Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Commodity trade'
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1
Innella, Giovanni. "The commodity of trade in contemporary design." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2014. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/17464/.
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This research explores the intersection between the design industry and the ubiquitous media and events industry, focusing on the context of design characterized by limited editions and one-off artefacts. The increasingly growing manifestation of this type of design in the media and the media in design – has an impact on the way certain designers conceive and practice their profession, and on the design industry as a whole. The aim of this PhD is to provide an understanding of such impact. In doing so, this thesis answers the main question: What commodities (intended as the ensemble of goods, values, competencies and services) are traded in the contemporary design industry and by whom? As a result, this research expands the notion of the design process beyond the artefact, highlighting the role that its representation in the media and events has in the process. Furthermore, this study provides new understanding on the media profile within the design industry. The designers' media profile entails popularity and prestige. It indicates the extent of the audience and the level of status; it is quantity and quality at the same time. To express this with the terminology used in this thesis, a well constructed media profile infers reputation besides visibility. In fact, reputation and visibility emerge as central commodities for trade. As visibility and reputation are the fuel that feeds the contemporary design industry, then the power of the media has proven crucial, allowing a fluidity of roles in the design industry. The research witnesses the way actors conventionally belonging to the media industry are now able to commission new content to feature in their publications and events and monetize from this. The thesis concludes with the observation that some designers are also starting to monetize from their presence in exhibitions, by demanding loan and participation fees. Conclusively, this thesis critically highlights the need to reconsider the roles of each actor involved in the design industry according to the trade of such immaterial commodities.
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Divaris, D. E. "Invention as commodity : Intellectual property and free trade." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.383126.
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Ronchi, Loraine. "Fairtrade and market failures in international commodity trade." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.514184.
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This thesis concerns an intervention in commodity markets known as 'Fairtrade', which pays producers a minimum 'fair' price and provides support to their cooperative organisations. Fairtrade justifies its intervention in commodity markets like coffee by claiming that factors like market power and producer organisation inefficiency marks down the prices producers receive ("producer price mark-downs"). As the market share of Fairtrade coffee grows. its intervention in commodity markets is of increasing interest. This is particularly true as international commodity policy also increasingly focuses less on the support and stabilisation of low prices. and more on enabling producers to increase their share of existing returns through gains in efficiency and profitability. Using an original data set collected from fieldwork in the coffee market for Costa Rica, the thesis assesses the role of Fairtrade in overcoming the market factors it claims limits producer returns. Careful research into farm-gate prices paid by milling firms and the detailed construction of an international benchmark price for Costa Rican coffee permit the construction of a producer price mark-down measure that informs on efficiency and market power. In addition to the role of Fairtrade, the measure permits the testing of hypotheses about what explains producer price mark-downs over mills and over time. Features of the Costa Rican input market for coffee permit a generalisation of the results. The empirical results find that market power is a limiting factor in the Costa Rican market and that Fairtrade does improve the efficiency of cooperatives, thereby increasing the returns to producers. The results also suggest that producers selling to vertically integrated multinational coffee mills face lower producer price mark-downs as compared to domestically owned non-cooperative mills. This result contradicts the popular view that increasing concentration of vertically-Integrated multinational firms account for a decline in coffee producer returns over time.
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Perry, Debra Lynn. "Commodity prices and real exchange rate movements." Thesis, London Business School (University of London), 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.336607.
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Lee, John Chienping. "China's commodity trade across the Taiwan Strait, 1984-1993." online access from Digital dissertation consortium, 1996. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/er/db/ddcdiss.pl?9636462.
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Boakye, MK, A. Kotze, DL Dalton, and R. Jansen. "Unravelling the Pangolin Bushmeat Commodity Chain and the Extent of Trade in Ghana." Human Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2015. http://encore.tut.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?sp=1001824.
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Abstract
Pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) are frequently
hunted as a source of bushmeat in Ghana. However, no information
exists with regards to the level of trade of pangolins
outside of major bushmeat market surveys in Ghana. The aim
of this study was to determine the level of trade among other
stakeholders in the bushmeat commodity chain for pangolins
in Ghana. Data were collected from 153 stakeholders using
semi-structured interviews and direct observation between
September 2013 and January 2014. A total of 341 pangolins
were recorded to have been traded in this study period. The
white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) represented
82 % and the black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla)
18 % of the observed pangolins traded by the stakeholders.
Chopbar operators accounted for the highest retailer sales to
consumers. The number of pangolins traded was negatively
correlated to the distance between settlements and protected
forest regions. The levels of pangolin trade were previously
underestimated in Ghana as the pangolin bushmeat commodity
chain does not form the supply chain to the major bushmeat markets where most surveys were undertaken. The Wildlife
Conservation Act of 1971 (LI 685) that prohibits the hunting
of pangolins can be regarded as ineffective and not serving as a
deterrent to poaching.
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Booth, Jerome Paul. "Protectionism and agricultural commodity trade : an investigation into world wheat trade using spatial equilibrium modelling." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1992. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b86ded93-a697-43b8-b940-1651703e143c.
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Protectionism is found to be the most significant cause of distortion in the international wheat market. In some cases, however, in particular the US Export Enhancement Program, it appears to be counter-distortionary i.e. redressing distortions on trade patterns caused by other protectionist policies. Also, the effects of including in the model countries additional to those in the basic model are analysed, and a comparison with the international soya market is made.
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Makki, Shiva S. "A Dynamic Equilibrium Analysis of Storage-Trade Interactions in Commodity Markets." The Ohio State University, 1995. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1393346349.
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Ejiasa, Cyprian Onyeogadirimma. "The exchange rate and the competitiveness of U.S. agricultural commodity trade /." The Ohio State University, 1985. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487259125220352.
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Njoroge, Nancy Njambi 1964. "The terms of trade for commodity exports: A case study of Kenya." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/291826.
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The study estimated changes in the terms of trade of three Kenyan exports--tea, coffee, and pyrethrum--to test the validity of the theory of deterioration in the terms of trade for primary products. Several different measures of the terms of trade were considered. The results show no evidence of a secular deterioration. They also indicate that the terms of trade measure is extremely sensitive to the choice of the price index for manufactured goods. To evaluate the impact of domestic policies, costs and returns of the three exports were examined. The results show that the impact of policy distortions on profits is far greater than the impact of expected future world price declines. Future export expansion still is possible because policy changes can offset the effect of low world prices.
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Ayankoya, Kayode Anthony. "A framework for grain commodity trading decision support in South Africa." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11437.
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In several countries around the world, grain commodities are traded as assets on stock exchanges. This indicate that the market and effectively the prices of the grain commodities in such countries, are controlled by several local and international economic, political and social factors that are rapidly changing. As a result, the prices of some grain commodities are volatile and trading in such commodities are prone to price-related risks. There are different trading strategies for minimising price-related risks and maximising profits. But empirical research suggests that making the right decision for effective grain commodities trading has been a difficult task for stakeholders due to high volatility of grain commodities prices. Studies have shown that this is more challenging among grain commodities farmers because of their lack of skills and the time to sift through and make sense of the datasets on the plethora of factors that influence the grain commodities market. This thesis focused on providing an answer for the main research problem that grain farmers in South Africa do not take full advantage of all the available strategies for trading their grain commodities because of the complexities associated with monitoring the large datasets that influence the grain commodities market. The main objective set by this study is to design a framework that can be followed to collect, integrate and analyse datasets that influence trading decisions of grain farmers in South Africa about grain commodities. This study takes advantage of the developments in Big Data and Data Science to achieve the set objective using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. The prediction of future prices of grain commodities for the different trading strategies was identified as an important factor for making better decisions when trading grain commodities and the key factors that influence the prices were identified. This was followed by a critical review of the literature to determine how the concepts of Big Data and Data Science can be leveraged for an effective grain commodities trading decision support. This resulted in a proposed framework for grain commodities trading. The proposed framework suggested an investigation of the factors that influence the prices of grain commodities as the basis for acquiring the relevant datasets. The proposed framework suggested the adoption of the Big Data approach in acquiring, preparing and integrating relevant datasets from several sources. Furthermore, it was suggested that algorithmic models for predicting grain commodities prices can be developed on top of the data layer of the proposed framework to provide real-time decision support. The proposed framework suggests the need for a carefully designed visualisation of the result and the collected data that promotes user experience. Lastly, the proposed framework included a technology consideration component to support the Big Data and Data Science approach of the framework. To demonstrate that the proposed framework addressed the main problem of this research, datasets from several sources on trading white maize in South Africa and the factors that influence market were streamed, integrated and analysed. Backpropagation Neural Network algorithm was used for modelling the prices of white maize for spot and futures trading strategies were predicted. There are other modelling techniques such as the Box-Jenkins statistical time series analysis methodology. But, Neural Networks was identified as more suitable for time series data with complex patterns and relationships. A demonstration system was setup to provide effective decision support by using near real-time data to provide a dynamic predictive analytics for the spot and December futures contract prices of white maize in South Africa. Comparative analysis of predictions made using the model from the proposed framework to actual data indicated a significant degree of accuracy. A further evaluation was carried out by asking experienced traders to make predictions for the spot and December futures contract prices of white maize. The result of the exercise indicated that the predictions from the developed model were much closer to the actual prices. This indicated that the proposed framework is technically capable and generally useful. It also shows that the proposed framework can be used to provide decision support about trading grain commodities to stakeholders with lesser skills, experience and resources. The practical contribution of this thesis is that relevant datasets from several sources can be streamed into an integrated data source in real-time, which can be used as input for a real-time learning algorithmic model for predicting grain commodities prices. This will make it possible for a predictive analytics that responds to market volatility thereby providing an effective decision support for grain commodities trading. Another practical contribution of this thesis is a proposed framework that can be followed for developing a Decision Support System for trading in grain commodities. This thesis made theoretical contributions by building on the information processing theory and the decision making theory. The theoretical contribution of this thesis consists of the identification of Big Data approach, tools and techniques for eradicating uncertainty and equivocality in grain commodities trading decision making process.
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Lawson, Selena. "Radiohead the guitar weilding [sic], dancing, singing commodity /." Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University, 2009. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/communication_theses/47/.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2009.Title from title page (Digital Archive@GSU, viewed June 16, 2010) Jeffrey Bennett, committee chair; Ted Friedman, Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, committee members. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-104).
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Jacobs, Abdul Karriem. "The emergence of trade in services as an emerging, international trading commodity from a South African perspective." University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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The reason for highlighting the difference between GATT and GATS is to focus on the impact of these agreements on the developing countries and in particular the latter will be the main focus of this paper. The economies and governments of the developing states are struggling to generate sustainable capitol growth and maintain financial stability to enhance economic growth. This is due to dictators who rule in such a manner to maintain power irrespective of the future economic viability of their state. Thus the environment for sustainable economic growth is wrath with political instability, lack of proper financial control and eagerness to attract foreign investment and allowing market access to developed states.
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Dalheimer, Bernhard [Verfasser]. "Economic Policy in Global Commodity Markets - Methods, Efficiency and Trade-offs / Bernhard Dalheimer." Göttingen : Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1219731846/34.
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Alden, David M. "The greenhouse effect, trade liberalization and agricultural commodity markets : modelling the economic impacts." Thesis, Keele University, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.305801.
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Koya, Sharmistha N. "Terms of trade effects on PPP and incomes of primary-commodity exporting countries." Diss., This resource online, 1994. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10022007-145406/.
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Purdie, Gavin Ernest. "The British Agency House in Malaysia and Nigeria : evolving strategy in commodity trade." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2018. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/9021/.
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The thesis compares the business activities of a particular type of British overseas trading company, the Agency House, in two former British colonies, Malaysia and Nigeria. The thesis charts the commercial and political circumstances that heralded the arrival of the Agency House in each colony and the companies’ rapid business growth thereafter while trading under the relative security offered by the British Empire. The thesis then examines the firms’ development in the aftermath of empire as the selected companies struggled to survive in independent nations. Here, each of the London-domiciled boards faced a very different set of commercial conditions overseas, which were largely shaped by politics both home and abroad. Each firm was forced into tough decisions on trade strategy to safeguard interests overseas and thereafter placate an increasingly hostile host regime. After independence, the Agency House, as obvious and symbolic reminders of imperialism, became targets for punitive legislation aimed at redressing imbalances in the private sector and achieving the repatriation of corporate wealth in each of the selected nations. The commodity trade was the basis for the development of the Agency House in each former colony. In Malaysia, a British-financed estate industry spread rapidly in response to escalating demand for rubber at the start of the 20th century. By the 1950s, for a number of reasons, the estate industry moved from rubber to oil palm cultivation, which quickly became a catalyst for a huge expansion in the plantation industry, the evidence of which is etched across the nation’s topography today. In Nigeria, the production of (although not trade in) commodities always remained the remit of indigenes only which was enshrined in law, both colonial and nationalist, despite the lobbying by resident British traders. This was one of a number of factors examined in the thesis to understand why trade there could not keep pace with the British estate development taking place in Malaysia and despite Nigeria’s long history in the export of commodities like palm oil. Examining the commodity trade of each nation helps to explain the growth of the British Agency House to become commercial powerhouses in each nation. The thesis therefore looks at the strategy of each firm, the trade they were engaged in and thereafter how each attempted to survive when confronted by increasingly hostile nationalist legislation. It will also explain why only one of the Agency Houses examined here continues to trade today.
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Guliani, Manraj. "Interregional Commodity and Virtual Water Trade: Impact of Changing Climate and Water Supply." The Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1429363319.
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Drottz, Per, and David Lantz. "Sweden’s Commodity Export Potential - A Gravity Approach : South-Korea." Thesis, Jönköping University, JIBS, Economics, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-6832.
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This bachelor thesis aims to estimate Sweden’s export potential towards South-Korea since initial data indicates that Sweden has from 1997 up until 2005 been exporting less to South-Korea when compared to, in general, OECD. Furthermore, South-Korea seems to be a low prioritized market for Swedish firms in the East-Asian region. As many before us, we have used a basic gravity model, including GDP and distance in kilometer has been used as explanatory variables for the observed trade value. The dummy variable land-locked, to estimate trade potential for 15 commodity groups. Sweden was set to be the exporting country, South-Korea the importing country together with all the other OECD members, which were used as points of reference.
The outcome of the gravity regression shows that distance and the dummy variable landlocked (if a country does not have access to open water) have a very strong relationship to the observed export data. However, GDP was proven to have a very weak relationship to the observed export data thus making the estimation process of trade potential for all, except one, commodity group biased.
The gravity model has been widely criticized for inflating export potential due to misspecification a problem that we experienced when running our regression. Thus, from this study no strong conclusions can be drawn concerning the trade potential from Sweden to South-Korea.
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Martínez, Galán Enrique. "The eastern enlargement of the European Union and the cohesion countries: commodity composition of trade in manufactures and trade potential." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/626.
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Mestrado em Economia e Estudos EuropeusIn order to evaluate the trade potential of the Cohesion Countries (CC) with the remaining EU11 countries in the threshold of the eastern enlargement of the European Union, as well as with the CC relations with the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), we use a gravity model. The manufacturing trade potential related to the twenty-five countries involved in the eastern enlargement of the EU15 is hence calculated from 1999 to 2002. Special attention is paid to this enlargement's effect on the CC within this approach. Relatively to previous studies with this same methodological approach, this dissertation is, to the best of our knowledge, the first combining a trade potential based on the gravity model with the inclusion of a variable related to the Commodity Composition of Trade (CCT) in terms of manufactures. Several CCT variables were tested for the available data, taking into consideration high levels of disaggregation. Finally, having in consideration the latest academic debate in course, we analysed and tested all the methodological contributions recently proposed in the literature as regards to the improvement of the econometric specification of the gravity model, namely making use of the Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood Estimator. The refinement of the explanatory variables considered in the analysis, specifically those related to the distance measurement, as well as the introduction of new variables, were also taken into consideration.
Com o intuito de avaliar o potencial de comércio existente entre os Países da Coesão e os restantes países membros da UE15 no limiar do alargamento desta última a leste e, de igual forma, entre os PC e os denominados como Países da Europa Central e Oriental (PECO), fazemos uso de um modelo gravitacional. Assim, o potencial de comércio em termos de manufacturas relacionado com os vinte e cinco países envolvidos no processo do alargamento a Leste da UE15 foi calculado, nesta dissertação, no que diz respeito ao período que medeia entre 1999 e 2002. Neste contexto, especial atenção foi colocada nos efeitos específicos deste alargamento nos Países da Coesão. Relativamente aos estudos prévios que fazem uso desta mesma abordagem metodológica, esta dissertação é, segundo a nossa percepção, a primeira a combinar o cálculo do potencial de comércio, tendo por base um modelo gravitacional, com a inclusão, neste último, de uma variável relativa à Composição do Comércio em Manufacturas (CCM). Vários indicadores da CCM foram, a este respeito, testados a partir dos dados disponíveis e fazendo uso de níveis detalhados de decomposição. Finalmente, aprofundar-se-á o debate em curso, quer em termos empíricos, quer em termos académicos, através da análise e teste das mais recentes contribuições propostas no que diz respeito à melhoria da especificação econométrica do modelo gravitacional, nomeadamente com recurso ao Pseudo-estimador de Máxima Verosimilhança do Tipo Poisson. O refinamento das variáveis explicativas consideradas na análise, especificamente aquelas relacionadas com a mensuração da variável distância, e a introdução de novas variáveis foram igualmente abordadas.
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Galloway, Hamilton Douglas. "Projections of Washington-British Columbia trade and traffic, by commodity, route and boder crossings." Online access for everyone, 2007. http://www.dissertations.wsu.edu/Thesis/Spring2007/H_Galloway_042307.pdf.
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Hartley, Adrian G. "Tilapia as a global commodity : a potential role for Mexico?" Thesis, University of Stirling, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/261.
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The potential for commercial tilapia aquaculture to be developed taking an economic-focused approach was investigated in Mexico. The research examined various issues related to production, marketing and the business environment of the industry. Findings revealed that farmed tilapia products in Mexico can be produced competitively and profitably in large quantities, not only due to its suitability for culture in most of the country; but also due to the availability of more profitable markets (i.e. supermarkets), increasing demand for high quality tilapia products (e.g. fresh, large sizes and more value-added products) and implementation of more efficient business strategies (e.g. economies of scale and partnerships) and newer technologies (i.e. husbandry and equipment). Public/private sector partnerships proved to be the most feasible way to promote and develop tilapia farming in Mexico, particularly in the case of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Through either economical, technological or consumables support from development bodies; and integration with other agri-business (e.g. agriculture and livestock) or within the industry (i.e. horizontally and/or vertically). In which economies of scale were promoted, efficiency was improved, dealing power was increased, and costs and risks were reduced. In which larger businesses reported production costs 50% lower (around MX 11 kg⁻¹) than SMEs, allowing them to compete against larger sources (i.e. fisheries and imports).Additionally, a strong and fast moving domestic market influenced by the decline outputs (22% between 1990 and 2003) from the main source (i.e. catching sector) and the availability of more value-added products (e.g. fillets in various presentations) have promoted its expansion into more profitable markets (i.e. supermarkets and exports) and in sustained and/or increased prices within the past decade (compared to other seafood commodities, e.g. shrimp and salmon).However, concerns arise about the long-term sustainability of tilapia farming due to the high production costs (overall median value MX$ 19 kg⁻¹), small and inconsistent outputs (85% of the farms interviewed produced less than 100 t year⁻¹), lack of knowledge of proper farming techniques and marketing strategies, unlawful competition from imported products (labelling and taxes), poor law enforcement and monitoring from regulatory institutions, and poor institutional support and inadequate extension services, all of which have affected the sustainable development of tilapia farmers and associated groups. Further research is required for the development and promotion of more efficient and economically viable strategies for tilapia farming businesses to target key internal markets. Similarly, improved and more rigorous monitoring of development and support programs performance is required.
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Clarkson, Richard M. "Relationship marketing in commodity chemicals : an empirical examination of a relationship marketing framework and the development of an instrument for the measurement of relationship marketing orientation (REMARKOR) within the commodity sector of the UK." Thesis, University of Huddersfield, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.323806.
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Commodity markets are characterised by declining growth rates, depressed prices, intensified competition and the evolution of standard and fixed specifications. These lead to an increasingly severe squeeze on profits. The commodity sector of the chemical industry is no exception to this, it is notorious for its fiercely competitive nature and its increasingly severe squeeze on profit margins. Past research suggests that companies will compete primarily on price (Wei et a1. 1979, Emerson 1983, Stobaugh 1988, Quintella 1993, and Black 1994), with relatively little technical service required. However, as the commodity sector of the chemical industry continues to see its margins squeezed, companies are finding that the ability to constantly reduce production costs is limited and no longer offers a total solution. The research examined how a relationship marketing approach could contributed to UK commodity chemical companies' competitiveness. However, the current literature on relationship marketing has not referred specifically to commodities and arguably leaves a gap in this research area. It has been suggested that relationship marketing is not a 'universal panacea' with several authors that believe there are situations, usually involving lowinvolvement or commodity products, when a swift and simple transactional approach is more appropriate and preferred by the 'customer compared to a relational approach (Gronroos 1990; Mattyssens and Van den Bulte 1994; Peck 1996). The research shows this is generally not the case in commodity chemicals. The research investigated, through a multi-method research approach using both case studies and a survey, the relevance and use of a relationship marketing approach in commodity chemicals. The research developed, from a convergence of current ideas and theories, a relationship marketing framework that shows a firm's culture (based on seven marketing arrangements constructs) for establishing, developing, maintaining relationships and the selective termination of relationships with multiple exchange partners (i.e. customers, supplier, communities, authorities). The seven 'marketing arrangements' constructs are: the role of marketing management and planning; multiple exchange partners; responsibility; long-term focus; interaction; management orientation and portfolio planning; trust, commitment and promises. The research provides evidence, from three case studies, that supports the framework's constructs within UK commodity chemical companies across customer, supplier, internal and external relationships. Regression analysis of the survey data shows a positive link between a relationship marketing approach and the business performance of UK commodity chemical companies. The basis of this analysis used REMARKOR, an instrument for measuring relationship marketing orientation developed for this research. It follows a similar procedure to MARKOR, an instrument for measuring marketing orientation, developed by Kohli et al's (1993). However, REMARKOR uses constructs examined in the cases studies, based on current relationship marketing literature.
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Ripelová, Lucie. "On-line obchody s komoditami." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2009. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-17001.
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This Diploma thesis focuses on a set of commodities dealt on world-wide trades. It mainly discuss the business environment of commodities with physical delivery, not so much the speculative deals. The goal of the Diploma thesis is to select a set of appropriate commodities for Internet (web-based) business. The first part contains the overview of the actual level of knowledge in the area of Internet-based business with commodities. The second one focuses on the analysis of the commodity exchange and non-commodity exchange environment in Czech Republic and the world. Result of each analysis is a list of commodities dealt on the specific market. It also contains the comparison the commodity exchange and non-commodity exchange environment. The goal of before mentioned steps was to define the set of commodities for trading on an Internet portal -- opentrade.cz. Third part describes the functionality of the opentrade.cz and its' specifics -- barter trades. It also contains the list of commodities.
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Perez, Nicostrato D. "Commodity price stabilization and trade liberalization : the case of corn and livestock in the Phillippines /." Diss., This resource online, 1995. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10192006-115610/.
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Yun, Won-Cheol. "Tax treatment of trade in cattle futures : possible implications to market efficiency and price stability /." Thesis, This resource online, 1992. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-11242009-020149/.
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Dowdall, Courtney M. "Small Farmer Market Knowledge and Specialty Coffee Commodity Chains in Western Highlands Guatemala." FIU Digital Commons, 2012. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/638.
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For producers motivated by their new status as self-employed, landowning, capitalist coffee growers, specialty coffee presents an opportunity to proactively change the way they participate in the international market. Now responsible for determining their own path, many producers have jumped at the chance to enhance the value of their product and participate in the new “fair trade” market. But recent trends in the international coffee price have led many producers to wonder why their efforts to produce a certified Fair Trade and organic product are not generating the price advantage they had anticipated. My study incorporates data collected in eighteen months of fieldwork, including more than 45 interviews with coffee producers and fair trade roasters, 90 surveys of coffee growers, and ongoing participant observation to understand how fair trade certification, as both a market system and development program, meets the expectations of the coffee growers. By comparing three coffee cooperatives that have engaged the Fair Trade system to disparate ends, the results of this investigation are three case studies that demonstrate how global processes of certification, commodity trade, market interaction, and development aid effect social and cultural change within communities. This study frames several lessons learned in terms of 1. socioeconomic impacts of fair trade, 2. characteristics associated with positive development encounters, and 3. potential for commodity producers to capture value further along their global value chain. Commodity chain comparisons indicate the Fair Trade certified cooperative receives the highest per-pound price, though these findings are complicated by costs associate with certification and producers’ perceptions of an “unjust” system. Fair trade-supported projects are demonstrated as more “successful” in the eyes of recipients, though their attention to detail can just as easily result in “failure”. Finally, survey results reveal just how limited is the market knowledge of producers in each cooperative, though fair trade does, in fact, provide a rare opportunity for producers to learn about consumer demand for coffee quality. Though bittersweet, the fair trade experiences described here present a learning opportunity for a wide range of audiences, from the certified to the certifiers to the concerned public and conscientious consumer.
