...britain ’s bruisin g banana wars Why ch threat eap bananas Policy en farmers’ report future s A Fairtrade Foundation Report February 2014 When I sell a box of bananas it’s a product with quality, with incredible taste, so it should be fair that you pay a fair price for it. Horatio Hernandez Coobafrio Co-operative, Magdalena, Colombia January 2014 contents 1 Introduction 4 2 6 Executive Summary Britain’s Bruising Banana Wars 16 16 20 21 4 The banana value chain 4.1 The UK banana market 4.2 The retail price of bananas in Britain 4.3 UK banana imports 2002 – 2013 4.4 Changes in banana supply chain operations 4.5 The impact of supermarket price wars on producers 4.6 Producer prices vs costs of sustainable production 22 22 23 5 The market environment for bananas 5.1 Evolution of the global banana trade 5.2 Consolidation of retailer power and UK price wars 5.3 The impact of competition law on banana prices 38 6 Fairtrade’s alternative approach 6.1 General background to the Fairtrade system 6.2 Fairtrade bananas – scope and scale 6.3 airtrade: the benefits and F constraints for farmers and workers 2 3 About this report 3.1 Fairtrade’s involvement in bananas 3.2 Research objectives and approach 3.3 Methodological note 7 Achieving a sustainable banana industry 7.1 inclusive market An ...
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...JULIA GREENBERG.JULIA GREENBERG DATE OF PUBLICATION: 06.15.15.06.15.15 TIME OF PUBLICATION: 7:00 AM.7:00 AM THE WEB WILL EITHER KILL SCIENCE JOURNALS OR SAVE THEM GETTY IMAGESSCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IS awesome—we read it, we build upon it, we innovate with it, and we love it.But the process of getting research from the scientists who spend months or years with their data to the academics who want to read it can be messy. It takes a long time. It’s expensive. And the researchers involved give their work away for free—as do the peer-reviewers who approve it. Many researchers have long believed publishing power has evolved to lie in the hands of a few big companies, like, say, Reed-Elsevier and Springer. But none had ever done a study to see if that was true.Vincent Larivière, a researcher at the University of Montreal’s School of Library and Information Science, decided to do what any good scientist does: Test the hypothesis. Turns out the hunch was right. “In fact, we did not think things would be this bad,” he says.In a study published last week, Larivière, along with his co-authors Stefanie Haustein and Philippe Mongeon, found that in the natural and medical sciences as well as the social sciences and humanities, five major publishers “account for more than 50 percent of all papers published in 2013.” Those publishers include Reed-Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer, and Taylor & Francis. (The fifth differs for the two major fields—American Chemical Society for the hard sciences...
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...This article is a copy of the one published in New Society Magazine No.237, January-February 2012, ISSN 0251-3552, www.nuso.org A major transition for a great transformation Reflections from the Yasuní-ITT Initiative René Ramírez Gallegos1 When discussing the development of a political project from the Left there are two opposing positions or aspects: those which promote the idea of better managing and regulating capitalism – that is, striving for “good capitalism” – and those who hold anticapitalist positions. The author of this article argues that a Left that does not give up on the generation of alternatives to capitalism but at the same time is responsible for governing, should think about a “great transition” without losing sight of the horizon of a “great transformation”. This article analyzes the Yasuní-ITT Initiative and presents it as an example of how to merge concrete and innovative proposals (transition) and utopias which go beyond capitalist development (transformation). Key words: Left, Capitalism, Good Living/Sumak Kawsay, Yasuní-ITT The world does not need alternatives for development, but alternatives to development. The world does not need to “better” use capitalism, but to transform it. That is the great historical challenge that the Left should take on, both intellectually and politically. The concept of “development” has been recycled and reborn again and again for all its critics and detractors. However, in a strict sense it has never been questioned...
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...Richard Harrington Summer 2012 GOVERNMENT CRIME Human rights are rights unequivocally inherent to all human beings, whatever our basic nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, or any other status. We are all entitled to our human rights without discrimination. Government exposure of political crimes and human rights violations have been in the forefront of the media in the last half-century, and the United States has always assisted itself in its own interests. For the past decade the United States has been a global power and presence and most other countries are not. We are often called upon to engage in conflict situations like preventing violations of Human Rights and Genocide. It seems the United States only intervenes when our nations interests is concerned, and only brings negative reactions which severely undermines our effectiveness and especially our international credibility.“ American leadership must be commensurate with U.S. interests and the nature of the challenges facing the county. The United States should not take the lead on every issue or assume that every problem in the world demands a U.S. response. In the majority of cases, the United States should “lead from behind” or from the side, or sitting in front but rarely by itself”. (Foreign Affairs, Zenko & Cohen, Vol. 91 No. 2.) Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the legal forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles...
