Two of the most important economic processes at work in recent years are the globalization of the world economy and the economic transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. This book analyses the transition process from a comparative perspective and places these changes within the wider framework of globalization. It assesses the problems of transition faced by business and governments to better understand the direction in which future economic and political policy should move for improved growth. It evaluates the current stage of economic development in the transitional countries and discusses trends in the world economy since the early 1990s. Specifically, it addresses trends in global and regional development strategies, government policies, privatization, foreign investment and external balances. The authors then analyse the future prospects for economic and political relations between Eastern Europe and the European Union, the World Trade Organization and the international community as a whole. Some of the specific issues they focus on include US industrial competitiveness policy, economic nationalism, privatization in Eastern Europe, venture capital activities, the required economic conditions for Eastern European countries to join the European Union, regionalism and industrial policy for Eastern Europe, and lessons to be learned from the Japanese and Hong Kong transformations, as well as a comparative assessment of some political aspects of the economic strategies in Japan and Germany. Eastern Europe and the World Economy will be welcomed by scholars and students interested in the economics of transition, comparative economic systems, international economics and development economics, as well as by policymakers and government officials.

Intertemporal macroeconomics relies on microeconomics and general equilibrium analysis to describe choices of agents over a long period of time, perhaps infinitely long. To this, methods of growth theory are linked and the effects of policy interventions are examined as the interaction between decisions of agents and policy interventions. Two basic approaches areexplored: models of infinitely-lived agents (Cass-Ramsey-Koopmans approach) and models of overlapping-generations (Allais-Fisher-Samuelson approach). In addition to fiscal policy, the more controversial questions concerning monetary models and monetary policies are considered. The book offers a framework and a systematic exploration of these and related questions. It also introduces models of endogenous growth, both real and monetary models.

Bringing together different perspectives on structural adjustment and the prospect for sustainable economic growth in Eastern Europe, Economics of Transition represents a shift in scholarly emphasis away from issues of stabilization and liberalization in favour of longer-term considerations. This major volume features a distinguished collection of papers focusing on the theoretical and policy implications of transition and change in Eastern Europe. Drawing on work from a wide range of traditions, it explores how effective demand induces growth, how diffusion takes place, how economic policy influences incentives, motivations and behaviours, how institutions influence organization and technological capability building, and how institutions both constrain and guide economic policy. Economics of Transition is the first of a major new series published by Edward Elgar for The Vienna Institute for Comparative Economic Studies. The intention of this new series is to encourage discussion on the economic theory and policy of transition and European economic integration.

This volume offers new, convincing empirical evidence on topical risk- and risk management-related issues in diverse settings, using an interdisciplinary approach. The authors advance compelling arguments, firmly anchored to well-accepted theoretical frameworks, while adopting either qualitative or quantitative research methodologies. The book presents interviews and surveys with risk managers to gather insights on risk management and risk disclosure in practice. Additionally, the book collects and analyzes information contained in public reports to capture risk disclosure and perceptions on risk management impacts on companies' internal organization. It sheds light on financial and market values to understand the effect of risk management on actual and perceived firm's performance, respectively. Further, it examines the impacts of risk and risk management on society and the economy. The book improves awareness and advances knowledge on the complex and changeable risk and risk management fields of study. It interweaves among topical, up-to-date issues, peculiar, under-investigated contexts, and differentiated, complementary viewpoints on the same themes. Therefore, the book is a must-read for scholars and researchers, as well as practitioners and policy makers, interested in a better understanding of risk and risk management studies in different fields.

This book collects results from ad hoc surveys on firms pricing behavior conducted in 2003 and 2004 by nine National central banks of the Euro area in the context of a joint research project (Eurosystem Inflation Persistence Network). These surveys have proved to be an efficient way to test theories on the pricing strategies of economic agents, documenting, in qualitative terms, the underlying rationale of the observed pricing patterns. The book provides an unprecedented amount of information from more than 11,000 euro area firms, addressing issues such as the relevance of nominal and real rigidities, the information set used by firms in the price setting process, the strategy followed to review prices, the frequency of both price reviews and price changes, the reasons underlying price stickiness, and asymmetries in price adjustment. It also compares results for the euro area to those obtained for other countries by similar studies. Finally, it draws the main implications for theoretical modeling and for monetary policy.

This book is an edited collection by leading insurance historians, examining the historical role of reinsurance (the insurance of insurers) in the insurance markets of eight countries: USA, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico and Japan. All the contributors are experts in their field and have widely published in insurance history, providing the reader with new insights into the insurance and economic history of these countries. In particular, this is the first book to explore the reinsurance markets in the USA, Netherlands, France, Italy and Mexico. This book will be of interest to economic and business historians, as well as insurance practitioners with an interest in the history of their industry.

