This book offers a critical perspective on the issues related to women's empowerment, microfinance, and entrepreneurship in India. Written by distinguishing experts in this field, this book highlights women's empowerment, which is a process of entrusting power to an individual on the control over resources and decisions. However, these two factors are less effective in a society where religion and cultural dominance is high. The book sheds light on the social security measures undertaken by the government aiming to the right to work helped women who are bounded by social restrictions. Over time there is a shift in rural occupational structure towards non-farm activities, which is largely distress driven self-employment. Access to credit is a great source to provide self-employment that develops self-esteem among women and uplift their position. The book highlights the discrimination against women entrepreneurs in access to credit led to gender biased entrepreneurial society. Association with self-help groups (SHGs) has made women more socially empowered. SHG members help them to change their life in a positive manner through micro-entrepreneurial activities. The book has emphasized on the role of microfinance, which has served the poor to become financially self-reliant. It is observed that for second generation borrowers, the impact of microfinance seems to fizzle out, where MFIs who are gaining efficiency are diverting their objective of servicing poor, signalling a sign of mission drift.

This book is a quarterly forecast and analysis report on the Chinese economy. It is published twice a year and presents ongoing results from the "China Quarterly Macroeconomic Model (CQMM)," a research project at the Center for Macroeconomic Research (CMR) at Xiamen University. Based on the CQMM model, the research team forecast major macroeconomic indicators for the next 8 quarters, including the rate of GDP growth, the CPI, fixed-asset investment, resident consumption and foreign trade. At the same time it focuses on simulation of current macroeconomic policies in China. In addition to helping readers understand China's economic trend and policy guide, this book has three main goals: to help readers understand China's economic performance; to forecast the main macroeconomic indicators for the next 8 quarters; and to simulate the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies.

Against the background of the globalization of private finance, the predominance of states in global affairs cannot be taken for granted. New actors, such as commercial banks or securities houses, have entered the global arena and, therefore, need to be included in any informed analysis of social reality. The actions of these institutions have to be regarded as influential forces impacting world politics. The theory of transnational regimes is advocated as a new way of structuring the global system.

This report is a partial result of the China's Quarterly Macroeconomic Model (CQMM), a project developed and maintained by the Center for Macroeconomic Research (CMR) at Xiamen University. The CMR, one of the Key Research Institutes of Humanities and Social Sciences sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China, has been focusing on China's economic forecast and macroeconomic policy analysis, and it started to develop the CQMM for purpose of short-term forecasting, policy analysis, and simulation in 2005. Based on the CQMM, the CMR and its partners hold press conferences to release forecasts for China's major macroeconomic variables. Since July, 2006, twenty-six quarterly reports on China's macroeconomic outlook have been presented and thirteen annual reports have been published. This report, the twenty-sixth quarterly report, has been presented at the Forum on China's Macroeconomic Outlook and Press Conference of CQMM on February 26, 2019. This conference was jointly held at Beijing by the CMR and the Economic Information Daily at Xinhua News Agency

As decisively as the collapse of the Soviet Union signaled a most definite conclusion to that utopian undertaking gone mad, so has NAFTA ended an economic counterpart in Mexico. The United States and Canada are embarking on a grand experiment, incorporating Mexico into their very own economies, creating the largest trading bloc in the world consisting of more than 360 million consumers in an economy that will surpass seven trillion American dollars. For corporate America, an enormous opportunity lies in the integration of the Mexican nation into the economic and social fabric of North America. International business consultant and economist Louis Nevaer explains what these opportunities are and offers sage advice on how U.S. corporations can capitalize on them.

