World copper market, 1973–1982, and international stabilization policies

This article critically examines international price stabilization policy in relation to the main features of the world copper market and the structural changes that have affected the industry in the decade up to 1982. The first section summarizes the main features of the world copper market, briefly discussing the principal structural changes; the second part examines the recent pattern of investment in copper and changes in ownership of some copper producing companies resulting from the need for improved cash flows due to the adverse effects of the recession; and the third part analyses the practical and theoretical issues relating to the question of price instability. A number of formidable problems are likely to arise from such price stabilization policies and it is concluded that it is because of these difficulties that the policies have not been implemented. Consequently, international commodity agreements designed to minimize or avoid price instability have proved difficult to conclude. New questions on which consensus is likely should be examined to promote intergovernmental co-operation, and hence market stability. With that end in view, this article lists some new questions that could form the basis of an agenda for exploratory intergovernmental discussions on copper.     

Optimal stabilization of the copper market: The problem of information

This paper investigates the scope for stabilizing commodity prices by buffer stock interventions. Optimal control is used, rather than simulation, to evaluate the scope for intervention at best. Applications to a world copper market model show that substantial but extensive gains to stabilization are possible. These gains cannot be realised by traditional bandwidth decision rules. An important difficulty is setting the level at which prices should be stabilized. The lack of this information severely reduces the achievable gains.     

Heroism in a resource crisis: A simulation study

This study examined the effects of individual responsibility and communication in a simulated resource management problem. Subjects faced the problem of how to harvest resources from a regenerating pool so as to maximize their individual harvests without overexploiting the pool. One behavioral option open to individuals involved the sacrifice of a harvesting opportunity in order to add to the pool, thereby benefiting the rest of the group. A 2 x 2 factorial design was used to test the effect of this kind of heroism by (1) including a volunteer leader in the group and (2) including the possibility of communication. Results showed communication produced a significant increase in heroism and in group harvest, resulting from better management of the pool. The presence of a leader in a group had no overall effect on group performance. The implications of these findings for current resource management crises are discussed.     

Market structure and bargaining power: A study of three international mineral markets

This paper considers how differences in the structure and arrangements between the international markets for bauxite, iron ore and copper affect the bargaining strength and division of benefits between buyers and sellers. After describing the characteristic features of each market, and noting the absence of appropriate economic theory to disentangle the issue at hand, an attempt is made to clarify the problem by considering the difference between the markets in terms of five factors - degree of concentration, ability of the parties to inflict losses on each other, varying shares of the raw material in final product prices, structure of the market in which the final products are sold, and the process of trade negotiation.     

An international environmental study programme: the International Baccalaureate Environmental Systems course

This paper describes the relatively new, university entry level examination offered by the International Baccalaureate Organisation in the subject of Environmental Systems. The programme has an integrated, holistic approach, and a strong international focus. The authors are Chief Examiner and Deputy Chief Examiner for this examination.     

NIEO revisited: A new international environmental order in the making

In the past, most of the attempts to improve the situation of the developing countries have focused on economic policy, on the conditions of international trade, on aid and direct investment. A debate on a New International Economic Order (NIEO) was launched in the 1970s (c.f. Tinbergen, 1976)—and largely failed (c.f. Simonis, 1989). This paper shows that environmental policy could be a more effective lever for improving the lot of the developing countries; the near future may see the evolution of a new international environmental order which is likely to better link environmental protection and economic development.     

A market for nature: linking the production and consumption of organics in Tuscany

Contemporary analysis of the food sector has failed convincingly to link production to consumption, and it has not provided a sociological account of such links. This paper makes a provisional attempt to begin such an analysis and does so by examining the case of the market for organic food in Tuscany. It proposes that the ‘pioneers’ of organics in this region constituted a new food movement that succeeded in opening up a new market. However, this market could only be successfully expanded once other actors were enrolled in the market-making process, notably state agencies and supermarkets. The regional government, through new regulations and specific initiatives, integrated organic foods into rural development policy, thereby assisting producers in the process of conversion. Supermarkets co-operated in the implementation of these policies and made space for Tuscan organic products in their stores. So while the ‘pioneers’ began the process of market building, these later entrants were crucial to the stabilization and expansion of the organic sector in Tuscany. Thus, it can be concluded that the emergence of these new ‘markets’ for nature can only be adequately explained by analysing the full range of actors. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Commodity futures and market efficiency: A fractional integrated approach

