This thesis studies the shipwrecks in the South China Sea and their recovered artefacts to discuss the ceramic trade between South China and Southeast Asia during the Song dynasty (960-1279). This ...period is of particular interest because it was when Chinese ceramics started to be exported in bulk and make its name around the world. And shipwrecks in the South China Sea are the best materials to uncover the first leg of the long-distance trans-Asian trade route that led from China to the Mediterranean. Although there have been cases studies regarding one or several shipwrecks, thorough research that examines the overall findings of this period and addresses not only the products but also the trade network and the market of the products is somewhat lacking. To this aim, this thesis attempts to address the central questions as to how the trade was conducted and by whom, what are the changes of the exported ceramic types during this period and why, and whether there were vessel forms and decoration made to cater to the need of the Southeast Asian market. In doing so, the thesis provides a broader picture of the ceramic trade during the Song period and manages to extract some information on the human level. First, I argue that in the tenth century, as represented by the Intan and Cirebon shipwreck, the trade of major cargo was organized by a few people or a single authority possibly the state government and headed towards limited destinations. During the later period, as the case studies of the Nanhai No.1 and Quanzhou Bay wreck show, the sea-borne journey was mainly a profit-oriented peddler trade undertaken by individual merchants whose identities were not confined to traders with an official background or abundant assets, but also included those of lower social status such as sailor and small merchants. Secondly, through the systematic comparison between the findings on the wrecks and those from domestic sites, especially kiln sites, the provenance of most ceramic cargo is assigned and the shift of production from Zhejiang to Guangdong and then Fujian province is revealed. The reason behind the first shift, I argue was due to the change of the nature of maritime commerce, from being part of a tributary system to profit-orientated, from state-monopoly to being mainly conducted by private shipping. As for the shift of trade to Fujian province, it was driven by merchants based on the products and regional manufacturing industrial competitiveness. By examining a large number of published materials, it is demonstrated that effort was made to cater to the need of the Southeast Asian market. Nevertheless, the detailed analysis of the recovered ceramics indicates high uniformity among ceramic cargos of contemporaneous shipwrecks despite the differences in the targeted markets. I suggest that the ceramic trade between South China and Southeast Asia during the Song period was mainly dominated by the seller instead of the buyer.
This paper presents analysis of a survey of fresh produce export firms in 10 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the determinants of GlobalGAP certification and the returns in terms of ...expansion of export sales revenue. The results suggest that technical and/or financial assistance and being in an established export country are key discriminating factors for being GlobalGAP certified. Using propensity matching, it is shown that firms that have achieved certification have appreciable higher export revenues, suggesting an appreciable return on the required investments.
► Our estimation of vertical specialisation takes into account the speciality of processing trade, using linked firm-transaction data. ► Processing exporters have value-added shares 50% lower than ...non-processing exporters. ► The increased sophistication of Chinese exports has been largely driven by within-industry skill and technology improvement.
In this paper we use new, detailed, and comprehensive linked firm-transaction data to measure the domestic content and technology intensity of Chinese exports over the period 2000–2007. We evaluate the extent of value-added in China’s exports, using a modification of a method proposed by Hummels et al. (2001) which takes into account the prevalence of processing firms. In addition, we provide new estimates of the skill-and technology-intensity of China’s exports. Our estimates of value-added suggest that the domestic content of China’s exports increased from only 53% to about 60% over the period 2003–2006. Our cross-firm analysis reveals that processing exporters have value-added shares approximately 50% lower than non-processing exporters, even after accounting for ownership, location, and industry. We also show that Chinese exports have become increasingly sophisticated, largely driven by skill and technology improvement within industries.
PurposeThis study explores the influence of informal “psychological contracts” (PCs), (as opposed to formal contractual relationships) on exporter–distributor ...relationships.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from a sample of 127 exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in New Zealand. The authors employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for analyzing the measurement and structural models.FindingsPsychological contract fulfillment (PCF) enhances affective commitment and calculative commitment. Moreover, affective and calculative commitments mediate the relationship between PCF and export venture performance (EVP). The authors also find that institutional distance (ID) weakens the relationship between PCF and both affective and calculative commitment. Additionally, ID moderates the strength of the mediating mechanism for affective commitment; thus, the authors present a moderated-mediation model.Originality/valueTo date, international relationship marketing (IRM) literature has focused on PC breach, and business-to-business (B2B) marketing literature has focused on the effects of PCs on affective/relational commitment. This study offers novel insights by demonstrating the positive indirect effect of PCF on EVP via the mediating variables – affective and calculative commitment. The authors' findings also present a conditioning role of ID on the micro-level relationships of PCs.