For centuries Japan, although a totalitarian dictatorship, was ruled by figureheads who signed laws formulated 'behind the screen'. Hierarchy still defines everyone's status. The man at the top has power but jeopardizes his position if he ignores consensus opinions. Nowadays fashionable twentieth-century clothing cloaks a contradictory blend of intense competition with a tradition of harmony dependent on close human-relations and complex communal restraint. The Japanese organise themselves in cliques (not groups) which raise barriers against outsiders. Companies are controlled from within; shareholders are outsiders. Women are more than equal in their homes; less than equal at work. After living and managing his own business in Japan for forty years, the author explored widely before coining the term 'competitive communism' to describe Japan's economic and social system.

In this book, leading experts take a long-term view of the trends and policies of most relevance in achieving the structural readjustment required by the current crisis, which for too long has been viewed merely as an economic recession. A wide variety of issues are addressed, including the implications of the massive movement of wealth from advanced countries to emerging ones and the increasing income inequality evident within many countries. Prospects for growth toward the mid-century and beyond are discussed, with consideration of lessons from the past and the impact of various constraints, including corruption. The policies and reforms required to restore economic dynamism within the EU and more generally, to foster the "Good Economy" are discussed, recognizing the need for measures to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, well-being and high levels of environmental performance. The book comprises a selection of contributions presented at the XXV Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar. For the past quarter of a century, this seminar has brought together leading experts to engage in debates on pressing economic questions. This book, based on the most recent gathering, will be of interest to all who are concerned about the challenges to growth, well-being and social inclusion that will have to be confronted in the coming decades.

In the midst of the current world economic crisis, many claim there is a necessity to return to the Marxian and Keynesian traditions in order to better understand the dynamics of market economies. This book is an important step in that direction. It presents a critical examination of the foundations of macroeconomics as developed in the traditions of Marx, Keynes and Kalecki, which are contrasted with the current mainstream. Particular attention is given to the problem of market forms and their relevance for macroeconomics. Professional economists and postgraduate students in economics, in particular those concerned with macroeconomics and the history of economic thought in the 20th century, will find this insightful resource invaluable. This book should be required reading for a large proportion of the economics profession who are dissatisfied with the mainstream. Contents: Foreword Preface 1. Introduction 2. The Marxian Notion of a Monetary Economy and the Critique of Say's Law 3. General Overproduction Crises 4. Keynes s Critique of Say s Law 5. Keynesian Underemployment Equilibria 6. A Critique of Keynes s Microfoundations 7. Kaleckian Macroeconomics: An Outline 8. The Problem of Market Forms in Modern Macroeconomics 9. Concluding Remarks A. A Formalization of Marx s Schemes of Reproduction B. Effects of Wage Changes in Keynes s Model C. Price Determination and Income Distribution in Kalecki

This book presents innovations in the mathematical foundations of financial analysis and numerical methods for finance and applications to the modeling of risk. The topics selected include measures of risk, credit contagion, insider trading, information in finance, stochastic control and its applications to portfolio choices and liquidation, models of liquidity, pricing, and hedging. The models presented are based on the use of Brownian motion, Levy processes and jump diffusions. Moreover, fractional Brownian motion and ambit processes are also introduced at various levels. The chosen blend of topics gives an overview of the frontiers of mathematics for finance. New results, new methods and new models are all introduced in different forms according to the subject. Additionally, the existing literature on the topic is reviewed. The diversity of the topics makes the book suitable for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the areas of financial modeling and quantitative finance. The chapters will also be of interest to experts in the financial market interested in new methods and products. This volume presents the results of the European ESF research networking program Advanced Mathematical Methods for Finance.

A new theory to explain the problems Mexico has had in developing a viable market economy is presented in this innovative book. The theory bases the difficulties not on the current popular view of dependency, domestic response to foreign influence, but on Mexican culture and traditions. Armstrong traces patterns of Mexican history and lawmaking from the time of the Spanish conquistadores through the present. He demonstrates that the country has never developed a materialistic culture of egoism and autonomy, necessary in a market economy, but instead reinforces communitarian paternalism. The ideologies imported by the intellegensia (such as nineteenth century liberalism and twentieth century socialism) are shown to have had little impact on Mexico because the implicit premises of these philosophies have been incompatible with social conditions and aspirations in that nation. Armstrong argues that the blend of Spanish and traditional Indian cultures which focus on communitarian and paternalistic attitudes have constricted entrepreneurship, innovation, and commerce.

