scholarly journals The Future of Price: Communicative Infrastructures and the Financialization of Indian Tea

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Besky

For more than 150 years, most tea grown on plantations in northeast India has been sold in open-outcry auctions in Kolkata. In this essay, I describe how, in 2009, the Tea Board of India, the government regulator of the tea trade, began to convert auctioning from a face-to-face outcry process to a face-to-computer digital one. The Tea Board hoped that with the implementation of digital technologies, trade would soon revolve around the buying and selling of futures contracts, not individual lots of tea. Despite these efforts, the tea industry has thus far resisted all attempts at financialization. That so prominent a commodity as tea has yet to be financialized provides a unique opportunity to examine the how of financialization—the governmental and technical steps that precede futures and other kinds of derivatives markets. Futures markets rely on a standardized notion of price and of the material things being priced. The story of Indian tea’s resistance to financialization shows how such standardization requires not just a disentangling of commodities at the level of productive infrastructure (that is, the separation of individual trader and thing being traded) but also a reworking of the communicative infrastructure of trading. In this essay, I analyze this reworking by examining the effort to reform how tea is priced at auction. Specifically, I describe a transition in tea valuation from socially embedded price stories to standardized price scenarios.

2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Kurov ◽  
Dennis J. Lasser

AbstractThis paper examines the price dynamics in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 index futures contracts. By utilizing transactions data with attached trader type identification codes, we are able to analyze price dynamics for trades initiated by exchange locals and off-exchange customers. The empirical results show that price discovery appears to be initiated in the E-mini index futures contracts and that trades initiated by exchange locals seem to be more informative than those initiated by off-exchange traders. Furthermore, results show that exchange locals appear to make informed trades on the E-mini contracts around large trades that occur on the open outcry floor. We maintain that the exchange locals' ability to observe pit dynamics may contribute toward explaining the price leadership of the Emini contracts. Overall, the results are consistent with the notion that exchange locals are informed traders who derive their informational advantage from the proximity to order flow.


Subject Implications of change in the energy futures markets. Significance The world's two largest futures exchanges, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), have emerged through a series of mergers and acquisitions as an effective duopoly in the energy futures market. Both operate as 'vertical silos'; each owns a clearinghouse that processes all financial and commodity futures contracts traded on the exchange. NASDAQ is now readying to challenge this CME-ICE duopoly and its vertical model. Impacts Other derivatives markets have seen a downward shift in prices, but transaction fees remain high for energy contracts. Energy markets competition may follow the fierce competition seen in equity markets. Government bond transactions may see similar market disruption.


1911 ◽  
Vol 72 (1859supp) ◽  
pp. 123-123
Author(s):  
Edward F. Harran
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73
Author(s):  
Zarina Kassim ◽  
Nor Aishah Buang ◽  
Lilia Halim

Only 23% of Malaysian workforce has tertiary education compared to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries such as Singapore and Finland that have tertiary education with an average of 28% and around 35%, respectively. This study investigates perceived needs lifelong learning programmes for professionalisation among the workers. A survey was conducted on workers from the industries. Most of the workers felt that lifelong learning programmes provide personal satisfaction. In terms of perceived needs, workers from higher positions in industries need lifelong learning programmes to get better positions and better salaries as compared to those with lower positions in industries to get better job and education. Both groups have different preferences for means of learning whether face-to-face or online learning. The implications are that the government has to change their policy in terms of requirement for these companies to register with the Human Resource Department Fund so that their workers be subsidised for attending lifelong learning programmes and to encourage the participation of public higher learning institutions for providing online and weekend lifelong learning programmes to the workers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4902
Author(s):  
Zia Ullah ◽  
Rana Tahir Naveed ◽  
Atta Ur Rehman ◽  
Naveed Ahmad ◽  
Miklas Scholz ◽  
...  

The literature on sustainable tourism is scant, particularly in the least developed countries. Very few studies touch upon the concept and no holistic theoretical or conceptual frameworks around the idea of sustainable tourism have been formulated. This study aims at exploring the role of tour operators in developing sustainable tourism in Pakistan and how the tour operators (TOs) conceive their role in this regard. TOs were reached through phone calls, emails, and virtual sources as face-to-face interviews were not possible due to COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel by the government. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data. Results suggest that the TOs although realize the importance of social, environmental, and economic dimensions of tourism on the communities but have no management systems in place to cater accordingly. There are no incentives in place by the government facilitate TOs to design and implement such systems. The TOs do not select a destination based on Global Sustainable Tourism Council criterion, but rather the selection of destination is mostly demand-based and profit-oriented. The study suggests that corporate profit motive is the sole criterion for decision making and is one of the major causes impeding sustainable tourism in Pakistan. The role of TOs in developing sustainable tourism is vague as the TOs do not have any systems in place to implement sustainable models. The study recommends that efforts need to be put in place to incentivize sustainable tourism in Pakistan and proper laws should be set forth by the authorities to comply by the TOs. The role of TOs is important and understood, however, there is a need to put proper systems in place.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar A. Almohammed ◽  
Lama H. Alotaibi ◽  
Shatha A. Ibn Malik

