Exploring the emerging and vibrant field of critical agrarian studies, this comprehensive Handbook offers interdisciplinary insights from both leading scholars and activists to understand agrarian life, livelihoods, formations and processes of change. It highlights the development of the field, which is characterized by theoretical and methodological pluralism and innovation. The Handbook presents critical analyses of, and examines controversies about, historical and contemporary social structures and processes in agrarian and rural settings from a wide range of perspectives. Chapters explore the origins of critical agrarian studies, the concepts underpinning the diverse theoretical approaches to the field, and the strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies used within the field. Finally, it illuminates debates around the topic and trajectories for future research and development. This will be a vital resource for graduate students, scholars and activists interested in critical agrarian studies. The analytical and empirical insights will also be helpful to students of environmental and development studies as well as agricultural and development economics, human geography and socio-cultural anthropology.

Presenting critical insights on how economic activity is constrained by the environment's ability to provide material and energy resources, this timely Research Agenda explores how humanity shapes, and is shaped by, environmental change and sustainability challenges. Chapters highlight how, under these constraints, people may seek to improve their lives and standards of living without undermining the abilities of others to do so now or in the future. With contributions from top economic scholars, as well as from a range of other disciplines including ethics, law, and the physical and life sciences, this book explores how interdisciplinary insights can be integrated to provide meaningful investment and policy advice. Offering diverse understandings of the topic from both the Global North and South, this Research Agenda challenges previous economic conceptualizations of human-environment interactions, exploring resource use and environmental impact from micro- and macro-economic perspectives. Students of environmental and ecological economics will find this to be a thought-provoking and stimulating read. The suggestions for future research and use of clear case studies will also prove valuable for environmental law and ethics scholars, as well as environmental policy-makers. Contributors include: D.C. Andersen, Y. Bramoulle, L.P. Breckenridge, M. Faber, M. Frick, A. Kander, R. Kemp, D. Malghan, R.B. Norgaard, C. Orset, S.V. Ramani, M. Ruth, J. Sager, M. Sagoff, M.R. Sers, D.I. Stern, D.J. Thampapillai, E. van Leeuwen, M.d.M.R. Varas, P.A. Victor

Labor Economics, ninth edition by George J. Borjas provides a modern introduction to labor economics, surveying the field with an emphasis on both theory and facts. Labor Economics is thoroughly integrated with the adaptive digital tools available in McGraw-Hill's Connect, proven to increase student engagement and success in the course. All new Data Explorer questions using data simulation to help students grasp concepts Materials are fresh and up to date by introducing and discussing the latest research studies where conceptual or empirical contributions have increased our understanding of the labor market. The book has undergone Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion reviews to implement content around topics including generalizations and stereotypes, gender, abilities/disabilities, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, diversity of names, and age.

Understanding the economy focuses on providing insights into the way the various parts of the economy fit together. The title is structured in a way that helps the reader avoid getting lost in a maze of concepts. A question and-answer format is used throughout, the questions being those that feature in economic debates in the media and those that are typically asked by interested nonspecialists. This title attempts to contribute to people's understanding of the economy by explaining key economic concepts, relationships and issues and the linkages between them in a practical and non-technical manner. A few elementary figures and graphs are also used to illustrate and explain certain key relationships.

