In contrast to neo-classical mainstream approaches to economics, this innovative Modern Guide addresses the complex reality of economic development as an inherently uneven process, exploring the ways of theorizing and empirically exploring the mechanisms with which the unevenness manifests itself. Advancing experience-based theories in the debate of economic development, this Modern Guide provides a qualitative, holistic and nuanced understanding of economic inequality by uniquely combining explanations from a large number of academic fields. It covers a wide array of issues influencing wealth and poverty, technological innovation, ecology and sustainability, financialization, population, gender and geography, and considers the dynamics of cumulative causations created by the interplay between these factors. By looking at falling real wages, world income distribution, and refugees and migrants in poorer regions, it ultimately explains why wealth and poverty are so unevenly distributed globally. The cutting-edge discussions in this Modern Guide will prove invaluable for students and scholars from a range of disciplines including economics and development studies. In today's world of 'single-issue management', the alternative theories of mutual influence in this book will prove useful to policy makers working across a variety of economic fields.

This book seeks to address critical issues and challenges in Africa and the emerging trends for the future. Authors from varied disciplines will examine and offer insight into what knowledge already exists in a specific topic area and what that may mean for the future of Africa. Despite several idealistic efforts towards a united Africa, the term remains a hypothetical concept symbolizing a desired federal state on the continent. This book plays an important role in shaping policies on the future of Africa through a deconstructive interrogation of present trends. It provides a valuable resource in varied fields of study and is highly relevant to the emerging contexts in Africa. The audience of this book includes students and policymakers, key players in Africa, political parties, trade unions, NGO's, and general audiences looking to examine and understand the future trends in Africa.

Based on recognition, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities, entrepreneurship is a process that stimulates economic growth, provides us with new products and services, and serves as a solution to low unemployment rates. Hence, many governments encourage their citizens to embrace entrepreneurship as a strategy to mitigate unemployment, particularly youth and graduate unemployment. While studies show that entrepreneurship education has yielded positive results in Western countries, in other parts of the world it seems that most students still prefer to seek paid employment in their career of choice. Promoting Entrepreneurship to Reduce Graduate Unemployment seeks to expand understanding of the barriers that face graduates in becoming entrepreneurs in various countries, examining the role of educational institutions in promoting graduate entrepreneurship and evaluating governments as well as other schemes that promote graduate entrepreneurship. Although it will not be a panacea for all the obstacles that impede graduate entrepreneurship, it is hoped that this book will illuminate the entrepreneurship career path, serve as a platform for further diagnosis for reducing graduate unemployment, and highlight areas in need of further research. Covering topics such as entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career choice, and educated unemployment, it serves as a dynamic resource for educators, educational administration and faculty, government institutions, graduate students, student organizations, professionals, researchers, and academicians.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. How can financial services, such as credit, deposit accounts, financial transfers, and insurance be provided to people in need? This challenging and complex issue has been a topic of interest for the international aid community for decades. Drawing on renowned experts in microfinance and financial inclusion, this Research Agenda sheds much-needed light on this multifaceted challenge and points the way ahead for future research. Providing a critical and multidisciplinary approach to research in microfinance and financial inclusion, the authors provide a state-of-the-art overview of current scholarly knowledge on the provision of financial services to disadvantaged populations worldwide. Reviewing the literature on the subject from the fields of economics, management science and development studies, they discuss the limitations and challenges of current research and chart avenues for future developments. With its fascinating insights, this Research Agenda will be of interest to students of finance and economics, development, and business and management, as well as researchers with a specific interest in microfinance and financial inclusion. Contributors include: J. Bastiaensen, A. Cozarenco, B. D'espallier, K.O. Djan, M. Duvendack, A. Garcia, J. Goedecke, I. Guerin, V. Hartarska, B. Hathaway, N. Hermes, F. Huybrechs, R. Lensink, R. Mersland, J. Morduch, S. Morvant, D. Nadolnyak, T. Ogden, J.-M. Servet, T.W. Sommeno, A. Szafarz, G. Van Hecken, B. Venet, L. Weill, T. Wry, S. Zamore

