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Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Economic systems
The global capitalism perspective is a unique research program focused on understanding relatively recent developments in worldwide social, economic, and political practices related to globalization. At its core, it seeks to contextualize the rearticulation of nation-states and broad geographic regions into highly interdependent networks of production and distribution, and in so doing explain consequent changes in social relations within and between countries in the contemporary era. The present volume contributes to this effort by focusing on social class formation across borders via the processes and actors that make globalized capitalism possible. The essays presented here offer a wide range of emphases in terms of the particular lenses and evidence they use. They cover such topics as the emergence of a transnational capitalist class-based fascist regime responding to the structural crises of global capitalism as well as the links between global class formation and the US racial project as it relates to electoral politics and demographic changes in the US South. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.
For a long time it has been assumed that the search for profits was inseparable from the carrying on of an economic activity, which could not be imagined absent the profit-maximizing motive. Nowadays, the role of nonprofit organizations as economic actors, operating in a competitive market, is well recognized. Therefore, these organizations are no longer a priori excluded from the application of competition law. The current United States, European and German rules of competition, however, do not contain specific provisions for nonprofit market actors, which are treated like other profit-maximizing undertakings, regardless of their social goals and nonprofit status. In the attempt of filling this gap, this study focuses on nonprofits' infra-sector competition. Though a comparative cross-country analysis, the study discusses the legal and economic implications of the enforcement of competition law against nonprofit organizations, and suggests some possible legal normative criteria which could facilitate the future applicability of these norms to not-for-profit entities.
In this brilliantly researched expos, 'communications Rottweiler' Sharon Beder blasts open the backrooms and boardrooms to reveal how the international corporate elite dictate global politics for their own benefit. Beder shows how they created business associations and think tanks in the 1970s to drive public policy, forced the worldwide privatization and deregulation of public services in the 1980s and 1990s (enabling a massive transfer of ownership and control over essential services) and, still not satisfied, have worked relentlessly since the late 1990s to rewrite the very rules of the global economy to funnel wealth and power into their pockets. Want a globalized and homogenized world of conflict, poverty and massive environmental degradation run by a corporate oligarchy that wipes its feet on democracy? Or a democratic world, where poverty is history, companies work for people and clean water is a right, not a privilege you pay for? Beder 's message is clear - it 's your world, and it 's time to fight for it.
This volume provides a challenging and controversial explanation of the recent events in Russia. It examines the causes, processes, and consequences of Russia's recent political development. Drawing on, and criticising the existing literature, the book also shows how the recent Russian experience can cast light on general theories of revolution and comparative political developments.
In The Unity of the Capitalist Economy and State, Geert Reuten offers a systematic exposition of the capitalist system, showing that the capitalist economy and the capitalist state constitute a unity. In its critique of contemporary economics, the book argues that in order to comprehend the capitalist system, one requires a full synthetic exposition of the economic and state institutions and processes necessary for its continued existence. A synthetic approach also reveals a range of components that are often obscured by partial analyses. In its systematic character, Reuten's work takes inspiration from Marx's provisional outline of the capitalist system in Capital, while also addressing fields that Marx left unfinished-such as the capitalist state.
Model-free Hedging: A Martingale Optimal Transport Viewpoint focuses on the computation of model-independent bounds for exotic options consistent with market prices of liquid instruments such as Vanilla options. The author gives an overview of Martingale Optimal Transport, highlighting the differences between the optimal transport and its martingale counterpart. This topic is then discussed in the context of mathematical finance.
With the development of the Internet from a research network to a commercial and integrated network which must satisfy heterogeneous user demand, prices for Internet usage play an important role. This study analyzes the pricing of Internet transport services and interconnection. It explains why appropriate pricing requires popular flat rates to be abandoned. They should be replaced by usage-based prices which are load-sensitive and take different service qualities into consideration. The aim of this work is to give an overview of Internet pricing proposals, to classify, investigate, and evaluate these pricing schemes as well as to elaborate on relations between them. Evaluations are based on normative criteria for Internet pricing from the point of view of social welfare and the perspectives of both Internet service providers and users. Moreover, this book shows what efficient settlement rules look like at the interconnection level. Since these interconnection pricing agreements are closely related to retail pricing models the compatibility between them is also analyzed.