This Handbook provides an overview and assessment of the state-of-the-art research methods, approaches and applications central to economic geography. Understanding spatial economic outcomes and the forces and mechanisms that influence the geography of economic growth is of utmost importance and demands substantial theoretical and empirical research in economic geography, spatial economics and regional science. Such research is critically dependent upon good and reliable empirical data, and it is here that this Handbook contributes, providing a broad overview of up-to-date research methods and approaches. The chapters are written by distinguished researchers from a variety of scholarly traditions and with a background in different academic disciplines including economics, economic human and cultural geography, and economic history. Researchers and academics in economics and economic geography will find this a fundamental reference point and will benefit from the comprehensive assessment of research methods and approaches in the field. Practitioners and policy-makers will also find the practical applications to be of utmost value. Contributors: M. Andersson, G. Arbia, B. Asheim, R. Basile, M. Birkin, R. Boschma, S. Brakman, J. Broecker, L. Broersma, H-H. Chang, G. Clarke, M. Clarke, L. Coenen, J. Corcoran, S. Dall'erba, G. Espa, A.M. Esteves, A. Faggian, M.M. Fischer, K. Frenken, M. Fritsch, D. Giuliani, K.E. Haynes, G.J.D. Hewings, M. Horvath, G. Ivanova, N. Kapitsinis, C. Karlsson, H. Khawaldah, M. Kilkenny, J. Klaesson, S. Koster, J.P. Larsson, J. Lesage, Y. Li, I. Llamosas-Rosas, P.A. Longley, T. Mitze, J. Moodysson, I. Noback, T. Norman, J. Oosterhaven, J. Parajuli, M. Partridge, D. Psaltopoulos, M. Schramm, D. Skuras, A. Stephan, P. Thulin, S. Usai, J. van Dijk, C. van Marrewijk, F. van Oort, F. Vanclay, A. Varga, H. Westlund

Examining the ways and extent to which systemic factors affect health outcomes with regard to quality, affordability and access to curative healthcare, this explorative book compares the relative merits of tax-funded Beveridge systems and insurance-based Bismarck systems. The Law and Policy of Healthcare Financing charts and compares healthcare system outcomes throughout 11 countries, from the UK to Colombia. Thematic chapters investigate the economic and legal explanations for the relevant similarities, variations and trends across the globe. Concluding that systemic factors may be less significant than previously believed, this comprehensive book notes that no one system consistently outperforms the others, yet incentives and funding improvements may lift performances across all curative healthcare systems. Analytical and comparative, this book will be of interest to academics working in the fields of health law and health economics. Public authorities including health ministries, policymakers and international health organisations will also find this to be an invaluable resource. Contributors include: F. Bachner, J. Bobek, J. Boertjens, P. Bogetoft, J.M. Burke, F. Dewallens, I. Durand-Zaleski, A. Geissler, C. Gongora Torres, M. Guy, T. Haanpera, J. Janus, S. Jerabkova, L. Lepuschutz, J. Lombard, M. Mikkers, G. O'Nolan, M.J. Perez-Villadoniga, H. Platou, K. Polin, W. Quentin, W. Sauter, V. Shestalova, K.H. Sovig, V. Stephani, A. van den Heever, J. van Manen, J. Vermeulen

Exploring how urban professionals plan, manage and govern cities in emerging economies, this insightful book studies the actions and instruments they employ. It highlights how the paradigms of interventions and approaches to urban management are shifting, indicating that urban governance is becoming increasingly important in dealing with wicked issues, like climate change and social and economic inequalities in cities. Urban Planning, Management and Governance in Emerging Economies offers rich international examples looking at housing, public space, water, climate change, the environment and economic development. Chapters showcase the changing role of urban professionals, with a particular focus on the dynamic social, cultural and economic transformations of cities in emerging economies. Exploring contemporary approaches to urban governance, contributors draw attention to the prevalence of smart cities, new forms of partnerships and just transitions in a changing urban landscape. Researchers and students of urban development, planning, management and governance will appreciate the multiple theoretical angles and the key case studies used throughout the book. The examples and theories will be helpful for urban leaders, strategists and advocates working in emerging economies.

Learn how to use managerial economics to diagnose and solve business problems with Froeb/McCann/Ward/Shor's MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS: A PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH, 6E. This breakthrough text, designed specifically for upper-level and M.B.A. students like you, offers a succinct and fast-paced, yet challenging, approach full of invaluable insights. This edition incorporates less math and fewer technical models, graphs and figures than traditional managerial economics texts, while emphasizing the real decisions that today's managers face daily. The authors use models only to help you determine why mistakes are made and how to fix them. The latest economic updates introduce the most recent economic developments and current economic challenges worldwide. You learn how to apply economic theory to even the most formidable business challenges as interactive applications and MindTap digital resources reinforce understanding. Meaningful insights make this learning guide useful now and throughout your business career.

