A volume in Research on Hispanic and Latino Business Series Editors Michael William Mulnix and Esther Elena Lopez-Mulnix Approximately 25% of Latin Americans live on less than $2 a day, and Latin America is the most unequal region of the world. Poverty and inequality cause suffering and slow development. The solution must include generating an inclusive development process through satisfying the basic needs of the poor that enhance their productivity, that enable them to contribute to the development process, and that enables them to earn the income necessary to live a full life. Decentralization of taxing and spending from the central government to lower levels of government can help to satisfy basic needs of the poor and create an inclusive development process. However, decentralization is a stepby- step process that must implemented by taking into account real-world circumstances such as a lack of administrative ability in local government, and by formulating policy accordingly. The book derives economic principles for implementing the process of decentralization, and it presents cases that illustrate the principles at work. It is an economic guide for policymakers and practitioners.

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 records the first success stories of a new form of financial intermediation, the hometown investment fund, that has become a national strategy in Japan, partly to meet the need to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The hometown investment fund has three main advantages. First, it contributes to financial market stability by lowering information asymmetry. Individual households and firms have direct access to information about the borrowing firms, mainly SMEs, that they lend to. Second, it is a stable source of risk capital. The fund is project driven. Firms and households decide to invest by getting to know the borrowers and their projects. In this way the fund distributes risk but not so that it renders risk intractable, which was the problem with the originate and distribute model. Third, it contributes to economic recovery by connecting firms and households with SMEs that are worthy of their support. It also creates employment opportunities, at the SMEs as well as for the pool of retirees from financial institutions who can help assess the projects. Introduction of the hometown investment fund has huge global implications. The world is seeking a method of financial intermediation that minimizes information asymmetry, distributes risk without making it opaque, and contributes to economic recovery. Funds similar to Japan s hometown investment fund can succeed in all three ways. After all, the majority of the world s businesses are SMEs. The first chapter explains the theory behind this method, and the following chapters relate success stories from Japan and other parts of Asia. This book should encourage policymakers, economists, lenders, and borrowers, especially in developing countries, to adopt this new form of financial intermediation, thus contributing to global economic stability.

This modern and comprehensive book offers a broad survey of economic growth theory, with special emphasis on the impact of natural resources on long-term development. The book begins with the standard growth models of the 1950s and 1960s and extends its analysis to the so-called 'new' growth theory, in which the long-term growth rate of an economy becomes an endogenous variable. The impact of positive spillovers, human capital formation, public services and innovation on the growth process are carefully studied. Using models and empirical illustration, the author evaluates to what extent growth theory is able to explain the huge international differences in living standards prevailing in the world today. The theoretical foundation is then used to consider the issue of sustainable growth under stricter environmental regulation. Growth Theory and Sustainable Development shows that the understanding of growth theory is an important key to predict the sustainability of long-term development, making it required reading for students of economic development and environmental economics.

This is the first study that puts together a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the drivers of the labor income share across a number of countries in Asia. This book provides an insightful companion to the study of labor income shares that plays a vital role in understanding the relationship between national income and personal income, and the relationship between wage inequality and wealth inequality. The timing of the book is ideal, as the ongoing debate over a global decline in the labor income share is far from settled. To this extent, evidence from the Asian countries is mixed. The labor income share in some Asian countries has been rising since the 1990s. The purpose of this edited volume is to gain more insights on the potential drivers of the Asian experience. The first half of the book pays attention to the measurement problems related to the earnings of self-employed and workers in the informal sector. Then it puts together country case studies examining a wide range of factors driving the labor income share in Asia.

This book addresses one of the most topical and pressing areas of inequality experienced by women in the UK: inequality in the labour market. Despite the changed and changing position of women in society there remain substantial gender differences in the labour market. Bringing together the expertise of a range of authors, including renowned scholars and senior policy makers, it offers a coherent account of gender inequality in the labour market. It includes: - An extensive introduction with the wider context, the basic facts on various relevant labour market outcomes, international comparisons, and the legislative framework; - Chapters that focus on the key issues, offering analysis of the way inequality in the labour market is related to the wider macroeconomic dynamics, factors that explain the gender pay gap, the transition from education to the labour market, the dimensions of occupational segregation, and the division of labour within the household. The book is essential reading for academics and students with an interest in gender inequality and the labour market, as well as for those who would like an objective account of the main factors explaining this inequality.

