This book on counting statistics presents a novel copula-based approach to counting dependent random events. It combines clustering, combinatorics-based algorithms and dependence structure in order to tackle and simplify complex problems, without disregarding the hierarchy of or interconnections between the relevant variables. These problems typically arise in real-world applications and computations involving big data in finance, insurance and banking, where experts are confronted with counting variables in monitoring random events. In this new approach, combinatorial distributions of random events are the core element. In order to deal with the high-dimensional features of the problem, the combinatorial techniques are used together with a clustering approach, where groups of variables sharing common characteristics and similarities are identified and the dependence structure within groups is taken into account. The original problems can then be modeled using new classes of copulas, referred to here as clusterized copulas, which are essentially based on preliminary groupings of variables depending on suitable characteristics and hierarchical aspects. The book includes examples and real-world data applications, with a special focus on financial applications, where the new algorithms' performance is compared to alternative approaches and further analyzed. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to master students, PhD students and researchers whose work involves or can benefit from the innovative methodologies put forward here. It will also stimulate the empirical use of new approaches among professionals and practitioners in finance, insurance and banking.

Beginning in the 1860s, the Russian Empire replaced a poll tax system that originated with Peter the Great with a modern system of income and excise taxes. Russia began a transformation of state fiscal power that was also underway across Western Europe and North America. States of Obligation is the first sustained study of the Russian taxation system, the first to study its European and transatlantic context, and the first to expose the essential continuities between the fiscal practices of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.

Using a wealth of materials from provincial and local archives across Russia, Yanni Kotsonis examines how taxation was simultaneously a revenue-raising and a state-building tool, a claim on the person and a way to produce a new kind of citizenship. During successive political, wartime, and revolutionary crises between 1855 and 1928, state fiscal power was used to forge social and financial unity and fairness and a direct relationship with individual Russians. State power eventually overwhelmed both the private sector economy and the fragile realm of personal privacy. States of Obligation is at once a study in Russian economic history and a reflection on the modern state and the modern citizen.

This advanced textbook provides a straightforward but comprehensive introduction to applied general equilibrium modeling. General equilibrium is the backbone of modern economic analysis, which is why generation after generation of economics students have been introduced to it. As an analytical tool, general equilibrium can provide one of the most complete views of a given economy, as it incorporates all economic agents (households, firms, government and the foreign sector) in an integrated way that explicitly reveals the interplay of economic forces-supply and demand-and the balancing role of prices. Applied general equilibrium goes one step further in modeling, since it entails the integration of microeconomic theory, data handling and computing. This integration is essential for successful empirical modeling, but also involves various abilities that are not found in standard books. This book fills the gap, providing advanced students with the required tools, from the construction of consistent and applicable general equilibrium models to the interpretation of the results that ensue from the adoption of policies. This second edition expands the range of topics covered, including: indispensable general equilibrium theory, step-by-step model design, incremental model extensions, a wealth of sample computer code, procedures for constructing economic databases, database adjustments and database updating algorithms, numerical model calibration, policy strategies and their trade-offs and welfare effects, and a discussion of empirical policy examples.

This book studies the impact of cleavages on electoral choices. Based on a case study of Switzerland, it analyses how cleavages divide voters into voting blocs and how this influences Swiss voting behaviour and the Swiss party system. The first part examines the development of salient cleavages such as religion, social class, rural-urban, and language between 1971 and 2011. Behavioural changes among voters and changes in the size of social groups are explored as explanatory factors for the decline of cleavage voting. The second part proposes a contextual perspective analysis of the current impact of cleavages using both individual and contextual factors. These factors are also combined to examine interaction effects between the individual and the context. Finally, the third part analyses whether the impact of cleavages has harmonised across different contexts (Swiss cantons) over time.

