Global Markets, Local Home-working: Governance and Inter-firm Relationships in the Balinese Clothing Industry

Abstract: Within the industrialization process of the Indonesian economy, the manufacture of clothing has played a significant role. Besides Java, Bali has the second highest agglomeration of industrial activities within this sector. However, in contrast to Javanese clothing firms, which have a strong emphasis on Western-styled clothing, Balinese clothing firms focus on the manufacture of Batik and embroidery products. Based on the commodity chain debate, I will show in this paper how Balinese clothing industry is organized into and governed within the global and local economy. This aims in particular to unravel how these types of garments (Batik and embroidery) can shape and reshape buyer relations. The analysis will also include a discussion of aspects, such as product development and raw material procurement. Furthermore, since Balinese clothing companies organize their production activities within extensive networks of rural home industries, the driving forces behind these specific network co-ordinations will be explored.     

How China Navigated the Dilemma of Trade Liberalization and Government Revenues

Many economists believe that in the long run, the aggregate performance of open economies is better than that of closed ones, and that open policies contribute significantly to economic development. At the same time, many political scientists and policy makers fear that, in the short run, one of the steps towards openness — trade liberalization — may harm government revenues. However, in the 1990s, China successfully navigated the dilemma of trade liberalization and government revenues. In this period, China decreased tariff and non‐tariff barriers for WTO accession, but has achieved dramatically increased tariff revenues since 1999. This study explores how China implemented trade liberalization and simultaneously increased tariff revenues in the 1990s. It demonstrates that a series of institutional arrangements, including a reform of Criminal Law, rigorous anti‐smuggling activities and a de facto tax imposed on the export sector, successfully curbed smuggling activities through the processing trade, and made foreign‐invested manufacturing enterprises the major contributors to the stability of customs revenue. China's case shows that a prosperous, export‐oriented and foreign‐invested manufacturing sector could potentially provide a developing country with a source of customs revenue.     

Clothing Economy and Clothing Culture: The Farm Wardrobe from a Gendered Perspective in Nineteenth-Century Sweden

This article examines the clothing of landowning farmers in inland Swedish from a gendered perspective during industrialisation in the nineteenth century. It considers clothes as possessions and goods within a European framework of trade and influence. In particular, it shows how clothing was a means of expression that changed during the course of industrialisation and how gender became an important factor in the supply and making of clothes. In the region examined, clothing changed from being a local fashion, characterised by similarities in material and workmanship between men's and women's clothes, to become a part of fashion in general with its emphasis on differences between men's and women's wardrobes. In the early nineteenth century, the female wardrobe accounted for a higher value as it included a greater share of garments made of manufactured fabrics. In late nineteenth century, when industrial forestry had replaced livestock farming as the main source of income in the area, men's wardrobes grew in value due to increased demand for tailor-made garments and purchased fabrics. By contrast, women's garments were often made of simpler fabrics and sewn by seamstresses. These changes responded to the growing breadwinner–homemaker ideal and to national-romantic ideas about folk costume – two tendencies that emphasised female domesticity and home-woven fabrics.     

NAFTA and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis

The “Pollution Haven Hypothesis” is the prediction that trade liberalization will lead to the movement of polluting industries from high income/stringent environmental regulation countries to low income/lax environmental regulation countries. This prediction has led to concerns that NAFTA would be an environmental disaster for Mexico. The three articles included in this collection investigate the post‐NAFTA environmental performance of Mexico using both aggregate data on pollution emissions as well as firm‐level data on environmental abatement efforts. In this article, I summarize the contribution in the context of the trade/environmental literature and provide some suggestions for future work.     

Cultural diversity and free trade: the case of the EU-Canada agreement

This article examines the role assigned to culture in general and to cultural industries and diversity in particular by the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). Although it pursues further economic liberalization, the arrangement is about much more than trade: its preamble, for instance, contains a reference to the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Nevertheless, the text lacks a general exception clause protecting culture. This paper examines the consolidated CETA text from the perspective of political economy to clarify to what extent this is an opportunity to reconcile rules of free trade with cultural policies aiming to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions, especially when the latter derive from cultural industries in both analogue and digital scenarios.     

