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Marshall Cavendish
Topical, authentic and high quality books under the Marshall Cavendish Editions imprint provide general interest content that informs, entertains and engages readers.
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Promoted Content
April 2023Speculation by Commodity Index Funds
The Impact on Food and Energy Prices
by Scott H. Irwin, Dwight R. Sanders
Commodity futures prices exploded in 2007-08 and concerns about a new type of participant in commodity futures markets began to emerge. Market participants, regulators, and civic organizations began raising concerns that inflows from new "commodity index" investments were driving the increases in commodity prices instead of economic fundamentals. The main argument was that unprecedented buying pressure from these speculative long-only futures traders created massive bubbles that resulted in prices substantially exceeding fundamental value. At the time, it was not uncommon to link concerns about speculation and high prices to world hunger, food crises, and civil unrest. Naturally, this outcry resulted in numerous regulatory proposals to restrict speculation in commodity futures markets through transaction taxes, speculative position limits, and even the bizarre idea of a "virtual reserve" whereby a public agency would take futures positions opposite speculators. At the core, these assertions raised major economic questions about the efficiency of price discovery in commodity futures markets. Moreover, these so-called remedies did not come without a potential cost. Burdensome regulations would increase compliance and risk sharing costs across the global food system-lowering prices for producers and increasing costs to consumers. To guide this debate, a rigorous approach was needed to understand the dynamics between prices and commodity index activity. This book documents a curated selection of papers on the impact of index investment on commodity futures prices. The chronology of the papers roughly follows the timeline of our involvement in the world-wide debate about commodity speculation as it evolved after 2007. The 10 papers follow the evolving speculation debate with new author forwards highlighting the contribution and impact. Policy-makers, researchers, and market participants will find this not only as useful documentation of the debate; but, also a natural starting point when high commodity prices inevitably create the next speculation backlash.
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Promoted Content
Business, Economics & LawMarch 2024Markets and power in digital capitalism
by Philipp Staab
Today's global capitalism runs through digital networks. Its leaders are internet giants such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Tencent. Their technologies are ubiquitous: we carry high-performance computers around in our pockets, manage our lives in the cloud and display them on social media. They have also literally privatised the market, transforming capitalism in the process. Philipp Staab takes us on a virtual tour of modern digital capitalism. He shows how digital surveillance and evaluation practices have proliferated throughout the economy, exacerbating social inequality in the process. What is specific to digital capitalism, Staab argues, is the emergence of 'proprietary markets'. In the past the focus was on producing things and selling them at a profit. Today the meta-platforms extract their profits by owning the market itself.
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Trusted Partner
February 2017Photokinesis
Recall of the Spiritual View of Childhood
by Can Xue
This is a autobiography-style prose collection. Applying the unique writing technique, Can Xue has revealed the perceivable childhood inward world and all aspects of her childhood. Unlike her obscure novels, this collection attempts to grasp memory fragments through critical thinking and recall the childhood days. As a child, Can Xue is imaginative and obstinate, which has influence on her literary creation later. This spiritual autobiography serves as the key to the artistic world of Can Xue.
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Trusted Partner
February 2017Wuxiang Street
by Can Xue
The novel narrates the “possible” amour of Lady X, which arouses the discussion of local people. Every character has his own view towards this event which even acquires a more vital status than the event itself. The characteristic narration style of Can Xue has imbued the ordinary event with distinct aesthetic connotation.
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Trusted Partner
March 2021Collector's Edition of Can Xue's Works: Huangni Street
by Can Xue
"Huang Ni Street" is Can Xue's debut novel. The work describes people on a street and many things on Huangni Street. Huangni Street is always dirty, even the rain is gray. Can Xue made a detailed description of this street, but this description is different from the description of ordinary writers, with a big jump in thinking and no consistent storyline. There are simple characters and simple stories. Can Xue's first novel constructed Can Xue's very significant writing characteristics later, and these rich images give readers a very special reading experience. Can Xue breaks the usual thinking and framework of traditional novels, and has the typical characteristics of Can Xue from the beginning.
