The book provides conceptual and empirical insights into the complex relationship between knowledge flows and regional growth in the EU. The author critically scrutinizes and enhances the RIS (Regional Innovation System) approach, discussing innovation as a technological, institutional and evolutionary process. Moreover, she advances the ongoing discourse on the role of space and technological proximity in the process of innovation and technological externalities. The book closes with an investigation of the role of technological change and knowledge spillovers in the dynamic growth and catching-up of EU regions. "

After more than two decades of widespread hardship for most nations, what are the different paths available for them to resume steady growth and welfare? Will they actually succeed in building new growth models that meet the challenges of the present phase of internationalisation? This book attempts to answer these questions by analysing different perspectives and discussing the conditions for new national growth trajectories to emerge. The book provides conceptual tools for characterising alternative growth regimes by analysing their institutional backgrounds and political context. Unlike standard convergence theories, the authors argue that the diversity of capitalism is likely to persist as national economies adapt to the forces of globalisation. Still these national paths remain strongly conditioned by the kind of governance set up at both regional and fully international levels. The Hardship of Nations will be of great interest to undergraduates and graduates in the social sciences - economics, political sciences, sociology, geography and management - who require an overview of the debates on growth of national economies in the present stage of globalisation.

Both Europe and America are in the middle of an economic and financial crisis that has given birth to a growing social crisis. Failure to deal with the crisis comprehensively threatens to cause state defaults and instigate a global economic recession. Prolonged economic crises cause social crises that, if left unresolved, instigate violence and revolutions. Rabie analyzes the causes of the crisis and articulates a strategy to deal with its many facets. Saving Capitalism and Democracy tries to answer the difficult questions posed by intellectuals, the media, politicians, students and ordinary people concerning the crisis and how to avert an impending catastrophe.

This book sheds new light on the political economy of public management reform. It examines the new forms of economic decentralization and macroeconomic adjustment, and discusses their implications for policy design and regulation.The authors discuss leading-edge research on public management reform, privatization and decentralization in both industrialized and aid-dependent countries, concentrating on the meso-level of institutional response. Combining theory, case studies and institutional analysis, they focus on issues including public/private partnerships, public finance and aid allocation. The authors also present new ideas on the design of a regulatory framework. This book will be welcomed by academics and researchers working in the fields of development studies, development economics, political economy and international public management as well as policymakers working for government agencies and NGOs in developing countries.

This book explores the encounters with market socialism through reforms in China and Vietnam and looks at the distinctions between market socialism and capitalism. The book discusses whether market socialism is compatible with economic integration and whether state ownership can be reconciled with a market economy.

This book examines the uneven economy in Asia, showing how the pace of economic transformation affects prosperity and the emerging middle class. Using the Lewis turning point and the long run cycle of the rise and fall of nations as a framework, it demonstrates how demographic trends, digitization rates and consumer preferences creates business opportunities in a disruptive and uncertain world. This includes moves toward promoting Eurasian integration, restructuring of state-owned enterprises, green economy, and the digital economies - ecommerce, fintech and sharing economy. Vanity capital, longevity and leisure economies are also discussed. The author explains what drives creative disruption, technical innovation and their effect on manufacturing, consumers, businesses, and sustainability. It is essential reading for students, academics, executives, and business persons wanting in-depth coverage of the economic landscape in Asia.

This comparative analysis of growth, structural change and labour market dynamics in the Greater Mekong countries (Yunnan Province in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar) of Southeast Asia is the first of its kind. It explores economic integration and cooperation, the possibilities for improving the functioning of labour markets and facilitating mutually beneficial labour flows in the region. The book begins with a comparative overview of policy reforms, economic performance and structural changes, focusing on economic relations in the Greater Mekong countries. It then examines the salient features of labour market structures and policies, patterns of cross-border migration, and information systems, paying attention to the similarities and differences between countries. It is especially timely in the context of economic transition from socialist systems in the three Indochina countries, the ongoing policy reforms in Yunnan Province and Myanmar, and in light of the Asian financial crisis in shaping growth trends. The analysis yields policy recommendations for improvement in labour market performance. The book will be of great interest to development and labour economists and those working in the field of Asian studies, as well as to policymakers.

