Covering the economic developments in the formerly socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia, including the key changes of 1990, a decisive year of political, social, and economic transition, this latest edition of the statistical handbook "COMECON Data" will prove an indispensable tool for economic, political, and academic analysts. "COMECON Data 1990" supplies the solid framework of measureable facts underlying the steady flood of reports on the rapidly changing events in that region.

The data assembled in this volume is drawn from three distinct groups of sources: (1) official statistical yearbooks and periodicals published by the countries formerly associated in and with CMEA (COMECON); (2) data published by international organizations--the UN, ECE, OECD, IMF, etc.; and (3) other Western sources. Uniquely, "COMECON Data 1990" gives access to data scattered in those original sources published in a multitude of different languages. Comparatibility with earlier issues of "COMECON Data" is assured as far as changes in the source material allow. In the present edition, covering the last year of the formal existence of the CMEA, the most important tables from earlier issues of "COMECON Data" have been retained and enlarged by newly available statistical information in order to impart up-to-date information on all aspects of the COMECON economies. Quick reference is facilitated by the detailed list of tables and alphabetical index.

This highly topical book presents a new theory on the characteristics of entrepreneurial knowledge. It explores the recent shift among professional economists and scholars in their evaluation of the debate of socialism. Socialism, Economic Calculation and Entrepreneurship presents an application of Israel M. Kirzner's theory of entrepreneurship to the theory of the impossibility of socialism. It discusses the influence of the fall of socialism, with particular reference to the evolution of economic thought.

This work is the fifth volume in the series, The History of American Journalism. By 1906, the nation included 45 states connected by railroads, steamships, wagon trails, the postal system, the telegraph, and the press. The continuing trends of migration and immigration into the cities supported the publication of more newspapers than at any time in the history of the country. From coast to coast, newsgathering agencies knit thousands of local newspapers into the fabric of the nation and larger metropolitan papers routinely considered the relevancy of distant news.

"Rarely do you come across a book that provides hands on practical advice in every chapter. Bill's real life experiences as an entrepreneur, CEO, and business broker leave the reader with a blueprint for business acquisitions. Ivory tower theory is not going to go a long way in an acquisition, one needs to get down in the trenches as Bill explains chapter by chapter."
-Karl Fava, Principal, Business Financial Consultants

"Bill's polished style of writing reflects a common sense approach to buyer and seller concerns through the acquisition and divestiture process. A must read for first-time buyers and sellers of privately held businesses."
-Glenn Haddad, Corporate Trainer and Business Intermediary

"I couldn't recommend a more salient primer for persons interested in purchasing a business. Bill Grunau distills the complexities of the purchase and sale of businesses into a plain English and common sense-format that will allow inexperienced buyers or sellers to confidently spot and navigate potential minefields in the transaction. Undoubtedly, the book can allow its reader to make better decisions-ones that will lead to successful results, profitability and peace of mind "
-Thomas Lombardi, Founding Partner, Palmer, Lombardi, Donohue Law Firm

Learn the ins and outs of buying privately held businesses and take the first step to accomplishing your dreams and becoming a success in Own Your Future.

William Grunau, a corporate executive and entrepreneur with decades of experience, explains how you, too, can become your own boss. In this comprehensive guide on owning your own future, you'll learn: How to finance an acquisition with Small Business Administration financing;How to use your 401K or IRA funds to buy a business without penalties or taxes; How to write offers; How to conduct due diligence; How to develop a 100-day and first-year plan; How to develop an exit strategy; And much more Unveil the mystery and secrets behind how deals are really done that only the insiders know. With this book, the process is demystified with step-by-step practical examples, tools, and tips that are easy to follow and apply.

Whether you are ready to search for the right business, obtain financing, or determine the value of what you want to buy, Grunau carefully guides you every step of the way. It's time to stop sitting on your hands; it's time to Own Your Future.

The book showcases research on digital entertainment solutions in different sectors. In recent years, digital media have evolved to include bandwidth-rich, smart, and connected platforms accessed via computers, tablets, smart phones, social media, and video game consoles. The high connectivity and vast processing capacity of these platforms have allowed for platform-agnostic, streaming, always-on, entertainment-on-demand consumption of digital content in a way distinct from traditional models of entertainment consumption. Moving beyond the unilateral delivery of content, with fixed positions of the entertainers and the entertained, digital entertainment is now dynamically generated by users and providers, blurring the boundary between producers and consumers of entertainment. With the increasing accessibility of multimodal media that surround audiences with sensory-rich information, digital entertainment is becoming more immersive.