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...our sides, yet we understand our special calling: this great republic will lead the cause of freedom. In light of this statement, ongoing U.S. policy and its likely persistence an examination and understanding of the democracy peace proposition is clearly with merit. This essay will look at the democratic peace proposition at a several levels of analysis: at the monadic level of interstate war on whether democracies generally are more peaceful and whether transitional democracies are more inclined to war; and at the intrastate level as to whether democracies experience more or less civil war. It will examine the validity of the proposition(s), reasons for is occurrence and postulate on what implication there may be for foreign policy? For consideration of the dyadic democratic peace proposition, it is fairly standard practice to accept the Correlates of War Project definition of an interstate war as one involving independent states and at least 1000 battle (combatant) deaths.[3] Russett (1993) uses this definition of 1000 battle deaths as a threshold for considering a conflict a war and it is this...
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...Operations (PSYOPs): A Conceptual Overview Sunil Narula Abstract The psychological dimension of a conflict is as important as its physical dimension and psychological Operations (PSYOPs) have become even more relevant in this age of information, especially for a nation-state where the threat in the socio-psychological domain is more pronounced. While combating the menace of terrorism, the psychological dimension assumes great significance, as terrorists use violence as a psychological weapon by terrorising the multitude, rather than physically affect a few, and in this sense, they fight a psychological war also. The relevance of psychological operations is much greater than the successful conduct of tactical operations. This article is an attempt to conceptualise the term PSYOPs in the Indian context. The changed dynamics of international relations following the end of the Cold War and changes in the South Asian strategic landscape, postSeptember 11, have made PSYOPs more relevant for the region. It is also important to know that differences between various related concepts like Propaganda, Information Warfare, and Perception Management are waferthin, and may lead to contested perceptions amongst various agencies working under the overall ambit of national security, if not viewed in the current perspective. Therefore, clarity of the concept will set the stage for an effective implementation of policies and help in setting up of a policy structure in India (which does exist today...
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...What is economic? Economic is a study of how people make choices among the alternatives. Since the resources that are available to world are very scarce, it is important to study economic in order to make the best choice that can maximize the total profits. Real life cases are the best examples for studying economic concepts. In this paper, there are three real life cases that illustrate economic concepts base on the Case in Point boxes from the Course Reader. The first case will define the economic concepts: choice, scarcity, and cost. The second case will describe how the stock market puts supply and demand to work. The last case will present the effects can be caused by private and external costs. Case in Point: Chapter 1.1-Defining Economics; Section 1-Scarcity, Choice, and Cost What Is Wrong With The Oil Productions? Why is oil harmful? Petroleum or oil had come to the existence about four thousand years ago. Oil is now one of the required resources for every day's activities. For instance, products like mechanical engines, cars, cooking, tar for roads, etc. needs oil to function. Even though oil has many choices of how it can be produced, it is a scarce resource. As a scarce resource, oil is very limited and cannot be reproduced or recycled. As a result, there are many opportunity costs for producing oil. For instance, one of the opportunity costs for producing oil is a healthy environment. Additionally, money is the most costly opportunity cost for the oil production...
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...Hochschule für Wirtschafts-, Rechtsund Sozialwissenschaften sowie Internationale Beziehungen Monetary Economics Outsourcing Monetary Policy An essay by the example of El Salvador and Montenegro Marisa Wenk (11-608-387) Charlene (Yi Hsuan) Jung (13-602-693) Vincenz Jahn (09-610-734) Prof. Dr. Carlo Strub 19. Dezember 2013 Table of Content 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 2.1 Background..................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Benefits ........................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2.1 Stability.................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2.2 Lower risk premia.................................................................................................................... 3 2.2.3 Eliminating the transactional costs .......................................................................................... 3 2.2.4 Domestic financial development ............................................................................................. 3 2.2.5 Better economic compatibility ...................................................................................................
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...South America GEA1000 Josslen Leonard South America GEA1000 Josslen Leonard...
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...Research Paper No. 2006/54 Central Banks as Agents of Economic Development Gerald Epstein* May 2006 Abstract In the last two decades, there has been a global sea change in the theory and practice of central banking. The currently dominant ‘best practice’ approach to central banking consists of the following: (1) central bank independence (2) a focus on inflation fighting (including adopting formal ‘inflation targeting’) and (3) the use of indirect methods of monetary policy (that is, short-term interest rates as opposed to direct methods such as credit ceilings). This paper argues that this neo-liberal approach to central banking is highly idiosyncratic in that, as a package, it is dramatically different from the historically dominant theory and practice of central banking, not only in the developing world, but, notably, in the now developed countries themselves. Throughout the early and recent history of central banking in the US, England, Europe, and elsewhere, financing governments, managing exchange rates, and supporting economic sectors by using ‘direct methods’ of intervention have been among the most important tasks of central banking and, indeed, in many cases, were among the reasons for their existence. The neo-liberal central bank policy package, then, is drastically out of step with the history and dominant practice of central banking throughout most of its history. Keywords: financing, institutions, central banks, history, development JEL classification: E5, N2, O2 ...
