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- Genre: Masters Thesis
Description
Despite a wealth of academic literature critiquing current tensions within the Fair Trade (FT) movement, very little work has focused on examining the birth and evolution of the FT movement within the broader context of the international political economy (IPE), specifically in reference to the ideological and policy changes that ushered in an era of free trade and deregulated markets for both trade and finance. From such an optic, it is no longer enough to merely question the extent to which the market should be engaged. Rather, one must question whether the engagement of the market strips the movement of its power to affect long term development in local economies. Drawing upon the historical record, this thesis focuses attention on the complexity of the linkages that exist between political ideology, trade policy, and development. While Fair Trade is commonly understood to be a responsive effort to create more equitable trade relations with producers in the least developed countries, less emphasis is placed on understanding the state-centered political structures that contributed to a capitalist push-back and the implementation of today's liberalized trade policy, and yet to do so is absolutely critical if we are to gain a deeper understanding of the limits and constraints of Fair Trade. Full engagement with mainstream markets has led to robust growth in the FT market per annum, yet countries that are heavily engaged with the FT market show little evidence of development or poverty reduction at a macro-level. Thus, Fair Trade must define itself as more than principled opposition to labor exploitation if it is to present itself as a credible instrument of economic development.
ContributorsSugata, Michihiro (Author) / Simmons, William (Thesis advisor) / Stancliff, Michael (Committee member) / Haglund, LaDawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study focuses on three major Maghreb states (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) with distinct institutional, political and socioeconomic patterns. It essentially tackles the issue of technological development particularly investments, trade, human capital and patents in a socially and politically sensitive environment. The researcher assumes that government stability, law and order, GDP growth and ICT usage are related to technological innovation in the Maghreb. The stated hypotheses indicate that these political, institutional and socioeconomic factors have significant effect on technological innovation in the Maghreb. Based on a two equations' empirical model, our researcher attempts to test these effects and explore the interactions between the different dependent and independent variables through a set of hypotheses. Data analysis covers three countries from 1996 to 2010. The study identifies significant effects of key covariates on technological innovation in the Maghreb. Although not every predictor effect is consistent, the results indicate that they matter for technological innovation in the Maghreb. Empirical findings might constitute essential evidence for technology and innovation policies in this Middle East and North African region.
ContributorsOubaiden, Mohamed (Author) / Grossman, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Waissi, Gary (Committee member) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The Phoenix area is often considered the mecca of suburban residential sprawl and for as long as the city has been growing, retail development has followed. Despite occurring alongside residential sprawl, retail development does not have the same characteristics as residential suburban sprawl and has more closely followed national retail trends. Regardless, there are still some differences, therefore the research question that will be asked here is how have the characteristics of retail development in Greater Phoenix followed the national trends of retail developments that were established in each decade since the 1950s? Characteristics were gathered from a literature review and 29 sample retail developments from various types of retail formats popularized in the various decades including commercial strips, regional shopping centers, big box centers, factory outlet malls, power centers, power parks, and lifestyle centers were surveyed. Overall, it was found that many retail developments in Phoenix are larger than the national standard. Additionally, retail formats like power parks, power towns, and big box centers included more small and medium sized inline or strip storefronts than the national standard. But, in general, many characteristics other than those already mentioned did not vary much from the national norms. In the end, retail development will continue to be important as the Phoenix area continues to grow into one of the biggest metros in the country.
ContributorsGallegos, Jairus Donald (Author) / King, David (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Jonathan (Committee member) / Ó Huallacháin, Breandán (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022