This work approaches traditional price theory and the analysis of imperfect competition, to represent a breakthrough in the development of microeconomic theory. Increasingly, it has been recognized that the perfectly competitive paradigm is inappropriate to the explanation of pricing behaviour in many real life markets characterized by a significant separation between producers and consumers. The spatial perspective adopted by the authors provides a natural separation of markets, but provides as well a powerful analogy for apparently nonspatial issues such as product differentiation, pricing over time, problems of storage and transportation, and the economics of intra-industry trade and of the multinational enterprise. A major concern of this volume is to make these analogies explicit by applying this spatial analysis to a wide variety of nonspatial problems. In addition, the analysis and results presented in this book are shown to carry signficant policy implications with respect, for example, to the Robinson-Patman legislation, anti-merger policies, and anti-dumping legislation.

Experts define, review, and evaluate economic fluctuations
Economic and business uncertainty dominate today's economic analyses. This new Encyclopedia illuminates the subject by offering 323 original articles on every major aspect of business cycles, fluctuations, financial crises, recessions, and depressions. The work of more than 200 experts, including many of the leading researchers in the field, the articles cover a broad range of subjects, including capsule biographies of leading economists born before 1920. Individual entries explore banking panics, the cobweb cycle, consumer durables, the depression of 1937-1938, Otto Eckstein, Friedrich Engels, experimental price bubbles, forced savings, lass-Steagall Act, Friedrich hagen, qualitative indicators, use of macro-econometric models, monetary neutrality, Phillips Curve, Paul Samuelson, Say's law, supply-side recessions, James Tokin, trend and random wages, Thorstein Veblen, worker-job turnover, and more.

Contents:
1. In What Senses Were the Founding Austrians 'Neoclassical' Economists? 2. The Founding Austrian Conceptions of Economics 3. Carl Menger's Analysis of Choice 4. Wieser and Bohm-Bawerk on Economizing Behaviour 5. Carl Menger's Theory of Price Formation 6. Bohm-Bawerk's Value and Price Theory 7. The Process of Competition in Founding Austrian Economic Theory I: Menger's Principles 8. The Process of Competition in Founding Austrian Economic Theory II: Wieser and Bohm-Bawerk 9. Capital in Founding Austrian Economic Theory: Menger versus Bohm-Bawerk 10. Mengerian Distribution Theory: Wieser's Contribution 11. The Founding Austrian Version of Neoclassical Microeconomics: Summary and Conclusions

Providing an empirical look at the Jamaican economy, this careful study examines the impact of the (International Monetary Fund) approach to economic management in the 1980s and compares it to the non-IMF policies of the 1970s. Opening with an overview of the structure of Jamaica's economy, the book discusses the results of the economic policies of the 1970s and 1980s. Demonstrating that Jamaica's income is among the most unequally distributed in the world, the author explores how the policies of various governments affected income distribution, focusing on whether non-IMF policies had a different effect than IMF policies. He concludes with a discussion of how inflation and fiscal policies influence particularly vulnerable groups, which include children, the elderly, and much of the labor force.

First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

`Else and Curwin make an effort to keep the student in touch with recent developments by including such topics as bargaining search, contestable markets and voting behaviour...it will certainly appeal to those who wish to keep economic theory accessible to as wide a range of students as possible.' Times Higher Education Supplement This clear, concise introduction to intermediate microeconomics is essential reading for students with previous knowledge of economic principles. Geared to the standard year's course in universities and polytechnics, the treatment in this text reinforces the student's understanding of familiar topics and facilitates assimilation of new material.