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...The Shrimp Commodity System A Sustainability Institute Report by Denise Johnston, Chris Soderquist and Donella H. Meadows There’s a basic fear between your world and mine. I don’t know why. What I came to say was, teach the children about the cycles. The life cycles. All the other cycles. That’s what it’s all about, and it’s all forgot.” —Gary Snyder. “To/From Lew” July 2000 © Sustainability Institute PO Box 174 Hartland Four Corners VT 05049 Inquiries to d.meadows@dartmouth.edu Table of Contents Commodity Project Background ...................................................................................... page 2 The Shrimp System .......................................................................................................... page 3 Wild Shrimp Fisheries Shrimp Aquaculture Model Purpose and Development..................................................................................... page 4 Model Structure ................................................................................................................ page 5 Scenarios from the Model................................................................................................. page 9 Scenario 1: Unbounded Aquaculture Scenario 2: The Environment Strikes Back Scenario 3: Help for the Fishery Scenario 4: Best Practice for the Shrimp Farmers Summary of Dynamic Lessons ....................................................................................... page 12 Notes on Process to Date...
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...1. Executive summary: The main purpose of the following report is to provide information about the profile of The Bolivarian Republican of Venezuela; in order to study the current situation of the country for further investigations in the future that may help to understand the opportunities and risk involve in importing and opening new markets in Venezuela. The analysis includes reviews and an extensive research about: First the geography and global information to introduce the country; second, the History since the arrival of the Spaniards. The Political analysis will be explained as much detailed as possible due to its specifics characteristics in the recent decades with the Hugo Chavez’s government. He report draws special attention in the Social analysis is one of the main issues to be reviewed due to its importance at the time of making any decision. The economic aspect of course will be in consideration with both: the Official’s figures and the international observer’s ones, the graphics will be analyzed. It will be also mentioned the Business environments and the principal sectors to invest or that could be interesting to sell. To support all the information in the report before any conclusion, it will be used THE SWOT tool to demonstrate why Venezuela is an interesting place to import, especially in the last 5 years. It is not just a country of striking natural beauty, which ranges from the snow-capped Andean peaks in the west, through the Amazonian...
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...Summer Project Report on “Market Research and Route Mapping for Tata Iris and Venture” Submitted in partial fulfillment of PGDM program 2013-15 [pic] Submitted by Name: Tapan Sharma Roll Number: 27 Company Guide Faculty Mr. Ankur Aggarwal Dr. Girish Kathuria Territory Sales Manager -SCVP Professor Tata Motors Ltd EMPI BUSINESS SCHOOL New Delhi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I express my sincere gratitude to my industry guide Mr. Ankur Aggarwal, Territory sales Manager-SCVP, Tata Motors ltd, for his able guidance, continuous support and cooperation throughout my project, without which the present work would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the DSE and DSM of Automobile Sterling, Ashok Ojha , Mr. Harish Sharda, for the constant support and help in the successful completion of my project. Also, I am thankful to my faculty guide Prof./Dr./ Girish Kathuria of my institute, for his continued guidance and invaluable encouragement. Tapan Sharma INDEX |s.no |chapters |page no. | |1 |EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...
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...Religion and Inequality University of Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business Bachelor Thesis International Economics and Business Name Student: Yitian Jing Student ID Number: s2012790 Student email: y.jing@student.rug.nl Date Thesis: Jun. 5th, 2012 Name Supervisor: Dr. Robbert K. J. Maseland First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my advisor, Dr. R. K. J. Maseland, for his academic guidance and encouragement throughout the research. He has been very generous sharing his experiences on institutional and cultural determinants on economy, as well as on academic research methodology and beyond. I would not have finished such a thesis paper without his support. His effort and patience would never be forgotten. Abstract The democracy’s inequality decreasing effect has been appealing to researchers for long but lacks concentrated argumentation and empirical evidence, as well as the interaction between democracy and religion. This paper conduct an empirical analysis covering time period of 1978-2010 with 86 countries to test the hypotheses of whether democracy decreases inequality and whether an egalitarian religion decreases the influence of democracy. The result shows the direct effect of democracy is weak, however, the hypothesis of religion’s effect on the democracy’s influence is partially confirmed. Therefore, democracy itself has minor influence on inequality while a large proportion of the effect is religion-related...
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...C 2010 The Authors. Bulletin of Economic Research C 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Board of Trustees of the Bulletin of Economic Research. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA. Bulletin of Economic Research 64:4, 2012, 0307-3378 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8586.2010.00364.x CULTURE AND GROWTH: SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE Dustin Chambers and Susan Hamer Department of Economics and Finance, Salisbury University, Salisbury, USA ABSTRACT Using Hofstede’s cultural data set, this paper examines the impact of cultural characteristics on a nation’s economic performance. Using a two-step estimation procedure, we first estimate a panel growth regression and obtain estimates of each nation’s fixed effects, which reflect idiosyncratic differences in growth performance. In the second step, we regress the fixed effects on invariant cultural and institutional variables. Our estimation results suggest that individuality and tolerance for uncertainty are the most important cultural factors in explaining nation-specific growth performance. Furthermore, our findings suggest that political and property rights play a major role in determining idiosyncratic growth. Keywords: culture, economic growth, freedom, property rights JEL classification numbers: C23, O1 I. INTRODUCTION Using several measures of culture, we seek to determine the effect of culture on a nation’s economic performance. Among the cultural characteristics...
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