The implementation of NAFTA heralds the final conclusion of the Mexican Revolution, and Mexico is now embarked on a race against time to make up for lost decades. Ernesto Zedillo, who will deliver Mexico to the 21st century, confronts enormous challenges as the authoritarian hegemony that characterizes the political economy of the Mexican nation-state is dismantled. NAFTA constitutes a blueprint for the systematic surrender of the Mexican economy. There is, however, no blueprint for the transformation of Mexico into a democracy. Herein lies the greatest risks to corporate America, for there is always the danger of self-destruction, as witnessed in some of the republics of the former Soviet Union. The discussion presented in this book examines the present realities of the Mexican nation in the age of free trade. In Part I opportunities and risks for corporate America are analyzed, not only within an economic context, but also within a cultural and historical one, as well. Presented in Part II are the processes that have shaped Mexico over the centuries--Spanish rule, Native American civilizations, the trauma of conquest--which have given rise to the Mexican persona and character. With this understanding as background, the American reader gains a strategic advantage in understanding how the Mexican psyche works and which buttons to push. Finally, Part III presents a practical approach to conducting business in Mexico, which ranges from the legal requirements of opening a subsidiary, to a warning about the prevalence of corruption in Mexican society, as well as the existence of racism in Mexican culture.

This book introduces a new approach in the field of macroeconomic inventory studies: the use of multivariate statistics to evaluate long-term characteristics of inventory investments in developed countries. By analyzing a 44-year period series of annual inventory change in percentage of GDP in a set of OECD countries, disclosing their relationship to growth, industry structure and alternative uses of GDP (fixed capital investments, foreign trade and consumption), it fills a gap in the economic literature. It is generally accepted that inventories play an important role in all levels of the economy. However, while there is extensive literature on micro- (and even item-) level inventory problems, macroeconomic inventory studies are scarce. Both the long-term processes of inventory formation and their correlation with other macroeconomic factors provide interesting conclusions about economic changes and policies in our immediate past, and present important insights for the future.

.Economic reform measures introduced in Poland have been the most radical and ambitious in the newly free countries of Eastern Europe. In a short time that country has moved from a centrally planned economy to a free-market system. The ramifications and implications of these economic reforms are influencing economic thought and planning in other recently liberalized, formerly communist societies.

Raphael Shen asserts that measures taken to transform the Polish economy should be implemented over time rather than overnight, and should be moderate rather than radical. Throwing the centrally planned system out and replacing it with the free-market system instantly means that, in the short term at least, Poland will have no smoothly functioning system in place. The necessary economic infrastructure and basic institutions have had no time to develop. The contrived market system cannot function in a meaningful way. The current experience in Poland has already led to extensive disillusionment among Polish consumers and doubts among academicians. The Polish experience will be a valuable lesson in economics for students and decision makers. Shen's book valuable to students, teachers, and researchers in the areas of comparative economic systems, economic development, and economic history.

This informative research review discusses the most prominent papers within the economics of structural change and growth. This piece focuses on research that investigates the causes and consequences of structural change with either theoretical or calibrated models, mindfully referring to some of the most celebrated literature over the last two decades. The research review analyses literature covering the impact structural change has on an array of economic factors including convergence, per capita income and spatial development. Prefaced by an original introduction from the editors, this collection would be well suited to scholars and macro-development economists wishing to extend their knowledge of this compelling topic.

The development of the welfare state has been accompanied by greater freedom being granted to workers in industrialized capitalist countries. The themes of this probing volume concern how governments, employers, trade unions, and workers have acted to promote economic growth and accountability with active industrial policies and forms of co-determination, worker self-management, and/or employee ownership. The book's essays address the key dimensions of economic, social, and political change in five industrial democracies: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Sweden. A major focus of the volume as a whole is on economic management and workplace reform in a variety of national settings. Managing Modern Capitalism is divided into three sections, covering strategies for industrial renewal, workplace democracy in practice and theory, and future perspectives. In the first section, each of the five countries are compared and contrasted in light of their attempts to stimulate economic growth and reduce unemployment under conditions of international interpendence of capital and markets. Country-by-country profiles highlight the second section, which also examines various forms of employee consultation, participation in managerial decisions, and ownership. The third section and conclusion evaluate prospective economic trends and workplace democracy in the capitalist nations. This book will be of interest to policymakers, scholars, and journalists, as well as to advanced students in political science, economics, history, and sociology.

