Economic growth and globalisation create traffic growth, leading to congestion, which again increases travel times and costs. Road pricing is an instrument that may efficiently reduce the negative impacts. This volume is a collection of research papers on the use of road pricing. The focus is on passenger transport, and the papers cover a wide range of approaches, including theoretical modelling and empirical studies of road pricing experience from different cities.

This book studies the economic impact of container traffic at one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean: the Port of Algeciras Bay (PAB). The authors analyse the global framework of the containerisation business and the characteristics that currently condition this process. Following is an explanation of the physical characteristics of the PAB, and a description of the situation as regards the physical and logistics infrastructure in principal Mediterranean ports.

This volume covers the topic of innovation in three sections, first demonstrating that processes of innovation and technological change are spatially differentiated, second examining the increasing importance of knowledge creation and diffusion, and third raising key issues related to the systems of innovation approach as a conceptual framwork for regional innovation analysis. Includes enlightening conceptual and empirical work on the issue of how knowledge spills over locally.

The culmination of more than two decades of work on the spatiality of economic forms, worlds, and lives, Variegated Economies tackles the question of how to approach, conceptualize, and analyze economies as geographically differentiated phenomena. Staged from the field of economic geography, the book seeks to build bridges to complementary developments in critical political economy and heterodox economic studies by way of a substantive theoretical and methodological program. Jamie Peck advances a series of arguments concerning the inherent-and highly consequential-spatiality of economic forms, worlds, and lives, engaging a range of issues from the diversity of capitalism(s) to the dynamics of late-stage neoliberalization, and from the problematic uneven geographical development to the challenges-cum-opportunities of conjunctural methodologies.

The turbulence of the current times has dramatically transformed the world's economic geographies. The scale and scope of such changes require urgent attention. With intellectual roots dating to the 19th century economic geography has traditionally sought to examine the spatial distributions of economic activity and the principles that account for them. More recently, the field has turned its attention to a range of questions relating to: globalization and its impact on different peoples and places; economic inequalities at different geographic scales; the development of the knowledge-based economy; and the relationship between economy and environment. Now more than ever the changing fortunes of peoples and places demands our attention.

Economic Geography provides a stimulating and innovative introduction to economic geography by establishing the substantive concerns of economic geographers, the methods deployed to study them, the key concepts and theories that animate the field, and the major issues generating debate. This book is the first to address the diverse approaches to economic geography as well as the constantly shifting economic geographies on the ground. It encompasses traditional approaches, albeit from a critical perspective, while providing a thorough, accessible and engaging examination of the concerns, methods and approaches of the ?new economic geography?. This unique introductory text covers the breadth of economic geography while engaging with a range of contemporary debates at the cutting-edge of the field.

Written in an accessible and lucid style, this book offers a thorough and systematic introductory survey. It is enhanced by pedagogical features throughout including case studies dealing with topics ranging from the head office locations of the Fortune 500, Mexico's maquiladoras to China's investments in southern Africa. This book also contains exercises based on the key concepts and annotated further reading and websites.

America is witnessing a retirement crisis. As the labor market shifts to the gig economy and new strains restrict social security, the American Dream of secure retirement becomes further out of reach for up to half of the population. In Waiting on Retirement, Mary Gatta takes the case of restaurant workers to examine the experiences of low-wage workers who are middle-aged, aging, and past retirement age. She deftly explores the many factors shaping what it means to grow old in economic insecurity as her subjects face race- and gender-based inequities, health hazards associated with their work, and the bitter reality that the older they get the fewer professional opportunities are available to them. More importantly, Gatta demonstrates that these problems are pervasive, as more industries adopt the worst workplace practices of service work. In light of these trends, we must consider the devastating effects on already vulnerable Americans because, as Gatta contends, this crisis does not need to be inevitable. Taking as a model the small percentage of "good" restaurant jobs that exist, she ultimately offers incisive commentary on what can be done to stave off this bleak future.

Research interest in the service sector has boomed in recent years as deindustrialisation became entrenched. Instead of being regarded as merely supplementary to traditional industry and manufacturing, services have generated progressively rising levels of growth in developed economies while at the same time coming to be recognised as major drivers of innovation. Among the factors which have helped service companies notch up swifter growth rates than all other sectors are the outsourcing of such services by other sectors, including the development of information and communication technologies, and changes to the regulatory, legal and market frameworks as well as globalisation and internationalisation. The result is a cluster of highly innovative firms which can loosely be grouped under the heading of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS). Knowledge Intensive Business Services and Regional Competitiveness charts the development of these firms and explores their success through four mutually linked parts: KIBS and industrial dynamics; KIBS and their context; KIBS and their contribution to regional competitiveness and economic development; and finally, KIBS and public policy. This book is suitable for researchers and policy makers interested in the rise of these influential actors and their influence on regional competitiveness.