This book provides a new methodological approach to money and macroeconomics. Realizing that the abstract equilibrium models lacked descriptions of fundamental issues of a modern monetary economy, the focus of this book lies on the (stylized) balance sheets of the main actors. Money, after all, is born on the balance sheets of the central bank or commercial bank. While households and firms hold accounts at banks with deposits, banks hold an account at the central bank where deposits are called reserves. The book aims to explain how the two monetary circuits - central bank deposits and bank deposits - are intertwined. It is also shown how government spending injects money into the economy. Modern Monetary Theory and European Macroeconomics covers both the general case and then the Eurozone specifically. A very simple macroeconomic model follows which explains the major accounting identities of macroeconomics. Using this new methodology, the Eurozone crisis is examined from a fresh perspective. It turns out that not government debt but the stagnation of private sector debt was the major economic problem and that cuts in government spending worsened the economic situation. The concluding chapters discuss what a solution to the current problems of the Eurozone must look like, with scenarios that examine a future with and without a euro. This book provides a detailed balance sheet view of monetary and fiscal operations, with a focus on the Eurozone economy. Students, policy-makers and financial market actors will learn to assess the institutional processes that underpin a modern monetary economy, in times of boom and in times of bust.

This book presents startling evidence that state monopolies can produce better outcomes than the free market. It provides an empirical comparison of the property insurance market in five European countries: Britain, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Germany. The market and cost structures of insurers in each country are described, and particular features of each market and the outcomes for customers examined. The regulatory frameworks vary widely from country to country and so do the market outcomes, both in terms of premium level and in terms of available insurance cover. In view of the increase in major floods and other forms of natural damage (such as subsidence) over the last decades, the non-availability of insurance cover in many competitive insurance systems is likely to become a major political issue. This book shows that state monopoly is an adequate policy response. Competitive insurance systems are shown to provide incomplete cover at a substantially higher cost. In mixed systems, where the private sector can obtain reinsurance from the state (such a system is being tried in France) the state tends to end up paying most of the costs (it reinsures most of the bad risks) while the private insurance companies keep most of the premium income. The book will be of interest to academic economists interested in privatization, regulation, the theory of the firm, and insurance; Policy-makers concerned with regulation and privatization; Insurance companies, regulators, and analysts.

Given the political, financial, social, and economic conditions inherited from Communist rule, Romania's new government concluded that a shock therapy approach to reform would create unmanageable chaos and enduring instability. Though committed to economic liberalization, decisionmakers espoused a gradualist approach to economic reform. The government pursued its objectives by implementing policies it considered functionally operational. Although Romania experienced the macro dislocations and downturns that are common in transitional economies in the region, the country sustained shallower recessions, lower inflationary spirals, and shorter production losses than many reforming economies. This study analyzes how, against calculated probabilities and within a relatively short time period, Romania has stabilized and assembled all the basic ingredients for a successful transformation from a centralized system to a market-driven economy.

The lessons derivable from Romania's relatively successful experiment with systemic transformation could be beneficial to reform architects in all newly liberalized economies in Eastern Europe. The conclusions of this study reinforce the view that it is imperative to examine and foster the existing preconditions, including political, institutional, and financial components, before subjecting an economy to extensive and intensive shocks that could be judiciously mitigated or circumvented. Unlike other newly liberalized economies in Eastern Europe, where the once disgraced Communists have returned to power, sympathy for a centralized system has been steadily and swiftly declining in Romania. The primary factor in Romania's success, the author claims, is its circumspect approach to reform.

At a time of rising global economic precarity and social inequality, the field of economic anthropology offers solutions through the study of local and contextualized economic practices. This book is made up of an exciting collection of succinct essays authored by leading scholars primarily from the field of economic anthropology, but also featuring contributions from sociology and history. The chapters engage with debates at the cutting edge of research on the topics of Eurasia, the anthropology of postsocialism and the embeddedness of economic practices.

This book presents an authoritative collection of contributions reporting on fuzzy logic and decision theory, together with applications and case studies in economics and management science. Dedicated to Professor Jaume Gil Aluja in recognition of his pioneering work, the book reports on theories, methods and new challenges, thus offering not only a timely reference guide but also a source of new ideas and inspirations for graduate students and researchers alike.