This book analyzes the effects of wives' employment on the economic status of families, using both descriptive and empirical research. The historical and socio-economic causes of change in the employment status of wives and husbands are detailed. The empirical studies respond to some basic questions about dual-earner families: How does having an employed wife influence family lifestyles? What effects do dual-earners have on the finances of their households and on the distribution of income? What policy changes are needed to recognize the economic importance of dual-earner families? In Working Wives and Dual-Earner Families, one-earner and dual-earner families are differentiated, with particular attention to the impact of wives' employment status (full-time or part-time) on household decision making. Among the most interesting research findings are: total family income or tax bracket and the cost of child care are among the critical determinants of dual-earner employment; married-couple families at the same level of income have very similar expenditure patterns regardless of whether the wife is employed; full-time working wives make the distribution of income less equal, but part-time working wives generate greater equality in the distribution of income; families with full-time working wives have higher income, but they do not save more or have greater financial assets than other families; families with part-time employed wives are similar to those with non-employed wives and differ from families with full-time employed wives. The authors conclude that the real incomes of dual-earner families will continue to grow, as one-earner real income remains the same or declines. Household planning and decision making will increasingly be predicated upon having two earners, which will be perceived as the norm. Dual-earner families, based on amenities, mobility, growing families, and demands for public goods, will drive private markets and public policy.

This book is devoted to the analysis of the three main financial crises that have marked this century: 2001 Argentina's defaulting on its external debt, the American subprime crisis in 2008, and the current European debt crisis in Europe. The book pursues three major objectives: firstly, to accurately portray these three financial crises; secondly, to analyze what went wrong with mainstream economic theory, which was unable to foresee these types of economic turmoil; and thirdly, to review macroeconomic theory, re-evaluating Keynes' original contribution to economic analysis and pointing out the need to rebuild macroeconomics with a view to studying economic illness rather than trying to prove the non-existence of economic problems.

James Tobin, 1981 Nobel laureate in economics, was the outstanding monetary economist among American Keynesian economists. This book, the first written about James Tobin, examines his leading role as a Keynesian macroeconomist and monetary economist, and considers the continuing relevance of his ideas.

The standing of industrialization has fallen in the list of social and economic objectives of developing countries in recent years. Turkey provides an ideal example of this beginning with a program adopted in 1980 under the auspices of the IMF and the World Bank. The macroeconomic and microeconomic issues concerning Turkish industrialization in global context with particular emphasis on the decade of the 1980s are examined. The rapid transformation in industrialization strategy from import substitution under heavy state direction to outward orientation has had a profound effect on industrialization of Turkey.

Tanzania is now the fourth poorest country in the world. Its economic development, since independence in 1961, has been characterized by a series of internal and external shocks that have tested the resilience of the economy, the stability of its institutions, and the tolerance and inventiveness of its people. This book presents information that will have profound implications for economic policy in Tanzania. Questioning earlier reports and conclusions, the authors reject official economic statistics as failing to give even a moderately accurate picture of economic developments. This study outlines the structure of the Tanzanian economy and considers the impact of previous policies and current stabilization and adjustment measures on the poorer segments of the Tanzanian population.

From the beginning of our nation's history, with the Puritan and Protestant work ethics, through the 1950s, thrift was considered an important virtue, both with regard to the moral fiber of the country and as a support for its continuing economic well-being. The idea that deferring immediate pleasures to accumulate wealth for increased future value was considered virtuous, not just by the citizens but by politicians and the government as well. In this fascinating history of thrift, David Tucker describes how, after the Eisenhower period, thrift became an outdated, outmoded concept, and how the abandonment of thrift is in large part responsible for our current economic position.

