Better Global Assessment of Worker Inequality: Comment on “The Employment Footprints of Nations”

This commentary responds to the previously published Journal of Industrial Ecology article “The Employment Footprints of Nations: Uncovering Master‐Servant Relationships” by Alsamawi and colleagues. Their article uses extended input‐output analysis to calculate employment and income footprints and, consequently, quantifies and provides an analysis of the average wages embodied in consumption of countries in comparison with the wages received by domestic workers. In effect, Alsamawi and colleagues show the extent of inequality in labor income, especially between developed and developing economies, traced throughout the global supply chains, but ignore the price differentials existing between countries in their discussion of the welfare implications of global trade on workers. This commentary contends the appropriateness of adjusting nominal compensation of workers to purchasing power parity (PPP) when undertaking global comparisons that pertain to well‐being and recalculates the employment footprints and income footprints of nations with PPP adjustment. The price adjustment in this work is intended to show a more accurate depiction of the disparity among workers of different nations when their labor incomes are deflated by the index price of consumption goods in their country. Using observations covering 189 countries and 14,839 sectors for the period 1990–2011, the results of the adjustment reveal that the ratio of domestic wages to foreign wages paid in support of a country's consumption (footprint wages) tends to be underestimated for labor‐exporting countries (developing economies with relatively cheaper consumption goods) and overestimated for labor‐importing countries (developed economies with more expensive consumption goods), thus demonstrating, generally, relatively less income inequality than previously exposed.     

The Corruption Footprints of Nations

In this study, we innovatively apply multiregional input‐output analysis to calculate corruption footprints of nations and show the details of commodities that use the most employment affected by corruption (EAC), as they flow between countries. Every country's corruption footprint includes its domestic corruption and the corruption imported by global supply chains to meet final demand. Our results show that, generally, the net corruption exporters are developing countries, with the exception of Italy where corruption is likely to be more affected by political and cultural factors than economic factors. China is the largest gross corruption exporter, and India follows close behind, with clothing as one of the industries in which the most people are affected by corruption. This is because: (1) China and India are major clothing exporters, thus many workers are employed in the clothing industry within the country as well as in countries providing intermediate commodities by supply chains, and (2) corruption is high in China and India. Our results can be useful to identify where regulations to combat corruption can have the greatest impact. More important, the method we use can be applied to link corruption to other economic and social aspects of trade, such as working conditions, thus making it possible to find avenues for tackling the problem that are not usually considered in anticorruption strategies.     

Labor Embodied in Trade

Global production chains carry environmental and socioeconomic impacts embodied in each traded good and service. Even though labor and energy productivities tend to be higher for domestic production in high‐income countries than those in emerging economies, this difference is significantly reduced for consumption, when including imported products to satisfy national demand. The analysis of socioeconomic and environmental aspects embodied in consumption can shed a light on the real level of productivity of an economy, as well as the effects of rising imports and offshoring. This research introduces a consumption‐based metric for productivity, in which we evaluate the loss of productivity of developed nations resulting from imports from less‐developed economies and offshoring of labor‐intensive production. We measure the labor, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions footprints in the European Union's trade with the rest of the world through a multiregional input‐output model. We confirm that the labor footprint of European imports is significantly higher than the one of exports, mainly from low‐skilled, labor‐intensive primary sectors. A high share of labor embodied in exports is commonly associated with low energy productivities in domestic industries. Hence, this reconfirms that the offshoring of production to cheaper and low‐skilled, labor‐abundant countries offsets, or even reverts, energy efficiency gains and climate‐change mitigation actions in developed countries.     

Global Supply Chains of Coltan

The spot price for tantalum, a metal used in high‐performance consumer electronics, spiked in 2000, triggering a boom in artisanal mining of surface deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The profit from columbite‐tantalite ore, or coltan, is alleged to have funded militants during that country's civil war. One warlord famously claimed that in 2000, coltan delivered a million dollars per month. While coltan mining was neither a necessary nor sufficient cause for the civil war, there is nevertheless a clear association between mining and conflict. In order to trace global flows of coltan out of the DRC, we used a high‐resolution multiregion input‐output (MRIO) table and a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to trace exports through international supply chains in order to estimate a “coltan footprint” for various products. In this case study, our aim is to highlight the power and utility of hybrid LCA analysis using high‐resolution global MRIO accounts. We estimate which supply chains, nations, and consumer goods carry the largest loads of embodied coltan. This hybrid LCA case study provides estimates on illicit flows of coltan, estimates a coltan footprint of consumption, and highlights the advantages and challenges of using hybrid monetary‐physical input‐output/LCA approaches to study and quantify a negative social impact as an input to production. If successful, the hybrid LCA approach could be a useful and expedient measurement tool for understanding flows of conflict minerals embodied in supply chains.     

Triple bottom line study of a lignocellulosic biofuel industry

Growing concerns about energy security and climate change have prompted interest in Australia and worldwide to look for alternatives of fossil fuels. Among the renewable fuel sources, biofuels are one such alternative that have received unprecedented attention in the past decade. Cellulosic biofuels, derived from agricultural and wood biomass, could potentially increase Australia's oil self‐sufficiency. In this study, we carry out a hybrid life‐cycle assessment (LCA) of a future cellulose‐refining industry located in the Green Triangle region of South Australia. We assess both the upstream and downstream refining stages, and consider as well the life‐cycle effects occurring in conventional industries displaced by the proposed biofuel supply chains. We improve on conventional LCA method by utilising multi‐region input–output (IO) analysis that allows a comprehensive appraisal of the industry's supply chains. Using IO‐based hybrid LCA, we evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts of lignocellulosic biofuel production. In particular, we evaluate the employment, economic stimulus, energy consumption and greenhouse gas impacts of the biofuel supply chain and also quantify the loss in economic activity and employment in the paper, pulp and paperboard industry resulting from the diversion of forestry biomass to biofuel production. Our results reveal that the loss in economic activity and employment will only account for 10% of the new jobs and additional stimulus generated in the economy. Lignocellulosic biofuel production will create significant new jobs and enhance productivity and economic growth by initiating the growth of new industries in the economy. The energy return on investment for cellulosic biofuel production lies between 2.7 and 5.2, depending on the type of forestry feedstock and the travel distance between the feedstock industry and the cellulose refinery. Furthermore, the biofuel industry will be a net carbon sequester.     

Has increased provision of treatment reduced the prevalence of common mental disorders? Review of the evidence from four countries

Many people identified as having common mental disorders in community surveys do not receive treatment. Modelling has suggested that closing this “treatment gap” should reduce the population prevalence of those disorders. To evaluate the effects of reducing the treatment gap in industrialized countries, data from 1990 to 2015 were reviewed from four English‐speaking countries: Australia, Canada, England and the US. These data show that the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders and symptoms has not decreased, despite substantial increases in the provision of treatment, particularly antidepressants. Several hypotheses for this lack of improvement were considered. There was no support for the hypothesis that reductions in prevalence due to treatment have been masked by increases in risk factors. However, there was little evidence relevant to the hypothesis that improvements have been masked by increased reporting of symptoms because of greater public awareness of common mental disorders or willingness to disclose. A more strongly supported hypothesis for the lack of improvement is that much of the treatment provided does not meet the minimal standards of clinical practice guidelines and is not targeted optimally to those in greatest need. Lack of attention to prevention of common mental disorders may also be a factor. Reducing the prevalence of common mental disorders remains an unsolved challenge for health systems globally, which may require greater attention to the “quality gap” and “prevention gap”. There is also a need for nations to monitor outcomes by using standardized measures of service provision and mental disorders over time.     

The television and the shrine: Towards a theoretical model for the study of mass communications in Nigeria 1

The context in which the new mass media are produced, distributed, and consumed in Nigeria differs as radically from the everyday world of the “developed” nations as it does from traditional Nigerian societies of a century ago. Many sociologists of mass communication have failed to address the issue of cultural difference in their accounts of media and their role in the third world. It is suggested that Weber's concepts of “enchantment” and “rationalization” should both be re‐examined if one wishes to better understand a world in which television and the ancestral shrine exist in both spatial and ideological proximity to one another.     

