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.

The natural gas business consists of two major aspects, sourcing and transportation, and distribution has been a growing area of interest to industry, government and academia. With the emphasis on promoting natural gas sector, there is an increasing need to have a well documented book that deals with the business issues, particularly the transportation and distribution of this sector, specifically aimed at petroleum engineers and professionals. This book fills this gap to provide structured material that deals with managerial and regulatory aspects with an applied technical perspective wherever needed.

The separation between ownership and control has become common practice over the last century, in most medium and large firms across the world. Throughout the twentieth century, the theory of the firm and the theory of industrial organization developed parallel and complementary views on managerial firms. This book offers a comprehensive exposition of this debate. In its survey of strategic delegation in oligopoly games, An Economic Theory of Managerial Firms is able to offer a reinterpretation of a range of standard results in the light of the fact that the control of firms is generally not in the hand of its owners. The theoretical models are supported by a wealth of real-world examples, in order to provide a study of strategic delegation that is far more in-depth than has previously been found in the literature on industrial organization. In this volume, analysis is extended in several directions to cover applications concerning the role of: managerial firms in mixed market; collusion and mergers; divisionalization and vertical relations; technical progress; product differentiation; international trade; environmental issues; and the intertemporal growth of firms. This book is of great interest to those who study industrial economics, organizational studies and industrial studies.

In common with most other advanced capitalist economies of the Global North, the UK has experienced a decline in the manufacturing industry and an increase in the service sector in recent decades. At the same time, there has been a substantial manufacturing growth in a number of countries in the Global South, especially China and India. Why have these changes occurred? What have been their economic and ecological consequences? How can we best understand the way the contemporary economy functions? This book explores the answers to these questions, proposing that the contemporary capitalist economy is best understood as a complex socio-spatial system of co-production involving relations between people, things and non-human entities. It is argued that these people typically have conflicting and competitive interests yet can come together to resolve their differences or find ways of regulating their conflicting interests. National states continue to have a critical role in establishing these systems of regulation. At the same time, many companies draw on the knowledge of their customers while others enrol animals, insects and plants as co-producers. As a result, the improbable processes of commodity production and capital accumulation continue more or less routinely; with problems and occasional crises overcome in a variety of ways. Co-produced Economies will be of interest to students of economic geography, political economy and economic development, and more generally to social scientists interested in issues of the causes and consequences of economic change. It will also be of relevance to policy makers seeking to develop economic policies in the increasingly volatile global economy and in the context of growing environmental concerns.

Originally published in 1972, Incomes Policy and the Public Sector is a consideration of the work conducted by The National Board for Prices and Incomes from 1965 to 1970. The Board, commonly known as the PIB, was intended to be the instrument through which an incomes policy could be shaped and guided in Britain. This book looks first at the reports that it made, and the criteria and judgements used, and then examines incomes policy by studying its impact in several areas in the public sector. Incomes Policy and the Public Sector offers a comprehensive overview of incomes policy from 1965-1970 and puts the reader in touch with 'real economic situations'.

This study analyses enterprise development and entrepreneurship and their relationship with the state and market building in Russia. It focuses on continuities and changes in the factory regime, drawing on existing literature and the author's own research and evaluation.

Research into firm growth has been accumulating at a terrific pace, and Alex Coad's survey of this multifaceted field provides a detailed, comprehensive overview of the latest developments.Much progress has been made in empirical research into firm growth in recent decades due to factors such as the availability of detailed longitudinal datasets, more powerful computers and new econometric techniques. This book provides an up-to-date catalogue of empirical work, as well as a coherent theoretical structure within which these new results can be interpreted and understood. It brings together a large body of recent research on firm growth from a multidisciplinary perspective, providing an up-to-date synthesis of stylized facts and empirical regularities. Numerous empirical findings and theories of firm growth are also surveyed and compared in order to evaluate their validity. Drawing on a vast and diverse body of research, this book will prove invaluable to students, academics, policy makers and practitioners with a need to keep abreast of studies in industrial organization, firm growth and management.

