Tradeable Commodity Research Articles

Rapid production of novel beneficial alleles for improving rice appearance quality by targeting a regulatory element of SLG7.

Rapid production of novel beneficial alleles for improving rice appearance quality by targeting a regulatory element of SLG7.

Taxing bitcoin: Incentivizing the difficulty adjustment mechanism to reduce electricity usage

This paper develops a model of the bitcoin market that views the bitcoin as a tradeable commodity whose supply is managed by the Bitcoin protocol. Miners utilize equipment and electricity to solve complex computational problems and the first miner to solve a problem is rewarded with bitcoins. The protocol adjusts the difficulty of the problem to target a constant growth rate in the supply of bitcoins over time. The model demonstrates that an increase (decrease) in the difficulty works in effect like a government’s placing an ad valorem tax (subsidy) on the price of a commodity. The rents that would have arisen from limiting supply, however, are wasted as electricity costs. It is shown that an actual tax on the price of the bitcoin can be used to displace the electricity costs. Using data from March 2014 to January 2019, it is estimated that the difficulty adjustment mechanism resulted in net welfare losses to the miners and buyers of bitcoins of 373.8 million USD. Average initial tax rates of 35% and 347.5% would have fully displaced the electricity costs and maximized their reduction, respectively.

Data as a Tradeable Commodity: Propertization vs. the Concept of Exclusive Rights

This article purports to determine the legal nature of data (personal data and nonpersonal data) and to find out which approach (propertization or exclusive rights theory) may be used to arrange the trade of data. It begins with the analysis of the notion of data and their various types and goes on to analyze modern concepts and theory explaining who the data may be attributed to and on which grounds data may be transmitted and acquired. In this context two theories are considered: a so-called theory of propertization of data and the theory of exclusive rights. Based on this analysis the approach to the legal determination of the legal nature of data and rights to them is introduced.

Understanding and attributing cultural heritage values to individual plants

The cultural, both tangible and intangible heritage value of individual plant specimens are rarely included in discussions regarding botanical and cultural heritage, whilst the more scientific and conservation values of a plant as a genetic resource or habitat component are more defined and understood. Nassauer (1995) acknowledges that cultural concepts of nature are different from scientific concepts of ecological function. Widening multidisciplinary discussion and an increased consensus in the definition and role of intangible cultural heritage have all facilitated the potential of cultural heritage plant values being understood by the heritage sector. How can such heritage values be assessed, are there existing methodologies within the heritage and collections management sectors that can be used for living plants? Would this heritage value be passed on to a plant’s offspring, is heritage a tradeable commodity and how would such heritage status affect future management?

What's the Difficulty? Understanding and Incentivizing Bitcoin's Difficulty Adjustment Mechanism

This paper develops a model of the bitcoin market that views the bitcoin as a tradeable commodity whose supply is managed by the Bitcoin protocol. Miners utilize equipment and electricity to solve complex computational problems and the first miner to solve a problem is rewarded with bitcoins. The protocol adjusts the difficulty of the problem to regulate the supply of bitcoins over time. The model demonstrates that an increase (decrease) in the difficulty works in effect like a government's placing an ad valorem tax (subsidy) on the price of a commodity. The rents that would have arisen from limiting supply, however, are wasted as electricity costs that benefit neither a government nor the miners. Ironically, while the bitcoin is esteemed for its nongovernmental design, its system of supply management is far less efficient than if a government were to regulate the quantity of bitcoins by imposing a tax on its price. I show that an actual tax on the price of the bitcoin can incentivize the protocol to minimize the electricity costs it induces and I characterize the cost-minimizing tax. Using data from March 2014 to January 2019, I estimate that the difficulty adjustment mechanism resulted in net social welfare losses of 351.6 million USD and an average initial tax of 119.5% would have minimized the electricity costs during this time period.

