From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

In spite of some superficial success in achieving its overall global target, there has been much disillusionment with the progress on climate change since the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997. The key problems in addressing GHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol have been the incomplete coverage across countries and lack of credibility. While significantly more onerous reduction commitments should be expected and required of developed countries in the name of economic fairness, GHG emissions must also be capped effectively in developing countries.Clean Development Mechanism, Copenhagen Accord, greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto Protocol, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy,

From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

In spite of some superficial success in achieving its overall global target, there has been much disillusionment with the progress on climate change since the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997. The key problems in addressing GHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol have been the incomplete coverage across countries and lack of credibility. While significantly more onerous reduction commitments should be expected and required of developed countries in the name of economic fairness, GHG emissions must also be capped effectively in developing countries.Clean Development Mechanism, Copenhagen Accord, greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto Protocol, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy,

Learning-Driven Product Cycles, New Product Adoption and North-South Inequality

This paper examines how key product-cycle parameters, such as the ease of new product adoption and the pace of product obsolescence, influence North-South wage inequality and the trade pattern. An innovative feature of the paper is in modeling the interaction between endogenous Northern product innovation and endogenous production transfers to South with industry specific learning, cross-industry learning spillovers, and product obsolescence. Greater difficulty in adopting new products raises wage inequality while lowering Northern innovation and Southern learning rates. Slowing the pace of product obsolescence reduces wage inequality in the short run, but does the opposite in the long run.

Will the Kyoto Protocol Be Good for the Environment? Implications for Agriculture

Global warming or, more accurately, climate change remains a hotly debated issue in scientific, government and public circles. While the extent of the human contribution to climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains highly controversial, the scientific evidence of significant changes in climate per se appears to be mounting (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Since changes in climate typically will include greater variability in temperatures, more extreme weather events and changes in precipitation patterns as well as a general warming trend, there are significant risks for agriculture.(2) If human activity does turn out to have a significant causal effect on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol and other related multilateral environmental agreements appear to have the potential to reduce these risks. The Kyoto Protocol, however, leaves possible channels for increases in emissions or so-called carbon leakage.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in Transition Economies

Recent studies of developing countries have suggested that the effectiveness of foreign direct investment (FDI) as spur to econo mic growth depends on the availability of "human capital" or skilled labour in a host country. In other words, it is primarily the synergy between FDI and human capital — rather than FDI itself — that acts as a strong stimulant to growth. Since many transition economies such as Ukraine have abundant human capital, this implies that policies that encourage FDI may be very beneficial in facilitating economic restructuring and stimulating growth. This paper provides a thorough empirical investigation of this issue by examining the experience of Ukraine and other transitional economies. The paper provides an overview of Ukraine’s experience with FDI and growth before systematically analyzing the connection between these variables for a panel of transition economies. While the paper finds deficiencies in earlier work examining the synergy between FDI and human capital, it finds interesting evidence that is consistent with the synergy hypothesis for transition economies. Further, the analysis also suggests that there is a complementary — rather than substitute — relationship between FDI and domestic investment. Thus, the presence of FDI may provide new learning opportunities for those making domestic investments and visa versa. The possibility that it is not large flows of FDI that cause high economic growth rates, but strong growth that acts as a magnet for FDI is also investigated. While the paper shows that there is little empirical evidence of such reverse causation in transition economies, it also reveals that there is little evidence that FDI stimulates economic growth beyond the current year. This lack of persistence in the benefits of FDI in transition economies suggests that there may be room for policy initiatives to increase the efficacy of FDI.foreign direct investment, spillovers from FDI, human capital complementarities, transition economies, growth

Are Antidumping Duties an Antidote for Predation?

Since price discrimination and selling below cost arise in the normal course of business and are usually legal for home firms, countering these practices by foreign firms provides a very weak rationale for antidumping duties. If antidumping duties were to provide a systematic defense against predation by foreign firms, however, a strong ''fair-trade'' justification would remain. This paper adapts the classic entry-deterrence analysis of Dixit (1979) and Brander and Spencer (1981) to provide a simple treatment of predation, which is applicable with price leadership as well as quantity leadership. Although situations of cross-border predation appear to be quite rare, foreign firms may sometimes find themselves in leadership positions if they have to make shipments and/or set prices before their home rivals. This paper shows that, in the context of such an international leadership game, predation ma y occur without dumping and vice versa. Further, when dumping and predation do coexist, a sophisticated form of antidumping duty would prevent predation, but the simple antidumping duties that are generally observed in practice will often be insufficient. Consequently, the paper challenges the ''fair-trade'' view of antidumping policy as an antidote for predation and strengthens the foundation of the counter-argument that antidumping constitutes a new insidious form of protectionism and trade harassment, which is of particularly serious concerns for small countries.trade, duopoly, Stackelberg, Cournot, antidumping, predation

Some recent advances in anaesthesia of interest to ophthalmic surgeons

Some advances in anaesthesia that are of interest to ophthalmic surgeons are discussed. These include local anaesthesia, neuroleptanalgesia and neuroleptanaesthesia, dissociative anaesthesia and methods of reducing operative bleeding

