Following on from Jeffries' 2001 Economies in Transition: A Guide to China, Cuba, Mongolia, North Korea and Vietnam at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century, this comprehensive survey of economic and political change focuses on the countries of Eastern Europe. Jeffries also discusses the general issues involved in economic transition, including `big bang'/'shock therapy', gradualism, China as an economic model and various schemes of privatization. The book examines Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Analysing major political and economic events in these countries from the mid-1990s to the present.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203469100

This major intellectual exploration seeks to deepen our understanding of the way in which modern capitalism works. The author argues, in particular, that it has always rested in part on the unremunerated labour of women, the non-sustainable extraction of natural resources and the racist exploitation of the non-European periphery. Robert Biel explains and illuminates how it has integrated the South into a Western-dominated system of exploitation and prevented it from making the promised transition from marginality on the periphery to prosperity at the centre. And the racist implications of this. He also explores two fundamental questions. Are there really any indications that the global economy is slowly entering a long-term structural crisis? And would any significant disruption open up opportunities for new popular movements to fundamentally challenge it? Robert Biel's work constitutes a major revitalisation of the tools of Marxism and Dependency Theory. In addition to scholars of political economy and development, it will interest activists seeking to reconstitute left politics in the age of globalisation.

This book investigates recent changes in Japan's financial system and looks at the implications for Japan's particularistic model of political economy. Drawing on the latest theoretical research, it seeks to determine how Japan's experience resembles patterns which many scholars in the West have associated with financial globalization as a powerful force for conveyance.
The book sets out the background and examines the progression of financial deregulation in Japan, culminating in the Big Bang programme of financial reform set in motion in November 1996. It analyses developments in the financial sector to gauge the extent to which Japanese financial institutions are falling into line with emerging norms of organization and strategic management. It also examines the implications for the corporate and household sectors stemming from the government and financial sectors' partial embrace of financial globalization.

How valid is the Marxian theory of imperialism? This book traces the historical development of the theory of imperialism, the internationalisation of capital and theories of capitalist nation-state formation.

This book challenges some of the fundamental tenets of "free market" economics that have had a profound impact on public policy and the plight of the American worker. These include the beliefs that high wages inevitably mean low profits; that a "free" market will automatically reduce discrimination and pay inequality; that anti-trust legislation hinders competitive market forces; and that minimum wage laws and trade unions negatively impact the economy.

Using both theoretical analysis and real-life examples, the author shows that these myths are a product of unrealistic behavioral assumptions on the part of "free market" economists about the typical worker. In fact, as the author makes clear, the level of workers' satisfaction with their jobs, as a reflection of how well they are paid and treated by their employers, has a direct impact on the quality level of the products they produce and, inevitably, the economic performance of the firms.

This book challenges the popular thesis of a downward trend in the viability of welfare states in competitive market economies.
With approaches ranging from historical case studies to cross-national analyses, the contributors explore various aspects of the relationships between welfare states, industrial relations, financial government and production systems. Building upon and combining comparative studies of both the varieties of capitalism and the worlds of welfare state regimes, the book considers issues such as:
*the role of employers and unions in social policy
*the interdependencies between financial markets and pension systems
* the current welfare reform process.
It sheds new light on the tenuous relationship between social policies and market economies and provides thought-provoking reading for students and scholars of Comparative Politics, Public Policy, the Welfare State and Political Economy.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203166825

The attention economy is a notion that explains the growing value of human attention in societies characterised by post-industrial modes of production. In a world in which information and knowledge become central to the valorisation process of capital, human attention becomes a scarce and hence increasingly valuable commodity. To what degree is the attention economy a specific form of capitalist production? How does the attention economy differ from the industrial mode of production in which Marx developed his critique of capitalism? How can Marx's theory be used today despite the historical differences that separate industrial from post-industrial capitalism? The Attention Economy argues that human attention is a new form of labour that can only be understood through a systematic reinterpretation of Marx. It argues that the attention economy belongs to a general shift in capitalism in which subjectivity itself becomes the territory of production and exploitation of value as well as the territory of the reproduction of capitalist power relations.