The theory of capitalism and of the economic order is the central topic of the German economic tradition in the 20th century. Capitalism has not only been the topic for Marxist economics and for the Frankfurt School but also for the Historical School and for the postmarxist theory of capitalism in Ordo- and Neo-Liberalism as well as in Solidarism. The question of the foundations of the economic order of the market economy and of capitalism as well as the problem whether a third path between capitalism and social ism is possible occupied this tradition from the Historical School to Ordo Liberalism and the theory of the social market economy. The theory of capitalism and of the social market economy as well as the critique and reform developed in this theoretical tradition is important for the theory of economic systems as well as for today's problems of the eco nomic order. Its relevance for the present world economy is visible in the discussions whether there exist different models of capitalism and whether they can be described as the Anglo-American and as the Rhenish model of capitalism influenced by the thought of the German economic tradition. Michel Albert, the author of this classification, gave the key-word in his book Capitalism against Capitalism. The papers of this book can help to clarify this debate by giving a first hand introduction to some of the main economic thinkers of capitalism."

In this important book, industrial and enterprise reform over the last decade in Eastern Europe is critically reviewed in light of increasing Eastern integration into the global economy. The authors argue for the further globalization of Eastern European enterprise networks as a condition for recovery and growth in the region. Empirical evidence is provided from five industrial sectors (car industry, telecommunication, shipbuilding, computers, software), including case studies and international comparisons.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. This is the third volume in our Access to Knowledge series. India is a $1 trillion economy which nevertheless struggles with a very high poverty rate and very low access to knowledge for almost seventy percent of its population which lives in rural areas. This volume features four parts on current issues facing intellectual property, development policy (especially rural development policy) and associated innovation, from the Indian perspective. Each chapter is authored by scholars taking an interdisciplinary approach and affiliated to Indian or American universities and Indian think-tanks. Each examines a policy area that significantly impacts access to knowledge. These include information and communications technology for development; the Indian digital divide; networking rural areas; copyright and comparative business models in music; free and open source software; patent reform and access to medicines; the role of the Indian government in promoting access to knowledge internationally and domestically.

This book takes stock of the lessons to be learned from the experiences of different countries on their way to a transition into a unified Europe. It demonstrates how the project of a unified Europe is a social pilot project that is unique in human history, both with respect to the sheer number of people involved and with respect to the cultural diversity it aims to turn into a progressive advantage. With no historical experience at hand, the transition into a unified Europe is an exploratory process, often risky but sometimes also surprisingly successful. To improve the chances of establishing a successful unification it is particularly important that we learn from the mistakes made so far; and that we learn rapidly, since the forces working against the pilot project of Europe will gain power very fast if the unification success slows down. And as the recent developments in Greece show, the vision of the final goal itself can well change during this exciting quest. Apart from providing the pieces of a mosaic on which a more general theory can be built, this book can be read as a collection of experiences - mistakes as well as triumphs - which should help the European learning process. The structure of the book mirrors Europe's diversity: specific country studies are combined with more general chapters, and quantitatively oriented econometric work is combined with qualitatively oriented sociological studies.

Corruption, collusion and clientelism are pervasive legacies of Soviet rule in most successor states of the Soviet Union. This legacy has been a major obstacle to the development of viable democratic and market institutions. Analyzing the political and economic developments of Armenia and Georgia, this book demonstrates how systemic corruption undermines the rule of law which is crucial for democracy and a market economy. It argues that the tumultuous political transition of Georgia has created an anarchic system of corruption that is disastrous for economic development and people's welfare. In contrast, the Armenian government has maintained some control over the corrupt system, ameliorating the consequences of systemic corruption.

The privatization revolution, profit or revenue sharing, and employee participation in enterprise decision making are some of the major characteristics of modern capitalism. Such features can be observed in almost all countries, including Western developed, Third World, and primarily ex-socialist countries. The diffusion of stock ownership, the promotion of economic and industrial democracy, and the globalization of production and finance present new challenges and opportunities and reflect important structural economic and political changes. This book examines all these issues and provides valuable information and suggestions for labor-management relations and international business cooperation.

The Russian labour market has been hailed by some economists as being 'perfectly flexible' because Russia has achieved enormous employment restructuring with minimal unemployment, and by others as plagued by rigidities since pay structures have been frozen, inequality has increased and job creation has been negligible. Such disagreements reflect both the lack of serious research on the formation of a labour market in Russia and the lack of theoretical agreement as to what constitutes a labour market. Simon Clarke addresses these empirical and theoretical issues on the basis of statistical survey and case study data collected within the framework of a large-scale collaborative research programme on the restructuring of labour and employment in Russia. The book reviews the historical context, the statistical data and the theoretical issues before proceeding to a detailed analysis of the development of the labour market in the interaction of the labour market strategies of employers and employees. The Formation of a Labour Market in Russia will be of interest to scholars of transition studies and labour economics, industrial relations specialists and sociologists of labour.

