Publications

June 2012 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Marc Rich and Global Commodity Trading

By: Geoffrey Jones and Espen Storli

Examines the career of Marc Rich, the world's leading commodity trader before his criminal indictment in the United States in 1983. The case surveys the historical growth of commodity trading, especially in metals, from the late nineteenth century, and its evolving... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Natural Resources; Metals and Minerals; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Mining Industry; Africa; Europe; Middle East; North and Central America; Israel; South Africa; Iran

December 2015 (Revised December 2023)
Teaching Plan

Marc Rich and Global Commodity Trading

By: Geoffrey Jones and Jessica Burch

February 2013
Teaching Note

Australia: Commodities and Competitiveness (TN)

By: Laura Alfaro, Richard H.K. Vietor and Hilary White

For the past few decades, Australia has dealt with the benefits and costs of repeated mining booms—inflation, a housing bubble, a current account deficit and growing dependence on China. Between 1996 and 2007, however, Australia had most of these issues under control... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Inflation; Mining; Current Account; Exchange Rates; Trade; Capital Flows; Commodities; Environment; Carbon Tax; Goods and Commodities; Australia

June 2009 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Australia: The Riches and Challenges of Commodities

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faced a daunting task that he never imagined he would have to face when he was elected two years ago. Australia at that time was poised to enter its 17th year of uninterrupted growth. Commodity exports were booming, largely driven... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Crisis Management; China; Australia

December 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Mid Ocean Limited: Trading Catastrophe Index Options

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Markus Mullarkey

An insurance industry executive must evaluate the potential of a set of newly-offered catastrophe insurance derivatives. The background addresses the roles of traditional reinsurance and securitization efforts in providing risk transfer and risk financing in the "cat"... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Derivatives; Insurance; Capital Markets; Natural Disasters; Risk Management; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Insurance Industry; Bermuda

Fast Answer

Commodities Research: data and reports

driving current commodity markets. UN Commodity Trade Statistics provides trade data, while the View Details

Fast Answer

Stock, derivative & commodity exchanges

as market capitalization, number of listed companies, trading volume. (Must register for free account to view statistics). World Stock Exchange Fact Book Ref. HG4551 .W67 in the Stamps Reading Room Historical data on exchanges.... View Details

2019
Working Paper

Southern Responses to Gold Certification: Cooperate, Compete, Reject, Revise

By: Kristin Sippl

Artisanal gold mining is a Southern subsistence livelihood posing both challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. In 2011, Fairtrade International launched a certification program to address sustainability problems in the sector. Southern activists,... View Details

Keywords: Eco-labeling; Extractive Industries; Emerging Economies; Fair Trade; Environmental Sustainability; Standards; Programs; Governance Compliance; Competition; Adaptation; Mining Industry

Read Now

February 1998
Case

Creating the International Trade Organization

By: David A. Moss, George R. Appling and Andrew D Archer

In the late 1940s, officials at the U.S. State Department began campaigning for the creation of an International Trade Organization (ITO). This new organization would oversee global negotiations on trade liberalization, foreign direct investment, cartels, and commodity... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Agreements and Arrangements; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Systems; International Relations

2018
Working Paper

Hot or Not? What Makes Product Categories Attractive to Fair Trade and Eco-labeling Organizations

By: Kristin Sippl

This paper probes extant theory on product diversification in the empirical realm of fair trade and eco-labeling organizations (i.e., certification organizations). While much is known about diversification in for-profit firms, less is known about the more complex... View Details

Keywords: Hybrid Organizations; Fair Trade; Eco-labeling; Goods and Commodities; Diversification; Strategy

Read Now

June 2010
Teaching Note

Australia: The Riches and Challenges of Commodities (TN)

By: Laura Alfaro and Renee Kim

Teaching Note for 709007. View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Crisis; Demand and Consumers; Trade; Natural Environment; Business and Government Relations; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Australia

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

different you are, the greater your opportunity to set your own price. A commodity is defined as "undifferentiated." You must be different. Gore, the very successful manufacturer of Goretex, provides unique product... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

06 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

India Needs to Encourage Trade with China

Jiabao last year during a similar visit. But $19 billion is hardly anything to write home about, even if one were to discount the fact that much of what India exports to China is low-value-added commodities (notably iron ore). I asked... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna

Web

Exploring Trade Links in the Interior - A Chronicle of the China Trade

of the China Trade Introduction Doing Business with China Augustine Heard & Co. The Canton Trade Commodities & Currencies Treaty Ports & Compradors Clippers & Steamships... View Details

Web

Commodities, Currencies, and Balancing of the Trade Deficit - A Chronicle of the China Trade

of the China Trade Introduction Doing Business with China Augustine Heard & Co. The Canton Trade Commodities & Currencies Treaty Ports & Compradors Clippers & Steamships... View Details

Web

Doing Business with China: Early American Trading Houses - A Chronicle of the China Trade

of the China Trade Introduction Doing Business with China Augustine Heard & Co. The Canton Trade Commodities & Currencies Treaty Ports & Compradors Clippers & Steamships... View Details

Web

The Canton Trade and The Hong Merchants System - A Chronicle of the China Trade

of the China Trade Introduction Doing Business with China Augustine Heard & Co. The Canton Trade Commodities & Currencies Treaty Ports & Compradors Clippers & Steamships... View Details

2007
Working Paper

The Price of Capital: Evidence from Trade Data

By: Laura Alfaro and Faisal Ahmed

We use highly disaggregated data on trade in capital goods to study differences in the price of capital across countries. This strategy is motivated by the fact that most countries import the bulk of machinery equipment from a small number of industrialized countries.... View Details

Keywords: Price; Goods and Commodities; Trade