The literature on the imperativeness of government support for firm survival since the onset of COVID-19 is vast, but scholars have scarcely considered the impact of such assistance on managers’ ...time, nor the extent to which support measures induce resilience and export activity. Accordingly, this study assesses the impact of government support on (1) bureaucracy and (2) resilience using data from 535 Moroccan SMEs. It further evaluates the influence of resilience on direct versus indirect exports, and espouses the institutional voids, resource-based and strategy-creation view to explain the associations through a contingency lens. The results demonstrate that (1) government support increases bureaucracy which, (2) surprisingly triggers and enhances resilience. Furthermore, (3) resilience has a positive impact on direct exports but (4) adversely affects indirect exports. Theoretically, the findings acquiesce extant calls for measurement specificity in export performance. Practically, stakeholders’ attention is drawn to the value of managers’ time well spent.
Firm productivity and export decisions are closely related to innovation activity. Innovation may play a more important role in the decision to start exporting, and successful exporting may drive ...process innovation. This suggests that the causality between innovation and exporting may run in both directions. Using detailed microdata from innovation surveys, industrial production surveys, and trade information for Slovenian firms in 1996–2002, we investigate the bidirectional causal relationship between firm innovation and export activity. We find no evidence for the hypothesis that either product or process innovations increase the probability of becoming a first‐time exporter, but we do find evidence in both the innovation survey and the industrial production survey that exporting leads to productivity improvements. These, however, are likely to be related to process rather than product innovations, and are observed only in a sample of medium and large first‐time exporters. This finding makes a case in favour of the learning‐by‐exporting hypothesis by demonstrating that these learning effects from exporting occur through the mechanism of process innovation enhancing firm technical efficiency.
The upheaval in global crude oil markets and the boom in shale oil production in North America brought scrutiny on the US export ban for crude oil from 1975. The ban was eventually lifted in early ...2016. This paper examines the shifts of global trade flows and strategic refinery investments in a spatial, game-theoretic partial equilibrium model. We consider detailed oil supply chain infrastructure with multiple crude oil types, distinct oil products, as well as specific refinery configurations and modes of transport. Prices, quantities produced and consumed, as well as infrastructure and refining capacity investments are endogenous to the model. We compare two scenarios: an insulated US crude oil market, and a counter-factual with lifted export restrictions.
We find a significant expansion of US sweet crude exports with the lift of the export ban. In the US refinery sector, more (imported) heavy sour crude is transformed. Countries importing US sweet crude gain from higher product output, while avoiding costly refinery investments. Producers of heavy sour crude (e.g. the Middle East) are incentivised to climb up the value chain to defend their market share and maintain their dominant position.
•We study the impacts of lifting the US crude ban on global oil flows and investments.•We find massive expansion of US sweet crude oil exports.•We analyze the resulting welfare effects for US producers, refiners and consumers.•We indicate the changes on global trade patterns.•We conclude that lifting the ban is the right policy for the US and the global economy.
How do the three dimensions of geographic export diversification—namely, (1) export intensity, (2) export scope, and (3) export destinations—interact in determining firm performance? How does the ...export intensity–performance relationship change considering export scope and destinations? Drawing on institution-based and resource-based lenses, we argue that differences between home and destination country institutional environments are amplified by the scope or variety of export destinations. As firm resources nurtured in the home country may not fit an increasing number of different foreign institutional environments, the export intensity–firm performance relationship turns negative. Conversely, our panel data analysis suggests a positive relationship between export intensity and performance when exporters from an emerging economy increase their exports to a limited number of other emerging economies. Thus, our findings extend conventional wisdom on the export intensity–firm performance relationship and suggest that the international marketing strategy literature needs to simultaneously incorporate three dimensions (including export destinations) into the geographic export diversification construct.
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