Researchers in international development have long argued that the high costs of doing business harms prosperity in developing countries, a claim that invites the question of why governments impose these costs and why societies fail to enact reforms reducing them. This book seeks to answer the question by looking at the case of Brazil, a large and highly unequal economy riddled with state-imposed transaction costs. By delving into the political dynamics underlying a costly business environment, this book provides the reader with novel insights into crony capitalism and inequality. It argues that the root cause of a costly business environment is the collusion between political actors, bureaucrats and business insiders. Politicians and bureaucrats relish their discretion over rules and policies as a power resource, since they can increase or decrease the costs of doing business faced by firms and sectors. Business insiders collude with government agents to access the loopholes that decrease the cost of doing business, thus gaining a competitive edge over outsiders. This gives the insiders weaker preferences for reforms that could decrease the overall cost of doing business. By pursuing their self-interest, these actors create a low-level equilibrium that perpetuates crony capitalism and inequality to the detriment of overall prosperity. The book makes its case with a sophisticated combination of formal modeling, quantitative analyses and in-depth case studies of tax policy and of the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors in Brazil. Observers have declared the need for reforms that improve the business environment in developing countries for a long time. However, the findings presented in this book suggest they might have underestimated the challenge ahead. Scholars and policy-makers in international development, business politics and political economy will be interested in the innovative perspective of this book.

This book offers a comprehensive study of regional industrialization in Europe and Asia from the early nineteenth century to the present. Using case studies on regional industrialization, the book provides insights into similarities and differences in industrialization processes between European, Eurasian and Asian countries. Important factors include the transition from traditional to modern industrial production, industrial policy, agglomeration forces, market integration, and the determinants of industrial location over time. The book is an invaluable reference that attempts to bridge the fields of economic history, political history, economic geography, and economics while contributing to the debates on economic divergence between Europe and Asia as well as on the role of economic integration and globalization.

This volume contains country experiences explained by policy makers and studies by leading experts on causes and consequences of capital flows as well as policies to control these flows. It addresses portfolio flow issues central to open economies, especially emerging markets.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. This book gathers together a critical body of knowledge on what enterprise architecture (EA) is and how it can be used to better organize the functions of systems across an enterprise for an effective business-IT alignment. The chapters provide a solid foundation for a cross-disciplinary professional practice.

Unpredictable and unforeseen, or black swan, events are occurring increasingly often, one such recent example is the coronavirus crisis of 2020. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, with its growing use of artificial intelligence, intelligent robots, intelligent informats and intelligent algorithms, may help us to confront these incidents but only if we can avoid the sector optimization logic of some forms of economic thinking. This book offers a multi-faceted presentation of the application of systemic thinking in non-standard situations, especially those created by the fourth industrial revolution. It develops models and mini theories to promote systemic thinking at a time when cascades of innovations are entering the economy, while at the same time black swan events are occurring and disrupting social systems. It takes a critical look at how organizations and social systems have chosen to organize themselves to develop systems that prioritize high performance, by focusing on cost-cutting and maximizing profits, instead of on preparedness elasticity and resource slack. The consequences of this kind of organizational streamlining becomes evident only when the 'black swans' loom. The author discusses how individuals and society can develop the resilience needed to deal with these incidents. He asserts that there are three central social mechanisms that can help us understand how social systems work and how they are interconnected: time-lag, threshold value, and feedback. These three concepts can help us to understand how changes occur in non-linear systems; for instance, how small changes at the micro level can lead to large changes at the macro level. This book will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of economics, finance, business and industry.

Global cities today are facing fundamental challenges in relation to unaffordable housing and growing economic inequality. Singapore's success in making homeownership possible for 90% of its population has attracted much attention internationally. This book represents a culmination of research by the author on key housing policy innovations for affordable housing. Housing policy changes were effected in the 1960s through reforms of colonial legislation and institutions dealing with state land acquisition, public housing, and provident fund savings. The comprehensive housing framework that was established enabled the massive resettlement of households from shophouses, slums and villages to high-rise government-built flats. In the 1980s and 1990s, housing market and land use regulations were amended in response to the changing needs of a growing economy. Housing policies have also been utilised to curb housing speculation, build racially inclusive communities, and reduce wealth inequality. More recently, an ageing population of homeowners has necessitated focus on policies for housing equity extraction. This landmark title is of relevance to all developing economies exploring alternative systems of affordable housing.