In financial time series, persistence or inertia is a feature usually observable in absolute returns, i.e., a proxy for volatility. Moreover, asset return series should be essentially unpredictable according to the efficiency market hypothesis (EMH) in its weak form. Surprisingly, recent literature has found evidence of anti-persistence in technology stocks and commodity futures returns. Anti-persistence would be indicative of an overreaction of asset prices to incoming information.     

The copper and aluminum industries: A review of structural changes

In this article the evolution of the aluminium and copper industries is examined, with a view to deriving policy options open to Third World copper producers, which face a declining rate in the growth of consumption. Market structure, company behaviour and performance are analysed for both industries. The impact of energy and general economic crisis in copper and aluminium industries is assessed and market concentration trends are discussed. We conclude that Third World copper producers must change their basic orientation and become seriously involved in market development.     

Brushland fire-management policies: A cross-impact simulation of southern California

A cross-impact simulation computer language, UW-KSIM, is presented as a potentially useful technique for assessing the consequences of resource policies. Cross-impact simulation is used to estimate trends in a set of variables that result from interactions produced from hypothesized relationships among the members of the set. This technique is illustrated with an example that simulates the likely impacts of a 20-year rotation burn policy in southern California's brushland watersheds and that compares the results to a simulated representation of the observed effects of the fire-exclusion policy. Simulated losses under the fire-exclusion policy were up to 300% higher than those produced by the rotation burn policy. Similarly, the simulated average area burned per year was reduced from 5.6% of the study area under the fire-exclusion policy to 2% of the study area under the rotation burn policy. A corresponding reduction in simulated appropriations for fighting wildfires was also demonstrated.     

Exploring discourses on international environmental regime effectiveness with Q methodology: a case study of the Mediterranean Action Plan

Extensive research has been done on the 'high politics' of negotiations of international environmental agreements. However, little attention has been paid to the effectiveness of their implementation after coming into force. Effectiveness cannot be easily measured, since different stakeholders use different criteria as the basis of their opinion. The purpose of this study is to investigate discourses on the effectiveness of an international environmental regime. The regime chosen is the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) - and its legal framework, the Barcelona Convention - which was established in 1975 under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Q methodology was used to reveal discourses on the effectiveness of UNEP/MAP. After collecting relevant literature and identifying the stakeholders, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted. The stakeholders were from the Secretariat of the Convention, academia, NGO workers, and others that studied or knew the subject well. From these interviews 294 statements were extracted, from which 44 were finally selected to be used in the Q study. The interviewees were approached for the second time to complete the Q sorts. This study revealed four distinct discourses concerning the effectiveness of international environmental regimes. It concludes that there is no one 'right' way of defining effectiveness and that no approach can provide more than a partial evaluation of the overall effectiveness of a regime.     

安徽省水域排污权交易市场建立可行性研究

随着经济发展,传统的经济增长模式已经不能适应需要,寻求一种资源节约型、环境友好型的新的经济发展模式势在必行。日益受到关注的排污权交易制度就是新型经济发展模式的具体运用和体现。本文在对安徽省自然条件、市场主体需求、政府政策等方面进行分析的基础上,就安徽省水域排污权交易市场建立的可行性问题作了必要研究。     

The crude oil market and the gold market: Evidence for cointegration,causality and price discovery

Given that the gold market and the crude oil market are the main representatives of the large commodity markets, it is of crucial practical significance to analyze their cointegration relationship and causality, and investigate their respective contribution, from the perspective of price discovery, to the common price trend so as to interpret the dynamics of the whole large commodity market and forecast the fluctuation of crude oil and gold prices.     

