This is a much-needed work in the financial literature, and it is the first book ever to analyse the use of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) from a theoretical and practical perspective. By the end of 2020, more than 240 SPACs were listed in the US (on NASDAQ or the NYSE), raising a record $83 billion. The SPAC craze has been shaking the US for months, mainly because of its simplicity: a bunch of investors decides to buy shares at a fixed price in a company that initially has no assets. In this way, a SPAC, also known as a "blank check company", is created as an empty shell with lots of money to spend on a corporate shopping spree. Could the trend be here to stay? Are SPACs the new legitimate path to traditional IPO? This book tackles those questions and more. The author provides a thorough analysis of SPACs including their legal framework and how they are used as a risk mitigation tool to structure transactions. The main objectives of the book are focused on finding a working definition for SPACs and theorising on their origins, definition, and evolution; identifying the objectives of financial regulation within the context of the recent financial crisis (2007-2010) and the one that is currently unfolding (Covid-19); and also describing practical examples of SPACs through a comparative study that, for the first time, outlines every major capital market on which SPACs are listed, in order to identify a possible international standard of regulation. The book is relevant to academics as well as policymakers, international financial regulators, corporate finance lawyers as well as to the financial industry tout court.

An introductory undergraduate textbook to study basic economic concepts relevant to property and planning Provides explanation of economic concepts for application on property and planning practice and policy Gives specific economic principles and techniques for valuing property and planning (e.g. Impact Fees, Contributions, Planning Gain, User Charges, Levies, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Hedonic Models etc) Providing tacit overview knowledge of economic tools and techniques to current and relevant events Applicable to disciplines attributed to physical spaces that have introductory economics as a requirement Summary and discussion questions are provided for each chapter

An introductory undergraduate textbook to study basic economic concepts relevant to property and planning Provides explanation of economic concepts for application on property and planning practice and policy Gives specific economic principles and techniques for valuing property and planning (e.g. Impact Fees, Contributions, Planning Gain, User Charges, Levies, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Hedonic Models etc) Providing tacit overview knowledge of economic tools and techniques to current and relevant events Applicable to disciplines attributed to physical spaces that have introductory economics as a requirement Summary and discussion questions are provided for each chapter

The Annual 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 analyses 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.

Originally published in 1979, the purpose of this book is to introduce a theory of the distribution of national income between wages, profits and other categories of income. The relation between this branch of distribution theory and other areas of economics is explained in the Introduction. The first six chapters are designed to introduce distribution theory to students of intermediate economic principles. The reader should be familiar with the basic analysis of supply, demand and market equilibrium, and with the use of indifference curves to represent a consumer's preferences. The remaining seven chapters discuss developments of the theory introduced in the first six.

Originally published in 1976, Supply in a Market Economy was a new kind of introductory micro-economics text which both assesses the usefulness of traditional theory in tackling social and economic problems and compares and contrasts the alternative approaches to the practical problems inherent in the allocation of scarce resources. Richard Jones has succeeded in bringing together the most useful features of a standard microeconomics theory book with empirical and applied material more usually dealt with separately in second year surveys of industrial organisation. The book gives full coverage to the standard theories of the firm, of production, of cost and scale, and of location, to recent critiques of these theories and to alternative approaches now being proposed. Integrated into this theoretical background is a clear analysis of the relationship of these theories to market structures and the economics of industry, and a 'real-world' examination of markets in action - with individual sections on the control of rents, on the water supply industry, on the effect of taxation on commodities, and on the economics of crime and its prevention. Supply in a Market Economy would prove to be an invaluable new course-book for first and second year students of microeconomics at the time and particularly for those non-specialists who were impatient to see the relevance and applications of traditional theory to real problems. Now it can be read in its historical context.

This book offers an accurate and updated approach to the main contributions of cosmopolitan biolaw in relation to sustainability, global governance, organizational health care economics and COVID-19. Bringing together different robust and dense biojuridical epistemologies to analyze key bioethical problems as well as the health care, management, economics and sustainability issues of our time, it constitutes a paradigmatic text in its field. In addition to exploring different epistemologies and jurisdictional scopes of biolaw, including the relationships between this new field and the challenges which have arisen in the current globalized and technologized world, the book addresses controversial issues straight from today's headlines: for example, the basics for health care, finance and organizational economics, global biojuridical principles for governance, globalization, bioscientific empowerment, global and existential risk and sustainability challenges for a post-pandemic world. The book encourages readers to think impartially in order to know and understand the bioethical and biojuridical dilemmas that stem from current economics and sustainability issues. Accordingly, it will be a valuable resource for courses in the fields of biolaw, law, bioethics, global sustainability, organizational health care economics and global governance at different professional levels.

