With the radical growth in the ubiquity of digital platforms, the sharing economy is here to stay. This Handbook explores the nature and direction of the sharing economy, interrogating its key dynamics and evolution over the past decade and critiquing its effect on society. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, this Handbook analyses labour, governance, trust and consumption in the contemporary sharing economy. It questions the apparent contradiction between its components: the moral economy of small-scale communal sharing versus the far-flung reaches of the market economy. Chapters explore ways to resolve this paradox, theorizing hybrid economic forms and considering the replacement of human trust inherent in the sharing economy with a transactional reputation economy. Featuring a variety of both conceptual explorations and empirical investigations in a variety of different cross-cultural contexts, this Handbook illustrates how and, more importantly, why the sharing economy has reshaped marketplaces, and will continue to disrupt them as it develops. Written in an accessible style, this thorough Handbook offers crucial insights for researchers across a variety of disciplines interested in the trajectories of modern consumption, as well as students studying the sharing economy. Practitioners, policy makers and public speakers working in and around the sharing economy will also benefit from this book's unique analysis of trends in consumer economics. Contributors include: A. Arvidsson, G. Avram, F. Bardhi, H. Bartling, M. Baz Radwan, R. Belk, H.H. Chang, A. Chattopadhyay, R. Corten, D. Dalli, A. DeCrop, N. Drozdova, G. Eckhardt, T. Eriksson, E. Fischer, F. Fortezza, A. Gandini, A. Gessinger, A. Graul, A. Gruen, A.J. Hawley, I. Kleppe, S. Kurtmollaiev, M. Laamanen, C. Laurell, C.X. Li, A. Light, R.J. Lutz, J. Mallarge, K. Mikolajewska-Zaj c, L. Mimoun, M. Moehlmann, O. Mont, J. Morales, A. Mukherjee, C. Oberg, L.K. Ozanne, E. Papaoikonomou, G. Patsiaouras, C. Pitt, K. Plangger, M. Rocas-Royo, A. Ryan, C. Sandstrom, M. Saren, K. Strzyczkowski, W. Suetzl, T. Teubner, C. Valor, P. van den Bussche, G. von Richthofen, Y. Voytenko Palgen, S. Wahlen, T. Widlok, P. Zidda, L. Zvolska

This groundbreaking book examines the growing phenomenon of internships, and the policy issues that they raise, during a time when internships or traineeships have become an important way of transitioning from education into paid work. Featuring contributions from established and emerging scholars in a range of disciplines, the book presents important new research on the use, benefits and regulation of such arrangements. It considers how various countries around the world are meeting the challenge of ensuring decent work for interns, and what more needs to be done to realise that objective. Additionally, the case for new forms of regulation to minimise or prevent the exploitation of interns is explored, against the background of a possible new international labour standard. Presenting new data and analysis on whether internships can - and to what extent do - provide an effective bridge from education to employment, Internships, Employability and the Search for Decent Work Experience will be a key resource for policy-makers and academics in labour law, industrial relations, labour economics, human resource management and education.

This book provides a simple explanatory guide for the layman that clarifies the 'big picture' of the PMBOK. The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), published by the Project Management Institute, provides a roadmap of performance domains designed to support project managers in all phases of project management. The sheer number of models, methods, and artifacts may leave project managers in a quandary about where to start and how to apply the many components. This book provides a simple explanatory guide for the layman that clarifies the 'big picture' of the PMBOK.

This visionary book seeks to uncover the main barriers to achieving greater social justice in existing twenty-first century capitalism. Developing a comprehensive consequentialist theory of justice applied to today's global situation, Mike Berry adopts the thesis that, in order to move towards a more just world, the weaknesses of liberal democracy must be overcome through reconstructing robust, resilient social democracies. Arguing for the necessary interrelation of justice and democracy, the book presents a detailed analysis of the development of and threats to western democracy in the current phase of global capitalism. Chapters offer a progressive case for a reconstructed social democracy, rather than piecemeal reform of existing liberal democratic regimes. Berry examines how the oligarchic trajectory of capitalism must be stymied through radical institutional change and continual monitoring. The book concludes that this is a continuing political project, calling for new modes of mobilisation and the ecological emergence of new values and world views. Introducing the critical role of uncertainty and the relevance of real time to the question of progress defined as increasing justice, this book will be critical reading for scholars and students of political philosophy, political economy and public policy. It will also be beneficial for progressive policy makers and advisers questioning existing policy platforms and settings.

