Why do oil importers diversify their import sources politically? : evidence from U.S. firm-level data

International politics affects oil trade. But why? We construct a firm-level dataset for all U.S. oil-importing companies over 1986-2008 to examine what kinds of firms are more responsive to change in "political distance" between the U.S. and her trading partners, measured by divergence in their UN General Assembly voting patterns. Consistent with previous macro evidence, we first show that individual firms diversify their oil imports politically, even after controlling for unobserved firm heterogeneity. We conjecture that the political pattern of oil imports from these individual firms is driven by hold-up risks, because oil trade is often associated with backward vertical FDI. To test this hold-up risk hypothesis, we investigate heterogeneity in responses by matching transaction-level import data with firm-level worldwide reserves. Our results show that long-run oil import decisions are indeed more elastic for firms with oil reserves overseas than those without, although the reverse is true in the short run. We interpret this empirical regularity as that while firms trade in the spot market can adjust their imports immediately, vertically-integrated firms with investment overseas tend to commit to term contracts in the short run even though they are more responsive to changes in international politics in the long run.

From foot-draggers to strategic counter-partners : the dynamics of U.S. and Chinese policies for tackling climate change

As can been seen from the U.S.'s non-ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, together with the negotiations toward the post-Kyoto Protocol framework, the U.S. and China have been quarrelling over their responsibilities and have contradicted one another over the introduction of compulsory domestic greenhouse gases emission reduction targets. Therefore, for a long time, it has been argued that the controversy between the two countries has hindered the process of forging an international agreement to deal with climate change. On the other hand, Sino-U.S. bilateral cooperation on climate change has significantly increased in recent years in summit talks and their Strategic & Economic Dialogue (S&ED), especially after the 15th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, one of whose aims was to facilitate positive negotiations for the post-Kyoto Protocol agreement. Analyzing this in the light of recent developments, we find that the U.S. and China have tended to address climate change and related issues from a pluralistic viewpoint and approach, by regarding the achievement of bilateral cooperation and global agreements as their common strategic objective.

Consumption-based accounting of U.S. CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2010

To tackle global climate change, it is desirable to reduce CO2 emissions associated with household consumption in particular in developed countries, which tend to have much higher per capita household carbon footprints than less developed countries. Our results show that carbon intensity of different consumption categories in the U.S. varies significantly. The carbon footprint tends to increase with increasing income but at a decreasing rate due to additional income being spent on less carbon intensive consumption items. This general tendency is frequently compensated by higher frequency of international trips and higher housing related carbon emissions (larger houses and more space for consumption items). Our results also show that more than 30% of CO2 emissions associated with household consumption in the U.S. occur outside of the U.S. Given these facts, the design of carbon mitigation policies should take changing household consumption patterns and international trade into account.

Inventory of seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry.

48-61, 1921-1922

High-resolution spatial modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change to energy crops in the United Kingdom

Funded by Energy Technologies Institute EPSRC-Supergen. Grant Number: EP/M013200/1

The effects of health changes on projections of health service needs for the elderly population of the United States

The 1982–1994 National Long-Term Care Surveys indicate an accelerating decline in disability among the U.S. elderly population, suggesting that a 1.5% annual decline in chronic disability for elderly persons is achievable. Furthermore, many risk factors for chronic diseases show improvements, many linked to education, from 1910 to the present. Projections indicate the proportion of persons aged 85–89 with less than 8 years of education will decline from 65% in 1980 to 15% in 2015. Health and socioeconomic status trends are not directly represented in Medicare Trust Fund and Social Security Administration beneficiary projections. Thus, they may have different economic implications from projections directly accounting for health trends. A 1.5% annual disability decline keeps the support ratio (ratio of economically active persons aged 20–64 to the number of chronically disabled persons aged 65+) above its 1994 value, 22:1, when the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund was in fiscal balance, to 2070. With no changes in disability, projections indicate a support ratio in 2070 of 8:1—63% below a cash flow balance.

A viagem da U. S. Astronomical Expedition (1849-1852): observar estrelas e relatar a América do Sul

O trabalho analisa a expedição astronômica realizada pela Marinha norteamericana ao Chile, durante os anos de 1849 a 1852, comandada pelo oficial e também astrônomo James Melville Gilliss. O objetivo foi compreender os interesses científicos, políticos, geopolíticos e comerciais que motivaram a viagem, bem como as imagens e representações sobre a América do Sul, especialmente do Panamá, Peru, Chile e Argentina, construídas e divulgadas através do relatório oficial da expedição, com o título \"The U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere during the years (1849- 1852). Esta pesquisa também procura examinar os diferentes dispositivos discursivos utilizados pelos oficiais que escreveram o relatório, James Gilliss e Archibald MacRae, discutindo dissensões e diferentes visões sobre o modo de veicular dados científicos, e também modos distintos de relatar a América do Sul.

U.S.-Taiwan Relations: A Study on the Taiwan Relations Act

The relationship between the United States and Taiwan is of great importance to both parties. Taiwan offers certain strategic opportunities for the promotion of American national security interests, and the U.S. accordingly provides Taiwan with support of both a defensive and diplomatic nature. The official U.S. policies regarding relations with Taiwan are enumerated in the Taiwan Relations Act (United States Code Title 22 Chapter 48 Sections 3301 - 3316). The act, approved by the U.S. Congress in 1967, stipulates the terms of the bilateral relationship with regard to national defense and diplomatic relations among other factors. This paper seeks to obtain a more developed picture of sentiments on both sides of this relationship in order to understand better the U.S.'s influence and power in Taiwan and in the region.