No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Typescript, etc.

China’s behavior as a near-monopolist of rare earths has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. This thesis first examines the underlying causes behind China’s rise to the status of rare-earths near-monopolist, including government support; lax environmental controls; unregulated production; and relatively low costs compared to the rest of the world. Second, the thesis also examines the preeminent international and domestic factors influencing China’s behavior as a near-monopolist of rare earths. International factors include international demand; international trade pressure; international price-setting authority issues; and geopolitical factors. I next identify domestic factors that exert influence over China’s rare earths-related behavior: environmental protection; rare earth resource protection; rare earths industry regulation; and protecting and aiding China’s domestic rare earths industry. The study concludes with a synthesis of the factors influencing China’s rare-earths-related behavior in the overall context of support and direction by China’s Central Government.

This thesis examines various features of the market for petroleum reserves, in theory and empirically for the time period 1947-1970 in Alberta, Canada. The main thrust of analysis is directed towards the industry supply process in the reserves market which results from the activities of exploration companies. In particular the thesis focusses attention on the activity of New Field Wildcatting. A totally new data bank regarding oil and gas exploration in Alberta is established, containing many items of information which have net previously been available and whose lack was considered a major stumbling block in analysing the petroleum exploration process. For example, the data files show the direction of search of exploratory wells, towards either oil or gas, the class of well which discovered each petroleum pool, the company which was the principal operator of the discovery well, the cost of wells, etc. Thus, it was possible to analyse the discovery sequence from well class, etc. to the discovered pool and its detailed reserves characteristics. With this data bank an original and unique approach amongst studies of oil and gas supply and exploration was possible. The study isolates the geological and economic factors which contribute to the incentives and costs of participants in the market for reserves. It should be noted that the data bank, on computer tape and described in a 130 page manual, can be obtained upon request from the author. The hitherto unavailable detail of this data invites further analysis. On the demand side of the reserves market, data was generated which allowed a detailed estimation of the price incentive to explore for reserves. This included consideration of production delays, expected well productivities, royalties, operating costs, joint products, income taxes, etc. It is established that New Field Wildcat wells may be viewed as the primary discovery activity of the petroleum reserves market. A main objective of the thesis is to define the components of the economic market for reserves so that empirical tests may be conducted to demonstrate the economic linkages between the incentives to explore for oil and gas and the rates of wildcat drilling and subsequent reserves discovered. This objective is met by providing an extensive descriptive and statistical backdrop of the oil and natural gas industry in Alberta, developing theoretical economic models of petroleum exploration and production, and then fitting econometric equations to estimate the elasticity and shifting of the industry' s short run petroleum reserves supply function. It is shown that the short run elasticity between the reserves price incentive to explore and New Field Wildcatting for oil averaged between 0.3 and 0.4 during the period in Alberta. The comparable elasticity for natural gas was around 0.1. We stress, however, that these elasticities may be rather unimportant out of their context of a shifting supply function. They do not remain constant as a region is depleted and the rate at which the supply function shifts as a region is explored will be more significant in determining the longer run petroleum supply than the short run elasticity. Such shifting of the supply function is also estimated. Secondary objectives are to examine the exploration characteristics of large companies compared to the others. Statistical analysis shows that the "Big Eight" companies have realized higher success ratios in New Field Wildcatting, have discovered much larger oil and gas pools and have done considerably more geophysics on their land holdings than other companies. Many other features of the petroleum discovery process, such as the statistical nature of the populations of pools discovered in sequential time periods, are also examined. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis is composed of three essays. In the first essay I identify the effects of imposing a broad range of environmental regulations under different market conditions.. I compare four types of regulatory controls under Perfect Competition, Monopoly, and Cournot Competition: Emission Standards, Design Standards, Concentration Standards, and Output Standards. I rank each of the standards in terms of firm profitability, industry output, abatement costs, and social welfare. I derive sufficient conditions for Design, or Concentration Standards, to dominate Emission Standards. I show how the different forms of regulation can raise industry profits by reducing the degree of inter-firm competition. Further, I show how environmental regulations can enhance competition and yield a "double dividend": higher Social Surplus and less pollution. In the second essay I extend the comparison of standards to an open country. I show how a country's choice of regulatory regime influences the level of environmental protection when governments care about the competitiveness of their industries. I show that the mode of regulation can create a "race to the bottom" if regulators behave strategically. I show that Emission Standards permit the race, as do Emission Charges. Design Standards, on the other hand, avoid the race altogether by breaking the link between environmental stringency and industrial competitiveness. Countries using Design Standards will always regulate emissions. This holds regardless of the environmental stance taken by competitor nations. If countries do not behave strategically, then Emission Standards and Emission Charges always dominate Design Standards. In the third essay I use the concept of home biases in traded goods, or "Border Effects", to rank industries and countries in terms of their openness to trade. I first confirm the presence border effects for individual sectors and individual industries among OECD countries for 1970 to 1985. I also examine whether country-specific border effects are determined by the sectoral composition of a country's production. I find limited evidence to support this. Rather, per capita incomes appear to be the most important factor. The conclusion I draw is that the level of development appears to be the prime factor in explaining the differences in country-specific border effects. What countries produce is of some importance. Therefore, we should see continued, though possibly slow, reductions in home biases as all countries continue to develop. This will partially determine the kind of environmental regulation used as well as their level. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

