This book develops a new theoretical framework to examine the issues of economic growth and development. Providing analysis of economic dynamics in a competitive economy under government intervention in infrastructure and income distribution, the book develops a unique analytical framework under the influence of traditional neoclassical growth theory. However, in a departure from neoclassical growth theory it examines both the Solow-Swan and the Ramsey growth models, introducing a utility function which treats consumer choices in ways critically different to previous approaches. Using practical examples and models the book demonstrates how this new direction can effectively analyze the key issues of economic growth, in a compact and comprehensive manner.

Using state of the art mathematical techniques this book provides a complete characterization of the Uzawa-Lucas growth model. In his path-breaking contribution on the 'Mechanics of Economic Growth' Lucas suggested that human capital is the key variable through which technical change is most likely to occur and (by taking some initial intuitions of Uzawa a step further) proposed a two-sector capital accumulation growth model where human capital is allowed to enter a neo-classical-style production structure in multiplicative terms. In this book Paolo Mattana fully explores the dynamic possibilities of the model from both the market and the centralized perspective. A critical evaluation of the inefficiency in the market economy is also provided.

This title was first published in 2001. Persuasive new research on the emergence of a new approach to structural adjustment programmes emerging in Malawi during the late 1990s. By focusing on the enabling role of the state and non-price structural reforms in the agricultural sector, the author presents valuable lessons for economic reforms in other Sub-Saharan countries.

In this significant new book, Bruna Ingrao and Claudio Sardoni emphasize the crucial importance of considering credit/debt relations and financial markets for a comprehensive understanding of the world in which we live. The book offers both a thorough historical and theoretical reconstruction of how 20th century macroeconomics got (or did not get) to grips with the interactions between banks and financial markets, and the 'real' economy. The book is split into two distinct and thematic parts to expose the different attitudes to banks and finance before and after the Great Depression of the 1930s. Part I explores the period from the turn of the 20th century to the late 1930s, when many important economists devoted great attention to banks and credit relations in their explanations of the working of market economies. Part II discusses the post-war period up until the modern day, when banks and financial markets ceased to be a major concern of mainstream macroeconomics. The 2007-8 crisis gave rise to a renewed interest in credit relations, but many problems inherited from the past still remain open. The authors stress, in particular, the implications of the uneasy, if not impossible, coexistence of the endeavour to set macroeconomics within the framework of general equilibrium theory with the attempt to develop the analysis of the monetary and financial features of actual economies. Macroeconomists will greatly benefit from this timely book as it examines the historical evolution of the discipline, pointing out the major factors that have largely prevented the development of satisfactory analyses of the interrelations of credit, finance and the macroeconomy. Those involved in current economic policy debates will also benefit from the lessons offered in this book.

In recent years certain leading figures in the world of economics have called the usefulness of general equilibrium theory into question. This superb new book brings together leading economic theorists with important contributions to the ongoing debate.
General equilibrium theorists including Michio Morishima, Michael Magill and Martine Quinzii debate strengths, weaknesses and possible futures with leading thinkers such as Herb Gintis, Pierangelo Garegnani and Duncan Foley, who seek to explain the rejection of general equilibrium. Uniquely, none of the contributors portray general equilibrium theory as the perfect guide to market economies actual behaviour, but rather illustrate that there is insufficient acquaintance with existing alternatives and that general equilibrium theory is often used as an ideal 'benchmark'.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203217616

A look at all the key topics in intermediate-level macroeconomic theory with carefully chosen linear versions of the standard models of both the closed and the open economy. It requires no mathematical proficiency beyond high school level algebra, and has been thoroughly tested in the classroom.