Infrastructure systems provide the services we all rely upon for our day-to-day lives. Through new conceptual work and fresh empirical analysis, this book investigates how financialisation engages with city governance and infrastructure provision, identifying its wider and longer-term implications for urban and regional development, politics and policy. Proposing a more people-oriented approach to answering the question of 'What kind of urban infrastructure, and for whom?', this book addresses the struggles of national and local governments to fund, finance and govern urban infrastructure. It develops new insights to explain the socially and spatially uneven mixing of managerial, entrepreneurial and financialised city governance in austerity and limited decentralisation across England. As urban infrastructure fixes for the London global city-region risk undermining national 'rebalancing' efforts in the UK, city statecraft in the rest of the country is having uneasily to combine speculation, risk-taking and prospective venturing with co-ordination, planning and regulation. This book will be of interest to researchers and scholars in the fields of business and management, economics, geography, planning, and political science. Its conclusions will be valuable to policymakers and practitioners in both the public and private sectors seeking insights into the intersections of financialisation, decentralisation and austerity in the UK, Europe and globally.

We've all had the desire to travel through time and to see what life will be like for our future selves. While we want to envision the best possible future, why do some of us fail to make decisions that will truly make that a reality, while others succeed? Why do some of us choose steak over vegetables at dinner, waving off concerns of raising our cholesterol? Why do some splurge on luxury cars that we can't really afford, while others choose cheaper models and save more for the future? Why are so many of us so disconnected from our future selves? In YOUR FUTURE SELF, Hal Hershfield reveals his groundbreaking research that shows that, in our minds, our future self often looks like a stranger. Many of us view the future as incredibly distant, making us more likely to opt for immediate gratification that disregards the health and wellbeing of ourselves in the years to come. People who are able to connect with their future selves, however, are better able to balance living for today and planning for tomorrow. YOUR FUTURE SELF explains the science, describes the mental mistakes we make in thinking about the future, and gives us practical advice for imagining our best future so that we can make that a reality.

This timely Handbook synthesizes and analyzes key issues and concerns relating to the impact of agriculture on both farmers and non-farmers. With a unique focus on humans rather than animals or the environment, the book is interdisciplinary and international in scope, with contributions from sociologists, economists, anthropologists and geographers providing case studies and examples from all six populated continents. Looking at the pervasive impact of agriculture, the Handbook explores all aspects of the production of food and fiber within the agrifood value chain, including: farmers and laborers growing crops and raising livestock, businesses supplying inputs for these operations, and processors transforming plants and animals into intermediate and finished food, beverage and clothing products. Separated into four parts, it analyzes how the agrifood industry affects farmer well-being; the application of science and technology within an agricultural context; the ways in which agriculture affects the well-being of smallholder farmers, especially in developing countries; and agriculture's impact more broadly on society. This will be a beneficial read for economics and sociology students, particularly those looking at the impacts of agriculture. Accessible and clear, the Handbook will also be helpful for policymakers and agricultural NGOs wanting a more in-depth understanding of the impact of agriculture on human life.

An important exploration into how copyright has become a tool of unprecedented power and wealth for the few, widening the gap between the richest and poorest in society. Copyright is everywhere. It controls much of what we do in the modern world, including the films we watch, the books we read, the music we listen to, the video games we play and the apps we use on our mobile telephones. Copyright goes beyond content created by the living. Today, legal battles are being fought over who owns the permissions (and thereby earns the profit) in the output of artificial intelligence programs. What began as a means of regulating the trade in books, has developed into a legal and linguistic labyrinth that has given financial and cultural ownership to an increasingly smaller group of larger corporations. Who Owns This Sentence? looks at how throughout history, principled arguments, greed, and opportunism have ensured copyright's ascendency, and unveils those who are behind a phenomenon that has faced little public debate.