This book, based on lectures on natural and environmental resource economics, offers a nontechnical exposition of the modern theory of sustainability in the presence of resource scarcity. It applies an alternative take on environmental economics, focusing on the economics of the natural environment, including development, computation, and potential empirical importance of the concept of option value, as opposed to the standard treatment of the economics of pollution control. The approach throughout is primarily conceptual and theoretical, though empirical estimation and results are sometimes noted. Mathematics, ranging from elementary calculus to more formal dynamic optimization, is used, especially in the early chapters on the optimal management of exhaustible and renewable resources, but results are always given an economic interpretation. Diagrams and numerical examples are also used extensively. The first chapter introduces the classical economists as the first resource economists, in their discussion of the implications of a limited natural resource base (agricultural land) for the evolution of the wider economy. A later chapter returns to the same concerns, along with others stimulated by the energy and environmental "crises" of the 1970s and beyond. One section considers alternative measures of resource scarcity and empirical findings on their behavior over time. Another introduces the modern concept of sustainability with an intuitive development of the analytics. A chapter on the dynamics of environmental management motivates the concept of option value, shows how to compute it, then demonstrates its importance in an illustrative empirical example. The closing chapter, on climate change, first projects future changes and potential catastrophic impacts, then discusses the policy relevance of both option value and discounting for the very long run. This book is intended for resource and environmental economists and can be read by interested graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the field as well.

This book offers an overview of state-of-the-art econometric techniques, with a special emphasis on financial econometrics. There is a major need for such techniques, since the traditional way of designing mathematical models - based on researchers' insights - can no longer keep pace with the ever-increasing data flow. To catch up, many application areas have begun relying on data science, i.e., on techniques for extracting models from data, such as data mining, machine learning, and innovative statistics. In terms of capitalizing on data science, many application areas are way ahead of economics. To close this gap, the book provides examples of how data science techniques can be used in economics. Corresponding techniques range from almost traditional statistics to promising novel ideas such as quantum econometrics. Given its scope, the book will appeal to students and researchers interested in state-of-the-art developments, and to practitioners interested in using data science techniques.

Socio economic development is shaped by social pressures and behavioral interactions of individuals and groups through social capital and social markets. Global campaigns led by various groups are vehicles to bring about awareness and change outlooks for the betterment of society by focusing on the burning issues of a particular region, zone, or area. Global Campaigning Initiatives for Socio-Economic Development explores unified campaigns and how they can help to make the economy globally competitive and sustainable through their impact on innovation, production, generating revenue, and increasing employability and quality of life. This publication covers a wide array of topics including customer value, digital innovation, and social innovation. It is designed for policymakers, academicians, researchers, technology developers, and government officials.

Frederic L. Pryor uses the concept of structural complexity to show how changes in the population, the labor force, the structure of industry, the financial system, foreign and domestic trade, and the government sector are related to the same general trend in the U.S. economic system over the past forty years and in the coming twenty years. He also investigates the impact of these changes on the functioning of the system, exploring such matters as the long-term rising unemployment rate, the alleged increasing volatility of the economy, the changing degree of competition, and the evolving role of the government. The discussion is aimed at those who wish to view the economy as a whole and who are concerned with problems of understanding an economy that is becoming increasingly complex along many different dimensions. For specialists a number of appendices discuss a variety of technical issues.

This volume offers a collection of studies on problem of organization's efficiency, criteria for evaluating the efficiency, tools and methods for measuring the efficiency. The articles included present an interdisciplinary look at efficiency, its essence and the principles of its measurement. The contributions also identify a broad spectrum of conditions for achieving efficiency in various types of organizations and systems (e.g. public institution, non-profit organizations), representing various industries. The book collects selected papers presented at the 7th International Conference "Efficiency as a Source of the Wealth of Nations", held in Wroclaw, Poland, in May 2017.