Can industrial, trade and competition policies complement one another? In this major volume, a distinguished group of researchers and policymakers systematically investigates the relationships between the microeconomic policies of competition, trade and industry within the European Union. After an introductory chapter contrasting the optimal mix of targets and instruments with the effective use and interaction of policies that can be observed in the real world, the book addresses the experience of the EU, its institutional framework and the evolving use of instruments. The convergence and divergence of economic prescription and application are revealed through an outstanding set of case studies which focus on the automobile, chemical fibre, steel, telecommunication and pharmaceutical industries. Competition, trade and industrial policies play a central role in the efficiency of any market economy and the rich European experience offers valuable lessons for economists, regulators and policy makers from both inside and outside the union. European Policies on Competition, Trade and Industry offers an authoritative discussion of policy making and enforcement in the EU. The strong combination of analysis with detailed case studies and overviews will ensure that this book will make a pioneering contribution to understanding the development of microeconomic policies in the Union.

Before the handover to China in 1997, Hong Kong's economic growth was very strong and the unemployment rate dropped to a record low of 2.2 per cent. In recent years, the widening income dispersion in Hong Kong has caught public attention. This book investigates the economic development and changes in income distribution of Hong Kong from different perspectives. Based on latest empirical evidence of Hong Kong, the book examines the relationship between economic restructuring and rising income disparity. Public housing programmes in Hong Kong affect half of the population directly and the other half indirectly. This book assesses the redistributive effect of public rental housing on income distribution. Moreover, Hong Kong embarked an ambitious expansion programme of tertiary education in 1989. The expansion represents an exogenous increase in the supply of university graduates and the book evaluates the impact on income distribution. It also investigates the income dispersion among and between natives and immigrants. Researchers, politicians and policy makers should be interested to learn about the causes of rising income dispersion in post-handover Hong Kong uncovered in this book. Although economic restructuring is named as the prime suspect that caused rising income inequality, the empirical evidence proves otherwise. The book will be of interest to policy makers with implications on social security system and income disparity.

This book explores a new theory of the firm produced through an exchange between management theory and economics. In the process economics is seen to provide a foundational element for strategy research whilst developing a more realistic theory of the firm with a greater emphasis on its internal features. The success of competence theories of the firm also reflects their ability to explain significant trends in the business world, notably the declining importance of conglomerates and critical features in the success of Asian and Japanese business.

A collective effort by American and North African scholars, this volume provides a comprehensive analysis of recent economic, social, and political events in North Africa. It shows how the Maghrebi states and societies are currently at a very important junction as they try to adjust to different ways of doing things in new regional and international orders. Using a political economy approach, the book focuses on a series of issues raised by the interaction between economic crisis and reform on the one hand, and political change or stagnation on the other. The author and his contributors provide a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of particular value to scholars and researchers of the Arab world in general and North Africa in particular.

How do we create employment, grow businesses, and build greater economic resilience in our low-income communities? How do we create economic development for everyone, everywhere - including rural towns, inner-city neighborhoods, aging suburbs, and regions such as Appalachia, American Indian reservations, the Mexican border, and the Mississippi Delta - and not just in elite communities? Economic Development for Everyone collects, organizes, and reviews much of the current research available on creating economic development in low-income communities. Part I offers an overview of the harsh realities facing low-income communities in the US today; their many economic and social challenges; debates on whether to try reviving local economies vs. relocating residents; and current trends in economic development that emphasize high-tech industry and high levels of human capital. Part II organizes the sprawling literature of applied economic development research into a practical framework of five dynamic dimensions: empower your residents: begin with basic education; enhance your community: build on existing assets; encourage your entrepreneurs; diversify your economy; and sustain your development. This book, assembled and presented in a unified framework, will be invaluable for students and new researchers of economic development in low-income communities, and will offer new perspectives for established researchers, professional economic developers and planners, and public officials. Development practitioners and community leaders will also find new ideas and opportunities, along with a broad view on how the many complex parts of economic development interconnect.

This work offers information about the provision of rented housing in several European countries, and includes topics such as policy instruments, social housing issues and affordability. It should be relevant to housing, surveying and planning students courses with a European housing element/option. The text explains the development, financing and management of rented housing in several European countries. It also examines the issues surrounding the provision of social housing - municipal and association housing - in France, Germany and the Netherlands. The book is both policy - and practice - orientated, and offers specific detail and arguments on aspects of rented housing in several countries, as well as information on policy developments.

