Major International Trade Research Articles

The Diffusion of Double Entry Bookkeeping before 1800—Establishing a New Research Agenda

ABSTRACT This paper adopts a traditional critical-historical research methodology focusing on context and function to investigate and explain the factors that led to widespread adoption and diffusion of double entry bookkeeping within and beyond its Italian roots before 1800. It finds double entry facilitated use of credit in the face of shortage of coinage. Its use spread among moneychanger-bankers at regional fairs across northern Italy, and from there to merchants and into communities of that region. Migration of Italian international-merchant-bankers across Europe led to its diffusion into clearing at the major international trade and financial markets they controlled, together with the system of bills of exchange they devised to facilitate settlement of obligations. Its use became mandatory at fairs along with bills of exchange, diffusing into the permanent early modern centers of trade and finance in Amsterdam and London, while increasing availability of resources to learn the method completed the process.

Debating on Transport Corridors of Azerbaijan in the Context of Globalization

This paper investigates the impact of globalization on transportation corridors in Azerbaijan, which are strategically located to serve as hubs for crossroads between north-south and east-west trade. The main hypothesis is that globalization has had a significant impact on transportation corridors in Azerbaijan, resulting in greater connectivity and trade flows within the region. The recent triumph over Armenia has resulted in significant changes in the region, enhancing Azerbaijan's reputation. Alongside the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions on Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan has emerged as a secure passage between these influential powers. Furthermore, the rising demands for major international trade routes have created a pressing need for Azerbaijan to enhance its capabilities to effectively meet these growing requirements. According to the World Systems Theory, semi-periphery countries play the role of bridges between core and periphery states. Globalization has led to Azerbaijan's integration into the global economic system as a semi-peripheral country. This has resulted in increased trade and investment, which in turn has led to the development of transportation infrastructure and the expansion of transportation networks.

An empirical study of the impact of COVID‐19 on container freight rates: Evidence from the panel data of China

AbstractThe container shipping industry has undergone significant changes in the post‐COVID‐19 era. This study examines the impact of the pandemic on container freight rates (CFR) through a demand analysis approach, using 11 major international container trade lanes from Shanghai, China as a case study. We analyze the CFR data on both weekly and monthly bases, with a focus on retaining more individual and time information using long panel data. To better reveal the pandemic's impact on CFR, we introduce interactive terms and simultaneous equations in our model. Our empirical analysis shows that the pandemic has not only directly and positively affected CFR, but, more importantly, has also indirectly promoted the growth of container shipping cost by stimulating the demand for containerized goods exported from China. Additionally, the connectivity or capacity of a given trade lane has inhibited the pandemic's effects on CFR to a certain extent. These findings provide insights into the remarkable growth of CFR from the demand side in 2020.

Estimating the Impact of COVID-19 on International Trade: Cases of Major Countries Using the SUR Model

This study examined the intricate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on international trade complexity. Focusing on major international trading entities such as Hong Kong, Korea, China, Japan, and the U.S., we evaluated how confirmed COVID-19 cases and government responses influenced trade patterns, particularly in exports and imports. We employed a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) analysis with cyclic regression coefficients to scrutinize changes in trade relationships between 2020 and 2021. Korea serves as the central country for this analysis, and the findings extend to other nations. The results revealed the varied impact of COVID-19 on trade across countries. Exports from Korea to China were correlated with COVID-19 case numbers and government actions in both countries. Additionally, imports from China, Japan, the U.S. and Vietnam—excluding Hong Kong—were significantly influenced by confirmed COVID-19 cases in Korea, reflecting the demand dynamics. Government interventions also played a substantial role in shaping trade patterns. Previous studies have primarily focused on financial markets and supply chains, whereas our study analyzed the changes in trade with Korea’s five largest trading partners: China, the U.S., Japan, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. Notably, we utilized long-term data and changes in major trading partners in Asia over time.

