Search results for ""Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd""

Information, Finance and General Equilibrium brings together the seminal papers on which Charles R. Plott has founded our understanding of experimental economics and political science.These works reflect the broad and overlapping nature of economics, public economics, public choice and political science. They examine the fundamental problem encountered in of all these subject areas - understanding the nature of allocation under conditions of limited resources and how decision processes, institutions and procedures shape these allocations.In particular, this volume contains papers placed at the two extremes of economic phenomena: the largest system and the smallest system - multiple markets and the individual. It contains the first evidence that multiple market systems can equilibrate to the general competitive equilibrium while allocating risk bearing and information. It is here that the experimental foundations for rational expectations models are discovered and developed. A challenging paradox results, which leads Plott to question why the behaviour of a system so complex as a multiple market system can be modelled so well when individuals can exhibit behaviours that are so at odds with the theory.This fascinating work, from a writer at the forefront of experimental economics, will be warmly welcomed by academics, scholars and researchers involved in experimental economics, the methodology of economics, political theory, and political economy.

Read more less

The global system has seen sweeping changes in recent years and this has precipitated a revival of interest in the relationship between Europe and Asia. This book examines the extent and nature of the regional linkages between East Asia and the European Union. Issues discussed include: the reactions and approaches of both regions to the Asian Crisis postcolonialism and the balance of power in Europe-Asia Relations trade relations between Europe and Asia and the revival of the Silk Road the development of the role of Asia-Europe Meetings.This book assesses the role of divergent cultural expectations, intellectual traditions and political concerns in assessing ways to develop and consolidate the political-economic, social-institutional and political-cultural linkages between the two regions. This multi-disciplinary work will appeal to scholars of globalization and regional economics, international studies and Asian and European Studies.

Read more less

European policies increasingly affect the daily decisions of European firms. Better understanding of the motivation and reasoning behind policies that affect industry is therefore essential to those interested in or affected by industrial policy. Industry and the European Union explores different European policy areas, focusing on aspects that are of particular importance for business.This important volume provides researchers, students and lecturers of European studies, international business and international political economy with an insight into how relevant European policies affect industry. The book will also offer all involved with industrial policy - including business associations, chambers of commerce and business information centres, as well as policymakers at regional, national and international levels - a unique and authoritative examination of industrial policy.

Read more less

Intangible assets are of growing importance to corporate competitiveness and economic performance. They include R&D, human capital, innovation in products and in organisation, trademarks and patents, networking and software. This path-breaking book provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of intangible investment and its effect on public policy in Europe.The authors find that the growing importance of intangibles is transforming the direction of public policies in Europe, particularly industrial, R&D, competition and trade policies. They conclude that government policies must recognise the fact that intangible investment is becoming the key element in bringing about durable growth and accord at least the same priority to intangible factors as to physical investment.This work should be essential reading for students interested in this new field of economic analysis, national and international policymakers, and industrialists involved in the non-physical economy.

Read more less

How does Ricardian specialisation affect economic development in relatively advanced countries? Keld Laursen, inspired by the myriad newly-emergent neoclassical/new industrial economics contributions, makes a detailed study of the role of specialisation and structural change in advanced economies. Until now, these theoretical contributions have not been subjected to a systematic empirical investigation.The three key questions are: Do countries converge or diverge in terms of their specialisation patterns over time? Can the role of technology explain the direction of national trade specialisation? What are the implications of international specialisation patterns (and their changes) for economic growth? This study will be of immense interest to postgraduates and researchers working on theories and practices of innovation, trade, and growth.

Read more less

This book brings together over thirty of the most influential previously published articles on the economics of advertising. Topics covered include an exploration of the welfare consequences of persuasive advertising and informative advertising; an analysis of informative advertising in search-goods markets and as a signal of quality in experience-goods markets; and an examination of the use of advertising to deter entry to the market by rivals, to pre-empt rivals or conversely to collude with them. The volume features both theoretical and empirical contributions to these topics.

Read more less

This authoritative series brings together the most significant papers published by leading economists and social scientists in the rapidly developing field of New Institutional Economics. The selection includes theoretical papers as well as applications and empirical studies. It represents the diversity of methodologies used for exploring the fundamental questions of the nature and status of institutions and organizations in market economies. The seven volumes in the series cover the main aspects of research in the field, beginning with an overview of its analytical foundations in Volume 1. The subsequent volumes consider issues in transaction costs and property rights, the nature and role of contracts, the alternative modes of organization, the role and nature of modern corporations, and the political economy of institutions. The series concludes with a review of some major challenges and controversies. This comprehensive series will be an invaluable guide for scholars in economics, social sciences, managerial sciences and law.

