In recent years, analysts, researchers and environmental policy makers have been faced with a serious shortage of empirical data on environmental phenomena. In fact, the information gathered by various organisations has not yet been systematically classified into a consistent system of accounts. This book presents the results of a joint research effort by the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Italy's Central Statistical Office (ISTAT) to design a system of accounts for natural and environmental resources. The resulting environmental accounts can be integrated with the existing system of national accounts, in order to estimate the so-called green GDP' or net national product' (NNP).

This volume of "Research in Transportation Economics" reflects the changes that are occurring in the transportation arena as we enter the twenty-first century. In the US, the transportation industries, rail and trucking in particular, are still adjusting to deregulation that has taken place since the 1970's. The emerging transportation issues focus less on economic regulation of the transport sector and more on policies to deal with congestion, optimal pricing, and the allocation of scarce resources. The papers presented represent a diverse view of transportation economics, in a field that is forever changing as regulations change, ecnomic growth continues, and our econometric and modeling methods become increasingly refined.

"The series is abstracted and indexed in Journal of Economic Literature and in EconLit."

Observers and Macroeconomic Systems is concerned with the computational aspects of using a control-theoretic approach to the analysis of dynamic macroeconomic systems. The focus is on using a separate model for the development of the control policies. In particular, it uses the observer-based approach whereby the separate model learns to behave in a similar manner to the economic system through output-injections. The book shows how this approach can be used to learn the forward-looking behaviour of economic actors which is a distinguishing feature of dynamic macroeconomic models. It also shows how it can be used in conjunction with low-order models to undertake policy analysis with a large practical econometric model. This overcomes some of the computational problems arising from using just the large econometric models to compute optimal policy trajectories. The work also develops visual simulation software tools that can be used for policy analysis with dynamic macroeconomic systems.

The modern system-wide approach to applied demand analysis emphasizes a unity between theory and applications. Its fIrm foundations in economic theory make it one of the most impressive areas of applied econometrics. This book presents a large number of applications of recent innovations in the area. The database used consist of about 18 annual observations for 10 commodities in 18 OECO countries (more than 3,100 data points). Such a large body of data should provide convincing evidence, one way or the other, about the validity of consumption theory. A PREVIEW OF THE BOOK The overall importance of the analysis presented in the book can be seen from the following table which shows the signifIcant contribution of the OECO to the world economy. As can be seen, the 24 member countries account for about 50 percent of world GOP in 1975. In this book we present an extensive analysis of the consumption patterns of the OECO countries.

Beginning with the key changes brought about in the economy by advanced technology and organizational and institutional innovations, this book elucidates their impact on industrial systems, accumulation, firms and the processes of European integration.;This approach enables the reader to establish the links in the conceptual jungle to real processes and to chart clearly, by eliminating chaos and chance factors, the interlocking grid of political destablization and economic marginalizaton that the advance of capitalist globalization has introduced in all countries. The author suggests an alternative approach founded upon a polycentric system of co-operation and solidarity to loosen the bonds of capitalism in the 21st century.

This book examines the causes, consequences and policy significance of international capital movements and nations' external account imbalances. Traditional theoretical approaches to balance of payments analysis, such as the classical, elasticities, absorption, monetary and Mundell-Fleming models are critically evaluated against an extended international macroeconomic accounting framework. More meaningful capital theoretic models then link saving, investment and foreign capital movements to highlight the macroeconomic gains from international capital mobility and international trade in saving.

This is the second of two volumes to bear witness to the Cuban experience. Together with its predecessor, "Cuba: Twenty-Five Years of Revolution," it offers a positive account. Yet, it is sensitive to the dilemmas and flawed strategies in Cuba's thirty-year process of transformation. It warns that no preconceived notion of state or of development will help grasp the multifaceted nature of this nation, which reflects aspects of both developed and underdeveloped nations. Seventeen chapters, five of which are from Cuban contributors, thoroughly investigate recent political, economic, and social changes as well as the successes and failures of long-term development policies. Heavy attention is paid to the rectification process launched by Castro in 1986.

This volume portrays a Cuba facing the 1990s with a burst of increased vigor in its efforts to secure continued far-reaching transformation. Seventeen chapters describe major changes in the economic realm caught up in the rectification campaign; a slow process of liberalization in the political sphere; and a Cuba that, in social terms, is far better off than any other Latin American country.

Original essays identify the channels through which inward investment can affect host economies and shape the size and structure of industrialized economies over the last decade. Leading experts in international investment and the behavior of national and multinational firms combine innovative methodologies and firm-level data to evaluate the impact of inward investment on such issues as productivity, technology, and innovation. They compare UK developments to those experienced by French, Italian, German and US economies.