Nexus between Selected Macroeconomic Variables and Economic Growth in Kenya (1980-2019)

Economic growth challenges dominate government policy and research agendas in today's globalized world. The Kenya Vision 2030 is the country's development roadmap, with the overarching goal of becoming a middle-income nation that is not only globally competitive and successful but also provides a good quality of life for its residents and a middle-income earning economy. In Kenya, the relationship between macroeconomics and economic growth has received little attention. The specific objectives of this study were: 
 
 To establish the influence of external debt, 
 To examine the influence of domestic debt, 
 To determine the influence of inflation rate, and 
 To assess the influence of foreign exchange rate on economic growth in Kenya 
 
 Keynesian and classical theories guided this study. The study used an explanatory research design and adopted positivism philosophy, which is based on ontological principles and doctrines, implying that reality and truths are not only free but also independent of the observer. Annual data from 1980 to 2019 giving 40 observations were used. Vector Error Correction (VEC) Model was customized to analyze the long-run and short-run contribution of macroeconomic variables and gross domestic product in Kenya. From the VECM model, R-square value was 58.62, and Chi-square value was 26.913 (p > Chi2 = 0.0494), which showed that VECM was fit for parameter estimation. The coefficient of the exchange rate was , with a p-value of . Domestic debt reported a coefficient of , with a p-value of 0.019. The coefficient of inflation was , while external debt reported a coefficient of 0.0003 with a , which had a positive significant influence on economic growth. Based on the findings, the country may need to manage inflation since when inflation exceeds a particular threshold, economic growth is projected to halt. The study finds that domestic debt expansion in Kenya has a negative and significant influence on economic growth during the study period. As a result, this analysis suggests that the Kenyan government limits domestic borrowing. The government should favor macroeconomic policies that increase the stability of Kenya's exchange rate against the major international trade currencies if the foreign exchange rate has a beneficial effect on economic growth in Kenya.

Hotspots of Mining-Related Biodiversity Loss in Global Supply Chains and the Potential for Reduction through Renewable Electricity.

Anticipated infrastructure growth and energy transition may exacerbate biodiversity loss through increased demand for mining products. This study uses an enhanced multiregional input-output database (REX, Resolved EXIOBASE) and supply chain impact mapping (SCIM) method to assess global biodiversity loss associated with mining-related land use. We identify hotspots in the supply chain of mining products, compare the impact of fossil and renewable electricity, and estimate the share of mining in total global impacts. We found that half of the global mining-related biodiversity loss occurs in Indonesia, Australia, and New Caledonia. Major international trade flows of embodied biodiversity loss involve Indonesia's coal exports to China and India, New Caledonia's nickel exports to Japan and Australia, and Australia's iron and bauxite exports to China. Key end-consumers include China's growing infrastructure and the EU's and USA's household consumption. Electricity generation accounted for 10% of global mining-related biodiversity loss in 2014. The impact of coal-fired electricity was 10 times higher than that of renewables per unit of electricity generated. Globally, mining contributes to less than 1% of the total land use-related biodiversity loss, which is dominated by agriculture. Our results provide transparency in sourcing more sustainable mining products and underline synergies in fostering renewables to meet local biodiversity and global climate targets.

Technical and cost analysis of imported hydrogen based on MCH-TOL hydrogen storage technology

The international hydrogen supply chain has been commercialized and promoted hydrogen trade. With the global energy transition, the two are expected to play a more important role and make hydrogen become a major international energy trade category similar to natural gas and LNG. This paper considers importing two hydrogen sources to Huizhou of China through MCH-TOL hydrogen storage technology from Saudi Arabia, which are produced from Natural gas + CCS and from renewable energy sources. It is estimated that the costs of dehydrogenation and purification after landing are 27.6 CNY/kgH2 and 32.7 CNY/kgH2 respectively, which are difficult to be competitive. Therefore, the strategy and goal of cost reduction are proposed. It is expected to control the costs of dehydrogenation and purification to less than 25 CNY/kgH2, and explore the feasibility of developing large-scale and economically competitive hydrogen import business in China.

