Books on the topic 'Commodity systems analysis'

A commodity chain refers to “a network of labor and production processes whose end result is a finished commodity.” The attention given to this concept has quickly translated into an expanding body of global chains literature. Research into global commodity chains (GCC), and later global value chains (GVC), is an endeavor to explain the social and organizational structure of the global economy and its dynamics by examining the commodity chains of a specific product of service. The GCC approach first emerged in the mid-1980s from world-system research and was reformulated in the early 1990s by development scholars. The development-oriented GCC approach turned the focus of GCC analysis to actor-centered processes in the global economy. One of the initial criticisms facing the GCC approach was its exclusive focus on internal conditions and organizational linkages, lacking systemic attention to the effect of domestic institutions and internal capacity on economic development. Other critics pointed to the narrow scope of GCC research. With the huge expansion in global chains literature in the past decade—not only in volume but also in depth and scope—efforts have been made to elaborate the global chains framework and to render it industry neutral, as partly reflected in the adoption of the term “global value chains.” Three key research themes surround these recent evolutions of global chains literature: GVC governance, “upgrading,” and the social construction of global value chains. Existing literature, however, still has theoretical and methodological gaps to redress.

The chapter conducts a sociopolitical analysis of the various symbols of masculinity and political power that have been internalized within Kenyan society by asking the following questions: How have conceptions of masculinity and power been constructed in today's Kenyan society and how (or why) have they “evolved” from their traditional manifestations? What role does the Kenyan and Western media play in constructing new perceptions of manhood and power? And finally, how do these new perceptions participate in the autopoietic economic world system to which Kenya belongs? The chapter answers these questions by first focusing on the multiple facets and definitions of power (both at the macro and micro level) that are manifested in neocolonial societies, before analyzing the ways in which they are represented in the Kenyan media and internalized by the society at large.

Moving beyond theories of socio-technical adaptation, a new economic geography of energy transitions is developing that contributes to a deeper understanding of adaptation and change in energy systems. This new geography of energy transitions draws on concepts in evolutionary economic geography but moves beyond regional analysis to recognize the nation state as a critical venue for strategic action by firms. The dependence on the nation state for access to the resource; financing of exploration and production; favourable regulatory oversight; and the infrastructure to transport the commodity to profitable markets, make it the essential venue for strategic action. Drawing on the US case of shale gas and oil extraction, this chapter argues that, despite the emergence of global production networks in the oil and gas industry, national-scale governance remains central to understanding energy transitions.

The chapter analyzes the sense of “Japanese” in the film Café Lumière, in other words, the fact that many of the Japanese audience felt that it was a “Japanese film.” The “Japaneseness” of course did not simply occur at the site of reception but was also embedded as a strategic commodity, produced by multiple Japanese companies: Shôchiku, Asahi Newspaper, Sumitomo Corp., Satellite Theater, and IMAGICA. Hou states in an interview, “The theme of the film had already been decided from the beginning, and I was requested to make a Japanese film.” The chapter views the film as a success in creating a “common sense [kyôtsû-kankaku],” and its oxymoronic aspect—a Taiwan filmmaker’s Japanese film—is one of the film’s attractions. By adapting philosopher Ôhashi Ryôsuke’s concept of “systemic sense,” originated from Aristotle’s “common sense,” the chapter analyzes how the filmmaker made the oxymoron possible.

In the midst of activist, citizen, and policymaker concerns about and advocacy for the end of coal as a fuel, this chapter takes a long-term historical-materialist perspective on energy and society relations. The historical evolution of coal commodity chains from mines in global peripheries to consumption in world-system cores through four periods of attempted and real hegemonic ascent (British, US, Japanese, and Chinese) are addressed. This analysis from the nineteenth century to 2015 demonstrates that generative sectors based on coal helped drive economic ascent in all four of these cases. Further, coal remains critical for aspiring powers, notably China and India, to produce steel and electricity. China’s and India’s combined coal consumption drove a near doubling of global hard coal production between 2000 and 2015, despite declining coal use in the OECD countries. The medium-term future of coal is therefore far from certain, despite environmental costs and concerns.

This book advances current debate about the nature and complexity of Viking economic systems. It explores how silver and other commodities were used in monetary and social economies across the Scandinavian world of the Viking Age (c.AD 800–1100) before and alongside the wide-scale introduction of coinage. Through a multidisciplinary approach that unites archaeological, numismatic, and metallurgical analyses, it examines the uses and sources of silver in both monetary and social transactions, addressing topics such as silver fragmentation, hoarding, and coin production and reuse. It also goes beyond silver, giving the first detailed consideration of the monetary role of butter, cloth, and gold in the Viking economy. Indeed, the book is instrumental in developing methodologies to identify such commodity-monies in the archaeological record. The use of silver and other commodities within Viking economies is a dynamic field of study, fuelled by important recent discoveries across the Viking world. The fourteen contributions to this book, by a truly international group of scholars, draw on newly available archaeological data from eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the North Atlantic, and the British Isles and Ireland, to present the latest, original research. Together, they deepen understanding of Viking monetary and social economies and advance new definitions of ‘economy’, ‘currency’, and ‘value’ in the ninth to eleventh centuries.