Tucker begins his study by tracing the thrift culture in which America was born, which continued its dominance for more than a century. The notion that frugality was the best means for promoting the general welfare remained unchanged until the late nineteenth century, when an angry protest against more thrifty Chinese immigrants led to a reversal in cultural attitudes. A new ideal of a higher standard of living--supported by spending, consumption, and debt-- undercut the old virtue of thrift. Throughout the twentieth century, advertising, consumer credit, and a self-indulgent psychology have eroded the practice of frugality. In addition to this history, Tucker explores the dangers of the thriftless society, comparing America's current position to the economic rise and decline of the United Kingdom. With a savings rate that has fallen from 15 percent to 4 percent, and a government that routinely appropriates more than 100 percent of tax revenues, Tucker sees a moral deficiency in Americans. Thrift is no obsolescent virtue, he observes, if the nation is concerned with preserving a standard of living. This unique history and commentary will be a useful supplement to courses in current affairs, American history, and economics, as well as a significant addition to college, university, and public libraries.

Making Fiscal Policy in Japan is written for those who want to understand the role and performance of fiscal policy as an integral component of macroeconomic policy, and the attendant effects on economic growth. Ishi traces and analyses the central features of postwar Japanese fiscal policy and considers the institutional framework and policy objectives which shaped the budget process. The overall conclusion is that the Japanese government has been generally passive in guiding the state's economic activities, using fiscal policy to support the private market economy rather than directly to influence the economy through deliberate expenditure and tax policies.

This book explores the role of national fiscal policies in a selected group of Euro-area countries under the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In particular, the authors characterize the response of output to fiscal consolidations and expansions in the small Euro-area open economies affected by high public and private debt. It is shown that the macroeconomic outcome of fiscal shocks is strongly related to debt levels. The Euro-area countries included in the investigation are Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, over the sample period 1999-2016, i.e., the EMU period. The main econometric tools used in this research are structural vector autoregressive (VAR) models, including panel VAR models. The available literature relating to the subject is also fully reviewed. A further closely investigated topic is the potential spillover effects of German fiscal policies on the selected small Euro-area economies. Moreover, in the perspective of the evolution of the Euro Area towards a full Monetary and Fiscal Union, the authors study the effects of area-wide government spending shocks on aggregate output and other macroeconomic variables during the EMU period. The closing chapter of the book considers evidence on the consequences of austerity policies for European labour markets during recent years.

This book explains why inflation remains subdued after recessions, based on three revolutionary concepts: defensive expectations, compensatory savings, and cumulative wage gap. When income falls, consumption falls, and savings rise, as people rebuild their past wealth. Households will not spend more until they fully recover what they lost. The revised Phillips Curve explains that current inflation depends on the cumulative difference between current income and past income. This new theory is tested and validated by data for US since 1960 to date and for 35 OECD countries from 1990 to date. A number of policy implications are derived from these results. The book calls for an optimal policy mix between monetary policy and fiscal policy; it also discusses the coronavirus crisis as an extreme case of defensive expectations.

Dr. Reddy points out that the key to economic success, particularly for the less developed countries of the world, is technology--but only when properly applied. Despite years of help through technology transfer, however, many LDCs are still improverished. This leads him to conclude that either the wrong technologies were transferred or the right ones were not transfered. His book thus focuses on ways in which LDCs can improve their economic growth through technology transfer, arguing that it is the assimilation of technology into their socioeconomic and cultural structures that is critical to their economic development, not the indiscriminate borrowing from advanced nations. In doing so, Dr. Reddy presents a behavioral model which proves that technology absorption is just as--if not more--important than a simple transfer process. A challenging, research-based discussion for academics in economics, business, sociology, marketing, and management, and for business and government policymakers worldwide.

Dr. Reddy introduces the concepts related to technology transfer and discusses the major participants in the worldwide transfer enterprise. He presents barriers and ways to overcome them in technology transferral, explores the ethical dimensions, and then lays out his technology transfer assimilation model. He applies the model to a specific and representative developing country, India, and ends with a discussion of conclusions that can be drawn from it. His three appendixes elaborate on the need for, and methods to, transfer technology to LDCs, provide ways to analyze the costs, and present a model of reciprocal distribution that may benefit both the donor and the recipient country in the transfer process.