7 - Understanding Shifts in Nigeria’s Trade Policy: From Realism to Protectionism


 
 
 The reluctance of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, to sign two major international trade liberalisation agreements in 2018 shocked many local and international observers. However, these trade policy postures were not unexpected. Undiscerned by many analysts, many subtle changes had happened to Nigeria’s international co-operation architecture and foreign economic policy in a seemingly incoherent manner. In addition, the premise for expecting Nigeria to automatically consent to both agreements was faulty for two main reasons. First, the pretext of connectivity and market access as the underlying rationale for both agreements was allegedly hinged on the fallacy of composition, with the assumption that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. This pretext was increasingly questioned by the influential, organised private sector in Nigeria, which had shifted from the altruistic foreign policy tenets of the 1970s to insulation from negative externalities of trade. Second, Nigeria’s trade posture was erroneously considered separately from its foreign economic policy posture, which was increasingly hinged on beneficial concentricism and regaining internal capabilities. In this new dispensation, with a focus on strategic trade policy underpinned by economic pragmatism, understanding shifts in the domestic balance of power is critical to predicting Nigeria’s trade policy responses.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Folarin Alayande, Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Nigeria Email: falayande@yahoo.com
 
 

Contesting international trade agreements: argumentation patterning in embedded discourses

This chapter looks at the ideological positioning and argumentation patterning of three sets of interrelated data, which can be considered vertically organized in a hierarchical configuration: these sub-corpora consist of the drafts of a major International Trade Agreement, the TiSA, (Trade in Services Agreement), a series of revelations and exposures authored by WikiLeaks, and a collection of online publications produced by the campaigning group, Friends of the Earth International. The objective is to identify how a process of ‘entextualization’ is realized through the various discourses – from the normative codification of legislation, on to the detailed specialist exposition and critique from legal experts, and over to the affectively-charged discourse of resistance and protest in the public domain. The conceptual and explanatory frameworks for the analysis derive from two disciplinary fields, argumentative studies and discourse analysis, where the role of language studies in describing discursive construal has traditionally played rather different roles. The analysis of the corpus starts from a linguistic perspective, comparing and contrasting semantic profiling, topicalization, and verb usage over the three sub-corpora. Using accounts of argumentative structure and procedures – elaborating the notions of schema, frames, moves and strategies, it is possible to identify distinctive patterns of reasoning, revealed through linguistic indexicality. In this way, argumentation can be related to the three varying communicative contexts, their authorship, audiences and rhetorical purposes. This study is, therefore, an attempt to integrate the two fields of argumentation studies and discourse analysis more systematically, recognizing the mutual benefits this carries for both, providing a body of empirical evidence necessary to further theoretical models and theories of argumentation, on the one hand, while extending discourse analysis into more challenging areas of investigation and taking a wider textual perspective than has often been common to date.

Revealing The Meaning Of Bai ’And Tijarah In Al-Qur'an (Interpretation Of Economic Verses)

One form of economic activity carried out by humans is trade. It can be said that trade is the oldest activity carried out by humans in fulfilling their daily needs. Mecca at that time was a major international trade and shopping center, and Islam was born in the militia of Mecca trade. Once the Islamic attachment to trading activities, many narratives of the verses of the Qur'an seemed to be directed at the merchants. Qur'an was first addressed to the merchants reflected in the language and ideas". More specifically, disclosure of trade in the Qur'an can be found through lafadz bai 'and tijarah. In the following article a thematic review of lafadz bai 'and tijarah and its derivatives is presented, which is analyzed using the Makkiyyah and Madaniyyah studied tematic. In the Qur'an the verses which reveal lafaz bai 'in various variations are contained in eleven verses scattered in different letters, while the Disclosure of lafadz tijarah in the verses of the Qur'an is mentioned eight times in seven letters. The form of disclosure of the Lafadz is entirely the same in the form of mashdar (تجارة).