Bill Pritchard provides an important update on how current trade methodologies are implemented as China becomes one of the world's largest fresh fruit importers from countries such as Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The book also looks at their distinctive trade aspects and what can be learnt from alternative practices carried out in other countries through the use of global production networks. An in-depth analysis provides the reader with a welcome insight into existing processes from production through to export, often through informal routes, with a marketing structure providing more power to the distributors and brokers and mixed effects on the farmers. Using empirical evidence from four countries, this book explores what could, and should, be implemented in this under-researched topic to aid rural development. This will be an invaluable resource for researchers of human geography, international trade and Asian studies, particularly those with a focus on Southeast Asia and China.

This book's eminent editors and contributing authors provide an accessible and engaging account of the 'new' politics of corporate taxation, highlighting the complex and multidimensional strategies used by activists to influence public opinion, formal regulation and corporate behaviour. While campaigning is successful at exposing tax avoidance, it presents significant governance challenges. As this book reveals, the battle to establish fair and sustainable corporate tax regimes has only just begun. Chapters offer readers a timely assessment of the emerging role of new tax justice NGOs, the media and whistleblowers, as well as new governance strategies and policies targeting multinational corporations. Through the lens of political science, the authors show how civil society organisations shape the agenda of tax practices of the world's largest and most powerful corporations, including examples such as Apple and Google. A detailed evaluation is given of new private governance initiatives in the international tax arena and their relationship with traditional forms of regulation. Looking closely at the wider significance of the debate in contemporary global governance, academics and graduates in the fields of international political economy, global governance, development studies and taxation will find this book a timely and thought-provoking read. Contributors: A. Christians, R. Eccleston, A. Elbra, F. Gale, L. Johnson, A. Kellow, L. Latulippe, J. Mikler, H. Murphy-Gregory, T. Porter, K. Ronit, L. Seabrooke, L. Smith, J. Van Alstine, D. Wigan, R. Woodward

Providing an integrated and multi-level analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on people, place, economies and policies, across the globe, this timely book explores how the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic combines failure with success. It focuses on exploring rapid adaptation and improvisation by individuals, organisations and governments as they attempted to minimise and mitigate the socio-economic and health impacts of the pandemic. Interdisciplinary chapters written by social policy, geography, planning, policy, sociology and public health experts explore the broader impacts of COVID-19, positioning the pandemic in the context of wider trends and risks including climate change. Chapters highlight the importance of place and local contexts in understanding its impacts in different settings including Europe, Canada, North America, South Korea, South Africa and Lebanon. In doing so, the book develops a pandemic preparedness, responsiveness and recovery research framework and intends to inform post-pandemic policy development and research. This is an important book for geography, social policy, politics, urban studies, planning and business and management researchers and students, particularly those focusing on crisis management and risk and resilience. With key case studies from across the globe, it will help elucidate key issues for policy makers and practitioners across a range of sectors including strategic management, social policy, public health and the built environment.

In light of the tremendous growth of frugal product and process innovations in both emerging markets and economies in the Global North, this book offers a clear understanding of this new direction of technological change within a Schumpterian analytical framework. Characterising frugal innovation as a new technological paradigm, it illuminates the relationship between frugality and sustainability. Using important case studies from around the globe, Christian Le Bas explores the key characteristics of frugal innovations: products with fewer artefacts, decreasing technological complexity and design simplification. Chapters systematically synthesise economic knowledge on the topic, mapping the environmentally positive consequences of frugal innovation and identifying the crucial socio-economic and ecological contemporary issues that frugal innovation can help resolve. Concise and timely, this book will be a useful resource for economics and management scholars and students. The tools for understanding the nature and scope of frugal innovation, as well as insights on sustainable innovation, also make this an important read for managers, decision-makers and stakeholders.

