Intercontinental Trade Research Articles

From where did the 2009 'swine-origin' influenza A virus (H1N1) emerge?

The swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus that appeared in 2009 and was first found in human beings in Mexico, is a reassortant with at least three parents. Six of the genes are closest in sequence to those of H1N2 'triple-reassortant' influenza viruses isolated from pigs in North America around 1999-2000. Its other two genes are from different Eurasian 'avian-like' viruses of pigs; the NA gene is closest to H1N1 viruses isolated in Europe in 1991-1993, and the MP gene is closest to H3N2 viruses isolated in Asia in 1999-2000. The sequences of these genes do not directly reveal the immediate source of the virus as the closest were from isolates collected more than a decade before the human pandemic started. The three parents of the virus may have been assembled in one place by natural means, such as by migrating birds, however the consistent link with pig viruses suggests that human activity was involved. We discuss a published suggestion that unsampled pig herds, the intercontinental live pig trade, together with porous quarantine barriers, generated the reassortant. We contrast that suggestion with the possibility that laboratory errors involving the sharing of virus isolates and cultured cells, or perhaps vaccine production, may have been involved. Gene sequences from isolates that bridge the time and phylogenetic gap between the new virus and its parents will distinguish between these possibilities, and we suggest where they should be sought. It is important that the source of the new virus be found if we wish to avoid future pandemics rather than just trying to minimize the consequences after they have emerged. Influenza virus is a very significant zoonotic pathogen. Public confidence in influenza research, and the agribusinesses that are based on influenza's many hosts, has been eroded by several recent events involving the virus. Measures that might restore confidence include establishing a unified international administrative framework coordinating surveillance, research and commercial work with this virus, and maintaining a registry of all influenza isolates.

Integration of global commodity markets in the early modern era

In this article, I test whether there is any evidence of price convergence on intercontinental commodity markets prior to the nineteenth century. I gather price data on eleven commodity markets important to early modern intercontinental trade. The main conclusion is that many of the commodity markets do show signs of price convergence even prior to the nineteenth century. The question of an early globalisation can thus not be dismissed as easily as has often been done so far.

After the Horse has Bolted: A Reply to Garner et al. (2009)

The intercontinental trade and transport of amphibians has been linked directly to disease spread and the subsequent extinction of amphibian species worldwide. Garner et al. (2009) invoke historical precedents and current trade practices to conclude that ''imposing trade restrictions will require substantial time and effort with no guarantee of success姧. They use this rationale to downplay the importance or effectiveness of banning or reducing the amphibian trade, instead espousing their belief that diseaserelated amphibian declines can be controlled through a combination of post-hoc actions, such as improved stakeholder education, disease testing, and continued research into techniques for mitigating the effects of disease in affected areas. Although these actions are an important component of a comprehensive strategy to manage a widely distributed disease, we maintain that a virtually complete ban on all unnecessary long-distance trade and transport of live amphibians is required to prevent the spread of novel pathogens and the extinctions that they will inevitably cause. This is because: (1) it takes only one infected individual to initiate an epizootic; (2) there exists neither the machinery nor the manpower to perform disease diagnostics on millions of amphibians per year; (3) even with routine testing and quarantines, diseased individuals would inevitably pass undetected; (4) it is not possible to test for diseases that have yet to be discovered; (5) history demonstrates that waterborne pathogens (such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) can become globally ubiquitous long before we even know of their existence (Kriger and Hero 2009); and (6) we are currently unable to eradicate from the wild, let alone control, even those diseases for which we have the most in-depth understanding. We could therefore say ''eradicating disease from the wild will require substantial time and effort with no guarantee of success''. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We agree that substantial time and effort with no guarantee of success is inevitable, but a mass extinction of amphibians is occurring, and drastic actions are warranted. Our efforts should optimally be directed toward preventing the causes of the problems, rather than healing symptoms after global extinctions have already occurred (closing the gate after the horse has bolted).