In the light of Brexit, the migration crisis, and growing scepticism regarding the European integration process, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the most pressing problems facing the European Union in the 21st century. Written by experts from various disciplines, the contributions cover a wide range of economic, legal, social and political challenges, including populism, migration, Brexit, and EU defence, foreign policy and enlargements. Each paper includes a historical account, insights into the problems and challenges confronting the EU, and an assessment of the institutions and policy instruments applied by the EU in response. Discussing each of the problems as part of a process - including the historical roots, current situation and potential solutions - the book allows readers to gain an understanding of the European Union as a living project.
Contemporary capitalistic systems have been undergoing profound transformations determined by the transition towards the so-called knowledge based economy, i.e. a competitive system based on the capabilities firms have to create, use and circulate knowledge. These transformations concern both the characteristics of productive and innovative processes, and the resources used in these activities. This book captures these changes, where traditional R&D investments undertaken internally by firms are increasingly and strategically complemented by external sources of innovation and new knowledge. Collaborations between firms, and between firms and other organizations, as well as the mobility of human capital, are strategic processes in order to share and circulate knowledge and competencies. They are also key determinants in the creation of new knowledge and innovation, and ultimately in growth dynamics. The circulation and distribution of knowledge is now a key input in the production of knowledge. Knowledge and innovation are understood as the result of collective and interactive processes at the system level, and less at the micro level. In other words, new knowledge production is less and less the result of individualistic behaviours of the firms and much more the effect of explicit and pro-active interactions and transactions put in place by local networks of innovators. In this perspective, economic space is much more defined by the quality of the interactions among actors rather than by their mere technological, sectoral or geographical proximity. This book brings together new conceptual and empirical contributions and blends the analysis of the technological and geographical spaces in which innovation and knowledge are produced.
The decades following the Second World War have been depicted as a kind of "golden age of capitalism." In Western societies, an unprecedented economic growth and a balancing of the competing claims of capital and labour had, apparently, been brought under the control of political and democratic institutions. However, efforts to combine this outstanding economic performance with social security appear to be endangered half way through the first decade of the 21st century. This book draws together an international team of contributors, including Douglass North, Harold Demsetz and Michael Piore to assess the current world order.
This book examines China, the world's largest auto market since 2008 and the story of how Chinese auto-makers developed is the story of the Chinese economy in microcosm. It focuses on China's systemically important automobile sector, this book reveals how local institutions have moderated structural changes at national and global levels, and consequently generated significant organizational diversity in the production sphere.This book begins with the intriguing observation that individual Chinese car makers have been evolving in different directions despite a shared context; what factors led to these diverse choices and positioning? It is the central aim of this book to explain the variety of institutional forms used by Chinese car manufacturers in navigating the market transition and answering the challenges posed by globalization.
For many years the countries of East Asia challenged the Washington consensus and offered an alternative development paradigm; their economies were regulated, their financial systems 'repressed' and their states interventionist. However, Asian capitalism was disrupted in the 1990's following Japan's stagnation and the financial crisis of 1997-98. Treading the unexplored theoretical terrain created by the simultaneous decline of the Washington Consensus and Asian developmentalism, this book analyzes the comparative political economy of East Asia and Latin America. leading academics analyze the impact of government intervention, institutional malfunction, social transformation and financial change as well as that of conflict and power on economic development. Written in four distinct parts, it covers * theoretical framework * results of globalization * converging and diverging of paths of economic development * finance and regionalism. Institutionalist and Marxian; from prestigious contributors including Ben Fine and KS Jomo, this book will be of significant interest to students and academics of development economics.
China's recent economic reforms have led to impressive growth, and an unprecedented enthusiasm for establishing foreign enterprises in China. Since 1993, China has been the second largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the world after the USA and is now considered to be the world's third biggest economy after the USA and Japan. Its greater economic integration with the rest of the world, especially since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), has further accelerated its market-oriented economic reforms. China is now opening its protected markets and beginning to submit to the rule of international law. This ongoing transition and increasing participation in the world economy has resulted in significant changes in human resource, management and social welfare practices in China's enterprises. The book examines the key areas, all of which are linked, where China is grappling with institutional reforms as it opens up to the outside world - state-owned enterprise reform; capital markets and financial reform; human resources and labor market reform; social welfare reform; and China's accession to the WTO and the growth of the private sector.