In this significant new book, Bruna Ingrao and Claudio Sardoni emphasize the crucial importance of considering credit/debt relations and financial markets for a comprehensive understanding of the world in which we live. The book offers both a thorough historical and theoretical reconstruction of how 20th century macroeconomics got (or did not get) to grips with the interactions between banks and financial markets, and the 'real' economy. The book is split into two distinct and thematic parts to expose the different attitudes to banks and finance before and after the Great Depression of the 1930s. Part I explores the period from the turn of the 20th century to the late 1930s, when many important economists devoted great attention to banks and credit relations in their explanations of the working of market economies. Part II discusses the post-war period up until the modern day, when banks and financial markets ceased to be a major concern of mainstream macroeconomics. The 2007-8 crisis gave rise to a renewed interest in credit relations, but many problems inherited from the past still remain open. The authors stress, in particular, the implications of the uneasy, if not impossible, coexistence of the endeavour to set macroeconomics within the framework of general equilibrium theory with the attempt to develop the analysis of the monetary and financial features of actual economies. Macroeconomists will greatly benefit from this timely book as it examines the historical evolution of the discipline, pointing out the major factors that have largely prevented the development of satisfactory analyses of the interrelations of credit, finance and the macroeconomy. Those involved in current economic policy debates will also benefit from the lessons offered in this book.

The intangible capitalist economy, that is intellectual capitalism, continues evolving, driven by technological innovations and various forms of entrepreneurship. The creation of intellectual capital and intellectual properties lies at its heart. This eagerly anticipated book analyzes the many complex links between R&D, patents, innovations, entrepreneurship, growth and value creation in this process. Based on an extensive array of national empirical and policy studies, Ove Granstrand explores a comprehensive range of innovation and intellectual property (IP) issues that pertain not only to Europe but to the entire world. These issues include the role of patents and licensing in the governance of technology and innovation, and the many uses and abuses of patents. The text also details new IP phenomena in an increasingly patent-intensive world with patent-rich multinationals and patent-savvy new entrants from Asia. In a world facing challenges that call for innovative responses, this book contains a set of valuable policy recommendations for strengthening innovativeness for economic growth and ultimately for social value creation. This timely book will be a valuable resource for economics, law and management scholars wishing to gain a thorough understanding of the topic. Practitioners and policy-makers will also greatly benefit from reading this volume, following up on the author's widely acclaimed book published in 1999 The Economics and Management of Intellectual Property: Towards Intellectual Capitalism.

Advances in digital technologies continue to impact all areas of life, including the business sector. Digital transformation is ascertained to usher in the digitalized economy and involves new concepts and management tools that must be considered in the context of management science and practice. For business leaders to ensure their companies remain competitive and relevant, it is essential for them to utilize these innovative technologies and strategies. The Handbook of Research on Digital Transformation Management and Tools highlights new digital concepts within management, such as digitalization and digital disruption, and addresses the paradigm shift in management science incurred by the digital transformation towards the digitalized economy. Covering a range of important topics such as cultural economy, online consumer behavior, sustainability, and social media, this major reference work is crucial for managers, business owners, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Sustainable development has always been a contested concept and has been extensively debated over the last 30 years with new classifications arising since then. There was a previous push for the radical transformations of the market economy to downscale production and consumption that would increase human well-being and enhance ecological conditions. Because of this conflict, there was a need for a new model that challenges and could be the alternative for the liner economy; this new model is called the circular economy. A circular economy aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. It gained its ground in the era of disruptive technological advancement and a dynamic global value chain. By supporting resource-efficient industrial models, the circular economy preserves and improves natural capital, optimizes the value of resources, and abolishes negative environmental externalities such as pollution. Examining the Intersection of Circular Economy, Forestry, and International Trade explores the link between the circular economy and various aspects of the business and environment to understand the usage and viability of adapting the circular economy from a business perspective. The chapters highlight the transition to the circular economy, its implementation across society, its intersection with forestry and international trade, and the solutions and challenges of the circular economy. This book is aimed at researchers in the field of business management, economics, and environmental studies along with practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students looking for more information on the various fields impacting the circular economy as well as the implementation, usage, and viability of a widespread adoption of a circular economy.

Health Insurance Systems: An International Comparison offers united and synthesized information currently available only in scattered locations - if at all - to students, researchers, and policymakers. The book provides helpful contexts, so people worldwide can understand various healthcare systems. By using it as a guide to the mechanics of different healthcare systems, readers can examine existing systems as frameworks for developing their own. Case examples of countries adopting insurance characteristics from other countries enhance the critical insights offered in the book. If more information about health insurance alternatives can lead to better decisions, this guide can provide an essential service.