Reducing the Ecological Impact of Field Research

Researchers and students at biological field stations, especially in remote areas, are subject to leaving “footprints,” as we conduct research, work, and live in sensitive ecosystems. These footprints include travel, personal trash and waste, and field equipment (e.g. flagging, tree markers, plot markers, trail markers, monitoring devices, etc.). In this commentary, we argue that the field of primatology's commitment to minimum impact research should be more explicitly and visibly integrated into our ethical protocols with regard to field research and instruction in sensitive environments. We review current ethical codes and potential solutions to reducing our “researcher footprints” while conducting fieldwork. Using Costa Rica as an example, we address how sustainable fieldwork differs among varying cultural contexts and argue that researchers should be made responsible and accountable for how our presence, research, and teaching might impact the environment. We conclude by recommending a set of guidelines to be added to ethical protocols regarding research design, station policies, and the conduct of research and teaching in the field. Am. J. Primatol. 75:1‐9, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Transfer of seabed mining technology: A stumbling block to U.S. ratification of the law of the sea convention?

Abstract

The Law of the Sea Convention's provisionson the transfer of seabed technology are designed to translate into specific terms the general notions (adopted in the U. N.’s Declaration of Principles of 1970) that the resources of the seabed are the “common heritage”; of humankind and that the developing nations are to gain special benefits from the exploitation of these resources. Some developed nations—in particular, the United States—have argued that these provisions are unfair, because they deprive the multinational enterprises of the developed world of the competitive advantage they have gained from their substantial investment in research and development and their innovative capabilities.

The transfer of technology is not a new concept. It is a mechanism that has been used systematically by many developing countries to ensure that foreign investments will produce a lasting infrastructure for continued national development. Multinational enterprises have learned to accommodate national needs in this area, and technology‐transfer requirements for land‐based investments have not deterred investments in the developing world.

The technology‐transfer provisions in the Law of the Sea Convention are ambiguous in certain respects, but the Preparatory Conference should provide ample opportunity to clarify these ambiguities and thus to accommodate the needs of both the investors and the developing nations. If this issue is examined from a common‐sense perspective, it should not continue to be a stumbling block that would prevent the United States from ratifying this important Convention.     

The Inequality Footprints of Nations: A Novel Approach to Quantitative Accounting of Income Inequality

In this study we use economic input-output analysis to calculate the inequality footprint of nations. An inequality footprint shows the link that each country''s domestic economic activity has to income distribution elsewhere in the world. To this end we use employment and household income accounts for 187 countries and an historical time series dating back to 1990. Our results show that in 2010, most developed countries had an inequality footprint that was higher than their within-country inequality, meaning that in order to support domestic lifestyles, these countries source imports from more unequal economies. Amongst exceptions are the United States and United Kingdom, which placed them on a par with many developing countries. Russia has a high within-country inequality nevertheless it has the lowest inequality footprint in the world, which is because of its trade connections with the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe. Our findings show that the commodities that are inequality-intensive, such as electronic components, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, and agricultural products often originate in developing countries characterized by high levels of inequality. Consumption of these commodities may implicate within-country inequality in both developing and developed countries.     

A Review of “Maritime Power and the Law of the Sea: Expeditionary Operations in World Politics”

Abstract

The purpose of the London Dumping Convention (LDC) is the protection of the marine environment including its seabed and subsoil. The preamble, articles, and annexes of the LDC make clear that the Convention must be interpreted in a manner which ensures that this responsibility is met. As a partial response to that mandate, the LDC prohibits the dumping at sea of certain wastes, including high‐level radioactive wastes. Disposal of high‐level wastes in seabed sediments is the subject of ongoing technical, environmental, and engineering feasibility studies by several countries. In the LDC's definition of dumping, the phrase “disposal at sea”; could be interpreted narrowly to mean the final resting place of wastes—with seabed disposal excluded from coverage because those wastes are not in direct contact with “marine waters.”; Given the LDC's object and purpose, though, the only harmonious and reasonable interpretation is that which defines “disposal at sea”; to mean the place where the dumping activities occur. Other international agreements also support this object and purpose‐based interpretation which concludes that seabed disposal is covered and prohibited. In addition, this approach is preferred because it contributes to the continued effectiveness of the LDC.     

