This book analyses the multidimensional condition of the Romanian industrial landscape, which played host to a multitude of demo-economic, financial, trade, and trans- and inter-sectoral development practices before the intense period of European deindustrialisation. The authors stress the need to recognise the economic importance of industry and renewed investment in infrastructure, tracing its impact on GDP, growth and labour productivity. With a focus on R&D, technological innovations and government funding, this volume highlights a strategy for the reindustrialisation, with consistent enablers, of Romania that can also be applied to other EU countries to ensure positive economic development in the context of new European and international policies. Awarded the prize for best book in Economics published in the academic year 2017-2018 by the Romanian Association of Economics Faculties (AFER).

The Annual Report objectively reflects the whole year's progress of politics, economy, society, culture, system, environment, innovation and reform, as well as the problems, challenges and countermeasures in traditional special economic zones and new special economic zones. It analyses China's Special Economic Zones, including overall review on the whole year's development state of the reform experimental zone and part of new special economic zones, which focuses on analyzing the transformation of special economic zones, use of resources, the sustainable development, economic and social development, social security and technical innovation from the aspects of present situation of development, the comparative analysis, and policy suggestions and puts forward development suggestions for each specific issue.

Authoritarian Neoliberalism explores how neoliberal forms of managing capitalism are challenging democratic governance at local, national and international levels. Identifying a spectrum of policies and practices that seek to reproduce neoliberalism and shield it from popular and democratic contestation, contributors provide original case studies that investigate the legal-administrative, social, coercive and corporate dimensions of authoritarian neoliberalism across the global North and South. They detail the crisis-ridden intertwinement of authoritarian statecraft and neoliberal reforms, and trace the transformation of key societal sites in capitalism (e.g. states, households, workplaces, urban spaces) through uneven yet cumulative processes of neoliberalization. Informed by innovative conceptual and methodological approaches, Authoritarian Neoliberalism uncovers how inequalities of power are produced and reproduced in capitalist societies, and highlights how alternatives to neoliberalism can be formulated and pursued. The book was originally published as a special issue of Globalizations.

This book offers a new understanding of innovation in the built environment. The ways meaning of innovation is constructed has important implications for policymakers, project managers, academics and students. Through a longitudinal research study into innovation in firms and projects, the book addresses some key themes, challenges and concerns that practitioners face when managing innovation in the built environment. It examines the key drivers for innovation in the construction, engineering and infrastructure firms and projects. In particular, the questions of how and why innovation becomes recognised and sustained over time are explored. Different theoretical perspectives are considered to explain different aspects of innovation. This includes sensemaking, organisational and individual identity, storytelling and narration. The book has practical implications for how organisational activities become labelled as 'innovation' and for what purpose. It shares some lived stories of innovation as mobilised by practising managers. The connectivity between the formal narratives of innovation at the policy level and the lived narratives of innovation articulated by practitioners is explored. Combining the theory with practice, this book presents an insightful view on the implications of innovation in the business world today.

Circular Economy (CE) is considered as one of the important strategies in addressing Sustainable Development Goals. Practicing Circular Economy provides an overview of CE, covering its evolution, describing the key concepts, programs, policies, and regulations. It illustrates several business opportunities over a hundred hand-picked case studies that encompass numerous sectors, various scales of operations and geographies. Another unique feature of the book is the activities listed in each chapter to invoke thoughts, frame assignments, and generate discussions. Each chapter lists key additional reading materials and takeaways. Aimed at mid- and senior-level managers, policy makers, investors, entrepreneurs, consultants, researchers, professors, and academic students involved in the subject of environmental management and sustainability, this book: Introduces the evolution of CE to clarify the key concepts and introduce some of the important global programs and initiatives CE economy with case studies Gives a global overview of adoption of CE covering countries such as India, Japan, Korea, China, EU, North America, Australia, and several more Includes information on methodologies followed, tools, and knowledge resources for practicing CE Provides insight to the business models with numerous case studies covering product design, manufacturing, and services and the role of innovation and financing Presents a comprehensive overview of opportunities in CE in sectors such as textile, steel, agriculture, and food Covers newly emerging paradigms of CE such as regional circular economy, circular supply chains, and sustainable procurement and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CE Practicing Circular Economy is thus an important resource for every circular economy practitioner and especially to those who aspire to make a career in circular economy.

Circular Economy (CE) is considered as one of the important strategies in addressing Sustainable Development Goals. Practicing Circular Economy provides an overview of CE, covering its evolution, describing the key concepts, programs, policies, and regulations. It illustrates several business opportunities over a hundred hand-picked case studies that encompass numerous sectors, various scales of operations and geographies. Another unique feature of the book is the activities listed in each chapter to invoke thoughts, frame assignments, and generate discussions. Each chapter lists key additional reading materials and takeaways. Aimed at mid- and senior-level managers, policy makers, investors, entrepreneurs, consultants, researchers, professors, and academic students involved in the subject of environmental management and sustainability, this book: Introduces the evolution of CE to clarify the key concepts and introduce some of the important global programs and initiatives CE economy with case studies Gives a global overview of adoption of CE covering countries such as India, Japan, Korea, China, EU, North America, Australia, and several more Includes information on methodologies followed, tools, and knowledge resources for practicing CE Provides insight to the business models with numerous case studies covering product design, manufacturing, and services and the role of innovation and financing Presents a comprehensive overview of opportunities in CE in sectors such as textile, steel, agriculture, and food Covers newly emerging paradigms of CE such as regional circular economy, circular supply chains, and sustainable procurement and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CE Practicing Circular Economy is thus an important resource for every circular economy practitioner and especially to those who aspire to make a career in circular economy.

This proceedings volume aims to provide new research methods, theories and applications from various areas of applied economic research. Featuring papers from the 2016 International Conference on Applied Economics (ICOAE) organized by the University of Nicosia and the Western Macedonia University of Applied Sciences, this volume presents cutting edge research from all areas of economic science that use applied econometrics as the method of analysis. It also features country specific studies with specific economic policy analyses and proposals. Applied economics is a rapidly growing field of economics that combines economic theory with econometrics to analyse economic problems of the real world usually with economic policy interest. ICOAE is an annual conference started in 2008 with the aim to bring together economists from different fields of applied economic research in order to share methods and ideas. The goal of the conference and the enclosed papers is to allow for an exchange of experiences with different applied econometric methods and to promote joint initiatives among well-established fields likemacro- and microeconomics, international economics, finance, agricultural economics, health economics, education economics, international trade theory and management and marketing strategies. Featuring global contributions, this book will be of interest to researchers, academics, professionals and policy makers in the field of applied economics and econometrics.

Through a deep examination of what has become known as the 'Preston Model', this book explores an innovative approach to local economic development that utilises economic democratisation to realise both social and economic objectives. The first part of the book examines the main strands of the Preston Model framework and what makes it different to other urban regeneration schemes: the combination of local anchor institution procurement to generate and retain local wealth, and the development of cooperatives to fill gaps in local supply chains. The chapters in this section consider the Preston Model as viewed through different lenses: politics and society, community, economics, democracy, trade unionism, language and communication, education and transferability. The second part explores the influences and applications of the Preston Model, in theory and practice, in selected locations and various circumstances worldwide. This includes discussion of key ideas such as economic democracy, social enterprise and the creation of capacity for cooperative self-government, alongside essays on prominent international examples of similar approaches, which can inform and in turn be informed by the Preston Model. This book is essential reading for those interested in regional and national policy, economic democracy and alternative economic and political ideas.

The Japanese Economy, 4th Edition is for anyone curious about economics, for it is impossible to appreciate economics without vivid examples of its application. This book is also for anyone broadly interested in Japan, for it is impossible to fully understand Japan without learning what basic economics has to say about it, which is much. To know Japan - or any country for that matter - is more than an ability to recite a litany of facts about its history, geography, institutions, and culture. Disciplined thinking is needed to organize the disparate facts into a coherent system that can be grasped whole. Modern economics is the academic discipline underlying this book. The book uses economics and explains it, but without presuming the reader has any prior knowledge of it. The main object of interest is Japan. It starts with Japan's economic history since the late sixteenth century through the twentieth century. It then addresses contemporary topics in Japan's economy, beginning with ones that require an economy - wide perspective - economic growth and the business cycle, exchange rates, and the balance of trade. The discussion then moves on to sectors of the economy: the public sector, industry and trade, the financial system, the labor market, and more. The chapters can be read in any order, but four threads run through all the chapters and link them: Japan's economic growth and development, Japan's integration with the world economy, government policies and their effects, and peculiar economic institutions and practices.

The growing centrality of risk management in pro-market governance raises important questions regarding how risks are produced, and why? Who and what is included in, and excluded from, risk management, and why? And, what is the relationship between the rise of risk management and neoliberalism? Drawing on various political economy approaches, this volume addresses these questions by examining - both analytically and empirically - diverse meanings and practices of risk management across a range of scales and themes ranging from austerity to climate change to housing and debt. The authors investigate the relationship between shifts in contemporary capitalism and the ways in which neoliberal forms of risk management have emerged, been reproduced and normalized, and, transformed historically.

Airbnb, gaming, escape rooms, major sporting events: contemporary capitalism no longer demands we merely consume things, but that we buy experiences. This book is concerned with the social, cultural and personal implications of this shift. The technologically-driven world we live in is no closer to securing the utopian ideal of a leisure society. Instead, the pursuit of leisure is often an attempt to escape our everyday existence. Exploring examples including sport, architecture, travel and social media, Steven Miles investigates how consumer culture has colonised 'experiences', revealing the ideological and psycho-social tensions at the heart of the 'experience society'. This first critical analysis of the experience economy sheds light on capitalism's ever more sophisticated infiltration of the everyday.

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST ECONOMICS BOOK OF THE YEAR A THE ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Brilliantly conceived and enlightening at every turn' Lawrence Wright We have long been suspicious of corporations recklessly pursuing profit and amassing wealth and power. But the story of the corporation didn't have to be like this. For most of history, they were not amoral entities, but public institutions designed to promote the societies that granted them charter. Magnuson reveals how the corporation has evolved since its beginnings in the ancient world. What happens in this next chapter of the global economy depends on whether we can return to their public-minded spirit, or whether we have sunk irrevocably into the swamp of high profit at all costs. Epic and compelling in scope, For Profit illuminates the roles corporations played, for good and evil, in the making of the modern world.

This book uses comparative economic analysis to provide a common conceptual framework for all current European Union member states. Based on empirical investigation, the author identifies the Nordic, North-western, Mediterranean, and Central and Eastern models of capitalism on the threshold of the 2008 global financial and economic crisis. The chapters also examine the resulting institutional responses to the crisis and the methods of crisis management adopted by each member state. The analysis reveals that the crisis has not triggered radical institutional change but, instead, highlighted deep institutional differences not between the old and new member states, but between the Nordic, North-western, Mediterranean, and Central and Eastern European countries. These institutional differences are so significant that they require the rethinking of European integration theory. Models of Capitalism in the European Union serves as a useful handbook for academics, advanced students, policy-makers and advisors who are interested in European economic issues.

Featured on NPR and PBS's SciTech Now, and in Fast Company, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal The inside story of the new race to conquer space For the outsize personalities staking their fortunes on spaceships, the new race to explore space could be a dead end, a lucrative opportunity--or the key to humanity's survival. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast-paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy and feed their own egos. We meet a supporting cast of equally fascinating entrepreneurs, from the irrepressible British mogul Richard Branson to the satellite internet visionary Greg Wyler. Tim Fernholz's fly-on-the-wall reporting captures an industry in the midst of disruption. NASA seeks to preserve its ambitious space program, traditional aerospace firms like Boeing and Lockheed Martin scramble to adapt to new competitors, lobbyists tussle over public funds, and lawmakers try to prevent this new space race from sparking global conflict. Fernholz spins this high-stakes marathon into a riveting tale of rivalry and survival.

Emerging markets have long posed a challenge for finance. Standard models are often ill suited to deal with the specific circumstances arising in these markets. However, the interest in emerging markets has provided impetus for the adaptation of current models to new circumstances and the development of new models. During recent years, much new research has been devoted to emerging markets. This important collection presents key articles in this literature. Topics include: the properties of emerging market equity returns; diversification benefits; market integration and segmentation of emerging markets; the financial and real effects of the financial liberalization process that many countries embarked upon; the late nineties crises and the debate regarding contagion; and microstructure in emerging markets. The collection will be of interest to academics in international finance, international economics and development economics and to practitioners and policymakers alike.

What is the economic order of state capitalism? Furthermore,how can its significant performance differences be explained? The firstquestion is tackled with the help of New Institutional Economics by developinga model of state capitalism. This topic is furthermore dealt with in Chapter 3 wherea taxonomy of state capitalism is presented. This chapter already explains someof the performance differences. In the last chapter with the help ofsemi-structured interviews and literature surveys - in four case studies -propositions are forwarded as to why state capitalist orders vary so widely intheir performances. Two points stick out: the quality of the bureaucracy aswell as a varying degree of commitment of the political leadership to adevelopmental course.

In the last twenty years, several periods of turmoil have shaped the financial and economic system. Many regulatory policies, such as Basel III, have been introduced to overcome further crises and scandals. In addition, monetary policy has experienced a transition from conventional to unconventional frameworks in most industrialized and emerging economies. For instance, turning to hedge and diversification of portfolios, commodities markets have attracted increasing interest. More recently, new forms of money have been introduced, such as virtual money. These changes have influenced governance features at both macro and micro levels. Therefore, calls for ethical and sustainable standards in financial and economic spheres have been growing since 2007.Financial and Economic Systems: Transformations and New Challenges provides readers with insights about future transformations and challenges for financial and economic systems. Prominent contributors focus on different aspects, providing a global overview of crisis implications. The book is split into four main areas: Changes in the Real Sphere, covering issues related to yields, risk, unconventional monetary policy, and macroprudential policy; Financial Markets and Macroeconomics, covering uncertainty in finance and economics; CSR, Sustainability and Ethical Finance, highlighting the emergence of corporate social responsibility; and Digitalization, Blockchain and FinTech and the consequences of these transformations on markets and economic systems.

"An engrossing story of audacious entrepreneurism and big-industry disruption, [this] is a tale for our times." -- Charles Duhigg, author of Smarter Faster Better An investigative look into a beloved, disruptive, notorious start-up This is the remarkable behind-the-scenes story of the creation and growth of Airbnb, the online lodging platform that is now the largest provider of accommodations in the world. At first just the wacky idea of cofounders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb has become indispensable to millions of hosts and travelers around the world. Fortune editor Leigh Gallagher presents the first nuanced, in-depth look at the Airbnb phenomenon -- the successes and controversies alike -- and takes us behind the scenes as the company's young CEO steers into increasingly uncharted waters. "A fast-paced, fun dive into one of the seminal firms of our time; through the tale of Airbnb, Leigh Gallagher shows us how the sharing economy can be a force for emotional connection -- as well as for social and business disruption." -- Rana Foroohar, Financial Times columnist and CNN global economic analyst

By 1999, Russia's economy was growing at almost 7% per year, and by 2008 reached 11th place in the world GDP rankings. Russia is now the world's second largest producer and exporter of oil, the largest producer and exporter of natural gas, and as a result has the third largest stock of foreign exchange reserves in the world, behind only China and Japan. But while this impressive economic growth has raised the average standard of living and put a number of wealthy Russians on the Forbes billionaires list, it has failed to solve the country's deep economic and social problems inherited from the Soviet times. Russia continues to suffer from a distorted economic structure, with its low labor productivity, heavy reliance on natural resource extraction, low life expectancy, high income inequality, and weak institutions. While a voluminous amount of literature has studied various individual aspects of the Russian economy, in the West there has been no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the socialist legacies, the current state, and future prospects of the Russian economy gathered in one book. The Oxford Handbook of the Russian Economy fills this gap by offering a broad range of topics written by the best Western and Russian scholars of the Russian economy. While the book's focus is the current state of the Russian economy, the first part of the book also addresses the legacy of the Soviet command economy and offers an analysis of institutional aspects of Russia's economic development over the last decade. The second part covers the most important sectors of the economy. The third part examines the economic challenges created by the gigantic magnitude of regional, geographic, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity of Russia. The fourth part covers various social issues, including health, education, and demographic challenges. It will also examine broad policy challenges, including the tax system, rule of law, as well as corruption and the underground economy. Michael Alexeev and Shlomo Weber provide for the first time in one volume a complete, well-rounded, and essential look at the complex, emerging Russian economy.

In ten years 80 per cent of the legislation related to economics, maybe also to taxes and social aff airs, will be of Community origin." This declaration has been largely quoted, paraphrased and deformed by different authors, creating a persistent myth according to which 80% of the legislative activity of the national legislatures would soon be reduced to the simple transposition of European norms". This book addresses the topic of the scope and impact of Europeanization on national legislation, as a part of the Europeanization debate which raises normative concerns linked to the "democratic deficit" debate. The state of the art shows that there are many assumptions and claims on how European integration may affect national legislation and, more generally, domestic governance but that there is a lack of solid and comparative data to test them. The aim of the book is to give a solid and comparative insight into Europeanization focusing on effective outcomes in a systematic way. This book analyzes the period 1986-2008 and includes an introduction, a global overview of European legislative activities which set the background for Europeanization of national legislatures, 9 country contributions (8 EU member states + Switzerland) including systematic, comparative and standardized data, tables and figures, and a conclusion with a comparative analysis of the European and domestic reasons for Europeanization. All national contributions conclude that Europeanization of national legislation is much more limited than assumed in the literature and public debate. It is limited to 10 to 30% of laws (depending on the country), far less than the 80% predicted by Jacques Delors and mentioned daily by medias and public opinion leaders to demonstrate EU domination on member states. Beside that general statement, the various chapters propose a deep insight on EU constraint over national legislation, providing much information on the kind of laws and policies that are Europeanized, the evolution of this process through time, the impact of Europeanization on the balance of powers and the relations between majority and opposition at national level, the strategies developed by national institutions in that context, and many other issues, making the book of interest to academics and policy-makers concerned with Europeanization and national legislation.

This book explores the issue of poverty reduction within mainland Southeast Asia with a specific focus on the impact of the private sector and tourism. Covering Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan, the book discusses how success in poverty reduction has come about largely through innovation in the private sector, foreign investment and the move toward more market based economic policies as opposed to foreign aid, or interventions by international development programs, to reduce poverty in the region.

The Soviet Economy is a well informed work which seeks to acquaint students with the structure and problems of the economy of the USSR, analysing the practical and theoretical problems within the institutional structure of the Soviet system.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Wilfried Martens is one of the most distinguished politicians to come from Belgium in the last ffty years. In his long poli- cal career, he has always fought for the implementation of his goals with passion and deep conviction. What has to be mentioned frst in this context is his s- cessful advocacy of federalism in his home country, Belgium. Already in his time as chair of the CVP youth league from 1967 to 1972, groundbreaking manifestos on Belgium's federali- tion were written under his auspices. Later on, as President of the CVP, he succeeded in negotiating the Egmont Pact, whose essential elements form part of today's federal Belgian C- stitution. He served as Prime Minister for more than a decade, and in this role he convinced the regions and linguistic groups of his country, which were often at odds with each other, of the necessity for cooperation and solidarity.