Lifetime distribution and redistribution is analysed in this book, in far more detail than has been attempted before. A dynamic cohort microsimulation model is used as an exciting new tool to analyse several questions which have previously been almost impossible to answer. These questions concern income distribution and redistribution, social security and income tax incidence. This book will be of interest to those working in social and economic policy who are concerned about such issues. It will also be of interest to the rapidly growing numbers of researchers and government analysts constructing microsimulation models.

America's Soluble Problems , while recognising the many successes of the US economy, analyses its well known problems with a fresh new approach. Are slow growth, stagnant living standards for many, increasing poverty for those worst off, the hollowing out of much US manufacturing, balance of payments and fiscal deficits, all inevitable? America's Soluble Problems argues that they are not, and that entirely achievable changes in macro - economic policy could transform the prospects for the US economy and for most American citizens.

We all know the hard fact: neither wealth nor income is ever uniform for us all. Justified or not, they are unevenly distributed; few are rich and many are poor! Investigations for more than hundred years and the recent availability of the income distribution data in the internet (made available by the finance ministries of various countries; from the tax return data of the income tax departments) have revealed some remarkable features. Irrespective of many differences in culture, history, language and, to some extent, the economic policies followed in different countries, the income distribution is seen to fol low a particular universal pattern. So does the wealth distribution. Barring an initial rise in population with income (or wealth; for the destitutes), the population decreases either exponentially or in a log-normal way for the ma jority of 'middle income' group, and it eventually decreases following a power law (Pareto law, following Vilfredo Pareto's observation in 1896) for the rich est 5-10 % of the population! This seems to be an universal feature - valid for most of the countries and civilizations; may be in ancient Egypt as well! Econophysicists tried to view this as a natural law for a statistical ma- body-dynamical market system, analogous to gases, liquids or solids: classical or quantum.

This research investigates the impact of three equal cost alternative labor market policies on the economic well-being of low-income families and society in general at the turn of the 21st century. The principal focus is on how changes in the minimum wage, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and payroll taxes influence the well-being of low-income American families. The methods we employ also reveal how much of the benefits from raising the minimum wage, increasing the EITC, and reducing payroll taxes of workers in low-income families accrue to families in the middle and upper ranges of the income distribution. Thus, we consider the entire distribution, but focus primary attention on families and persons at or near the bottom of the income distribution.

The research reported in this book has three distinguishing features. First, it examines and compares changes in the minimum wage, the EITC, and payroll taxes using a common analytical framework. There is considerable discussion of the impacts of raising the minimum wage and increasing EITC payments. The research reported here places these two policies in an "equivalent social cost" framework and analyzes the distributional consequences of each policy. In addition, we use the same equivalent cost paradigm to investigate an alternative policy that rebates a portion of the payroll taxes paid by workers in low-income families. A second distinguishing feature of the research is that it incorporates important insights from the poverty and income distribution literature into the analysis of labor market policies and family well-being. This literature suggests that any evaluation of success or failure of poverty fighting policies thatincrease the minimum wage, expand the EITC, or reduce payroll taxes requires that the poor population be properly identified and poverty measured using distribution sensitive measures of poverty and not simple headcounts of the poor. Further, it is important to check for the sensitivity of any conclusions about the policy choices to alternative poverty lines. A third distinguishing feature of the research is that we use important developments in the applied welfare economics of income distribution to address the key question: which policy alternative is best?

The economies of Latin America have undergone a deep process of change in the last decade as a result of the application of major reforms. The outcome can be fairly described as a New Economic Model. This New Economic Model is distinguished from its predecessor, in force before the 1980s debt crisis, by an emphasis on market forces and export-led growth. This book explores the main features of the New Economic Model in Latin America and, through analysis of the reform process and case studies, examines its impact on income distribution and poverty.

This book explores the life and work of Nicholas Kaldor, examining the influences that shaped and inspired his writings, and looks in detail at the crucial part he played in twentieth-century economics. Offering a comprehensive intellectual portrait of Kaldor, this book explains this great economist's importance in his own time and in ours.

After a century and a half of efforts at constructing arrangements and rules for international monetary interaction, present-day national authorities do not seem to have come much closer to achieving the aim of enduring exchange rate stability combined with a good macroeconomic performance. A distinguished group of economists and economic historians offers new insights into the working of the most important of such experiences, including nineteenth century bimetallism, the 'classical' gold standard, Bretton Woods and the European Monetary System.

