The Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems (PAGE): Agroecosystems was one of four pilot studies undertaken as precursors to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The study identifies linkages between crop production systems and environmental services such as food, soil resources, water, biodiversity, and carbon cycling, in the hopes that a better understanding of these linkages might lead to policies that can contribute both to improved food output and to improved ecosystem service provision. Th e PAGE Agroecosystems report includes a series of 24 maps that provide a detailed spatial perspective on agroecosystems a nd agroecosystem services. Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems (PAGE): Agroecosystems Dataset offers the 9 geospatial datasets used to build these maps. The datasets are: PAGE Global Agricultural Extent. The data describe the location and extent of global agriculture and are derived from GLLCCD 1998; USGS EDC1999a. PAGE Global Agricultural Extent version 2. The data are an update of the original PAGE Global Agricultural Extent, based on version 2 of the Global Land Cover Characteristics Dataset (GLCCD v2.0, USGS/EDC 2000). The methods used to create this dataset were the same as those employed to create the origina l PAGE Global Agricultural Extent. Mask of the Global Extent of Agriculture. This dataset displays the global extent of agricultural areas as defined by the PAGE study. The other datasets made available on this site (eg. tree cover, soil carbon, area free of soil constraints) only show values for areas within this agricultural extent. PAGE Global Agroecosystems. These data characterize agroecosystems, defined as "a biological and natural resource system managed by humans for the primary purpose of producing food as well as other socially valuable nonfood products and environmental services." Percentage Tree Cover within the Extent of Agriculture. This is a raster dataset that shows the proportion of land area within the PAGE agricultural extent that is occupied by "woody vegetation" (mature vegetation whose approximate height is greater than 5 meters). Carbon Storage in Soils within the PAGE Agricultural Extent. The data give a global estimate of soil organic carbon storage in agricultural lands, calculated by applying Batjes' (1996 and 2000) soil organic carbon content values by soil type area share of each 5 x 5 minute of the Digital Soil Map of the World (FAO 1995). Agriculture Share of Watershed. This dataset depicts agricultural area as a share of total watershed area. The share of each watershed that is agricultural was calculated by applying a weighted percentage to each PAGE agricultural land cover class. Area Free of Soil Constraints. The data show the proportional area within the PAGE agricultural extent that is free from soil constraints. The area free of soil constraints is based on fertility capability classification (FCC) app lied to FAO's Digital Soil Map of the World (1995). Outline of Land and Water Area. These data are used to provide a boundary for land areas and facilitate the readability of maps.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally and by region and country. Calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provide insights into the drivers of hunger, and food and nutrition security. The 2014 GHI has been calculated for 120 countries for which data on the three component indicators are available and for which measuring hung er is considered most relevant. The GHI calculation excludes some higher income countries because the prevalence of hunger there is very low. The GHI is only as current as the data for its three component indicators. This year's GHI reflects the most recent available country level data for the three component indicators spanning the period 2009 to 2013. Besides the most recent GHI scores, this dataset also contains the GHI scores for four other reference periods- 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005. A country's GHI score is calculated by averaging the percentage of the population that is undernourished, the percentage of children youn ger than five years old who are underweight, and the percentage of children dying before the age of five. This calculation results in a 100 point scale on which zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice. The three component indicators used to calculate the GHI scores draw upon data from the following sources: 1. Undernourishment: Updated data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) were used for the 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2014GHI scores. Undernourishment data for the 2014 GHI are for 2011-2013. 2. Child underweight: The "child underweight" component indicator of the GHI scores includes the latest additions to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition, and additional data from the joint data base by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), WHO and the World Bank; the most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey reports; and statistical tables from UNICEF. For the 2014 GHI, data on child underweight are for the latest year for which data are available in the period 2009-2014. 3. Child mortality: Updated data from the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation were used for the 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005, and 2014 GHI scores. For the 2014 GHI, data on child mortality are for 2012. Resources related to 2014 Global Hunger Index

The question how the real and the financial side of a capitalist economy relate to each other has been a frequently recurring topic in the history of economic thought. Our paper addresses this question from the viewpoint that capital ultimately seeks returns from its perpetual reallocation and essentially faces two choices: it can either be “entrepreneurially” allocated to real economic activity, or it can be “financially” invested in legal claims against such activity. Adopting such a perspective, we study here how real and financial returns relate to each other over the past fifteen years, both within and across countries, by considering more than 30,000 publicly traded firms in more than forty countries that stand for 70 per cent of the global population and about 90 per cent of world income. We compare the average rates of return to both types of investment and their respective volatilities. While average returns, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, turn out to be roughly equal across the two domains, the volatility of financial returns exceeds ‘real volatility’ by an order of magnitude. From a systemic point of view, these findings raise the question why capital would seek out financial investments in the first place.