In recent years, in both the specialist press and the tabloids, the idea of privatization of social security has become a shimmering catch phrase. Politicians base election campaigns on promises of more or less privatization in social security. Many governments introduce private business management methods into their social security systems. Representatives of social security institutions and academics prepare theory papers on the possible outcomes of privatization. And international financial organizations describe doomsday scenarios based on the premise of failure to privatize.

What is the role of privatization today in the development of national social security systems? How does privatization concern the developments in different social security programs such as old age, sickness, unemployment, accident insurance and family allowances? What are the visions and effects of privatization in social security?

This volume provides an overview of the various positions of supporters and opponents of privatization in the main branches of social security, followed by national experience of privatized or part-privatized social security systems. While the perspective of each of the contributors is markedly different, the overall objective cuts across differences: namely, to develop the most efficient and cost-effective system of social security protection.

The authors' views and knowledge are derived from their firsthand experiences with social security in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. Representatives of the leading international organizations dealing with social security issues-the International Labour Organization, the OECD, the World Bank and the World Health Organization-further expand the parameters of the viewpoints and experiences expressed.

This multifaceted book allows the reader to learn about the challenge of privatization in the various forms of social security by assembling a set of highly up-to-date, technically complex and legal issues based on practical analysis and actual experience. It will be of interest to those concerned with national social policy in a comparative context. This is the sixth volume in an ongoing series that aims to review social security in a comparative, global context. Xenia Scheil-Adlung is program manager, International Social Security Association, Geneva, Switzerland.

Contents:
Preface: A Personal Journey Chapter 1. Reluctant Capitalists Chapter 2. Early steps in the journey: The origin of Russian business traditions 1590-1917. Chapter 3. Scars of change: The rise and fall of the Soviet Manager Chapter 4. Corporate Governance: A requisite for successful privatization. Chapter 5. The myth of privatization. Chapter 6. Government as a source of support. Chapter 7. The trickle-down effect of institutional change. Chapter 8. Network not cash flow. Chapter 9. Legitimacy: Litmus test for change. Chapter 10. Taking care of business: Filling the vacuum left by Government. Chapter 11. Changing heart and mind: The education of the Russian manager. Chapter 12. At the crossroads. Bibliography

Beginning with a detailed discussion of the World Trade Organisation and the Uruguay Round and its achievements, this book delves into the causal factors behind the failure to launch the new round of multilateral trade negotiations in Seattle in December 1999. Dilip K. Das tries to determine the precise point reached by the global trading system and map out a way forward, exploring the likely items to be included in the agenda for the new round of multilateral trade negotiations and provides contours for a post-Seattle global trading system.
This book provides an excellent overview of the contemporary global trading system and will be very useful to advanced students and professional economists. It will also greatly benefit policy makers and active participants in trade and global diplomacy.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203522281

This volume is a comprehensive and rigorous exploration of intertwined issues surrounding the EU's democracy and legitimacy, written in the turbulent context of the financial crisis. The chapters are woven together under four interconnected thematic sections that examine: rapidly growing national euroscepticism; the Economic Monetary Union and its legitimacy; the future of EU integration; and democratic deficit(s) across its internal & external structure. The volume presents an authoritative collection of research results and surveys by experts in various disciplines related to the EU, and is addressed to researchers and students examining EU governance, representation and accountability, as well as practitioners across a multiplicity of fields.

