The Cost of Being Landlocked Arvis, Jean-Francois; Marteau, Jean-Francois; Raballand, Gael
2010, 07-07-2010, 20100101
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In the last two decades new emphasis has been given to the economic impact of geography, especially on the cost of being landlocked. From a development perspective, understanding the cost of being ...landlocked and its economic impact is critical, since one country of four in the world is landlocked (almost one out of three in Sub-Saharan Africa). Attempts to address the cost of being landlocked have mainly focused on regional and multilateral conventions aiming at ensuring freedom of transit, and on the development of regional transport infrastructure. The success of these measures has been limited, and many massive investments in infrastructure seem to have had a disappointing impact on landlocked economies. Although there may still be an infrastructure gap, this book, based on extensive data collection in several regions of the world, argues that logistics and trade services efficiency can be more important for landlocked countries than investing massively in infrastructure. Logistics have become increasingly complex and critical for firms' competitiveness, and a weakness in this field can badly hurt firms based in landlocked countries. This book proposes a revised approach to tackling the cost of being landlocked and a new analytical framework which uses a microeconomic approach to assess the trade and macroeconomic impacts of logistics. It takes into account recent findings on the importance of logistics chain uncertainty and inventory control in firms' performance. It argues that: (i) exporters and importers in landlocked developing countries face high logistics costs, which are highly detrimental to their competitiveness in world markets, (ii) high logistics costs depend on low logistics reliability and predictability, and (iii) low logistics reliability and predictability result mostly from rent-seeking and governance issues (prone to proliferate in low volume environments).
"This book offers a comprehensive global examination of the relationship between public transport and tourism as well as exploring other sustainable transport modes. It offers a unique view by ...analysing tourism through the public transport lens and vice versa. The volume provides an account of how the public transport experience can be improved for tourists so that its value can be maximised and a greater number of people can be encouraged to shift modes. It features a wide range of case studies and examples showing how the tourism industry, as well as regional economies, communities and the environment, benefit when public transport is widely used by tourists. The book will be of interest to researchers and students in the fields of tourism and transport as well as destination marketing organisations and tourism, transport and urban planners."
Trade in Zimbabwe Newfarmer, Richard; Pierola, Martha Denisse
2015., 2015, 5-26-2015, 2015-05-22
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In Zimbabwe trade has been a driver of economic growth, rising incomes, and progressive empowerment of Zimbabweans through rising standards of living and the promise of better jobs. Since 1980, ...through good years and bad years, increases in exports have been positively associated with increases in national income. Zimbabwe's location and resource base, together with a low- cost but relatively well educated labor force, have endowed it with a naturally high trade ratio built on a diversified base that facilitates using trade as an engine of growth. While trade volumes have rebounded smartly from the deep recession of 2007-2008, these do not offset other worrisome longer- term trends: 1) export growth during the last decade has been lackluster and failed to drive high growth; 2) agricultural exports, other than tobacco, have lost their once dominant role in the region, and are no longer a source of diversification; 3) manufacturing has withered in a continuing secular decline; and 4) Zimbabwe's export basket has become less diversified and more dependent on a narrow range of mineral and, to a lesser extent, agricultural products. In short, exports have become less diversified, less-technologically sophisticated, and less labor-intensive, and ever more dependent on a few large mining activities to provide foreign exchange and employment. This report traces the roots of this poor performance to several policy issues: poor predictability of macroeconomic policy and economic governance has created an unfavorable climate for private investment and trade; a tariff structure that dampens export profitability; industrial policies (indigenization policy in particular) that undermine investor confidence and inhibits private investment; and finally, competition-limiting policies toward services that limit connectivity of Zimbabweans and raise trade costs. The good news arising from the study is that the remedies for these policy shortcomings lie in Zimbabwean hands. If the government were to adopt reforms that reconfigure economy-wide incentives and trade and industrial policies, it could promote sustained growth, economic diversification and empowerment of poor people.
Road freight transport is indispensable
to international economic cooperation and foreign trade.
Across all continents, it is commonly used for short and
medium distances and in long distance haulage ...when
minimizing time is important. In all instances governments
play a critical role in ensuring the competitive advantage
of private sector operators. Countries often have many
opportunities to minimize the physical or administrative
barriers that increase costs, take measures to enhance the
attractiveness and competitiveness of road transport, or
generally nurture the integral role of international road
freight transport in the global trade logistics industry.
Road freight transport is critical to domestic and
international trade. It is the dominant mode of transport
for overland movement of trade traffic, carrying more than
80 percent of traffic in most regions. Generally, nearly all
trade traffic is carried by road at some point. Therefore,
the cost and quality of road transport services is of
critical importance to trade competitiveness of countries
and regions within countries. In fact, road transport is
fundamental to modern international division of labor and
supply-chain management.
The objective of the study is to
examine, identify, and quantify the factors behind
Africa's high prices for road transport. Such prices
are a major obstacle to economic growth in the region, as
...shown in several studies. For example, Amjadi and Yeats
(1995) concluded that transport costs in Africa were a
higher trade barrier than were import tariffs and trade
restrictions. Other analyses by the World Bank (2007a)
demonstrated that Africa's transport prices were high
compared to the value of the goods transported and that
transport predictability and reliability were low by
international standards. This study's findings should
help policy makers take actions that will reduce transport
costs to domestic and international trade.