The culmination of work begun in 1985 by the authors under the joint sponsorship of the Ekonomski Institut Zagreb and Florida State University, this book posits the most comprehensive and relevant model yet developed to explain the workings of Yugoslavia's economy. The authors have developed a model that is both theoretically oriented and empirically relevant--ensuring its appropriateness for recommending and evaluating alternative policy remedies for the acute problems of inflation, unemployment, and foreign trade now facing Yugoslavia, a country until recently noted for its economic successes. Already chosen to represent Yugoslavia in the ongoing international Project LINK, a global system for tracking and forecasting the economic conditions of some eighty countries and regions, the model is distinguished by its policy emphasis and by its ability to capture the fundamental divisions of the Yugoslav economy. Students and scholars of socialism, Marxism, and comparative economics will find this a major contribution to the literature of economic modeling.

The book begins by providing essential background information about Yugoslavia including highlights of the country's economic experience, special features of its economic structure, the composition of its political system, the operation of its financial system, and the behavior of firms. Part two includes four chapters which examine the different components of the Yugoslav economy and review the theoretical basis and empirical performance of the equations which describe those components. A separate chapter presents the complete model, called the EIZFSU Mark 1.0 in recognition of its major sponsoring institutions. In the final part, the model is used to study policies for improving the performance of the economy and obstacles to their implementation. An appendix describes and quantifies the variables used in the model while a list of references provides additional information for the researcher who wishes to pursue further study in this area.

With the cold war over and the Soviet empire dead, a new examination of American national policies and priorities is beginning. Most of the economic, political and military costs of the American empire, which exceed $1 trillion each year, are being questioned for the first time since World War II. Touted by George Washington as the infant empire, the United States expanded across the North American continent and at the turn of the twentiety century into the Pacific and Caribbean. At the end of World War II, it became the leader of the free world, a world empire of unprecedented power. However, by the 1980s, the strain of world leadership became apparent and signs of economic decline appeared, which is the inevitable fate of all empires. Jim Hanson undertakes this examination of imperial overstretch and decline and calls for a rechanneling of national energies into solving world-wide problems of war, environmental deterioration, and over-population. This historic-based and analytic critique of imperial America will interest scholars and students of American and world history, political and social science, economics, and foreign affairs.

This book addresses topics and issues of high relevance to the widely shared desire to promote inclusive growth, sustainability, and innovation within a context of global governance. It is based on the XXXth Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar, where leading experts met to discuss the latest research and thinking on different aspects of globalization, trade, inequalities, growth imbalances, green technologies, the labor market, and financial systems. The aim is to stimulate new responses and possible solutions to a variety of well-recognized problems, including low growth in real wages, stagnating productivity, and growing disparities in income. Some of these problems are especially evident in Europe, where austerity policies have failed to deliver adequate growth and investment. However, while a number of the contributions focus on aspects of particular importance to Europe, others look further afield, for example to the scope for innovation in Africa and to experiences with quantitative easing in Japan. The book will be of wide interest to academics, researchers, policy makers, and practitioners.

The Arab upheaval and the world's biggest financial crisis after the Great Depression were almost simultaneous in their occurrence. The Mediterranean economies now face a dual challenge of a political and financial restructuring in the light of a shaky economic pedestal on which they stand. In light of this socio-political and economic shift in both inland and in world markets, this book offers a thorough analysis on problems, prospects and the way ahead for the financial integration of the South-Mediterranean region. Several perspectives on financial integration and policy recommendations are put forward from a leading group of researchers specializing on the Mediterranean region.

One of the most important developments in macroeconomics during the last decade has been the introduction of the rational expectations approach. Before the introduction of this method, economists relied on a variety of ad hoc mechanisms which often led to errors in their predictions. Studies in International Macroeconomics explains the ways in which the rational expectations method deals with uncertainty. It presents stochastic models and applies them to curent issues such as exchange rate determination, the effects of the rise and fall in oil prices, and the impact of wage indexing on the economy.