Chytridiomycosis, Amphibian Extinctions, and Lessons for the Prevention of Future Panzootics

The human-mediated transport of infected amphibians is the most plausible driver for the intercontinental spread of chytridiomycosis, a recently emerged infectious disease responsible for amphibian population declines and extinctions on multiple continents. Chytridiomycosis is now globally ubiquitous, and it cannot be eradicated from affected sites. Its rapid spread both within and between continents provides a valuable lesson on preventing future panzootics and subsequent erosion of biodiversity, not only of amphibians, but of a wide array of taxa: the continued inter-continental trade and transport of animals will inevitably lead to the spread of novel pathogens, followed by numerous extinctions. Herein, we define and discuss three levels of amphibian disease management: (1) post-exposure prophylactic measures that are curative in nature and applicable only in a small number of situations; (2) pre-exposure prophylactic measures that reduce disease threat in the short-term; and (3) preventive measures that remove the threat altogether. Preventive measures include a virtually complete ban on all unnecessary long-distance trade and transport of amphibians, and are the only method of protecting amphibians from disease-induced declines and extinctions over the long-term. Legislation to prevent the emergence of new diseases is urgently required to protect global amphibian biodiversity.

A máscara do texto - duas obras de Pepetela

A gloriosa família e Lueji, obras do escritor angolano Pepetela, utilizam-se de estratégias literárias específicas para contar dois momentos da história de Angola: uma época anterior à colonização portuguesa e uma fase posterior, em que transitam diversas nacionalidades com o objetivo de ocupar a região. As duas obras literárias multiplicam as possibilidades de percepção de um evento através de seus narradores. Eles compõem uma instância literária pluralizada: ora a do contador ou a do narrador das viagens, ora o onisciente ou o testemunhal. A combinação de tais instâncias coloca em diálogo os espaços da história brasileira, da literatura latino-americana, das narrativas européias e da oralidade angolana. Tal estratégia tem por função a reorganização das narrativas de viagem e da oralidade com o intuito de gerar uma escrita literária nova para tratar de uma perspectiva inusitada: a relação igualitária entre os povos que construíram o universo de língua portuguesa.

The determinants of bilateral trade

Abstract. In this paper we present a monopolistic competition model that incorporates asymmetric trade barriers and international differences in production costs. The model implies a highly non‐linear bilateral trade equation. Estimation of this equation yields parameters for the elasticity of substitution and trade costs that are more reasonable than those found in previous studies. A simulation indicates that trade liberalization will shift trade from rich countries to poor countries and from within continental trading partners with preferential trade agreements to intercontinental trading partners. JEL Classification: F1

Review of the status and control of foot and mouth disease in sub-Saharan Africa

Six of the seven serotypes of foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus (i.e. all but Asia 1) are prevalent in Africa although there are marked regional differences in distribution. Three of these serotypes are unique to Africa, namely the three South African Territories (SAT) serotypes. Serotype C may also now be confined to Africa because it has not been reported elsewhere recently. In southern Africa at least, the SAT serotypes have an intimate and probably ancient association with African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) that is instrumental in their maintenance. Within each of the six prevalent serotypes, with the possible exception of C, there are a number of different lineages with more or less defined distributions (i.e. topotypes) that in some cases are sufficiently immunologically different from one another to require specific vaccines to ensure efficient control. This immunological diversity in prevalent serotypes and topotypes, in addition to uncontrolled animal movement in most parts of the continent, render FMD difficult to control in present circumstances. This fact, together with poorly developed intercontinental trade in animals and animal products has resulted in the control of FMD being afforded a low priority in most parts of the continent, although the northern and southern regions of the continent are an exception. As a consequence, eradication of FMD from Africa as a whole is not a prospect within the foreseeable future. In southern Africa, the use of fencing and other means to strictly control the movement of wildlife and livestock as well as judicious application of vaccine has resulted in countries of the region being able to access beef and other livestock markets in Europe and elsewhere in the developed world. Significant marketing of livestock and livestock products from Africa outside the continent is unlikely to be achieved unless similar approaches can be developed for other regions of Africa. This will result in continuing under-exploitation of a valuable resource in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa, with increasing marginalisation of human populations living there.

AFLP Comparisons Among Claviceps africana Isolates from the United States, Mexico, Africa, Australia, India, and Japan.

Eighty-seven isolates of the sorghum ergot pathogen, Claviceps africana, from diverse geographic locations were analyzed using four different amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations to determine genetic relationships among isolates. Most isolates showed unique AFLP haplotypes, indicating that substantial genetic variation is present within C. africana populations. Two major groupings of isolates were observable, with ca. 70% similarity between the two groups. One group consisted of Australian, Indian, and Japanese isolates and the other of U.S., Mexican, and African isolates. In spite of overall high levels of genetic diversity observed in C. africana, isolates within the two major groups were between 75 and 100% similar. The observed associations of C. africana isolates from worldwide sources could be the result of intercontinental trade and/or movement of seed. The data indicate that Africa was the likely source of C. africana that has become established in the Americas since 1996. Analysis of additional isolates in future studies will reveal whether these groupings are being maintained or whether population subdivision or reshuffling may occur.