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Benešová, Nela. "Světový obchod s ropou." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2015. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-261831.
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This master´s thesis deals with trade with crude oil and its impact on the world economy. Everyone, who wants to start to trade with crude oil, should find out basic terminology and information about crude oil that is characterized in the first chapter. The hunt for oil started many years ago, therefore the history is also mentioned in this master´s thesis. The second chapter focuses on the world trade with crude oil. Territorial structure and trade flows are described in this part of the master´s thesis. Nevertheless, the crude oil also has an impact on the world economy and economies of single states. The third chapter analyses states, where the inhabitants live beyond means of people from other countries but these states are so depended on crude oil that if this trade stopped, these countries would go bankrupt. However, there are also exceptions. Even though, there are states that have huge sources of crude oil, they still have to deal with financial problems. The forth chapter characterizes the trade with crude oil of the Czech Republic because it is a net importer of crude oil and the last chapter focuses on new trends in crude oil such as shale oil and trading at a crude oil market.
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Banerjee, Ruchira. "Commodity markets : a case study of coffee and tea in the United States." Thesis, McGill University, 1991. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61084.
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Historical evidence has shown that increases in coffee prices, though generating a short term gain in export earnings for producers, also lead to increased plantings of the coffee crop. This in turn leads to overproduction and a subsequent drop in coffee prices. The establishment of the International Coffee Agreements was meant to stabilize this fluctuating behaviour in coffee prices.The purpose of this paper is to present an overall analysis of coffee prices in order to predict the future course of prices under two circumstances. First, when the international coffee market is governed by the mandates of the International Coffee Agreements and secondly, when the market operates under free market conditions. The paper also attempts to draw parallels between the structure and mechanisms of the markets of coffee and tea. The first part of this paper provides a background study of the markets of coffee and tea including a discussion of the commodity cartels which have been signed to date in both markets. Part two provides a historical analysis of prices in both markets, followed by an econometric analysis of the demand for coffee in the largest consuming country in the world, the United States.
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Halova, Marketa. "Essays on International Asset Portfolios and Commodities Trade." Thesis, Boston College, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/3924.
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Thesis advisor: Christopher BaumThesis advisor: Fabio Ghironi
Do events in the natural gas market cause repercussions in the crude oil market? In light of the enormous impact that price movements in the two largest U.S. energy markets have on the economy, it is important to understand not just the individual markets but also how they relate to one another. On this front, the literature presents a puzzle: while economic theory suggests that the oil and gas markets are interlinked through a bi-directional causal relationship, empirical research has concluded that the oil market affects the gas market but not vice versa. The first chapter of this dissertation improves on the previous studies in two ways: by using high-frequency, intraday oil and gas futures prices and by analyzing the effect of specific news announcements from the weekly oil and gas inventory reports. The results dispel the notion of one-way causality and provide support for the theory. The reaction of the futures volatility and returns is asymmetric, although this asymmetry does not follow the "good news" vs. "bad news" pattern from stock and bond markets; the response depends on whether the shock is driven by oil or gas inventory gluts or shortages. The two-way causality holds not only for the nearby futures contract but also for contracts of longer maturities. These findings underscore the importance of analyzing financial markets in a multi-market context. The second chapter of this dissertation asks whether volatility and trading volume evolve in a unidirectional or bidirectional, contemporaneous or lagged relationship in the crude oil and natural gas futures markets. This question is important because it affects trading and government regulation but previous studies have come to conflicting conclusions. Their main shortcoming is the low frequency of data used in the analysis. This chapter improves on the previous studies in three ways: by using high-frequency, intraday oil and gas futures prices and volume, by including trading not only during the day but also during the night, and by analyzing not only the nearby futures contract but also contracts with longer maturities. For the nearby contract, Granger-causality tests show that past values of volume help explain volatility which agrees with the Sequential Information Arrival Hypothesis. Past values of volatility have explanatory power for volume only when absolute return is used as the volatility measure; when the conditional variance from GARCH models is used as the volatility measure, the causality in this direction disappears. These results change when low-frequency daily data is applied. It is also shown that the volatility-volume relationship differs for contracts with longer maturities. These findings are relevant for regulations, such as trader position limits recently adopted by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trade Commission. The third chapter of this dissertation investigates whether the production structure of firms affects international optimal portfolios, risk-sharing, and response of terms of trade (TOT) to shocks. The answer to this question would enhance our understanding of the home equity bias, yet it has not been addressed in the theoretical literature. This chapter studies the question in a two-country dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with endogenous portfolio allocation. It shows that the optimal portfolio includes more home equity as the production structure changes from exporter-only, i.e., firms operating in their home countries and serving foreign markets by exports, to multi-national-company-extreme (MNC), i.e., firms hiring labor in both countries and producing locally in both countries. This shift occurs because changing the firms' production structure eliminates exposure to technology differences and allows the home household to accomplish the same diversification with less foreign equity. The production structure also has implications for the effect of technology shocks on the TOT. Under the exporter-only setup, a shock to technology causes a standard TOT deterioration, whereas under the MNC-extreme setup, a shock to technology leads to a TOT improvement. By producing testable predictions, this chapter underscores the need to take firms' production structure into account when analyzing international optimal portfolios, risk sharing, and response of the TOT to technology shocks. This is especially important since empirical research has generated conflicting results
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Economics
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Liu, Tianshu, and tianshu liu@rmit edu au. "Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Regional Trade Agreements for Australia and China." RMIT University. Economics, Finance and Marketing, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20080428.094213.
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The thesis concentrates on measuring the benefits and losses of implementing regional trade agreements. In particular, the thesis analyses trade flow changes, foreign direct investment inflow changes, industrial total factor productivity changes and specific commodity trade flow changes in Australia and China. Four empirical studies are undertaken. Firstly, the thesis introduces the gravity model to estimate the effect of regional trade agreements on trade flow changes, focusing on thirty-nine countries and areas from seven regional trade agreements during 1980-2004. The results show that there are trade creation and trade diversion effects for various memberships. The results further show that China experiences an export creation effect for its APEC membership while Australia has an import diversion effect for its CER membership. When trade between Australia and China is considered, Australia's CER membership impedes its trade with China. However, both Australia and China benefit from attending APEC jointly to enlarge their bilateral trade. Secondly, a modified gravity model is undertaken to test the impact of regional trade agreements on foreign direct investment inflows to Australia and China. It uses the same regional trade agreements to that of the trade flow study for the period of 1980 to 2004 for Australia and 1985 to 2004 for China. The results show that CER members tend to strengthen their bilateral foreign direct investment cooperation after the implementation of CER trade and investment liberalization. Thirdly, the impact of regional trade agreements is examined on industrial total factor productivity growth. The findings show that industries with comparative trading advantages in both Australia and China tend to improve their total factor productivity upon liberalizing trade both bilaterally and multilaterally. However, industries with comparative disadvantages need more protection against severe foreign competition. It uses data from 1974-75 to 2004-05 for the Australian market sector analysis, from 1968-69 to 1990-2000 for the Australian manufacturing industry analysis, and from 1987 to 2003 for the Chinese industry analysis. Finally, the thesis investigates the impact of regional trade agreements on bilateral commodity trade between Australia and China from 1979 to 2004. A similar gravity model to that of the trade flow study is used, introducing an additional GDP per capita variable to capture the effect of increasing consumers' income on their consumption of particular goods and products type based on product and production characteristics. Both the one-digit and some detailed four-digit commodity classifications described in the Standard International Trade Classification are considered. The results show that participation in regional trade agreements is an important factor that affects Australia's major commodity trade with China. The major contribution of this thesis is the investigation of issues on trade flows and foreign direct investment specifically in Australia and China, together with the studies of the effect of regional trade agreements on industrial total factor productivity improvement and specific commodity trade changes. Due to the increasing pursuit of bilateral and regional economic cooperation in Australia and China, the results of this thesis are of particular importance to both countries in their foreign trade and economic strategies.