Clothing the Poor in Early-Nineteenth-Century England

Abstract

In a pioneering study in this journal, Steven King suggested that parish clothing provision was of fundamental importance in the eighteenth century both in terms of local social relations and the perceived standing of parish authorities. This article tests his thesis for the first decades of the nineteenth century, confirming that parish clothing was indeed pivotal in maintaining a sense of local social justice. However, it takes issue with King's reasons for the relatively high levels of clothing provision enjoyed by the poor, suggesting that they had as much to do with a set of shared values between giver and receiver as they did with considerations of parish prestige or social order.     

Not Sustainable: India's Trade and Current Account Deficits

India's trade balance and current account have shown persistent deficits for a major part of its post‐independence period. Since the mid‐2000s, trade deficits have increased perilously, with a sharp rise in both oil and non‐oil imports. India has relied on services exports, remittances and capital inflows to offset trade deficits and sustain the current account deficit. This article examines the sustainability of relying on capital inflows, remittances and services exports to sustain these persistent trade and current account deficits. It argues that all three sources entail elements of fragility. The recent global economic slowdown, economic recessions in the United States and Europe, slow economic recovery, low growth forecasts and possibility of a secular slowdown in the United States and Europe raise questions about whether services exports and remittances can continue to generate sufficient earnings to offset trade deficits. Relying on capital inflows also carries risks of financial fragility, with short‐term capital inflows and external commercial borrowings becoming more prominent in the Indian economy.     

Suspended Equilibrium in Iran's Political System

Two sets of power relationships have emerged in the political system of the Islamic Republic of Iran: official, institutional relationships outlined in the Constitution, and unofficial, informal ones existing between and within groups and clusters of powerful individuals and institutions. The juxtaposition of informal factional alliances with the formal institutions of power has resulted in the development of a precarious balance within the state, as 'hardliners' and 'softliners' vie for greater influence and the adoption of their agendas as official state policy. The ensuing results have been two-fold. On the one hand, the emergence of multiple centers of power has enhanced the extent and reach of the state in relation to various social strata, thus bestowing it with considerable durability and staying power. On the other hand, the existence of multiple official and unofficial venues for competition has sharpened the tenor and substance of factional rivalries. For the most part, each of the factions has so far been able to balance out the influence and agendas of the other. At the same time, however, since the 'softliners' by and large advocate greater political liberalization, these very factional rivalries have had some modest consequences in opening up the Iranian polity. Ultimately, the pace and direction of political liberalization in Iran will depend on the outcome of the ongoing rivalry that is currently being played out within official state institutions and unofficial power-cliques.     

Exotica in Context: Reconfiguring Prestige,Power and Wealth in the Southern African Iron Age

Prestige goods, in various combinations and permutations, feature prominently in anthropological and archaeological templates of the emergence of social inequality and early state formation in premodern societies. In Africa, discussion of the contribution of prestige goods to the evolution of cultural behaviours such as class distinction and statehood has been conducted primarily through theoretical lenses that allocate significant weight to the proceeds of external long distance trade. The major outcome is that archaeologists have rarely paused to evaluate not just the definition of prestige goods but also the congruity between global ‘universals’ and African ‘particularities’. Using empirical evidence from the southern African historical and archaeological records, this paper seeks to evaluate the concept of prestige goods and to assess their contribution to the evolution of Iron Age (AD 200–1900) communities of different time periods, from locally centred positions. It reveals that the distribution, use and deposition of exotic imports in southern Africa is not compatible with the pattern suggested by the prestige goods model, and points towards their valuation as embedded within situational contexts of meaning. In fact, hinterland elites controlled neither the source nor the distribution of exotic goods from producer regions, making them a volatile source of power and prestige. While local elites used exotic imports when available, and imposed taxes on their citizens—payable in both local and external goods—land, cattle, religion and individual entrepreneurship were far more predictable and stable sources of prestige, wealth and power. This provides the basis for reassessing the development of complexity in the region and potentially contributes towards global debates on the impact of long-distance trade in the development of complex states.     

民众记忆与服装衍化--1949～2000年中国城镇民众服装流变

服装是社会变迁的组成部分.中国城镇服装以社会大文化的发展为依托,伴随生活方式、价值观念以及行为规范的变化而变化.改革开放以来,随着国家政治经济文化的健康发展,服装开始脱离社会政治和革命范式,凸现自身发展固有的逻辑.同时,中国人的审美观念不断更新,在整体上趋于西化,服装的自身功能日趋彰显.但回首过去,中国特有的、在短时间内形成民众服装急剧变革、走向革命化的现象,颇耐人寻味.在人类历史上,恐怕还没有一个民族将服装当作革命的对象、形式和重要内容,这一现象与中华民族的历史、文化、精神密切相连,是值得深入研究和长久反思的.     

