What happens when the market shifts to China? The Gabon timber and Thai cassava value chains

Rapid economic growth in China has boosted its demand for commodities. At the same time, many commodity sectors have experienced declining demand from high income northern economies. This paper examines two hypotheses of the consequences of this shift in final markets for the organization of global value chains in general, and for the role played in them by southern producers in particular. The first is that there will be a decline in the importance of standards in global value chains. The second is that there will be increasing constraints in the ability of low-income producers to upgrade to higher value niches in their chains. Detailed case studies of the Thai cassava industry and the Gabon timber sector confirm both these hypotheses. It remains to be seen how widespread these trends are across other sectors

What happens in global value chains when the markey shifts from the north to the south?

This paper charts the evolution of financial and economic crisis in the global economy and argues that the likely outcome will be sustained growth in the two very large Asian Driver economies of China and India and stagnation in the historically dominant northern economies. Given the nature of demand in low income southern economies, it is likely to be reflected in sustained demand for commodities, with other southern economy producers in global value chains being forced into lower levels of value added. Standards are likely to be of considerably reduced significance in value chains feeding into China and India. These issues are considered in the light of evidence drawn from the experience of Thai exporters of cassava, and Gabonese exporters of timber

What happens when the market shifts to China ? the Gabon timber and Thai cassava value chains

Rapid economic growth in China has boosted its demand for commodities. At the same time, many commodity sectors have experienced declining demand from high-income northern economies. This paper examines two hypotheses of the consequences of this shift in final markets for the organization of global value chains in general, and for the role played in them by southern producers in particular. The first is that there will be a decline in the importance of standards in global value chains. The second is that there will be increasing constraints in the ability of low-income producers to upgrade to higher value niches in their chains. Detailed case studies of the Thai cassava industry and the Gabon timber sector confirm both these hypotheses. It remains to be seen how widespread these trends are across other sectors.Environmental Economics&Policies,Food&Beverage Industry,Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies

The tropical timber industry in Gabon: a forward linkages approach to industrialisation

The breadth and depth of forward linkages in the tropical timber industry of Gabon is a result of three inter-acting drivers: the nature of final markets, ownership of production, and sector-specific policy. The Forestry Code set explicit domestic processing targets built on the trajectory of French processors. Still, while this is theoretically in line with European market demands for wood products, the forced beneficiation resulted in Chinese, Malaysian, and Gabonese producers, whose prime activity is the exploitation of logs for processing industries in China, to limit their participation in forward linkages to the sawnwood sub-sector, characterised by low entry barriers and negative producer margins. Gabon's comparative advantage lies in the exploitation of its natural resource tropical timber for export markets. Logging is also a 'superior' technology allowing the appropriation of resource rents. These are largely diluted in processing due to production cost penalties such as high reservation wages, inadequate infrastructure, lack of skills, and the political economy of Gabon. The conflict between the envisaged forward linkages approach to industrialisation (in light of falling oil reserves), industry actors' market focuses, motivations, and capabilities, as well as conclusions drawn about comparative advantages and linkage-blockages, has significant consequences for industrial development

The tropical timber industry in Gabon: a forward linkages approach to industrialisation

The breadth and depth of forward linkages in the tropical timber industry of Gabon is a result of three inter-acting drivers: the nature of final markets, ownership of production, and sector-specific policy. The Forestry Code set explicit domestic processing targets built on the trajectory of French processors. Still, while this is theoretically in line with European market demands for wood products, the forced beneficiation resulted in Chinese, Malaysian, and Gabonese producers, whose prime activity is the exploitation of logs for processing industries in China, to limit their participation in forward linkages to the sawnwood sub-sector, characterised by low entry barriers and negative producer margins. Gabon's comparative advantage lies in the exploitation of its natural resource tropical timber for export markets. Logging is also a 'superior' technology allowing the appropriation of resource rents. These are largely diluted in processing due to production cost penalties such as high reservation wages, inadequate infrastructure, lack of skills, and the political economy of Gabon. The conflict between the envisaged forward linkages approach to industrialisation (in light of falling oil reserves), industry actors' market focuses, motivations, and capabilities, as well as conclusions drawn about comparative advantages and linkage-blockages, has significant consequences for industrial development

Successful Non-Invasive treatment of stricturing fibrosing colonopathy in an adult patient

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>Fibrosing colonopathy (FC) is a rare entity associated with cystic fibrosis (CF). Until now, patients with stricturing FC have usually been treated surgically. In this instance, we aimed at avoiding surgery by applying a new conservative approach.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Case report on an adult with CF who developed persistent abdominal pain due to a non-passable stricture in the right transverse colon. Histology confirmed fibrosing colonopathy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Initially we treated the patient with prednisolone pulse therapy and additive antibiotic therapy. For maintenance therapy we administered budesonide. The patient underwent clinical, laboratory and endoscopic follow-up over a three-year period. The stricture healed and was easy to pass. A relapse in the cecum at the ileocecal valve again improved under steroid and antibiotic therapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We present a novel therapeutic approach for advanced stricturing FC in an adult patient which successfully avoided surgery (right hemicolectomy) over a three year follow up.</p

Effective range expansion in various scenarios of EFT(\notpi)

Using rigorous solutions, we compare the ERE parameters obtained in three different scenarios of EFT(\notpi) in nonperturbative regime. A scenario with unconventional power counting (like KSW) is shown to be disfavored by the PSA data, while the one with elaborate prescription of renormalization but keeping conventional power counting intact seems more promising.Comment: 6 pages, 3 tables, no figure, revtex4-1, minor revisions, to appear in EP