Valuing damage to historic buildings using a contingent market: a case study of road traffic externalities

Pricing of road transport at social marginal cost should make users aware of the cost of damaging the environment (external costs). Such an approach, however, requires a monetary estimate of this damage which can be difficult to derive. On the basis of a study carried out at Neuchâtel (Switzerland), the contingent valuation method was used to estimate the damage caused to buildings of historical and cultural value by traffic‐caused air pollution. In a survey, individuals were asked to contribute to a fund set up to finance the maintenance of pre‐selected historic buildings. A valuation function to predict willingness‐to‐pay responses is estimated.     

Measuring neighbourhood air pollution: the case of Seattle's international district

Current US regulatory air quality monitoring networks measure ambient levels of pollutants and cannot capture the effects of mobile sources at the micro-scale. Despite the fact that overall air quality has been getting better, more vulnerable populations (children, the elderly, minorities and the poor) continue to suffer from traffic-related air pollution. As development intensifies in urban areas, more people are exposed to road-related air pollution. However, the only consideration given to air quality, if any, is based on ambient measures. This paper uses an inexpensive, portable Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) to measure Black Carbon (BC) emissions, a surrogate for diesel fuels emissions, in Seattle's International District. With the aid of a GPS receiver, street-level BC data were geocoded in real space-time. It was found that pollution levels differed substantially across the study area. The results show the need for street-level air pollution monitoring, revisions in current land use and transportation policies, and air quality planning practice.     

Contrasting the core beliefs regarding the effective implementation of wind power. An international study of stakeholder perspectives

This paper analyses patterns in beliefs about the implementation of wind power as part of a geographical comparison of onshore wind power developments in the Netherlands, North-Rhine Westphalia and England. Q methodology is applied, in order to systematically compare the patterns in stakeholder views on the institutional conditions and changes in the domains of energy policy, spatial planning and environmental policy. Three factors represent support for wind power implementation from fundamentally different perspectives. The fourth perspective is critical opposed to wind power developments as well as critical to the manner in which wind projects are proposed, planned and implemented. These four perspectives exist across the geographical cases; however, some perspectives are prominent in one case and marginal in another. This relates to different legacies and varying implementation achievements in the three cases. The analysis shows that an approach that focuses on implementing as much wind power as possible, relying on technocratic reasoning and hierarchical policies is in practice the least successful, whereas collaborative perspectives with more emphasis on local issues and less on the interests of the conventional energy sector were particularly dominant in the most successful case, North-Rhine Westphalia.     

城市污水处理厂污泥稳定性与污水处理工艺关系研究

选取SCOD／TCOD作为评价稳定程度的标准，通过碱解液化的实验方法，对徐州市7个不同工艺的污水处理厂污泥稳定性进行了测试，以求污泥稳定性与污水处理工艺的关系，从而为污水处理工艺是否需要建设污泥消化池以及如何优化污水与污泥处理工艺系统提供参考性建议。     

Climate and the eastern repository: A comparative study

We present a comparison of the climate in prospective states or sites under consideration for the eastern repository for high-level nuclear waste in the United States.We found that atmospheric conditions over several south-eastern sites rank lower than the other prospective areas in effective dispersal, as perFederal Register 10CFR 960.5-2-3 (1984). Also, damage rates in North Carolina and Virginia, and death rates in Virginia, from tropical storms and hurricanes exceed those of the other candidate states. These storms, as well as other mechanisms, subject piedmont Virginia and North Carolina to a high frequency of flash flooding. Death rates from all weather-related causes (including winter storms, tornadoes, and weather-related vehicle accidents) are also highest in Virginia and North Carolina. This finding is rather surprising in light of tornado and blizzard frequencies in northern candidate states.Based upon a 20-year study of damage and mortality figures from the US Department of Commerce publicationStorm Data for all weather-related causes, Virginia and North Carolina rank highest. If this is taken as a measure of relative compliance withFederal Register potentially adverse condition 960.5-2-3[c][2] pertaining to the history of severe weather phenomena in relation to repository siting, then these states are the least favorable from a climatic viewpoint.