Supply versus use designs of environmental extensions in input–output analysis: Conceptual and empirical implications for the case of energy

Input–output analysis is one of the central methodological pillars of industrial ecology. However, the literature that discusses different structures of environmental extensions (EEs), that is, the scope of physical flows and their attribution to sectors in the monetary input–output table (MIOT), remains fragmented. This article investigates the conceptual and empirical implications of applying two different but frequently used designs of EEs, using the case of energy accounting, where one represents energy supply while the other energy use in the economy. We derive both extensions from an official energy supply–use dataset and apply them to the same single‐region input–output (SRIO) model of Austria, thereby isolating the effect that stems from the decision for the extension design. We also crosscheck the SRIO results with energy footprints from the global multi‐regional input–output (GMRIO) dataset EXIOBASE. Our results show that the ranking of footprints of final demand categories (e.g., household and export) is sensitive to the extension design and that product‐level results can vary by several orders of magnitude. The GMRIO‐based comparison further reveals that for a few countries the supply‐extension result can be twice the size of the use‐extension footprint (e.g., Australia and Norway). We propose a graph approach to provide a generalized framework to disclosing the design of EEs. We discuss the conceptual differences between the two extension designs by applying analogies to hybrid life‐cycle assessment and conclude that our findings are relevant for monitoring of energy efficiency and emission reduction targets and corporate footprint accounting.     

Radwaste at sea: A new era of polarization or a new basis for consensus?

Abstract

A coalition of third world nations, led by the Pacific island countries and those European nations who have developed land‐based disposal programs for their radioactive wastes, seek to amend the London Convention on Dumping (the international treaty controlling ocean disposal of radioactive and other wastes) in order to ban ocean disposal of low‐level radioactive wastes. Pro‐dumping nations maintain that the treaty may only be amended based on science and that current scientific research indicates that low‐level waste represents neither a threat to the integrity of the marine environment nor human health. Anti‐dumping nations, on the other hand, argue that the same science, particularly the models used to predict the fate and the effects of these wastes, exhibits sufficient uncertainty to preclude judgments about the absence of harm from future disposal activities. These differing conclusions mirror differing assessments of risk. These assessments build on the differing social, political, and economic values placed on use of the ocean and on conflicting conceptions of the fundamental rights and obligations of nations whose use of the ocean may impinge on the resources of others. Each side's continued intransigence may result in unilateral ocean disposal activities with serious consequences for the London Convention on Dumping (LDC) and its control over other wastes transported to sea for disposal. Initiatives of anti‐dumping nations to expand the LDC's decision‐making framework to examine the social, economic, and political issues underlying each side's interpretation of scientific evidence offer hope to address the underlying non‐scientific issues and perhaps to strengthen decision‐making within the LDC.     

The benefit sharing vision of H3Africa

One of the central ethical tenets of research in developing countries is the sponsor's obligation to benefit host participants and communities. Two known models of benefits provision dominate the ethical discourse of research in developing countries. The first model, known as the “reasonable availability,” endorses the obligation to provide interventions proven to be effective at the end of a study. This contrasts with the second model, known as “fair benefits,” which endorses other forms of benefits that host communities may deem as fair beyond those derived directly from the study's findings. This paper explores a third benefit model consistent with the writings of the Human Hereditary and Health in Africa (H3Africa) research initiative. The H3Africa—a North‐South collaborative initiative predicated by U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust and the African Society of Human Genetics upholds a benefit model that endorses capacity building as the primary obligation of its research agenda. This is evident by the endorsement of mechanisms to strengthen capacity building in its research projects. While capacity building remains a plausible means of improving the expertise, quality and independence of research in Africa, sustainable measures are needed to realizing the full potential for African‐led research on the continent.     

Climate Change and Structural Vulnerability of a Metropolitan Energy System

In this article, we present methodology and results of a vulnerability assessment of the energy system of the metropolitan region Bremen‐Oldenburg in Northwest Germany. This work is part of the regional climate adaptation project “nordwest2050” aiming at innovative solutions toward a climate‐proof and resilient region. Methodologically, we extended the established vulnerability assessment based on climate change impacts by a structural analysis, highlighting general weaknesses of the metropolitan energy system. Our findings indicate that the structural vulnerabilities of the energy system around Bremen‐Oldenburg pose a greater threat to maintaining the system's services than climate change itself. Climate‐change–based vulnerabilities, however, aggravate many of the structural vulnerabilities and therefore demand attention in their own right. The structural vulnerabilities mainly originate from political and regulatory uncertainties, turbulent market conditions, conflicts along the supply chains, and the current dynamics in the energy sector induced by increased climate mitigation efforts. One of our main conclusions is thus that the metropolitan energy system's capabilities to handle turbulence, perturbations, and surprises must be improved. This will also help in reducing the climate‐change vulnerabilities, because such a system is better equipped when facing currently hard‐to‐predict changes in climate parameters. The results of the assessment described here will be used as the starting point to find options for innovations toward a climate‐proof and resilient energy system for the region in the course of the remaining project.     