Capital in the countryside: social change in West Wiltshire, 1530-1680

West Wiltshire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was among the leading producers of woollen cloth, England’s most important export commodity by far, but the region’s importance is often understated by modern historians. The cloth towns of Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Westbury were thriving when John Leland visited in 1540; but GD Ramsay thought they had passed their golden age by 1550 and declined during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Joan Thirsk – following the precedent of John Aubrey, who wrote a survey of north Wiltshire in the 1660s – characterised the region as ‘cheese country’. Based on new archival research, this thesis argues that, far from declining, cloth manufacture in west Wiltshire grew throughout the Tudor era and remained strong under the early Stuarts; that production of this crucial trade commodity gave the region national significance; and that profits from the woollen trade were the main drivers of change in west Wiltshire over the period 1530-1680. Supporting evidence is presented from four complementary sectors of society: London merchants, country clothiers, west Wiltshire gentry, and the villagers of Bulkington, Keevil and Seend, southwest of Devizes – an area with which John Aubrey was briefly but intensely involved. The thesis demonstrates that the manufactory was dominated by a small group of entrepreneurs who protected their position through successive generations. As prominent landowners in their own right, as buyers of wool from the gentry estates, and as employers of large numbers of spinners, weavers and other cloth-workers, they exerted a pervasive influence over the local economy. The thesis identifies these leading entrepreneurs and for the first time examines their impact on social, economic and cultural development. It challenges the established narrative of decline, and argues that John Aubrey’s account was deeply affected by his own personal circumstances and experience

A record of research directed towards enhancement of the safety of clinical anaesthesia

Clinical Anaesthesia is an indispensable adjunct to the surgical treatment of disease. It directly affects the lives of a great number of people since every year no fewer than one in every twenty-five persons in the population is required to undergo a procedure which necessitates it. Of itself non-therapeutic, clinical anaesthesia must, above all else. be safe for the patient. Any adverse outcome to clinical anaesthesia and factors relevant to its administration results, at best, in postoperative morbidity for the patient and, at worst, his demise. Identification and examination of the factors and circumstances which have a material influence on the safety of anaesthesia for the patient, provided the motivation for and is the central theme of this collection of research publications which was submitted to the University of Cape Town in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Science (Medicine). The publications submitted report the results of forty years of endeavour. In terms of their subject matter, these publications may be broadly grouped into the following five fields of interest: - 1) The Epidemiology of Death Attributable to Anaesthesia. 2) Pharmacogenetic States of concern to the Anaesthetist - a) The Malignant Hyperthermia Myopathy. b) The Acute Porphyrias. 3) The Effects of Anaesthetics on the Liver - Studies of Hepatic Drug Metabolism of relevance to post-Halothane Hepatitis and the hepatotoxicity of anaesthetic agents. b) The treatment of Fulminant Liver Failure. 4) Heat Homeostasis during Anaesthesia - a) Inadvertent Hypothermia during anaesthesia. b) Induced Hypothermia during anaesthesia. 5) Miscellaneous. Within these fields of interest, papers have been grouped in terms of related aspects of the main topic they cover. Editorial comment is included where appropriate. The nature and scope of many of the above investigations was such as to require, for their satisfactory conclusion, collaborative interdisciplinary research combining the endeavours of other clinicians and paramedical scientists. Appropriate recognition of such collaboration has resulted in the multiple authorship registered for many of the publications in this collection

The meaning and use of the term "blood“in scripture

There have been two, seemingly opposed, schools of thought about the interpretation of "blood" in Scripture. It is held to signify either "life” or "death". This thesis demonstrates the possibility of effecting a synthesis between these interpretations, showing that both ideas must be present. Each occurrence of "blood" has been analysed and divided between sacrificial and non-sacrificial categories. Frequency of occurrence has been carefully considered to determine its implication for statistical evidence. An introduction discusses its significance in primitive societies, showing that it was regarded as the vehicle of life, with an awe-inspiring potency, requiring elaborate taboos and ritual. Old Testament sacrificial contexts indicate a similar belief that the use of blood is carefully regulated because it is the prerogative of God and equals "life" or "life released", whereas in non-sacrificial contexts it signifies "life" or "death" equally. A "Hebrew mind", therefore, requires a synthesis which accommodates both interpretations. In establishing this synthesis it is demonstrated that while some who hold the "blood equals death" theory reject any other interpretation, those who claim that basically "blood equals life" accept that both concepts can be present. A, M, Stibb's criticism of Westcott and others is refuted and his own conclusions questioned. In the analysis of the New Testament use of the term both concepts are again fully present. In non-sacrificial contexts "blood" clearly means "death”, but in sacrificial and eucharistic contexts "life" or "life surrendered" is implied. In discussing the sacrifice of Christ, it is argued that "the blood of Christ" means the life of Christ released by death, offered to G-od and received back by man. Death and life are inextricably connected but the emphasis must be on life surrendered and made available for man’s redemptio