Entrepreneurship is often focused on understanding new ventures, but the entrepreneurial flame is required in growing organisations too. This textbook examines how organisations can become more entrepreneurial to achieve sustainable growth. The authors show how entrepreneurship can be used to address crisis points of growth within small firms and to overcome the limitations of stagnation within large firms. By integrating entrepreneurship and innovation management, the book presents a framework to diagnose entrepreneurial behaviour within existing firms. Drawing upon research and reflecting practice across a range of industries, from football, through Silicon Valley, to the retail sector, it includes insights from leading practitioners. The authors build an understanding of entrepreneurship in context to provide diagnostic tools to help organisations make entrepreneurship central to their culture. This unique text is therefore useful reading for business students from advanced undergraduate to executive education.

The field of behavioural economics can tell us a great deal about cognitive bias and unconscious decision-making, challenging the orthodox economic model whereby consumers make rational and informed choices. But it is in the arena of health that it perhaps offers individuals and governments the most value. In this important new book, the most pernicious health issues we face today are examined through a behavioral economic lens. It provides an essential and timely overview of how this growing field of study can reframe and offer solutions to some of the biggest health issues of our age. The book opens with an overview of the core theoretical concepts, after which each chapter assesses how behavioral economic research and practice can inform public policy across a range of health issues. Including chapters on tobacco, alcohol and drug use, physical activity, dietary intake, cancer screening and sexual health, the book integrates the key insights from the field to both developed and developing nations. Also asking important ethical questions around paternalism and informed choice, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers across psychology, economics and business and management, as well as public health professionals wishing for a concise overview of the role behavioral economics can potentially play in allowing people to live healthier lives.

The economic crisis which has hit Africa since 1985 is raising questions about Africa's future position in World Trade and whether it has any chance of developing a competitive industrial structure. Presenting studies of 55 exporting manufacturers in six African countries, this collection examines the question of why some firms in the Sub-Saharan economies have been able to develop export trade, despite generally unfavourable circumstances. In particular the papers seek to understand how these firms have been able to sustain their competitiveness in the face of rapid technological change in the international economy in the context of the threats and promises such change presents to Africa. A case is made for selective complementary investments by governments to build the technological capabilities which are necessary for attaining and maintaining competitiveness. The papers present empirical research and a framework which should be of interest to academics in the development field and to government as well as international policy makers.

The British Economy in Transition: From the Old to the New? examines attempts at economic regeneration in areas that have experienced the decline in 'traditional' industry of recent years. The contributors also look at the impact of techno and managerial modernization strategies in industries that have survived, but have had to adapt rapidly to do so. Coverage includes:
* Coal
* Steel closure and economic regeneration
* Defence conversion
* Modernizing textiles
* Modernizing motor vehicles
* Trading ports in Merseyside
* From manufacturing to sevice industries in the Midlands
* the Engineering industry - prospects in the South East
* Deindustrialization and regeneration in the North East
Each industry is discussed by an expert in this area. The book will be a valuable guide to all those interested in change in British industry and business.

This book focuses on the importance for China to correct the present imbalance in the relationship between the financial sector and the real economy. The book looks at China's current financial system in terms of "extractive" and "inclusive". It asserts that the financial sector is producing huge "siphonic effects" that distort the overall development of the Chinese economy. Like a giant magnet, the financial sector attracts too many innovation factors, such as talents, capital and entrepreneurship away from the real economy and inhibits the development of the latter. Hence, the book argues that China's financial system must now be thoroughly reformed to become an inclusive financial system, where finance and the rest of the economy can co-exist and develop in support of each other.

Traditonal western forms of corporate organization have been called into question by the success of Japanese keiretsu. Firms, Markets and Economic Change draws on industrial economics, business strategy, and economic history to develop an evolutionary model to show when innovation is best undertaken. The authors argue that innovation is a complex process that defies neat categorization and government policy should be to facilitate change rather than to direct it.