M.Tech. / Owing to the difficulties in the procurement of internationally certified reference materials for iron and steel, local firms are using their own standards manufactured by casting techniques. It is necessary to assess the integrity of these materials using international standards as control to these in-house reference materials. Macro and micro-examination were carried out to reveal the nature of reference materials and hence evaluate their quality. The consistency of chemical composition of standard materials and the accuracy of the analyses based on the in-house standards were evaluated. The results showed that local standards were characterised by gross casting defects. In comparison the imported standards had micro-structural uniformity and free from casting defects. This shows the essential difference in production method. Casting has severe limitations when it comes to the production of components of low segregation and internal soundness. First, the partitioning of solutes between solid and liquid phases invariably leads to segregation and loss of homogeneity. Second, the volumetric change accompanying solidification results in shrinkage cavities. If stringent production controls are not observed, the proprietary standards are bound to have a widely varying chemical composition. In this regard, the calibration and standardisation would essentially be flawed. Hence the subsequent chemical analyses of standards cannot be reliable. It is necessary to establish an analytical methodology that yields reliable results. Standards used for calibration should have a high degree of chemical purity and homogeneity. The study covers other possible production options for standards that can be used for accurate calibration and standardisation of spectrometers for chemical analysis of iron and steel. The use of vacuum melting followed by rapid casting in special chill mould is recommended.

Regional integration continues to be a source of inspiration due to the economic benefits associated with a country belonging to a regional organisation. The African continent is no exception with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) taking note of such cooperation with exceeding attention. Its predecessor, the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC), was formed in 1980 and one of its most important goals was to economically integrate the Southern African region in order to improve the economic situation of its Member States. The transformation of the SADCC to the SADC in 1992 led to a much stronger SADC which was complimented further by the ratification of the SADC Protocol on Trade in 2000 and most importantly by the establishment of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) in 2001 through an Intergovernmental approach. The RISDP is seen as the most effective mechanism by the SADC to fully integrate the SADC effectively and is this study’s unit of analysis, as part of this study’s research strategy which is a case study methodology, under a qualitative research design which has been adopted for this study. However, this study notes that the RISDP is being poorly implemented by SADC Member States, as clearly stated in this study’s aim, and key examples include missing set milestones such as the formation of the SADC Customs Union in 2010. The focus on a customs union is essential as it will increase intraregional trade as this study believes that it will be the catalyst in truly economically integrating the SADC region. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Political Sciences / MA / Unrestricted

The objective of this study is to evaluate the configuration of China's grain production pattern and the implications for agricultural trade. A spatial equilibrium model is developed to optimize grain production and distribution in China and its trade relationship with its trade partners. This study focuses on four grain crops: rice, wheat, com, and soybeans. The model divides China into 31 producing regions and 31 consuming regions. The model also includes seven exporting countries and six Asian importing regions. Results indicate that China can improve its grain production and social welfare through production specialization under a free-trade environment. China could become a major wheat and soybean importer, and a com and rice exporter to Asian countries. The study also provides perspectives on U.S. exports to China and other Asian countries.

Doctor Legum - LLD / Regional integration has been part of Africa’s overarching strategy for economic transformation. To further enhance sustainable development and economic growth, in the African continent intra-regional trade is equally as important as international trade. Therefore, African countries are faced with the daunting task of adopting comprehensive and well-structured measures to ensure the movement of goods and people across borders are seamless and unrestrictive. Free movement of persons in particular is one of the core tenets of regional integration, building towards a common market. To that effect, the African Union (AU) based on Agenda 2063 has agreed on a Continental Free Trade Area and a Protocol on Movement of Persons indicating a commitment of attaining a single market where goods, persons and services can move freely across national borders. With the Southern African Development Community (SADC) being a Regional Economic Community (REC) recognised under the AU, this thesis seeks to argue for deeper integration by ensuring the movement of persons in the SADC is regulated beyond the scope that is recognised internationally under the International laws influencing the movement of persons. Also, this thesis argues for amendment of certain provisions in the SADC Protocol on the Facilitation of the Movement of Persons to further facilitate intra-regional trade. The SADC operates to an extent as a Free Trade Area (FTA) where goods are traded duty free across borders and the intention is to go higher up the integration ladder to become a Common Market by 2015 and an Economic Union with a Single Currency by 2018. Targets which has not been met to date. Article 5(2) (d) and Article 23 of the SADC Trade Protocol realises the significance of policy development in promoting free movement of people and services within the SADC region. To facilitate the movement of people, the SADC drafted a Protocol on the Free Movement of People in 1995. This Protocol never materialised and it was subsequently replaced by a Protocol on Facilitation on Movement of People which is limited in scope and is not yet operational as ratification by two third majority of Member States has not occurred. In 2012, a Protocol on Trade in Services which also within a limited scope influences the movement of persons in the region was also concluded but is not yet ratified by Member States of the SADC. The absence of a single consistent and comprehensive framework makes people vulnerable to informal practices at the border. Thus, the issue of ensuring free movement of people between SADC Member States still remains debatable and unresolved.

The proliferation of private voluntary standards (private standards) in international food trade has precipitated a surge of inter-disciplinary discourse on the topic. Conceptual premises have been diverse, but a common thread through the discourse has been their practical impact on developing-country producers (particularly small to medium scale ones). The present paper contributes to legal analyses of private standards. It builds upon existing discourse on rules-based responses to private standards, from the conceptual premise of the rule of law. The perspective of the paper is that private standards are creating conditions wherein the rule of law in international food trade is being placed under strain. With that, the utility of the rules-based system of international food governance has begun to diminish. The viewpoint in this paper is that, from the perspective of the WTO, responses to private standards should be underlain by considerations of safeguarding the rule of law. Underscoring this is that a rule of law approach is the most ideal, in the long-term, for the WTO system and for low income Members themselves. The paper concludes that this will entail a necessarily multipronged strategy towards the challenges presented by private standards – one which incorporates rules-based responses, other interventions from within the WTO, and responses from outside of the WTO. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted