Unequal Exchange Research Articles

The impact of FDI on ecological unequal exchange in China’s manufacturing industry

This paper uses the panel data of manufacturing subdivision industry from 2000 to 2014 to calculate the exchange of ecological inequality through MRIO model. On this basis, the systematic GMM model is used to investigate the direct and indirect effects of Foreign Direct Investment on the unequal exchange of manufacturing ecology. In addition, the ecological unequal exchange in China’s manufacturing industry is decomposed into ecological unequal exchange on the production side, on the consumption side, with developed regions and with lessdeveloped regions. The study finds that: 1) Industry-wide research indicates that FDI inflows have a significant positive impact on reducing the unequal exchange in the manufacturing sector. This finding contributes to the existing literature on the effects of FDI on ecological inequality. 2) Path-specific studies reveal that FDI primarily reduces ecological inequality in the manufacturing sector through technological effects. However, the scale and structural effects of FDI exacerbate ecological inequality, confirming the findings of some scholars. This nuanced understanding of the effects of FDI on ecological inequality adds to the existing body of research. 3) From the perspective of FDI sources, FDI from Asian countries and regions is more beneficial for improving China’s ecological unequal exchange. This finding provides guidance for China’s FDI attraction policies. 4) Assessing pollution emissions inventories based on the principle of production responsibility is unfair to China from both the production and consumption perspectives. 5) From a regional perspective, FDI effectively reduces the impact of ecological unequal exchange in the manufacturing sector between China and developed economies. These findings confirm that China bears an unequal exchange in the trade process and enrich the understanding of the impact of FDI on ecological unequal exchange.

Unpacking the black box of ‘energy technology’: How abstraction and resource fungibility obscure ecologically unequal exchange

Transitions to low-carbon energy technologies and other forms of climate mitigation tend to involve disempowerment and environmental injustices of various kinds. This paper argues that such tendencies are inherent in the social rationale of technological systems promoted by the logic of the world market. The production and operation of technological artifacts are imbued with economic rationality and must not be conceptualised as distinct from the organisation of society. This is illustrated by the energy transition that occurred during the Industrial Revolution, in which the underlying incentives of ecologically unequal exchange and environmental load displacements were transmuted into seemingly neutral concerns of economic rationality and technological progress. The distributive dimensions of markets and technologies become apparent as we now aspire to abandon the fossil energy regime, revealing how our concepts of ‘energy’ and ‘technology’ may obscure global processes of appropriation of human labour time and natural space. Such processes are as insidiously inscribed in low-carbon energy technologies as in the fossil-fueled technologies that they are intended to replace. To identify such pervasive injustices as inherent in technologies rather than contextual contingencies requires an acknowledgement of the social essence of technical artifacts. This in turn requires a deep transdisciplinarity that links physics, industrial ecology, the philosophy of technology, social theory, world trade, and the history of ideas. Current efforts to transcend the distinction between the social and the material pervasively fail to integrate social theory and physical resource theory. Rather than investigate the social and ecological repercussions of technological systems, the focus of energy justice research should be to discover the tacit, distributive functions that are inscribed in the technologies to begin with.

Corruption and Palm Oil in a Cross-National Perspective: How India Contributes to Forest Loss in Peripheral Nations

Drawing on the ecologically unequal exchange theory, we assess whether palm oil exports from peripheral nations to India are related to increased forest loss in the peripheral nations in the context of petty and grand corruption, which has not been done before. We go on to build upon previous cross-national work by examining if petty and grand corruption interacts with the ecologically unequal exchange of palm exports from peripheral nations to India. We test this hypothesis using ordinary least squares regression for a sample of 78 peripheral nations and find that palm oil exports to India are related to more forest loss in peripheral nations with higher rather than lower levels of petty and grand corruption. We conclude by discussing the theoretical, methodological and policy implications that follow from our findings.

Multi-component delocalized nonlinear vibrational modes in nickel

Delocalized nonlinear vibrational modes (DNVMs) are relatively new dynamical objects that can be used for testing interatomic potentials and for classification and finding new types of discrete breathers. In this work, for the first time, multi-component DNVMs in a single crystal of fcc nickel are studied using molecular dynamics method. Previously discovered two one-component DNVMs are used to construct and investigate properties of all possible two- and three-component superpositions. A quasi-periodic energy exchange between components in multi-component DNVMs is described. If the amplitudes of the one-component DNVMs in a superposition differ by less than four times, then an equivalent energy exchange between them is observed. Otherwise, an unequal energy exchange takes place, i.e. when the high-amplitude component gives up only a part of its energy leading to a slight increase in the amplitude of another component. The DNVMs consisting of two- and three-components have a lifetime of more than 10 ps as long as the initial atomic amplitudes do not exceed 0.08 Å. An increase in the initial amplitude leads to a substantial decrease in the lifetime due to the rapidly developing modulational instability. Some superpositions of modes with the same initial amplitudes of the components can transform into a one-component DNVM, while others remain multi-component ones. The results obtained in this work demonstrate the existence of multi-component DNVMs, being a superposition of two or three components, which significantly expands our understanding of their dynamics in an fcc lattice.

An analysis of unequal exchange in Turkiye s international trade

ABSTRACT Purpose- In the process of globalization, international trade has increased rapidly compared to national income (Dicken, 2015). Despite the expectation that increasing trade openness will increase economic convergence according to conventional trade and growth theories (Rowthorn, Kozul-Wright, 1998), this expectation about convergence of developing countries to developed countries has not materialized (Munck, 2021). In terms of international political economy, issues such as inequality and dependency remained on the agenda (Kiely, 2012). Alternative trade and industrial policies have been marginalized (Chang, 2002). An important theory that questions the positive expectations of conventional mainstream theories is Emmanuel's theory of "unequal exchange" (Emmanuel, 1972). However, in its original form, the theory has been subjected to various criticisms and tried to be developed. In response to the criticism that the theory is based on price and wage differences (Subasat, 2013), an approach based on international technical/organic composition and productivity differences in a more structural manner has been developed (Carchedi and Roberts, 2021). The aim of this study is to review Turkey's trade relations and point out some problems using this new approach. As the first study to apply this new approach to Turkey to our knowledge, it differs from previous unequal exchange studies (Somel, 2003; Dağıstan, 2015). Methodology- The data subject to the analysis in the study were obtained by following the methodology applied in the study of Carchedi and Roberts (2021). In the analysis based on Turkey's international trade, five developed countries that are important in Turkey's trade in the long-run were selected and a sample was obtained. In the study, graphical analysis and time series methods were applied as in the study of Carchedi and Roberts (2021). Findings- As a result of this study, in which five countries that are important in Turkey's long-term international trade are analyzed, the findings indicate that there are important value transfers in Turkey's trade, especially with developed countries. Changes in the terms and conditions of this transfer of value need to be examined and should be one of the crucial factors in considering trade policy. Conclusion- Discussion about trade policy usually revolve around trade balance. However, trade balance does not appear to be a sufficient criterion when evaluating trade policies because unequal exchange is a different concept than trade balance. Consideration of value transfers through unequal exchange should also be considered. In addition, the findings indicate that the level of technology has a decisive role in unequal exchange relations. Keywords: International trade, unequal exchange, globalization, technology, international political economy JEL Codes: D46, F63, F13

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF MANIPULATIONS AND ABUSE AS FORMS OF UNEQUAL SOCIAL EXCHANGE

Relevance. Denoted as the presence of deficiency, weak ordering of scientific opinions on classification criteria, differentiation, and description of manipulation and abuse (especially, psychological abuse) processes with current cultural and practical demand.
 Objective. A comparative analysis of manipulation and abuse (physical and psychological) phenomena as forms of unequal social exchange, the process and consequences of their implementation in particular was made.
 Methodology and basic concepts. The search of relevant literature on the topic with the help of which definitions and criteria describing and differentiating these phenomena were formulated.
 Results. As procedural criteria for comparison the author considers the attitude towards subjectivity of an abused/manipulated object (the simulation of subjectivity and its destruction); the influence targets (the motivational sphere, understanding of one’s needs or physical/psychological conditions for the implementation of volition); the subject of exchange (a wide range of possible resources, such as the need for security). As a result, the differences between manipulation and abuse is that in the first case motivational bases of the object’s activity gets distorted, but generally remains functioning, while in the second case the activity is interrupted and violated, and the exploitation implements through the desubjectivation. Thus, the consequences of manipulation are majorly associated with possible disorders of the motivational sphere, while the experienced abuse might affect mental qualities related to volitional functions, which determine not the direction of the one’s activity, but the activity itself, i.e., potentially a wider range of deformed structures.