Basel in the Age of Burckhardt: A Study in Unseasonable Ideas

In the 19th century, nationalism and democracy were on the rise in Europe, transforming old nation-states and leading to the creation of powerful new ones. Basel, with its legendary wealth, its 400-year-old university, and its tradition of humanist learning, clung to its ancient status as an independent city-republic within the loose Swiss Confederation. It owed its prosperity to its situation at the crossroads of France, the German states and the states of Southern Europe and to a vast network of international and intercontinental trading connections developed by its enterprising elite families. Its citizens looked out at the changes taking place around them and feared for their privileges, their prosperity and the political autonomy of their miniature state. By mid-century, Basel had become a focus of resistance to the optimistic and confident modernism of the time. Lionel Gossman's sweeping work tells the story of Basel, this seemingly anachronistic hybrid of commercialism and classical republicanism, and of four major thinkers who retreated there: the historian Jacob Burkhardt, the philologist and anthropologist Johann Jakob Bachofen, the theologian Franz Overbeck, and the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Focusing on the native Baselers, Burckhardt and Bachofen, Gossman offers the most comprehensive interpretive biographies and analyses of these figures and their work available in English. At the same time, he shows how their are tightly interwoven with the culture, tradition and destiny of this unique and beautiful city. Today, as the developments these men decried continue to gain momentum, their unseasonable ideas emerge as fresh, provocative and troublingly ambiguous in their implications as they were 150 years ago.

A Critique of Milgrom and Roberts' Treatment of Incentives vs. Bureaucratic Controls in the British North American Fur Trade

In their 1992 textbook, Economics, Organization and Management, Milgrom and Roberts used 19th century fur trading companies as examples of effective (the incentive-based North West Company) and ineffective (the bureaucratic-based Hudson's Bay Company) organizations. Findings from detailed examinations of both companies' archives suggest that Milgrom and Roberts were not completely accurate in their depictions of the two companies' incentives and bureaucratic controls. In response to complexities of intercontinental trade, both companies used bureaucratic controls for coordination as well as profit sharing to motivate senior managers. More generally, the findings raise questions about Milgrom and Roberts' relatively negative conclusions concerning the effectiveness of bureaucratic controls.

Intercontinental Trade and the Development of the Third World since the Industrial Revolution

This paper inserts two centuries of historical perspective into the ongoing debate on the nature and significance of participation in the global economy for the long-term material progress of the Third World. The global economy impinged upon the relative rates of growth achieved by national, regional, and local economies basically through commodity trade, the migration of labor, flows of capital, and transfers of technology between the developed continents of Europe, North America, and Australasia, on the one hand, and the less developed continents of Asia, Africa, and South America (the Third World) on the other. Despite the marked inequality in the distribution of income across continents, Third World economies and populations derived significant benefits from participation in the global economy until 1914, and the breakdown of the liberal order imposed serious impediments to trade during the era of neo-mercantilism between 1914 and 1950, which severely constrained Third World opportunities for growth through trade. When a new international economic order emerged with decolonization and the rise of American hegemony, the Third World again found it entirely beneficial to participate in global commerce.

The African Lords of the Intercontinental Gold Trade Before the Black Death: al-Hasan bin Sulaiman of Kilwa and Mansa Musa of Mali

Where we are able to combine external sources of the ‘medieval’ period with local African ones – oral and linguistic, ethnographic and archaeological – we can begin to discern the place of Africa, or of parts of it, in world history. At the same time, we begin to gain chronological perceptions for regions where otherwise we are apt to fall back on synchronic notions of ‘traditional’ cultures and societies living as if in a permanent ethnographic present. The occasional allusion bearing a calendar date of universal applicability presses questions of correlation over broad distances, in a way that radiocarbon measurements (which we should hesitate to call ‘dates’) cannot do. Notwithstanding the importance of the latter technique for the study of the African Iron Age, the individual results are inherently imprecise (whether ‘calibrated’ or not) and, being run on specific samples, bear frequently an uncertain relationship to the historical event or episode in question.