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Rowsell, John. "Comparative analysis of cash margin hedging strategies with commodity futures contracts and options." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/45914.
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The performance of futures contracts and commodity options as hedging instruments were compared in a cash margin hedging framework for a 150 sow farrow to finish hog operation in southeastern Virginia. The expected cash margin (ECM) using corn soybean meal and hog futures were calculated daily from 1975 through 1982. The performance of options and futures were compared in 530 strategies that ranged from starit routine fixed margin hedging to strategies based on forecasted variable margins.
Master of Science
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Pokorná, Iveta. "Obchod vybranými komoditami s ohledem na fair trade." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2013. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-192540.
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Using the example of three commodities and three countries, the purpose of the thesis "Trade with selected commodities with focus on fair trade" is to analyse a chosen commodity market in different states. Focusing on developing countries, the work aims to confirm the validity of theoretical models of the international trade. Moreover, extra attention is paid to the alternative concept of fair trade. The thesis is divided into four chapters with the first giving the theoretical basis for the consequential analysis. The second chapter deals with the fair trade movement, the third part examines the concrete industry in the particular country, and the last chapter studies the consequences of fair trade on producers in the Sub-Saharan region.
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Van, Heerden Yvette. "Trade finance as a barrier to SME internationalisation: special reference to African trade with China / Y. van Heerden." Thesis, North-West University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/4403.
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The importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the economy should not be overlooked. The main function of SMEs is to contribute to the economic activities in a country, through the provision of goods and services to the public or other firms. These goods and services could be traded internationally, thus increasing a country?s export performance. It is important for economic growth that SMEs grow within their respective economies. One way that SMEs can achieve growth is through internationalisation. Firms are internationalising faster than ever before (because of advances in telecommunications and transportation) and internationalisation theories that can provide practical guidance to firms are more important today than in the past.
A firm?s ability to internationalise no longer only depends on the quality of the product, the delivery terms and competitive prices. Internationalisation increasingly depends on the ability and willingness of financial institutions to grant credit. Obtaining trade finance has become a major hindrance to SME internationalisation, especially in Africa. By overcoming the difficulties in obtaining trade finance, African SMEs will be able to expand into foreign markets.
The purpose of this study is to determine how African SMEs can overcome trade finance barriers to internationalisation. SMEs can do so by mitigating the risks involved in every international transaction and by becoming ?trade finance ready?.
A trade finance facility that is well suited for African SMEs (because it revolves around identifying and mitigating the risks involved with their international transactions) is structured trade and commodity finance. In trading with China, African SMEs can obtain structured trade and commodity finance from a specialist financial institution that focuses on the Chinese market (which is the focus of this study). China Construction Bank (Johannesburg branch), through their association with Rand-Asia Trade Finance, provides structured trade and commodity finance to African SMEs. The key to receiving structured trade and commodity finance is that these SMEs, together with China Construction Bank (Jhb) and Rand-Asia Trade Finance have to mitigate the risks involved with their international transactions so that the SMEs can become ?trade finance ready?.Thesis (M.Com. (International Commerce))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.
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Whittam, Jennifer, and na. "An Enquiry into the Political Economy of International Heroin Trafficking, with Particular Reference to Southwest Asia." Griffith University. School of Arts, 2007. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20100729.112710.
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This thesis locates the global heroin trade within a world-systems theoretical framework. While the thesis identifies some of the factors responsible for the success of the international heroin trade, the primary aim is to focus on one facilitating aspect global financial flows of illegal or hot money. Central to the argument is that international production and trade in illegal heroin are buttressed by cycles of economic contractions within the world economy and by a global financial system that provides the means for the heroin trades profits to be easily laundered and invested in the legal economy. To illustrate the utility of these approaches in terms of a world-systems context, the thesis employs a global commodity chain perspective and elaborates the case study of Hüseyin Baybasin, a highly prominent convicted Kurdish businessman who has sometimes been identified as the worlds leading international heroin trafficker. This particular case study permits us to examine not only the complex web of historical, cultural, social, economic and political interactions within the international heroin trade, but also how the global heroin commodity chain is relevant to the broader debate about secessionist ethnic nationalism and development in the Third World. Focusing on Turkey, the thesis outlines the early historical periods in which different traditional patterns have prevailed for the majority of Kurdish people, and explains the disappearance of these patterns through the process of modernisation and globalisation, and how this relates to the global heroin trade. The argument thus provides an alternative, world-systems perspective to the more familiar accounts of international heroin trafficking that tend to focus on conventional interpretations of supply and demand and the activities of law enforcement agencies in physical interdiction.
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Friedheim, Thomas. "An industrial organization approach towards the world tea economy with special focus on auction theory and futures markets (Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia) /." Saarbrücken : Verlag für Entwicklungspolitik Saarbrücken, 1996. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/36240851.html.
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Estevez, Christopher L. "A Market Study of Organic and Fair Trade Coffee in Bolivia." FIU Digital Commons, 2015. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2012.
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The purpose of this research is to study the commercialization of Fairtrade and Organic coffee in the Bolivia. Fairtrade and Organic coffee are alternative trade systems designed to promote the equitable and environmentally sustainable production of coffee. However, these alternative trading systems often fail to meet these goals. The producers and environment these systems are intended to protect remain marginalized. These failures are due to a number of local institutions. In order to better understand these institutions, this research conducted interviews of various stakeholders including producers, cooperative leaders, organic/Fair Trade certifiers, government agencies and private buyers. All these stakeholders influence the success of the alternative trade systems. By better understanding how these stakeholders impact the commercialization of coffee in Bolivia; new policies can be develop to improve the outcomes of alternative trade, to benefit both producers and the environment. This is especially critical in Bolivia because of the environmentally sensitive area in which coffee is grown, the potentially damaging impact of coca on the region and, the devastating economic impact to farmers.
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Meddah, Hayette. "On the choice of exchange rate regimes : the case of primary commodity exporting countries." Thesis, Lyon 2, 2010. http://www.theses.fr/2010LYO22019.
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La première partie de la thèse se compose d'une recherche empirique visant à examiner si les producteurs de produits primaires s'adaptent mieux après un choc d'offre sous un régime de taux de change flottant. À l'aide d'un modèle VAR, j'ai trouvé que les régimes de taux de change flexible n'effectuent pas mieux à isoler l'économie des chocs externes. Par conséquent, la deuxième partie de la thèse vise à établir ou non si les régimes de taux de change fournissent certains avantages pour les pays exportateurs de produits primaires tels que le fait d'attirer les investissements directs a l'étranger. À l'aide de différentes estimations économétriques, les résultats montrent que les régimes de taux de change influencent les investissements directs à l'étranger et en particulier, les régimes de change fixes plutôt que les régimes plus flexiblesThe first part of dissertation consists of an empirical research aiming at investigating whether primary commodity producers perform better after a real shock with floating exchange rate regimes. Using a VAR model I found that flexible exchange rate regimes do not perform better at insulating the output from external shocks. Therefore, the second part of the dissertation aims at establishing whether or not exchange rate regimes provide certain benefit for those countries such as attracting foreign direct investments. Using panel data estimation techniques, I found that exchange rate regimes matters in attracting FDI and in particular fixed regimes rather than flexible regimes
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Flores, Jana. "Světový obchod s kávou a čajem." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2011. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-112784.
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This thesis researches the world coffee and tea trade, especially their flows and trends in consumption and production and trade regulations that affect these flows. This paper is divided into three chapters. The first chapter focuses on the world coffee and tea production, the economic benefits of these commodities for producing countries and the outlook for these markets. Another chapter deals with the coffee and tea market, the development of demand, supply and price is examined. This chapter is also dedicated to the concept of Fair Trade and to the forms of trading on examined markets. It is explained how the commodity exchange, tea auctions and trading on the basis of financial derivatives work. The last chapter investigates the forms of international regulations that have been requested by the global coffee and tea trade.
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Van, Rooyen Jacques. "Livestock production and animal health management systems in communal farming areas at the wildlife-livestock interface in southern Africa." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60128.