Regional trade agreements proliferated in Africa in the wake of independence from colonial rule. For the most part these agreements failed to deliver the regional integration and economic benefits that were promised, and amounted to little more than a propaganda coup for the leaders that signed them.This book explores conventional explanations of the failure of these agreements, and challenges the accepted wisdom, highlighting the symbiotic relationship between 'Big Man' politics and crony capitalism. The rise of second generation regional trade agreements in the first decade of the twenty-first century emphasises the pressing need for a revised assessment of the aims, consequences and scope of these agreements. This book focuses on the revitalized East African Community to examine the potential benefits of modern agreements to foster economic development and the hurdles that must be overcome to realise this potential.

Vietnam, along with China, stands out as a rare success story among transition economies. This authoritative study of the reform process since 1989 pays particular attention to the way the macroeconomics framework can contribute to an environment that encourages human development and helps to reduce poverty. Thus there are chapters on macroeconomics reforms, international trade policies, the role of the state, rural development, education and health, environmental issues and poverty and gender inequality. Although areas of weakness are indicated, emphasis is placed on the success Vietnam has experienced compared to other transition economies. The lessons of both the successes and failures of the reform process for policymakers elsewhere are outlined.

This volume provides an up-to-date account of how the process of economic transition in Eastern Europe is unfolding from the point of view of Eastern European economists assessing their native economies. The authors have personally experienced the frustrations of the previous Stalinist system of central planning and public ownership, as well as the difficulties and pitfalls of designing new systems based on markets and private ownership. The book focuses on the three countries of Eastern Europe leading the reform efforts--Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland--and points out similarities and differences in their reform strategies.

Although the stories of economic change in Eastern Europe have dominated news headlines, the real challenges of designing and maintaining viable economies are just beginning. The analysis in this volume will be of interest to those in the academic and policy-making communities.

Highlighting recent revolutionary changes, this volume deals with the transformation from central planning towards more efficient economic structures in Eastern and Central Europe and the (former) Soviet Union. Political democracy and the creation of market economies have now become realistic aims; but the process of reform is only just beginning and is likely to take many years. The papers and discussion in this book deal with systematic changes, deregulation, abolition of price controls and macroeconomic fiscal and monetary policies needed to stablize the economies and to implement appropriate structural changes.

This is the most comprehensive textbook available on the money demand function and its role in modern macroeconomics. The book takes a microeconomic- and aggregation-theoretic approach to the topic and presents empirical evidence using state-of-the-art econometric methodology, while recognizing the existence of unsolved problems and the need for further developments. The new edition is fully revised and includes new chapters.

Market Behaviour and Macroeconomic Modelling discusses several state-of-the-art developments in the modelling approach to market behaviour in macroeconomic modelling. Leading experts in this field, deal with the implications of market imperfections in commodity markets, capital markets and labour markets for macroeconomic modelling and stabilization policy. They demonstrate that incorporating market imperfections leads to very different policy recommendations than those derived from the standard perfect competition model.

Robert Eisner has made a seminal contribution to the development of macroeconomic analysis in the latter half of the twentieth century. This carefully edited selection of his essays traces the development of economic thought in the wake of the Keynesian revolution and offers a critique of the neoclassical contribution to economic analysis and major macroeconomic policy issues.Professor Eisner is fundamentally concerned with the determinants of employment and growth in a market economy. In this book, he provides a rigorous analysis of the permanent income hypothesis, the multiplier, interest rates, the liquidity trap, consumption and saving, depreciation, unemployment and growth models. He goes on to examine fiscal and monetary policy and the measurement and effects of budget deficits over the post-war period, challenging the view that budget deficits should necessarily be avoided. Professor Eisner also offers new measures of saving, investment and national income and product, which provide new insights into the economic factors affecting current welfare and future growth. Finally, he discusses the importance of full employment and criticises the idea that there is a natural rate of unemployment.

Japanese firms are in the midst of the most protracted economic crisis in their post-war history. The end of the "bubble economy" has led to a long era of low growth. This change in the general business environment has profound consequences for the management and the organization of corporate Japan, as well as for the theory of the Japanese firm. The contributions to this book cover a broad range of subjects, from the strategies and organizational structures to the management of human resources and innovation processes in the 1990s. These changes are systematically commented on by field specialists from abroad, especially Europe, relating the situation in Japan to comparable developments in other countries.

This book provides a comprehensive overview and some economic analysis of China's economic reform experiences, particularly those since the late 1980s. It covers many institutional details of key aspects of the Chinese economy, including fiscal and monetary management, financial sector development, state-enterprise reform, international trade, foreign investment, decentralization and regional development. It is argued that while China has achieved a spectacular growth record over the past twenty years, and its reform efforts have successfully laid the foundation of a market-based economic management system, the country continues to face major challenges in sustaining its growth performance.