Wide coverage of different perspectives of banking, the book presents classical microeconomic thoeries of banking, but also covers central banking, financial frictions and banking-macro linkages, banking regulation in theory and practice etc., giving students a rounded picture of the world of banking, and also allowing instructors to design and create their own courses with different emphases A self-contained textbook making "linear" progress through chapters. Banking is all about imperfect market, market failure and frictions, therefore, market friction is the key to making progress throughout the book. Necessary elements from contract theory, game theory, dynamic macroeconomics and mathematical techniques will be provided through boxes and appendices, making the textbook self-contained An up-to-date textbook that presents both state-of-the-art research and the evolving reality, an evidence-based textbook that connects theory and practice.

Enterprises located in rural regions face various challenges in the globalised and digitised world. This book offers comprehensive answers to the question of what makes up the rural enterprise economy in the contemporary business world. It addresses the competitiveness and viability, strategic management and strategic change, and marketing issues for both incumbent and start-up companies in rural regions. The book presents new concepts that shed light on the rural enterprise economy with its entrepreneurs. With a broad range of cases from European regions, the book provides theoretical insights for scholars, practical case-based evidence for lecturers and teachers, and practical knowledge for business practitioners and planning specialists. Academic experts from European universities and research institutes provide compelling answers to this under-researched topic in business studies and economics.

Takes a fresh approach in that it considers the underlying reasons, and the consequences of urban change for real estate investors and policy makers, not another traditional urban economics textbook Includes chapter objectives, self-assessment questions, chapter summaries, learning outcomes, case studies, global data and statistics Most up to date UK Urban Economics textbook, it is not overly mathematical and strikes the ideal balance between theory and practical policy analysis for the real estate and planning market

Even after achieving the status of a developed economy, many economies face other challenges which may include economic stagnation and income inequality. The book looks at how a mature economy can continue to weather challenges and how the growth of living standards will depend on productivity growth through Singapore's experience. After Singapore's rapid economic transformation, the nation is at a crossroads. The book explains how productivity growth in turn depends on technological diffusion from abroad as well as indigenous innovation. It also examines how the design of policy to develop indigenous innovation to promote economic dynamism may come with creative destruction and disruptive effects on jobs and wages. The Singapore Economy provides insight into how we can maintain social cohesion and establish a political equilibrium that embraces the new sources of growth through policy formulation for economic inclusion.

Behavioral Public Economics shows how standard public economics can be improved using insights from behavioral economics. Public economics typically lists four market failures that may justify government intervention in markets-imperfect competition (or natural monopoly), externalities, public goods, and asymmetric information. Under the rational choice paradigm ('agents choose what is best for them'), public economics has examined the welfare effects of policy. Recent research in behavioral economics highlights a fifth market failure-individuals may make mistakes in pursuing their own well-being. This book calls for a rethinking of assumptions of individual behavior and provides a good foundation for public economic theory. Key features: Introduces behavioral perspectives into public economics. Explains why economic incentives often undermine social preferences. Reveals that social incentives matter for public policy. This book will be an invaluable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in public economics, behavioral economics, and public policy.

Even after achieving the status of a developed economy, many economies face other challenges which may include economic stagnation and income inequality. The book looks at how a mature economy can continue to weather challenges and how the growth of living standards will depend on productivity growth through Singapore's experience. After Singapore's rapid economic transformation, the nation is at a crossroads. The book explains how productivity growth in turn depends on technological diffusion from abroad as well as indigenous innovation. It also examines how the design of policy to develop indigenous innovation to promote economic dynamism may come with creative destruction and disruptive effects on jobs and wages. The Singapore Economy provides insight into how we can maintain social cohesion and establish a political equilibrium that embraces the new sources of growth through policy formulation for economic inclusion.

Innovation Policy in a Global Economy concludes the successful sequence of books on Globalisation and Technology edited by Daniele Archibugi and Jonathan Michie, following Technology, Globalisation and Economic Performance (Cambridge University Press, 1997) and Trade, Growth and Technical Change (Cambridge University Press, 1998). This final volume argues that the opportunities offered by globalisation will only be fully realised by organisations which have developed institutions that allow for the transfer, absorption, and use of knowledge. Innovation Policy in a Global Economy is relevant for graduate and undergraduate courses in management and business, economics, geography, international political economy, and innovation and technology studies. Presenting original theoretical and empirical research by leading international experts in an accessible style, Innovation Policy will be vital reading for researchers and students and of use to public policy professionals.