In this book prominent scholars from around the world debate two major themes: the past and future of the capitalist world-economy, and the ways in which a capitalist economy shapes Western research, the academy, and broader knowledge structures. Putting the two themes together, they also analyze the relationship between scholarship and the rest of the world. The book is published to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fernand Braudel Center. Contributors Samir Amin, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Bart Tromp,. Claudia von Werlhof, Giovanni Arrighi, Pablo Gonzalez-Casanova, Marcel van der Linden, Randall Collins, Mahm ood Mamdani, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Janet Abu-Lughod, Maurice Aymard, and Immanuel Wallerstein.
An authoritative account of the dangers of unfettered markets and monied politics, People, Power, and Profits shows us an America in crisis. The American people, however, are far from powerless, and Joseph Stiglitz provides an alternative path forward through his vision of progressive capitalism, with a comprehensive set of political and economic changes.
The constitutional structure and statutory duties of the central bank lie at the heart of academic debate about the optimal design of monetary policy. There is a growing consensus that governments can achieve lower inflation at a reduced social cost by granting autonomy to their central banks. Nowhere is the debate more relevant than in the transition states of eastern Europe, where the newly established central banks' attempts to stabilise prices have come into conflict with the social objectives of national governments. This book, written by a multinational team of distinguished European academics, explores the changing face of central banking in eastern Europe in the light of the modern macroeconomic thinking, providing insights into the design of monetary policy institutions. The approach is to combine theory with case studies drawn from Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria.
The global ubiquity of informal economic activities has turned informality into a key policy question, not least in international peace- and state-building. This book explores a core aspect of economic informality: its resilience despite comprehensive international anti-informality operations. Using Kosovo as an illustrative case, Danielsson suggests that to understand the resilience of informality, two distinct areas of practice need to be studied in conjunction rather than separately. The first concerns the professional practices enacted by international organisations in their attempts to formalise the informal economy in Kosovo. The second area of practice concerns the everyday informal economic practices of social agents in Kosovo. To study these areas of practice at their junction, Danielsson uses Pierre Bourdieu's concept of symbolic power and argues that in post-conflict Kosovo, the distinct practices have become interwoven and co-constitutive of a novel ordering and meaning of informality. The resilience of the informal thus plays out through - while undermining and reinforcing the need of - the international anti-informality operations. Including scholarship from global governance, global political economy and social theory, this book's original perspective on informal economies and power will appeal to scholars and professionals located in peace studies, development studies, and the field of international relations.
In 1953, John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson shook the foundations of imperial history with their essay 'The Imperialism of Free Trade'. They reshaped how historians saw the British empire, focussing not on the 'red bits on the map' and the wishes of policy makers in London, but rather on British economic and political influence globally. Expanding on this analysis, this volume provides an examination of imperialism which brings the reader right up to the present. This book offers an innovative assessment and analysis of the history and contemporary status of imperial control. It does so in four parts, examining the historical emergence and traditions of imperialism; the relationships between the periphery and the metropolitan; the role of supranational agencies in the extension of imperial control; and how these connect to financialisation and international political economy. The book provides a dynamic and unique perspective on imperialism by bringing together a range of contributors - both established and up-and-coming scholars, activists, and those from industry - from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. In providing these authors a space to apply their insights, this engaging volume sheds light on the practical implications of imperialism for the contemporary world. With a broad chronological and geographical sweep, this book provides theoretical and empirical engagements with the nature of imperialism and its effects upon societies. It will be of great interest to a broad range of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, especially those working in History, Politics, and Management and Organisation Studies.