"Law and Market Society in Mexico" begins in New Spain. The author explores the patterns of land tenure by the conquistadores and collective ownership among the Indians. Both the land and labor in Mexico were generally not articles of commerce, with systems such as mortmain, entail, and debt peonage in place. Current government stewardship is seen as far more intense than the level of regulation the United States has been accustomed to. This perceptive work is ideal for courses on Latin American studies, politics, and history.

New economic thinking is in demand in the light of the recent crisis. But it is constrained by the prevailing way of thinking about the economy and about economics. This book equips the reader with a better understanding of current thinking and increases awareness of other possibilities. This selection of essays provides the foundations for debate at the levels of methodology and mode of thought; not only does awareness at these levels increase mutual understanding, making debate more constructive and increasing the possibilities for creative new developments, but it also puts the onus on economists to communicate and defend their own approach. This collection builds up these foundations and addresses particular issues, such as differences in meaning of key concepts. These issues have important practical implications for theory and policy.

This open access book discusses financial crisis management and policy in Europe and Latin America, with a special focus on equity and democracy. Based on a three-year research project by the Jean Monnet Network, this volume takes an interdisciplinary, comparative approach, analyzing both the role and impact of the EU and regional organizations in Latin America on crisis management as well as the consequences of crisis on the process of European integration and on Latin America's regionalism.The book begins with a theoretical introduction, exploring the effects of the paradigm change on economic policies in Europe and in Latin America and analyzing key systemic aspects of the unsustainability of the present economic system explaining the global crises and their interconnections. The following chapters are divided into sections. The second section explores aspects of regional governance and how the economic and financial crises were managed on a macro level in Europe and Latin America. The third and fourth sections use case studies to drill down to the impact of the crises at the national and regional levels, including the emergence of political polarization and rise in populism in both areas. The last section presents proposals for reform, including the transition from finance capitalism to a sustainable real capitalism in both regions and at the inter-regional level of EU-LAC relations.The volume concludes with an epilogue on financial crises, regionalism, and domestic adjustment by Loukas Tsoukalis, President of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). Written by an international network of academics, practitioners and policy advisors, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students interested in macroeconomics, comparative regionalism, democracy, and financial crisis management as well as politicians, policy advisors, and members of national and regional organizations in the EU and Latin America.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to the on-going Greek debt crisis. It identifies and explains Greece's idiosyncratic weaknesses, and highlights the existing rigidities in the EU architecture that make the recovery prospects of the Greek economy challenging. Chapters from expert contributors highlight aspects of the performance of the Greek economy with focus on export performance, labour market conditions, political cycles and regional income disparities. The book then goes on to outline the banking system in Greece in the post-crisis era, and includes analysis that explains how the credit rating score affected Greece's borrowing capacity prior to the start of the insolvency crisis. The final part analyses and compares alternative scenarios of fiscal consolidation, seeking to identify whether there are alternatives to fiscal austerity and the impact of each one of them. This section also clarifies various misconceptions about the significant determinants of international competitiveness. Despite the focus of the book, the lessons drawn from the chapters are not limited to Greece. This volume will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policy makers who wish to take a closer look at the Greek debt crisis and learn more about the challenges the Greek economy is currently facing.

Latin America is in the midst of dramatic transformations. Stabilization and structural adjustment programs are dismantling state regulation of the economy. Democratic transitions are pointing toward the emergence of new institutional arrangements. Democratization and market-oriented economic restructuring pose major questions concerning new social configurations combining rising levels of poverty, low intensity citizenship, environmental degradation, and enduring legacies of elite privilege and authoritarianism. Analyzing these and related issues, this volume contributes to a world-system perspective suggesting that the region is experiencing a great transformation characterized by a deepening differentiation between state, enterprises, and households. Emergent patterns of competition and organizational change are discussed along with the social consequences of restructuring and the potential for political transformation.

This volume provides an intensive review of the economic competitiveness of Singapore's economy. It identifies and analyses the strategies which will allow the economy to retain its competitive advantage in the years ahead in an increasingly globalised economic environment, considerably liberalised international trading and investment climate, and with regional economies challenging the country's competitive edge as a regional transportation hub, international financial centre and a primary regional centre for technology and education. Dialogues and interviews with managers and CEOs of industries in the private and public sectors are also included.

How a country competes in the world is the crucial factor in determining that country's ability to benefit from international trade in today's global economy. This book offers a complete and proper understanding of the meaning of international competitiveness, analyzes the implications it holds for an economy's progress, examines how it may be pursued and sustained at both the sectoral level (firms and industries) and the national level (strategic objectives). The author offers pertinent policy guidelines and prescriptions for how a nation can achieve and maintain international competitiveness in order to sustain the long-term prosperity of its industries, and hence the overall pace of economic growth.