A comprehensive secondary market model for virtualized wireless connectivity

Secondary markets are essential if we are to re-assign valuable resources such as radio spectrum to users and services who value them most. Despite the potential that markets have to perform this task, it is still difficult to find real-world examples of successful secondary markets for spectrum. In this work, we explore a broader context where markets would be deployed to shed light on the different components that may affect their viability.Transactions that involve electromagnetic spectrum are generally extremely difficult to achieve due to the complexity of spectrum when treated as a tradeable commodity. To ease these difficulties, we start with the proposition the that many applications require wireless connectivity rather than simply spectrum. We proceed to consider a system where transactions for wireless connectivity are handled by a specialized intermediary that we refer to as Virtual Network Builder (VNB). The model we present accounts for technical definitions of spectrum as a commodity as an effort to bring diversity, and hence thickness, to the market. At the same time, we consider a more nuanced definition of market participants (Resource Providers (RPs) and Service Providers (SPs)), which allows us to examine their incentives to transact in the market and the consequences of their strategies. As a result, we are able to evaluate the performance of a market for wireless connectivity from multiple angles including the efficiency in resource assignment, profitability for market participants and overall conditions to market viability.

Hegemonic building and the paradox of over-accumulation in the Central London office market

At every stage of urbanisation, monumental buildings have been employed as hegemonic symbols by the dominant social class. Beyond their use value and exchange value, such buildings acquire symbolic value as signifiers of status and power. They provide a medium through which the dominant class can express its collective authority, and individuals within that class can compete for supremacy. Hegemonic buildings exert a disproportionate influence on urbanisation, acting as catalysts for more extensive swathes of building investment and surviving long after most of that investment has been destroyed. Under capitalism, hegemonic buildings, like all buildings, have become commodified; their symbolic value as well as their use value has become a tradeable commodity The expected return from investing in such a building thus includes a ‘hegemonic premium’, the return on the symbolic capital invested in it. Competition amongst investors in hegemonic buildings such as office towers leads to over-accumulation, with more buildings produced than there are occupiers willing and able to fill them. This, in turn, leads to the devaluation of capital and the acceleration of obsolescence, as buildings become economically obsolete long before they reach the end of their physical life.

Citizenship-for-Sale Schemes in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta

Citizenship-for-sale schemes aimed at attracting wealthy and mobile individuals, so-called “high net worth individuals” (HNWIs) whose net assets are of US$1 million or more. A growing number of governments now seek to attract this category of migrants with abundant wealth. Many large and small states introduced various programmes and schemes to attract foreign investors. However, the European Commission has many concerns about these schemes regarding national security risks, ethics of nationality and can possible economic distortions. In a resolution adopted in January 2014, the European Parliament expressed its concern that the “outright sale of EU citizenship undermines the mutual trust upon which the Union is built”. It maintained that “EU citizenship implies the holding of a stake in the Union” and this “should never become a tradeable commodity”. This article explores citizenship for sale schemes in three new member states that joined the EU in 2004-2007 pointing out key areas of concern in the implementation of citizenship-for-sale schemes in the cases of Cyprus, Malta, and Bulgaria.

Fetishism and the language commodity: a materialist critique

Over the past 10 years, an emerging body of research in applied linguistics and linguistic anthropology has made the argument that recent global political-economic developments have led to the commodification of language. In focusing on how language is seen as a tradeable commodity, the process of commodification is portrayed as a principally discursive event, where value and commodity status are attributed to languages. However, the notion of both value and of commodities themselves as discursive matters stands in contrast to Marxist and classical political economy where commodities have value only insofar as they are congealed embodiments of human labour, expended in production processes where labour stands in relation to capital. In juxtaposing the ‘language commodity’ with the commodity of Marxist political economy, and in drawing on Marx's notion of commodity fetishism, we argue that though language may appear to be a commodity, it is not one, as language itself is not a product of labour. We conclude by discussing what a closer engagement with the more material concerns of production offer political economy approaches to language in addressing an ‘ideal’ and ‘material’ epistemological divide (Gal, 1989; Irvine, 1989; Friedrich, 1989; Shankar and Cavanaugh, 2012).