This edited collection is a critical evaluation of the impact of fiscal imbalances on the economy of industrialized and developing countries as prepared by a diverse group of scholars involved in advanced research on public finance. Technical issues, economic consequences and the political economy of budget deficits and government debt are covered in one succinct volume. The work provides a balanced presentation of neo-classical views on measures of government deficits; the budget process and major budgetary legislation in the United States; and the impact of deficits on economic activity, exchange rates, inflation, financial markets, trade balance, and economic growth. It also examines the political economy of government budgets in the OECD, select developing economies, and South Africa. From the 1950s to the 1980s, economic activity and growth were affected by fiscal imbalances and excessive government activity in many countries. Although many actors have made retrenchment attempts, economic research has not resolved the conflicting arguments about the impact of fiscal imbalances on the global economy. This book provides a balanced presentation of all major issues related to the impact of fiscal activity on the economy.

The emerging literature on experimental methods in connection with economic inequality has shed fresh light on how to think about inequality, how important issues of equality are in comparison with other economic objectives and how individuals incorporate criteria of equality and fairness into their own decisions.

This volume covers a wide range of topics in the field of income distribution and extends the approach to related issues such as mobility and attitudes to risk. The selection of papers includes both participatory experiments - where individuals respond to economic incentives - and questionnaire experiments designed to investigate the extent to which individuals' values and attitudes conform to the way that economists and others conventionally model inequality and welfare.

Although a number of selected African countries have made efforts to implement various financial sector reforms, many countries have not fully implemented the requisite reforms required for sustainable development. Instead, they have focused mainly on bank-based financial reforms, thereby neglecting market-based financial reforms. This study provides a one-stop shop for understanding the history and evolution of the financial sector in Africa with a special focus on the sub-Saharan region where the financial system in many countries is still at a relatively nascent stage. The analysis is extensive and robust, and starts from financial repression to financial liberalisation (both internal and external), and its role in sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The book covers a range of important research issues pertaining to financial development in selectede African countries, including interest rate and exchange rate reforms, the dynamics of bank-based and market-based financial development; the role of the informal financial sector in sustainable development; the finance-growth nexus; bank-based versus market-based financial sectors in Africa; financial development and information and communication technology; and financial development and gender equality, among other topics. The book also considers the relationship between the COVID-19 global pandemic and financial development, and concludes by presenting a forecast of the future trends of financial and sustainable development on the African continent in general and sub-Saharfan Africa in particular. The chapters are authored by prominent scholars and researchers in the field of finance and banking, applied econometrics and development economics, with a deep understanding and knowledge of financial development and the local situations in African countries. This book provides crucial reference material for academics, researchers, policymakers and students of all levels and is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the nature of finance and sustainable development in Africa in relation to the rest of the world. It covers African countries, but with more emphasis on the sub-Saharan African region where the financial systems in many of the countries are still relatively underdeveloped.

The special economic zones that have been established in China are playing an important role in the economic development of the country. This in-depth examination of the zones provides a broad understanding of the formation of the Southern Chinese Economic Block and its effects on the country as a whole. In addition, the work reviews the significance of the special economic zones in respect to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The special economic zones are discussed from the perspective of a multi-economic structure for China.

This book outlines the connection between the principles of proportionality of state intervention and strategies made by the European Union. It describes underlining reasons for the occurrence of the global economic recession and available intervention options for governments to the EU markets.This book works out several possibilities EU countries use with the help of state intervention to actively intervene in the market economy. The author critically assesses the proportionality of interventions in the markets of EU members. With regard to the European economic recession, the book highlights the background of the global financial and external debt crisis. In this context, possible measures for growth promotion processes of the EU are also described.The book will appeal to lecturers and students of economics disciplines worldwide, political advisors of EU member states and decision-makers of the European Central Bank; as well as, in principle, all interested readers who would like to learn more about fiscal policy in the European Union.

The Information Age has dawned at the same time the global political system is in transition. High technology performance and economic productivity are converging across the major developed regions of North America, East Asia, and Europe. If U.S. economic, military, and political leadership is to continue, it must depend more on flexible adaptation to the new technical and organizational realities and less on technological dominance. The heart of this adaptation lies in the evolution of a national technology policy that emphasizes market forces and the exploitation of network linkages within and among commercial and military organizations.

This book provides perspectives on the latest developments and pertinent issues in the Indian financial sector in current times. The reforms initiated in the nineties in the financial sector have transformed the way financial markets and institutions function today. However, certain sectors like banking, and markets like the capital market have undergone sea changes. The research contributions in this book focus on the issues pertaining to such sectors like banking, NBFCs and the stock market. The opening up of financial markets and emergence of institutional investors have been a significant phenomenon in the Indian context. At this backdrop of increasing financial integration, the impact of financial liberalisation on the overall development of the sector, and how the global policies and events influence the Indian financial sector, are analysed in the book. The emergence of new regulations in the capital markets to instill more discipline and transparency, have also changed the way corporates take financing decisions. For example, regulatory authorities are continuously reviewing norms pertaining to issues like promoters' shareholding owing to risks arising from excessive leverage and the linkages between financial intermediaries. Corporate governance, environmental aspects are some important additions in corporate financing norms in the recent past. The book incorporates a discussion on this, too. Apart from these, the book also has incorporated several aspects on an emerging concept called financial inclusion, its measurement and constraints to achieve the same. And finally, at the backdrop of the disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the Indian capital market is also discussed. Contributions are based on rigorous empirical research and incorporate the perspectives of renowned academicians in the field of finance and financial economics across the country. Apart from the research community, this book will also be helpful for financial analysts working in the financial sector to have some idea about the current issues, the direction of research on those issues and different perspectives on them.

