Non-value adding activities are otherwise known as 'waste' in the lean construction lexicon. The aim of this collection is to build a common understanding of the role and contribution of value-adding activities in achieving stipulated objectives and continuous improvement in construction projects, and to contrast this with waste. Although the lean approach to construction projects has been widely covered, this is the first book that explicitly provides the link between value and waste in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. This internationally researched collection seeks to create a paradigm shift, which will shape work processes and future directions for how value is conceptualized and operationalized in both the project management and business aspects of construction. The readers will gain an understanding of: The value-adding paradigm in construction How to make value-supporting decisions Waste identification and control in practice With contributions from South Africa, Brazil, Norway, and the USA, the implications of this book are globally relevant. This is essential reading for all higher level students of construction management and economics, and all professionals interested in value management.

After Enron first describes the conditions that led to the collapse of Enron and other corporate scandals and the concerns that these developments raised among the public, the press, and political officials. The book then describes and evaluates the initial private and public responses to these developments and concludes that most of these responses were unnecessary, harmful, or inadequate. There are four major lessons learned during the post-Enron scandal era: Don't count too much on financial accounting. Don't count too much on auditing. The tax system is an important part of the problem. The rules of corporate governance do not adequately serve the interests of general shareholders. After Enron addresses the major lessons for public policy affecting accounting, auditing, taxation, and corporate government. It proposes a set of policy changes to address the lessons learned from the Enron scandal. The first major set of proposed changes would delegate the authority to establish and monitor accounting and disclosure standards to each stock exchange. A second major proposal would replace the corporate income tax with a cash flow tax. And a final set of proposed policy changes would replace the rules of corporate governance that are now biased against the interest of the general shareholders. The most distinctive feature of the book is that the major proposed policy changes would address the problems illustrated by the corporate scandals by reducing and focusing the role of government.

First published in 1987. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First published in 1989, Russia's 'Age of Silver' represents a major contribution to the history of the international economy during the eighteenth century, challenging old prejudices and establishing the importance of Russian precious-metal production. Ian Blanchard examines the nature of the Central and South America specie crisis of 1670 to 1760, and the response of European precious-metal producers. He highlights the rise of the Russian copper industry to a position of world supremacy, and the Siberian gold and silver mines to 'old world' supremacy. The study explains why Russia experienced little inflation and why no metal was exported: the economy acted as a sponge, absorbing the flood of coins as monetary expansion was paralleled by rapid economic growth. These developments doubled average per capita incomes over the course of the century, so that between 1788 and 1807 the average Russian enjoyed an income equivalent to that of their British counterpart. Providing a comprehensive analysis, this reissue will be of particular value to students and researchers with an interest in Russian economic history.

Recent years have seen a growth in strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions and collaborative networks involving knowledge-intensive and hi-tech industries. However, there have been relatively few studies looking at this form of collaboration as a strategy to drive firms' innovative performances. This book specifically focuses on the role of strategic alliances, M&A and innovation networks, providing insights on if and how they contribute to boosting firms' innovation performances. The book has a double purpose. Firstly, it investigates at an industry level the role played by the alliance, M&As and networks in high-tech environments such as biotechnology, pharmaceutical, software and nanotechnology in creating, transforming and reshaping the dynamics inside and between industries. Secondly, it explores the impact at the firm level of factors such as cognitive distance, management capabilities, and relational and social capabilities, on firms' global innovation capacity, measured as innovation quantity, innovation quality and innovation novelty. The book will be of interest to scholars working on the economics of innovation, innovation management studies, strategic management, regional science and evolutionary economics, among other areas.

The focus of this volume is the phenomenon of globalization, and specifically its relevance to and impact on small business and entrepreneurship. The works presented here stem from a pioneering, three day conference held at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, under the joint auspices of McGill's Centre for International Business Studies, and the Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies. Leading international scholars came together to begin integrating research in what had previously been from widely divergent fields.

The book presents four sections covering: theoretical overviews of the emerging field of international entrepreneurship; the use of alliances and networks to facilitate the entry of small businesses into the global arena; the results of three empirically based research studies designed to better understand the market forces and managerial characteristics which appear to underlie the success of SME's in the global arena; and visionary contributions on forces which will shape the successful international firm of the future. The diversity reflected in this volume and the common thread which unites the work calls for new strategic approaches by small firms, large firms, and governments alike. This work will help readers to better understand and anticipate the dramatic changes coming, and to design appropriate corporate strategic responses.

The political and social predicates that make the large firm possible and that shape its form are not always taken into account, despite the fact that variation in the political and social environment can deeply affect which firms, which ownership structures, and which governance arrangements survive and prosper. Focusing on the US, the larger nations in continental Europe, and Japan, Mark Roe uses statistical and qualitative analyses to explore the relationship between politics, history, and business organization.

Chicago went from nothing in 1830 to become the second-largest city in the nation in 1900, while the Midwest developed to become one of the world's foremost urban areas. This book is an economic history of the Chicago metropolitan area from the 1820s to the present. It examines the city in its Midwestern region and compares it to the other major cities of the North. This book uses theories of the economics of location and other economic models to explain much of Chicago's history. Chicago maintained its status as the second-largest city through the first decades of the 20th century, but rapid growth shifted to the Sunbelt following World War II. Since the 1950s the city's history can be divided into four distinct periods; growth with suburbanization (1950-1970), absence of growth, continued suburbanization, and central city crisis (1970-1990), rebound in the 1990s, and financial crisis and deep recession after 2000. Through it all Chicago has maintained its position as the economic capital of the Midwest. The book is a synthesis of available literature and public data, and stands as an example of using economics to understand much of the history of Chicago. This book is intended for the college classroom, urban scholars, and for those interested in the history of one of world's foremost urban areas.

First published in 1987, Incentives and Economic Systems is a selection of papers presented at the Eighth Arne Ryde Symposium at Frostavallen, Sweden on how institutions attempt to guide individual behaviour by manipulating the social and economic incentive system. These economic and social aspects of incentives determine 'rational' and 'irrational' behaviour by individuals and organizations across various economic systems. The essays in the volume deal with various aspects of the incentive problems and the various manifestations of such problems, along with moral and ethical issues. The essays will be an enlightening read for students of economics, policymaking and international politics.

First published in 1974, Trade Unions and Society examines the process by which trade unions sought and achieved recognition in the three decades after 1850. It shows a parallel process: on the one hand, trade unionists struggling to attain the indispensable Victorian virtue, 'respectability', without sacrificing their essentially protective functions; on the other hand, employers recognizing the value of an ordered system of industrial relation in which trade unions could exert discipline and control over their workers. While this was going on, middle-class radicals (often themselves employers) continued their attack on aristocratic domination of political institutions and looked to a 'labour aristocracy' as allies. The book shows the manner in which, thanks to their own efforts and those of their indefatigable publicists, unionists became identified with the respectable elite of the working class. It deals with a crucial period in the trade union development but looks at it not merely from the point of view of the unions, but also that of the employers, politicians, the press, intellectuals, political economists, giving for the first time a rounded picture of trade unionism and industrial relations in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. This book will be of interest to students of economics and history.

Over the last thirty years Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been used to deliver transport capital projects and services. PPPs are complex arrangements that require a multi-disciplinary approach in order to assure their success, though research on the subject has been fragmented. This book fills the gap in existing literature by providing insight into these complex arrangements at their various stages of development. Public Private Partnerships in Transport: trends and theory is structured to follow the life-cycle of a PPP project and strikes a balance between theory and practice. Divided into four parts, each section highlights major concerns and offers and array of views and policy recommendations. Parts include context for national implementation, decision models, performance measures and efficiency standards. This book includes an expanded discussion on the findings presented, discussed and analysed at the closing event of the COST Action TU1001 network on the topic of PPPs in transport. The result will be of significant interest to the academic community, policy makers and practitioners.

First Published in 1936, Industrial Employment and Unemployment in West Yorkshire presents the trends of employment and unemployment on the basis of official statistics. West Yorkshire is in many respects a representative British industrial region. Though not enjoying as great prosperity as London and the South Midlands, it has escaped the severe depression experienced in Lancashire, South Wales, Scotland, and the North of England. The position in the predepression years, the magnitude of the depression and the course of the recovery are brought under review. These changes inevitably affect the industrial structure of an area. An estimate is made of the surplus of labour in the area and of the possibility of reabsorbing this surplus into industry. This book is an essential archival resource for scholars and researchers of British economy, labour economics, labour history and economics in general.

This book provides an economic perspective on the effects of food safety standards on international trade. Focusing on food safety regulation at an international level and private food safety standards, the authors use contemporary methodologies to analyze supply chain structures and organization as well as food-chain actors' strategies. They also evaluate the effects of these on both consumer health and developing countries' access to international markets. The book provides ideas, suggestions and policy recommendations for reconciling economic interests with consumer health, which will be of special interest to academics as well as to practitioners.

This indispensable Handbook provides a timely and comprehensive guide to the methodological challenges of qualitative research in family business. Written by an international, multidisciplinary team of experts in the field, the Handbook takes a hands-on approach, offering valuable insights into a range of methods and related questions. Providing practical guidance based on the experiences of senior researchers, as well as expanding conceptual understanding of qualitative methods, chapters explore existing practices and issues common to many research projects, such as getting access to informants and technical or publication hurdles. Featuring reflective discussion on how to craft insightful, rigorous studies, the Handbook will increase scholars' confidence in using qualitative methods in their own research, from traditional case studies to more recent methods such as QCA. This Handbook will prove invaluable to instructors of qualitative research methods, as well as scholars and students of family business and entrepreneurship. Researchers using qualitative methods in other social sciences will also find its recommendations relevant and useful. Contributors include: R. Adiguna, N. Bhatnagar, M. Brumana, A. Calabro, A. Colli, A. Dawson, A. De Massis, C. Dessi, A. Dettori, G. Dorian, K.D. Elsbach, P. Fernandez Perez, D. Fletcher, M. Floris, I. Ghai, W. Gibb Dyer, V.L. Glaser, F. Hoy, A.E. James, J.E. Jennings, N. Kammerlander, K. Kampouri, R. Labaki, G. Laffranchini, G. Lauto, T. Leppaaho, L. Melin, E. Micelotta, L.M. Nor, M. Nordqvist, E. Paavilainen-Mantymaki, M.J. Parada Balderrama, D. Pittino, E. Plakoyiannaki, C. Pongelli, K. Ramachandran, A. Ruzzene, A.G. Sandig, P. Sharma, E.A. Tetzlaff, J. van Helvert-Beugels, K. Vasilevska, F. Visintin, M. Waldkirch, M. Yusof

Ship management is a worldwide activity. Modern ships are sophisticated designed structures equipped with several automatic devices. It is estimated that 90 per cent of commodities transported worldwide are carried by ships. Therefore there is great interest from many private and public organizations that those ships are operating, manned, designed and maintained within international acceptable standards. The obligation of stakeholders to comply with maritime regulations is included in most statutory and commercial agreements and therefore inadequate implementation of maritime regulations exposes stakeholders to commercial risks. This book explores how the application of mathematical decision-making tools could be used to manage maritime regulations. Performance management tools are proposed which would allow stakeholders to monitor the regulatory performance of their organization in order to reduce or eliminate those commercial risks. The process of introducing an implementation process for maritime regulations worldwide is described within this text. An emphasis is put on the role of main stakeholders in the regulatory process and reasons that increase the willingness of stakeholders to participate in the implementation of regulations. This book will be of interest to scholars and students interested in the management of the shipping industry as well as ship owners and managers who are charged with implementing maritime regulations.

The development of the information technology (IT) industry in the Asia Pacific region faces two challenges. Firstly, can its established physical, technical, regional and governance infrastructures be adapted to meet the challenges embedded in the set of products and processes created by the IT industry? Secondly, as this adaptation evolves, which cities and regions will be best suited to connect to or lead global responses to these challenges? The chapters in this book have set out to explore these questions, providing details of change in a range of aspects of the IT industry such as mobile phones, software services, and flat screen design in regions in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India, China and Australia. The book also outlines the policy responses of national and regional governments in Singapore, India and China and India. These case studies provide a basis to understand effective strategies which could be formulated for the future. This book's originality emerges from the fine detail provided about firms, in particular regions and cities, from research carried out by young scholars in the past two years. This makes it very useful for readers keen to understand the recent changes in this dynamic industry in a fast growth part of the world, and it will also help to shape thinking by policy makers on policy settings that can be applied.

This is the first book on a new policy approach that has been widely adopted in Europe and beyond. It analyses the concept of smart specialisation and discuss the need for smart specialisation strategies, explains why the approach is new and different from more standard policy processes and explores what are the conditions for successful implementation. Smart Specialisation: Opportunities and Challenges for Regional Innovation Policy describes the origin of the concept, explains when a smart specialisation policy is necessary, provides a detailed analysis of the design principles of the policy and discuss the pertinence of this approach according to regional development levels. Finally the book discuss the practical implementation phase of the process - based on the first feedback acquired from certain regions engaged in the preparation of their smart specialisation strategy. The book is original in that it provides the first full analysis of smart specialisation strategies both at theoretical and practical levels. It has been written at the critical period of the implementation of smart specialisation strategies in every region in Europe. The fact that the EU has adopted smart specialisation as a mandatory principle for every region and member states will make this book well received by and very useful for: i) policy makers in regional and national administrations in Europe, ii) policy makers in other parts of the world who are in charge of regional policy and have heard about the concept, iii) consultants, analysts and experts who are active on the "markets for smart specialisation diagnosis and expertise", iv) scholars, researchers and graduate students working in the field of regional studies, technology policy and geography of innovation.

For decades, governments have tried to foster industrial competitiveness and economic growth. Many instruments are known to work, and many lessons have been learned. However, humanity is increasingly feeling the effects of natural resource depletion. The rate of this depletion is deeply unsustainable, and it is - as of yet - inextricably linked to economic growth and development. To preserve acceptable living conditions for future generations, while at the same time creating these conditions for millions of poor in the first place, we must achieve a de-linking of economic activity and resource depletion. This book identifies the drivers and success factors of green industrial policy, which seeks to reconcile the synergies and trade-offs which exist between economic and environmental goals. Greening the economy is a goal which will require enormous investment. As markets are currently failing to provide the required incentives for environmental sustainability, governments must intervene and provide 'policy rents' for investments in sustainability while withdrawing rents from polluting investments. In this they will face the risk of political capture by interest groups and difficult choices among technologies. Rent management is therefore the heart of green industrial policy and the focus of this book. On top of this, the country examples provided in this volume focus on the emerging powers, which will have an important influence the future of our planet. However, the lessons learned are valuable not only for countries introducing green industrial policies for the first time, but also for those under pressure to reform existing policies. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and policymakers in the areas of energy policy, sustainable development, industrial economics and ecological economics.

This edited volume examines the American influence on West German and Japanese industry from the 1950s to the 1970s, providing a valuable contribution to the debate on 'Americanization' from a historical and comparative perspective. Individual contributions provide an in-depth analysis of the adoption and modification of management and technological issues from the US in West Germany and Japan at the micro-economic level.

This book takes a variety of theoretical and empirical approaches to the issue of organization and authority in the modern corporation. Including contributions from scholars in the US, Germany and Japan, it considers such relations, and the possible advantages of family ownership. The book combines historical and contemporary case studies from a range of different industries.

This book explores the dynamics of place, location and territories from the perspective of an experience-based economy. It offers a valuable contribution to this new approach and the planning and management challenges it faces. This book emphasises three key avenues to understanding the experience economy. First, the book reconsiders innovation processes and the relationship between the consumption and production of experience value. Second, it considers emerging forms of governance related to experience-based development in businesses and cities. Third, it examines the role of place as a value, resource and outcome of experiential innovation and planning. This book will be of interested to researchers concerned with urban and regional development.

The world has changed profoundly since the publication of the influential book Technopoles of the World. As policy-makers and practitioners attempt to harness science, technology and innovation to create dynamic and vibrant cities many wonder how relevant Manuel Castells and Peter Hall's messages are today. Twenty years later, this book returns to their concepts and practices to update their message for the 21st century. Making 21st Century Knowledge Complexes: Technopoles of the World Revisited argues that the contemporary technopole concept encompasses three new dimensions. Firstly, building synergy between partners is vital for the success of complexes. Secondly, the correct governance arrangements are critical to balance competing interests inevitable in any science city project. Thirdly, new evaluation mechanisms are indispensable in allowing policy-makers to steer their long-term benefits. Through twelve case study chapters and a detailed comparative analysis, this book provides academics, policy-makers and practitioners with critical insights in understanding, managing and promoting today's high-technology urban complexes.

Industrial issues are often inextricably linked with labour market concerns and policy approaches that attempt to consider production and employment separately are inherently flawed."
This controversial statement sums up the heart of this important book. With contributions from such scholars as Keith Cowling, Malcolm Sawyer and Michael Kitson, Industrial and Labour Market Policy and Performance covers such topics as:
* the increasing inequality between rich and poor
* the links between innovation, competition and collaboration
* education, skills formation and human resource management
The evidence-led nature of the book will make it an important and useful read for students and academics involved in labour economics, industrial economics and industrial policy. The controversial findings of many of the chapters and its readable style will also appeal to informed policy commentators as well as policy-makers themselves.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Presenting cutting-edge thoughts on media economics, its history and development, and looking forward to its future, this timely book investigates the changing face of the field. With contributions from some of the most prominent media economics scholars in the world, this provocative and visionary Research Agenda covers theory development, consumer and audience demand, information and cultural goods, and technological dimensions. Chapters explore globalization, industry organization, social and ethical aspects of media firms, new media viability and the historical eras of media economics. Presenting a range of streams of inquiry and topics needing more study and development, this Research Agenda looks at new and innovative ways to stimulate thought around key research questions and designs. PhD students and scholars of media studies and media economics will benefit from the expansion of basic concepts, theories and methods found in this key book. It will also be critical reading for media professionals looking to understand more about the impact and importance of contemporary media relations. Contributors include: A.B. Albarran, A. Arrese, M. Barrett, A.J. Coffey, C.A. Hollifield, W.-y. Hsu, C. Kolo, Y.-l. Liu, M. Medina, B.I. Mierzejewska, M.E. Gutierrez-Renteria, U. Rohn, A. Sanchez-Tabernero, C. Shao, X. Zhang

P.W.S. Andrews was a pioneer of fieldwork-based analysis of the behaviour of firms and of the normal cost/mark-up approach to pricing in oligopolistic markets, as well as a significant participant in debates about competition policy during the 1950s and 1960s. This important book includes essays and papers which are central to an understanding of Andrews's work. The Economics of Competitive Enterprise commences with an example of his case study work and continues with chapters on costs and price setting, theories of the firm and competitive analysis, investment behaviour and aspects of competition in retail trade as well as essays on the methodology of industrial economics. Including previously unpublished material, such as a critique of the development of price theory and significant correspondence between Andrews and other leading economists, this volume offers a remarkable insight into the process of economic discourse since 1945. In addition to a full bibliography, the book also includes an extensive introductory essay by Frederic Lee as well as an epilogue by Peter Earl on the legacy of Andrews's industrial economics. This book will be of interest to a wide range of readers in economics departments and business schools, including microeconomic analysts, industrial economists, historians of economic thought and marketing theorists.