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Trusted Partner
July 2016The Last Love
by Can Xue
This novel by Can Xue presents a whole range of characters with strong personality, such as Joe, Maria, Vincent, Lisa, Reagan and Ida. They are full of vitality and are accordingly unsatisfied with their present status. They actively explore unknown field of life and firmly embark on the journey of spiritual exploration. The novel focuses the complicated and intertwining relationship between husbands, wives and lovers to uncover the hidden inner desire of each character. Boiling wild nature and advanced civilization collide with each other before they finally become one unity. For the readers, entering the world of these characters is like entering their own inner world.
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Trusted Partner
Lady Lv Fangshi
by Can Xue
Lady Lv Fangshi is born in a family with many siblings. She was not a good-looking girl and no one in her family cared about her. All her family lived in two small and dark rooms with both warmness and horror. As a 21-year-old lady, Lv Fangshi had already met some guys. Zeng Laoliu, the carpet dealer, was quite mysterious to her though he was not the one that excited her most. Is the lifestyle of Lady Lv Fangshi ever possible? We could frequently be face with this kind of question in our daily life.
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Trusted Partner
The Borderland
by Can Xue
The Borderland has narrated the weird life of several strangers in Xiaoshi Town in the border area. Years ago, Liujin’s parents came to Xiaoshi Town in pursuit of love. They found that Xiaoshi Town was a place where everything was invisible rather than visible, and they had gradually discovered the way how the anomalies impacted people’s life. As an adult, Liujin decides to trace the road that her parents had taken in Xiaoshi Town. By virtue of contacts with various people in the borderland who possess unique sensory ability, she even gains some absurd and fantastic perspectives and imaginations towards things in the borderland such as snow mountains, snow leopards, geckos, birds and rocks.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social SciencesOctober 2023Towards a just Europe
A theory of distributive justice for the European Union
by João Labareda
This highly original book constitutes one of the first attempts to examine the problem of distributive justice in the European Union in a systematic manner. João Labareda argues that the set of shared political institutions at EU level, including the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the EU, generate democratic duties of redistribution among EU citizens. Furthermore, the economic structure of the EU, comprising a common market, a common currency and a free-movement area, triggers duties of reciprocity among member states. The responsibilities to fulfil these duties, Labareda argues, should be shared by the local, national and supranational levels of government. Not only should the EU act as a safety net to the national welfare systems, applying the principle of subsidiarity, but common market and Eurozone regulations should balance their efficiency targets with fair cooperation terms. The concrete policy proposals presented in this book include a threshold of basic goods for all EU citizens, an EU labour code, a minimum EU corporate tax rate and an EU fund for competitiveness. Labarada argues that his proposals match the political culture of the member states, are economically feasible, can be translated into functioning institutions and policies and are consistent with the limited degree of social solidarity in Europe. This book is a major contribution to the understanding of what a just Europe would look like and what it might take to get us there. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10, Reduced inequalities
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Trusted Partner
Politics & governmentNovember 2006The European Union and the regulation of media markets
None
by Alison Harcourt
National broadcasting and press regulation is undergoing a process of convergence in Europe. This book, newly available in paperback, explains how this process has been shaped by the actions of the European Union (EU) institutions. Alison Harcourt observes that whilst communications is one of the EU's most successful policy areas, European decision-making is eroding the national capacity to regulate for the public interest. European-level efforts to protect public interest goals have been constrained by the European Treaties. The author argues that increased European coordination in public interest regulation could be more conducive to growth and competitiveness than the dismantling of existing national laws. This, however, would require changes to the political composition of the European Union. This book assesses the potential EU media regulation provides for market growth and the protection of media pluralism, the citizen and ultimately democracy itself. These opportunities are presented in the coming decade with the developing European Constitution, EU enlargement, and the implementation and revision of European regulation.