Read more less

There are estimated to be almost 60 million people living in poverty throughout the European Union. This bleak statistic underlines the value of this important book which explores the nature and extent of poverty and social exclusion in six European countries, namely: Austria, Germany, Greece, Norway, Portugal and the UK. The book focuses on four 'life course' groups who might be considered particularly at risk: young adults, lone parents, the sick and disabled, and the retired.The authors show how poverty is the outcome of the interaction between several factors including education, gender and family structure. They emphasise the importance of distinguishing between poverty and non-monetary measures of deprivation and isolation. Although the poor are more at risk of suffering from deprivation, the authors demonstrate that this relationship is more tenuous than many people suppose. Employing rigorous theoretical and methodological analyses they go on to relate their findings to the policy environment in each of the countries, which were specifically chosen to reflect differing welfare systems. In this way the authors compare the impact of government policy on both the level of poverty and social exclusion, and on who is most at risk of experiencing them.Both statistically and in policy terms this book will be essential reading for students and academics of economics and the social sciences, and policy makers at both the national and European level.

Read more less

This topical book interprets firms, governments and economic change from an entrepreneurial perspective. Essentially, it applies the Austrian theory of human agency and evolutionary theories of the firm to explain economic organisation, the state and institutional change. Tony Yu begins by discussing the nature of entrepreneurship and the firm followed by an analysis of the role of entrepreneurship in economic change. He thoroughly analyses the process of economic development in late industrialisers, within an entrepreneurial framework outlined within the book. The author argues that ordinary and extraordinary discovery are associated with routine or imitative entrepreneurship and Schumpetarian entrepreneurship respectively. Using this classification, the author shows how it is the interaction of various types of entrepreneurial activities that transformed East Asian latecomers such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong from traditional agrarian and fishing economies into international centres of trading, service industries and finance.Firms, Governments and Economic Change will be of special interest to scholars of industrial economics, entrepreneurship and Asian studies. It will also be of use to governmental organisations responsible for economic development, as the analysis is thoroughly up to date easy to understand.

Read more less

The international character of today's most pressing environmental problems has become a key challenge for environmental policy making. As regulation by a supranational authority is not a realistic option at present, policymakers have to rely on decentralized approaches to the management of international environmental resources.This study combines two core dimensions of international environmental policy: the traditional search for cost-effective policy instruments and the creation of incentives for voluntary cooperation among sovereign nations. The analysis offers some clear-cut policy recommendations for the design of environmental treaties and for the further development of existing international institutions to protect the global environment.

Read more less

This volume of new, original essays reflects the lifelong concerns and writings of the person they honor, Professor Howard Sherman. Sherman wrote on a wide range of topics - the causes of recessions, depressions and mass unemployment under capitalism; the difficulties and challenges of establishing viable democratic planning systems under socialism; the down-to-earth realities of economic life in the United States, the Soviet Union and elsewhere; and the theoretical traditions he drew upon to inform these empirical studies, i.e. Keynesianism, institutionalism and, most especially, Marxism. The contributors follow in Sherman's tradition through their careful analysis of topics such as the long-term trends in contemporary global capitalism; the relationship between Marxism and institutionalism; debates over the usefulness of class analysis; the political economy of financial liberalization; lessons from the demise of socialism in the Soviet Union and China; and the possibilities for advancing a workable egalitarian economic agenda.This book demonstrates the continued vibrancy and relevance of radical political economy as a mode of social scientific analysis. Scholars and students in economics, sociology, history, philosophy and political science will find the essays thought-provoking and informative.

Read more less

To deal effectively with transboundary environmental problems such as climate change, it is important to have an idea of the model for an 'efficient' and 'fair' policy. An understanding of the strategic interactions involved in the international decision-making process is also essential. Carsten Helm uses rigorous theoretical reasoning and applications to address these issues. The first part of the book contains a normative analysis based on fair division theory and welfare theory. The empirical focus is on burden sharing in the climate change regime, for which a concrete proposal is derived. The book then extends the perspective by taking into account the self-interest of sovereign states. Using cooperative game theory the potential for Pareto efficient cooperation is analysed. Finally, Carsten Helm applies non-cooperative game theory to analyse issues such as environmental and welfare effects of emissions trading, the misuse of scientific uncertainties as a bargaining tool and the effects of discontinuities in environmental systems on cooperation. This highly topical book will be of great interest to economists and political and environmental scientists, as well as all those involved in the policy and decision making of international environmental agreements.

Read more less

This outstanding book focuses on how economics can contribute to the design, implementation and appraisal of legal systems that create the 'right' incentives for environmental protection. The sixteen original and specially commissioned contributions - written by some of the leading names in their field - span many of the important areas of contemporary interest and employ case study material combined with theoretical, empirical and experimental research. The book addresses many topical issues including: the fundamental notions of property rights and social norms; the design and implementation of civil liability regimes; the use of criminal law as an instrument of environmental policy; the role that citizen suits, self-monitoring and self-enforcement could and should play in the implementation of law; the international harmonisation of environmental law; and the treatment of environmental damages in courts. Cutting-edge economic technique is motivated by, and articulates with, real and pressing policy debates. The contributors refer to a range of legal cases and policy decisions, and draw out a host of policy implications and prescriptions for settings as diverse as Superfund reform in the US and the harmonisation of landfill regulations in the European Union.By combining incisive overviews of the latest thinking and results, complemented by original analysis, The Law and Economics of the Environment will appeal to researchers and students of the environment, law and economics, policy practitioners and those with an interest in knowing what constitutes 'good' environmental law.