Marx claims that unselfishness is a child of (workplace) culture, whereas the gene is selfish. If Marx is right then the prerequisite for overthrowing capitalism is a system which both leverages selfishness and creates solidarity between workers. This book illustrates and discusses the major points of the economic theory of producer cooperatives, its evolution since the 1950s, and links with Marxian theory. Labour Managed Firms and Post-Capitalism, most importantly, demonstrates that a system of producer cooperatives offers a wealth of advantages compared to capitalism. There is general agreement that the main benefit of this form of economic democracy is that people who are allowed to freely pursue their interests are happier than those acting on somebody else's instruction. The author argues that a system of democratic firms would eradicate classical (high-wage) unemployment and scale down both Keynesian and structural unemployment levels. He also shows that a system of producer cooperatives literally reverses the capital-labour relationship typical of capitalism and that its establishment can consequently be looked upon as a revolution. This volume is of great interest to academics, lecturers and researchers with an interest in Marxism, political economy and industrial economics, as well as economic theory and philosophy.

Having been state-owned for decades, the railway reform in China confused many people, particularly in terms of its ownership and property rights arrangements. Western literature always prescribes that the best model for railway reform is privatization. China's leadership has also enunciated the state's determination to re-arrange property rights and rejuvenate corporate governance. But is China's railway reform really a story of convergence and will the Chinese government follow the western model of railway reform? Addressing these questions, this book provides a positive explanation of the reform in China's railway sector between 1978 and the dissolution of the Ministry of Railways. It bridges the socialist reform and transport policy literature, and studies the empirical changes of the property rights arrangements in China's railway system. Refuting the convergence theory, it concludes that the cyclical reform policies of decentralization and re-centralization were actually an exploratory and interactive mechanism of "assets discovery" and "assets recovery". This in-depth study is based on 21 face-to-face interviews with railway cadres as well as field trips to collect first-hand information in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Wuhan. As one of the only empirical studies on the reform of the railway sector in China, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of China studies, Transport studies and Political Economy.

The central concerns of mobilities research - exploring the broader context and human aspects of movement - are fundamental to an understanding of the maritime freight transport sector. Challenges to the environment, attempts at more sustainable practices, changes in the geoeconomic system, political power, labour, economic development and governance issues are all among the topics covered in this book. The aim of this volume is to address issues of maritime transport not only in the simple context of movement but within the mobilities paradigm. The goal is to examine negative system effects caused by blockages and inefficiencies, examine delays and wastage of resources, identify negative externalities, explore power relations and identify the winners and losers in the globalised trade system with a particular focus on the maritime network. Maritime Mobilities therefore aims to build a bridge between "traditional" maritime academic approaches and the mobilities paradigm. This volume is of great importance to those who study industrial economics, shipping industries and transport geography.

This is a comprehensive book on infrastructure development and construction management. It is written keeping in mind the curricula of construction management programmes in India and abroad. It covers infrastructure development, the construction industry in India, financial analysis of the real estate industry in India, economic analysis of projects, tendering and bidding, contracts and contract management, FIDIC conditions of contract, construction disputes and claims, arbitration, conciliation and dispute resolution, international construction project exports and identifying, analysing and managing construction project risk. Thus, this book covers most of the construction management activities that are carried out at different stages of a construction project. This is an essential book for students of construction management, construction professionals, academicians and researchers.

There is wide consensus on the importance of knowledge for economic growth and local development patterns. This book proposes a view of knowledge as a collective, systemic and evolutionary process that enables agents and social systems to overcome the challenges of the limits to growth. It brings together new conceptual and empirical contributions, analysing the relationship between demand and supply factors and the rate and direction of technological change. It also examines the different elements that compose innovation systems. The Economics of Knowledge, Innovation and Systemic Technology Policy provides the background for the development of an integrated framework for the analysis of systemic policy instruments and their mutual interaction the socio-political and economic conditions of the surrounding environment. These aspects have long been neglected in innovation policy, as policymakers, academics and the business community, have mostly emphasized the benefits of supply side strategies. However, a better understanding of innovation policies grafted on a complexity-based approach calls for the appreciation of the mutual interactions between both supply and demand aspects, and it is likely to improve the actual design of policy measures. This book will help readers to understand the foundations and working of demand-driven innovation policies by stressing the importance of compent and smart demand.

