Canada‐United States interregional trade: quasi‐points and spatial change

Interregional trade between Canada and the United States has undergone significant change since the inception of free trade. However, the magnitude of that change for the different regions in Canada and the United States has not been properly identified because of a lack of an appropriate measure. This paper introduces the concept of a quasi‐point and employs a spatial point pattern test to measure the degree of change in the interregional trade of Canadian provinces and US states, with an emphasis of that change on Ontario. It is found that the degree of change in the interregional trade flows is related to the degree of change in the provincial tariff rates.     

Arenas of Power in Climate Change Policymaking

This article investigates the potential linkage between particular policy design ideas and distinctive patterns of politics and power relations. The research examines a sequence of four cases involving the use of the cap‐and‐trade policy design principally to combat global climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Through the lens of arenas of power framework, the comparative case analysis suggests the existence of consistent linkages between particular cap‐and‐trade design ideas, and distinct patterns of political conflict and empowerment. The article concludes with a brief consideration of what the findings suggest about the national politics of climate change policymaking in the United States in the near term, and more important, an assessment of the implications for the further development and refinement of policy theory.     

Geochemical and mineralogical analysis of stone anchors from west coast of India: provenance study using thin sections,XRF and SEM-EDS

Stone anchors have been recovered along the Indian coast as a part of the maritime archaeological studies at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa. Study of stone anchors provides clues to understand the ancient maritime trade contacts of India with other countries. These anchors resemble those found in the Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea Coast. Underwater explorations at Bet Dwarka, Dwarka, Goa, Visawada and Somnath have yielded stone anchors of widely varying shapes, sizes and weights ranging between 16 and 410 kg. Sixteen (10 Indo-Arabian, 4 Ringstone and 2 Single hole type) of the total of 269 stone anchors have been studied to determine provenance of rock through petrographic analysis using thin section studies, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Scanning Electron Microscope – Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS).     

Obsidian sources in highland Yemen and their relevance to archaeological research in the Red Sea region

The Red Sea and surrounding area formed through dynamic uplift and rifting of Afro-Arabia, and associated volcanism (both oceanic and continental in character). As a result, volcanic landforms and products are widespread and play a vital role in the natural and cultural landscapes of humans occupying the highlands and lowlands on both sides of the Red Sea. Archaeologists have suggested for some time that Afro-Arabian trade in obsidian had its roots in the prehistoric period and that the region was very likely the source of an abundance of obsidian artefacts found as far afield as Egypt, the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia, and which do not match the well-known Anatolian, Transcaucasian or Mediterranean sources. Nonetheless, the southern Red Sea is one of the few obsidian-rich regions exploited in antiquity that has been barely investigated. In this paper, we highlight new geochemical analyses (carried out by LA-ICP-MS) of obsidian sources in Southern Arabia and beyond, that enhance our knowledge of obsidian exploitation from as early as the Neolithic period, and which enable us to evaluate the role that highland Yemen obsidian sources played in prehistoric long-distance trade. In addition, we present new evidence for explosive volcanic eruptions that likely affected the highland populations of Yemen in the 4th millennium BC.     

中日实现经贸合作战略升级的区域环境

尽管中日两国关系内部的经贸合作关系与政治协作关系,在发展上长期处于不平衡、不协调的亚健康状态,但是中国从双边经贸合作的大局出发,一直在积极促进两国经贸关系与政治关系协调发展。这不仅是中国经济发展的内在需要,而且也是区域性外在作用的促进结果。值得一提的是,中日两国在亚太经济合作组织、东亚“10 3”合作机制、中日韩三国合作框架、中日俄三国利益关系的推进上,都有着广泛的合作基础与广阔的合作前景,从而在外部形成了中日两国经贸合作实现战略升级目标的区域促进环境,有利于双方在2008￣2010年间达到2 000亿美圆的经贸合作额度。     

从考古发现看秦汉六朝时期的岭南与南海交通

从上世纪50年代以来,中国两广地区、南海诸岛以及越南等地相继发现了一批秦汉六朝时期的有关南海交通与海外贸易的遗址、遗物,展示了岭南社会经济一向的海洋特色,大大改变了岭南的古史景观,也丰富了中国古代海洋文明的篇章。     

19世纪末20世纪初美国的关税保护主义及其终结

近代以来,民族国家成为国际竞争的基本单位。在对外经济政策中,关税保护主义与自由贸易成为两种可行的选择。从内战到第一次世界大战期间,美国联邦政府基本上采取了关税保护主义政策,美利坚逐步完成了由弱转强的历史性嬗变。关税对美国经济发展的作用应该是正面的。     

From ‘ovoid jars’ to ‘torpedo jars’: Investigations into bitumen-lined transport containers in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean in antiquity (second century BCE–third century CE)

Research into bitumen-lined ‘torpedo jars’, widely distributed throughout the Gulf and the Indian Ocean between the third and ninth centuries CE, has developed considerably in recent years, shedding new light on maritime trade connections during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods. Based on pottery finds from Failaka (Kuwait) and Thaj (Saudi Arabia), recently studied by the author, this article draws attention to an earlier type of bitumen-lined jar characterised by an ovoid profile and a greenish fabric, including vegetal temper. These ovoid jars, presumably of Mesopotamian origin, are commonly found on ‘Classical’/pre-Sasanian sites located along the Gulf’s shores, and their specific fabric has also been identified recently in Oman and southern India. They provide evidence for the existence of extensive Mesopotamian trade, probably in wine, with the Gulf region and more broadly with the Indian Ocean during the late Seleucid and Characenian periods.     

试论徽州地理环境对徽商和徽派民居建筑的影响

文章从文化生态学角度,论述了徽州地理环境对徽商和徽派民居建筑的影响,认为:1、徽州人商业活动起源于徽州物产"结构性失调",徽州"地狭人稠"促使"徽民寄命于商";2、徽商经营行业受徽州地理环境影响,以徽州物产余缺为基础;3、徽州群山环抱,陆路交通闭塞,新安江等水路从而成为徽商境内外贸易的主要通道;4、徽商投资产业多在徽州以外地域,明显受徽州物产和市场因素影响;5、徽州民居建筑在选址、用地、材料、结构、造型等方面,与徽州地理环境和谐、协调。