Read more less

Robert N. Stavins has emerged as one of the most influential voices in environmental economics over the last decade and a half. These 23 essays on environmental economics and policy, written by Professor Stavins and his co-authors over the period 1988-1999, originally appeared in a diverse set of leading, scholarly periodicals and are here collected for the first time. The book is divided into seven parts: overview; benefits and costs of environmental regulation; normative analysis of policy instruments; positive analysis of policy instruments; environmental technology innovation and diffusion; causes and consequences of land-use changes; and global climate policy. The book begins with an introductory essay in which Stavins reflects on the professional path that led to his research and writing and identifies common themes that emerge from this period of research. Students, scholars, practitioners and policymakers will find this volume a valuable and very useful addition to their collection.

Read more less

For three decades F.M. Scherer has been writing on questions of competition policy from multiple perspectives as a professional economist, consultant in numerous antitrust and international trade proceedings, and (for two years) chief economist of the US Federal Trade Commission. This volume collects 26 of his most important papers, both previously published and unpublished, on a broad array of competition policy issues. The papers address the historical antecedents and rationale of competition policy, the logic of market definition, the implications of pricing strategies pursued by enterprises with monopoly power, tradeoffs between competition goals and the attainment of static and dynamic efficiency, implementing effective remedies in merger and monopoly cases and the role of competition policy in an increasingly open world economy.

Read more less

During the 1990s the gambling industry transformed its image by referring to itself as the 'gaming industry'. While critics of the industry scoffed at this transformation as merely a meaningless name change, it has had profound effects on the business and public policies that face the newly transformed gaming industry.The book is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on the historical and cultural forces that have shaped the new gaming industry. Emphasis is placed on the two types of games (agon - games of skill, and alea - games of chance). It is shown that the types of games a society embraces have a significant impact on whether gambling is permitted to enter the mainstream of the entertainment industry.The second part of the book analyzes how each segment (pari-mutuel betting, lotteries and casinos) competes in the new industry. The political and social implications of gaming are the focus of the final part, which concludes with a series of recommendations that will enable the industry, public policy officials and anti-gambling activists to construct policies that mitigate some of the problems associated with gambling.The book will be of particular interest to students, practitioners and scholars in public policy. It will also be pertinent to readers in economics, political science and business.

Read more less

The search for the key to economic growth has proved elusive and contentious. This book uses new empirical evidence to propose an integrated approach for achieving strong industrial and technological capabilities to form the basis for regional and national economic development.The authors use the experiences of countries in Europe and Latin America to show that socio-technical constituencies play a fundamental role in innovation based economic development at both a regional and national level. By blending insights from the industrial cluster and national innovation system approaches with the socio-technical constituencies approach, the authors successfully integrate long standing debates such as agency structure and micro-meso-macro analysis. The work is based both on a theoretical effort to build a new framework for economic growth, and on a number of concrete experiences from a number of countries in Europe and Latin America.Knowledge Flows in National Systems of Innovation will prove essential reading for scholars of innovation, technology and economic development.

Read more less

Tourism is the world's largest industry and its fastest growing one. It has the potential to contribute significantly to the economic development of most economies, including those of less developed countries and peripheral economic regions. However, it depends heavily on environmental conditions, natural and man-made, for its market and its sustainability. This book analyzes market and political failures in relation to tourism development and the environment, and the implications of those for national gains from international tourism, for public finance and policy, and for the sustainability of tourism. Particular emphasis is placed on ecotourism and the sustainable use of natural sites, methods of evaluating the sustainability of tourism and the impacts of pollution on tourism. Case studies cover both large and small developing countries e.g. Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India and the Maldives, as well as more developed economies. While some attention is given to the evaluation of protected areas, most attention is given to policies in terms of the sustainable recreational use of such areas - examples include scuba diving and encounters of tourists with whale sharks and sea turtles. This is a fascinating book that will be of great use to a wide readership including economists, environmentalists, geographers, tourism scholars and professionals, as well as academics in development studies.

Read more less

This book examines the effectiveness of active labour market policies and their contribution to the prevention of social exclusion. The evaluation studies reported in this volume focus on two aspects of active labour market policies that have been relatively neglected in previous research and merit special attention.The first part of the book deals with aggregate impact analysis. Using examples from France, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain, the contributors attempt to estimate the impact of active labour market policies on the transition from unemployment to employment using aggregate data at the regional level. Although quantitative in nature, these contributions take into account qualitative aspects such as the socio-economic context of the countries concerned and the structure of active labour market policies. The book then focuses on implementation issues and includes implementation studies carried out in Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. The qualitative element plays a far more important role in these contributions which rely on case studies and surveys in addition to statistical data.