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Trusted Partner
Business, Economics & LawAugust 2010Markets, rules and institutions of exchange
None
by Stan Metcalfe, Mark Harvey, Mark Harvey
This book is about how to understand the huge variety of markets and market organisation in contemporary economies through a dialogue between a group of UK and French scholars. It presents a critique and development of institutional views of markets, and 'puts markets in their place' in a wider political and social context. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis in markets, the book makes a topical and significant contribution on the importance of the rules and regulations that constitute markets, and their broader political and legal frameworks. Moreover, the disruption of markets brings to the fore their interconnection with the broader economy, with production, distribution and consumption in a way often ignored at the height of market bubbles. Both theoretical and empirical, a wide range of markets are considered, capital markets for new technology and venture capital, for food, domestic services and scientific knowledge. The authors address how markets emerge and disappear, or indeed why they fail to appear, as well has how they become stable and institutionalised. ;
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Trusted Partner
Science & MathematicsApril 2024
Demand-led Plant Breeding
From Principles to Practice in Emerging Markets
by Vivienne M Anthony, Cathy Barker
This companion to "The Business of Plant Breeding: Market-led Approaches to Plant Variety Design in Africa contains experiences from postgraduate educators training the next generation of African plant breeders and professional breeders that are implementing best practices in Demand-Led Breeding (DLB) in their current crop improvement programmes. It is written by highly experienced plant breeders representing several universities, national plant breeding programmes, regional and international agricultural research institutes in Africa, together with expert breeders from Australia and developers from private seed companies. It includes specifically points of learning from real implementation situations from crop breeding programmes in NARS and IARCs in Africa, Australia and internationally. It shares experiences on improving tropical crops, strengthening understanding on how to overcome challenges in designing new crops to increase smallholder farmer adoption and advocating best practices. It also presents five case studies on tropical crops, and discusses the need for an enabling policy environment and the changes needed for Africa to achieve its ambition for food security and Africa's vision 2063.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social SciencesOctober 2020The European Union and its eastern neighbourhood
Europeanisation and its twenty-first-century contradictions
by Mike Mannin, Paul Flenley
This volume is timely in that it explores key issues which are currently at the forefront of the EU's relations with its eastern neighbours. It considers the impact of a more assertive Russia, the significance of Turkey, the limitations of the Eastern Partnership with Belarus and Moldova, the position of a Ukraine in crisis and pulled between Russia and the EU, security and democracy in the South Caucasus. It looks at the contested nature of European identity in areas such as the Balkans. In addition it looks at ways in which the EU's interests and values can be tested in sectors such as trade and migration. The interplay between values, identity and interests and their effect on the interpretation of europeanisation between the EU and its neighbours is a core theme of the volume.
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Trusted Partner
PsychologyApril 2018What is “Good” Dementia Care?
by Christoph Held
People with dementia experience their condition as a big change in which, for example, new events are not linked to existing experiences and wishes, thoughts, and actions can no longer be connected to each other. This kind of experience of the self, due to the intergative function of the brainbeing temporarily or permanently lost, is called dissociative self-experience. Based on this understanding of dementia, the author develops an approach to effectively understand and support people with dementia in everyday activities. Typical everyday situations and behaviours are presented and reflected on in a practical context.
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Trusted Partner
Agriculture & related industriesMarch 1995Agribusiness Reforms in China
The Case of Wool
by John W Longworth, Colin G Brown
China is emerging as an agribusiness giant. Domestic reforms and the readmission of China to GATT will integrate rapidly the massive Chinese agribusiness sector into international markets. China has already become a dominant player in world wool markets. Developments in relation to wool, therefore, are a harbinger of what is likely to happen in regard to many other agribusiness commodities. This book, published in collaboration with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), provides a detailed analysis of how the Chinese are reforming their wool marketing system. Wool is grown mainly by people of minority nationalities who are among the poorest in China and who live in the environmentally fragile pastoral region. As a result, wool markets have an impact on social, environmental and developmental issues as well as being of major relevance to China’s strategic and trade interests. This book, therefore, is concerned with many of the most difficult issues confronting Chinese society and its interaction with the world community. By examining these aspects of contemporary China through the case of wool, the authors provide first hand insights into the detailed impact of the economic reform process on particular social groups and institutions. Most of the earlier literature on economic reforms in China has concentrated on general economic reforms and sector-wide or industry-wide effects.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social SciencesJune 2020Karl Polanyi and twenty-first-century capitalism
by Radhika Desai, Kari Polanyi Levitt, Radhika Desai, Alan Freeman
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Trusted Partner
Technology, Engineering & AgricultureDecember 2017Fair Trade and Organic Agriculture
A Winning Combination?