Research on Sub-Saharan Africa's Unrecorded International Trade: Some Methodological and Conceptual Problems

This paper describes some of the methodological and conceptual problems in researching aspects of sub-Saharan Africa's international 'underground' trade, meaning commercial transactions which are conducted across international frontiers but which are unrecorded in official data. The authors focus in particular on trade across intercontinental frontiers. They consider some problems of identifying and researching long-distance trade, and particularly intercontinental trade, which is illegal, unofficial or informal. They do so at two levels: first, by looking at sources of evidence for intercontinental flows (the examples of ivory and drugs); second, by adopting a 'bottom-up' approach, studying activities of individuals or small groups of intercontinental traders with a view to extrapolating from their activities in order to draw conclusions of wider application. Finally, they make some remarks concerning new modes of unofficial trade and the people who participate in them.

ARKTISKE FOLK SOM STATISTER OG AKTØRER PÅ DEN GLOBALE SCENE

Frank Sejersen: Arctic people as by-standers
 and actors at the global stage
 For centuries, the indigenous peoples of the
 Arctic have been perceived as isolated from
 the rest of the world. The article argues that
 secluded Arctic communities do not exist
 and that Arctic peoples are integrated into
 numerous political, cultural and economic
 relations of a global extent. The pre-colonial
 inter-continental trade between Siberia and
 Alaska and the increased militarization the
 whole circumpolar region are but two
 examples. Throughout history, indigenous
 peoples of the Arctic have been players on
 the global stage. Today, this position has been
 strengthened because political work on
 this stage is imperative in order to secure the
 welfare and possibilities of local Arctic
 communities. To mention an example, Arctic
 peoples’ hunting activities have been under
 extreme pressure from the anti-harvesting
 movement. The anti-harvesting organizations
 run campaigns to ban hunting and stop
 the trade with products from whales, seals
 and furbearing animals. Thus, political and
 cultural processes far from the homeland of
 Arctic peoples, have consequences for the
 daily life of many Arctic families. The global
 stage has become an important comerstone
 in indigenous peoples’ strive to gain more
 control over their own future. The right to
 trade, development and self-determination
 are some of the rights they claim.

POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY OF IMPORTED AND TRANSHIPPED TROPICAL FLORICULTURAL COMMODITIES

Intercontinental trade in floriculture products exceeds US$ 1,250 mln annually. One fourth are tropical commodities. Most of the US$ 200 mln of tropical floriculture products imported into western Europe arrive by airplane and are transhipped before arriving at the country of destination. For cut flowers, it takes four to seven days from arrival at the port of entry to destination at the consumer. Mode of transport and market structure have as result that postharvest requirements for individual products are seldomly met. Potential vase life is reduced by five to ten percent for every day spent in the marketing chain. Because quality loss is often invisible, there is a necessity to have measures of internal quality. The only measure currently being used is a test on bacterial contamination. Internal quality tests based on carbohydrates, chlorophyll fluorescence or near-infrared spectra are being developed. Control on the application of pretreatments against bacteria, ethylene and drought needs to be intensified. Extension efforts continue to emphasize hygene and temperature control.

The Copper Inuit Soapstone Trade

The existence of an important trade in soapstone vessels between Copper Inuit producers and the Inupiat of north Alaska during the 19th century is well known. This paper puts that trade firmly within the context of the Bering Strait intercontinental trade network, of which the Copper Inuit soapstone trade appears to represent the Maximum geographic extent. Archaeological and documentary evidence suggests that it flourished for only about a generation, between about the 1840s and the 1860s, before being circumvented by the Hudson's Bay Company and American trading interests in Alaska. The soapstone trade may have been the first step in the rise to relative prominence of the Kangiryuarmiut of western Victoria Island, one of two Copper Inuit groups that appear to have been directly involved. Key words: Arctic, Inuit, Copper Inuit, history, archaeology, trade, soapstone

The state of food production and nutrition in the developing countries.