Read more less

The world of finance has been revolutionized in the last twenty years by factors such as the liberalization and subsequent integration of global financial markets and the advances in computing and communications technology. These important changes have led to a stream of financial innovations and theoretical breakthroughs in the area of pricing diverse financial instruments. More than ever before, we witness a process where international securities are traded in a global marketplace.This comprehensive collection encompasses the most recent contributions in the area of international securities. It includes the most important articles on current issues and future development in this key area of international finance. It will be an essential source of reference to researchers, students and practitioners alike.

Read more less

China is both the world's most populous country and an important transition economy. It is also a major market for trade and investment. As such, this study of the trends, patterns, issues and problems of trade and investment in recent years is both vital and fascinating.Areas of discussion and analysis in this book include China's trade in a globalized economy, foreign investment after the Asia crisis, the WTO and regional economic development, along with discussion about the relationships with Hong Kong and Australia. Written by nationally and internationally respected experts on the Chinese economy, the book brings together a collection of timely and significant studies on China's trade and investment.The book will be essential reading for scholars of modern China, its economic development and the direction in which it will evolve in the 21st century. Important practical policy implications are reached for use by government, business and academics.

Read more less

This comparative analysis of growth, structural change and labour market dynamics in the Greater Mekong countries (Yunnan Province in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar) of Southeast Asia is the first of its kind. It explores economic integration and cooperation, the possibilities for improving the functioning of labour markets and facilitating mutually beneficial labour flows in the region.The book begins with a comparative overview of policy reforms, economic performance and structural changes, focusing on economic relations in the Greater Mekong countries. It then examines the salient features of labour market structures and policies, patterns of cross-border migration, and information systems, paying attention to the similarities and differences between countries. It is especially timely in the context of economic transition from socialist systems in the three Indochina countries, the ongoing policy reforms in Yunnan Province and Myanmar, and in light of the Asian financial crisis in shaping growth trends. The analysis yields policy recommendations for improvement in labour market performance.The book will be of great interest to development and labour economists and those working in the field of Asian studies, as well as to policymakers.

Read more less

This major reference work provides a thorough and up-to-date survey and analysis of recent developments in the economics of telecommunications. The Handbook serves both as a source of reference and technical supplement for the field of telecommunications economics. Volume I reviews the traditional literature to bring readers up-to-date on the current treatment of telecommunications economics. The coverage includes: demand, supply, costs, market structure, regulation, interconnection and universal service. Volume II is concerned with future developments that will arise in the digital era. The coverage includes: internet, electronic commerce, mobile voice and data transmission, point-to-point and multi-point communication, regulation, satellite services and universal service in the information age. Volume III examines the structure within which modern communications companies operate and evolve, and how corporations must account for multiple objectives associated with both national economic and social policy. The volume draws useful lessons from the recent corporate experience of major international telecommunications companies. The contributors explore the interaction of diversity in national approaches with the continuing need for international cooperation and coordination, which continues to be an important area of debate.The Handbooks are written at a level intended for professional use by economists, advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and will also prove useful to policy analysts, engineers and managers within the industry.

Read more less

Indirect taxes have become an increasingly important revenue-raising tool for governments in developed countries. In this book, John Creedy applies his wealth of experience and expertise to the analysis of indirect taxes and, in particular, concentrates on the modelling of indirect tax reform and its distributional implications.Initially, he examines the implications of alternative indirect tax systems and provides an introductory survey of various measures of welfare change and excess burden in the context of indirect taxes. He pays particular attention to the measurement issues involved and uses partial equilibrium models to uncover various aspects of tax reform. Specifically, he: addresses the questions of measuring welfare changes arising from price changes examines the built-in flexibility of various forms of consumption taxation calculates the possible redistributive effects of indirect taxes and illustrates his methods using case study examples of the indirect tax system in Australia examines the horizontal inequity of different consumption taxes considers the optimal direction of small changes in indirect tax rates analyses the positive and negative effects of a carbon tax Modelling Indirect Taxes and Tax Reform will be useful to scholars and policymakers interested in public economics and finance and modelling taxes.

Read more less

Throughout the 1990s, Russian households experienced a dramatic fall in their traditional sources of subsistence: wages and social benefits. Many commentators have argued that households have adopted 'survival strategies' that enable them to make ends meet, particularly taking second jobs, growing their own food and calling on the help of family and friends. This book reviews the available data to analyse the forms, scale and incidence of these phenomena. The author finds that so-called 'survival strategies' merely represent a continuation of traditional soviet practices. He demonstrates that they disproportionately benefit the better off and that they do not provide a means by which those who have suffered misfortune can compensate for a fall in their earnings. Instead, he illustrates that most Russian households have adapted simply by cutting expenditure rather than by finding new sources of income. The author concludes by arguing that the notion of a 'household survival strategy' is inappropriate for the study of post-soviet society.Based on the analysis of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, Making Ends Meet in Contemporary Russia provides a comprehensive analysis of the means by which Russian households have secured their subsistence in the face of a collapse in wages and employment since the end of the soviet system. It will be required reading for all students, scholars and researchers of transition studies, development studies and human geography.