This title was first published in 2003. Schumpeter first put forward the premise that the incessant turbulence of an economy in motion, carrying out new combinations of products, production methods with new technologies and the opening of new markets, is capable of explaining patterns of economic growth and change. Focusing on US industrialized urban areas, this volume tests this theory empirically. Localized employment 'churn' - registered as job creation/destruction dynamics - is used to account for variations in US metro-regional economic productivity performances during the 1986-1999 period. The results suggest that the employment turnover and replacement dynamics have large and significant positive effects on localized productivity growth independent of a variety of industrial restructuring processes occurring simultaneously. While employment churn effects are robust across US Census regions, they do not exert a uniform influence on metro-regional productivity performances across time. Until 1996, job creation and destruction dynamics often cancelled each other out as metro-regions underwent continued industrial restructuring. Since 1996, however, positive effects on metro-region productivity growth have been consistently strong. In addition to a strong positive effect on productivity of the emergence of a localized IT sector, both an expanding service sector share of regional employment and a rising public spending share of regional output exert powerful downward pressure of localized productivity growth rates.

The post-communist Central European and Baltic economies are now approaching the end of their transitions to well-functioning market systems. In some respects, the approaching EU accession and conclusion of the transition marks the end of a fascinating period in economic history. Beyond Transition focuses on the economic problems and issues facing Central Europe and the Baltics, the Balkans, and countries belonging to the Commonwealth for Independent States (CIS) in the post-transition context. This focus reflects the need to better understand two processes that are increasingly apparent in the post-communist economic space. First, many of the problems now facing policy makers in post-communist economies - choice of exchange rate regime, tax reform, labour market regulation, improving corporate governance - also face policy makers in developed and developing countries in other parts of the world. Second, the EU's eastern enlargement and the policy agendas facing the first wave accession candidates have major implications for the CIS and Balkan countries that have not been (and may never be) invited to join this process.

In approximately two decades China has transformed from a stagnant socialist economy to one that is vibrant and largely market-oriented. Given China's size, rapid economic growth, and her increasing importance as an economic and political power, the country's growth and development have aroused major interest among academics and policymakers worldwide. Written by a distinguished group of economists, this volume offers insight and in-depth analysis of a wide range of issues related to China's growth and development, from the role of higher education in the country's economic growth, to socioeconomic issues such as stock market manipulation and rural-urban migration. The contributors are established scholars in the field and their research methodologies are at the frontier of modern analytical economics, including economic dynamics and computable general equilibrium analysis. The volume will be of interest to students and researchers in the areas of Chinese economic studies, finance and international economics, international business, and transitional economy.

Economic development in the long run is seen as a process of structural change that is affected by economic growth. Malaysia is one of the middle-income economies that are going through rapid structural change. Since the mid 1980s it has changed to an industrially based economy with large-scale export of electrical and electronic components. However, thirty years after Malaysia's re-distributive policies have been exercised, regional inequality still exists. This book examines the nature and impact of regional policies in relation to the patterns of demographic and economic structural change and in relation to growth, distribution and income disparities across regions in Peninsular Malaysia. The book also explores the degree to which differences in regional manufacturing distribution and concentration have contributed to regional inequality. It concludes with a number of recommendations for regional policies that will reduce this inequality.

Hunger is an issue which has been subject to much rigorous intellectual examination by economists, philosophers, sociologists, NGOs and governments. This volume provides a critical overview of current academic and political perspectives and then compares these views from thenon-hungry people with those of thehungry particularly from a broad range of poor communities in India. Their views are gathered using participatory rural appraisal techniques and the scale of the material presented is unprecedented. Not surprisingly, the comparisons show that the perceptions of the hungry are fundamentally different from those of the non-hungry. It makes compelling suggestions about how best policy makers can attempt to eliminate hunger based on what the hungry themselves suggest. The book also draws attention to the critical role of Common Property Resources and women in the fight against under-nutrition, which have so far been largely ignored.

This book examines the institutional roots of the persistent differences in economic performance of firms, industries and countries in Africa. It draws attention to the role of institutions in supporting technical change and shows how technological progress is central to competitiveness in a global context. The role of initial conditions such as levels of literacy and natural endowment, the structure of industry and resource endowment are also emphasized. With its focus on how institutions shape systems of innovation this book makes a unique contribution to the debate about African development.

