trade deal with the EU.

Philosophical aspect of installment trading in Islamic Rules

In this article, I would like to stop at one of the common types of trade called “Installment trading”, which is permitted in Islam, if the necessary conditions required in the Shari'ah will be fulfilled. At the same time, installment trading in Islam (Installment sale) is only one of many types of sale and purchase. Now this type of trade is very common in the world. Individuals and various industrial enterprises, firms, etc. use installment trading. Instalment selling is often used in Islamic financing. One of the types of installment trading is As-Salam, when payment for goods is made long before it was purchased, and which is known according to Arab sources long before Islam arose, used in Islam more than a thousand years ago. It should be noted that trade in Islam is permitted and this is because all the messengers of Allah were sent to change what God prohibited, but with regard to trade, there was no prohibition. In particular, the proof of that is the trade deals of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

POSITIONING MALAYSIA IN THE REALM OF GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY: ANALYSING ITS CONCERN AND STRUGGLES OF PAKATAN HARAPAN GOVERNMENT

The US-China trade war juggernaut has shackled the political, economic and social landscapes of nation states globally at varying degrees. While trade talks are still ongoing and President Trump has hinted at the possibility of an interim agreement, the prospects of both sides agreeing on a comprehensive US-China trade deal in the near-term remains cloudy. Several factors place Malaysia to be in interesting position. First, Malaysia has and is still a geopolitically important trading route. Being an integral component to the production house of the global supply chain of finished products, its economy depends highly on the movement of goods and global currency. Furthermore, Malaysia is dominantly attached to the Chinese economy. It implies the fact that trade protectionism in the U.S. has resulted into a slowdown of Chinese growth, which eventually will have a domino effect on the Malaysian economy. Worsening the situation, COVID-19 shuts down major operations in the world, disrupting global supply and chain. Countries react towards inward strategies, alleviating national security and domestic economies at the expense of globalization process. While we have passed the first wave and re-generating world economy, global economy trajectory is still deemed ambiguous. China, as major hub for manufacturing, supply and chain is affected and struggles to increase its GDP from 6.1% end of 2019. In surfacing this uncertainty, the seventh Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed lays out three frameworks that guide the conduct of Malaysian foreign policy. First, Malaysia remains as an active discussant at all platforms which Kuala Lumpur is already a member. Second, it will communicate its influence towards any decision-making processes in platforms which Kuala Lumpur is not a member. Third, Kuala Lumpur will align with the increasing penetration of Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the blue economy. Should this be the way from 2020 onwards or new strategies ought to be crafted? What are the contemporary indicators Kuala Lumpur having to consider? Eventually, what could be the ultimate message Malaysia in positioning herself, which described her synergies and potential in near future? These questions will guide to examine the feasibility of Change in Continuity as a conduct of Malaysian foreign policy in near future.

REINSERTING AFRICAN AGENCY INTO SINO-AFRICA RELATIONS

The Second Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit held in December 2015 marked the significance and extent to which China's relationship with Africa is changing. China's tripling of its financing commitment to US$60 billion signalled its confidence in the economic transformation prospects of the African continent. The changing Sino-Africa relationship is underpinned by a shift towards a more balanced partnership that recognises Africa's socio-economic and political priorities, beyond the demand for its natural resources. This paper seeks to help unpack the different dimensions of the links between Africa and China including the "untold story" of the relationship. A story about the significant number of Africans who live in or frequently visit China, and the increasing flow of African investments and tourists into China. Sino-Africa relations have evolved to the extent that African countries are taking a more assertive role when it comes to investment and signing trade deals, ensuring that their interests are protected.

How a lack of truthfulness can undermine democratic representation: The case of post-referendum Brexit discourses

This article draws attention to how the ethics of democratic representation operates as a discreet factor in a crisis of representation afflicting Western democracies by identifying the ways a disregard for truthfulness can harm democratic representation. We argue that such a disregard undermines democratic representation by (1) reducing freedom and equality, (2) weakening accountability, (3) undermining citizens’ trust in democratic institutions, and (4) jeopardising the ability to compromise. We illustrate the processes that produce these effects by analysing examples of untruthful communication about Brexit by senior British politicians in the post-referendum debates. We show how all four of these effects were triggered by the ways they misled the public by (1) making claims about overwhelming popular support for their policy, (2) misrepresenting the power relations between the European Union and the national government, and (3) seriously downplaying the complexity of negotiations involved in leaving the European Union and reaching trade deals thereafter.