Read more less

'This is an extremely important and long-awaited book. The authors provide a cogent guide to all that is wrong with the theory and empirical applications of the discredited notion of an aggregate production function. Their critique has devastating implications for orthodox macroeconomics.'- Anwar Shaikh, New School for Social Research, US'This is a very important book. Proofs that aggregate production functions do not exist have been around for more than 50 years. This casts doubt not only on macroeconomic theory but also on empirical work and policy. Yet, this has not deterred macro-economists. The authors show in great detail that the apparent 'fit' of such functions to value-based data is a tautology and not a proof that such aggregates exist. One hopes that the profession will finally take note.'- Franklin M. Fisher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US'Felipe and McCombie have gathered all of the compelling arguments denying the existence of aggregate production functions and showing that econometric estimates based on these fail to measure what they purport to quantify: they are artefacts. Their critique, which ought to be read by any economist doing empirical work, is destructive of nearly all that is important to mainstream economics: NAIRU and potential output measures, measures of wage elasticities, of output elasticities and of total factor productivity growth.'- Marc Lavoie, University of Ottawa, CanadaThis authoritative and stimulating book represents a fundamental critique of the aggregate production function, a concept widely used in macroeconomics.The authors explain why, despite the serious aggregation problems that surround it, aggregate production functions often give plausible statistical results. This is due to the use of constant-price value data, rather than the theoretically correct physical data, together with an underlying accounting identity that relates the data definitionally. It is in this sense that the aggregate production function is 'not even wrong': it is not a behavioral relationship capable of being statistically refuted. The book examines the history of the production function and shows how certain seminal works on neoclassical growth theory, labor demand functions and estimates of the mark-up, among others, suffer from this fundamental problem.The book represents a fundamental critique of the aggregate production function and will be of interest to all macroeconomists.Contents: Prologue: 'Not Even Wrong' Introduction 1. Some Problems with the Aggregate Production Function 2. The Aggregate Production Function: Behavioural Relationship or Accounting Identity? 3. Simulation Studies, the Aggregate Production Function and the Accounting Identity 4. 'Are There Laws of Production?' The Work of Cobb and Douglas and its Early Reception 5. Solow's Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function', and the Accounting Identity 6. What does Total Factor Productivity Actually Measure? Further Observations on the Solow Model 7. Why Are Some Countries Richer than Others? A Sceptical View of Mankiw-Romer-Weil's Test of the Neoclassical Growth Model 8. Some Problems with the Neoclassical Dual-Sector Growth Model 9. Is Capital Special? The Role of the Growth of Capital and its Externality Effect in Economic Growth 10. Problems Posed by the Accounting Identity for the Estimation of the Degree of Market Power and the Mark-up 11. Are Estimates of Labour Demand Functions Mere Statistical Artefacts? 12. Why Have the Criticisms of the Aggregate Production Function Generally Been Ignored? On Further Misunderstandings and Misinterpretations of the Implications of the Accounting Identity References Index

Read more less

This study focuses in detail on the environmental compliance/competitiveness relationship with respect to the regulation of packaging waste. An important and innovative feature of the study is its emphasis on backward and forward linkages. An entire supply chain is considered: packaging manufacturers and suppliers, food processors and the food retail sector, to study the competitive effects of environmental standards on manufacturing companies and the vertical links and supply responses. A variety of regulatory regimes is represented by including within the study companies from Germany, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. While it is of note that the relatively strong regulation in Germany has indeed had effects on company behaviour, there is no evidence that environmental regulations hindered companies from achieving competitive performance.Analyses consider: the response of individual firms to different levels of regulation; the cost of compliance; impact on employment; the influence of the supply chain on environmental and competitive performance; the importance of firm size and ownership; and the impact of regulation on competitiveness, and firm competitiveness on the efficiency of adjustment to regulation.

Read more less

Creativity is crucial to the Information Age economy. It is the basis of production in the cultural industries. In this excellent book, Ruth Towse provides an analysis of the interaction between creativity, the law, and markets for cultural goods and services.Copyright law establishes property rights that create economic incentives to cultural production and Ruth Towse uses her analysis to draw conclusions about policy on copyright. This unique study is of interest to a range of disciplines in economics, law, cultural studies and management.

Read more less

The growth in global competitiveness and interdependence has led to an increased interest in the role of industrial policy in achieving economic growth objectives.Heather Smith reignites the contentious debate of the role of the state using East Asian economic development in general with particular emphasis on Taiwan and Korea. Using quantitive techniques, the author analyses the view that industry policy interventions were a necessary factor explaining Taiwan's economic performance in the 1980s. Lessons for other countries attempting to upgrade their industrial structure are drawn from the comparative industrialisation experience of Taiwan and Korea, along with: a comprehensive discussion of strategic industry policy with an application to East Asia. discussion on the impact of the 1997-1998 financial crisis in Korea a critique of the structuralist/revisionist literature in the light of the financial crisis. This highly topical study constitutes essential reading for governmental and non-governmental policymakers, business leaders and academics alike.