The idea of food as commons or commodity in academia. A systematic review of English scholarly texts

Food systems primary goal should be to nourish human beings. And yet, the current industrial food system, with its profit-maximising ethos, is not achieving that goal despite producing food in excess. On the contrary, this system is the main driver of malnutrition on the planet, as well as environmental degradation. Nonetheless, food systems also play a double role as Nature's steward. Deciding which role we want food systems to play will very much depend on the idea we have about food. What is food for humans? The dominant narrative of the industrial food system undeniably considers food as a tradeable commodity whose value is mostly determined by its price. This narrative was crafted and disseminated initially by academics, who largely favoured one option (commodification of food) over the others (food as commons or public good). In this research, the author aims to understand how academia has explored the value-based considerations of food as commodity and private good (hegemonic narratives) compared to considerations of food as commons and public good (alternative narratives). A systematic literature review of academic papers since 1900 has been carried out with Google Scholar™, using different searching terms related to “food + commons”, “food + commodity”, “food + public good” and “food + private good”. Following the PRISMA methodology to clean the sample, a content analysis has been carried out with the 70 references including “food + commons” and “food + public good”. Results clearly show that both topics are very marginal subjects in the academic milieu (only 179 results before cleaning) but with a sharp increase in the eight years that followed the 2008 food crisis. On the contrary, “food + commodity” presents almost 50,000 references since 1900 (before cleaning), with a remarkable increase since the 1980s, coincidental with the dominance of neoliberal doctrines. The phenomenological approach to food (epitomised in the “food as” searching term) largely prevails over the ontological approach to food (“food is”) except when food is identified as a “private good”. This result points to the ontological absolute ”food is a private good” developed by the economic scholars as a dominant narrative that locked other valuations of food by legal, political or historical scholars or non-scientific epistemologies. In a world where the industrial food system has clearly proven its unfitness to feed us adequately in a sustainable way, the need for academia to explore other food valuations seems more urgent than ever. Scholars need to approach other narratives of food (as commons or public good) that go beyond the hegemonic and permitted ideas, unlocking unexplored food policy options to guarantee universal access to food for all humans, regardless their purchasing power, without mortgaging the viability of our planet.

The Value-Based Narrative of Food as a Commons. A Content Analysis of Academic Papers with Historical Insights

Food systems primary goal is to nourish human beings. And yet, the current industrial food system, with its profit-maximising ethos, is not achieving that goal despite producing food in excess. On the contrary, this system is the main driver of Earth transformation. Actually, the way we produce, eat and value food as a commodity is changing the planet in ways that threatened our very existence. Nonetheless, food systems also play a double role as Nature’s steward. Deciding which role we want food systems play will very much depend on the idea we have about food. What is food for humans? A vital resource, human right, cultural pillar, natural resource, commodity, commons, public good? The dominant narrative of the industrial food system undeniably considers food as a tradeable commodity whose value is mostly determined by its price. This narrative was crafted and disseminated initially by academics and interested politicians, who largely favoured one option (commodification of food) over the others (food as commons or public good). In this research, the author aims to understand how the academia has explored the value-based considerations of food as commodity and private good (hegemonic narratives) compared to alternative considerations of food as commons and public good (alternative narratives). Two different research tools have been used to explore the diversity, relative presence and relevance of food valuations: a systematic literature review of academic papers since 1900 with Google ScholarTM, and a time-series visualization with Google Ngram ViewerTM of key words in written English texts present in the Google Books corpus since 1800. Different search terms related to “food commons,” “food commodity,” “food public good” and “food private good” have been used in the analysis. Results provided by both tools clearly show that “food commons” or “food public good” topics are very marginal subjects in the academic milieu (only 179 results since 1900) but with sharp increase in the eight years that followed the 2008 food crisis. On the contrary, “food commodity” presents almost 50,000 references since 1900, with peaks coincident with both world wars and the 1973 global food crisis. Another interesting element is that the phenomenological approach to food (epitomised in the “food as” searching term) largely prevails over the ontological approach to food (“food is”) except when food is linked to the “private good” dimension. This result points to the ontological approach to food by the economic school of thought compared to a phenomenological approach by other epistemological schools such as legal, political or historical scholars. In a world where the industrial food systems has clearly proven its unfitness to feed us adequately in a sustainable way, the need for the academia to explore other food valuations seems more urgent than ever. Scholars need to approach other narratives of food (as commons or public good) that go beyond the hegemonic and permitted ideas, unlocking unexplored food policy options to guarantee universal access to food for all humans, regardless their purchasing power and without mortgaging the viability of our planet.