Besides export expansion, a growing middle class in Asia has contributed to the area's economic expansion, providing Asian countries with a window of opportunity to leap from low/middle income levels to high income levels. It may sound easy for these countries to run up the ladder of economic growth, but the potential risks of quickly shifting from low/middle to high income levels are often overlooked. Careful studies in history reveal that the experience of moving up the ladder of economic growth has varied among countries.This book explores (1) the current state of Asian economies and 2) the conditions or policy counter-measures that lead to higher income levels under changing external circumstances. This is illustrated through case studies on five Asian economies, with emphasis on their structural problems. It also aims to paint a comprehensive picture of necessary policies, which will encourage Asian countries to move up the ladder of growth.

Due to the global health crisis, economies had to adapt to combat pandemic situations. In the present pandemic crisis, new legislation, methods, labor approaches, values, and social behaviors have emerged with a huge impact in all organizations. However, countries have applied different solutions, procedures, and rules to deal with crises. Therefore, the impact has been different per country. Organizations need to understand their customers and businesses not only to increase operational efficiency but also to increase stakeholder's satisfaction and their competitiveness in a sustainable way. Customers are becoming more exigent and markets more complex, calling for the need for higher differentiation. This was enhanced in this pandemic situation, and to survive, organizations needed to change and adapt to the new normal. The Handbook of Research on Reinventing Economies and Organizations Following a Global Health Crisis deals with management and economic issues, particularly with the reinvention of businesses and economies due to the pandemic situation and the relevance of entrepreneurship, innovation, and intensive knowledge used to deal with these changes. This book emphasizes the challenges, difficulties, and opportunities for the success of businesses and economies in periods of crisis and provides information for dealing with entrepreneurship and innovation, networks, and complementarities to recover businesses. The chapters also point out possible opportunities, challenges, and risks in the process of recovery highlighting innovation, internationalization, technology, and intensive knowledge in promoting economies and companies' competitiveness. This book is ideal for entrepreneurs, managers, economists, directors, shareholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in how businesses reinvent and recover following a global health crisis.

The story of Oxford University and Management Education, including the text of key university reports on management studies in Oxford and personal sketches of major players

Handbook of Media Economics provides valuable information on a unique field that has its own theories, evidence, and policies. Understanding the media is important for society, and while new technologies are altering the media, they are also affecting our understanding of their economics. The book spans the large scope of media economics, simultaneously offering in-depth analysis of particular topics, including the economics of why media are important, how media work (including financing sources, institutional settings, and regulation), what determines media content (including media bias), and the effects of new technologies. The book provides a powerful introduction for those interested in starting research in media economics.

Coming Home to New Orleans documents grassroots rebuilding efforts in New Orleans neighborhoods after hurricane Katrina, and draws lessons on their contribution to the post-disaster recovery of cities. The book begins with two chapters that address Katrina's impact and the planning and public sector recovery policies that set the context for neighborhood recovery. Rebuilding narratives for six New Orleans neighborhoods are then presented and analyzed. In the heavily flooded Broadmoor and Village de L'Est neighborhoods, residents coalesced around communitywide initiatives, one through a neighborhood association and the second under church leadership, to help homeowners return and restore housing, get key public facilities and businesses rebuilt and create new community-based organizations and civic capacity. A comparison of four adjacent neighborhoods in the center of the city show how differing socioeconomic conditions, geography, government policies and neighborhood capacity created varied recovery trajectories. The concluding chapter argues that grassroots and neighborhood scale initiatives can make important contributions to city recovery in four areas: repopulation, restoring "complete neighborhoods " with key services and amenities, rebuilding parts of the small business economy and enhancing recovery capacity. It also calls for more balanced investments and policies to rebuild rental and owner-occupied housing and more deliberate collaboration with community-based organizations to undertake and implement recovery plans, and proposes changes to federal disaster recovery policies and programs to leverage the contribution of grassroots rebuilding and more support for city recovery.

Bitcoin, the digital currency, was introduced in 2009 with little fanfare; five years later, shocking the world, it was worth $14 billion. This book explores the cyber currency by focusing on the remarkable stories and intriguing personalities ofthose responsible for its sudden success: Satoshi Nakamoto, the reclusive and anonymous genius who created Bitcoin; Ross Ulbricht, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts, administrator of the largest and most successful Dark Web drug superstore, using Bitcoin to fuel online sale of drugs, hacking services, counterfeit money, and assassinations; and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Harvard graduates, successful litigants vs. Facebook, world-class Olympic rowers, and Bitcoin entrepreneurs who own 1 percent of all bitcoins in existence. Equal parts The Social Network, Sherlock Holmes, and Breaking Bad, this absorbing narrative tells the stories of the reclusive geniuswho waged a one-man war against the global banking system (and he's winning); the quiet and affable computer geek who, until his arrest, profited handsomely from Silk Road, his online drug superstore; and the multitalented Harvard twins, who made a fortune from an intellectual-property suit against Mark Zuckerberg, and now are the chief promoters of Bitcoin as "the next big thing." Bitcoin has introduced us to coke-fueled coding gurus, anger-crazed hitmen-hiring millionaires, and canny "Bitcoin miners" avidly adding processing power to their chilly Icelandic server farms to generate millions of dollars every month. Absurd and almost unbelievable stories abound, and sweep the reader along through the living and breathing, passionate and paranoid insiders who made it all happen.