This book presents a theory of the firm based on its economic role as an intermediary between customers and suppliers. Professor Spulber demonstrates how the intermediation theory of the firm explains firm formation by showing how they arise in a market equilibrium. In addition, the theory helps explain how markets work by showing how firms select market-clearing prices. Models of intermediation and market microstructure from microeconomics and finance shed considerable light on the formation and market making activities of firms. The intermediation theory of the firm is compared to existing economic theories of the firm including the neoclassical, industrial organization, transaction cost, and principal-agent models.

* The real strength of the book lies in setting out an alternative vision to the current practice in economics, especially in light of the re-evaluation being forced by COVID-19 in addition to the climate crisis. * Offers an important challenge to the current corporate sustainability gospel expressed in recent books. * Written by a well-recognised commentator on the environment and economics. * The book specifically connects global environmental imperatives with their microeconomic implications for businesses and households, which makes it utterly unique.

Have you ever wondered how prices are determined, or why you bought a specific quantity of something? The answers to these and other questions, as well as the theories guiding decisions by consumers and producers, are explained in Microeconomics— a southern African perspective.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to microeconomics theory, offering traditional theories of consumer and producer behaviour set against a contemporary southern African background.

This second edition of Microeconomics – a southern African perspective provides a comprehensive and current introduction to microeconomic theory for the southern African context, while retaining the original ethos from the first edition. It addresses traditional theories of consumer and producer behaviour as prescribed in most introductory microeconomic modules and answers questions around how consumers and producers interact in the market, looking specifically at the choices made by producers in their endeavour to produce optimally.

Suitable for introductory semester-based courses in microeconomics, it facilitates learning through activities and self-evaluation exercises at the end of each chapter, with feedback to activities and answers to the exercises at the end of the book. The study of economics provides the tools for analysis and a framework for thinking that can aid you in making more informed decisions when faced with economic problems, making it suitable for economics students or those requiring an understanding of the economy within a specific financial field.

Technological progress and globalization have generated indisputable benefits, but also relevant costs, such as growing economic inequality, economic fluctuations, and financial instability. Mainstream economics has usually considered these costs as temporary, evenly distributed, and more than compensated by the gains of the phases of economic expansion. In this book, which focuses mainly (though not only) on the labor market, the authors contend that the major costs of the intensified process of creative destruction, through which economic change proceeded, have been ignored and the benefits overrated, thus incorrectly estimating the net impact of economic growth on subjective wellbeing. The book argues that the positive consequences of economic change and globalization may not compensate for the negatives, because psychological losses are felt more strongly than gains (due to loss aversion) and the costs are unequally distributed (those on low incomes disproportionately suffer more). The result is an overall reduction in wellbeing and therefore appropriate policies are necessary to allow more people to enjoy the benefits of technological progress without suffering the costs. The authors develop a comprehensive framework in which the socio-psychological context and educational level of a community determine the most suitable policies both for the short and for the long run. The book makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on economic growth and development, labor economics, the economics of wellbeing, and applications of behavioral economics. The readers that may be interested in this book are economists and other social scientists, but also general readers, since the analysis is maintained simple and accessible. University teachers can use the book for courses on economic growth and development, on labor economics, on the economics of human capital, on the economics of wellbeing, and on applications of behavioral economics.

In January 2005, the German government enacted a substantial reform of the welfare system, the so-called "Hartz IV reform." This book evaluates key characteristics of the reform from a microeconometric perspective. It investigates whether a centralized or decentralized organization of welfare administration is more successful to integrate welfare recipients into employment. Moreover, it analyzes the employment effects of an intensified use of benefit sanctions and evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of the most frequently assigned Active Labor Market Programs. The analyses have a focus on immigrants, who are highly over-represented in the German welfare system. "

The increasing capital flows in the emerging markets and developed countries have raised various concerns worldwide. One main concern is the impact of the sharp decline of capital flows - so-called sudden stops - on financial markets and the stability of banking systems and the economy. The sudden stops and banking crises have been identified as the two main features of most financial crises, including the recent Asian Financial Crisis and Global Financial Crisis. However, how capital flows and banking crises are connected still remains unanswered. Most current studies on capital flows are empirical work, which faces various challenges. The challenges include how data has been collected and measured in each country and how sensitive the results are to the data and the adopted methodologies. Moreover, the links between capital flows and banking systems have been neglected. This book helps provide some insight into the challenges faced by empirical studies and the lessons of the recent crises. The book develops theoretical analysis to deepen our understanding on how capital flows, banking systems and financial markets are linked with each other and provides constructive policy implications by overcoming the empirical challenges.