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Development of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) in southern Africa depends, among other, on
the ability of stakeholders to find practical and sustainable solutions for wildlife‐livestock integration in
the conservation landscape. Due to the presence of buffalo Syncerus caffer in most of the TFCAs in
southern Africa, foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) has to be controlled in susceptible livestock species
sharing the rangelands with wildlife. Conventional FMD control measures act as an additional burden
on communal livestock producers and may hamper rural development and wildlife‐livestock integration
even further. However, commodity‐based trade in the form of an integrated approach to the control
of both food safety and disease risk along the entire beef value chain has been proposed as a more
favourable alternative for ensuring market access for beef produced at the wildlife‐livestock interface.
Such a non‐geographic based approach could allow for trade to continue despite high risk of FMD if
appropriate disease risk and food safety measures are implemented by farmers and subsequent role
players along the value chain and hence, could promote greater wildlife‐livestock compatibility.The objective of the present study was to analyse beef production, health and trade systems of farmers at the wildlife‐livestock interface within foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) protection zones in order to identify challenges, risks and limitations that may limit compliance with proposed commodity‐based trade prerequisites as well as value chain participation. Based on the findings of this study a holistic, integrated approach is proposed at the village level that could be implemented to serve as an incentive for equitable participation by farmers whilst 1) addressing the risks and limitations of a farming system, 2) ensuring greater wildlife‐livestock compatibility, and 3) promote consistent market access by fulfilling the requirements of an integrated value chain approach based on commodity‐based trade standards.
A farming systems approach was used to investigate beef production, health and trade systems in FMD protection zones mainly within the Zambezi Region (ZR) of Namibia, which is situated within the KAZA TFCA (Kavango‐Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area), but also the Mnisi study area (MSA) in South Africa adjacent to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA). A combined qualitative and quantitative approach was used to assess and describe farmers’ perceptions in selected study areas about beef production, trade, and wildlife conservation. Secondary data obtained from state veterinary services, the Meatco abattoir in Katima Mulilo, as well as previous studies were analysed and modelled to describe spatial‐temporal trends in trade as well as cattle distribution in relation to resource availability.
The results indicate that beef production systems in some of the most remote areas of the ZR as well as in the MSA resemble a typical low‐input low‐output production system, mainly due to the high level of risk farmers had to cope with and the limited opportunity to offset losses. The major challenges within livestock farming in all the areas studied were animal diseases, grazing competition, predation, stock theft and contact with wildlife, although the importance of each varied between study areas. Herd size effect in the MSA significantly explained the variation in attitude towards trade, production and management of cattle between farmers with below average and farmers with above average herd sizes. In the MSA, home slaughter contributed significantly more to direct household food security in households with larger herd sizes than in households with smaller herd sizes, and in the ZR farmers with smaller herd sizes were discouraged from participation in formal trade.
The attitudes and perceptions of farmers In the ZR towards wildlife and conservation often varied between survey areas as a consequence of the variation in the geophysical properties of the landscape, proximity to conservation areas, as well as the form of the interface with conservation areas. The perceived spatial‐temporal movement of buffalo varied between survey areas in the ZR. However, the frequency and nature of buffalo‐cattle interaction was generally high and intimate. Most farmers associated buffalo with risk of disease, especially FMD, but some were more concerned about grazing competition and the negative effect on husbandry practises. Farmers readily deployed traditional risk mitigation tactics in the form of kraaling at night and herding at day to control the movement of their animals and to reduce risks. Herding was found to be a potential strategy to specifically mitigate cattlebuffalo contact despite the lack of evidence that an overall strategic approach to herding exist. Although the majority of farmers in the ZR were in favour of conservation and its benefits, the negative impact of increasing wildlife numbers on farmers’ attitudes was an indication that the generally positive sentiment was changing and may in future deter conservation efforts.
Indications are that the cattle population in the ZR at its estimated density and distribution had reached the ecological capacity of the natural resource base in the ZR and animal performance and survival was therefore subjected to increased variability in resource availability linked to climate change. The cattle population’s existence at ecological capacity and the inability of farmers to offset the loss of condition in the dry season with supplementary feed were reflected in the changes in carcass quality and grades across seasons. However, there was sufficient forage produced in the ZR to sustain animal performance to some extent throughout the year, but those areas with surplus forage existed beyond the assumed grazing range around villages and perennial rivers where most cattle and wildlife concentrate. The future ability of farmers to access such underutilised grazing resources in order to strategically counter the negative consequences of climate change and growing wildlife numbers could be an important coping and risk management mechanism linked to commodity‐based trade and sustained animal quality.
Regular FMD outbreaks had a significant impact on the consistency with which the Meatco abattoir in the ZR operated between the years 2007‐2011, with negative consequences to both farmers and the abattoir itself. It was found that the formal trade system in the ZR discriminated against farmers with below average herd sizes, and that the disposition held by farmers with smaller herd sizes are most significant in areas further than approximately 55km away from quarantine camps. Vegetation type and possible contact with buffalo or previous FMD outbreaks in the area did not significantly affect market participation nor off‐take rates at a crush‐pen level in the ZR. The negative effect that distance from a quarantine station had on formal off‐take rate and the level of sales to Meatco at crush‐pen level, was the most significant in the winter months and crush‐pens situated beyond 55km from a quarantine station. The results indicate that the trade range of the Meatco abattoir was less than its trade threshold which contributed to its struggle to sustain throughput and profitability.
Finally the loss of income farmers experienced in both the ZR and the MSA during simultaneous FMD outbreaks in the year 2012 was quantified, as well as the impact it had on livelihoods in the ZR. A commodity‐based trade approach may have reduced the impact on farmers’ income significantly. However, we farmers are unable to comply with the proposed requirements for mitigating risk and ensuring food safety and quality in such communal systems in the absence of interventions to build the necessary capacity and awareness. It is recommended that at the wildlife‐livestock interface such as those investigated in this study, an integrated value chain approach to trade could serve as a catalyst to incentivise and enable farmer participation in holistic, integrated rangeland and livestock management practises that will promote conservation and rural development.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016.
The Institute for Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
University of Pretoria
National Research Foundation of South Africa
Veterinary Tropical Diseases
PhD
Unrestricted
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Ericsson, Emilie, and Jens Henriksson. "Råvarumarknaden Vs Aktiemarknaden : En studie av råvaror och råvarumarknadens prestationer samt reaktioner i relation till aktiemarknaden." Thesis, Södertörn University College, School of Business Studies, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-3710.
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Syfte: Syftet med denna undersökning är att studera råvaruprisets samt aktiemarknadens prestationer i form av procentuell avkastning under olika konjunkturlägen från år 1969 och fram till 2009. Samt att studera råvarumarknadens reaktion vid börsfall. Marknaderna ställs dessutom i relation till varandra. Detta görs genom tre delsyften: Hur presterar råvaror i relation till aktiemarknaden i hög- respektive lågkonjunktur? Ökar råvarupriset och aktiemarknaden i samma konjunkturlägen? Hur har råvarumarknaden till skillnad från aktiemarknaden reagerat vid större börsfall?
Metod: Undersökningen är kvantitativ, deduktiv samt utgår från primärdata ansamlad via vedertagna källor och databaser. För att uppfylla syftet innefattar denna undersökning två olika metoder. Metod 1behandlar avkastning i olika konjunkturlägen och Metod 2 består av en eventstudie av råvaruprisernas reaktioner vid tidigare börsfall.
Teori: Undersökningen bygger delvis på hypotesen om effektiva marknader och innefattar tidigare forskning om faktorer som påverkar råvarupriset och aktiemarknaden.
Empiri: Mellan åren 1969 – 2009 konstaterades fyra olika konjunkturlägen med 5 högkonjunkturslägen, 6 lågkonjunkturslägen, 3 övergångsår mot högkonjunktur, 5 övergångsår mot lågkonjunktur. Aktiemarknadens totala avkastning för hela perioden var 973,7 %, majs hade 250,9 %, vete 300 %, olja 169 %, guld 495,8 % och koppar 555,2 %. Sammanslaget för samtliga råvaror och börsfall var det endast olja som fick ett svagt positivt CAAR, resterande fick ett negativt CAAR där aktiemarknaden hade -1,02762, olja 0,01325, guld -0,05511, koppar -0,10297, vete -0,1812 samt majs - 0,1859.