This volume contains thirty-seven contributions from the most significant early developers of monetary economics. Starting with Aristotle, the collection tracks the development of the modern theory of money through the ages by thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Martin de Azpilcueta, John Locke, Richard Cantillon, David Hume, and A.R.J Turgot. Also included are the first translations of Jean Buridan's writings on money and of Albert the Great's writings on money from Latin. A Source Book on Early Monetary Theory will be of interest to bankers, historians, and macroeconomists and can be used as a supplementary text on courses in macroeconomics, money and banking, and the history of economic thought.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. In this thoroughly revised and updated second edition, Mariana Mota Prado and Michael J. Trebilcock offer a succinct and readable introduction to the main concepts and debates in the field of law and development. They examine the role of legal systems and institutions, investigate perceptions around what laws and legal arrangements encourage and facilitate development, and probe the issues arising in both private law and public law as well as in international economic relations. Key features of the second edition include: Discussion of the role of technology in promoting development Analysis of the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on developing countries A brand new chapter investigating the role of health and education in development Written with the insight of two top experts in the field, this Advanced Introduction covers the most recent trends in law and development research and highlights areas that remain underexplored. It will be essential reading for students, practitioners and policy-makers looking to gain a clear understanding of the core principles of this multifaceted topic.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This insightful Advanced Introduction provides an in-depth review of current U.S. technology policy, tracing the legislative history of policies such as the Economic Recovery Tax Act, the Small Business Innovation Development Act and the National Cooperative Research Act. The critical elements of the ecosystem in which technology policy exists are also discussed, with a particular focus on U.S. patent policy and U.S. investments in infrastructure technology. Key features include: Historical trace of U.S. technology policy ideas over the past 75 years Comparison of U.S. technology policies to those in other nations Agenda for future thinking about U.S. technology policy Integrated discussion of U.S. technology policy Economic rationale for U.S. technology policy This Advanced Introduction will be invaluable for international business leaders and policymakers, in addition to scholars in economics, public administration, business and public policy.

We are bombarded every day with numbers that tell us how we are doing, whether the economy is growing or shrinking, whether the future looks bright or dim. Gross national product, balance of trade, unemployment, inflation, and consumer confidence guide our actions, yet few of us know where these numbers come from, what they mean, or why they rule our world.
In "The Leading Indicators," Zachary Karabell tells the fascinating history of these indicators. They were invented in the mid-twentieth century to address the urgent challenges of the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. They were rough measures-- designed to give clarity in a data-parched world that was made up of centralized, industrial nations--yet we still rely on them today.
We live in a world shaped by information technology and the borderless flow of capital and goods. When we follow a 1950s road map for a twenty-first-century world, we shouldn't be surprised if we get lost.
What is urgently needed, Karabell makes clear, is not that we invent a new set of numbers but that we tap into the thriving data revolution, which offers unparalleled access to the information we need. Companies should not base their business plans on GDP projections; individuals should not decide whether to buy a home or get a degree based on the national unemployment rate. If you want to buy a home, look for a job, start a company, or run a business, you should find your own indicators. National housing figures don't matter; local ones do. You can find them at the click of a button. Personal, made-to-order indicators will meet our needs today, and the revolution is well underway. We need only to join it.

Countering the claims that competition contradicts and undermines ethical thought processes and actions, Christoph Lutge successfully argues that competition and ethics do not necessarily have to oppose one another. He highlights how intensified competition can in fact work in favour of ethical goals, and that many criticisms of competition stem from an out-dated understanding of how modern societies and economies function. Illustrating this view with examples from ecology, healthcare and education, the author calls for a more entrepreneurial spirit in analysing the relationship between competition and ethics. This book delivers important arguments for the ethics of innovation, using a combination of theoretical and practical evidence to support it. Researchers and scholars of economics, business, philosophy and politics will greatly benefit from the fresh interdisciplinary perspectives and thorough exploration of the complex relationship between modern competition and ethics.

The importance of supply chain and logistics knowledge has been growing significantly with the beginning of the new millennium, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, as logistics and international transport perform one of the most essential services of the modern globalized and interconnected world. This influence of the new dynamic world brings both challenges and motivation for researchers and practitioners with interests in this field. Further study on the opportunities and difficulties of business logistics is essential to protect the future of international business. Cases on International Business Logistics in the Middle East provides innovative information on logistics and supply chain management and delivers insights into contemporary findings of logistics and supply chain based on real case studies. Covering critical topics such as manufacturing, warehousing, air transport, and big data, this reference work is ideal for managers, executives, business owners, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

This volume presents thirteen chapters prepared by senior researchers and former policy makers on key policy issues confronting China and the West. They focus on the role of the state in economic development, trade issues and the part played by innovation, digitalization and leadership. In a challenging and rapidly changing world, the book aims to provide not only authoritative analyses and perspectives, but to stimulate further thinking and debates about the common future. Each chapter is in the form of a short policy brief. China and the West is aimed for policy makers, business leaders, academics and students.

