The impact of Russian food security policy on the performance of the food system

Abstract

Food security has guided Russia’s food policy since 2010. The article examines the impact of food security policy on the food system. The Russian model of food security combines government intervention in the form of assistance for domestic production while simultaneously restricting market access. Food security does not appear to have a deleterious impact on the food system. We measure impact on four dimensions. Financial support for agriculture continues to increase in nominal rubles. In food production, the beef and dairy branches continue to lag, but increased grain production has made Russia a global leader in grain exports. Average per capita food consumption improved, although the poor consume much less, and the decline of the ruble affects the way Russians shop. The largest impact of food security has been on food trade. Food security policy has brought food to the forefront as an instrument of foreign policy. Food trade is politicized, witnessed by the food embargo against the West and food import bans against Turkey and Ukraine.     

Korean unification: a solution to the challenges of an increasingly elderly population?

South Korea experienced below replacement fertility for the first time in 1983, which also marked the point from which fertility rates continued to decline over the next 20 years to reach a low of 1.2 in 2003. In spite of recent pronatalist policies, the fertility rate has remained near this level and has not increased appreciably. The reasons for sustained low fertility in South Korea are complex and solutions remain elusive. One option that has been suggested is reunification with North Korea, which could address the eventual decline in the population and mitigate the increasing proportion of the elderly. Although the conditions surrounding the German reunification experience were vastly different than what Korea will likely undergo, it is informative to look at Germany as a guide to the demographic parameters of reunification. Three projection models for 2015–2050 are presented; even the highest fertility models show that reunification will not be the answer to population restructuring already underway in South Korea as a result of sustained low fertility.     

Medieval Shipwrecks from North Norway and their Contribution to Understanding Maritime Interaction and Trade

This article presents the remains of three medieval ships from North Norway. The sites are clustered near the Arctic Circle, two from the islands of Husøy (Træna) and Lovund in the Helgeland region, and a potential third wreck from the small lake Fiskvågvatn in Saltdal. Available information from the wrecks is presented to provide a basis for assessing their cultural contexts and relevance to medieval maritime activities, the dried‐cod (stockfish) trade in particular. The circumstances surrounding their discovery and documentation also offer insights into the history of cultural heritage management and role of community engagement in northern Norwegian shipwreck archaeology.     

The appeal of appearing green: Soviet-American ideological competition and Cold War environmental diplomacy

This paper argues that the Cold War, for all its environmental costs, brought in its train a hidden benefit: the creation of an international ideological competition that made meaningful environmental agreements more likely. After reviewing the history of Soviet environmental initiatives, the paper discusses the rise of international environmental agreements and the abrupt decline after 1991.     

新石器冰人的最后时光

那是春暮夏初的时节,陡峭的丘壑幽谷中,一种名叫铁木的寻常树木正绽放着一簇簇亮丽的黄花。山谷迤逦向北,延伸到今日被称为意大利阿尔卑斯山的莽莽群山中。一个男人行色匆匆地穿过一片他所熟悉的森林,右手的伤口痛得他龇牙咧嘴,时不时地,他还会停下来侧耳倾听,看身后是否有人在尾随。他逃上山坡,停下来歇脚,这时候,铁木的黄色花粉宛如看不见的雨幕,丝丝洒落到这个人的食物和饮水中。五千年后,这些古老花粉的痕迹依然保存在这位被我们叫做“冰人”的新石器时期猎人体内,成为那一年、那一刻的精微记录：他就在那时穿过森林进入附近的深山,在那里遭遇他最终的宿命。[编者按]     

Information Availability and Market Power in Export Competition: The Case of Regional Health Care Markets

In this paper I analyze the spatial-economic determinants of export competition. I develop a competing central place spatial interaction model to analyze the spatial availability of information, market power, distance, demand threshold, and interregional market variables. Model estimates are based on national data from The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, and I examine Medicare health exports from the Seattle hospital market to markets throughout the Pacific Northwest. Information availability and market power for the Seattle export hospitals have a significant effect on export sales of hospital Medicare services. Intra and interregional competition with other major hospital markets are significant determinants of export competition. Distance to the Seattle market has a strong, negative effect on export sales and on patient migration from other markets.