The book is arranged into three parts. Part I discusses and defines the theories of international competitiveness. Part II deals with policy issues, specifically the policy analysis of structural reforms for promoting a country's ability to compete, the impact of globalization and the role of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), strategic trade policies, and environmental issues. Part III analyzes the strategies used to pursue competitiveness. The book will be useful for researchers, students, and teachers of business and economics as well as policy makers, business practitioners, and international and governmental agencies.

This book identifies that problems that China must face to develop its economy and elucidates the structural deficiencies which lay behind these problems. Chinese economy compared with other economies in the world. The book also analyzes China's present economic situation and, where possible, provides prescriptions for solving its problems by comparing it with the Japanese development experience.

In his 'New Guide' to The General Theory, Mark G. Hayes presents Keynes's illustrious work as a sophisticated Marshallian theory of the competitive equilibrium of the economy as a whole. This unique book takes full account of the nature of time and money and illustrates that The General Theory remains highly relevant to the teacher and advanced student of modern macroeconomics. The Economics of Keynes introduces several interpretative innovations to resolve many puzzles presented in the literature of the last 70 years. It is designed to be read in parallel with The General Theory and will allow modern readers to find their bearings before plunging into an in-depth analysis of major themes contained in The General Theory. The key areas in which this 'New Guide' differs from the familiar exposition of current macroeconomics textbooks are also explicitly identified. The author reaches positive and hopeful conclusions for the development of economic theory and policy. Promoting a thorough understanding of the legitimate domain of equilibrium analysis and a renewed commitment to the possibility of genuinely full employment, this book will provide an illuminating and fascinating read for anyone wishing to appreciate fully the value of The General Theory. More specifically, academics and advanced students of macroeconomics across the board - classical, orthodox, Post Keynesian and heterodox - interested in a fresh attempt to connect The General Theory with modern macroeconomics will find this book to be the ideal tool.

This work deals primarily with social costs of transformation to a market economy in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The transformation provisions have negatively affected the well-being of the population. They brought about unemployment, a phenomenon which did not exist in the previous, communist system, increased income inequities, reduced social programmes and expanded poverty. All these phenomena are examined in this book. In addition, the book discusses the strategy of transformation, privatization and the economic performance of the three countries.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the financial systems of major industrialized countries using the statistical framework of the financial accounts. After a discussion of how economists agreed to create a framework to monitor the financial linkages between surplus and deficit sectors, the book analyzes in detail the composition and the recent evolution of financial assets and liabilities for households (including public pension rights), firms and intermediaries. Next, the volume studies the convergence patterns of financial structures and their influence on the effectiveness of monetary policy within European countries. The final chapter unifies the previous pictures, showing how the effects of financial integration and global imbalances could have been foreseen based on the financial accounts. The analysis and information contained in the book will help the readers to understand many issues and challenges raised by the recent financial crisis.

There is no better guide than Paul Krugman to basic economics, the ideas that animate much of our public policy. Likewise, there is no better foe of zombie economics, the misunderstandings that just won't die. Arguing with Zombies is Krugman "the most hated and most admired columnist in the US" (Martin Wolf, Financial Times) at his best, turning readers into intelligent consumers of the daily news with quick, vivid sketches of the key concepts behind taxes, health care, international trade and more. In this new book, in which he builds on and expands his The New York Times columns and other writings, "the most celebrated economist of his generation" (The Economist), offers short, accessible chapters on topics including the European Union and Brexit, the fight for national health care in the United States, the financial meltdown of 2007-2008, the attack on Social Security and the fraudulent argument-the ultimate zombie-that tax cuts for the rich will benefit all.

This collection explores the relationships between the emotional and material, engaging with and developing the debates surrounding the emotional and material labour involved in producing and reproducing domestic and intimate spaces. The contributions examine the geographies and spaces of consumption in international and local-global spheres.

This book analyses the use of qualitative and quantitative content analysis methodologies for risk disclosure practices in the European banking industry. While doing so, it assesses the level of transparency of financial and non-financial reports by focusing on the information disclosed to the public with reference to risk exposure and management. By drawing upon both qualitative and quantitative techniques, the book proposes two different methodological approaches to assess the information European financial institutions provide to the public with reference to the risk disclosure and derivative disclosure in their annual financial reports. These methodologies are subsequently employed to carry out empirical analyses on samples of European banks. By exploiting the points of strength of both qualitative and quantitative content analysis methodologies, this book offers insights into the advantages and disadvantages of these methodologies. The book is a must-read for academics and researchers that analyze disclosure practices of financial and non-financial firms, as well as financial analysts and other practitioners that are interested in assessing the level of transparency and evaluating the disclosures of financial and non-financial firms, especially, but not exclusively, with reference to risk disclosure and derivative disclosure.