The book interrogates privatisation in terms of its effectiveness vis-a-vis its stated goals and more fundamentally in terms of its success in delivering economic development. It investigates why privatisation was successful in the UK and other OECD countries and why it has not met with equal success in developing countries. In this regard, it further examines the policy prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank in relation to the conceptualised benefits and theoretical assumptions underlying these supposed benefits. The author assesses the extent to which culture and customs, indeed the mode of production, stand in determinate relationship to the goals, techniques and outcome of the process. Furthermore, Chang examines the degree to which socioeconomic and moral consequences of privatisation have been ignored in pursuit of the ideological imperative implicit in the Washington Consensus. Hence, the book contributes to the reflective thought that must necessarily be part of theory validation, and provides the basis for a balanced and empirically-valid theory of privatisation.

Chowdhury addresses fundamental issues of policy management in resource-based developing countries, by providing an extension of the existing 'Dutch Disease' theory and its applications to the developing country context. The impact of resources booms is of paramount importance for the developing economies. To date the analytical and empirical investigations of these issues have not been available. Essentially, this study will fill this gap. The book investigates the macroeconomic impact of a resources boom and the long-term growth implications of related policy choices with reference to Papua New Guinea. Like many other primary commodity exporting developing economies, Papua New Guinea experienced several short-lived export booms over the past two and a half decades, providing a fascinating case study of potential gains from resources booms and the accompanying complex problems of policy management. This study also incorporates a comparative study of resources boom and policy management issues between Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Professor Ian Livingstone is one of a small group of British development economists who have achieved international renown and recognition. The objective of this book is to pay tribute to his life's work, particularly those aspects which related to key but challenging development issues. These issues include, at a broad level, the understanding of the economic forces determining the development of low income economies, more detailed micro work on agricultural development (irrigation in particular), decentralisation and local government finance, small scale enterprises, and large scale manufacturing development. Themes running through his work relate to his over-riding concern for rigour and for socio-economic justice. Ian Livingstone consistently used the traditional tools of economic analysis as a means to increase understanding of development issues - in a way which was, itself, just as radical as the contributions of political scientists and sociologists. This volume has been produced with similar aims.

This title was first published in 2000: An analysis of India's development and public policy from the perspectives of five major fields of public policy. 1. Economic policy, including public policy toward industrial development. 2. Social policy, including religion, education and women's rights. 3. Environmental policy, including possible conflict with economic development. 4. Science-technology policy, including agricultural development, information technology and administering the electronics industry. 5. Political reform, including local government and general elections.

This title was first published in 2002: The Commodity Protocols of the EU have become a major focus of conflict with the USA. This illuminating volume reviews the significance of the banana, rum and sugar Protocols for the Commonwealth Caribbean, while placing them in the context of the Lome and Cotonou Agreements. In an era of transition in the international trading environment, it provides an interesting case study of the implications for some of the smaller economic players in the world economy of these global changes. Timely and thought-provoking, this study will be of critical interest to students, academics and professionals in the field of development economics and European studies.

This title examines the transformation of Japan's national economy. It employs the concept of the structure of accumulation composed of the organisations of labor, credit and markets. The post-war Japanese miracle trifurcated into prosperous corportions, squeezed workers and parasitic bureaucracy in the slow growth period, 1974-91. The 'miracle' continues only for the major Japanese corporations that are East Asianising and globalising.

