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.

From two of the nation's leading economic thinkers, a concrete action plan to reignite the power of the U.S. economic system In the wake of the Great Recession and America's listless recovery from it, economists, policymakers, and media pundits have argued at length about what has gone wrong with the American capitalist system. Even so, few constructive remedies have emerged. This welcome book cuts through the chatter and offers a detailed, nonideological, and practical blueprint to restore the vigor of the American economy. Better Capitalism extends and significantly expands on the insights of the authors' widely praised previous book, Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, co-written with William Baumol. In Better Capitalism, Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm focus on the huge-but often unrecognized-importance of entrepreneurship to overall economic growth. They explain how changes in seemingly unrelated policy arenas-immigration, education, finance, and federal support of university research-can accelerate America's recovery from recession and spur the nation's rate of growth in output while raising living standards. The authors also outline an innovative energy strategy and discuss the potential benefits of government belt-tightening steps. Sounding an optimistic note when gloomy predictions are the norm, Litan and Schramm show that, with wise and informed policymaking, the American entrepreneurial engine can rally and the true potential of the U.S. economy can be unlocked.

Capitalism With a Human Face is a carefully edited selection of Samuel Brittan's most important recent essays. It covers topics ranging from utilitarianism and the ethics of self-interest, to the principles of macroeconomic policy and how to price people into work without throwing them into poverty. The book will be controversial, for the individualistic ethic, which it is so fashionable to attack, is not merely defended but celebrated. This collection will be of special interest both to readers of Samuel Brittan's articles who would like a more extended treatment and those new to his work. A notable feature is a specially written introduction explaining how the author came to take up political economy and how he arrived at the positions elaborated in this book.

Economic Theory and Capitalist Society is a collection of Shigeto Tsuru's most important essays written over the period of the past 60 years in the fields of general economic theory, development and environmental economics, and Marxian political economy. Professor Tsuru has been a leading critic of the major tenets of modern economic theory and has been credited in particular for his comparative studies of aggregate concepts, such as those of Quesnay, Keynes and Marx. Essentially an institutionalist, the author reviews the methodological significance of Marx's contribution, taking up in detail the latter's unique concept of the 'fetishism of commodities' and discussing the relevance of Marxian methodology to the analysis of present-day capitalism. The author's critique of the fundamental equation of growth accounting developed by Robert Solow, 'Effects of Technology on Productivity', is one of a number of theoretical papers included in this volume. It also features a series of important essays on environmental economics which the author, as a founder of the Japanese environmental movement, has written over the past half century. This collection of key articles by one of the most distinguished Japanese economists will be welcomed by students and practitioners in the fields of institutional and radical economics, environmental economics and the history of economic thought. The volume also includes an autobiographical essay which explains the development of Professor Tsuru's thought, his education at Harvard in the 1930s and his experience of post-war Japan. The Economic Development of Modern Japan, the second volume of Shigeto Tsuru's selected essays, is also published by Edward Elgar.

In its heyday, Calumet Farm dominated the sport of kings, but during the 1980s, the high-stakes business that had developed around its blueblood roots began to unravel. "Race fans will love the book, of course, but so will anybody interested in recent cultural history, for Wild Ride is as much about 1980s greed as it is about horses".--Los Angeles Times.

The end of the cold war has created a new and unprecedented type of mixed economy in Eastern Europe. This innovative up-to-date book questions whether the former Eastern block countries will follow the path of West European mixed economies, or if a quite different economic system will emerge. Mixed Economies in Europe presents new work by distinguished authors who offer an evolutionary perspective on the dynamics of mixed economies. In so doing, they provide a unique, policy-orientated assessment of the formation and transformation of mixed economies in both Eastern and Western Europe. In particular, they emphasise the importance of institutional arrangements and regulatory frameworks. The book shows that the liberalization of markets, both within and between European countries has led, in many cases, to a divergence of economic performance across regions and is likely to continue to do so in the future. This raises policy considerations for the EC and its constituent governments which have not, as yet, been adequately addressed.

The industrialized economies of the world have experienced a considerable diversity of economic experience since the shocks of the 1970s. The authors of this major study assess the institutional determinants of economic performance in a comparative analysis of OECD economies. They focus in particular on the role played by corporatist arrangements in such countries as Austria and the Scandinavian states. Corporatism and Economic Performance argues that economists often have a narrow view of the scope and function of corporatism, focusing on the extent to which collective bargaining is centralized, and ignoring the important role of durable, consensual policy making arrangements. The record of the corporatist economies is assessed and considerable evidence is found to show that they have borne the burden of economic adjustment over the last twenty years in a less inegalitarian way than other OECD economies, with lower rates of unemployment and greater economic stability. In an increasingly integrated world economy, the future prospects for corporatism look uncertain, although there is still a strong economic case for corporatist institutions. This book sheds new light on corporatism as a complex and multidimensional entity, examining the rationale, scope, performance and future prospects of corporatist institutions.

The emergence of China as a global economic powerhouse, the uncertain path of Russia towards a market economy, and the integration of ten Central and Eastern European countries into the European Union (EU) have occupied the minds and agendas of many policy-makers, business leaders and scholars from around the world at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century. Twenty years ago these developments were unimaginable. The impact of these changes is so vast that the importance of understanding the forces that unleashed this process, how these changes became possible, and what the lessons are for other developing countries, cannot be overestimated. This book is the first effort to analyze the economics and politics of agricultural reforms by comparing the reform processes, their causes and their effects across this vast region. The authors draw on a vast set of studies and new data, which compare reforms and economic impacts in more than 25 countries, to come up with a series of conclusions and implications on the role of economic reforms in growth, and the importance of initial conditions and political constraints in explaining the choices that were made and their effects. The book analyzes some of the most successful sets of agricultural policies in history that have lifted people out of poverty, raising productivity and incomes by staggering amounts. At the same time the book explains the reasons behind dramatic failures in policy processes and reforms that caused hunger, poverty and which had devastating effects on economic growth and development for millions of other people.

The financial crisis, which originated in developed country financial markets, quickly spread to developing countries. Governments and central banksthough taking many and costly measures were powerless to stop the global economic meltdown, as economies across the globe went into recession. The depth of the financial crisis means that the world economy is in unchartered territory. How do we restore robust growth and prevent another crisis? This book aims to systematically understand current major problems in the financial system, its governance, and in its links to global economic imbalances. It explains how both market actors and regulators behavior, and the prevailing ideology of extreme financial liberalization and deregulation, contributed to the financial crisis. This highly topical book focuses on the transparency and regulatory measures that are necessary to restore confidence in the financial system, to ensure that the financial system performs the roles that it should perform within both developing and developed countries, and to make a recurrence less likely. The book also describes reforms in the global financial architecture that might make the global financial system more stable and more equitable. The book presents sometimes radical, but specific, pragmatic, and politically feasible proposals to try to ensure a more stable, equitable, and growing world economy. Contributions come from both developed and developing countries and are written by leading authorities in their field, including senior nationalas well as internationalpolicy makers, practitioners from the private sector, and leading academics.

Digital transformation concepts have created new business principles such as the on-demand economy and a new sharing economy. While the on-demand economy has primarily grown out of industrialized economies, especially North America, Africa has been known to exhibit communal living characterized by sharing. Literature has shown that the introduction of ICTs to everyday life and business has redefined the concept of sharing and also evolved an entirely new spectrum of sharing - both in the individual and business settings. Alongside this new spectrum is a new disruptive business model known as the platform business model. While the subject continues to attract interest globally and locally, there is a need to deepen the understanding of this subject to validate global perspectives on platforms as economic drivers within the African context. Africa's Platforms and the Evolving Sharing Economy is an essential reference source that explores evidence-based platform dynamics and their impact on Africa as a continent leveraging technology for economic development. The book also delves into current data protection and privacy issues and the policies and regulations that could impact the design, deployment, and use of platforms for businesses. Featuring research on topics such as digital design, e-commerce, and enterprise information systems, this book is ideally designed for government officials, economists, business executives, managers, academicians, students, researchers, and global finance professionals.

How does the politics of working life shape modern organizations? Is our desire for meaningful, secure work increasingly at odds with corporate behaviour in a globalized economy? Does the rise of performance management culture represent an intensification of work, or create opportunities for the freewheeling individual career? This timely and engaging book, by leading authorities in the field, adopts the standpoint of the 'questioning observer'. It is for those who need an informed account of work that is accessible without being superficial. The book is unique in its multi-dimensional approach, weaving together analysis of individual work experience, political processes in organizations, and the wider context of the social structuring of markets. The book identifies central questions about working experience and answers them in a direct and lively manner. It has a strong analytical foundation based on a political economy framework, giving particular weight to the contradictory character of organizations. These contradictions turn on the competing demands placed on organizations and the different political projects of groups within them. This perspective integrates the chapters, and permits numerous scholarly debates to be addressed - including those on identity projects, gender and work, power and participation, escalation in decision-making, and the meaning of corporate social responsibility. This book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate classes in Organizational Behaviour, Business Strategy and the Sociology of Work and Employment. It will also appeal to the general reader interested in grappling with the complexity of the changing environment of work.

Can the ethical mission of health care survive among organizations competing for survival in the marketplace? On this question hinges not only the future of health care in the US, but that of the health care systems of all advanced countries. This book presents both an analytic framework and a menu of pragmatic answers. The team of authors, physician-ethicists from Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health, worked with a consortium of health care organizations to explore some of the most challenging dilemmas in health care today: How can health plans determine medical necessity in a way that ensures quality care, controls costs, and builds trust with patients and physicians? What are the strategies for caring for vulnerable populations that meet their special neds without dramatically increasing costs? To answer these and other similar questions the authors blend ethical analysis with real-world example. The outcome is a rich analysis of the ethical challenges facing health care organizations, combined with tangible examples of exemplary methods to address these challenges. This book will help health care leaders, regulators, and policy makers incorporate exemplary practices, and the underlying themes they embody, into the very heart and soul of health care organizations.

One of the most striking phenomena in all of economics is the absence of a deep tradition of criticism focused on Keynesian economic theory. There have been critics but they are few and far between, even though Keynesian demand management has been at the centre of some of the worst economic outcomes in history, from the great stagflation of the 1970s to the twenty-year 'lost decade' in Japan that has been ongoing since the 1990s, and now, once again, the dismal recoveries that have followed the Global Financial Crisis. This book brings together some of the most vocal critics of Keynesian economics of the present time. Each author attempts to explain what is wrong with Keynesian theory for those seeking guidance on where to turn for a more accurate explanation of the business cycle and what to do when recessions occur. The contributions are by scholars from a wide number of schools of economics, include but are not restricted to Austrian, monetarist and classical perspectives. Written not just for economists, this accessible book is one of the few anti-Keynesian texts available and explains the inability of public spending and lower interest rates to have restored robust economic growth and full employment after the GFC. The collection offers an antidote to contemporary macroeconomic theory. It is an essential text for anyone wishing to understand why no stimulus has been able to bring recovery to any economy in which it has been tried. Contributors include: P.Boettke, P.L. Bylund, T. Congdon, R.M. Ebeling, R.W. Garrison, S. Horwitz, S. Kates, A. Kling, A.B. Laffer, P. Newman, G. Reisman, D. Simpson, M. Skousen, P. Smith

Using theories and methods from the toolbox of Comparative Public Policy and Comparative Political Economy, Thomas Krumm's excellent book is a must-read for anyone interested in the politics of public-private partnerships in a cross-country perspective.' - Karsten Mause, University of Muenster, Germany'Why have some countries in Western Europe heavily relied on public-private partnerships between 1990 and 2009 while others have abstained from using this policy instrument? In his important study, Thomas Krumm provides an encompassing and detailed overview of PPP activities, in no less than 14 West European EU member states, that so far has not been available. Using a mixed-methods research design, the author convincingly shows that political and economic factors explain the diverse PPP trajectories in Western Europe.' - Reimut Zohlnhoefer, University of Heidelberg, Germany This comprehensive book provides a unique comparative policy analysis of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in 14 Western European countries - from Scandinavia to Greece - bringing together important insights from government and politics as well as economics and institutional analysis. Thomas Krumm focuses on political drivers for policy change in favour of PPPs, and the supportive and limiting socioeconomic and institutional conditions. Using comparative data, he charts key policies and actors involved in supporting collaboration between the State and private business organisations across Western Europe. Students and scholars of public policy, regulation and comparative politics, among other disciplines, will find this book to be useful in their research or teaching. It will also be of substantial interest to PPP practitioners, and other specialists in the subject.

The balance of economic power in Europe is shifting eastwards. Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania have all seen increases in their contributions to international trade and in the rate of GDP growth, whilst other countries have seen declines, and firms in these Central and Eastern European economies are becoming increasingly influential participants in international production systems, centred largely on Germany. This book presents an up-to-date, theoretically informed analysis of how these four countries have developed distinctive business systems since the political revolutions that transformed this region in 1989, combining the structures of liberal market capitalism established in the 1990s with practices established earlier. Influenced by the socialist inheritance of communism and increasingly diverse sources of capital, different forms of capitalism developed, less responsive to shareholder interests, and more responsive to managerial and national strategic interests This book concentrates on changing patterns of ownership and control, means of capital accumulation, the relations among multinationals, regional enterprises, and governments, and the role of the state. Whilst recognizing the role of multinationals in generating export-led growth, the book emphasizes the central role of government at national and international level. The forms of capitalism under construction differ from expectations common in the 1990s, combining elements from both US/UK and continental European models of capitalism.

OFacinating... There is at least as much to be learned here as from reading Peter Drucker John Kenneth Galbraith or Michael Porter.O DBoston Globe Acknowledged as the outstanding business leader of the late twentieth century, Jack Welch made General Electric one of the worldOs most competitive companies. This dynamic CEO defined the standard for organizational change, creating more than $400 billion in shareholder value by transforming a bureaucratic behemoth into a nimble, scrappy winner in the global marketplace. Here, Tichy and Sherman extract the enduring leadership lessons from the revolution Welch wrought at GE. Of these, the most essential is the limitless power of learning. Leadership has its mysteries, but it is a skill that anyone can acquire and enhance. Above all, great leaders select great people and lure them into an endless process of learning and adaptation.

Why and how has the Business Corporation come to exert such a powerful influence on American Society? The essays here take up this question, offering a fresh perspective on the ways in which the business corporation has assumed as enduring place in the modern capitalist economy, and how it has affected American society, culture and politics over the past two centuries. The authors challenge standard assumptions about the business corporation's emergence and performance in the United States over the past two centuries. Reviewing in depth the different theoretical and historiographical traditions that have treated the corporation, the volume seeks a new departure that can more fully explain this crucial institution of capitalism. Rejecting assertions that the corporation is dead, the essays show that in fact it has survived and even thrived down to the present in part because of the ways in which it has related to its social, political and cultural environment. In doing so, the book breaks with older explanations ground in technology and economics, and treats the corporation for the first time as a fully social institution. Drawing on a variety of social theories and approaches, the essays help to point the way toward future studies of this powerful and enduring institution, offering a new periodization and a new set of questions for scholars to explore. The range of essays engages the legal and political position of the corporation, the ways in which the corporation has been shaped by and shaped American culture, the controversies over corporate regulation and corporate power, and the efforts of minority and disadvantaged groups to gain access to the resources and opportunities that corporations control.

Discussion of trade barriers has come round - inevitably it seems - to national regimes of regulatory protection. Indeed, state regulation has the potential to undermine the very legitimacy of the global trading system. A compelling reconciliation between these two paramount values is essential. This text has a twofold purpose: to consider what has so far been accomplished in this mission in the field of international economic law, and to prescribe some solutions to continuing problems. This latter endeavour amounts to a coherent and integrated plan that will enhance the acceptability of free markets to governments, traders, and other stakeholders alike. The challenges analysed in depth here include: the development in the global trade regime of non-trade policy objectives, which still tend to be treated as mere exceptions to general obligations; the built-in emphasis on products rather than measures; the novel risks associated with the development of modern technology; the case-by-case approach of WTO jurisprudence, which generally fails to investigate whether the substance of any given domestic regulation is necessary to the policy goals of the state in question; and the "technical and economic feasibility" of complying with international trade obligations. The author conducts his analysis in a broad context encompassing the WTO system, the European Union, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. He finds that the clash, despite the particular institutional characteristics of these various organizations, is a major concern of them all. The jus gentium of international trade, he offers, is an imperative combining the good faith principle with the communitarian duty to cooperate. Exactly how to go about ordering this imperative is what this book is about.

The transformation of women's lives over the past century is among the most significant and far-reaching of social and economic phenomena, affecting not only women but also their partners, children, and indeed nearly every person on the planet. In developed and developing countries alike, women are acquiring more education, marrying later, having fewer children, and spending a far greater amount of their adult lives in the labor force. Yet, because women remain the primary caregivers of children, issues such as work-life balance and the glass ceiling have given rise to critical policy discussions in the developed world. In developing countries, many women lack access to reproductive technology and are often relegated to jobs in the informal sector, where pay is variable and job security is weak. Considerable occupational segregation and stubborn gender pay gaps persist around the world. The Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy is the first comprehensive collection of scholarly essays to address these issues using the powerful framework of economics. Each chapter, written by an acknowledged expert or team of experts, reviews the key trends, surveys the relevant economic theory, and summarizes and critiques the empirical research literature. By providing a clear-eyed view of what we know, what we do not know, and what the critical unanswered questions are, this Handbook provides an invaluable and wide-ranging examination of the many changes that have occurred in women's economic lives.

Authoritarian capitalism is rapidly evolving, intensifying and spreading across the globe. This updated second edition book demonstrates that the recent resurgence of fascism and repressive democracies are connected to and symptomatic of the fundamental authoritarianism of capitalism. Analysing how marketization is promoting political authoritarianism across the world, Peter Bloom tells a story of authoritarian progress in which capitalist sovereignty is replacing liberal and social democracy. In doing so, Bloom rethinks the structural and discursive role of sovereign power within capitalism, illustrating how the free market relies upon a range of authoritarian political fantasies not just for its growth but for its very survival. This fully updated edition reveals how this had led to an evolution from corporate globalization to a new era of 'popular authoritarianism', based on the political competition between far-Right ethno-capitalism and politically repressive capitalist democracy. Exploring new perspectives such as "the commons" and "degrowth development", it points to new possibilities for resisting authoritarian capitalism and reinvigorating democracy. The unique insights in this book will prove invaluable for students and scholars of political science, economics, development and organization studies, international relations and sociology. It will also be of interest to practitioners concerned with globalization, political authoritarianism, and the expansion of the free market.