by Priyanka Parvathi, Ulrike Grote, Hermann Waibel, Arnab Basu, Lee Buyers, Rene Capote, Ricardo Fort, Ulrike Grote, Casey Goldvale, Ulrich Hamm, Pradyot Ranjan Jena, Linda Kleemann, Katharina Krumbiegel, Julia Lernoud, Priyanka Parvathi, Yu Hui Qiao, Ruerd Ruben, Rosa Scheenbecker, Till Stellmacher, Romane Viennet, Hermann Waibel, Helga Willer, Meike Wollni, Katrin Zander
The markets for organic and fair trade certified commodities are growing rapidly, with environmentally sound and more equitable certification systems likely to offer benefits for both small-scale farmers and society at large. Despite much debate about their contribution to sustainability, there has been little scientific analysis, so it is vital to assess if it is technically and economically feasible to meet growing consumer demands regarding food safety, quality and ethics through smallholder and marginal producers. Overall, there is a need to explore the potential of these certification systems as emerging areas in research and development cooperation. This book includes: - Worldwide case studies (from the supply side in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; and from the demand side in Europe and North America) to put theory into practice. - Analyses of sustainable development and poverty reduction through organic and fair trade markets. - Insights into the conditions where it is beneficial for developing country smallholder producers to adopt fair trade and organic certification systems. - Investigation into whether consumers will pay more for a product that is both organic and fair trade certified. This book is an important read for researchers and students in agricultural and development economics, and it is also a useful resource for policy makers and practitioners involved in organic and fair trade agriculture.
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Trusted Partner
December 2023Sustainable Agricultural Marketing and Agribusiness Development
An African Perspective
by Brighton Nyagadza, Tanyaradzwa Rukasha
The future of Africa and the whole globe is dependent on sustainable agribusiness management. This book offers insights to a wide range of agricultural marketing and agribusiness management practices with a focus on sustainability. It is designed to provide academics and graduate students in business studies with a comprehensive treatment of the nature of agricultural marketing and agribusiness management, as well as sustainability transitions and related practices in certain regions of the world (particularly in Africa). The text also serves as an invaluable resource for agricultural marketing practitioners requiring more than anecdotal evidence on the structure and operation of agricultural marketing and agribusiness management, as well as sustainability in different organisations and geographical areas. It allows the reader to compare and contrast agricultural marketing and agribusiness management, as well as sustainability practices across different research methodologies and settings. The book provides a unique mix of theory, reviews, primary research findings and case studies.
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Trusted Partner
Development economicsJune 2011Vegetable Production and Marketing in Africa
Socio-economic Research
by Edited by Dagmar Mithöfer, Hermann Waibel.
Vegetables are a significant component of agricultural farming systems in Africa and have recently moved into the focus of research organizations, development partners and policy makers. Beyond income generating opportunities for producers, vegetable production for domestic and export markets is an important driver for growth due to employment opportunities in production, processing and trade. Providing the latest socioeconomic research methodologies alongside empirical examples, this volume explores the potential for vegetable production to alleviate poverty, the impact of food production standards on various stakeholders, an assessment of markets and marketing potential for different crops and advanced economic approaches to production.
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Trusted Partner
Humanities & Social SciencesJanuary 2021Karl Polanyi and twenty-first-century capitalism
by Radhika Desai, Kari Polanyi Levitt
As far right movements, social disintegration and international conflict emerge from the decay of the neoliberal order, Karl Polanyi's warnings against the unbridled domination of markets, is ever more relevant. The essays in Karl Polanyi for the 21st Century extend the boundaries of our understanding of Polanyi's life and work. They will interest Polanyi scholars and all interested in socialism and our future after neoliberalism. One asks whether, following Keynes and Hayek, Polanyi's ideas will shape the twenty-first century. Some clarify, for the meaning of money as a fictitious commodity. Others resolve difficulties in understanding the building blocks of Polanyi's thought: fictitious commodities, the double movement, the United States' exceptional development, the reality of society, and socialism as freedom in a complex society. And yes others explore how Polanyi sheds light on income inequality, world systems theory, comparative political economy.