Orbital-symmetry effects on magnetic exchange in open-shell nanographenes

Open-shell nanographenes appear as promising candidates for future applications in spintronics and quantum technologies. A critical aspect to realize this potential is to design and control the magnetic exchange. Here, we reveal the effects of frontier orbital symmetries on the magnetic coupling in diradical nanographenes through scanning probe microscope measurements and different levels of theoretical calculations. In these open-shell nanographenes, the exchange energy exhibits a remarkable variation between 20 and 160 meV. Theoretical calculations reveal that frontier orbital symmetries play a key role in affecting the magnetic coupling on such a large scale. Moreover, a triradical nanographene is demonstrated for investigating the magnetic interaction among three unpaired electrons with unequal magnetic exchange, in agreement with Heisenberg spin model calculations. Our results provide insights into both theoretical design and experimental realization of nanographene materials with different exchange interactions through tuning the orbital symmetry, potentially useful for realizing magnetically operable graphene-based nanomaterials.

Ecologically unequal exchange and uneven development patterns along global value chains

This paper relates participation in global value chains (GVCs) to development patterns and ecologically unequal exchange (EUE). We conduct a principal components analysis and a clustering analysis along six dimensions (GVC participation, GVC value capture, investment, socioeconomic development, domestic environmental impact and international environmental balance) for 133 countries between 1995 and 2015. We find three social, ecological, productive development and GVC insertion patterns: “curse of GVC marginalization”, “ecologically perverse upgrading” and “reproduction of the core”. While our results confirm the asymmetry in ecological degradation between high-income and low-income economies shown by EUE, it refines and nuances these findings. We argue that environmentalasymmetries are driven in large part by differences in how countries articulate within GVCs. Countries with a higher capacity to capture value from GVC participation (“reproduction of the core”) are able to displace environmental impacts to countries facing a trade-off between upgrading in GVCs and ecological degradation (“ecologically perverse upgrading”). Marginalization from GVCs, mitigates the impact of ecologically unequal exchange but constitutes a barrier to socio-economic benefits. Moreover, the lack of diffusion of more ecologically-efficient processes through GVCs has a negative impact on domestic ecological degradation for countries of the “curse of GVC marginalization” group.

Geographical evolutionary political economy: linking local evolution with uneven and combined development

Abstract This contribution argues that evolutionary economic geography needs to widen its conceptual apparatus in order to engage with the grand challenges of our times. Instead of understanding evolution as a gradual, path-dependent and geographically localized process, the current challenges result from various global political-economic transformations requiring an understanding of evolution as a outcome of variational and transformational change, the incorporation of macro-scale analysis, the augmentation of territorial with relational conceptualizations of space and a focus on historical analysis of political-economic development rather than ahistorical descriptions of regional outcomes of a generalized evolutionary process. We illustrate the potential impact of globalization on the competitive advantage of US metropolitan areas through an analysis of relations of unequal exchange between the USA and the Global South. The estimated value drain constitutes a potential source of revenue for producers in the North that complements the competitive advantages of cities based on superior localized technological performance.

Тенденции развития периферийных стран в условиях глобального кризиса: на примере Казахстана

This article raises the question of the development trends of peripheral countries in the context of global capitalism on the example of the situation in Kazakhstan. The global crisis of capitalism, exacerbated by the global coronavirus pandemic, has naturally weakened the social foundations of many political regimes, especially in peripheral countries. These countries are in a relationship of unequal economic exchange with the countries of the capitalist center of the world-system. On the example of the protest situation in Kazakhstan, one can see the whole range of class contradictions that exist in modern society.

Глобальная роль доллара и тенденции дедолларизации мировой экономики в новых условиях

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the role of the dollar in the world economy and its formation as a world reserve currency. Based on the methodology of the school of world-system analysis (J. Arrighi, S. Amin, I. Wallerstein, R.S. Dzarazov), the author reveals the mechanism for using the dollar as one of the instruments of unequal exchange between the center and the periphery of the economy within the American systemic capital accumulation cycle. Based on a comprehensive empirical analysis, an assessment is made of the trends in the dedollarization of the world economy in the 21st century. It was found that despite the devastating consequences of the global crisis of 2007–2009. caused by the hypertrophied development of the financial sector of the US economy during the global crisis, the dollar retained a key role in the international reserves of states, in trade and exchange operations in the world economy. In particular, the Russian economy, despite the statements of the authorities about moving towards abandoning the dollar, nevertheless remained highly dependent on it, only partially replacing US dollars with the euro. Real de-dollarization 2022-2023 in Russia became a necessary measure for business, and was associated with the partial blocking of Russian correspondent accounts in Western banks.