Various theories have been put forward as to why business and industry develops in clusters and despite good work being carried out on path dependence and dynamics, this is still very much an emerging topic in the social sciences. To date, no overarching theoretical framework has been developed to show how clusters evolve. Unfolding Cluster Evolution aims to address this gap by presenting theoretical and empirical research on the geography of innovation. This contributed volume seeks to shed light on the understanding of clusters and its dynamic evolution. The book provides evidence to suggest that traditional perspectives from evolutionary economic geography need to be wedded to management thinking in order to reach this point. Bringing together thinking from a range of disciplines and countries across Europe, this book explores a wide range of topics from the capability approach, to network dynamics, to multinational corporations, to firm entry and exit and social capital. This book will be of interest to policy makers and students of urban studies, economic geography, and planning and development.

America is witnessing a retirement crisis. As the labor market shifts to the gig economy and new strains restrict social security, the American Dream of secure retirement becomes further out of reach for up to half of the population. In Waiting on Retirement, Mary Gatta takes the case of restaurant workers to examine the experiences of low-wage workers who are middle-aged, aging, and past retirement age. She deftly explores the many factors shaping what it means to grow old in economic insecurity as her subjects face race- and gender-based inequities, health hazards associated with their work, and the bitter reality that the older they get the fewer professional opportunities are available to them. More importantly, Gatta demonstrates that these problems are pervasive, as more industries adopt the worst workplace practices of service work. In light of these trends, we must consider the devastating effects on already vulnerable Americans because, as Gatta contends, this crisis does not need to be inevitable. Taking as a model the small percentage of "good" restaurant jobs that exist, she ultimately offers incisive commentary on what can be done to stave off this bleak future.

This insightful account demonstrates that capitalism in China has a history and a geography, and combines perspectives from both to demonstrate that regional economic restructuring in South China is far from an economic 'miracle's.

Find out more information about the RGS-IBG journals by following the links below:

AREA:

http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0004-0894

The Geographical Journal:

http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0016-7398

Transactions of the Insititute of British Geographers:

http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0020-2754

Political economies of landscape change contributes to the Landscape Architecture Foundation's Landscape Futures Initiative, which explores driving forces of landscape change that societies and designers will face in the 21st century. It examines the complex relationships between political economy and landscape change and encompasses perspectives ranging from radical landscape interpretation to sustainable livelihoods, real estate economics, institutions, international landscape policies, and global finance. It asks what difference design can make within the broader structural contexts of landscape change.

Democracy, States, and the Struggle for Social Justice draws on the fields of geography, political theory, and cultural studies to analyze experiments with novel forms of democracy, highlighting the critical issue of the changing nature of the state and citizenship in the contemporary political landscape as they are buffeted by countervailing forces of corporate globalization and participatory politics.

Using interesting case studies, the book explores these 3 main themes:

• the meaning of radical democracy in light of recent developments in democratic theory
• new spatial arrangements or scales of democracy from local to global, from streets protests to the development of transnational networks
• the character and role of states in the development of new forms of democracy

The book asks and answers: are participatory models of democracy viable alternatives in their own right or are they best understood as supplemental to traditional representative democracy? What are the conditions that give rise to the development of such models and are they equally effective at every scale; i.e., do they only realize their radical potential in particular, local places?

A useful text in a broad range of advanced undergraduate courses including social movements, political sociology or geography, political philosophy.

This insightful account demonstrates that capitalism in China has a history and a geography, and combines perspectives from both to demonstrate that regional economic restructuring in South China is far from an economic 'miracle's.

Find out more information about the RGS-IBG journals by following the links below:

AREA:

http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0004-0894

The Geographical Journal:

http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0016-7398

Transactions of the Insititute of British Geographers:

http: //www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0020-2754

Clusters - regional concentrations of related firms and organizations - are seen as being an important element of economic growth and innovation. But there is little understanding of how clusters come into existence, and little guidance provided on the role of policies that are conducive to the formation of clusters.
Cluster Genesis focuses on these early origins of clusters. The case histories of well-known, established clusters, as well as more recently-developed clusters are discussed, including:
DT The Hollywood motion picture cluster,
DT Silicon Valley,
DT Boston and San Francisco biotech regions,
DT The Biotech industry in China,
DT Medicon Valley in Scandinavia,
DT The Irish ITC sector.
Leading scholars contribute chapters examining cluster genesis, the divergent processes by which clusters arise, how multinationals contribute to cluster development, and how economic development policy may promote or hinder cluster genesis.
Cluster Genesis uses a variety o methodological perspectives, examines a range of policy options, and draws on a number of rich case histories, and will be key reading for academics, researchers, and students of Economics, Innovation, Sociology, Geography, and Management Studies, as well as economic development officials and policy makers.