This engaging and accessible book is a must-read for every economics student. It explores what the global economy is, how it developed and how it operates today, and why certain aspects of it have become controversial. The global economy represents the combined economic output of all countries on Earth and is currently estimated at around $80 trillion. While globalization has made it possible for greater economic interaction between nations and rapid growth on a worldwide scale, many have argued that it has also helped to widen the gap between the richest and poorest nations. The movement of goods and services between countries also has major impacts on national politics and international diplomacy, as well as significant implications for human rights and welfare. Part of Greenwood's new Student Guides to Business and Economics series, The Global Economy gives readers an in-depth yet reader-friendly look at one of the most important aspects of modern economics. Using simple language and relevant real-world examples, this book is appropriate for high school and undergraduate economics students as well as general-interest readers curious to learn more about the global economy. Provides a concise and easy-to-read overview of a broad and foundational topic in modern economics Helps readers better understand the complex relationship between national and international economies Includes a Questions for Further Discussion section, designed to stimulate classroom discussion and encourage critical thinking Offers an at-a-glance chronology of events related to the history of the global economy, allowing readers to trace the evolution of concepts and practices over time

This book identifies the impact of internal and external stakeholders on the implementation of sustainable development policies in the coal mining sector in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The book assesses what activities and conditions need to be improved so that sustainable development policies can be more effectively and efficiently implemented. With a specific focus on the hard coal and lignite mining sectors, it examines a broad range of case studies from Eastern European countries and the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, Germany, Spain, France and the United Kingdom, among many more. Beginning with an introduction to sustainable development and stakeholder theory, Part II then examines internal stakeholders, including owners, managers, employees and trade unions. Part III examines external stakeholders, touching upon those directly related to the mining industry, such as customers and mining enterprises, and those not directly associated such as local and regional communities and environmental organisations. The book concludes by proposing a model approach to the management of stakeholders involved in mining enterprises, focusing on improving the process of implementing sustainable development in the mining sector and strengthening the effects of this process. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the extractive industries, natural resource management and policy and sustainable development.

The book provides an integrated approach to risk sharing, risk spreading and efficient regulation through principal agent models. It emphasizes the role of information asymmetry and risk sharing in contracts as an alternative to transaction cost considerations. It examines how contracting, as an institutional mechanism to conduct transactions, spreads risks while attempting consolidation. It further highlights the shifting emphasis in contracts from Coasian transaction cost saving to risk sharing and shows how it creates difficulties associated with risk spreading, and emphasizes the need for efficient regulation of contracts at various levels. Each of the chapters is structured using a principal agent model, and all chapters incorporate adverse selection (and exogenous randomness) as a result of information asymmetry, as well as moral hazard (and endogenous randomness) due to the self-interest-seeking behavior on the part of the participants.

This collection of interviews captures a period of historic change for the global music business along with a wealth of professional knowledge that extends from the late 1960s through to late 2012 when the interviews were conducted. They record the experiences and insights of people who helped to shape a global business that is quickly passing into history and transforming into something entirely new, often because of decisions the interviewees have been directly involved in making. The material includes the aesthetic, artistic, technical, commercial, legal, and strategic aspects of the music industry. What is said is timeless in its historical significance for the music business and in its relevance for researchers engaged in studies on the dynamics of change in the global commercial music landscape.

Globalization and technological innovation have greatly enhanced the free mobility of currencies, commodities, services, information, jobs and people; yet this can also cause gaps in regional development and create uneven wealth in minority economies. Social Innovation and Business in Taiwan links the ultimate goal of the common good by connecting people not just through technology, but through new forms of organization. Based on five major research cases observed in Taiwan, this book introduces the core concept of a social innovation system to show how the common good can be established, adapted and diffused across communities, societies and national boundaries. By identifying effective and sustainable ways to create social value, this innovation system shows a universally true way to lead to a more humane global society.