AGGLOMERATION AND TRADE: STATE‐LEVEL EVIDENCE FROM U.S. INDUSTRIES*

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the connection between economic agglomeration and trade patterns within the United States at the industry level. On the consumption side, industry‐ and state‐specific international imports and elasticities of substitution are shown to be systematically connected to consumption agglomeration effects, while on the production side, industry‐ and state‐specific international exports and intermediate input trade are shown to be systematically connected to production agglomeration and specialization effects. Industry structures play an important role in the determination and magnitude of these effects.     

Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain,c.2250–1750 BC

Among the ceramic vessels recovered from the burial mounds of Bahrain, a small percentage represents Mesopotamian imports or local emulations of such. In this paper two overall horizons are distinguished in these Mesopotamian ceramics. These are significant because both coincide with major stages in Mesopotamia’s interaction with the populations of the ‘Lower Sea’. The first import horizon is comprised of a vessel type found exclusively in the scattered mounds of Early Type which pre‐date the rise of the Dilmun ‘state’ proper. The distribution of these vessels outside their areas of production demonstrates how they circulated widely in a network elsewhere considered to reflect the orbit of Mesopotamia’s late third‐millennium ‘Magan trade’. Here it is consequently concluded that this particular type represents an important fossile directeur of the ‘Magan trade’ and pre‐Dilmun florescence. The vessels that make up the subsequent horizon of Mesopotamian imports are found exclusively in the compact mound cemeteries and thus coincide with the heyday of Dilmun. On these grounds it is argued that the two horizons are the product of, respectively, the Ur III network of ‘Magan trade’ and the contracted Isin‐Larsa network of ‘Dilmun trade’.     

The Geographic Effects of Trade Liberalization with Increasing Returns in Transportation

Abstract This paper develops a model of economic geography that examines how the distribution of economic activity may change as a country opens up to foreign trade. The distinctive features of the model are that transportation is costly between locations within a nation as well as between nations, and that these transportation costs are subject to increasing returns to scale. A result of the model is that trade liberalization may cause the population of a country to become more concentrated in a single megalopolis. The large megalopolis may reduce welfare due to congestion costs, which implies that liberalization may unexpectedly leave the country worse off.     

A Flexible Mathematical Programming Model to Estimate Interregional Input–Output Accounts*

Abstract. This study implements and tests a mathematical programming model to estimate interregional, interindustry transaction flows in a national system of economic regions based on an interregional accounting framework and initial information of interregional shipments. A national input–output (IO) table, regional data on gross output, value‐added, exports, imports, and final demand at sector level are used as inputs to generate an interregional IO account that reconciles regional economic statistics and interregional transaction data. The model is tested using data from a multiregional global IO database and shows remarkable capacity to discover true interregional trade patterns from highly distorted initial estimates.     

TNC Strategies and Variations in Intra-firm Trade: The Case of Foreign Manufacturing Affiliates in Sweden

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the forms and determinants of intra-firm trade, i.e. international trade between different units under common TNC ownership, this being a major indication of 'deep economic integration' between developed countries in the 1990s. Theoretically, intra-firm trade can be explained by the existence of economies of common governance and are often found to be associated with R&D-intensive industries and economies of scale. In empirical studies, intra-firm trade is often found to consist of intermediate inputs goods, resulting in vertically integrated production chains. The study is based on detailed firm-level data from around 300 foreign majority-owned affiliates (MOFAs) in manufacturing, in Sweden in 1993. The results show that intra-firm sales by MOFAs in Sweden are as high as those found in studies of manufacturing affiliates of US TNCs. Almost all of MOFAs' intra-firm exports are finished products, while intra-firm imports consist of material inputs and finished products for resale. This suggests that these MOFAs are only marginal involved in vertically integrated production chains, especially in terms of exports. The results of a regression analysis complement earlier studies by showing that the level and composition of intra-firm trade is significantly affected by the international strategy applied by TNCs when operating foreign manufacturing affiliates. Intra-firm exports of finished products and material inputs are positively associated with efficiency-seeking FDI, e.g. affiliates engaged in rationalised production. Market-seeking FDI is associated with intra-firm imports of complementary finished products for resale. By contrast, resource-seeking and strategic asset-seeking FDI was negatively associated with intra-firm trade.     