Through the 1990s and early 2000s the strength of the United States economy has been linked to its ability to foster large numbers of small innovative technology companies, a few of which have grown to dominate new industries, such as Microsoft, Genentech, or Google. US technology clusters such as Silicon Valley have become tremendous engines of innovation and wealth creation, and the envy of governments around the world. Creating Silicon Valley in Europe examines trajectories by which new technology industries emerge and become sustainable across different types of economies. Governments around the world have poured vast sums of money into policies designed to foster clusters of similar start-up firms in their economies. This book employs careful empirical studies of the biotechnology and software industries in the United States and several European economies, to examine the relative success of policies aimed at cultivating the 'Silicon Valley model' of organizing and financing companies in Europe. Influential research associated with the 'varieties of capitalism' literature has argued that countries with liberal market orientations, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, can more easily design policies to cultivate success in new technology industries compared to countries associated with organized economies, such as Germany and Sweden. The book's empirical findings support the view that national institutional factors strongly condition the success of new technology policies. However, the study also identifies important cases in which radically innovative new technology firms have thrived within organized economies. Through examining case of both success and failure Creating Silicon Valley in Europe helps identify constellations of market and governmental activities that can lead to the emergence of sustainable clusters of new technology firms across both organized and liberal market economies.

China has promised to invest more than $60billion in Pakistan, in roads, rail, energy and a deep-water port at Gwadar. This is unprecedented relative to decades of minimal foreign direct investment (FDI) entering Pakistan. This is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Support for CPEC in Pakistan is widespread and encompasses much of academia, the military, the mainstream political leadership, and civil society. Supporters argue that CPEC offers the potential to transform Pakistan and support rapid, equitable and sustainable economic growth. Detractors of CPEC argue that it will more likely tip Pakistan into a dependent debt-relationship with China and that it will facilitate more Chinese imports into Pakistan posing a threat to Pakistan's industrial base. This book utilises an in-depth understanding of economic change in contemporary China and Pakistan, and economic theory and studies of big infrastructure projects from the contemporary and historical world to evaluate these contrasting views about CPEC.

Firms are at the very heart of modern day life. They come in a seemingly infinite variety - from transnationals to small firm, from corporations to branch plants, to subsidiaries and joint ventures, from subcontractors to franchisees, from sole proprietorships to partnerships, from manufacturers to service providers and retailers. For the most part we view them as the creators, destroyers, and repositories of jobs - the creators and destroyers of people's livelihoods, lives, and dreams. But, deciding just what a firm is is neither a simple nor a straightforward task. Against a background of the dynamic complexity and plurality that business forms (and firms) can assume, there is a constant search within academic research for the processes that create and maintain both enterprise and enterprises in capitalist societies: a search for a theory of the firm. This book addresses some of the gaps in the current state of the theory of the firm from an economic geography perspective: issues around the boundaries of the firm; the collective agency of the firm; the political firm, financial markets, and the state; and the firm in place.

The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory addresses one of the most debated and least understood revolutions in the history of our species, the change from hunting and gathering to farming. Graeme Barker takes a global view, and integrates a massive array of information from archaeology and many other disciplines, including anthropology, botany, climatology, genetics, linguistics, and zoology. Against current orthodoxy, Barker develops a strong case for the development of agricultural systems in many areas as transformations in the life-ways of the indigenous forager societies, and argues that these were as much changes in social norms and ideologies as in ways of obtaining food. With a large number of helpful line drawings and photographs as well as a comprehensive bibliography, this authoritative study will appeal to a wide general readership as well as to specialists in a variety of fields.

This open access book is interdisciplinary and provides cross-sectoral and multi-dimensional exploration of sustainable development and transportation in South Africa. Drawing on work from different disciplines, the book contributes not only to academia but also seeks to inform urban and regional policy with the view of contributing to the national aspirations of South Africa as espoused in the National Development Plan (NDP), 2030, National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF) Draft (2019), National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCASS) Draft (2019), Green Transport Strategy for South Africa (2018-2050), and National Transportation Plan (NATMAP), 2050. Adopting a multi-dimensional assessment, the book provides a background for co-production concerning climate change, sustainable development, and transportation in the Global South. The book contributes in its analysis of the institutional and legislative framework that relates to the climate change, skills and knowledge transfer, sustainable development, and transportation in South Africa, as these are responsible for the evolution of the green economy and transport sector in the country. The connections among different sectors and issues such as environment, transport modes, technology innovation, vehicle management and emission control, skills and knowledge transfer, legislative and policy framework, and the wider objectives of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially goals 11 to 13. The success stories relating to climate change, sustainable development, and transportation in South Africa are identified together with the best possible practices that may inform better environmental, urban and regional planning, policy, practice, and management.