This is the first book to place continuous improvement at the heart of construction cost management Covers theoretical background, before presenting real practical tools to improve construction costs Includes international case studies

* Short, self-contained introduction to sports economics for readers with no prior knowledge of economics * Everybody studying or researching sport from a social sciences perspective needs to have a basic grasp of economics * Avoids jargon, focusing on the key concepts and real-world cases * Explains the most important issues in sports economics, from leagues and events to the rise of women's sport * Covers sport at all levels, from amateur to elite * Also explores the dark side of sports economics, from corruption to the impact of the COVID19 crisis

* Short, self-contained introduction to sports economics for readers with no prior knowledge of economics * Everybody studying or researching sport from a social sciences perspective needs to have a basic grasp of economics * Avoids jargon, focusing on the key concepts and real-world cases * Explains the most important issues in sports economics, from leagues and events to the rise of women's sport * Covers sport at all levels, from amateur to elite * Also explores the dark side of sports economics, from corruption to the impact of the COVID19 crisis

This book covers advanced reliability and maintainability knowledge as applied to recent engineering problems. It highlights research in the fields of reliability measures of binary and complex engineering systems, cost analysis, simulations, optimizations, risk factors, and sensitivity analysis. The book scrutinizes various advanced tools and techniques, methodology, and concepts to solve the various engineering problems related to reliability and maintainability of the industrial system at minimum cost and maximum profit. It consists of 15 chapters and offers a platform to researchers, academicians, professionals and scientists to enhance their knowledge and understanding the concept of reliability in engineering.

1. The text explores highly complex topics with simple, non mathematical approach for managers rather than economists. 2. The editions have always been well-received in US market and the newest edition has been updated with behavioural economics, case studies on Amazon, Spotify, Uber, TikTok, England National Health Service and other topical businesses. 3. Includes case studies, discussion questions and examples to illustrate the principles. 4. The book will be updated with bigger font and come in color.

This book examines the problem of the innovation divide in the world economy, and convergence in innovation performance between leaders and followers, analysed through the prism of Chinese experiences, and explored from an European Union (EU) perspective. The rationale for research conducted in this book is an observation of a significant change in the geography of world innovation, reflected in the emergence of innovation hubs in developing countries and in the shift of manufacturing activity, including high and medium-high technology industries, to emerging economies, mainly China. The book analyses the factors of Chinese innovation success in recent decades, such as: China's science, technology and innovation policy, increased R&D expenditures, human capital development and the development of clusters and highly specialized industries. It also focuses on the challenges for developed European economies, which are being at risk of losing their knowledge-related sources of competitive advantage. It also offers recommendations for future policy actions. The book's analysis goes beyond a cross-country comparison, taking into account a regional perspective. The reason for this regional dimension is the increasingly recognized importance of proximity in stimulating innovation processes, and an observed strong geographical polarization of innovation activity at specific regions seen in the emergence of clusters, particularly visible in China. The monograph will provide an up-to-date reference for academics and students across a variety of disciplines. It will be of particular interest to researchers in the area of innovation and practitioners doing business in China, as well as policymakers at international, national and regional levels involved in designing and implementing innovation policy.

The only book to examine reliability and validity of research in social science AND built environment setting Essential reading for global researchers at undergraduate and postgraduate level using all major methods of research Real case studies by recognised experts covering hot topics like BIM, Lean, Housing and Sustainability show the importance of validity and how to ensure research is reliable

This book investigates the economic decisions behind the implementation of public-private partnerships (PPPs). The first part of the book discusses different forms of public procurement contracts, in particular in France and the UK, and provides an economic analysis of the potential advantages and pitfalls of public-private partnerships. This exploration of PPPs' efficiency also includes an examination of the financing conditions of public procurements, as well as regulatory requirements. By reviewing empirical studies on PPPs, the second part of the book compares their advantages over purely public solutions and offers practical guidance on their implementation. Practitioners will also learn best practices on how to involve stakeholders in calls for bids.