Long-lived proteins (LLPs) have recently emerged as vital components of intracellular structures whose function is coupled to long-term stability. Mitochondria are multifaceted organelles, and their ...function hinges on efficient proteome renewal and replacement. Here, using metabolic stable isotope labeling of mice combined with mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic analysis, we demonstrate remarkable longevity for a subset of the mitochondrial proteome. We discovered that mitochondrial LLPs (mt-LLPs) can persist for months in tissues harboring long-lived cells, such as brain and heart. Our analysis revealed enrichment of mt-LLPs within the inner mitochondrial membrane, specifically in the cristae subcompartment, and demonstrates that the mitochondrial proteome is not turned over in bulk. Pioneering cross-linking experiments revealed that mt-LLPs are spatially restricted and copreserved within protein OXPHOS complexes, with limited subunit exchange throughout their lifetimes. This study provides an explanation for the exceptional mitochondrial protein lifetimes and supports the concept that LLPs provide key structural stability to multiple large and dynamic intracellular structures.
Lattice Boltzmann models have a remarkable ability to simulate single- and multi-phase fluids and transport processes within them. A rich variety of behaviors, including higher Reynolds numbers ...flows, phase separation, evaporation, condensation, cavitation, buoyancy, and interactions with surfaces can readily be simulated. This book provides a basic introduction that emphasizes intuition and simplistic conceptualization of processes. It avoids the more difficult mathematics that underlies LB models. The model is viewed from a particle perspective where collisions, streaming, and particle-particle/particle-surface interactions constitute the entire conceptual framework. Beginners and those with more interest in model application than detailed mathematical foundations will find this a powerful 'quick start' guide. Example simulations, exercises, and computer codes are included. Working code is provided on the Internet.
Mitochondrial energy conversion requires an intricate architecture of the inner mitochondrial membrane
. Here we show that a supercomplex containing all four respiratory chain components contributes ...to membrane curvature induction in ciliates. We report cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-tomography structures of the supercomplex that comprises 150 different proteins and 311 bound lipids, forming a stable 5.8-MDa assembly. Owing to subunit acquisition and extension, complex I associates with a complex IV dimer, generating a wedge-shaped gap that serves as a binding site for complex II. Together with a tilted complex III dimer association, it results in a curved membrane region. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that the divergent supercomplex actively contributes to the membrane curvature induction and tubulation of cristae. Our findings highlight how the evolution of protein subunits of respiratory complexes has led to the I-II-III
-IV
supercomplex that contributes to the shaping of the bioenergetic membrane, thereby enabling its functional specialization.
Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) is a mitochondrial flavoprotein that, beyond its apoptotic function, is required for the normal expression of major respiratory chain complexes. Here we identified an ...AIF-interacting protein, CHCHD4, which is the central component of a redox-sensitive mitochondrial intermembrane space import machinery. Depletion or hypomorphic mutation of AIF caused a downregulation of CHCHD4 protein by diminishing its mitochondrial import. CHCHD4 depletion sufficed to induce a respiratory defect that mimicked that observed in AIF-deficient cells. CHCHD4 levels could be restored in AIF-deficient cells by enforcing its AIF-independent mitochondrial localization. This modified CHCHD4 protein reestablished respiratory function in AIF-deficient cells and enabled AIF-deficient embryoid bodies to undergo cavitation, a process of programmed cell death required for embryonic morphogenesis. These findings explain how AIF contributes to the biogenesis of respiratory chain complexes, and they establish an unexpected link between the vital function of AIF and the propensity of cells to undergo apoptosis.
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•AIF interacts with CHCHD4, a regulator of the intermembrane space import machinery•AIF regulates specific respiratory chain complexes by acting upstream of CHCHD4•AIF is indispensable for translation-coupled mitochondrial import of CHCHD4•Restoring CHCHD4 reverses the metabolic and cell death phenotypes of Aif−/y ESCs
Hangen et al. show that the mitochondrial protein AIF regulates the biogenesis of respiratory chain complexes by interacting with, and by controlling the mitochondrial import of the mammalian homolog of yeast MIA40, CHCHD4, which is the central component of a redox-sensitive mitochondrial intermembrane space import machinery.
Copper is required for the activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX), the terminal electron-accepting complex of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. The likely source of copper used for COX biogenesis ...is a labile pool found in the mitochondrial matrix. In mammals, the proteins that transport copper across the inner mitochondrial membrane remain unknown. We previously reported that the mitochondrial carrier family protein Pic2 in budding yeast is a copper importer. The closest Pic2 ortholog in mammalian cells is the mitochondrial phosphate carrier SLC25A3. Here, to investigate whether SLC25A3 also transports copper, we manipulated its expression in several murine and human cell lines. SLC25A3 knockdown or deletion consistently resulted in an isolated COX deficiency in these cells, and copper addition to the culture medium suppressed these biochemical defects. Consistent with a conserved role for SLC25A3 in copper transport, its heterologous expression in yeast complemented copper-specific defects observed upon deletion of PIC2. Additionally, assays in Lactococcus lactis and in reconstituted liposomes directly demonstrated that SLC25A3 functions as a copper transporter. Taken together, these data indicate that SLC25A3 can transport copper both in vitro and in vivo.
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