The Semi-Periphery and Ecologically Unequal Exchange: Emissions, Aboveground Biomass Loss, and Recursive Exploitation

The Semi-Periphery and Ecologically Unequal Exchange: Emissions, Aboveground Biomass Loss, and Recursive Exploitation

Ecologically Unequal Exchange and Farm Animal Welfare: An Empirical Analysis Using the Voiceless Animal Cruelty Index

ABSTRACT Ecologically unequal exchange theory explains that unequal trade arrangements between higher- and lower-income countries result in greater environmental degradation in lower-income countries. Farm animals are sometimes neglected by sociology because of their unique place between nature and society. Here, we extend ecologically unequal exchange theory to analyze trade relationships between higher- and lower-income countries and farm animal cruelty, using data from 2014. Results from regression analyses show that contrary to what we would expect based on ecologically unequal exchange theory, higher levels of exports to high-income countries from low- and middle-income countries is associated with lower overall farm animal cruelty and production of farm animal cruelty. We suggest that this may be the result of spillover effects, where the types of legislation meant to improve farm animal welfare passed in high-income countries are affecting lower-income countries, and call for more research into animal welfare, including research that examines changes over time as data become available.

Ecologically unequal exchange, repression, and forest loss: How China's demand for agricultural products impacts the natural environment

Drawing on ecologically unequal exchange theory and previous cross-national research on the topic, we assess whether agricultural exports from peripheral nations to China tend to increase forest loss in exporting nations. We extend this theory by considering if repressive nations facilitate ecologically unequal exchange between peripheral nations and China. We argue that this may be the case because repressive nations create a “good business climate” for Chinese firms via economic incentives (e.g., tax holidays), regulatory concessions, labor flexibility, and imposed political stability, that exacerbate the harmful impact of agricultural exports from peripheral nations to China on forests. Using ordinary least squares regression for a sample of 60 peripheral nations, we begin by finding support for our main hypothesis that higher levels of agricultural exports sent from peripheral nations to China are related to increased forest loss in the peripheral nations. We go on to find that ecologically unequal exchanges of agricultural products from peripheral nations to China increase forest loss more at higher rather than lower levels of repression.

Squeezed in and pushed out: dual and contradictory displacements in Santa Ana, CA

This research examines housing insecurity and displacement within a gentrifying context. Through an interpretive analysis of four years of survey data produced through a community-based research (CBR) project on households in the Lacy neighborhood within the City of Santa Ana, California, we find that the neighborhood is simultaneously a site of eviction-based displacement and extreme overcrowding. The results complicate assumptions in the literature regarding the quantification of gentrification and suggest that in addition to direct spatial dislocation and the outward movement of households, highly localized micro-gentrification and regional exclusion may together produce forms of extreme spatial concentration within neighborhoods that make estimating gentrification-induced displacement difficult. Ultimately, by drawing attention to the combination of contrary displacement forms and observable housing deprivation, we argue that the special conditions that have emerged in the Lacy neighborhood are representative of a housing submarket that combines exclusion and insecurity with unequal exchange for renters.

Uncovering the trade-induced air pollution inequality among Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries

Although trade does not only boost the economy but also exacerbates environmental transfers but still the evidence for air pollution's unequal exchange embodied in trade among the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries is rarely discussed in the extant literature. From the perspective of an integrated evaluation framework comprising a multi-regional input-output model, system balance theory, and complex network theory, this research paper uncovers the spatial- and temporal changes of trade-induced air pollution inequality among countries along the BRI route for the time period from 2011 to 2016. The study findings point out that there exists an obvious spatial heterogeneity in the unequal relations among BRI economies. This implies that a large number of country pairs demonstrate weak inequalities, whereas a relatively small number of country pairs represent strong inequalities. In addition, the countries' positions indicate a unique characteristic of “duality and inverse”, which is majorly manifested as pure causers represented by Moldova and Belarus, net beneficiaries symbolized by China and Russia, and pure victims exemplified by Bhutan. Meanwhile, nearly half of the dual identities are represented by Singapore. Besides this, the proposal and implementation of the BRI exert a positive influence on both system stability and inequality mitigation by supporting the balance of triangles. Finally, this paper posits that the environmental inequality system of the Belt and Road is not as complex as imagined since the 3-node motif classification is relatively simple. Our findings are helpful for mitigating air pollution inequalities so as to support the sustainable development of green BRI.

Ecologically Unequal Exchange and the Value of Money

ABSTRACT Unequal exchange is a common theme in two major global issues, uneven economic development and the environmental crisis. Ecologically unequal exchange is usually derived from the product composition of international trade as an opposition between extractive and industrial economies. However, this explanation fails to capture asymmetric flows of biophysical resources in the new international division of labour. Inspired by an Eco-Marxist approach, a consistent account of the ecologically unequal exchange is presented based on the different value of money between countries. An econometric test confirms the theoretical hypothesis. Unequal exchange emerges as a structural manifestation of the uneven development of capitalism, which exacerbates the global environmental crisis and pre-existing power imbalances by reproducing global economic and ecological hierarchies.

