This volume assesses the achievements and limitations of a new set of non-state or multistakeholder institutions that are concerned with improving the social and environmental record of business, and holding corporations to account. It does so from a perspective that aims to address two limitations that often characterize this field of inquiry. First, fragmentation: articles or books typically focus on one or a handful of cases. Second, the development dimension: what does such regulation imply for developing countries and subaltern groups in terms of well-being, empowerment and sustainability? This volume examines more than 20 initiatives or institutions associated with different regulatory and development approaches, including the business-friendly corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda, corporate accountability and fair trade or social economy.

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The Corporation is a major vehicle of business activity worldwide. It incurs social costs and generates benefits that continually change - hence, whether it still provides a net benefit to society is contestable. Evidence-based observations of the last decade of corporate sagas and the role of accounting and auditing, suggests a serious rethink is needed about how commerce is pursued and, in particular, whether the current corporate form has passed its use-by-date. The authors of this new book - including internationally renowned accounting scholars - argue that the two major governance tools of accounting and auditing require major makeovers. Beginning by analyzing the global sweep of deregulation that corporations experienced since 2000, the authors go on to discuss the various scandals and crises that characterized the subsequent period, culminating in yet more calls for further deregulation. Having thoroughly assessed the status quo, they provide a series of urgent recommendations for reforms designed to bring the corporation back to the real world and restore its purpose. This book will be of great interest to students and academics across accounting, business, law and finance, especially more advanced students at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Presenting a profound and far-reaching analysis of economic, ecological, social, cultural and political developments of contemporary capitalism, this book draws on the work of Karl Polanyi, and re-reads it for our times. The renowned authors offer key insights to current changes in the relations between the economy, politics and society, and their ecological and social effects. They explore the commodification of land, labour, money, care and knowledge, and analyse labour and social movements, right-wing populism and religious fundamentalism. Bringing together insights from different parts of the world and from historical, theoretical and empirical research, the book sheds light on important facets of the crisis-driven transformation of contemporary capitalism. Social and political science scholars will greatly benefit from this timely analysis of contemporary capitalism. Those researching economic history and the impact of Polanyi's work on the analysis of the modern society will also find this a useful read. Contributors include: R. Atzmuller, B. Aulenbacher, R. Barnthaler, K. Becker, D. Bohle, U. Brand, M. Brie, A. Bugra, M. Cangiani, F. Decieux, C. Deutschmann, K. Doerre, K. Fischer, C. Goerg, B. Greskovits, B. Jessop, E. Langthaler, M. Leiblfinger, M. Markantonatou, A. Novy, A. Palumbo, K. Polanyi-Levitt, V. Satgar, B. Sauer, A. Scott, B. Silver, B. Stadelmann, C. Thomasberger, H.-J. Urban, B. Weicht, M. Williams, M. Wissen

An increasing number of studies in the last decade or so have emphasized the viability and persistence of distinctive systems of economic coordination and control in developed market economies. Over more or less the same period, the revival of institutional economics and evolutionary approaches to understanding the firm has focused attention on how firms create distinctive capabilities through establishing routines that coordinate complementary activities and skills for particular strategic purposes. For much of the 1990s these two strands of research remained distinct. Those focusing on the institutional frameworks of market economies were primarily concerned with identifying complementaries between institutional arrangements that explained coherence and continuity. On the other hand, those focusing on the dynamics of firm behavior studied how firms develop new capacities and are able to learn new ways of doing things.
This book aims to bring together these approaches. It consists of a set of theoretically motivated and empirically informed chapters from a range of internationally known contributors to these debates. In their chapters, the authors show how institutions and firms evolve. Ideas of path dependency and complementarity of institutions are subjected to critical scrutiny both by reference to their own internal logic and to empirical examples. Varieties of institutional integration, the surprising maintenance of 'deviant' or alternative traditions and processes, and the existence of unpredictable yet consequential policy options that can lead to breaks in path dependency are scrutinized with particular reference to how national and international firms may relate toinstitutions at various levels as a diverse arena of potential resources rather than as a singular and determinant constraining force. The book provides a set of theoretical and empirical challenges for researchers concerned with the relationship between national institutional contexts and firm dynamics. For those involved in teaching or studying at doctoral, Masters and higher level undergraduate courses, the book provides a structured entry into the debates about how institutions and firms are changing in the contemporary era.

In this sequel to their acclaimed The Dominant Ideology Thesis, the authors develop their analysis of the social and cultural underpinnings of modern capitalism. They confront a central assumption of western culture: namely, that the individual is sovereign, and that capitalism above all other economic forms depends on individualism. These ideas have an unbroken history from Alexis de Tocqueville to Milton Friedman. The paradox of the modern world is that the moral emphasis on the individual is contradicted by the actual organization of economy and society. The authors suggest that individualism and capitalism have no enduring or necessary relationship. Their linkage is entirely accidental and was confined to one particular historical period in the West. Against the background of what they term the Discovery of the Individual, the authors show how individualism gave capitalism a particular shape, and capitalism in turn highlighted the possessive features of the individual. Oriental capitalism and late capitalism in the West bear no particular relationship to individualism; indeed, they flourish best in the absence of individualistic culture. Collectivism increasingly dominates both economic and social life. These issues once informed the sociological enterprise, but have not been systematically addressed in recent times. This book revives the classical tradition of the historical and comparative analysis of culture and economy in capitalist society, in the context of the late twentieth-century world.

This book explores the historical roots of rapid economic growth in South Asia, with reference to politics, markets, resources, and the world economy. Roy posits that, after an initial slow period of growth between 1950 and the 1980s, the region has been growing rapidly and fast catching up with the world on average levels of living. Why did this turnaround happen? Does it matter? Is it sustainable? The author answers these questions by drawing connections, comparisons, and parallels between the five large countries in the region: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. It shows why, despite differences in political experience between these countries, similarities in resources and markets could produce similar trajectories. Home to a fifth of the world's population, South Asia's transformation has the power to change the world. Most accounts of the process focus on individual nations, but by breaking out of that mould, Roy takes on the region as a whole, and delivers a radical new interpretation of why the economy of South Asia is changing so fast.

The recent financial crisis and Great Recession have been analysed endlessly in the mainstream and academia, but this is the first book to conclude, on the basis of in-depth analyses of official US data, that Marx's crisis theory can explain these events. Marx believed that the rate of profit has a tendency to fall, leading to economic crises and recessions. Many economists, Marxists among them, have dismissed this theory out of hand, but Andrew Kliman's careful data analysis shows that the rate of profit did indeed decline after the post-World War II boom and that free-market policies failed to reverse the decline. The fall in profitability led to sluggish investment and economic growth, mounting debt problems, desperate attempts of governments to fight these problems by piling up even more debt -- and ultimately to the Great Recession. Kliman's conclusion is simple but shocking: short of socialist transformation, the only way to escape the 'new normal' of a stagnant, crisis-prone economy is to restore profitability through full-scale destruction of existing wealth, something not seen since the Depression of the 1930s.

This book examines empirical and theoretical research on economic inequality from the perspective of dynamic models. By using advanced mathematical tools, it reveals fundamental market dynamics and underlines the role of subsistence constraints and competition in economic distribution.

States of Crisis and Post-Capitalist Scenarios engages with the crisis of our capitalist world, with a view to explaining its origins, unravelling its symptoms, and demystifying the anodyne corrective solutions so far proposed. At the same time, it endorses the necessity for utopian interventions aimed at drastically rethinking our social order. Organised around the themes of economy and politics; critical theory; and culture in order to offer an impressive range of thematic perspectives and critical angles, the book delves into the most pressing of today's quandaries by combining stringent critical analysis with creative foresight. A rigorous examination of the current crisis of late-capitalist society, States of Crisis and Post-Capitalist Scenarios develops paradigms that promise to rekindle the desire to move beyond capitalism towards a different social order. As such, it will appeal to scholars and students across the humanities and social sciences with particular interests in social and political theory, contemporary philosophy and the crises faced by the current capitalist order.

This timely book offers revealing insights into the changing role of China in world governance as exemplified by the Silk Road Initiative, the People's Republic's first published major initiative for external affairs. Focusing on various aspects of the Silk Road Initiative, particularly those that are largely neglected in current discussions, including culture and philosophy, finance and investment, environmental protection and social responsibility, judiciary and lawyers, the authors explore a wide range of contexts in which China's role as an emerging power in international relations and international law is examined. In the current era of ever-increasing populism, protectionism and challenges to globalization, the authors explore the Chinese philosophy underpinning Chinese norms of regional and international development. Bearing in mind the political and economic uncertainties hampering the establishment of such norms, the authors offer crucial insights into how the Silk Road Initiative could or should be developed and regulated.Given its depth of coverage, the book is an indispensable read for anyone interested in the Initiative and its social-legal implications.

Sustainable development is the central challenge of the 21st Century. How can human civilization continue to develop without destroying the natural systems on which it depends?Environmentalists tell us that capitalism is the problem because it feeds our self-interest. They tell us that we have to restrain ourselves and only consume what the Earth can sustain. Or governments must tell us what we can and cannot buy. This book uses the science of complex systems to explain why governments cannot deliver sustainability or happiness and how self-interest can be used to make society sustainable. Capitalism won the Cold War; until the Great Recession of 2008, it seemed to be the perfect system. But more of us are unhappy even as it has ravaged the planet. The central problem is the paradigm on which our social systems are founded that more (consumption, production, possessions) is always better. Based on research from political economy, philosophy, and psychology, this book shows that the problem is not self-interest. We are unhappy because we have been taught that our interests are material and that buying 'stuff' will make us happy. Yet, social pressure to consume only prevents us from satisfying our basic psychological needs and fully enjoying life. For that we need to pursue our personal well-being. Because this also reduces our material consumption, environmental sustainability comes from each of us knowing what's truly good for our selves. Even without the constant economic growth that harms the planet and damages our lives, capitalism also is sustainable. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of sustainability;civil societyactivists and social entrepreneurs; thought leaders and policymakers. .

The role of religion in development work has long been a neglected issue in the Western academic tradition. Religion and Development: Nordic Perspectives on Involvement in Africa is part of a recent wave of publications trying to bring more colors into the traditional black-and-white picture of religion and development as two separate analytical entities. Through the voices of experts in a variety of fields, from theology and development studies to social anthropology and global studies, this book sheds particular light on Nordic involvement in Africa. The relationship between North and South is explored through historical approaches and recent analysis, bringing relevant fieldwork and new case studies into the discussion. Numerous and varied sub-Saharan regions are presented in the book, and all the chapters take different approaches to how the North-South relationship has affected the development of the African continent for better or for worse. The contributors all argue that in order to understand development work in an era of global change, religion has to be an important part of the discussion.

The Corporation is a major vehicle of business activity worldwide. It incurs social costs and generates benefits that continually change - hence, whether it still provides a net benefit to society is contestable. Evidence-based observations of the last decade of corporate sagas and the role of accounting and auditing, suggests a serious rethink is needed about how commerce is pursued and, in particular, whether the current corporate form has passed its use-by-date. The authors of this new book - including internationally renowned accounting scholars - argue that the two major governance tools of accounting and auditing require major makeovers. Beginning by analyzing the global sweep of deregulation that corporations experienced since 2000, the authors go on to discuss the various scandals and crises that characterized the subsequent period, culminating in yet more calls for further deregulation. Having thoroughly assessed the status quo, they provide a series of urgent recommendations for reforms designed to bring the corporation back to the real world and restore its purpose. This book will be of great interest to students and academics across accounting, business, law and finance, especially more advanced students at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

A classic work in political philosophy, intellectual history and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians and scholars for half a century. Originally published in 1944, it was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

This new edition includes a foreword by series editor and leading Hayek scholar Bruce Caldwell explaining the book's origins and publishing history and assessing common misinterpretations of Hayek's thought. Caldwell has also standardized and corrected Hayek's references and added helpful new explanatory notes. Supplemented with an appendix of related materials and forewords to earlier editions by the likes of Milton Friedman, and Hayek himself, this new edition of The Road to Serfdom will be the definitive version of Friedrich Hayek's enduring masterwork.

The failure of command central planning in the twentieth century has led to a general disillusionment within the socialist movement worldwide. Some alternatives to capitalism have been proposed since the end of the Cold War, but none has offered an alternative form of economic calculation. This book explains how modern information technology may be used to implement a new method of economic calculation that could bring an end to capitalism and make socialism possible. In this book, the author critically examines a number of socialist proposals that have been put forward since the end of the Cold War. It is shown that although these proposals have many merits, their inability effectively to incorporate the benefits of information technology into their models has limited their ability to solve the problem of socialist construction. The final section of the book proposes an entirely new model of socialist development, based on a "needs profile" that makes it possible to convert the needs of large numbers of people into data that can be used as a guide for resource allocation. This analysis makes it possible to rethink and carefully specify the conditions necessary for the abolition of capital and consequently the requirements for socialist revolution and, ultimately, communist society. Information Technology and Socialist Construction will be of interest to students and scholars of political economy, the history of economic thought, labour economics and industrial economics.

Public enterprises remain of fundamental importance in advanced economies, and this volume characterises them as hybrids, influenced by markets and ministries.

This work explores essential debates on globalization and world-systems analysis. It begins with a review of theoretical insights from world-systems analysis and explains the evolution of its terminology. The book subsequently seeks to answer several important questions: When did globalization begin and what insights into contemporary globalization may be gained from older forms? How does globalization differ in different places, and how can different instances of globalization be compared? Who is affected by globalization, how are they affected, and how do these effects vary, if at all, over time and space? As world-systems analysis and studies of globalization require interdisciplinary expertise, the contributing authors draw on many fields, including anthropology, economics, geography, philosophy, political science, sociology, and world history. The book's overall goal is to facilitate the dialogue between approaches that, at times, seem to "talk at cross-purposes," and to extend an invitation to scholars from many different areas to explore globalization.

This title discusses the treatment of urban and regional issues by Marx, Engels and other early Marxists, and examines recent controversies in these areas.

Gianaris examines the theoretical and practical aspects of different economic systems in countries with varying ideologies. These include the United States, the European Community, and Japan with their capitalist or free market economies; the Swedish welfare state; communist China; and the former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe with their movement toward free markets and democratization. This interplay of economics and politics seen in the world arena presents new problems of production and distribution, as well as new rules and institutions. This work analyzes the dramatic developments now underway in many parts of the world and outlines a trend toward economic and political synthesis or convergence.

This work will be of interest to scholars and students of comparative economic systems, political economy, comparative politics, and international economic relations.

We live in a time of dynamic, but generally regressive regime change-a period in which major political transformations and a rollback of a half-century of legislation are accelerated under conditions of a prolonged and deepening economic crisis and a worldwide offensive against the citizenry and the working class. Written by two of the world's leading left-wing thinkers, Imperialism and Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century takes the form of a number of analytical probes into some of the dynamics of capitalist development and imperialism in contemporary conditions of a system in crisis. It is too early to be definitive about the form that capitalism and imperialism -and socialism-might be or is taking, as we are in but the early stages of a new developmental dynamic, the conditions of which are too complex to anticipate or grasp in thought; they require a closer look and much further study from a critical development and Marxist perspective. The purpose of this book is to advance this process and give some form to this perspective.

Alexander Ryzhenkov Unfolding the Eco-Wave Why Renewal is Pivotal System dynamics is a method similar to econometrics and mathematical statistics. Normally it is used to provide a rigorous analysis of models in closed systems (a system that is artificially created to simplify certain conditions, so that other conditions can be examined in more detail). Here, however, it is used for the first time to study capital accumulation, and the economic cycles. It is well documented that econometrics and mathematical statistics have their limitations. For the first time Unfolding the Eco-Wave sets out to prove that system dynamics does provide a coherent structure, language, and process for learning about and explaining economic phenomena in a way that is impossible to achieve with mathematical statistics and econometrics. Finance/Investment

First published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In the most complete, accurate and accessible presentation of Karl Marx's theory of capitalism to date, Johan Fornas presents a guide for anyone who wants to understand how today's crisis-ridden society has emerged and is able to sustain and intensify its own deep inner contradictions. Capitalism clearly explains these contradictions, which are so relevant again today in the wake of the financial crisis. This clear and engaging guide explains capitalism for absolute beginners. Fornas situates Marx's ideas in context, remaining faithful to the concepts and structure of his work. This complete introduction to Marx's economy critique covers all three volumes of Capital. It explores all the main aspects of Marx's work - including his economic theory, his philosophical sophistication and his political critique - introducing the reader to Marx's typical blend of sharp arguments, ruthless social reportage and utopian visions. This book will be of interest to students throughout the social sciences and humanities, including those studying sociology, social theory, economics, business studies, history, cultural studies, and politics.

The volume focuses on the socio-political aspects of economic transformations in the Eastern European Socialist countries. Particular emphasis is laid on the problem of interrelations between the plan and the market and between economic incentives and social consumption. The volume also examines economic and political factors in the wider political context, particularly looking at the question of democratization within industry and politics.

Among the unintended and largely unforeseen consequences of globalization are the fundamental transformations of local relationships, both economic and cultural, that occur within communities drawn into the predominantly capitalist world economy. Democracy, once considered the essential political mode of regulation for successful capitalist economies, is being replaced by nondemocratic modes of social organization as localized responses to global forces, such as Maori retribalization in New Zealand, are subverted and transformed.

A Political Economy of Neotribal Capitalism looks at the past three decades in New Zealand and the shifts in the relationship between the indigenous Maori people and the dominant Pakeha (white) society to illustrate these fundamental changes to national political, social, and economic structures. The book includes a case study of a Maori family, a theoretical exploration of the concept of "neotribal capitalism", and discussions of themes such as changing socioeconomic relations, new social movements; the indigenization of ethnicity; dominant group-ethnic group realignment; and the antidemocratic ideologies of late capitalism -- themes of interest to students of world political economics, international relations, and anthropology.