The ethics of offsetting nature

Biodiversity offsetting is transforming conservation practice around the world. Development activities that degrade or destroy biodiversity at one location are now increasingly acceptable because of compensatory environmental gains generated elsewhere. This change represents a major shift in how nature is protected, and yet its philosophical justification has received little attention. We argue that biodiversity offsetting aligns most easily with a utilitarian ethic, where outcomes rather than actions are the focus. However, offsetting schemes often neglect to account for the multiple values that people assign to biodiversity – including unique, place‐based values. Furthermore, the implications of defining nature as a tradeable commodity may affect our sense of obligation to protect biodiversity. Ironically, offsetting may exacerbate environmental harm because it erodes ethical barriers based on moral objections to the destruction of biodiversity. By failing to consider the ethical implications of biodiversity offsetting, we risk compromising the underlying motivations for protecting nature.

Competition or collaboration: policies and practices in international higher education

Universities in the twenty-first century experience numerous competing drivers that shape their sense of purpose and role in society, their perspectives of knowledge and its production and their overall sense of being in the world. One major force is marketplace discourse, in particular neo-liberalism and competition, which is discordant with the discourse of academic collaboration and collegial sharing. This review essay examines what it means to ‘be’ a university in light of these overarching discourses and what is envisioned for universities of the future. In particular, the essay focuses on how universities around the world respond to the tensions of competition agendas in local contexts. How are global policies on education as a tradeable commodity shaping university policies, discourses and practices? How is competition moulding the overall notion of a university education? What is imagined for the future of universities, given the dissonance between competition and collaboration agendas and practices in higher education? These questions are explored through reviews of two recent books that focus on global shapings of higher education institutions: ‘‘Being a University’’ by Ronald Barnett (2011) and ‘‘Higher Education, Policy and the Global Competition Phenomenon’’ (Portnoi et al. 2010) edited by Laura Portnoi, Val Rust and Sylvia Bagley. Barnett’s book is used primarily to outline the characteristics of various universities’ being and becoming. Portnoi et al’s work provides clear illustrations of the lived experience of higher education in the current globally competitive age. Three broad questions frame this review: • How do universities currently see themselves as being in a globally competitive market? • How does the globally competitive agenda operate in practice in different universities? • What could universities ‘become’ in the future?

Water Diplomacy: Effecting Bilateral Partnerships for the Exploration and Mobilization of Water for Development

In the face of economic challenges facing small developing states, they have had to find innovative and entrepreneurial ways of securing funding to develop national infrastructure and to cope in an increasingly competitive global environment. In such an environment small states continue to seek niche markets in which they can attract foreign direct investment, and identify new frontiers for conducting diplomacy. One such way, is through the exchange of expertise and technology from the more to the less developed countries to help explore, access, store and utilize water resources in return for which the latter is able to secure funding for infrastructure and other developmental projects. The paper examines the role of bilateral arrangements in assisting small developing states to explore and mobilize water resources. This is done through an analysis of arrangements between South Africa and Lesotho around the area of “water diplomacy”. In so doing, the discussion explores one type of partnership that can develop between states around the management and use of water resources for mutual benefit and also, illustrate how water becomes a trade-able commodity and the basis for entrepreneurial diplomatic relations between states.

Cross‐border Higher Education in India: False understandings and true overestimates

The on going debate about the (World Trade Organisation) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) framework brings out conflicting views about cross‐border education the world over. Between the enthusiastic views of trade promoters, at one end, and the sceptical reflections of academics with a traditional outlook, at the other, there are many different viewpoints. Academics who support the view that education should not be treated as a tradeable commodity argue that cross‐border education should always have a revenue generation approach that would be to the disadvantage of developing countries. There are trade enthusiasts who are convinced that the commercialisation of higher education at the global level is unavoidable in the near future and that it is up to the countries to prepare themselves to benefit from the new opportunities of the global market. Sometimes strong criticism of these academics is based on false understandings. It is also true that the views of trade promoters might be equally wrong in some national contexts, based only on optimistic overestimations rather than on grounded realities. This paper explores these false understandings and overestimations that shape the arguments about cross‐border education in the Indian context.