A new method for analyzing sustainability performance of global supply chains and its application to material resources

Supply chains become increasingly globalized. Multi-regional input-output databases contain all the information to assess impacts along the value chain, but standard calculation routines to track the impacts of any sector along the global upstream and downstream value chain are missing. Mapping the impacts of materials has been a particular challenge owing to difficulties with double-counting. This is attributed to the strong intertwining of the material supply chain meaning that different materials occur in the supply chains of other materials. Here, we present a new method which can be applied to any MRIO system to track the impacts of any sector or region without double-counting upstream and downstream the global value chain. We apply this approach to EXIOBASE3 and implement a cutting-edge set of regionalized environmental impact categories and socio-economic indicators. Applied to global material production, our method shows that the issue of double-counting (prevented in this study) would overestimate global impacts of materials by up to 30%. In contrast, assessing only the direct impacts would lead to an underestimation by ~20%. Our evaluation further reveals that 25–35% of global material-related impacts are embodied in trade among ten world regions. Thereby, we identify the major international trade relations of key materials and found a clear trend of industrialized nations causing impacts in less developed economies. It was further revealed that during 1995–2011, the share of materials in total global climate change impacts has remained almost constant at ~50%, but total impacts have significantly increased for minerals and fossils. Our results demonstrate the importance for improved environmental policy strategies that target several stages of the global value chain. The methodology is provided as Matlab tool and can be applied to any material, industrial sector and region to track the related impacts upstream and downstream the global value chain.

ЕПОХА СЛОВ’ЯН НА БАЛТИЦІ: ЕКОНОМІЧНЕ ПІДНЕСЕННЯ СЛОВ’ЯНСЬКОГО ПОМОР’Я У РАННЬОМУ СЕРЕДНЬОВІЧЧІ

Abstract Background. The article attempts to explore the reasons of the economic rise in the Slav-inhabited Baltic Sea region, including the role of geographical factors; the impact of international trade on the economic development of the Slavic region; the role of the coastal Slavs in developing the Baltic trade routes as well as the network of river and land communications in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper mainly focuses on the participation of the Slavs in the formation of transcontinental trade routes and the development of trade between Europe and the Arab East. Purpose. To explore medieval written sources, archaeological sources and historical literature on the economic development of the Baltic Slavs; identify the main factors of their economic rise, including the establishment of cities and the development of trade. Results. The following conclusions are made in the article: the first early medieval cities in the southern Baltic were founded by the Slavs; as early as in the VII century in the Oder river basin alone there were about a hundred settlements in the lands of lutych tribes. The cities founded by the Slavs on the southwest coast of the Baltic were large trade centers such as Veligrad (ger. Mecklenburg), Volyn (ger. Yumna), Staryhrad (ger. Oldenburg), Kolobreg, Shchetin, Arkona and others. According to the German chronicler Adam Bremensky the Slavic city of Volyn located on the island at the mouth of the Oder river, was one of the largest early medieval cities in Europe and a major international trading center. The emergence of early cities was stimulated by economic development in the Baltic Slavic region, including agriculture and crafts. However, trade was the main factor in the economic rise of the Slav-inhabited Baltic sea region. The favorable geographical location contributed to the formation in its territory of a network of waterways and landways, which were branches of international trade highways. Contrary to established views of the Slavs as exclusively agricultural people, sources indicate that the main occupation of the coastal Slavs was trade. They also engaged in the maritime piracy, the centers of which were the islands of Fembra (ger. Femarn) and Ruyan (ger. Rügen). The coastal Slavic tribes were pioneers in paving the first trade routes and in developing international trade in the Baltic region. Trade activities of the coastal Slavs to a large extent ensured the establishment of trade links between different regions of Europe and the development of transcontinental trade between Europe and the Arab East. The transcontinental water and land routes passed through the lands inhabited by the Slavs (Slavonia). An important role in its development in the early Middle Ages also belongs to the Danube Slavs (the state of Samo, Great Moravia) and Rus. Key words: early Medieval Age, Baltic Slavs, obodrytes, lutyches, ruyans, international trade routes, trade with the Arab East.