Brian Bridges examines the impact on South Korea of the financial crisis of 1997. Covering events up to and including the recent parliamentary elections in South Korea, the book considers the socio-economic and political implications of the financial crisis. It is invaluable reading for students of modern Korea.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203162056

Contents:
Introduction
1. The Employment Contract, Transaction Institutions and Capitalism: i The Employment Contract; ii Transaction Institutions and Social Reproduction
2. Individuals, Culture and Behavioural Institutions: i Premises; ii Bounded Rationality and Intentional Behaviour; iii The Multiple Self and False Conditions; iv The Ideological Conditions of Social Reproduction; v Conclusions
3. The State and Normative Institutions i Where Does the State Come From? ii The State Action
4. Forms of Co-operation and Power: i Co-operation; ii Power
5. Production Governance Structures: i The Capitalist Firm; ii The Market; iii The Governance of Knowledge Production
6. Different Forms of Capitalism: i Institutional Systems; ii Forms of Capitalism
Conclusions: Toward the Autonomy of Capital

For mainstream economics, cultural production raises no special questions: creative expression is to be harvested for wealth creation like any other form of labour. As Karl Marx saw it, however, capital is hostile to the arts because it cannot fully control the process of creativity. But while he saw the arts as marginal to capital accumulation, that was before the birth of the mass media. Engaging with the major issues in Marxist theory around art and capitalism, From Printing to Streaming traces how the logic of cultural capitalism evolved from the print age to digital times, tracking the development of printing, photography, sound recording, newsprint, advertising, film and broadcasting, exploring the peculiarities of each as commodities, and their recent transformation by digital technology, where everything melts into computer code. Showing how these developments have had profound implications for both cultural creation and consumption, Chanan offers a radical and comprehensive analysis of the commodification of artistic creation and the struggle to realise its potential in the digital age.

What is the nature and role of competition in markets and politics?
This book examines the institutional dimension of markets and the rules and institutions that condition the operation of market economies. Particular attention is paid to the the role of the state, specifically the role of governments in shaping and maintaining the economic constitution of their societies.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203443411

In what ways do the actions and economic behavior of today's multinational corporations resemble the functioning and processes of the old command economics of the Soviet Union? By ignoring questions about power relations in markets, mainstream neoclassically-oriented economists conclude that there are no significant power structures operating in market systems to control allocation and distribution. This book argues to the contrary that there are fundamental and systemic power structures - monopoly, access to information or finance, employer power, etc. - at work in market economies, which affects their ability to achieve real "competition" in much the same way as state-controlled, command economies hinder business activities. Thus, for example, the biggest firms at the hubs of financial "networks" wield a kind of "shaping power" upon large numbers of relatively autonomous firms, not only upon those that belong to the networks but also on the many firms outside them that are also affected.

A collection of 13 essays based on two national surveys of household income in China - in 1985 and 1995 - and prepared and carried out by the research team. These essays explore a wide range of aspects of the rapidly changing income distribution during this period.

This work aims to show that Japan even at it's height of success, while the successful version of capitalism was blighted at it's core, being unsustainable. This revised edition features n introduction which gives an analysis of Japan's contemporary crisis.

The last decade has seen a massive increase in international capital flows to emerging markets. This development has offered opportunities to those countries that have opened themselves up to overseas capital, but it has also created risks.
In this volume, a team of policymakers and academics from 14 different countries, as well as representatives of the international financial institutions primarily responsible for responding to the crises, examine the challenges and options facing policymakers today. The book includes both detailed analysis of individual economies from around the world and in-depth analysis of the broad systemic issues of why crises occur and how we can prevent them. By looking at economies from many different parts of the world, the book provides a broad and comprehensive look at the similarities and differences in recent financial crises.

For too long now, the issue of health care reform has been dominated by the techniques of mainstream economics and the constant application of the tools of cost-benefit analysis to an area that does not suit it.
Issues such as privacy, genetic testing and the allocation of organ transplants require a more sensitive approach to the setting of budgets, and so a more socially responsible attitude towards health care economics is emerging. John Davis has gathered together an impressive range of contributors to explore these phenomena.