Read more less

Manufacturing has played a key role in the economic fortunes of the East and South Asian regions. This timely book analyses patterns of rapid catch-up and relative stagnation in the manufacturing sector and links these to economic growth in the region.Dr Timmer describes the manufacturing performance of five Asian countries since the 1960s: China, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan. Over this period Asian industrial development is placed in an international perspective by comparison with the world productivity leader, the USA. The author uses new empirical data to assess the degree of structural change in the manufacturing sector and its importance for productivity growth. He then discusses conditions for economic growth and catch up, and reviews the role of industrial and technology policies in the promotion of industrial development in Asia.

Read more less

This outstanding book presents new original contributions from some of the world's leading economists including Ronald Coase, Douglass C. North, Masahiko Aoki, Oliver E. Williamson and Harold Demsetz. It demonstrates the extent and depth of the New Institutional Economics research programme which is having a worldwide impact on the economics profession.The book lays out the fundamental dimensions of the research programme with special emphasis on the interaction between institutional factors, both formal and informal, and the performance of different arrangements that organize transactions. After examining the foundations of New Institutional Economics and honouring Ronald Coase's contribution to the field, it presents controversial and conflicting views on the sources of growth. It places special emphasis on organizations and transactions, focusing on issues of trust, corruption, enforcement of contracts and modes of organization. Written by an eminent group of scholars, Institutions, Contracts and Organizations is an important landmark in the development of New Institutional Economics.

Read more less

The study of competition and competitiveness has recently seen a great deal of expansion and development. This timely survey reviews the most important developments in policy and practice. It illustrates the complexity of competitive behaviour in the real world and provides a framework for understanding the different notions of competition.Special attention is given to key areas including: competition as a process versus competition as a state of affairs the behaviour of firms and organization of competition new forms of competition and competition policies The Process of Competition will be essential reading for researchers, practitioners and policymakers concerned with competition policy, industrial economics and strategic management.

Read more less

Strategic management literature has, until now, concentrated on the analysis of how large innovative firms maintain, rebuild, or renew strategic capabilities. This important book illustrates the complex transition process involved as firms accumulate knowledge and develop new types of knowledge management to build the primary strategic capabilities. The book addresses all areas of the process including how technological capability is initially achieved through to how the firm approaches the international technological frontier. Based on a detailed case-study of a multinational Mexican firm, this insightful book argues that there is no simple progression from the accumulation of technological capability to the management of knowledge as a strategic asset.The wealth of evidence, analysis and discussion will ensure this work will be of immense value and interest to scholars, researchers, business managers and development economists alike.

Read more less

National Accounting and Capital presents definitive solutions to current problems in national accounting practice. Professor Hartwick deals expertly with problems in accounting natural capital, financial capital and skills capital and communicates his solutions in specially designed national accounting tables or matrices. Key issues discussed include: new developments in the theory of green national accounting, particularly the place of natural resource stocks in the national accounts the relationship between dollar valued net national product and sustainable income an extension of standard treatments of capital, (buildings, machines, etc.), in the national accounts to deal with natural resources, human capital, and financial capital, (equities of banks and other firms and loans from banks to firms) the sustainability of the current path of an economy the role of capital gains on 'new' types of capital in the expression for net national product In addition, Professor Hartwick indicates how to deal with certain long-standing issues involving services to banks in the national accounts. The accounts are always expressed in a national accounting matrix and this makes for consistency in style. He wishes to persuade readers of the value of this approach.This book will be of immense use to scholars of national and environmental accounting and practitioners in government statistical agencies, the UN, the World Bank and the IMF.

Read more less

The globalisation of the world economy is one of the major concepts of our time and is likely to influence thinking and policy making well into the 21st century. Although officially welcomed as a major contribution to world welfare it is held by many to be responsible for low wages and mass unemployment. This book questions the seemingly inevitable progress of globalisation and the role of the state as a powerless institution in a globalised economy. Issues discussed include: trade liberalisation and the role of the World Trade Organisation in providing global responses to global issues the globalisation of finance; in particular the integration of capital markets the role of EMU in limiting the social protection level in member states< the effect of globalisation on the structure of the modern nation-state a challenge to the conventional image of globalisation, which is viewed as being far less widespread than we are led to believe This book will be of interest to scholars of the international economics, international political economy and international finance.

Read more less

This two-volume set brings together a selection of the most significant contributions to the field of gender and development. The key emphasis is on economic analysis, with some articles informed by an interdisciplinary approach. The volumes cover a variety of topics, including conceptual and methodological questions, statistical accounting of women's work, issues related to the family, households and caring labour, poverty, employment and labour markets, structural adjustment policies and social change. The collection will be useful for economists as well as for other social scientists interested in the field of development, women's work, labor markets, and feminist economics.Although the volumes are addressed to an academic audience interested in development issues in general and gender and development in particular, they will also be of interest to government agencies, international organizations, NGOs and other institutions and individuals working on development, policy-making and action from a gender perspective.

