Economics Books

Book SynopsisIt is predicted by some observers that the 21st century will be remembered as the Asian Century. Many of the countries in the region seem to be able to take the economic and trade baton when one of the others experiences problems. The region, in general, continues to grow economically, politically and militarily. The articles presented in this volume examine the current political and economic situations in nations across Asia, particularly focusing on economic developments.

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Book SynopsisThe culprit for deficiencies of knowledge about medium-sized companies is their frequent inclusion among small companies. The authors try to find arguments for a more sensible definition of medium-sized company in modern microeconomic theory, theory of entrepreneurship and theory of financial markets. According to the first one, companies grow until they reach the minimum efficient scale. On the other hand, a company''s size is determined by incomplete contractual relationships. The second theory argues that medium-sized companies have some advantages because a more manageable number of employees and closer ties between them and the entrepreneur may reduce monitoring costs. In addition, the employees are more willing to invest in formation of specific skills required for their post. The third theory claims that due to information asymmetry medium-sized firms resort predominantly to internal sources of financing (depreciation, retained profits), while banks (relationship banking) are more frequently among external sources of finance than capital markets. The book deals with medium-sized companies in a fourfold manner: conceptual what are medium-sized companies; dynamic -- how do they grow; national -- how a national economy to a large extent depends on the efficiency of medium-sized companies; and international -- how some medium-sized companies acquire characteristics of multinational companies by means of foreign investment.

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Book SynopsisForeign direct investment is provoking a national debate. Local communities compete for investment projects, while many of the residents of those communities fear losing their jobs to foreign outsourcing. Some opponents argue that such job losses have a disproportionate negative impact on local communities. Economists generally argue that free and unimpeded international capital flows have a positive impact on both domestic and foreign economies. The issue is made more difficult because broad, comprehensive data on U.S. multinational companies were not developed to address the issue of jobs outsourcing. This book provides an overview of CRS Report RL32461 that analyses the extent of direct investment into and out of the economy and the relationship between direct investment and the broader economic changes that are occurring in the U.S. economy.

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Book SynopsisGlobalisation of the economy and in particular the competition of low-priced goods from Asia have confronted Europe with an important question of what are its real competitive capabilities, sustainability of its economy and of the values of typical Europeans. The famous Lisbon Strategy (2000) has been an attempt to answer this by creating the knowledge economy, where providing conditions for establishment of the common European market and investing in R&D and knowledge would be of crucial importance. This book analyses the Lisbon Strategy from various perspectives. The first part of the book -- Increasing Companies'' Competitiveness by means of R&D Activities and Innovations -- discusses the importance of both for economic growth. The instruments of the Lisbon Strategy are presented and then critically evaluated. It is shown that every country needs its own ''Lisbon'' strategy, which would emphasise individual ways of achieving higher competitive levels. . It is in the spirit of this that we present two cases of small open economies, the Netherlands and Slovenia. In the second part -- Structural Reforms, Stabilisation, and Social Cohesion in Slovenia -- we discuss the interconnections between various mechanisms and government policies aimed at achieving faster economic growth in a technology follower country, such as Slovenia. The third part -- The innovative firm -- presents few case studies. The open innovation model is used to present the case of Gorenje, d.d., a company that is active in a mature industry. We discuss innovations in tourism, which, similar as most other service industries, has no established place in the innovation literature. The last articles in this part discuss the creation of new technological companies. The fourth part of the book -- The Company Social Responsibility -- embarks upon a currently very hot topic, which deals with the question of whether a company, in addition to achieving appropriate financial results, is also in other terms responsible for social environment.

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Book SynopsisBook & Disk. In modern economics, inflation refers to the increase in the general level of prices of a given kind. General inflation is caused by a fall in the market value or purchasing power of money within an economy, as compared to currency devaluation which is the fall of the market value of a currency between economies. General inflation is referred to as a rise in the general level of prices. The former applies to the value of the currency within the national region of use, whereas the latter applies to the external value on international markets. The extent to which these two phenomena are related is open to economic debate. Inflation may also be caused by supply disruptions. For example, climatic changes may cause crop failures, pushing up food prices, or a war or another natural disaster may restrict the supply of crude oil, thus pushing up energy prices. These events may cause inflation within the modern meaning of the word, but are not the result of a fall in the value of the currency. This book presents new and important research on inflation.

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Book SynopsisNew Research on Politics & Economics of Europe

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Book SynopsisA continent of vast diversity, stretching from the deserts of the north through the equatorial tropics into the more temperate south, Africa brims with challenges and issues. This book collects a series of papers examining a number of these topics and how they impact African nations, the United States and the global community. The analyses also present possible solutions to some of the continent''s most vexing problems as many of its nations chart a course of political and economic development.

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Book SynopsisA continent of vast diversity, stretching from the deserts of the north through the equatorial tropics into the more temperate south, Africa brims with challenges and issues. This book collects a series of papers examining a number of these topics and how they impact African nations, the United States and the global community. The analyses also present possible solutions to some of the continent''s most vexing problems as many of its nations chart a course of political and economic development.

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Book SynopsisLatin America is a diverse group countries with extremely diverse economies and political dynamics. Some are heavy in poverty and others are booming with petrodollars. They speak Spanish, Portuguese, and French. This book brings together analyses detailing crucial issues at the beginning of the 21st century.

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Book SynopsisThe area of Russia, Central and Eastern Europe remains an area of massive economic and political upheaval. Russia has transformed itself into a rich energy producing country with no republics or satellites to provide free energy for . The former republics and satellites are saddled buying energy at market prices with emigration problems, elections, EU membership drives and a wide variety of other activities.