Alec Hogg is one of South Africa's leading financial journalists, and the founder of Moneyweb and Biznews.

Here he helps us to learn how the investment genius of Warren Buffett can be applied to South African investing. This book is packed with invaluable lessons and insights from the world's greatest wealth creator. Useful charts and graphics are included in the book to provide more details about concepts and shares.

Packed inside the book you'll find:

• What $10'000 invested in Berkshire in 1965 looks like today
• Buffett's Top 4 Companies
• Stock charts of important South African companies

McGee takes the position that the only proper trade policy is one of total, immediate, and unilateral free trade, since such a policy is the only one that is consistent with individual rights. He also explodes the myth that trade deficits are bad and advocates the repeal of the antidumping laws, incorporating rights theory as well as utilitarian arguments.

This book is unique in that it (1) does not limit itself to utilitarian arguments, (2) explains why trade deficits are irrelevant, and (3) calls for immediate repeal of the antidumping laws. Part I discusses the philosophy of protectionism and reviews nearly two dozen arguments that projectionists have used to restrict trade. A whole chapter is devoted to exploding the myth that trade deficits are bad. Part II elaborates on the monetary and nonmonetary costs of protectionism. Part III addresses the philosophy and practice of antidumping policy in the United States, and shows why the policy is irrational, destructive and anti-consumer, and concludes that repeal rather than reform is called for. Part IV discusses other issues, such as the policy options for Europe, the effect of competition on prices and efficiency, the stages of economic development and their connection to trade policy, and the irrationality of the United States trade policy toward Eastern Europe.

Mourdoukoutas argues that as globalization gains momentum and reengineering becomes universal, firms can no longer be sure of achieving sustainable competitive advantages through improved operating effectiveness alone. The new business strategy will focus on revenue growth and on the constructive destruction of conventional corporations, through collective entrepreneurship and its division in the product supply chain. To enhance revenues through the management of constructive destruction, companies must achieve organizational mutations and permutations, turning themselves from hierarchical managerial units into entrepreneurial networks. These entrepreneurial networks are communities that share a common fate: the risks and rewards associated with the discovery and exploitation of new businesses. Mourdoukoutas says that in some cases entrepreneurial networks can be extended outside the conventional borders of the corporation--vertically to suppliers, distributors, and customers, and horizontally to former competitors. In such networks the focus of business strategy should not be on the division of labor by task or process; rather, upon the divison of entrepreneurship and its diffusion among all of the firM's members. This is a challenging and thoughtful study and analysis for corporate management and their academic colleagues.

This Palgrave Pivot presents theoretical models that explain common historical sequences, such as wars of secession, the rise and fall of empires, and international war. The book uses a rational choice model to frame the incentives of specific groups coming together in a polity or leaving it. These incentives are then set in a theoretical framework to determine the outcome-unity or secession, peace or war-and are demonstrated through historical examples. The book provides two longer case studies looking directly at motives for and against secession: the first on the American Civil War from the point of view of the Confederacy, and the second on efforts by the UK government to stem the tide of Scottish independence. Another case study discusses peacekeeping as aimed at reducing the costs of secessionist wars. With its accessible use of economic theory and ability to bring to life real-world examples of conflict and secession, this book is ideal supplementary reading for courses in international relations, conflict studies, global economics and economic history.

