The goal of this thesis is to determine how Canada's competitiveness is being affected by its commodity-based, US-centric export mix, if it is justified to talk about a ''resource curse'' and if efforts to diversify should be pursued. In the end, the aim is to understand how the chosen trade strategy will impact Canadian efforts to tap into the Asian markets. Chapter 1 will first look into the theory of comparative advantage which was first established by David Ricardo and then extended through several neoclassic theories (namely, the Heckscher-Ohlin model), the various assumptions made will be considered and put into today's context of globalized trade exchanges. As the 'case study', the economy of Canada and more specifically its trade exchanges will be analyzed in Chapter 2. As an oil-centric (and generally, commodity-centric) economy, the question of whether the Dutch Disease and the commodity 'supercycle' pose threats to Canada's trade strategy and competitiveness will be answered. Finally, in Chapter 3, the concepts gathered in Chapter 1 as well as the observations made in Chapter 2 will come together and explain how Canada can, through a diversified export mix, better seize the economic opportunities which Asia will represent in the years to come. The conclusion is that the endowment of resources should be exploited but not relied upon, and that government policies and active investments should be redirected towards innovative, value-adding industries.

The purpose of this thesis is to review the English language material concerning the beginning of bronze technology in East Asia in order to evaluate the evidence for the birth of bronze metallurgy in East Asia. The method of investigation was first to study published and unpublished material on North, Central and South East Asia. This study included the history of research under the categories of method, theory, and chronology of archaeological investigations, and hypotheses on origins and routes of bronze technology in East Asia. The examination of bronze metallurgy followed. This comprised the ramifications of the occurrence of copper-working, the production and analysis of the alloy bronze, the method of production of bronze objects, the dating of bronze artifacts and the social context of bronze production. The next step in the study was to explore the Neolithic stages of culture in the diverse areas in order to examine the precursors of bronze-producing societies and to determine the earliest bronze assemblages. The earliest bronze assemblages were in turn investigated. The metal objects, both copper and bronze, in these assemblages were tabulated and compared chronologically. The categories of metal objects were used to illustrate the relative sociocultural integration of each bronze producing group. Evidence of casting of the metal in the assemblages was compared to ascertain the similarities, if any, among production procedures. Chemical analyses of the bronze in the assemblages were tabulated for comparison and examination of relationships. Finally, similar types of artifacts in the assemblages were tabulated for stylistic comparison. The general conclusions from these investigations are that the four assemblages of earliest bronze technology in East Asia are from Minusinsk in southern Siberia, Erh-li-t'ou in North China, Ta-p'o-na in southwest China and Non Nok Tha in northeastern Thailand. Of these assemblages, neither Minusinsk nor Ta-p'o-na demonstrated the beginning of bronze production. The archaeological evidence does not establish the beginning of bronze metallurgy as being shown at either Erh-li-t'ou or at Non Nok Tha but the possibility exists for either indigenous development from external stimulus or separate invention with no outside stimulus of any kind for either area. This study has demonstrated the existence of different technologies, different levels of social integration and different social contexts for bronze in all four early assemblages. Thus it has also demonstrated that the beginning of bronze production did not have to occur in urban or state environments. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

As Deng Xiaoping assumed China’s paramount leadership position in 1978, he first and foremost sought to bring China out of a period of economic decline and international isolation defined by the Cultural Revolution. Having already established first contacts with the US and Western European states in the early 1970s, Beijing under Deng swung open its doors further to the rest of the world in order to source foreign investment as well as technology transfers. While most existing literature has been focused on how Deng’s rise was received in the US, Western Europe and Asia, almost no literature exists on how this change was perceived in Eastern Europe. This study aims to address this lacuna by examining how the Soviet Union’s once ‘most-loyal’ client state and its bastion on the front lines of the Cold War, the GDR, increasingly defied a Moscow-imposed anti-China policy to engage China for economic and political gain during the 1980s. Chapter one will begin with a general overview of GDR-China relations before the period of analysis. It will highlight that East Germany first enjoyed amicable relations with China, only to be reined in during the Sino-Soviet Split by Moscow to conform to a general antiChina line. It will argue that as Deng rose to power in Beijing and repeated frictions beset Soviet-GDR relations, East Berlin gradually sought an independent foreign policy towards China in order to take advantage of China’s opening to the world. Chapter Two examines bilateral relations in the early 1980s. It argues that the GDR was at first motivated by potential trade ties with Beijing in order to bolster its sagging economy. Chapter Three reveals that relations continued to develop towards the middle of the decade, despite Moscow’s protestations. Honecker was duly rewarded with a state visit to Beijing in 1986 for his efforts, the first by a Soviet-bloc leader after the onset of the Sino-Soviet Split. Chapters Four and Five show that amidst Gorbachev’s Perestroika and Glasnost the GDR and the PRC increasingly found ideological commonalities in preserving the political statusquo in East Berlin and Beijing. This dogmatic resistance towards political reforms would eventually lead to very different consequences in both countries.

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The following thesis is an investigation into the nature of the relationship between the Shahanshahs (‘King of Kings’) of Sassanid Persia and their chief subjects, with particular focus on the period from the end of the fifth century until the middle of the seventh. The intent is to contribute an understanding of the manner in which this relationship did or did not change during the period in question. The primary materials used have been the literary sources that remain extant, particularly the work of al-Tabari, but also those of the various Roman and Byzantine writers where appropriate. Although it would have been possible to treat the subject in a thematic manner, it was simpler to lay it out in a chronological fashion. In accordance with this, each of the three chapters corresponds with a period of Sassanid history. The introduction is concerned with the source material and its relevance to the question at hand. The first chapter investigates the years from the accession of Ardashir I to the death of Kavad. The second focuses on the reforms of Khusrau I and their relevance to the relationship while the final chapter continues until the fall of the Empire to the Muslim invaders. The conclusion then ties all of the previous chapters together and concludes the argument. The principal contention, as set out in the second and third chapters in addition to the conclusion, is that there was no measurable alteration to the relationship between the Shahanshahs and their nobles caused by the reforms of Khusrau I, nor did it appear to alter substantially during the entirety of the Empire. The evidence bears this out, both that of the Arabic sources and the Byzantine writers.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts