This book presents a chronology of state policy in industry since the 1500s to the mid twentieth century, and explains the ideas that have shaped it. Includes chapters on: The state and exploitation; state participation in industry; state information and services; state operation of industry and state control over industry.

Labour focuses on the issues and problems concerning the efficient full employment of labour in a free market economy. The discussion is largely about the conditions (including comparative wages) underlying industrial efficiency and maximum production from various labour resources at least cost. By estimating man-power, analysing the human factor and measuring labour efficiency, the book summarizes contemporary evidence on employment conditions for or against efficiency and the effect upon the incidence of unemployment.

The issue of planning prompted some of the fiercest debate in mid-twentieth century economics. Politics of Economic Planning collects together a number of papers from journals and contributed books that examine the problems of economic planning in a free society. They fall into three groups: Part 1 explains the idea of socialism and defines it in relation to democracy. Part 2 discusses problems of economic planning both in relation to political economy on the practice of planning and with the application of the theory of value to the conditions of a centrally directed economy. Part 3 examines the nature of economics.

This highly topical study reflects on the current problems faced by social democratic parties in government when espousing policies of severe pragmatism and fiscal prudence, and provides an historical medium-term perspective to both parties' substantial changes in labour market policies. There is now a good deal of interest in the Third Way and the Neue Mitte, and this book provides much needed empirical detail, and solid analysis of the substance of these ideas. It will be of great interest to students and researchers in comparative politics, social democracy and economic policy.

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This book presents a collection and analysis of original policy documents, newly translated into English, from a key period of Chinese development, providing both a current and a retrospective analysis of China's economic reform efforts. Topics dealt with include the evolution of Chinese economic strategy; economic planning and the spread of market mechanisms; technology transfer in industry; evolution of an agricultural system; the development of population policy; and foreign economic relations. The collection will be of great interest not only to scholars and students of Chinese studies, but also to professionals and social scientists concerned with China but unable to read source documents in Chinese.

Verico discusses the ASEAN economic integration from dual perspectives of time span (trade, investment and finance) and framework (bilateral, sub-regional, regional and regional plus). The work is a comprehensive study of the integration in the wake of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)'s inauguration in late 2015. Examining various economic agreement levels from the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (BFTA) and the AEC to financial integration in ASEAN, Verico attempts to envisage the future of ASEAN in completing its regional economic integration from trade to investment and finance. Verico argues that, in the absence of a customs union, ASEAN must utilize the open-regionalism frameworks of the ASEAN Plus One, ASEAN Plus Three, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and others in order to shift its economic integration level in this way.

This book analyses Germany's role in the euro crisis. Based on the perception of Berlin as the emerging capital of the European Union, the author investigates three interrelated issues: Did the German policy approach of imposing austerity programs on countries in the middle of a deep recession contribute to the successful management of the euro crisis? Does Germany extend its sway over its European partners by forcing them to surrender to the German diktat of fiscal Disziplin and economic efficiency? Is the stubborn insistence on rigid fiscal adjustment another ominous sign of the Berlin Republic moving away from the country's traditional European vocation toward an imperial leadership role? The book's main argument is that Germany's role in and responses to the euro crisis can best be explained by different concepts of self, historical memory, and institutional practices.

Increasing disparities in income distribution, both national and international, keep this issue at the forefront of debates on economic policy.

Much discussion has centred on the possibility of a 'third way' between socialism and the market and on the role of the 'third sector' (public, voluntary and not for profit) in modern advanced economies.

Much discussion has centred on the possibility of a 'third way' between socialism and the market and on the role of the 'third sector' (public, voluntary and not for profit) in modern advanced economies.

Series Information:
Harwood Fundamentals of Pure & Applied Economics

Public enterprises remain of fundamental importance in advanced economies, and this volume characterises them as hybrids, influenced by markets and ministries.

Analyses the behaviour of not-for-profit organizations under a variety of conditions and contrasts them with profit maximizing firms, other types of profit-constrained firms and with public bureaucracies.

Examines the nature and the mode of operation of the centrally planned economy, assessing its strengths and the weaknesses that eventually led to its demise.

Contents:
1. Initial Concepts and Building Blocks 2. Technical-Administrative and Agency Problems in Organizations 3. Types of Organizations: Households, Firms and Government Organizations 4. Superorganizations 5. Coalitions in Organizations: Labour Unions 6. Comparative Macroeconomics 7. Aggregate System Performance and Comparisons 8. System Change

This book analyzes issues related to economic challenges for Japan's regional revitalization. Japan's responses to such challenges and to the problem of an aging population are of deep interest to the nations outside of Japan. This book brings together 19 articles contributed by Japan's leading scholars, originally prepared for an online policy information portal, SPACE NIRA launched by the Nippon Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) with Dr. Tatsuo Hatta, President of the Asian Growth Research Institute, as its General Editor. This book is a significant and useful reference for all scholars, students, and individuals with an interest in current policy issues in Japan.

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.

Ranging from the classic discussions of a century and more ago, to evidence for the diversity of consumption at the beginning of the 21st century, this set is a foundation for a rapidly growing area of contemporary academic study. The volumes reflect a major transformation in consumption studies. Gone are the simple debates as to whether consumption is in general a good or bad thing, and equally simple technical definitions. Instead these volumes demonstrate the maturity of its subject: that consumption is a foundation to most people's lives in most parts of the world. The contents are inter-disciplinary with approaches ranging from anthropology and media studies, to geography and business studies. Each discipline provides its own theories, perspectives and methodologies for studying this topic. These volumes are also concerned to make use of the rapid increase in studies of actual consumption across the globe so that many of the examples come from areas such as China, Japan, India and South America and break free of what had previously been debates almost exclusively concerned with Europe and the United States.

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.

An overview of present day thought on the very topical subject of financial stability and central banking. The papers, written by leading researchers, provide a highly informed account of contemporary policy issues and explore the legal, regulatory, managerial and economic issues that affect central banks.

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.

The emergence of open unemployment is an unavoidable consequence of postcommunist transition. Some countries - notably in the former Soviet Union - initially slowed economic contraction. But in the longer run slower reformers have generally sustained deeper and more prolonged recessions than faster reforming central European countries. Moreover, the initially low unemployment rates in the former Soviet Union are now rising, and may stabilize at higher post-transition equilibrium rates than in Central Europe. Across the region, real wages reacted in unexpected ways, with significant effects for employment. Productivity gains in Central European industry tended not to be passed along into proportional real wage increases, slowing inflows into unemployment. In addition, and contrary to some earlier assessments, the restructuring process affected not only wage structures, but also the level of unemployment over time. An important constraint on post-socialist countries' response to unemployment is the role served by EU social insurance and labour law standards as guides to countries' progress toward "normal" economic systems. When considering the possible impact of EU integration and ha

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This study systematically examines uneven regional development in China, focusing on three central agents: the foreign investor, the state and the region. Wei's findings have important implications for theories of, and policy towards, Chinese regional development. This book is a vital resource for those with an interest in transition economies.

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