Werner Sombart (1863-1941) may well have been the most famous and controversial social scientist in Germany during the early twentieth century. Highly influential, his work and reputation have been indelibly tainted by his embrace of National Socialism in the last decade of his life. Although Sombart left an enormous opus spanning disciplinary boundaries, intellectual reaction to his work inside and outside of Germany is divided and ambivalent. Sombart consistently responded to the social and political developments that have shaped the twentieth century. "Economic Life in the Modern Age" provides a representative sampling of those portions of Sombart's work that have stood the test of time. The volume opens with a substantial introduction reviewing Sombart's life and career, the evolution of his major intellectual concerns, his relation to Marx and Weber, and his political affiliation with the Nazis. The editors' selection of texts emphasizes areas of Sombart's economic and cultural thought that remain relevant, particularly to those intellectual trends that seek a more broadly based, cross-disciplinary approach to culture and economics. Sombart's writings on capitalism are represented by essays on the nature and origin of the market system and the diversity of motives among the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Also included is an excerpt from Sombart's controversial "The Jews and Modern Capitalism," exploring the widely perceived relation between economic life and Judaism as a religion. In essays on the economics of cultural processes, Sombart's comprehensive and expansive idea of cultural science yields prophetic insights into the nature of urbanism, luxury consumption, fashion, and the cultural secularization of love. The volume's final section consists of Sombart's reflections on the social influences of technology, the economic life of the future, and on socialism, including the influential essay "Why is there no Socialism in the United States." Encapsulating the most valuable aspects of his work, "Economic Life in the Modern Age" provides clear demonstration of Sombart's sense for fine cultural distinctions and broad cultural developments and the predictive power of his analyses. It will be of interest to sociologists, economists, political scientists, and specialists in cultural studies. Nico Stehr is professor at the Max Planck-Instit3t f3r Meteorologie in Hamburg. Reiner Grundmann is professor at the Aston Business School of Aston University in Birmingham, U.K.

This book offers wide-ranging insights into the organising capacities of workers in Asia today. Nine case-studies examine workers' responses to class relations through independent unions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and more (dis)organised struggles. Countering the notion that globalisation holds entirely negative consequences for labour organisation, the authors reveal some of the openings for local activism which can arise from transnational production arrangements.
The volume covers the "second-tier" industrializers - China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh. Interdisciplinary in nature, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian studies, development studies and international labour studies.

This book offers wide-ranging insights into the organising capacities of workers in Asia today. Nine case-studies examine workers' responses to class relations through independent unions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and more (dis)organised struggles. Countering the notion that globalisation holds entirely negative consequences for labour organisation, the authors reveal some of the openings for local activism which can arise from transnational production arrangements. They reject the assertion that globalisation is the main determinant of labour's weakness and marginalisation in the region.
The volume covers the "second-tier" industrializers - China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh. Interdisciplinary in nature, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian studies, development studies and international labour studies.

This work remains one of the all-time classics of 20th-century intellectual thought. For over half a century, it has inspired politicians and thinkers around the world, and has had a crucial impact on our political and cultural history. Hayek argues that, while socialist ideals may be tempting, they cannot be accomplished except by means that few would approve of. Addressing economics, fascism, history, socialism and the Holocaust, Hayek unwraps the trappings of socialist ideology. He reveals to the world that little can result from such ideas except oppression and tyranny. Today, more than 50 years on, Hayek's warnings are just as valid as when "The Road to Serfdom" was first published.

This book offers the first systematic exposition and critique of the major approaches to periodizing capitalism, bringing to bear both deep rooted theoretical questions and meticulous empirical analysis to grapple with the seismic economic changes capitalism has experienced over the past 150 years. Westra asks why - despite the anarchic and crises tendencies captured in radical analyses - capitalism manages to reload in a structured stage that realizes a period of relatively stable accumulation. He further evaluates arguments over the economic forces bringing stages of capitalist development to a crashing end. Particular attention in the periodization literature is devoted to examining the economy of the post World War II golden age and what followed its unceremonious demise. The final chapters assess whether what is variously dubbed neoliberalism, globalization or financialization can be understood as a stage of capitalism or, rather, an era of capitalist disintegration and extinction.