The genesis of the problem of food production and nutrition of African, Asian and Central and South American countries can be traced back to the beginning of 'inter-continental trade' and the emergence of colonialism. Indigenous food patterns and social and economic orders that had evolved to befit the inhabitants and the environment were destroyed. A nutritional framework and an agricultural and economic policy designed to benefit the colonising nations were fostered. At present, millions of people in the developing countries suffer from endemic undernutrition and associated diseases. Famine is always present under the surface claiming families and individual hamlets and breaks through when the semblance of equilibrium between minimal food requirement for survival and supply is disturbed by natural or man-made disaster. Landlessness, an uneven distribution of wealth, overemphasis on cash-crop production, neglect of peasant agriculture in favour of unnecessary expenditure on military hardware and other misguided projects, and crop specialisation are some of the factors responsible for food shortage and undernutrition. Moreover, most of the staple foods of the developing countries are of low energy density and deficient in some essential nutrients. The cycle of undernutrition, hunger, disease and death can only be broken by instituting a well planned, peasant-orientated, integrated development programme based on self-reliance and self-sufficiency.

The Intercontinental Long-Distance Trade. A Preliminary Survey

The author of the following paper is not an economic historian. As a general modern historian when teaching history under more global perspective, he became increasingly aware of the importance of the intercontinental longdistance trade by his interests in African history and the history of European expansion overseas. When working on a more elementary, but systematic introduction into world history for undergraduate students and high school pupils (‘Geschichte griffbereit.’ 6 vols. Reinbek b. Hamburg 1979/1983), he was struck by the frequent occurrence of long-distance trade in general, of what is here called ‘intercontinental long-distance trade’ in particular: even in the most superficial treatment of many regions, countries, places of historical importance (cities, ports, straits, isthmuses, rivers, isles and peninsulas) longdistance trade played a central role. If examined closely, it emerges that surprisingly much is known about long-distance trade in general. Direct and indirect consequences of the intercontinental long-distance trade are so manifold and complex in many spheres of history — economic, of course, but also political, naval, military history, history of ideas and religions — that it should become useful to make it a major theme of its own.

Le froid, élément de la sécurité alimentaire dans le monde

Improving food security is now a basic and one of the most difficult problems of world food policy and economy. The problem exists because of the need for faster growth in food resources than population levels, especially in the developing countries where food consumption per capita is very low. If refrigeration processes can be constantly adjusted in form to meet the needs of food economy, they can play an important role in the following areas: food reserves; reducing losses in food production and turn-over; reducing seasonal variations; international food trade development; increasing the possibilities for the world fish economy; and frozen food production. The building up of foof resources and consequent stabilizing of the world's food situation became possible mainly through the existence of cold stores. The total volume of all multi- and one-branch cold stores can be estimated as ap; 1.5 × 10 8 m 3. The USA, Japan, USSR, Canada, UK, France and FRG are among the major shareholders of this global potential. This volume could provide storage for 4 × 10 7 tons of food requiring refrigeration. This is the equivalent to 10 days food production in the world. Further development of cold storage is, therefore, necessary. Although the exact estimation of losses from food production and turn-over is very difficult, many experts evaluate these losses as ⩾ 20–30%. Some of these experts estimate tthat wide-spread use of refrigeration could save 2.5 × 10 8 tons of food from deterioration per year. This is equivalent to 80 kg for each person in the world. A decrease in seasonal variation in food production is necessary to adapt seasonal food production to constant consumption. Cold storage can allow a gap of several months between food production and its consumption. Refrigeration has enabled the development of large-scale international and intercontinental food trade. At present > 3 × 10 7 tons of food per year is involved in world trade (i.e. meat, butter, bananas). After World War 2 the total weight of fish caught increased very quickly from 1.9 × 10 7 tons in 1948 to 7.2 × 10 7 tons in 1980. This was possible only because of the application of refrigeration, especially at sea in large oceans. Frozen food production is seen by some as the biggest achievement of the twentieth century in food technology. Production of frozen food has been estimated as ap; 3.0 × 10 7 tons per year, exclusive of the 1.0 × 10 7 tons of ice-cream. Increased world food security depends on refrigeration techniques developing at a faster rate than population growth, as well as the growth rate of world food production.

Arms, Guano, and Shipping: The W. R. Grace Interests in Peru, 1865–1885

In this article Mr. Secada analyzes the origins of W. R. Grace and Company and its rise as a dominant actor in Peruvian economic history. He attributes this ascendancy primarily to the arms trade in which Grace engaged on behalf of the Peruvian government during the War of the Pacific (1879–84). Grace's early status as an intimate of the dominant Peruvian elite, its deft manipulation of its ambiguous position as an American shipping house, its imaginative construction of a nascent intercontinental trading network utilizing both sea and rail transport, and its willingness to invest its own capital in the development of potential product lines—all served to catapult the firm within a period of thirty years into a powerful trading house and foreign investor in Latin America.