Ideology, Discourse, and the Geography of Hegemony: From Socialist to Neoliberal Development in Postapartheid South Africa

The African National Congress (ANC) has long stood for a development policy committed to improving living conditions for black people in South Africa. Assuming power in 1994, the ANC adopted a leftist, basic-needs-oriented Reconstruction and Development Programme as the popular foundation for its economic policy. Within two years, the ANC had switched to a rightist, neoliberal Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy stressing privatization, deregulation, and trade liberalization. This article critically examines the displacement of economic policy from socialism to neoliberalism. My thesis is that ANC policy was disciplined by a neoliberal economic discourse formulated by an academic-institutional-media complex with linked centers of persuasion inside and outside the country. The article combines ideas about hegemony from Gramsci with notions of discourse derived from Foucault in constructing a geographic theory of globally hegemonic discursive formations colonizing alternative, counterhegemonic discourses.     

Narratives of Community and Change in a Contemporary Rural Setting: The Case of Duaringa,Queensland

Contemporary rural communities are being affected by a range of changes and processes in Australia, including major changes in demographic patterns; the organisation and performance of primary industries; levels of government support for economic and social infrastructure; and wider developments in technology and changing socio‐cultural values. The impact of these processes has been felt unequally and small communities which have had a traditionally close relationship with agricultural industries are particularly challenged. The current paper reports on one such community and provides the opportunity to analyse both the the substance and cultural understandings of such forms of rural change/uncoupling. The paper presents local narratives of community and change in Duaringa, Central Queensland and responds to recent international literature suggesting that the meanings and politics of rural change are as significant as the economic trends that are occurring. The Duaringa narratives demonstrate both the substance and dynamics of expressions of community (and loss). And the paper concludes that these meanings are also influenced by wider processes including consumption‐oriented lifestyles and national interests in South East Asian relations.     

Macroeconomic Effects of 21st Century Trade and Investment Agreements: The Case of the Trans‐Pacific Partnership

Following United States withdrawal, the Trans‐Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) is likely to be replaced or complemented by a series of bilateral deals between the US and TPP partners. In this case, TPP will shape trade, finance and public policy globally even without formal US participation. Proponents of TPP emphasize its prospective economic benefits, with economic growth increasing due to rising trade volumes and investment. Widely cited projections suggest modest GDP gains after 10 years, varying from less than half a percentage point in the USA to 13 per cent in Vietnam. However, these projections assume full employment and constant income distribution in all countries, excluding some of the major risks of trade liberalization. This article provides alternative projections of the TPP's economic effects using the United Nations Global Policy Model, which allows for changes in employment and income distribution. Using this model, the authors obtain very different results. They find that the benefits to economic growth are even smaller than those projected with full‐employment models, and are negative for Japan and the USA. More importantly, they find that the TPP will likely lead to losses in employment and increases in inequality.     

Coconut Crisis in Kerala? Mainstream Narrative and Alternative Perspectives

India's oilseeds sector, which includes its coconut economy, experienced drastic changes in the wake of agricultural liberalization in the mid‐1990s. A persistent coconut crisis ‘narrative’ emerged after sharp price declines between 2000 and 2002 in which small farmers in the state of Kerala, India's main coconut producer, were identified as victims of the liberalized importation of cheap palm oil. This article describes this crisis narrative based on a literature review of academic and official reports, and challenges its problem analysis by juxtaposing it with information from ethnographic research with local farmers and traders. The research indicates that local labour shortages and increased regional competition also had a strong impact on Kerala's coconut market, production and processing, which varied from region to region. Furthermore, small farmers, with their diversified livelihoods, did not recognize a ‘crisis’ as such. Drawing upon the ‘advocacy coalition framework’, the article also indicates reasons for the emergence and persistence of the coconut crisis narrative and points to complex processes of restructuring social space in the age of globalization.     

The three spheres. A theoretical model of mass nationalisation: the case of Spain

This article sets out a theoretical model of the processes of mass nationalisation. The paper is divided into three sections. The first part shows nationalisation as a process of identity transmission that includes messages (national narratives), channels (national agencies) and recipients (national individuals). The second section analyses the processes of identity transmission into three spheres of nationalisation: the official public sphere, the non‐official public sphere and the private sphere. The last part looks at the process of mass nationalisation from below and reflects on the mechanisms of individual acquisition and reproduction of national identities on a daily basis. The general model of nationalisation presented here is developed in a deductive way and is applicable to a number of countries all over the world. In this article, I illustrate the general model by giving examples of mass nationalisations in Spain over the last two centuries.