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Book SynopsisAccording to Census data, approximately 1% of small businesses in the United States currently export. With roughly three-quarters of world purchasing power and almost 95% of world consumers living outside of U.S. borders, more attention is being paid to the potential of small business export promotion programs to grow small businesses and contribute to the national economic recovery. In addition, some Members of Congress believe that the contributions of small businesses to commercial innovation and economic growth could be enhanced through greater access to growing international markets. This book begins with the history, role, and scope of the Small Business Administration''s (SBA) export promotion activities, and the creation of OIT. Next, quantitative data from SBA and qualitative data from other sources are used to provide performance analysis of SBA''s international programs. It presents three issues or consideration during an era where concerns of fiscal responsibility and economic recovery are high priorities for many policy makers. The book concludes by discussing the SBA''s need to improve collaboration to implement its expanded role; and the impact of credit availability on small business exporters.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides the reader with an introduction to Public Governance. To achieve such goal it enlarges upon six broad issues, each of them requiring a whole chapter: The semantics of Public Governance; The analytical framework and underlying logic of Public Governance; The Public Governance toolbox; How governance structures carry out their brokerage of asymmetric information; Dual governance and the case of state-owned banks; Globalising Public Governance; Each chapter includes a section with revision questions, whereas some of them also comprise a technical appendix.

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Book SynopsisThis series spans the globe presenting leading research in economics. It is perhaps a sign of the times that economic weapons seem to be as powerful as or more so than tanks. International applications and examples of economic progress are invaluable in the world of the 21st century.

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Book SynopsisMultinational Enterprises (MNEs) are key actors within the world economy alongside the states. Is there currently a legal personality for MNEs in international law? Law reflects moral connections and it is not static which means that its content is shaped according to new situations and demands. In many situations MNEs have already been acceded as subjects of international law -- Iran versus US claims tribunal 1981 . There is a tendency to admit MNEs as actors in international law. It could be said that MNEs are not in position to freely decide if they accept their responsibilities according to international law and especially in the human right field. There is a need for more transparency in MNEs actions. MNEs are key actors in globalisation and they have a duty to act in conformity with international law. This author thinks that there is a need in distinguishing between the MNE as an economic entity and so allowing the national law of establishment, the private international law and the international commercial law to deal with the economic matters and the MNE as a whole unit (parent company with all subsidiaries regardless its separate establishment in various states under national laws) an international social policy actor in globalisation whose actions affect the global world.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents recent significant research dealing the economics of emerging markets. The term emerging markets is commonly used to describe business and market activity in industrialising or emerging regions of the world. The term is sometimes loosely used as a replacement for emerging economies, but really signifies a business phenomenon that is not fully described by or constrained to geography or economic strength; such countries are considered to be in a transitional phase between developing and developed status. Examples of emerging markets include China, India, Mexico, Brazil, much of Southeast Asia, countries in Eastern Europe, parts of Africa and Latin America. An emerging market is sometimes defined as "a country where politics matters at least as much as economics to the markets."

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Book SynopsisCorruption has been around for a very long time and will be around in the future unless governments can figure out effective ways to combat it. This is not going to be easy. Although the study of the causes and consequences of corruption has a long history in economics, going back 30 years to seminal contributions on what economists call rent seeking, related empirical work on quantifying the extent of corruption and putting a dollar sign on its economic effects has been limited. This is hardly surprising since most corruption is clandestine. Also, determining just how efficient government institutions are is not what would be called an exact science. As a consequence, corruption is notoriously hard to measure and empirical economic research on the question is fairly meagre. The prevailing view is that corruption is harmful to economic growth. This new book presents the latest research from around the globe.

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Book SynopsisU.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. Total U.S.-China trade, which totaled only $5 billion in 1980, rose to $343 billion in 2006. China is also now the 2nd largest U.S. trading partner, its 2nd largest source of U.S. imports, and its 4th largest export market. With a huge population and a rapidly expanding economy, China is a potentially huge market for U.S. exporters. However, economic relations have become strained over a number of issues, including China''s large and growing trade surpluses with the United States; its failure to fully implement its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, especially in regards to intellectual property rights (IPR); its refusal to adopt a floating currency system; and its maintenance of industrial policies and other practices deemed unfair and/or harmful to various U.S. economic sectors. China is a major supplier of consumer products (such as toys), and an increasingly important supplier of various food products. Reports of unsafe seafood, pet food, toys, tires, and other products imported from China over the past year have raised concern in the United States over the health, safety, and quality of imported Chinese products. This book presents important analyses which deal in part with whether the US economy would seriously falter with a substantial decrease in trade activity with China.

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Book SynopsisArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic is a South American country, constituted as a federation of twenty-three provinces and an autonomous city. It is second in size on the continent to Brazil and eighth in the world. Argentina occupies a continental surface area of 2,766,890 km (1,068,302 sq mi) between the Andes mountain range in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east and south. It is bordered by Paraguay and Bolivia in the north, Brazil and Uruguay in the north-east, and Chile in the west and south. The country claims the British controlled territories of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Argentina also claims 969,464 km (374,312 sq mi) of Antarctica, known as Argentine Antarctica, overlapping other claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom. Argentina has the highest Human Development Index level and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power parity in Latin America. The country is currently classified as an Upper-Middle Income Country by the World Bank, or as a secondary emerging market. Argentina''s nominal GDP is the 31st largest economy in the world. This book concentrates on the latest economic, political and social issues of Argentina.

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Book SynopsisIndia is the world''s twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and the third largest in purchasing power. Economic reforms have transformed it into the second fastest growing large economy; however, it still suffers from high levels of poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and environmental degradation. A pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society, India is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. This book presents recent important issues dealing with India.

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