Support and encourage students in their study of AQA A-level Economics with these revised and restructured write-in Workbooks. These new edition Workbooks have been fully updated for 2020 and focused to help students practise their skills and improve their subject knowledge both inside and outside the classroom. - Develop and consolidate understanding using practice questions targeting each Assessment Objective including calculations and worked examples - Build key skills and practise the different question types - Support assessment preparation using exam-style questions on every topic - Use flexibly alongside your existing textbooks and schemes of work as homework, classwork and for intervention - Answers provided online

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. Presenting cutting-edge thoughts on media economics, its history and development, and looking forward to its future, this timely book investigates the changing face of the field. With contributions from some of the most prominent media economics scholars in the world, this provocative and visionary Research Agenda covers theory development, consumer and audience demand, information and cultural goods, and technological dimensions. Chapters explore globalization, industry organization, social and ethical aspects of media firms, new media viability and the historical eras of media economics. Presenting a range of streams of inquiry and topics needing more study and development, this Research Agenda looks at new and innovative ways to stimulate thought around key research questions and designs. PhD students and scholars of media studies and media economics will benefit from the expansion of basic concepts, theories and methods found in this key book. It will also be critical reading for media professionals looking to understand more about the impact and importance of contemporary media relations. Contributors include: A.B. Albarran, Á. Arrese, M. Barrett, A.J. Coffey, C.A. Hollifield, W.-y. Hsu, C. Kolo, Y.-l. Liu, M. Medina, B.I. Mierzejewska, M.E. Gutiérrez-Rentería, U. Rohn, A. Sánchez-Tabernero, C. Shao, X. Zhang

Bridging theory and practice, this book offers insights into how Europe has experienced the evolution of modern electricity markets from the end of the 1990s to the present day. It explores defining moments in the process, including the four waves of European legislative packages, landmark court cases, and the impact of climate strikes and marches. Leonardo Meeus explains the sequence of electricity markets in Europe from wholesale to balancing markets, forward transmission markets, capacity mechanisms, redispatching and flexibility markets. Chapters explore current issues including the new paradigm that places the citizen at the centre of the energy transition. Concluding that most of the market integration process in Europe so far has required horizontal coordination between transmission system operators in different countries, the book looks ahead to the importance of vertical coordination between the transmission and distribution. An invaluable book for energy policymakers and practitioners working in Europe, the solutions offered for contemporary issues will also be helpful for those working in international or multi-region electricity markets more widely. Academics involved in the world of electricity regulation will also find this an invigorating read.

This unique and insightful work examines the importance of 'quality of life' for the city which has become a key component of urban competitiveness over the past 30 years. It argues that having a high or low 'quality of life' will have important consequences for the vitality and status of any city. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed upon the skilled, highly mobile and generally younger labour force who choose the city in which they want to work and live based on the 'quality of life' elements offered to them. Consequently, there is mounting pressure on today's cities and the firms in their economies to create environments that are attractive to the new-age of the workforce and the key resource in the economy. The book's eight substantive chapters explore this issue by each examining a distinct element that comprises 'quality of life', including the approach of economists to quality of life, links to urban competitiveness, the economy, urban amenities and attributes. Providing an original perspective on contemporary cities and their economies, The City and Quality of Life will be essential reading for city and company leaders who implement policy and wish to further understand the attributes of 'quality of life' for their citizens. It will also be useful for researchers, university professors and students in disciplines such as economics and finance, geography and urban studies.

A unique and comprehensive source of information, this book is the only international publication providing economists, planners, policymakers and business people with worldwide statistics on current performance and trends in the manufacturing sector. The Yearbook is designed to facilitate international comparisons relating to manufacturing activity and industrial development and performance. It provides data which can be used to analyse patterns of growth and related long term trends, structural change and industrial performance in individual industries. Statistics on employment patterns, wages, consumption and gross output and other key indicators are also presented.