* Includes many mathematical examples and problems for students to work directly with both standard and nonstandard models of behaviour to develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills which are more valuable to students than memorizing content which will quickly be forgotten. * The applications explored in the text emphasise issues of inequality, social mobility, culture and poverty to demonstrate the impact of behavioral economics in areas which students are most passionate about. * The text has a standardized structure (6 parts, 3 chapters in each) which provides a clear and consistent roadmap for students taking the course.

Intellectual property rights are essential for a firm's competitive edge and success and form the significant assets for many firms. The authors of this book argue that intellectual property is a complex phenomenon, which inevitably requires a combination of both economic and legal considerations, because the lack of understanding of the mechanisms for the protection and preservation of IP can serve to undermine any of the potential economic benefits. The book outlines the opportunities that can be derived from the use of IP in business and also identifies the rules necessary for their implementation. It offers a comprehensive, systemic research of intellectual property based on the most up-to-date legislation and cases of IP use in Russia. Such an approach will allow readers to fully understand the peculiarities of IP as a special phenomenon of the Russian market. There is a good balance between theoretical knowledge and practical implementation, and the plain language and unique approach to structuring information make the book accessible and easy to understand. It contains a special glossary of terms to facilitate the understanding of the material presented in the book. Although the book looks specifically at the Russian case, it will have international appeal, since intellectual property, by its very nature, has become a transnational phenomenon. Moreover, the international regulatory framework provides for the similarity of legal regulation of IP. The book will find an audience among researchers concerned with the economics and law of intellectual property, as well as, policymakers and practitioners involved in business IP.

Pandemic Economics applies economic theory to the Covid-19 era, exploring the micro and macro dimensions of the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic phases. Using core economic tools such as marginal analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and opportunity cost, this book explores the breadth of economic outcomes from the pandemic. It shows that a tradeoff between public health and economic health led to widespread problems, including virus infections and unemployment. Taking an international and comparative approach, the book shows that because countries implemented different economic policies, interventions, and timelines during the crisis, outcomes varied with respect to the extent of recession, process of recovery, availability of medical equipment, public health, and additional waves of the virus. Pedagogical features are weaved throughout the text, including country case studies, key terms, suggested further reading, and discussion questions for solo or group study. On top of this, the book offers online supplements comprising PowerPoint slides, test questions, extra case studies, and an instructor guide. This textbook will be a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses on pandemic economics, macroeconomics, health economics, public policy, and related areas.

Markets are usually discussed in abstract terms, as an economic organizing principle, a generalized alternative to government planning, or even as powerful actors in their own right, able to shape local and national economic destinies. But markets are not abstract. Even as the idea of the market seduces politicians around the world to take advantage of their abstract qualities, they constantly run up against material reality. Markets are always somewhere, in place, and it is in place that the smooth theories of markets falter and fail. More than simply being embedded in particular places, markets necessarily emerge in the various political, social, cultural, and environmental relations that exist in and between places. Markets shape places, but the reverse is also true. This collection of essays approaches markets from the ground up, and from a part of the world often still regarded as peripheral to global capitalism: the South Pacific. With a wide variety of case studies, including on indigenous economies, childcare, agriculture, wine, electricity metering, finance, education, and housing, the authors show how complex local, social and cultural politics matter to how markets are made within and between places, and the insights that can be gleaned from studying markets in this part of the world. They explore the way superficially similar markets work out differently in different places, and why, as well as examining how market relations are constructed in places outside and on the edges of the centres of Western capitalism, and what this says back to how markets are understood in those centres. The book will be of particular interest to scholars and students working in and between economic geography, cultural economy, political economy, economic sociology, and more.

Metrology is the study of measurement science. Although classical economists have emphasized the importance of measurement per se, the majority of economics-based writings on the topic have taken the form of government reports related to the activities of specific national metrology laboratories. This book is the first systematic study of measurement activity at a national metrology laboratory, and the laboratory studied is the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The primary objective of the book is to emphasize for academic and policy audiences the economic importance of measurement not only as an area of study but also as a tool for sustaining technological advancement as an element of economic growth. Toward this goal, the book offers an overview of the economic benefits and consequences of measurement standards; an argument for public sector support of measurement standards; a historical perspective of the measurement activities at NIST; an empirical analysis of one particular measurement activity at NIST, namely calibration testing; and a roadmap for future research on the economics of metrology.