The essays in this volume describe, analyse and compare the achievements and the failures of societies that adopted market-based economies within a democratic polity after a long period of communist rule (Russia and Eastern Europe) or military authoritarianism (Latin America). Together, they also trace the rocky course of liberal economic policies over the whole twentieth century. Area experts from various disciplines seek to establish the extent to which the historical experience of the several countries explains successful transitions as well as the less successful efforts to adapt institutions to the needs of a market economy. The papers further show the dilemmas faced in both Eastern Europe and Latin America in reconciling the efficiency benefits of market economies and the need to achieve or maintain socially acceptable patterns of income distribution among the strata of income receivers. In addition to the essays themselves, comments are provided to further explore specific issues. Researchers and students in economics, economic history, political science and regional studies, and others interested in the economics of transition to a market system will find this comprehensive collection an invaluable resource.

Ten years ago the former Soviet Union was pictured in the West as a monolithic unit governed from Moscow with a firm hand. Today, the geographical area which once constituted the USSR no longer exists and the disparities between regions are increasing all the time. This is the first book to provide an overview of Russia's regional development during the entire Soviet period as well as presenting a penetrating analysis of the array of regional problems facing Russia as we move into the twenty-first century. It analyses factors contributing to cohesion and disintegration in Russia today, stressing the importance of ethnicity, religion and Russian nationalism. In examining regional developments and spatial policy during the Soviet period, the authors reveal a remarkable paradox that the development of heavy industry actually reduced regional inequalities, but as the economy diversified disparities widened. The book is also a document from 'the people who were there' - that is, those trying in the circumstances then prevailing to develop regional science which never achieved practical application under central planning. The authors conclude that the development of Russia is increasingly becoming an issue of the development of its regions. This book will be useful for academics working in the areas of transitional economics, economic geography, particularly those interested in long term regional divergence and convergence, and economic history.

Tackling innovation as an endogenous process, this groundbreaking new book builds upon the Schumpeterian creative response by implementing the tools of complexity economics. This reappraisal of the Schumpeterian legacy allows the author to apply complexity economics to endogenous knowledge externalities and consequently move away from the Darwinistic and biological accounts of evolutionary economics. This approach proves that firms, in out-of-equilibrium conditions, try and react by means of introducing innovations. The success of this reaction is contingent upon access conditions to knowledge externalities. Cristiano Antonelli demonstrates that the consequent introduction of innovations may, in turn, knock firms further out of equilibrium and cause positive changes in the system's properties that feed the introduction of further innovations. In addition, this can also engender the decline of the system's properties and push firms to adaptive response that drive the system towards an equilibrium without growth and change. This path dependent loop of interactions between the system properties and the individual actions of firms is central to this book. Paving the way to a new phase of evolutionary economics, the book's prime readership will be students and scholars who study and teach evolutionary economics, the economics of innovation and/or the economics of growth.

It is a widely held belief that the Polish experience of system transformation following the final collapse of 'real socialism' in 1989 is one of the 'best'. Poland into the New Millennium surveys the country's post-communist transformation as it prepares for the challenges of the early years of the new century. The contributors describe key aspects of system transformation in order to promote better understanding of the nature of the processes introduced to the economy and society since 1989. The book seeks to illustrate what has been achieved - and what has not - and tentatively explores likely future developments in relation to the problems that may lie ahead. Entry into the European Union figures as a major issue, but the volume contains sometimes controversial and divergent interpretations of the underlying dynamic shaping Polish society in the new millennium. This comprehensive and multidisciplinary book will be invaluable to researchers, lecturers and students concerned with post-communist transformation across the social sciences and will be of great importance to members of international organisations, consultancies, and financial institutions with a particular interest in Poland.

The implementation of a democratic order embedded in a market economy environment has proved immensely difficult. Furthermore, this process is subject to tremendous variety within Central and Eastern Europe. Ten years after the collapse of communism it was apparent that only Poland and Slovenia surpassed their 1989 levels of GDP. This book scrutinises the arrangements to enforce good governance in this area both by means of external help and domestic political leadership. From the popular assumption that transformation is a collective good, it follows that the problem of free-riding has to be faced. Consequently there is a danger that transformation may never be completed. This book empirically tests the relationship between economic performance and good governance focusing upon voluntary coercion as a means to prevent free-riding behaviour. The author examines the role of international organisations and discusses elite formation as an important element of good governance - something often ignored in the economic analysis of economic performance. Scholars and researchers of political and economic transformation in Central and Eastern Europe as well as those from the fields of political economy, international relations and political science will find this book enlightening.

This insightful book focuses on the economic consequences of structural reform policies in the economies at the cutting edge of reform: Denmark, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway. The contributors examine policies aimed at improving the underlying path of growth, employment and saving-investment balances of the economy and apply state of the art methods to measure and model structural reforms. They examine the areas of competition policy, regulation of entry barriers, non-tariff trade barriers and employment protection rules as well as the quality of education and training, the efficiency of various public sector agencies and labour supply effects of care for children and the elderly. Special attention is paid to two 'success stories': New Zealand's 'Kiwi-model' and the Dutch 'Polder-model'. The book provides a welcome addition to the scarce evidence on both the costs and the benefits of structural reform and identifies the policy problems and the analytical issues at stake. This book will be indispensable to policymakers and academics with an interest in structural reform and macroeconomic policy.

The euphoria evidenced in the aftermath of the collapse of communist regimes in the late 1980s and early 1990s sometimes conveyed the impression that the process of democratization would be achieved without difficulty or tribulation. This book sets out to provide a thorough comparative analysis of the challenges which face the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe and considers the impact of political change. Drawing heavily on available survey data, the book provides an in-depth account of how the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe have coped with four major challenges: political fragmentation, nationalism, lack of respect for human rights, and poorly developed civil service systems. The book demonstrates that although the first few years of the 1990s were marked by increasing disenchantment with the new regimes, the change of governments as a direct result of the electoral process and the prospects for European integration have served to reverse this negative trend. Indeed, the authors find that the new political systems have managed to cope with the challenges so effectively that striking similarities with Western democracies are now apparent. Offering new insights into democratic transition, Challenges to Democracy will appeal to political scientists, diplomats and policymakers, and economists with an interest in European and comparative politics.

Recent political developments on the Korean peninsula suggest both the possibility and desirability for the neighboring powers to establish a new framework for regional peace. The US and North Korea have managed to reach an agreement to reduce mutually hostile threats on a reciprocal basis, and to normalize diplomatic relations by removing economic sanctions. They have thus created conditions potentially favorable for the expansion of trade and the inflow of economic assistance and foreign direct investment to North Korea. A crucial question, however, is will North Korea choose to transform its internal system and adopt an open-door policy in an effort to revive its stagnant economy? The distinguished contributors to this volume address the central issue of the development potential of the North Korean economy and the potential compatibility of economic reform with the maintenance of internal political stability. They examine what will be needed in the way of reform for North Korea to build its social infrastructure and manage its industrial transition to become part of the global market economy. Lessons are drawn from the experiences of China's economic reform since 1979 and German reunification and some sharp insights are provided into the economic forces that will play a major role in shaping the future course of North Korea. This timely book will be of great interest to policymakers, scholars, and students of Asian and transition economies.

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.

In 1990 Mongolia, the second oldest communist state in the world, initiated a fundamental transformation of its economy and moved rapidly to a multi-party democracy. Unlike any other Asian economy it adopted the shock-therapy approach to transition. This book is the first attempt to provide a detailed examination of transition in Mongolia since 1990. It includes analyses of macroeconomic performance, the agriculture and industry sectors, the labour market and the emerging financial sector. It also focuses on poverty, gender, privatisation and the environment. The contributors to this volume argue that policymakers have exacerbated the painful transition process by underestimating its complexity and by pursuing inappropriate or, at best, overly optimistic policy reforms.

This book is an important addition to the emerging body of new work on capital. Its primary contribution is in analysing capital investment choice as a process. The understanding of this process requires some modification and significant extension to the standard neo-classical economic tools.Capital and Uncertainty is a non-mathematical text, modernizing and adding to the existing thought in this area, with insights from game theory, rational choice under uncertainty and new institutional economics. Dr Runge also draws upon 25 years of business experience in setting out a thorough and immensely practical exposition of the risk/return trade-off and how major capital investment decisions are made within firms. Topics studied include: the nature of capital investment decisions entrepreneurship and the market order capital investment choice processes capital investment models capital decisions: choices between strategies Economists, industrial organisation specialists, business academics and practitioners alike will all find this book of immense interest and use.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has experienced a process of rapid fiscal decentralisation: its 88 regions are now in charge of almost half of total budgetary expenditure, while an overhaul of the revenue allocation system has given them substantial control over locally collected revenue. These regions are highly diverse in climate, natural resources and economic development, with some much better equipped than others to adjust to market conditions. Fiscal Federalism in Russia examines the combined impact of decentralisation and diversity on regional equality of service provision and in particular the provision of education. The book begins with an analysis of the system of intergovernmental transfers and goes on to explore the nature and extent of disparities in education spending, paying particular attention to regions where spending has fallen furthest. The book also contains a case study of the allocation decisions affecting the education sector within a single region, Novgorod Oblast, in North-West Russia. Based entirely on field research, the study provides a rare insight into the decision making process at regional and local level, as well as an analysis of the extent of internal revenue and spending disparities. Academics, researchers and those interested in decentralisation or the economics of transition will warmly welcome this detailed analysis of the direction and impact of inter-governmental transfers in Russia.

How do young people survive in the era of high unemployment, persistent economic crises and poor living standards that characterise post-communist society in the former Soviet Union? This major original book - written by leading authorities in the field - shows how young people have managed to maintain optimism despite the very severe economic and social problems that beset the countries of the former Soviet Union. In most former Soviet countries the devastating initial shock of market reforms has been followed by precious little therapy. The effects have been most pronounced among young people as only a minority have prospered in the new market economies and inequalities have widened dramatically. Despite an all-round improvement in educational standards, most young people have been unable to obtain proper jobs. Housing and family transitions have been blocked. Uses of free time have shifted massively from the public into the private domain. Few young people have any confidence that their countries' political leaders will engineer solutions. Yet in spite of all this, the majority prefer the new uncertainties, and the merest prospect of the Western way of life, to the old guarantees. They are prepared to give the reforms more time to deliver, but this time is now fast running out. Surviving Post-communism will be an illuminating exposition of the realities of post-communist life for scholars of sociology and transition studies.

This book explores whether foreign direct investment (FDI) can contribute to the competitiveness of industries in Central Europe and to narrowing the gap between these transition economies and countries within the European Union. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia have attracted substantial FDI since the beginning of their transition to a market economy. Using exhaustive empirical data, the authors demonstrate that foreign investment enterprises in Central Europe have higher allocative efficiency, promote macro- and microeconomic restructuring and foster the restructuring of the manufacturing sector in accordance with the host countries' comparative advantages. The case of Austria is used to demonstrate the possible benefits of FDI. On the other hand, high foreign penetration leads to the concentration of production and exports and makes the economy more vulnerable to external shocks. In addition, there may be unwelcome pressures on economic policy in order to maintain the country's position as a frequented investment target. However, the analysis in this book suggests that, on the whole, economies in transition can become more competitive more rapidly and more profoundly with the help of foreign direct investment. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international economics, European studies, economies of transition and international business.

"Makes a reader feel like a time traveler plopped down among men who were by turns vicious and visionary."--"The Christian Science Monitor"""
The modern American economy was the creation of four men: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan. They were the giants of the Gilded Age, a moment of riotous growth that established America as the richest, most inventive, and most productive country on the planet.
Acclaimed author Charles R. Morris vividly brings the men and their times to life. The ruthlessly competitive Carnegie, the imperial Rockefeller, and the provocateur Gould were obsessed with progress, experiment, and speed. They were balanced by Morgan, the gentleman businessman, who fought, instead, for a global trust in American business. Through their antagonism and their verve, they built an industrial behemoth--and a country of middle-class consumers. "The Tycoons" tells the incredible story of how these four determined men wrenched the economy into the modern age, inventing a nation of full economic participation that could not have been imagined only a few decades earlier.

The strategies and practical approaches for socio-economic development are undergoing systemic changes under the influence of new developments in global economic systems and markets. The most significant factors influencing such changes are connected to the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), which is impacting all economic systems to a greater or lesser extent. The creation of the digital economy and transition to Industry 4.0 particularly increases the significance of hi-tech for socio-economic development. Secondly, there is now a transition underway from a period of unlimited globalization and comprehensive integration to more limited globalization and selective economic integration. The growing importance of regionalization on the global economic system is manifested in the formation and rapid development of new integration unions at the regional or country level (e.g., the EU and the EAEU), and company level (e.g., regional sectoral economic clusters, special economic areas, technological parks, and innovative networks). Thirdly, there's an urgent need for faster innovation, which leads to the formation of more innovative economies. The global financial crisis drew attention to the problems of managing sustainability and achieving balance in socio-economic development. The formation and exponential growth of the information society, based on digital technologies, is now stimulating the growth and significance of corporate social and environmental responsibility as a prerequisite for entrepreneurial success. Thus, the paradigm of socio-economic development is changing from absolute rationality (economic effectiveness) and stability - which has historically been associated with problems of stagnation - to responsibility (limited and socially-oriented rationality) and dynamism (quick innovative development based on leading technologies). This book aims to provide a scientific substantiation for this new paradigm.