Actuarial pricing of energy efficiency projects: lessons foul and fair

Recent market convulsions in the energy industry have generated a plethora of post-mortem analyses on a wide range of issues, including accounting rules, corporate governance, commodity markets, and energy policy. While most of these analyses have focused on business practices related to wholesale energy trading, there has been limited analysis of retail energy services, particularly energy efficiency projects. We suggest that there were several business concepts and strategies in the energy efficiency arena whose inherent value may have been masked by the larger failure of companies such as Enron. In this paper, we describe one such concept, namely, actuarial pricing of energy efficiency projects, which leverages a portfolio-based approach to risk management. First, we discuss the business drivers, contrasting this approach with conventional industry practice. We then describe the implementation of this approach, including an actuarial database, pricing curves, and a pricing process compatible with commodity pricing. We conclude with a discussion of the prospects and barriers for the further development of transparent and quantifiable risk management products for energy efficiency, a prerequisite for developing energy efficiency as a tradeable commodity. We address these issues from an experiential standpoint, drawing mostly on our experience in developing and implementing such strategies at Enron.

Ecological Change in North India: Deforestation and Agrarian Distress in the Ganga-Jamna Doab 1800-1850

Abstract The British were not the only foreign rulers to bring ecological catastrophe to India. Large areas of forest had been destroyed under the Moguls in the 17th century. The Moguls' former hunting grounds west and south west of Agra had disappeared by 1800. That the residency in Fatehpur Sikri was deserted after the wells had silted up was a further clear indication of this deterioration. Yet the reasons for this overexploitation differed greatly from those of the British rulers. It can be assumed that it was demographic pressures which led to forest clearances in the 17th century. Timber was needed to build new houses and even towns, whose citizens in turn needed firewood, and land to cultivate. In the context of the transformation of Indian agrarian structures by the colonial rulers, totally different mechanisms were in operation. * Until 1835 the revenue rate in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces was over three quarters, only being reduced to 'half the net rental assets' after 1855. Only then did the revenue rate again match that in force under the Moguls, although its flexibility was still not as great. * The market for land created by the British laid a value upon the soil making it a tradeable commodity. Whilst there had been some limited private property in pre-British times, land had not been a marketable asset. These two prerequisites put in place by the colonial rulers set the ecological catastrophe in motion. For the peasants, a vicious circle of revenue and debt payment, cash crop plantation and permanent acquisition of new land was created just to meet the new demands. Forests were cleared to gain new land for cash crops, whilst cultivation of food was increasingly marginalised. Ever greater demands were put upon the soil, hardly leaving time for its regeneration and in many parts of the Doab, but particularly in the Agra Division in the second half of the 19th century, it was totally exhausted. This change was completed within more or less 25 years (1805-1830). The devastation of the ecology of the Doab, which manifested itself so appallingly in 1837-38 led to the impoverishment both of large sections of the population and of the region.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE UK

The progress of research and development, funded from government sources, during the last three decades is reviewed, together with forms of sponsorship and support. The Office for Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) functioned from 1965 to 1974 and concentrated on developments for bibliographic and information analysis services. When transferred to the British Library (with the title of the R&D Department) the scope was widened. The trend has been to more applied, more commissioned research reflecting national priorities. Current broad areas of concern attracting financial support are: information technology for library and information services, implications of information being treated as a tradeable commodity and the effects of economic and social constraints on services.

Information services in a beleaguered agricultural industry

Since the late 1970s mounting concern about farming practices and agricultural policy has coincided with a steady decrease in the funds available for publicly‐funded research. Major reorganisation taking place in agricultural research is forcing library and information departments to reassess the range of services they offer. The increasing pressure to seek commercial sponsorship in order to offset the effects of cuts, will have repercussions for information practitioners who will have to market their services more aggressively, extend their horizons, and increasingly come to regard information as a tradeable commodity. Information will become more commonly available to the end‐user without the necessity for an intermediary, both on the farm and in the laboratory.