Managing to innovate successfully is one of the key challenges facing modern managers, firms, and governments. The rise to prominence of Japanese "keiretsu" in recent years has brought into question the effectiveness of traditional Western forms of corporate organization. Will the future favour networks of small innovative firms as in California's Silicon Valley, or will giant integrated firms dominate? Should governments play a role in directing the innovation process or should decisions be left to private enterprise?;This work draws on industrial economics, business strategy, and economic history to illuminate these topics. The authors first develop an evolutionary model to show when innovation is best undertaken within firms and when markets are the most efficient way of dealing with change. This is then illustrated by detailed discussion of the effect of innovation on the organization of the American automobile industry in the early years of the 20th century. The chapters which follow outline the effect of innovation on the organization in the early years of the 20th century.

Much of the literature for business economics courses has tended to be highly technical and theoretical. This text aims to redress this imbalance by focusing on real life business situations. The book provides an explanation of microeconomic analysis in terms of real business practice. The author looks at the various issues involved, including: the economic way of thinking; the business environment; product markets; factor markets; and general equilibrium. The underlying theme is the way in which markets link together interdependent economic activities, so the discussion begins in an individual bookshop and ends with general equilibrium models of the entire economic system. On the way, attention is paid to markets facing and resolving problems of information. The book is largely free of mathematics and technical detail and is therefore easily accessible. It should be valuable to those students who are primarily interested in the human side of industry and economic specialists feeling the need to come down to earth from the heights of pure theory.

This Report objectively reflects the whole year's progress of politics, economy, society, culture, system, environment, innovation and reform as well as the problems, challenges and countermeasures in traditional special economic zones and new special economic zones. It makes analysis of China's Special Economic Zones, including overall review on the whole year's development state of the reform experimental zone and part of new special economic zones, which focuses on analyzing the transformation of special economic zones, use of resources, the sustainable development, economic and social development, social security and technical innovation from the aspects of present situation of development, the comparative analysis, and policy suggestions and puts forward development suggestions for each specific issue.

The results of macroeconomic policy are often unpredictable. One of the major reasons for this is the importance of confidence and expectations in economic affairs. For a government's economic policies to succeed they must gain and maintain economic credibility, which many governments are finding increasingly difficult. "Confidence, Credibility and Macroeconomic Policy" explores the interaction between fiscal and monetary stabilization, confidence and expectations, and the credibility of the government's financial policies. The volume is divided into three parts. Part I begins with an overview of the inter-relationship between fiscal policy, credibility and inflation and presents two pioneering, experimental studies that explore the effects of macroeconomic policies on expectations. Part II focuses on empirical research and presents historical as well as contemporary evidence on the importance of public confidence and expectations to the success of fiscal and monetary policy. Part III covers the definition and functions of consumer confidence as it is measured today.

First published in 1943, this work contains five interconnected essays presenting the author's renowned additions to the business cycle theory. Written by one of the most distinguished economists of the 20th century, this work will be essential reading for students and scholars of the history of economic thought, monetary theory and macroeconomics.

This work considers the potential effects of competition in the natural gas pipeline industry. Contrary to published studies and government reports, this study concludes that federal regulation in the industry is no longer necessary to limit the market power of current pipeline suppliers. Rather, potential entry by nearby suppliers--a competitive factor largely ignored in most economic analyses--will promote competition in most major markets. The purpose of the work is two-fold: to quantify the competitive effect of potential market entry by natural gas suppliers; and to demonstrate that any industry analysis which fails to consider this competitive factor is likely to be in error.

This compilation and analysis of market-by-market data on current deliveries by pipeline, location of nearby deliveries, and location of nearby pipelines which make no deliveries will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and industry analysts concerned with competitive, antitrust, and regulatory issues.

These essays are a product of a co-operative research project between American and Taiwanese social scientists. Of particular interest is the chapter discussing a comparative study of industrial policy, productivity growth and structural change in manufacturing.