Analys/Slutsats
- I regel har både råvarornas och aktiemarknadens avkastning varit bättre under högkonjunktur än lågkonjunktur, däremot har guld en negativ korrelation mot aktiemarknaden vilket resulterar i att råvarans pris minskar när aktiemarknaden går bra och ökar när aktiemarknaden går dåligt.
- Det finns inget statistiskt säkerställt samband utifrån denna undersökning som tyder på att råvarupriset och aktiemarknaden följer varandra genom konjunkturlägen.
- Råvarornas CAAR är nästintill obefintliga i en antingen negativ eller positiv riktning. Därmed är reaktionerna på börsfallen nästan obefintliga och med ett r på – 0,171 och en tillförlitlighetsnivå på 20-30 % går det inte att statistiskt säkerställa ett samband mellan reaktionerna hos råvarorna och börsfallet.
Purpose: The aim with this survey is to examine and compare the commodity price and the stock market performance in terms of percentage yield during different business cycles from 1969 to 2009. And then examine the reaction on the commodity price in timer of a major downturn. This will be done by answering a three part purpose: How do commodities and the stock market perform during different business cycles? Do both commodities and the stock market show positive yield during the same business cycle? How do commodities react to a major downturn in the stock market?
Methods: The study is quantitative, deductive, and is based on raw data accumulated from conventional sources and databases. To fulfill the purpose this study includes two different methods. Method 1examine the yield in different business situations and Method 2 consists of an event study of the commodity stock market reactions to previous downturns in the stock market.
Theoretical: This study is partly based on the hypothesis of efficient markets and includes previous research on factors affecting commodity prices and stock markets.
Empirical: Between the years 1969 - 2009 four different cyclical positions was found, 5 boom positions, 6 recessions’ positions, 3 transition years towards an economic boom, 5 transition years towards recession. The stock market's total returns for the entire period was 973.7%, 250.9% had corn, wheat 300%, 169% oil, gold and copper 495.8% 555.2%. Aggregated for all commodities and stock market, oil was the only object that had a slightly positive CAAR, the others had a negative CAAR where the stock market had, -1.02762, oil 0.01325, gold -0.05511, copper -0.10297, wheat -0 , 1812, and corn - 0.1859.
Conclusion
- In general, both commodities and stock market returns have been better than during the boom then times of recession, however, gold has a negative correlation to equity markets, which results in a decreases commodity price as the stock market is doing well and increasing when the stock market goes bad.
- There is no statistically significant correlation from this study that suggests that commodity prices and stock markets follow each other through the business cycle.
- Commodities CAAR is virtually nonexistent in either a positive or negative direction. Thus, the reactions to the stock market is almost nonexistent, and with an r of - 0.171 and a confidence level of 20-30% the link between the reactions of commodities and stock markets cannot be statistically ensure.
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Harutjunjan, Hrant. "Vliv obchodní politiky USA na jejich postavení v rámci světového obchodu." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2013. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-192541.
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The main aim of the thesis is to determine factors that influence USA trade policy. Secondary objectives are to specify the influence of USA trade policy on their economy and also to determine the trends of major trade policy measures of USA from 1990 until now. Theoretical part is about theory of trade policy in general and application on USA trade policy. Practical part of the diploma thesis includes the facts of US economy, trade policy, multilateral and bilateral agreements and territorial and commodity trade structure. Practical part of the thesis covers also perspectives of future of USA and responses to the objectives set out in the introductory part. In the thesis have been used methods of observation, synthesis and analogies.
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Lomozová, Kateřina. "Produkce květin v rozvojovém světě : případ Keni." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2011. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-165303.
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The thesis examines the Kenya's cut-flower industry in the wider context of global commodity networks. The Kenya's floriculture sector as a part of these networks has been influenced by notions of environmental and social responsibility in the past two decades. The first part of the thesis describes floriculture in Kenya and the cut flower supply chain. The second half analyses current ethical trading practice in the flower industry in Kenya. In this respect codes of conduct which embody notions of responsible business in practice are discussed here. In view of the fact that codes can't guarantee adequate working conditions to flower farm workers in many cases the thesis tries to explain why this concept of ethical trade failed.
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Isiugo, Uche C. "Feats and Failures of Corporate Credit Risk, Stock Returns, and the Interdependencies of Sovereign Credit Risk." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2016. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2221.
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This dissertation comprises two essays; the first of which investigates sovereign credit risk interdependencies, while the second examines the reaction of corporate credit risk to sovereign credit risk events. The first essay titled, Characterizing Sovereign Credit Risk Interdependencies: Evidence from the Credit Default Swap Market, investigates the relationships that exist among disparate sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) and the implications on sovereign creditworthiness. We exploit emerging market sovereign CDS spreads to examine the reaction of sovereign credit risk to changes in country-specific and global financial factors. Utilizing aVAR model fitted with DCC GARCH, we find that comovements of spreads generally exhibit significant time-varying correlations, suggesting that spreads are commonly affected by global financial factors. We construct 19 country-specific commodity price indexes to instrument for country terms of trade, obtaining significant results. Our commodity price indexes account for significant variation in CDS spreads, controlling for global financial factors. In addition, sovereign spreads are found to be related to U.S. stock market returns and the VIX volatility risk premium global factors. Notwithstanding, our results suggest that terms of trade and commodity prices have a statistically and economically significant effect on the sovereign credit risk of emerging economies. Our results apply broadly to investors, financial institutions and policy makers motivated to utilize profitable factors in global portfolios.
The second essay is titled, Differential Stock Market Returns and Corporate Credit Risk of Listed Firms. This essay explores the information transfer effect of shocks to sovereign credit risk as captured in the CDS and stock market returns of cross-listed and local stock exchange listed firms. Based on changes in sovereign credit ratings and outlooks, we find that widening CDS spreads of firms imply that negative credit events dominate, whereas tightening spreads indicate positive events. Grouping firms into companies with cross-listings and those without, we compare the spillover effects and find strong evidence of contagion across equity and CDS markets in both company groupings. Our findings suggest that the sensitivity of corporate CDS prices to sovereign credit events is significantly larger for non-cross-listed firms. Possible reasons for this finding could in fact be due to cross-listed firms’ better access to external capital and less degree of asymmetric information, relative to non-cross-listed peers with lower level of investor recognition. Our results provide new evidence relevant to investors and financial institutions in determining sovereign credit risk germane to corporate financial risk, for the construction of debt and equity portfolios, and hedging considerations in today’s dynamic environment.
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Hållen, Nicklas. "Travelling objects : modernity and materiality in British Colonial travel literature about Africa." Doctoral thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för språkstudier, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-46365.
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This study examines the functions of objects in a selection of British colonial travel accounts about Africa. The works discussed were published between 1863 and 1908 and include travelogues by John Hanning Speke, Verney Lovett Cameron, Henry Morton Stanley, Mary Henrietta Kingsley, Ewart Scott Grogan, Mary Hall and Constance Larymore. The author argues that objects are deeply involved in the construction of pre-modern and modern spheres that the travelling subject moves between. The objects in the travel accounts are studied in relation to a contextual background of Victorian commodity and object culture, epitomised by the 1851 Great Exhibition and the birth of the modern anthropological museum. The four analysis chapters investigate the roles of objects in ethnographical and geographical writing, in ideological discussions about the transformative powers of colonial trade, and in narratives about the arrival of the book in the colonial periphery. As the analysis shows, however, objects tend not to behave as they are expected to do. Instead of marking temporal differences, descriptions of objects are typically unstable and riddled with contradictions and foreground the ambivalence that characterises colonial literature.
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Neff, Tyler Wesley. "How Well Do Commodity Based ETFs Track Underlying Assets?" Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/83498.
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Exchange Traded Funds are growing in popularity and volume, however academic literature related to their performance is limited. This study analyzes how well the CORN, WEAT, SOYB, USO, and UGA commodity ETFs track their respective futures assets during the period of January 2012 to October 2017. Tracking error in this study is evaluated through 4 approaches to measure error, bias, systematic risk, and error magnitude. Additionally, a mispricing analysis is conducted as an alternative form of error measurement
Results indicate that tracking error is small on average, however CORN shows average excess returns significantly smaller than zero. The CORN ETF is returning a smaller positive value compared to the asset basket when asset basket returns are greater than zero and a larger negative value compared to the asset basket when asset basket returns are less than zero. The CORN, WEAT, USO, and UGA ETFs are found to move less aggressively than the respective asset baskets they track.