This book discusses critical policy issues that need to be addressed if India wishes to achieve the SDG 1 based elusive goal of ending poverty in the country. In its nine chapters, it takes the readers through trends and estimates of poverty in India, explains changes in the way it has been measured over time and the factors that lead to persistence of poverty, draws attention to the fact that hunger is both a cause and an effect of poverty and has gender and age dimensions too. The book revisits strategies that were successful in addressing poverty emanating from situations of conflict, presents a discussion on migration as a critical coping mechanism among poor, analyses the links between ill health and poverty as well as education and poverty to draw attention to the policy imperatives that need attention. India's report card on poverty remains dismal even though there is recognition of the importance of reducing or eliminating or ending it at both national and global levels. Despite rapid economic growth and improvement on a range of development indicators, an unacceptably high proportion of India's population continues to suffer poverty in multiple dimensions. SDG 1 or "ending poverty in all its forms everywhere" cannot be achieved unless policies and poverty alleviation programmes understand and address chronic poverty and its dynamics. This requires that we estimate and understand the extent of poverty, the factors that lead to people getting stuck in it and the ways this can be addressed. It also requires understanding the dynamic nature of poverty or the fact that many of those who are poor are able to move out of poverty as well as the fact that many others who are not poor become impoverished. These are the issues that are comprehensively examined and addressed in this book. In addition to students, teachers and researchers in the areas of development, economic growth, equity and welfare, the book is also of great interest to policy makers, planners and non-government agencies who are concerned with understanding and addressing poverty-related issues in the developing countries.

This book presents original research articles addressing various aspects of economics, management and optimization. The topics discussed include economics, finance, marketing, resource allocation strategies, fuzzy logic, and network-based techniques for the analysis of economics, management and mathematical optimization. Combining the input of contributing professors and researchers from various Spanish, Italian and Latin American universities, the book will be of interest to students, researchers and practitioners, as well as members of the general public interested in the world of Economics and Management.

This book reconstructs major paradigms in the history of economic ethics up to, and including, the present day. Asserting that ethics should be integral rather than marginal to economics and management education, Reframing Economic Ethics highlights the need for a paradigm change from mechanistic to humanistic management, and argues that the failures of markets and managers in recent years were paved by a misguided management education. The author shows how the reader can and must learn from the history of economic thinking in order to overcome the theoretical shortcomings and the practical failings of the present system.

The interdisciplinary field of economics and religion has come a long way since 2003 when Edward Elgar published the pioneering volume Economics and Religion. The influence of religious ideas on the birth of economics as a discipline and its rise to cultural dominance is now widely recognized. The largely Protestant discussion has been enriched by Roman Catholic contributions stimulated by recent Papal Encyclicals. The economics of religion has now matured into a respectable subfield of economics and articles on religion regularly appear in top economics journals. This original and insightful research review places the most recent contributions in context and will be an invaluable resource for scholars and academics alike.

"David Hardwick and Leslie Marsh have assembled a contentious collection of independent thinkers on liberalism's identity and prospects. Should liberalism be democratic, classical, ordo, legalistic, culture-based, market-based, or what? The international crew of authors-from Australia, Canada, China and the USA-draw upon the insights of key historic figures from Locke to Montesquieu to Burke to Dewey to Hayek to Rawls (and of course others, given liberalism's rich history), and they leave us with a set of liberalisms both in collision and in overlapping agreement. This book is stimulating reading for those engaged with next-generation liberal thought." -Stephen R. C. Hicks, Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University. This collection redresses the conceptual hubris and illiteracy that has come to obscure the central presuppositions of classical liberalism - that is, the wresting of epistemic independence from overwhelming concentrations of power, monopolies and capricious zealotries, whether they be statist, religious or corporate in character.

Business Cycles in Economic Thought underlines how, over the time span of two centuries, economic thought interacted with cycles in a continuous renewal of theories and rethinking of policies, whilst economic actions embedded themselves into past economic thought. This book argues that studying crises and periods of growth in different European countries will help to understand how different national, political and cultural traditions influenced the complex interaction of economic cycles and economic theorizing. The editors of this great volume bring together expert contributors consisting of economists, historians of economic thought and historians of economics, to analyse crises and theories of the nineteenth and the twentieth century. This is alongside a comprehensive outlook on the most relevant advances of economic theory in France, Germany and Italy, as well as coverage of non-European countries, such as the United States. Several of the highly prestigious Villa Vigoni Trilateral Conferences formed the background for the discussions in this book. This volume is of great interest to students and academics who study history of economic thought, political economy and macroeconomics.