BACKGROUND Trade and investment liberalization (trade liberalization) can promote or harm health. Undoubtedly it has contributed, although unevenly, to Asia's social and economic development over recent decades with resultant gains in life expectancy and living standards. In the absence of public health protections, however, it is also a significant upstream driver of non-communicable diseases ...

Recent urbanization processes have been dramatically transformed by factors both external and internal to the urban system: increased globalization and economic competition; the realignment of trade and capital flows; demographic transitions, characterized by declining fertility levels and increased immigration; fluctuations in commodity prices; technological innovations; a reduction in the cos...

Agreements for the exchange of commodities consist of explicit, objectively measured contractual components enforced by the state, and implicit, subjective components enforced by sellers’ reputation. People are better informed about the former than about the latter. I expect prices to diverge because the market does not fully adjust for differentials due to changes in the reputational component...

Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in the formation of coalitions and networks in Industrial Organization. Most of this interest stems from the emergence of new forms of cooperation and competition between ...rms. The development of strategic alliances, the acceleration in the creation of joint ventures and joint production and research facilities have given rise to a new strategic...

Were institutional or technological factors more important for commodity market integration in 19 century Europe? This period witnessed major institutional changes in the form of currency agreements and the Zollverein customs liberalizations as well as transport cost reductions in the form of the building of railways. A priori, it is not evident which of these factors were most important, altho...

This article explores the expression of three forest value orientations that emerged from an analysis of Australian news media discourse about the management of Australian native forests from August 1, 1997 through December 31, 2004. Computer-coded content analysis was used to measure and track the relative importance of commodity, ecological and moral/spiritual/aesthetic forest value orientati...

— Coffee is a truly global commodity and a major foreign exchange earner in many developing countries. The global coffee chain has changed dramatically as a result of deregulation, new consumption patterns, and evolving corporate strategies. From a balanced contest between producing and consuming countries within the politics of international coffee agreements, power relations shifted to the ad...