Read more less

This book presents Martin Shubik's important contribution to the development of game theory, and shows how game theory methods can be used in the study of prices, money and financial institutions.After introducing the reader to his career and the influences which developed his research, Professor Martin Shubik addresses the price system considering issues such as competitive equilibrium, economic exchange and production. He explores the competitive price system and the emergence of money and financial systems to develop a theory of monetary and financial institutions. Specifically, he examines the role of money in the economy using both cooperative and non-cooperative solutions in game theory. Throughout the book Martin Shubik stresses that the value of games, which can be both played and analysed, provides an important link between theory and process and institutional studies.This book will be welcomed by economists, especially those interested in game theory, as well as by money and banking professionals.

Read more less

The Economics of the Mind addresses economics from the perspective of real men and women: how they assess things, decide and act. It looks at the choices we make, and calls for the assumptions which make up the foundations of economic theory to be consistent with the mechanisms which guide the workings of the human mind.The author begins by presenting an historical analysis of the role of knowledge and decision-making, taking into account the work of Hayek and Simon. Salvatore Rizzello then reconstructs the birth and development of neo-institutionalism, experimental economics and evolutionary economics. He discusses economic and social institutions and how these simplify the individual's choices related to knowledge and tasks. Specifically, he examines rules, learning and evolution in neo-institutional economics. The book breaks new ground on the role of the social sciences, and economics in particular, and suggests a move away from neoclassical economics towards a more definite link between economics, psychology and the artificial sciences.The book will be warmly welcomed by institutional and evolutionary economists, and those working in the field of economic psychology.

Read more less

The substantial and growing interest in the monetary valuation of preferences for environmental improvement, and against environmental damage, has prompted a demand for case studies illustrating methodologies and applications of valuation techniques. In this book, the first of two volumes, the authors provide detailed case studies of valuation techniques that have been used in developing countries. They demonstrate that valuation works and that it can yield significant insights into policy-relevant issues regarding conservation and economic development.The authors address a whole range of environmental issues under the broad themes of water and air quality, biological diversity and forest functions. The economic approaches covered include contingent valuation, hedonic property prices, travel cost methodologies and benefits transfer. They also go on to look at the idea of extending national accounts to reflect changes in environmental assets. Examples of the varied and interesting case studies include valuing improvements to sanitation in Malaysia, the value of visits to game parks in South Africa and tropical forest values in Mexico. They highlight how valuation techniques can be applied, often with limited resources, to critical development issues.Academics and practitioners of environmental economics will draw great value from this unique and original work, as will the many multilateral and bilateral aid agencies. The book will also prove a valuable addition to graduate and undergraduate courses in environmental economics where there is a need for case material.

Read more less

This book explores the relationship between the land use choices of small-scale farmers and the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Although sustainable agriculture was introduced to the Amazon area about 10 years ago, it has been adopted by only a few farmers. Jill L. Caviglia analyses why this practice has not been more widely adopted and offers policy prescriptions to address this.The major source of deforestation in the Amazon is the use of slash-and-burn agriculture by small-scale farmers. The adoption of sustainable agriculture by these farmers could reduce the rate of deforestation dramatically. The author uses new, original case studies of farms in the area to estimate the probability of the adoption of sustainable agriculture and, once the adoption decision has been made, the intensity of adoption. The author finds that this is influenced greatly by farmer organizations and by providing the farmers with the knowledge that sustainable agriculture is a viable alternative to slash-and-burn practices.This book will be of great interest to scholars and policymakers in the areas of environmental economics, environmental policy and Latin American studies.

Read more less

What is the relationship between changes in modern states and the current practice of public administration, on the one hand, and recent developments in the sciences of administration on the other? The contributors to this unique book address this fundamental question by surveying the origins, evolution and the contemporary state-of-the-art of administrative sciences in Europe and the United States.A distinguished group of international authors presents the historical development of the study of administration in their respective countries and an analysis of how particular national approaches to the study of administration or 'the way of thinking' influences and are influenced by various national institutions. The authors make comparisons between each country and more generally between Europe and United States Public Administration. This book will introduce American audiences to the various European approaches to administrative sciences and vice versa, and Europeans to contemporary American public administration theory. For many American as well as European students in the field, this volume offers a unique comparison between the large, established field of research in the United States and more recent, less well known European administrative sciences.The Modern State and Its Study will be of great interest to scholars of public administration throughout the world. Practicing public administrators as well as new students of this field will find this volume to be a helpful survey of the current vast and rapidly growing body of public administration research on both Europe and the United States.

Read more less

This major four-volume collection will prove invaluable for lecturers, researchers and practitioners. The first volume covers the case for and against banking regulation, touching upon the design of an 'optimal' regulatory framework. The second discusses deposit insurance, examining the arguments for and against its adoption and the problems encountered in its implementation. The material in the third volume deals with the vexed issue of capital adequacy assessment, including the roles played by capital and capital regulation and the G10 agreement. The final volume looks at the links between regulation and banking efficiency.