The last two decades have seen a reshaping of the international economy together with a radical weakening in the conditions of the working class. New productive techniques and methods in the organization of labour have been implemented on a world-wide scale partly as a consequence of the financialization of capital. The geographical diffusion of market relations has continued and with it the dominance of capital in all realms of social reproduction. In charting this change, the book offers an alternative view of contemporary capitalism. It has been suggested that we are entering a new phase where the 'globalization' of economic activities is fully achieved, where 'post-Fordist' regulation has overcome the crisis of Keynesian capitalism, and where the dominant tendency is towards the 'end of work'. In contrast to this view, the authors of this book argue that current internationalization is not a structure, but a contradictory process and that new patterns in the division of labour while successful in increasing the pressure over workers have not been able to supersede Fordism entirely. They conclude that the slow growth of the economies, caused by neoliberal economic policies, is a crucial factor in explaining unemployment and the fragmentation of labour.

In Chinese Capitalisms , experts examine the rise of capitalism on China and Taiwan, analyzing impacts exerted by global capitalism, Chinese civilization, and remnants of socialist practice. In focusing on these, they also address longstanding issues such as Weber's China Thesis, state-business relationships, and China's civil society, among others.

Since the end of the Cold War capitalism has become the dominant form of economic and political organization across the globe. This does not mean, however, that all forms of capitalism are the same. Competing Capitalisms explains why some countries have developed very different forms of capitalism and what happens when they interact. The book considers the distinctive experiences of Australia's market-based, and Japan's state-led forms of capitalism and explains what this means for future international economic competition.

Based on a case study carried out in the southern city of Guangzhou in China, this book describes the dramatic changes occurring at a large state owned enterprise as this socialist country undergoes market transition. It shows how these changes have led to the dismantling of the "iron rice bowl", the transformation of the socialist work unit and the life of its members, and the creation of a new model of occupational welfare.

After successful transition from a socialist to market economy, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are faced with the challenge of how to catch up with the EU15. This book provides the first systematic analysis of how Central and Eastern Europe has been restructuring from a knowledge-based economy perspective. It is an essential reference for understanding processes that are shaping present and future growth of the eastern part of the enlarged EU.

This book investigates the concepts and instruments for managing change in companies striving toward a market orientation in Poland. The focus is on the identification of factors, which have led to the considerable success of certain corporations, in spite of the very dynamic environment in transformation countries since 1989. The analysis considers problems and solutions for all the relevant stakeholder relationships. Although the case study is largely based on Poland, the book also contains research papers on the economic, political, and social context of doing business in Central and Eastern Europe.

This book is an introduction to the history of - and current measurement practice of - inflation for the United Kingdom. The authors describe the historical development of inflation measures in a global context, and do so without using formal mathematical language and related jargon that relates only to a few specialist scholars. Although inflation is a widely used and quoted statistic, and despite the important role inflation plays in real people's lives - through pension uprating, train tickets, interest rates and the work of economists - few people understand how it is created. O'Neill, Ralph and Smith mix historical data with a description of practices inside the UK statistical system and abroad, which will aid understanding of how this important economic statistic is produced, and the important and controversial choices that statisticians have made over time.

"Stabilization and Privatization: An Economic Evaluation of the Shock Therapy Program" is an account of Poland's economic transition since mid-1989. Monetary stabilization, trade liberalization (including convertibility) and privatization of state capital assets are discussed. Sources of economic recession which have accompanied the post-1989 transition are analyzed. The role of demand-side factors (i.e. monetary contraction) is weighed against that of supply-side factors (i.e. credit availability). The prevailing view is that the recession has been supply-type rather than demand-type. Economic performance has been impacted by the lack of a proper institutional framework (e.g. a segmented banking sector, diluted property rights). Arguments in favour of evolutionary reforms and market enhancing measures are presented. "Stabilization and Privatization" examines the main components of Poland's shock therapy program implemented in 1990. Post-shock recession, lasting at least through 1992, is examined to establish whether a sharp decline in output was caused by excessive demand contraction or lack of accommodating credit policies. The merits of an evolutionary approach and a more proactive state are debated.