｢전기용품 및 생활용품 안전관리법｣ 제품안전관리제도를 둘러싼 국제통상법적 주요 쟁점에 대한 고찰 : KC인증의무의 TBT협정 제2.1조 및 제2.2조 위반여부를 중심으로

2017년 1월 28일부터 시행된 전기생활용품안전법은 전기용품과 생활용품의 안전관리제도를 통일적 종합적으로 운영하여 이들 제품의 위해로부터 국민의 생명․신체 및 재산을 보호하고 소비자의 이익과 안전을 도모함을 그 목적으로 하고 있다. 전기생활용품안전법 제품안전관리제도는 국내 기술규제정책의 일환이고, 기술규제는 나아가 국제통상의 여러 범주 중 무역기술장벽과 밀접한 연관이 있는 바, 그 채택과 시행에 있어 한국이 그간 체결한 국제통상규범과의 조화 속에서, 이에 반하지 않는 범위 내에서 이루어질 것이 요구되며, 관련하여 그 합치성 여부에 대한 검토가 필요하다.BR 현행 제품안전관리제도의 주요 내용은 일견 TBT협정으로 대표되는 무역기술장벽에 관한 국제규범에 일반적으로 합치하는 것으로 보이나, 본 제도에서 요구되는 KC인증의무를 상품의 제조업자나 수입업자를 넘어 판매중개업자․구매대행업자․수입대행업자에까지 적용하는 것은 전자상거래를 통한 해외 구매대행이 보편화된 현재 TBT협정 제2조에 따라 규율되는 차별적 정책이나 무역제한적 정책으로 인정될 가능성이 높다 할 것이다. 이에 따라 본 논문은 전기생활용품안전법, 그 중에서도 안전인증제도 및 안전확인신고제도와 같은 제품안전관리제도가 해외상품 및 이에 대한 판매중개․구매대행․수입대행업 등에 적용될 경우 발생할 수 있는 국제통상법적 문제를 고찰해보고자 한다. 현행 제도가 2017년에서야 시행된 만큼, 본 사안에 관한 선행연구는 아직까지 존재하지 않으므로, 본 논문이 가지는 시의성과 의의는 더욱 있다 할 것이다.

The cultural capitalists: Notes on the ongoing reconfiguration of trafficking culture in Asia.

Most analysis of the international flows of the illicit art market has described a global situation in which a postcolonial legacy of acquisition and collection exploits cultural heritage by pulling it westwards towards major international trade nodes in the USA and Europe. As the locus of consumptive global economic power shifts, however, these traditional flows are pulled in other directions: notably for the present commentary, towards and within Asia.

Gegenwart und Zukunft des Einheitskaufrechts

Uniform sales law forms a part of uniform private law that comprises a number of Conventions unifying either conflict-of-laws rules for sales or substantive sales law. The Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to International Sales of Goods (1955) and the Hague Uniform Sales Laws of 1964 achieved a certain legal uniformity for international sales contracts, but both were ratified by only a few Western European States. The UN (Vienna) Sales Convention of 1980 (CISG) has, in turn, developed into one of the greatest successes of uniform law-making in private law. The currently more than 80 Contracting States are proof of the fact that the CISG has been accepted by the global community of States. Its Contracting States include most major international trading nations and at the same time countries from all regions of the world. In the upcoming years, the Sales Convention's ratification by further developing States should be actively encouraged. By contrast, the extent to which the CISG has been accepted in commercial practice is very difficult to assess empirically. Much is to be said for the assumption that its contractual exclusion is significantly less common than sometimes alleged, given that the courts require a clearly expressed intention to exclude and that any exclusion needs to be agreed upon by both parties, which is often not the case. The assessment of the Sales Convention's practical importance is further complicated by its frequent application by arbitral tribunals, because the resulting arbitral awards usually remain confidential and thus inaccessible. In the future, the quest for a uniform interpretation of the Sales Convention is likely to be the most important challenge. Article 7(1) CISG provides some guidance by imposing three interpretative goals that in practice have mostly been observed. They have resulted in a generally uniform interpretation, although limited areas of non-uniformity exist. A general challenge arises from sales contracts' nature as everyday contracts in international trade, resulting in the uniform sales law's frequent application by non-specialised lawyers. It is therefore necessary to enable and assist a uniform interpretation through appropriate organisational arrangements, with a cross-border cooperation among specialised academics as the most suitable solution, designed to evaluate and assess international CISG case law and make it available to uniform law users in every country. The Sales Convention has furthermore contributed to legal uniformity through its use as a model for other international Conventions as well as for domestic and regional law reforms. By contrast, a future revision of the Convention's text seems neither desirable nor realistic, with its further development best being left to courts and legal academia. Finally, the increasing number of uniform law acts for international sales calls for a better coordination between the various law-making organisations. In particular, regional uniform law (notably EU law) should respect the existing uniform sales law by explicitly granting priority to the CISG.

