Nitrogen cycling driven by organic matter export in the South Pacific oxygen minimum zone

Oxygen minimum zones are expanding globally, and at present account for around 20-40% of oceanic nitrogen loss. Heterotrophic denitrification and anammox-anaerobic ammonium oxidation with nitrite-are responsible for most nitrogen loss in these low-oxygen waters. Anammox is particularly significant in the eastern tropical South Pacific, one of the largest oxygen minimum zones globally. However, the factors that regulate anammox-driven nitrogen loss have remained unclear. Here, we present a comprehensive nitrogen budget for the eastern tropical South Pacific oxygen minimum zone, using measurements of nutrient concentrations, experimentally determined rates of nitrogen transformation and a numerical model of export production. Anammox was the dominant mode of nitrogen loss at the time of sampling. Rates of anammox, and related nitrogen transformations, were greatest in the productive shelf waters, and tailed off with distance from the coast. Within the shelf region, anammox activity peaked in both upper and bottom waters. Overall, rates of nitrogen transformation, including anammox, were strongly correlated with the export of organic matter. We suggest that the sinking of organic matter, and thus the release of ammonium into the water column, together with benthic ammonium release, fuel nitrogen loss from oxygen minimum zones.

Export-Led Growth and Geographic Distribution of the Poultry Meat Industry in Brazil

This paper includes an examination of the sustainability of recent high growth in the poultry meat industry in Brazil. In addition, an assessment is made of the impact of increased production of poultry meat products on the development of local industries. Comparative studies of leading companies in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil reveal competitive advantages in the low costs of feedstuff and labor as well as disadvantages in the scale of business and management efficiency in the Brazilian poultry sector. Increases in domestic and foreign demand for Brazilian poultry meat have promoted development of the Brazilian poultry sector in local areas. The formation of industrial clusters is observed using regional data related to the location of slaughterhouses and the number of chickens farmed. Statistical analyses support observations made in this paper.

Winner-Take-All Contention of Innovation under Globalization: A Simulation Analysis and East Asia's Empirics

This paper sets out to examine how innovation enhances export competitiveness: The proposition that export volume becomes enhanced as more productivity-enhancing innovation is captured by the exporting economy is the focus of this study. From a Schumpeterian perspective, innovation can be characterized by continuous creation and subsequent diffusion of newer technologies on the basis of the exporters' existing capital stock. Then we highlight the theoretical possibility that concentration of innovative activities in a small group of "winner" economies would lead to larger shares of "winner" economies' exports of innovation-active commodities than those commodities for which technology involved is already mature. The world's export data corroborates this theoretical prediction overall, and a focus upon East Asia has revealed the region's increasing resort to technology-intensive commodity sectors, which has presumably been enabled through attracting technology-bearing inward foreign direct investment. Considering the overall gains from innovation, acceleration of full "cycle" of innovation and imitation might be a desirable option.

輸出指向開発再論 ：後発発展途上国の労働集約的工業発展の可能性

東アジア経済は労働集約財輸出を中心とする輸出指向工業化によって経済発展を遂げた。その輸出指向工業化の成功の本質が、市場の歪みの小ささにあったのか、それとも政府の積極的な輸出促進政策にあったのか、という点については長く議論が闘わされてきたものの、世界銀行の『東アジアの軌跡』出版以来、後者の論理がより注目されてきた。 　現在の低所得国は、その多くがWTOに加盟しており、かつて東アジア経済が採用したような輸出促進政策を採用できないことから、低所得国の製造業品の輸出成長は期待できないという新輸出悲観論が広がっている。その中でバングラデシュやカンボジアは手厚い政府の促進政策なしに、労働集約財の代表である縫製品の輸出を伸ばしている。そこで本稿は、WTO時代にあって手厚い政府介入が行われなかったとしても、低所得国が低賃金を活用して工業化を進める可能性が十分あることを主張する。

A Divergent Path of Industrial Upgrading: Emergence and Evolution of the Mobile Handset Industry in China

Starting from almost null in the late 1990s, China's mobile phone handset industry has grown to account for more than 40 percent of the current world production. While export growth has been overwhelmingly led by multi-national corporations (MNCs), increasingly fierce competition in the domestic market ignited by the advent of local handset makers has induced unique industrial evolution: (1) outgrowth of independent design houses specialized in handset development and (2) emergence of IC fabless ventures that design core ICs for handsets. In the background of this evolutionary industrial growth there are factors such as, the scale and increasing diversity of China's domestic market that advantages local firms vis-a-vis MNCs; modularization of handset and semiconductor technologies; policy interventions that supports local startups. The emergence and evolution of China's handset industry is likely to have international implications as the growth of the global demand for low-cost and multi-function mobile phone handsets is expected to accelerate. Thus, our case suggests that the conventional view of latecomer industrialization and upgrading that emphasizes the key role of international production networks organized by MNCs needs to be modified in order to accommodate China's rise into perspective.