Neoliberalism has been the reigning ideology of our era. For the past four decades, almost every real-world event of any consequence has been traced to the supposedly omnipresent influence of neoliberalism. Instead, this book argues that states across the world have actually grown in scope and reach. The authors in this volume contest the view that the past three decades have been marked by the diminution of the state in the face of neoliberalism. They argue instead that we are witnessing a new phase of state formation, which revolves around hybrid rule-that is, a more expansive form of state formation that works through privatization and seeks pacification and depoliticization as instrumental to enhancing state power. Contributors argue that that the process of hybridization, and hybrid rule point towards a convergence on a more authoritarian capitalist regime type, possibly, but not necessarily, more closely aligned with the Beijing model-one toward which even the United States, with its penchant for surveillance and discipline, appears to be moving. This volume will shed new light on evolving public-private relations, and the changing nature of power and political authority in the 21st century and will be of interest to students and scholars of IPE, international relations and political theory.
Economic theory and a growing body of empirical research support the idea that economic freedom is an important ingredient to long-run economic prosperity. However, the determinants of economic freedom are much less understood than the benefits that freedom provides. Economic Freedom and Prosperity addresses this major gap in our knowledge. If private property and economic freedom are essential for achieving and maintaining a high standard of living, it is crucial to understand how improvements in these areas have been achieved and whether there are lessons that can be replicated in less free areas of the world today. In this edited collection, contributors investigate this research question through multiple methodologies. Beginning with three chapters that theoretically explore ways in which economic freedom might be better achieved, it then moves on to a series of empirical chapters that examine questions including the speed and permanence of reform, the deep long-run determinants of economic freedom, the relationship between voice and exit in impacting freedom, the role of crises in generating change, and immigration. Finally, the book considers the evolution of freedom in China, development economics, and international trade, and it concludes with a consideration of what is necessary to promote a humane liberalism consistent with economic freedom. Economic Freedom and Prosperity will be of great interest to all social scientists concerned with issues of institutional change. It will particularly appeal to those concerned with economic development and the determinants of an environment of economic freedom.
There are many misconceptions and concerns regarding Islamic societies and how Muslim countries have failed to come up with their own localised solutions to socio-economic problems in dealing with poverty alleviation and societal development. This book explores why there is so much disconnect between spirituality and enterprise development in the world today, and how a part of the Islamic world, in fact located in Pakistan, can be part of the solution rather than being central to the problem. This book builds upon Ronnie Lessem and Alexander Schieffer's theory of 'integral dynamics' which works through a fourfold rhythm of the GENE. Set against a mono-cultural perspective, the authors highlight the ever-increasing and deepening divide between Western and Islamic cultures. Through the course of the book, the authors use the transformational GENE (Grounding, Emergence, Navigation, Effect) rhythm developed by Lessem and Schieffer to take readers through the 4C (Call, Context, Co-creation and Contribution) process, articulated to CAREing-4-Society. They ground their call in Akhuwat's community of Akhuwateers (donors, beneficiaries, borrowers, volunteers and replicators), to explore alternative models of spiritually based finance through an emerging SOUL-idarity paradigm. Furthermore, through these models and Akhuwat's CARE (Community, Awareness, Research, Embodiment) process, they put forward that encouraging community activism, raising awareness around Islamic practices of Qard-e-Hasan, institutionalising their innovative research, and finally transforming and educating the community, will provide an alternative to microfinance for poverty alleviation. Showcasing an unconventional spiritual-financial solution, deeply immersed in spirituality and infused with local moral values and traditions, this book demonstrates how poverty can be alleviated in countries around the world, specifically, in developing Muslim countries.
By virtue of several theoretical models and hypotheses, this book is one of the earliest studies which systematically investigates the structure and changes of China's financial institutions. To begin with, it examines the relation between state utility function and China's economic growth, and reveals the formation and transition of China's state-owned financial institutional arrangements. Based on this analysis, the author studies the influence of monetization on the arrangements, and the financial support to China's gradual reform which have long been neglected by researchers. Also, the model of money demand that can explain the specific conditions of the gradual reform is built, as the neoclassical framework has been incapable of explaining China's financial performance. In the last chapter, it discusses the dilemma of property rights under the state-owned financial system, with the establishment of the credit equilibrium model and the dual model of bad debts. With insightful theoretical analysis and empirical researches, this book will appeal to scholars and students in finance, economics and economic history. |
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