Some of the trades covered in the book are well known but most are only known to a small group or to market specialists. The ability to 'see into' actual trades offers a fascinating and unprecedented insight for those interested in the oil markets and gives the book broad appeal. The book can be used as an educational reference work by market participants and as a more general guide to how the crude oil market operates and the strategies that traders employ. There are very academic books about the theory of trading but nothing that directly covers real-life examples of innovative and winning trades, each of which illuminate a different aspect of trading or a different era in the oil markets. The presentation of each individual trade has been designed so that they can be used as case studies by business schools.

This book provides some recent research advances in the field of lean manufacturing. Its content is of interest to students in management and production engineering. Topics covered include Just in Time (JIT), Kaizen activities and Critical Metrics. The chapters are written by worldwide well-known experts in the field.

Bringing together theoretical and empirical studies from the Journal of Information Technology, this book provides a definitive guide to research discovered on the growing global sourcing phenomenon. Paying particular attention to Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), theoretical chapters explore insightful ways of thinking about the different facets of outsourcing, and provide useful information to practitioners and researchers. Empirical chapters report the findings of 405 major research studies into the risks and successes of relationships between customer and vendor, the development of trust in these relationships, the factors affecting locations for offshoring, and specialized offshoring organizations such as captive centres. In this comprehensive study, the editors present an expert review of the historical development of this field, and offer analysis of emerging findings and practices for the future.

This book disentangles the foundations of coopetition (i.e., concurrent competition and cooperation) by exploring in-depth the intellectual legacy of Eastern and Western perspectives. In particular, it detects the foundations of coopetition in three Chinese streams of thought; Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism, and in five Western schools of thought; David Hume, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Frederich Hegel and Soren Kierkegaard. In such a way, it unveils four logics used to tackle the essence of coopetition, respectively either/or, both/and, both/or, and either/and. The key objectives of the book are: firstly, to adopt a paradoxical lens to investigate the foundations of coopetition strategy. Secondly, to offer an interpretive framework that detects the different forms, tactics and patterns of coopetition. Thirdly, to discuss the implications of the framework proposed for other paradoxical strategies and to distil a bouquet of managerial implications. In such a way, the volume combines existing foundational perspectives with a contemporary interpretation of the coopetition phenomenon, thereby offering a valuable understanding of the current business and management world. The guiding principles of the book enable readers to extricate the dichotomy between the phenomenon of coopetition and coopetitive strategy, appraise the rationale for distinguishing between deliberate (planned) coopetition strategy and emergent (unplanned, but conscious) coopetition strategy, and understand how to deal with coopetition tensions.

This book is a research monograph addressed to a wide range of academics interested in corporate short-term capital. The study shows the role of trade credit in the functioning of economic entities. It constitutes a comprehensive source of knowledge about the role of trade credit in the development of enterprises, as well as the impact of this form of finance on the development of economies. Apart from an extensive review of the theoretical aspects of the role of trade credit in the economy, the study discusses the importance of factors influencing trade credit behaviour. Trade credit, despite its versatility, has not yet been fully described, particularly with regard to the specificity of domestic markets. This study aggregates and supplements the existing sources. The monograph is of an international character, as it covers a substantial group of European countries. Therefore, it is likely to have international appeal. The findings may be of interest to those involved in finance management. Understanding the differences in receivables management resulting from the country specificity can contribute to a better understanding of business finance and its operational functions. This knowledge may support the effective management of receivables and liabilities, especially in companies operating on the global market. Chapters 1 and 5 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com

Firm Size, Innovation and Market Structure uses evolutionary dynamic theory, non-linear mathematics and computer simulation techniques to explore the relationship between firm size, innovation and market structure. The book begins by reviewing the connection between these variables from a theoretical and an empirical point of view, and goes on to illustrate how analytical tools may be used in order to explore Schumpeterian propositions regarding firm size, innovation and the specific role of idiosyncratic events. In the concluding chapter, Mariana Mazzucato focuses on the US automobile industry from 1900-1997, and uses empirical evidence in order to determine whether or not there is a relationship between market share instability and stock price volatility, and to what degree the relationship is connected to industry specific factors. This innovative new book will prove invaluable to researchers, lecturers and scholars of industrial organisation, technology and market structure.