Transatlantic Differences in GMO Regulation

A Case Study ApproachWhen it comes to GMOs the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) have chosen strictly opposing paths, although they were confronted with the same questions and information surrounding the GMO debate. With the statement above, Dan Glickman,the former United States Secretary of Agriculture, expressed his concern about the state of public opinion on biotechnology in Europe. It is a nice illustration of some of the differences and stereotypes surrounding the topic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs): whereas, for instance, the European regulatory system is generally characterised as politicised, decentralised and precautionary, the US system is often said to be the complete opposite, namely technocratic, centralised and sound science-based.The strikingly different regulatory approaches towards GMOs have created an international debate regarding the production, cultivation and consumption of food made from or with GMOs. The different regulatory approaches employed by the EU and the US “created serious obstacles to the export of agricultural products from the United States, and in turn raised the prospect of a major international trade war over the approval and marketing of GM foods and crops” (Shaffer, 2004, p. 2). In 2003, the conflict culminated in a World Trade Organization (WTO) case filed by the US, Canada and Argentina against the EU. Inter alia, the complainants challenged the unofficial de facto moratorium of the EU on the approval of biotech products and the national safeguard measures adopted by certain Member States (WTO, 2010). In 2006, the WTO ruled that the EU was indeed breaching its obligations under the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). The regulatory differences in GMO regulation between the EU and the US have triggered a debate which has attracted the attention of scholars from various different disciplines and academic backgrounds. Jasanoff, for example, uses the concept of political culture to show that the different approaches taken by the EU and the US reflect “more or less self-conscious projects of nation-building” (Jasanoff, 2007, p.7). Vogel, by contrast, examines the regulatory differences from a political scientist´s perspective proposing three interrelated factors – the intensity of public pressure, the political preference of influential policy makers, and the criteria used for risk assessment – in order to account for the transatlantic regulatory divergence of GMOs (Vogel, 2012). Also jurists like Wiener and Alemanno have engaged in the topic focusing inter alia on the application of the precautionary principle in the EU and the US, or the role of the WTO (Wiener J.B., Rogers, M.B., Hammit, J.K., Sand, P.H., 2011; Alemanno, 2010).

THE G77 AND ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR AFRICA'S FOOD SECURITY

Developing countries demonstrated their collective commitment to address their common economic problems through the formation of the Group of 77 (G77). The coalition has attempted to use its caucus to influence the reform of major international trade and investment policies through the United Nations (UN) fora. Two of such successes were the adoption of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). These instruments seek to improve Africa’s poverty and food insecurity by making the international market accessible to African farmers and prevent dumping of developed countries’ agricultural commodities through phasing out high subsidies. Yet, to adopt a legal instrument at the UN level is one thing, but to implement it by states is another. These and other agro-trade initiatives have grossly failed to benefit the African rural farmers and combat chronic hunger. Against this backdrop, it is logical to conclude that the G77 has failed to transform its lofty ideal into practice. In summary, while this bloc of nations has previously managed to maintain some degree of solidarity along essential socio-economic issues, the existence of its internal differences remain worrying for the advancement of Africa’s food security agenda

Workers in the Vanguard: the 1960 industrial relations ordinance and the struggle for independence in Aden