Providing an overview of industrial development using a variety of different approaches and perspectives, the Handbook of Industrial Development brings together expert contributors and highlights the current multiple and interdependent challenges that can only be addressed using an interdisciplinary approach. Chapters discuss the existing issues faced by industry following both the digital and environmental transitions, highlighting their regional roots and the interplay with the wider institutional framework. Investigating the necessity for companies to design new products and production processes and also re-think their corporate responsibilities, this Handbook illustrates the need for a much broader vision taking into account historical, social, political and cultural viewpoints at all governmental levels. Furthermore, it takes an analytical look at further research, including insightful directions for future industrial development policies. Answering complex policy questions for today, this crucial Handbook will be invaluable for policymakers looking for insights into sustainable industrial development as well as practitioners who are seeking an up-to-date comprehensive overview of the topic. Economic development and innovation scholars and researchers will also find the future research ideas interesting and informative.

Examining the fundamental thinking underpinning the foundation for economic studies of happiness, this book explores the theories of key economists and philosophers from the Greek philosophers to more modern schools of thought. Lall Ramrattan and Michael Szenberg explore the general measures of happiness, utility as a method, metrical measures of happiness, happiness in literature and the scope of happiness in this concise book. Fundamentals of Happiness builds on major moral and philosophical theories from the ancient, medieval and modern schools that form the foundation of utility analysis. The authors classify the economics of happiness based on psychological, individual, social and institutional views of happiness, revealing how historical schools of thought implicitly or explicitly deal with this. The book also focuses on the relationship between happiness and society and welfare, analysing the measurement of subjective well-being. This will be an invigorating read for economics students, in particular those studying the history of economic thought, looking to understand the basic principles underlying the economics of happiness.

The political and symbolic centrality of capital cities has been challenged by increasing economic globalization. This is especially true of secondary capital cities; capital cities which, while being the seat of national political power, are not the primary economic city of their nation state. David Kaufmann examines the unique challenges that these cities face entering globalised, inter-urban competition while not possessing a competitive political economy. Varieties of Capital Cities offers empirically rich case studies of four secondary capital cities: Bern, Ottawa, The Hague, and Washington, D.C. Analysed with an innovative research framework, this book shows through its clearly structured analysis, that while the pressures facing these cities are the same, the mechanisms they employ to cope with them are very different. They have formulated a wide variety of policies to supplement their capital function with economically promising profiles, even though they cannot escape their destinies as government cities. This book is an impressive contribution to an area of study largely neglected by urban studies, political science, and economic geography. With vital lessons for urban policy makers, the interested practitioner will find a pool of inspiration for their urban strategies. Students and scholars of these subjects will find this book interesting, and will also find it invaluable as a lesson for how to develop and execute comparative case studies.

Discussing the Spanish Flu, HIV/AIDs, SARS and Ebola against the background of Covid-19, Pandemic Economics demonstrates how scientists consistently warned the world about pandemics, and how, despite this, the possibility of global lockdown caused unprecedented economic policies and ruin. The book prepares for the next pandemic, that unquestionably will arrive, the impact of which is predicted to potentially exceed that of the current Covid-19 wreckage. Highlighting how economic theory can anticipate a pandemic's impact despite the uncertainty and unreliability of traditional statistics, Peter van Bergeijk assesses the lack of preparation by international economic institutions and the ability for humanity to deeply hurt the economy by its response to infectious disease. Chapters offer an overview and critical analysis of global non-pharmaceutical interventions and economic policies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Looking forward, the book investigates the economic impact, policy (in)effectiveness and resilience in different social contexts, illustrating a pandemic trilemma of health, freedom and the economy. It suggests how to prepare for the next pandemic at the individual level, in city planning, nationally, internationally and globally, with a focus on analysing the impact of pandemics from a global perspective. Pandemic Economics will be a stimulating read for (health) economics and development studies scholars as it provides a historic overview of the uneven impact of pandemics, with up to date studies of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. The forward-looking suggestions for economic policies and preparations for future pandemics will also make this an important read for economic and health policy makers.