Raw material criticality assessment as a complement to environmental life cycle assessment: Examining methods for product‐level supply risk assessment

The diversity of raw materials used in modern products, compounded by the risk of supply disruptions—due to uneven geological distribution of resources, along with socioeconomic factors like production concentration and political (in)stability of raw material producing countries—has drawn attention to the subject of raw material “criticality.” In this article, we review the state of the art regarding the integration of criticality assessment, herein termed “product‐level supply risk assessment,” as a complement to environmental life cycle assessment. We describe and compare three methods explicitly developed for this purpose—Geopolitical Supply Risk (GeoPolRisk), Economic Scarcity Potential (ESP), and the Integrated Method to Assess Resource Efficiency (ESSENZ)—based on a set of criteria including considerations of data sources, uncertainties, and other contentious methodological aspects. We test the methods on a case study of a European‐manufactured electric vehicle, and conclude with guidance for appropriate application and interpretation, along with opportunities for further methodological development. Although the GeoPolRisk, ESP, and ESSENZ methods have several limitations, they can be useful for preliminary assessments of the potential impacts of raw material supply risks on a product system (i.e., “outside‐in” impacts) alongside the impacts of a product system on the environment (i.e., “inside‐out” impacts). Care is needed to not overlook critical raw materials used in small amounts but nonetheless important to product functionality. Further methodological development could address regional and firm‐level supply risks, multiple supply‐chain stages, and material recycling, while improving coverage of supply risk characterization factors.     

Russian comparative embryology takes form: a conceptual metamorphosis toward “evo‐devo”

This essay recapitulates major paths followed by the Russian tradition of what we refer to today as evolutionary developmental biology (“evo‐devo”). The article addresses several questions regarding the conceptual history of evolutionary embryological thought in its particularly Russian perspective: (1) the assertion by the St. Petersburg academician Wolff regarding the possible connections between environmental modifications during morphogenesis and the “transformation” of species, (2) the discovery of shared “principles” underlying animal development by von Baer, (3) the experimental expression of Baer's principles by Kowalevsky and Mechnikoff, (4) Severtsov's theory of phylembryogenesis, (5) Filatov's approach to the study of evolution using comparative “developmental mechanics”, and (6) Shmalgausen's concept of “stabilizing” selection as an attempt to elucidate the evolution of developmental mechanisms. The focus on comparative evolutionary embryology, which was established by Kowalevsky and Mechnikoff, still continues to be popular in present‐day “evo‐devo” research in Russia.     

Scarcity-weighted global land and metal footprints

Resource scarcity poses an increasing threat to the supply security of modern economies. Some grand challenges ahead are the limits to agricultural expansion and the geologic scarcity of metals. To better understand the drivers behind land and metal depletion, footprint-type indicators are gaining importance. Such indicators, however, fail to differentiate between vastly different degrees of resource availability across regions. Using crop suitability areas and metal reserve base data, we calculate scarcity-weighted land and metal footprints for the major economies with the EXIOBASE global multi-regional input-output model. Scarcity-weighting causes a significant reordering of the global rankings of countries for both land and metal footprints. Land scarcity focuses mostly on cereals (∼54% from the total agricultural land used) and oil crops (∼15%), the former being notably affected by water scarcity issues in Asia and the Middle East. Metal scarcity focuses on copper ores (∼69%) and iron (∼11%), the former being a globally scarce metal impacting multiple economies. The large impact of scarcity-weighting suggests that, while non-weighted resource footprints are a valid proxy of resource use, these are not always aligned with further implications of resource depletion and supply security. In this sense, scarcity-weighting can offer an initial overview of those countries where analyses at finer scales may be more valuable. Our results also show that international trade is a major driver of land and metal depletion in some developing regions. This highlights the intersection of environmental justice and globalization, as the burden of resource depletion often falls into poorer regions which critically rely on exports.