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.

This expanded and enlarged third edition of Theodore Pelagidis and Michael Mitsopoulos' popular Who's to Blame for Greece? covers almost a decade of Greece's economic crisis from 2009 to 2019, as well as recent developments in the first months of 2020. It provides an overview of recent developments in the Greek economy and outlines the most important obstacles to a return to robust and sustainable growth rates. It considers the new optimism being developed in Greece after the crisis, but also the policy challenges facing Greece emanating from a deeply hurt economy in the aftermath of the crisis and the structural problems that persist. The book covers the most recent issues that affect the Greek economy including, the migration crisis at the borders with Turkey as well as a faltering global economy hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This book will appeal to researchers, practitioners and policy makers interested in the EU and the political economy of Greece and offers valuable updates on the second edition.

This edited volume analyses how EU membership influenced the convergence process of member countries in the Baltics, Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. It also explores countries that are candidates for future EU membership. The speed of convergence of significant groups of low- and medium-income countries has never been as fast globally as it is today. Contributions by lead researchers of the area explore whether these countries are converging faster than their fundamentals and global trends would suggest because of EU membership, with its much tighter institutional and political anchorage

Reformation of Econometrics is a sequel to The Formation of Econometrics: A Historical Perspective (1993, OUP) which traces the formation of econometric theory during the period 1930-1960. This book provides an account of the advances in the field of econometrics since the 1970s. Based on original research, it focuses on the reformists' movement and schools of thought and practices that attempted a paradigm shift in econometrics in the 1970s and 1980s. It describes the formation and consolidation of the Cowles Commission (CC) paradigm and traces and analyses the three major methodological attempts to resolve problems involved in model choice and specification of the CC paradigm. These attempts have reoriented the focus of econometric research from internal questions (how to optimally estimate a priori given structural parameters) to external questions (how to choose, design, and specify models). It also examines various modelling issues and problems through two case studies - modelling the Phillips curve and business cycles. The third part of the book delves into the development of three key aspects of model specification in detail - structural parameters, error terms, and model selection and design procedures. The final chapter uses citation analyses to study the impact of the CC paradigm over the span of three and half decades (1970-2005). The citation statistics show that the impact has remained extensive and relatively strong in spite of certain weakening signs. It implies that the reformative attempts have fallen short of causing a paradigm shift.

This authoritative Handbook provides a thorough account and analysis of the important issues relating to the globalization of the international economy. The increasing interdependence of the world's economies has caused a breakdown in national economic boundaries and a freer access to goods, services and labour. This comprehensive book, written by experts in the field, addresses major issues associated with this international economic integration. This reference work considers: global growth including inequality, saving, foreign direct investment, external debt and multinational corporations regionalization and globalization of trade such as the role of international institutions, external economies of scale and trading blocs transition to market economies in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and East Asia internationalization and integration of markets including the financial, capital, labour and agricultural markets global environmental and resource problems including transboundary pollution, the implication of North-South trade for natural resource depletion and environmental degradation, and the impact of energy markets on global growth, pollution and economic stability.

This study evaluates the state-initiated policies in post-1965 Zaire and their impact on the Zairean people. The author ascertains the overt and underlying relevancy of the priority that the state has accorded the agricultural and rural sector for socioeconomic development, and he examines the indicators provided by conventional agricultural and rural development theories. These indicators show that the sector has not received sufficient financial support and has lacked the political will to obtain the assigned goals. Thus, the author claims, the basic objective of the agricultural and rural policy has been political, not socioeconomic. The failure of the agricultural policy, the study suggests, is rooted in the nature and role of the state. In post-1965 Zaire, the state is a socialist political superstructure standing on a capitalist socioeconomic infrastructure. Both coexist with the traditional forms of production in the Zairean social structure. This incompatible juxtaposition of different systemic components engenders structural conflicts which work in favor of the few who hold key state offices. The study calls for the mastery of the state as the sine qua non without which Zaire will most likely remain in its present state of national and rural socioeconomic underdevelopment.