This book analyzes the Central Asian economies of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, from their buffeting by the commodity boom of the early 2000s to its collapse in 2014. The book examines the countries' relations with external powers and the possibilities for development offered by infrastructure projects as well as rail links between China and Europe. The transition of these nations from centrally planned to market-based economic systems was essentially complete by the early 2000s, when the region experienced a massive increase in world prices for energy and mineral exports. This raised incomes in the main oil and gas exporters, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan; brought more benefits to the most populous country, Uzbekistan; and left the poorest countries, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, dependent on remittances from migrant workers in oil-rich Russia and Kazakhstan. The book considers the enhanced role of the Central Asian nations in the global economy and their varied ties to China, the European Union, Russia, and the United States. With improved infrastructure and connectivity between China and Europe (reflected in regular rail freight services since 2011 and China's announcement of its Belt and Road Initiative in 2013), relaxation of UN sanctions against Iran in 2016, and the change in Uzbekistan's presidency in late 2016, a window of opportunity appears to have opened for Central Asian countries to achieve more sustainable economic futures.

Almost every country throughout the globe has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus's propagation has a disastrous effect on both human health and the economy as a whole. The COVID-19 global recession is the worst since World War II ended. According to the IMF's April 2021 World Economic Outlook Report, the global economy declined by 3.5 percent in 2020, 7 percent drop from the 3.4 percent growth predicted in October 2019. While almost every IMF-covered nation saw negative growth in 2020, the decline was more extreme in the world's poorest regions. The global supply system and international trade of all countries, including India, were affected by the nationwide lockdown in India and around the world to stop the pandemic from spreading. Since the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the global business climate. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant public health and economic problems in South Asian countries and the worst impacted being India, Bangladesh and Pakistan in recent years. The nationwide lockdown adopted by the countries was effective in slowing down the spread of the coronavirus in South Asia, but it came at a substantial financial and social cost to society. Manufacturing activities in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines have shrunk sharply. Tourism, trade and remittances, and all major sources of foreign money for South Asian countries, have been substantially impacted. The COVID-19 spread has had a significant influence on global financial markets. The international financial and energy markets substantially dropped as the number of cases began to rise globally, primarily in the United States, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Iran, and South Korea along with South Asian countries. Reduced travel has had a substantial impact on service businesses such as tourism, hospitality, and transportation. According to IMF, (space required after,) 2020 South Asian economies are likely to shrink for the first time in 4 decades. The pandemic has pushed millions into poverty and widened income and wealth disparities because of premature deaths, workplace absenteeism and productivity losses. A negative supply shock has occurred with manufacturing and productive activity decreasing due to global supply chain disruptions and factory closures. This resulted in a severe short-term challenge for policymakers, especially when food and commodity prices rise, exacerbating economic insecurity. Failure to achieve equitable recovery might result in social and political unrest, as well as harsh responses from governments that have been less tolerant of dissident voices in recent years. Almost every area of the Indian economy is being ravaged by the pandemic. But the scope and degree of the damage vary from sector to sector within each area. One of the worst-affected areas in India is the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector. Apart from MSMEs, Agriculture and Agro-based industries, Banking companies and NBFCs and Social Sectors are also in jeopardy. The pandemic creates turmoil in the Capital Market and Mutual Funds industry. India's auto manufacturing and its ancillary sectors were badly hit during the initial stages of the pandemic when lockdown measures were adopted and the situation continued to remain subdued for many quarters. It is still uncertain whether this recession will have long-term structural ramifications for the global economy or will have only short-term financial and economic consequences. Additionally, the speed and the strength of the healing may be crucially dependent on the capability of the governments to accumulate and roll out the COVID-19 vaccines. In the context of the pandemic and its devastating impact on the Indian economy, an edited volume is proposed which intends to identify and analyse the footfalls of the pandemic on various sectors and industries in India. The proposed edited volume endeavours to understand the status, impact, problems, policies and prospects of the agricultural and agro-based industries, Banking and NBFCs, MSMEs, Social Sector, Capital Market and Mutual Funds during the pandemic and beyond. The proposed volume will contain research papers/articles covering the overall impact of the pandemic on various sectors, measures to be adopted to combat the situation and suggestions for overcoming the hurdles. For this, research papers and articles will be called from academicians, research scholars and industrialists having common research interests to share their insights relating to this area. It is anticipated that the volume will include twenty to twenty-five chapters. An editorial committee will be constituted with three chief editors and another external editor to review the articles following a double-blind review process to assure the quality of the papers according to the global standards and publisher's guidelines. The expected time to complete the entire review process is one month, and the publication process will start thereafter. The proposed volume is believed to be having significant socio-economic implications and is intended to cater to a large audience which includes academicians, researchers, students, corporates, policymakers, investors and general readers at large.