The workforce is considered to be the lifeblood within many major corporations. The ability of management to effectively utilize the knowledge and skills of their workforce is essential in ensuring the success of their corporations. Harnessing Human Capital Analytics for Competitive Advantage is a critical scholarly publication that explores the influence that workforce knowledge and skills can have on the performance of corporations and how such skills can be used to promote the success of corporations. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics including employee happiness, mind genomics, and e-commerce adoption, this book is geared toward managers, professionals, and practitioners seeking current research on the advantage of utilizing workforce knowledge and skills to promote corporate success.

The world-class National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taiwan possesses a repository of the largest collection of Chinese cultural treasures of outstanding quality. Through implementing a two-organizational restructuring, and shifting its operational focus from being object-oriented to public-centered, it aims to capture the attention of people and promote awareness of the culture and traditions of China. In this vein, the NPM combines its expertise in museum service with the possibilities afforded by Information Technology (IT). This book analyses the research results of a team sponsored by the National Science Council in Taiwan to observe the development processes and accomplishments, and to conduct scientific researches covering not only the technology and management disciplines, but also the humanities and social science disciplines. The development process of new digital content and IT-enabled services of NPM would be a useful benchmark for museums, cultural and creative organizations and traditional organizations in Taiwan and around the world.

Singapore is known internationally for its successful economic development. Key to its economic successes is a variety of policies put into place over the past 50 years since its independence. Singapore's Economic Development: Retrospection and Reflections provides a retrospective analysis of independent Singapore's economic development, from the perspective of different policy domains each considered by different expert scholars in that particular field.The book is written by academic economists in a style that is accessible to non-experts. Each chapter includes reviews of past scholarship, current data on each policy area, and reflections on required or desirable future policy changes and outcomes.By examining the evolution of past and current policies which combined to make Singapore's development a success and exploring emerging developmental challenges, Singapore's Economic Development: Retrospection and Reflections gives readers a better understanding of Singapore's economic trajectory and future.

With the collective knowledge of expert contributors in the field, The International Handbook on Ageing and Public Policy explores the challenges arising from the ageing of populations across the globe.With an expansive look at the topic, this comprehensive Handbook examines various national state approaches to welfare provisions for older people and highlights alternatives based around the voluntary and third-party sector, families and private initiatives. Each of these issues are broken down further and split into six comprehensive sections: - Context - Pensions - Health - Welfare - Case Studies - Policy Innovation and Civil Society Academics interested in policy challenges for mature societies will find this Handbook a highly relevant reference tool. It also offers an important message for policy makers and practitioners in the field of public policy. Contributors include: J. Atanackovic, D.E. Bloom, I. Bode, A. Boersch-Supan, I.L. Bourgeault, R. Canning, B.A. Carnes, L. Carter-Edwards, T. Chen, E. Collom, R. Edlin, A. Elissen, M. Eloundou-Enyegue, M. Erlinghagen, J. Field, V. Galasso, R. Gauld, K. Hank, S. Harper, J. Hoffman, R. Holzmann, K. Howse, J.H. Johnson Jr., M. Kaplan, M. Kautto, H.G. Koenig, D. Lain, R. Lee, G.W. Leeson, E. Le , Z. Li, P. Lloyd-Sherlock, B.L. Lowell, A. Lusardi, A. Mason, R. McKinnon, A.M. Parnell, P. Profeta, N. Redondo, M. Sanchez, C. Saraceno, K. Spencer-Suarez, M.Tenikue, V. Timonen, F.M. Torres-Gil, S. Vickerstaff, B. Vriehoef, J. Warburton, A. Webb, E. Westerhout

This book is the seventh volume in a series entitled "Contemporary Logistics in China," authored by researchers from the Logistics Center at Nankai University. In the spirit of the six preceding annual volumes, this book carries on the ideal of providing a systematic exposition on the logistics development in China for the English-speaking community at large. Specially, this volume captures China's logistics development at a crucial turning point. On the one hand, it reflects the new horizon advocated by the Government's One-Belt-One-Road Initiative global cooperation strategy; on the other, it explores the Internet revolution, which has had major impacts on e-commerce and urban logistics in China. Subjects covered in this volume encompass the macro-factors pertaining to logistics development, region-specific plans, industry-wide transformation, globally-oriented moves, and current hot topics. The expositions on and analyses of these subjects are based on the latest available sources and statistical data. As with the previous volumes, the ultimate aim of this book is to present a timely portrait of the rapid growth of China's logistics market and the status quo of its logistics industry. In so doing, the book offers an in-depth analysis of critical issues involved in the ongoing dynamic and multi-faceted development, and provides a valuable reference resource for interested readers in the academic and professional fields.