While errors were small on average, large tracking errors were present across ETFs. The size of errors were found to be impacted by large price moves, as well as seasonality on a monthly and yearly level. USDA reports impacted the size of errors for CORN, WEAT and SOYB while EIA reports had no impact on error size. The mispricing analysis concluded that CORN and SOYB trade at a discount to Net Asset Value on average while WEAT trades at a premium.Master of Science
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Watugala, Sumudu Weerakoon. "Essays on interconnected markets." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:50c12fb0-a354-40bb-9d07-9174ad1f594a.
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This thesis consists of three essays that explore the dynamics of interconnected markets and examine the relationships between markets, investor behavior, and fundamental characteristics of the firm and the economy. In the first essay, we investigate the role of trade credit links in generating cross-border return predictability between international firms. Using data from 43 countries from 1993 to 2009, we find that firms with high trade credit in producer countries have stock returns that are strongly predictable based on the returns of their associated customer countries. This behavior is especially prevalent among firms with high levels of foreign sales. To better understand this effect we develop an asset pricing model in which firms in different countries are connected by trade credit links. The model offers further predictions about this phenomenon, including stronger predictability during periods of high credit constraints and low uninformed trading volume. We find supportive empirical evidence for these predictions. The second essay investigates the dynamics of commodity futures volatility. I derive the variance decomposition for the futures basis to show how unexpected excess returns result from new information about expected future interest rates, convenience yields, and risk premia. Using data on major commodity futures markets and global bilateral commodity trade, I analyze the extent to which commodity volatility is related to fundamental uncertainty arising from increased emerging market demand and macroeconomic uncertainty, and control for the potential impact of financial frictions introduced by changing market structure and index trading. I find that a higher concentration in the emerging market importers of a commodity is associated with higher futures volatility. Commodity futures volatility is significantly predictable using variables capturing macroeconomic uncertainty. The third essay investigates the differential explanatory power of consumer (importing countries) and producer (exporting countries) risk in explaining the volatility of commodity spot premia and term premia using trade-weighted indices of GDP volatility. Using data for major commodity futures markets, bilateral commodity trade, exchange rates, and GDP for countries trading these commodities, I test hypotheses on the heterogeneous impact of consumer and producer shocks, potentially driven by differences in hedging preferences and investment planning horizons. Producer risk is significant for both short-dated and long-dated maturities, while consumer risk has greater explanatory power for the volatility of the term spread.
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Margaronis, Zannis N. P. "The significance of mapping data sets when considering commodity time series and their use in algorithmically-traded portfolios." Thesis, Brunel University, 2016. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/12575.
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Many econometric analyses of commodity futures over the years have been performed using spot or front month contract prices. Using such daily prices without the consideration of the associated contract traded volumes is slightly erroneous because, in reality, traders will typically trade the ‘most liquid’ contract, that is, the contract with the largest average daily volume (ADV). The reason for this is in order to gain the best price when buying or selling. If this ‘true’ time series is to be considered, a mapping procedure is required to account for the price jumps at the time when a trader trades out of the expiring contract and enters the new front month contract. A key finding was that this effect was significant, irrespective of the size of the price jump, sometimes referred to as basis or roll and also due to the accumulated roll over a number of years corresponding to multiple contracts. It was also found that the mapping procedure has a significant effect on the time series and should hence always be employed if the realistic traded time series is to be considered. Given this phenomenon, algorithmically-traded commodities futures must necessarily employ such time series when creating metrics or considering an econometric analysis. The key findings include the importance of diversification in algorithmically-traded portfolios, utilising the AOM and PSI metrics. The mapping of data sets to create realistic ‘live-traded’ time series was found to be significant, while the optimal day of roll over prior to contract expiry was found to be related to the trading volumes for certain commodities. Other key findings include the causalities and spillovers within the metals sector where various relationships are evident once the results were processed and analysed, both pre and post mapping. Interestingly, the key relationships including bidirectional volatility and shock spillovers between the four key metals existed when the unmapped data was used however, many of the feedbacks within these relationships was lost when the mapped data sets were considered. A significant finding was therefore the consistent differences in findings between mapped and unmapped data sets attributed to the optimisation or favourability of the models (whether econometric or algorithmic). This is due to the unmapped data including roll or basis (which the models are fitted to) taking into account the roll or basis and utilising them in finding relationships between data sets. In the mapped data set (the time series seen by traders) the roll or basis is accounted for and hence the relationships found stand in real-time trading situations. The differences in the results show how the effect of mapping can be significant with unmapped data sets displaying results which will not exist in a real time traded time series.
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Villain, Julien. "Appareil commercial et diffusion des biens de consommation au XVIIIe siècle : aires et structures du commerce des commodités en Lorraine centrale et méridionale, années 1690-1791." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Paris 1, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015PA010705.
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Quelle fut l’ampleur de l’extension de la consommation marchande des commodités au XVIIIe siècle ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous avons choisi d’étudier l’évolution du nombre de commerçants et des pratiques commerciales en Lorraine, région que son histoire démographique, économique et sociale rend assez représentative des mutations que connaît l’Europe de l’ouest entre 1700 et 1790. Notre étude montre que la présence des boutiques sur le territoire s’est renforcée au fil du temps, tant en valeur absolue que par rapport à la population. Les boutiquiers s’appuyaient pour constituer leurs stocks sur une étroite élite de marchands-grossistes importateurs, dont le niveau des affaires croît au cours du siècle. C’est là le signe d’une extension géographique et sociale de la consommation marchande, dans les villes comme les campagnes. A la vieille de la Révolution, la clientèle populaire était ainsi majoritaire chez les marchands de commodités. L’extension de la consommation marchande est également passée par les catégories les plus aisées de la population, séduites par la démultiplication des types de produits et des qualités largement promue par les boutiquiers. Le XVIIIe siècle n’a cependant pas connu de bouleversement dans le recours à la boutique ou dans les pratiques commerciales. Le semis des boutiques sur le territoire était ainsi important dès 1700 : c’est le signe que la consommation marchande était largement pratiquée par des segments importants de la population, aussi bien à la ville qu’à la campagne – y compris donc parmi les classes populaires. Par ailleurs, les modalités de distribution des biens n’ont pas connu de grandes transformations au fil du siècle : le mouvement de spécialisation commerciale n’a guère débordé hors des principales villes, de même que la diffusion des pratiques marchandes les plus innovantes – recours à la publicité, jeu sur l’attractivité des boutiques ou vente à prix fixeTo what extent did merchant consumption of commodities grow in the 18th century ? To answer this question, we determinded to study the evolution of the traders number and the mutation of their business practices in Lorraine. Due to its demographic, economic and social characteritics, this region is in fact quite representative of the transformations Europe experienced from 1700 to 1790. Our study shows an increase in the number of shopekeepers in the region during the century, not only in absolue value, but also compared with population. To supply themselves, shopkeepers had to rely on a small elite of wholesalers involved in importation trade, whose business activities are on the rise during the century. All these elements suggest a georgraphical and social extension of merchant consumption in towns and in the country. As a matter of fact, on the eve of the Revolution, lower-class consumers made in majority of shopkeeper’s consumer base. The rise of merchant consumption was also caused by upper-class consumers’ enthusiasm for the broadening range of new items the shopkeepers offred. However, there was no revolution in merchant consumption or in business practices in the 18th century. The amount of shops in the religion was already important in the 1700’. This fact suggests that merchant consumption was already widespread in the population, in town as in the country – and even in the lower classes. On top of that, trade practices did not experience grat changes in the century. Trends towards specialization and innovative commercial practices – such as advertising, shop design or fixed-price sales – were not significant outside main towns
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Pecha, Martin. "Obchodování s komoditami." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2011. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-113597.
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The goal of this diploma thesis is to analyze the gold market and provide readers with the necessary information and context having an impact on the price of gold. The thesis consists of three chapters. First one deals in general with the commodity market and introduces the readers to commodity exchange issues such as trading commodities in commodity exchanges, motives of commodity trading as well as the specific characteristics of commodities. Second one concerns the detailed analysis of commodity investment tools that investors might use when they feel like getting an exposure to price movements of commodities. The last chapter gears towards an analysis of the gold market in today's super globalized world and depicts what fundamental factors have an impact on the price of gold. At last, I shall summarize existing pieces of knowledge and cast light on further gold price movements.