The promulgation in 1960 of a new industrial relations ordinance in Aden was a singular event in the history of British decolonisation because it made many forms of strike action illegal. Earlier initiatives to liberalise trade union law in the colonies were intended to channel and manage the discontent of workers; but for nationalist movements, the new order in industrial relations provided an opportunity to mobilise workers in the cause of independence. Aden, which was the location of a significant British base, a major oil refinery and a key commercial port, became the site of a bitter confrontation between the nascent trade union movement and the colonial administration. Three aspects of the conflict were of particular significance. First, Aden’s unique political status as a British colony in the Arab world and its strategic and economic value, contributed to the fractious industrial relations environment. Secondly, conflicts between workers and the colonial government demonstrate continuity with wider British efforts to suppress anti-colonial dissent and demonstrate that charges of appeasement in the last years of empire are not well founded. Lastly, the exceptional nature of the new legislation attracted the critical attention of the ILO and the major international trade union confederations, which internationalised the dispute over the IRO. An examination of the manner in which the British Government sought to regulate its relations with various labour organisations, including the British TUC, the colonial ATUC and the two rival international labour confederations of the WFTU and ICFTU, demonstrates that the conduct of industrial relations in Aden was significant in the context of both the cold war and decolonisation.

The High Profile of Trade in Higher Education Services

Proponents of free trade in higher education services present legitimate and convincing arguments to include higher education in major international trade agreements like the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Increasing access for American providers to foreign markets, providing services to willing education consumers abroad, and expanding educational opportunities in countries with less broadly developed systems of higher education are some of the perceived benefits of removing trade barriers to higher education providers. Indeed, free-trade supporters enjoy advocates in high places, including the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative (USTR), who promote such benefits of free trade for American higher education interests overseas. The protrade position, however, lacks a developed perspective on the implications of free trade for domestic higher education. A few informed representatives at national higher education associations have produced the only localized response from American higher education to the issue of including higher education in any trade agreements. Thus far, however, the issues raised locally have not led to a more broadly informed debate about the topic. It may be useful to present a “worst-case scenario” to showcase some of the ways in which trade liberalization could adversely impact American higher education through GATS and other international trade agreements.

Seismic-Hazard Assessment in the Kachchh Region of Gujarat (India) through Deterministic Modeling Using a Semi-Empirical Approach

Online Material: Peak ground accelerations for scenario earthquakes. The Kachchh and adjoining region in western India have been affected in the past by large damaging earthquakes. In 1668, an M 7 earthquake razed Samaji, a town 200 km west of Kachchh on the Indus delta in Pakistan (Chandra, 1977). In 1819, an M w 7.6 earthquake 100 km northwest of Bhuj formed a 90 km long and 6 m high scarp along the Allah Bund fault (Bilham and Gaur, 2000). In 1845, an earthquake of modified Mercalli intensity VIII hit Lakhpat in the western part of Kutch (Rajendran and Rajendran, 2001) and an M w 6 intensity VIII earthquake struck Anjar in 1956, causing 115 deaths (Tandon, 1959; Chung and Gao, 1995). Nine damaging earthquakes of M w 5–6 have occurred during the past 155 years, on an average of every 17 years. Some of these were in the years 1864, 1903, 1940, and 1950. The last very high devastating earthquake of M w 7.6 occurred in 2001, causing 14,000 deaths and an economic loss of $10 billion U.S. (Rastogi, 2004). The major international trade traffic in oil/and gas (energy sector), bulk chemicals, and construction materials is through Gujarat coast because of its superior infrastructure in involving harbors, ports, jetties, and oil and gas pipelines. There are 42 ports, numerous jetties, several refineries, and a large number of chemical industries. Gujarat coast also lies in the most severe seismic zone (zone V) of India. In case of a major seismic event, large‐scale damage to these facilities will severely disrupt the trade traffic and adversely affect the national economy. Apart from the coastal development, Gujarat state is expanding its industrial development in other parts of Kachchh. Therefore seismic‐hazard assessment of the region is important and essentially required. The earthquake scenarios describe the effect of …