The lyrical and globe-spanning memoir by the influential feminist economist, with introductory pieces from two American icons "Your heart and world will be opened by reading The Brass Notebook, the intimate and political life of Devaki Jain, a young woman who dares to become independent." -Gloria Steinem When she was barely thirty, the Indian feminist economist Devaki Jain befriended Doris Lessing, Nobel winner and author of The Golden Notebook, who encouraged Jain to write her story. Over half a century later, Jain has crafted what Desmond Tutu has called "a riveting account of the life story of a courageous woman who has all her life challenged what convention expects of her." Across an extraordinary life intertwined with those of Iris Murdoch, Gloria Steinem, Julius Nyerere, Henry Kissinger, and Nelson Mandela, Jain navigated a world determined to contain her ambitions. While still a young woman, she traveled alone across the subcontinent to meet Gandhi's disciple Vinoba Bhave, hitchhiked around Europe in a sari, and fell in love with a Yugoslav at a Quaker camp in Saarbrucken. She attended Oxford University, supporting herself by washing dishes in a local cafe. Later, over the course of an influential career as an economist, Jain seized on the cause of feminism, championing the poor women who labored in the informal economy long before mainstream economics attended to questions of inequality. With a foreword by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen and an introduction by the well-known American feminist Gloria Steinem, whose own life and career were inspired by time spent with Jain, The Brass Notebook perfectly merges the political with the personal-a book full of life, ideas, politics, and history.

This title was first published in 2003. This prominent and commanding volume collates the best research available on China's agricultural trade. Critically analyzing the agricultural supply and demand factors that underlie trade patterns such as agricultural productivity and policy, it also explores China's agricultural trade and policy including implications for China and elsewhere. Long term issues and productivity growth are taken into consideration, as are specific issues such as WTO accession. The slate of authors combines the leading established scholars in the field and the best of the next generation, including those from China and the West.

This title was first published in 2003. Fields traces the origins of recent economic growth in Ireland over a long period of development. In doing so, he opens up an old debate with new data, interpretations and evidence that will force many to question existing truths about the role of religion in economic growth. The work is founded on an innovative methodology and unique primary and secondary resource material that has never been used in a study of this kind. This is timely as the area has a growing international market and addresses some recently ignored themes in the Social Sciences, in particular religion. Whilst concerned with global issues this text also focuses on one country which economists and sociologists as well as those in other Social Sciences areas will find of great interest.

This title was first published in 2002.Bringing together an inspiring mix of US and African contributors, this book explores the dynamics of the unfolding globalized economic, political, socio-cultural and environmental systems. Featuring incisive international commentary on the causes and consequences of poverty in the Third World it presents a powerful study of the strategies by which Third World governments and civil society can overcome poverty by insinuating themselves more creatively into the global order. The result is one of the defining works so far produced on the tensions between globalization and development.

This title was first published in 2000. Recent years have seen tremendous economic and political changes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors to this volume focus on the pressing problem of how actors in their everyday life, political and social action handle uncertainty. With the help of rich empirical material from different countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the authors try to understand how actors react, manoeuver, organize and make their actions meaningful in an environment characterized by unpredictability and change.

Contents:
Introduction
1. The Legacy of the Communist Past and its Impact on Foreign Trade in Transition
2. Foreign Trade Adjustment in Early Transition
3. Successes of Trade Reorientation and Trade Expansion: An Enterprise-Level Approach
4. Institutions and Foreign Trade Reorientation: How Much Impact upon Performance?
5. Post-Transition Foreign Trade Problems and Prospects: The Economics and Political Economy of Accession

Technically speaking, open economies are any that engage in international trade. However, the smaller the economy, the more "open" it can be presumed to be because fluctuations in international trade have a far greater impact on a country's trading conditions and it is unlikely to produce the full range of its own goods and services. The US, therefore, can be considered to be a relatively closed economy as its imports and exports amount to only a fraction of its gross domestic product. Smaller countries, on the other hand, rely much more heavily on their neighbours. "Open Economy Macroeconomics: A Reader" draws together the seminal contributions to the literature on macroeconomics in open economies and illuminates the material by way of a range of key features: discussion questions; suggestions for further reading; reference to the key journal articles in the field; and boxed key terms.