The conventional wisdom has it that a balanced budget is the height of economic rationality, that social security should be privatized, and that most adult welfare recipients could and should get jobs. All our social and economic problems, we are told, are due to too much government; if we only left the American free enterprise system alone, the free market would heal all that ails our society and lead to lasting prosperity. Challenging these widespread stereotypes and myths, this book starts with the fundamental theory underlying capitalist ideology, showing that even in theory an unfettered free market cannot deal effectively with the many needs of a modern economy. Our society has many social goals to which the great majority subscribe-goals such as sustained full employment, universal health care, and quality education for all. The free market will not, the author argues, bring us quality education for every American child, affordable universal health care, Social Security for the elderly, assistance for the poor, or protection of the environment. Only an active, participant government can affect positive change in such areas of social concern.

The purpose of this volume is to describe the impact of the increased demand for flexibility on employees and its impact on their individual work life trajectories and health. The volume offers concrete examples of interventions aimed to find innovative ways of sustainable work careers for today's workers. We focus on the school to work transition, job insecurity, job loss and re-employment and retirement. The interventions described offer strategies for implementing support in employment contracts, increasing preparedness of individual employees with public education programs or developing work arrangements and support systems in work organizations.

Individuals all over the world can use Airbnb to rent an apartment in a foreign city, check Coursera to find a course on statistics, join PatientsLikeMe to exchange information about one's disease, hail a cab using Uber, or read the news through Facebook's Instant Articles. The promise of connective platforms is that they offer personalized services and contribute to innovation and economic growth, while bypassing cumbersome institutional or industrial overhead. In The Platform Society, Van Dijck, Poell and De Waal offer a comprehensive analysis of a connective world where platforms have penetrated the heart of societies-disrupting markets and labor relations, circumventing institutions, transforming social and civic practices and affecting democratic processes. This book questions what role online platforms play in the organization of Western societies. First, how do platform mechanisms work and to what effect are they deployed? Second, how can platforms incorporate public values and benefit the public good? The Platform Society analyzes intense struggles between competing ideological systems and contesting societal actors-market, government and civil society-raising the issue of who is or should be responsible for anchoring public values and the common good in a platform society. Public values include of course privacy, accuracy, safety, and security, but they also pertain to broader societal effects, such as fairness, accessibility, democratic control, and accountability. Such values are the very stakes in the struggle over the platformization of societies around the globe. The Platform Society highlights how this struggle plays out in four private and public sectors: news, urban transport, health, and education. Each struggle highlights local dimensions, for instance fights over regulation between individual platforms and city governments, but also addresses the level of the platform ecosystem as well as the geopolitical level where power clashes between global markets and (supra-)national governments take place.

Entrepreneurship and innovation are the drivers of value creation in the twenty-first century. In the geography of the global economy there are 'hot spots' where new technologies germinate at an astounding rate and pools of capital, expertise, and talent foster the development of new industries, and new ways of doing business. These clusters of innovation have key attributes distinct from traditional industrial clusters that allow them to extend beyond geographic boundaries and serve as models for economic expansion in both developed and developing countries. How do these clusters emerge? What is the role of individual institutions such as governments, universities, major corporations, investors, and the individual entrepreneur? Are there systemic underpinnings, an invisible hand, that encourage these communities? The book begins with a presentation of the Clusters of Innovation Framework that identifies the salient components, behaviors, and linkages that characterize an innovation cluster, followed by an analysis of the archetypal cluster, Silicon Valley. Subsequent chapters probe how these characteristics apply in a diverse selection of economic communities in Germany, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, China, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. Concluding chapters investigate the role of transregional organizations as cross-border disseminators of best practices in entrepreneurship and innovation. Students and professors of economics, business, public policy, management, entrepreneurship, and innovation will find this book a useful resource. Corporate executives, university administrators, government officials, policy makers, and entrepreneurs will also find it an insightful guide. Contributors: O. Berry, D. Chapman, J.-M. Chen, S.H. De Cleyn, I. Del Palacio, W. De Waele, J. Engel, F. Feferman, F. Forster, S. Kagami, M. Pareja-Eastaway, J.M. Pique, Q. Lang, C. Scheel, H. Schoenenberger, M. Subodh, V. Trigo, D. Wasserteil, P. Weilerstein, C.-T. Wen

Dr. Scott W. Atlas examines the status of US health care under the Affordable Care Act and presents key reforms to meet the nation's significant health care challenges. Updated for 2020, the revised edition includes the facts about single-payer systems and the implications of Medicare for All proposals. Atlas's six-point incentive-based plan instills market-based competition, empowers consumers, and reduces government authority over health care. These reforms lower costs, stimulate innovation, and broaden access to quality care.