The Model of Socio-Economic Stratification of Society Based on An Agent Approach, Taking Into Account Rank Exchange

The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the possibility of adequate mathematical modeling of property inequality in a stratified society based on an agent approach, taking into account the unequal (rank) exchange between agents with different socio-economic status. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to solve the following tasks:1. To develop minimum criteria for the adequacy of mathematical models of socio-economic inequality.2. To substantiate the advantages of mathematical models based on an agent approach using rank exchange.3. To present the author’s version of the mathematical model of the goods’ movement in society based on an agent approach, taking into account rank exchange.4. To check the author’s mathematical model for compliance with the minimum qualitative criteria of adequacy and to create a quantitatively coinciding with the real distribution of the country’s population of the Russian Federation by income.5. Determine the limitations of the developed mathematical model by the authors.Materials and methods. The paper used statistical data from Rosstat, the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, the World Bank, the US Bureau of the Census, the Edelman Trust Barometer, as well as data published by domestic and foreign researchers of inequality. These data were compared with the results of inequality calculations obtained using the mathematical model of the goods’ movement in society based on an agent approach, taking into account rank (nonequivalent) exchange.Results. The minimum criteria that any adequate model of stratification of society must meet are defined: 1. reveals a lognormal distribution of the population by income with a heavy tail; 2. reflects in long-term historical retrospect the trend of inequality growth; 3. demonstrates a short-term reduction of inequality during periods of socio-economic crises.The proposed model meets these requirements, it demonstrates not only qualitative, but also quantitative adequacy – reproduces by calculation the curve of the actual distribution of Russian society by income.Common concepts of inequality, in particular, the theory of superstars or skill-based technological change do not allow achieving such a result. The limitations of the created mathematical model are shown:– the impossibility of creating an adequate Lorentz curve with insufficient computing power;– inability to describe changes in cross-country inequality, since countries are not subjects of rank exchange, although interstate agreements certainly have an impact on the exchange between economic subjects of social interaction;– inability to describe situations of absolute poverty, i.e. long-term decline in income, although in the real economy such situations are sometimes observed;– the endless growth of inequality over time, whereas in reality economic processes of inequality growth are always opposed by social processes of counteraction to this growth.Conclusion. The mechanism of spontaneous emergence and growth of income (property) inequality as an inevitable consequence of market relations is demonstrated.The agent-based approach, taking into account the rank exchange, can allow identifying critical moments in time, after which extraordinary economic and socio-political consequences will have an irreversible character, and can also help in studying the influence of individual behavior of economic agents of different levels on the evolution of the entire economic, and as a consequence, socio-political system.The results obtained will be useful for strategic planning, when developing target indexes for the socio-economic development of regions and the country as a whole, and improving the methodology for calculating key performance indexes for civil servants

Green Grabbing in the Matopiba Agricultural Frontier

This article discusses grilagem (land grabbing) in the Cerrado, particularly in Matopiba territory, which is seen as the newest and largest global agricultural frontier. It examines how the Rural Environmental Cadastre (CAR), created in 2012, has become an instrument for land and green grabbing. The analysis draws on empirical evidence on overlapping land cadastres and conflict in Piauí. The CAR has favoured green grabbing due to weak land governance, allowing the appropriation of land and nature through claims of environmental protection. The article highlights resource appropriations on the frontier that reflect the ‘unequal ecological exchange’, and the ‘metabolic rift’, that characterises the global capitalist system. It contributes to a highly topical debate on green grabbing, in the context of climate change and environmental sustainability. Crucially, it offers a perspective of the global South, on how the green agenda is being used through legal tools as a mechanism of resource appropriation.

Global inequities in the prevalence of undernourishment

AbstractObjectiveThis research draws on the theory of unequal exchange to help explain global inequities in the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU).MethodsI evaluate the proposition that the vertical flow of exports to high‐income countries exerts harmful effects on undernourishment in less‐developed countries using fixed effects estimation and generalized least squares random effects tobit panel regression models.ResultsInsights from the theory of unequal exchange help advance our understanding of global inequities in the PoU.ConclusionThis analysis contributes to an emerging body of literature suggesting that this unique form of global economic integration exerts harmful effects on health outcomes in less‐developed countries.