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has required governments around the world to suspend face-to-face learning for school and university students. Colleges of pharmacy are faced with the challenge of training students in hospitals that are under considerable pressure at this time. The government of Saudi Arabia has moved all classes and training online to limit the spread of the virus. This study describes the experience of the Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE and APPE) students and preceptors engaged in the virtual IPPE training. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to describe and appraise the implemented virtual IPPE training from the experiences of IPPE and APPE students, and their preceptor. The IPPE students described their experiences in close-ended questionnaires, while APPE students in open-ended questionnaires, and the preceptor described the experiences in narrative. The study focused on highlighting the advantages, opportunities, challenges, and shortcomings of the virtual training. Results Two preceptors and seven APPE students participated in the preparation and administration of the virtual training. The IPPE students’ experiences, based on 87 respondents, were mostly positive. Although IPPE students enjoyed the time flexibility that allowed the learning of new skills and reflection on previous experiences, 15% experienced difficulty finding quiet places with a reliable internet connection or had difficulty working on team-based activities. Moreover, some were anxious about the lack of adequate patient-care experience. On the other hand, the APPE students found the experience enriching as they gained experience and understanding of academic workflow, gained skills, and overcame the challenges they faced during this virtual training experience. Conclusions Future training programs should be organized to overcome the challenges and to maximize the benefits of training experiences. Schools of pharmacy may benefit from the training materials constructed, prepared, and administered by APPE students to improve IPPE students’ learning experiences and outcomes.


2001 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 228-236
Author(s):  
Vidya P. Mulky

The Indian tea industry is the largest producer of tea in the world and, till recently, also the largest exporter. The political and social conditions in the world have, however, changed while the Indian tea industry has made no change in its product or its marketing strategy. This article on the Nilgiris small gardens cooperative “Indcoserve” deals with the need for a coordinated approach, involving organizational development, product, quality and marketing strategy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-181
Author(s):  
Arne Pilniok

The digital transformation is permanently changing the government, administration, and society . This process is being intensified by the much-discussed technologies of artificial intelligence, and poses a variety of challenges for parliaments and indirectly for parliamen­tary studies . Their different dimensions have not been discussed comprehensively so far, although the technological developments affect all parliamentary functions and their prem­ises . This article systematizes and structures the various effects of the age of artificial intel­ligence on parliamentary democracy . Namely, the conditions of democratic representation change, the innovation-friendly regulation of digital technologies becomes a parliamentary task, parliamentary control has to be adjusted to the use of algorithms and artificial intelli­gence in government and administration, and possibly, the epistemological and organiza­tional structures of parliamentary work might have to be adapted . This provides starting points for future detailed analyses to adequately capture these processes of change and to accompany them from different disciplinary perspectives .


2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056751
Author(s):  
Xinyu Wan ◽  
Jianjun Jin ◽  
Shenghong Ran

ObjectiveThis study, conducted in China, explores tobacco farmers’ willingness to accept (WTA) compensation for tobacco crop substitution.MethodsThe contingent valuation method was used to elicit farmers’ WTA compensation. A face-to-face survey was conducted with 280 tobacco farmers in Lichuan City, China. The standard logit regressions were used to identify the factors that influence farmers’ WTA.ResultsWithout compensation, most of the respondents were unwilling to implement tobacco crop substitution. However, if the government provided compensation, the proportion of respondents’ willingness for substitution increased to 86.7%. Male tobacco farmers are more likely to accept a given compensation value than female farmers. Older tobacco farmers have a higher probability of accepting compensation. The number of farmers engaged in tobacco growing in a family is negatively associated with the probability of accepting a given compensation amount. Tobacco farmers with greater confidence in the expected benefits of tobacco crop substitution tend to be more willing to accept compensation. The mean WTA estimate was achieved as US$2020.35/ha/year.ConclusionsIf appropriate compensation is provided for tobacco farmers, there is a potential to implement the tobacco crop substitution policy in the study area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilson Pereira dos Santos Júnior ◽  
Simone Lucena

We live in a society in which mobile and digital technologies are increasingly present in our daily lives and we cannot limit ourselves to knowing how to use them. It is important to know how to adapt them, personalize them and program them, if necessary, to solve our problems. Computational thinking is understood as the human ability to teach, humans or machines, to solve problems with the fundamentals of computing. Its development has gained space in education, formal and non-formal, through face-to-face practices. With the pandemic, the challenge arises to develop this skill with young people from high school in a public educational institution through online practices. In this article, we discuss the didactic design, based on the principles of online education, created for the development of computational thinking with online practices. The preliminary results indicate the feasibility of developing computational thinking from the perspective of online education.


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