Read more less

This highly accessible book explains the theoretical, historical and political background of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), its impact and the debates surrounding its existence. In addition the authors provide a brief introduction to the theory of economic integration as well as a succinct overview of the evolution of the global economy, and the institutions that manage it, in the post World War II period.Key issues examined include: how and why NAFTA emerged in the early 1990s and its performance since implementation the economic development and commercial policy of each member country in the context of the rapidly changing global economy NAFTA's technical strengths and limitations the debates which still rage between its proponents and critics The team of US, Canadian and Mexican authors argue that while NAFTA has introduced novel social and environmental innovations in trade agreements, given Mexico's macroeconomic volatility, it provides a less than perfect approach for managing North America's rapidly expanding economic integration.North American Economic Integration can be used by a wide audience from students to professionals and academics from any discipline with an understanding of the basic principles of economics. Specifically, the book will be welcomed by students of international economics, political economy and international relations.

Read more less

The horizontalist perspective is an extension of the post-Keynesian approach, that has hitherto focused on a theory of credit and money. This book extends horizontalism beyond its traditional boundaries and makes it consistent with the post-Keynesian theories of output and the open economy.The authors compare and contrast the horizontalist position with various orthodox and non-orthodox views on money. They argue that horizontalism is perfectly compatible with liquidity preference, credit constraints, and a flexible interest-rate mark-up, and address recent developments in banking that reinforce the validity of a horizontal schedule of credit-money. The overall intention is to place horizontalism within the current heterodox tradition as a general theory of the creation of money that is consistent with the post-Keynesian view on macroeconomic policy.Credit, Interest Rates and the Open Economy is essential reading for those who wish to expand their theoretical understanding of international financial issues and will be of great interest to those involved in macroeconomics, money and banking and radical economics.

Read more less

The Handbook of International Banking provides a clearly accessible source of reference material, covering the main developments that reveal how the internationalization and globalization of banking have developed over recent decades to the present, and analyses the creation of a new global financial architecture. The Handbook is the first of its kind in the area of international banking with contributions from leading specialists in their respective fields, often with remarkable experience in academia or professional practice. The material is provided mainly in the form of self-contained surveys, which trace the main developments in a well-defined topic, together with specific references to journal articles and working papers. Some contributions, however, disseminate new empirical findings especially where competing paradigms are evaluated.The Handbook is divided into four areas of interest. The first deals with the globalization of banking and continues on to banking structures and functions. The authors then focus on banking risks, crises and regulation and finally the evolving international financial architecture.Designed to serve as a source of supplementary reading and inspiration, the Handbook is suited to a range of courses in banking and finance including post-experience and in-house programmes for bankers and other financial services practitioners. This outstanding volume will become essential reference for policymakers, financial practitioners as well as academics and researchers in the field.<

Read more less

The introduction of a single currency within the European Union in its present form is without precedent in world history and will have far-reaching consequences for the future prosperity of the continent.Economic and Monetary Union in Europe brings together contributions from leading specialists which explain and evaluate the most important implications of economic and monetary union. The book examines theoretical aspects of monetary integration, illustrates the historical lessons to be learned from these and discusses the resulting policy consequences.This book will be essential reading for undergraduates studying European monetary integration and will prove to be a key source of reference for academics and post graduates working in this area.

Read more less

The timeliness of this book is beyond question. Since the crisis erupted in Thailand in mid-1997 and spread, with varying degrees of severity, to the rest of Asia, the export-led industrialization strategy that has driven economic growth in East and Southeast Asia over the last 50 years has come into question. Is this model still applicable to latecomers such as Vietnam?The Asian financial crisis has highlighted the dangers of implementing export-oriented industrialization through government subsidies and protection. This book finds that the strategy followed by the Asian economies in the last half-decade remains a valid model for Vietnam. In order to avoid grave damage to its financial institutions, the strategy needs to be implemented in conjunction with the development of a sound financial system and a robust private sector.Based on a detailed analysis of the causes and nature of the Asian financial crisis as well as the Vietnamese economy, this book concludes that it is unlikely that Vietnam will face a banking and currency crisis in the short term, but Vietnam could be plagued by balance of payments difficulties for some time to come unless major structural reforms are undertaken soon.This timely book will be of great use to Asian studies scholars and those interested in the role of the financial sector in economic management and development.

Read more less

This book presents an up-to-date overview of the theory as well as the empirics of the relationship between investment, financial imperfections and uncertainty. After reviewing the capital market imperfections literature and the empirical results, the authors discuss both traditional investment models with uncertainty and the more modern option based models. They present an overview of empirical results of the modelling of investment under uncertainty. In these examples, the effects of capital market imperfections on investment are carefully considered. The authors conclude that there is overwhelming empirical support for a negative uncertainty-investment relationship. This innovative book will appeal to academics with an interest in investment theory, professionals in the financial sector and students of macroeconomics and finance. Investment, Capital Market Imperfections, and Uncertainty assumes only a basic knowledge of mathematics and is easily accessible.

Read more less