Illuminating and timely, this book explores several theoretical and empirical issues related to the potential for increasing capacities for innovation, knowledge and entrepreneurship. It highlights the current academic and political consensus that calls for policy interventions targeted towards more balanced, inclusive and regionally cohesive growth. Bringing together a wide range of cutting-edge case studies and research on regional potentials, the book explores the need for a focus on the regional inequality aspects of innovating, knowledge and entrepreneurship. Chapters analyse previously underexplored determinants of regional economic growth and development often overlooked in standard growth studies. They offer a deeper understanding of the drivers and implications of sub-national disparities in entrepreneurship and innovation in both developed and developing countries. Scholars and researchers of innovation, entrepreneurship, regional economics and spatial planning will appreciate the blend of empirical and theoretical viewpoints in the book. It will also be a useful tool for policymakers, planners and consultants involved in economic development and regional policies on different scales.

This book is about innovation ecosystems, Clusters of Innovation (COI) and the Global Networks of Clusters of Innovation (GNCOI) they naturally form. What is innovation and why is it important to us? Innovation is nothing less than the ability for constructive response and adaptation to change. The cause and catalyst for that change is frequently identified as technology and its unceasing pressure to improve on existing solutions and address unmet needs. The last decade has painfully demonstrated that exogenous environmental shocks are also sources of change that call for innovative responses, ranging from the obvious challenges such as global warming and Covid-19 to the more subtle social and political perturbations of our time. Entrepreneurs, in collaboration with venture investors and major corporations can create a flywheel of constructive engagement, a cluster of Innovation, that helps build the resiliency of our communities to adsorb and rebound from these shocks. The process is enhanced when actively supported by government, universities, and other elements of the ecosystem. This book provides the tools for understanding this value creation process and the means to enhance it, in both emerging and mature innovation ecosystems. This book provides a framework for understanding innovation in mature and emerging innovation ecosystems to a wide swath of professionals and academics, from senior executives of major corporations, government leaders, public policy makers, and consultants, to academics, researchers, and educators.

Some students seem to find a course in economics to be difficult and removed from their daily lives. The goal of this glossary is to assist students to obtain a better understanding of economics terms and concepts. This will enable them to succeed and deepen their insight into formulating and making informed choices on many issues. In economics, students learn an approach to thinking that can be applied in campus life, in their careers and in everyday life. Economics terms and concepts used in the text are those that can be found in most introductory Economics textbooks. The text can be used in conjunction with any other text.

This book addresses the different kinds of businesses launched by entrepreneurs and explains why their differences are so critical for our understanding of entrepreneurship. While entrepreneurs create a wide variety of businesses, overwhelming emphasis has been placed on explosive growth firms such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Uber and Airbnb. Although important, these businesses represent less than one percent of start-ups. The book distinguishes four types of new ventures: survival, lifestyle, managed growth and aggressive growth. Underlying characteristics of each type are investigated, together with the resources, skills and capabilities necessary for their success. Issues that arise based on this typology are explored, including reasons why ventures of one type rarely change to become another, and how entrepreneurs determine which they should pursue. In addition, the authors introduce the 'portfolio' concept, where the need to develop a balanced mix of venture types is emphasized. The principal audiences for What Do Entrepreneurs Create? include entrepreneurship educators, scholarly researchers, public policy developers, economic development professionals, and community organizations striving to foster entrepreneurial activity.

Shortlisted for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2012. Why are some nations more prosperous than others? Why Nations Fail sets out to answer this question, with a compelling and elegantly argued new theory: that it is not down to climate, geography or culture, but because of institutions. Drawing on an extraordinary range of contemporary and historical examples, from ancient Rome through the Tudors to modern-day China, leading academics Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson show that to invest and prosper, people need to know that if they work hard, they can make money and actually keep it - and this means sound institutions that allow virtuous circles of innovation, expansion and peace. Based on fifteen years of research, and answering the competing arguments of authors ranging from Max Weber to Jeffrey Sachs and Jared Diamond, Acemoglu and Robinson step boldly into the territory of Francis Fukuyama and Ian Morris. They blend economics, politics, history and current affairs to provide a new, powerful and persuasive way of understanding wealth and poverty.