This book provides a unique study of the differences in economic behaviour according to the phases of the economic cycle in the countries of the European Union. It presents a comprehensive analysis of asymmetry in the EU over the last forty years, and shows that the problems in the global financial crisis were readily predictable.
The authors use empirical research and panel data to show how much economic behaviour changes between the up and down phases of the business cycle, and the difficulties this creates for monetary, fiscal and labour market policies. The volume demonstrates how prescient the asymmetric design of the Stability and Growth Pact was in trying to offset countries understandable optimism in fiscal policy, and the consequent tendency not to manage debt successfully. It also reveals the inherent problems for managing unemployment in an asymmetric labour market.

Banks are frequently considered usurers. Is it possible to talk about ethics when you analyse banking activity? This book focuses on this question and starts with the history and the philosophy. Philosophers like Aristotle, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill proposed different theories about the need for ethics in finance. If we accept Mill's thought, the production of wealth in society is driven by the personal pursuit of profit. But - unfortunately - this does not, on its own, ensure collective well-being. It must be guided by a superior mechanism which transforms it into wealth for all. This introduces the role of financial institutions, which often have to comply with legal obligations. The book focuses on the role that these institutions have in supporting the 'ethical' use of money. The author analyses a number of cases in banks and the financial industry and discusses topics like anti-money laundering, anti-usury, islamic finance, microcredit and bank rescue systems, including not only best practices but also examples of unethical financial management.

This edited volume examines the development path of eight Central and Eastern European countries with an overlapping historical background that joined the European Union between 2004 and 2013, and identifies the main similarities and differences between the countries concerned. Based on wide comparative data analysis of Bulgaria, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, each chapter in the volume provides detailed information about the state of the economy in a specific area preceding the pandemic shock. The book offers a detailed snapshot of the state of the different areas of the economy, starting from the time when the countries concerned came out of the 2008 financial crisis, up to the date when COVID-19 hit. Further, each chapter analyzes the effects of this unprecedented shock on a particular field, which is followed by highlighting the main problems the countries are facing at present and in the near future, together with identifying the available policy options. Finally, before concluding and making general and country-specific policy recommendations, some thoughts will be given to longer-term prospects. More specifically, the question of how the subject area could contribute to avoiding the "middle-income-trap" that this region may be facing will be addressed. The comprehensive approach makes this volume a must-read for scholars and students of economics, as well as policy decision-makers in Europe, interested in a better understanding of the region's economic development.

First published in 1990, Global Capitalism and National Decline is a major contribution to the study of British political and economic decline. The author concentrates on the global nature of capitalism as the context for the development of national capitalism, and on the relationship between internal and external factors. A long-term view of British politics enables him to demonstrate that competing popular explanations of Britain's crisis and the rise of Thatcherism in response to it, are in fact interconnected. The long decline of Britain originating in the 19th century, the inherent weakness of the post-1945 settlement, and the critical events of 1970s, acquire their fullest meaning when seen as different 'layers' of one and the same historical process. Henk Overbeek takes the story of Britain's decline through to Margaret Thatcher's tenth anniversary in office. His book will be invaluable to scholars and students of economics, politics, and history. it offers a clear perspective on the problems of national decline within a global context, and on Britain's position in Europe and in the wider world.

"Really up-to-date...gives a fantastic overview of the financial crisis" Fabian Kreutzer, University of Applied Science Niederrhein, Germany "Extensive references to and content regarding crises. It's really amazing" Yioryos Georgios Makedonis, Queen Mary University of London Using real-world case studies and examples, this comprehensive text offers intermediate and applied macroeconomics students a truly European and global perspective. Continuing to successfully combine theory with application, Macroeconomics has been fully updated in this fifth edition to keep students up-to-date with the ever changing macroeconomic environment we are experiencing today. This book presents macroeconomics as an applied science designed to improve our understanding of current and past policy issues. The unique mix of theory, analysis and policy issues takes students from macroeconomic basics to cutting-edge research topics Includes case studies addressing major policy issues in detail, supported by a wealth of economic data Moves beyond standard intermediate macroeconomics content by discussing liquidity traps, quantitative easing, price bubbles, multiple equilibria, self-fulfilling prophecy, ratings agencies, debt brakes and austerity Self quizzes, road map, glossary and other content also available for mobile devices Visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/gartner for a comprehensive companion website featuring interactive macroeconomic models equipped with guided exercises, state of the art data display and analysis, quizzes and more.

This book gathers several important texts to offer an overview of the institutionalist approach to money developed in France since the 1980s. This material highlights the specificities of the French monetary approaches and their main contributions to the understanding of monetary phenomena - not just in developed market economies but in other societies as well. By bringing these works to an English-speaking audience for the first time, this book will provide a much needed and valuable direct insight into this subject area and contribute to related post-Keynesian, neo-chartalist and sociological approaches to money. This book highlights the need for a global vision of money and for a clearer grasp of the link between money and the political sphere. It will appeal to students and researchers across various disciplines including but not limited to economics, anthropology, sociology, history and philosophy.