Over the last decade the neo-institutionalist literature on comparative capitalism has developed into an influential body of work. In this book, Colin Crouch assesses this literature, and proposes a major re-orientation of the field. Crouch critiques many aspects of this work and finds a way of modelling how creative actors trying to achieve change - institutional entrepreneurs - tackle these constraints. Central to the account is the concept of governance, as it is by recombining governance mechanisms that these entrepreneurs must achieve their goals. In seeking how to analyse the spaces in which they operate, Crouch criticises and deconstructs some dominant approaches in socio-political analysis: to typologies, to elective affinity and complementarity, to path dependence. He develops a theory of governance modes, which includes potentially decomposing them into their core components. Finally, he proposes a reorientation of the neo-institutionalist research programme to take more account of detailed diversity and potentiality for change. The book is primarily theoretical, but it makes liberal use of examples, particularly from studies of local economic development and politics.

A world more urban... The world is undergoing massive urbanization, and is projected to increase from three to over four billion city dwellers, mostly in the developing world, within 15 years. This historic shift is producing dramatic effects on human well-being and the environment. ...but less poor Unplanned shanty-towns without basic services are not an inevitable consequence of urbanization and slums are not explained by poverty alone. Urban misery also stems from misguided policies, inappropriate legal frameworks, dysfunctional markets, poor governance, and not least, lack of political will. Urbanization and economic development go hand-in-hand and the productivity of the urban economy can and should benefit everyone. Living conditions for the urban poor can be dramatically improved with proper solutions, backed by decisive, concerted action. More Urban - Less Poor brings order to the complex and important field of urban development in developing and transitional countries. Written in an accessible style, the book examines how cities grow, their economic development, urban poverty, housing and environmental problems. It also examines how to face these challenges through governance and management of urban growth, the finance and delivery of services, and finding a role for development cooperation. This is essential reading for development professionals, researchers, students and others working on any facet of urban development and management in our rapidly urbanizing world. Published with SIDA

Governments and regional authorities often express the belief that the key to prosperity and economic expansion is related to the ability of countries to sustain regional clusters of competitiveness and innovation. The book reviews the most important conceptual approaches to the analysis of the emergence, growth and evolution of clusters of innovation. Drawing from the different experiences of industrial districts and high-tech regions such as Silicon Valley, Boston's biotech region and Hsinchu-Taipei, the contributions in this book offer a broad interpretative framework and policy implications for the creations and strengthening of competitive clusters.
Themes include:
q The wide variety of existing clusters and the diversity on their emergence and growth
q The international mobility of factors and demand linkages
q The role of different network types and the social setting
q The accumulation of capabilities on key large actors and the importance of spinoffs and new firm formation
q The role of different learning regimes and sectoral specificities
q The importance of social networks, labor mobility and face to face contacts as vehicles of knowledge spillovers
Broad implications are drawn for the design of policies to encourage successful economic clusters in developed and developing clusters.

Over the last decade the neo-institutionalist literature on comparative capitalism has developed into an influential body of work. In this book, Colin Crouch assesses this literature, and proposes a major re-orientation of the field. Crouch critiques many aspects of this work and finds a way of modelling how creative actors trying to achieve change - institutional entrepreneurs - tackle these constraints. Central to the account is the concept of governance, as it is by recombining governance mechanisms that these entrepreneurs must achieve their goals. In seeking how to analyse the spaces in which they operate, Crouch criticises and deconstructs some dominant approaches in socio-political analysis: to typologies, to elective affinity and complementarity, to path dependence. He develops a theory of governance modes, which includes potentially decomposing them into their core components. Finally, he proposes a reorientation of the neo-institutionalist research programme to take more account of detailed diversity and potentiality for change. The book is primarily theoretical, but it makes liberal use of examples, particularly from studies of local economic development and politics.

The revised edition of this highly acclaimed work presents crucial lessons from Japan's recession that could aid the US and other economies as they struggle to recover from the current financial crisis.

This book is about Japan's 15-year long recession and how it affected current theoretical thinking about its causes and cures. It has a detailed explanation on what happened to Japan, but the discoveries made are so far-reaching that a large portion of economics literature will have to be modified to accommodate another half to the macroeconomic spectrum of possibilities that conventional theorists have overlooked.

The author developed the idea of yin and yang business cycles where the conventional world of profit maximization is the yang and the world of balance sheet recession, where companies are minimizing debt, is the yin. Once so divided, many varied theories developed in macro economics since the 1930s can be nicely categorized into a single comprehensive theory- "The Holy Grail of Macro Economics"