The 2008 credit crisis started with the failure of one large bank: Lehman Brothers. Since then the focus of both politicians and regulators has been on stabilising the economy and preventing future financial instability. At this juncture, we are at the last stage of future-proofing the financial sector by raising capital requirements and tightening financial regulation. Now the policy agenda needs to concentrate on transforming the banking sector into an engine for growth. Reviving competition in the banking sector after the state interventions of the past years is a key step in this process. This book introduces and explains a relatively new concept in competition measurement: the performance-conduct-structure (PCS) indicator. The key idea behind this measure is that a firm's efficiency is more highly rewarded in terms of market share and profit, the stronger competitive pressure is. The book begins by explaining the financial market's fundamental obstacles to competition presenting a brief survey of the complex relationship between financial stability and competition. The theoretical contributions of Hay and Liu and Boone provide the theoretical underpinning for the PCS indicator, while its application to banking and insurance illustrates its empirical qualities. Finally, this book presents a systematic comparison between the results of this approach and (all) existing methods as applied to 46 countries, over the same sample period. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the knowns and unknowns of financial sector competition for commercial and central bankers, policy-makers, supervisors and academics alike.

In recent decades, network industries around the world have gone through periods of de- and re-regulation. With vast amounts of sometimes conflicting research carried out into specific network industries, the time has come for a critical over-arching assessment of this entire industry in order to provide a platform of understanding to aid future research and practice. This comprehensive resource provides an orientation for academics, policy makers and managers as to the main economic, regulatory and commercial challenges in the network industries. The book is split into sections covering market, policy, regulation, management perspectives, whilst all of the key network industries are covered, including energy, transport, water and telecommunications. Overseen by world-class Editors and experts in the field, this inter-disciplinary resource is essential reading for students and researchers in international business, industrial economics and the industries.

Since the mid-1990s risk management has undergone a dramatic expansion in its reach and significance, being transformed from an aspect of management control to become a benchmark of good governance for banks, hospitals, schools, charities and many other organizations. Numerous standards for risk management practice have been produced by a variety of transnational organizations. While these many designs and blueprints are accompanied by ideals of enterprise, value production, and good governance, it is argued that the rise of risk management has also coincided with an intensification of auditing and control processes. The legalization and bureacratization of organizational life has increased because risk management has created new demands for proof and evidence of action. In turn, these demands have generated new risks to reputation.
In short, this important book traces the rise of the managerial concept of risk and the different logics and values which underpin it, showing that it has much less to do with real dangers and opportunities than might be thought, and more to do with organizational accountability and legitimacy.

Written by two of the field's most respected researchers, Modern Industrial Organization goes beyond the traditional structure-conduct-performance framework by using the latest advances in microeconomic theory, including transaction cost analysis, game theory, contestability, and information economics. Updated to reflect new trends and topics, the 4th Edition focuses on providing students with a clear, unified structure for analysing theories and empirical evidence about the organisation of firms and industries.

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.

The political economy of research and innovation (R&I) is one of the central issues of the early twenty-first century. 'Science' and 'innovation' are increasingly tasked with driving and reshaping a troubled global economy while also tackling multiple, overlapping global challenges, such as climate change or food security, global pandemics or energy security. But responding to these demands is made more complicated because R&I themselves are changing. Today, new global patterns of R&I are transforming the very structures, institutions and processes of science and innovation, and with it their claims about desirable futures. Our understanding of R&I needs to change accordingly. Responding to this new urgency and uncertainty, this handbook presents a pioneering selection of the growing body of literature that has emerged in recent years at the intersection of science and technology studies and political economy. The central task for this research has been to expose important but consequential misconceptions about the political economy of R&I and to build more insightful approaches. This volume therefore explores the complex interrelations between R&I (both in general and in specific fields) and political economies across a number of key dimensions from health to environment, and universities to the military. The Routledge Handbook of the Political Economy of Science offers a unique collection of texts across a range of issues in this burgeoning and important field from a global selection of top scholars. The handbook is essential reading for students interested in the political economy of science, technology and innovation. It also presents succinct and insightful summaries of the state of the art for more advanced scholars.

Appropriate laws and regulations are an essential tool to direct the action of procurers toward the public good and avoid corruption and misallocation of resources. Common laws and regulations across regions, nations and continents potentially allow for the further opening of markets and ventures to newcomers and new ideas to satisfy public demand. This book collects original contributions, from both economists and lawyers, related to the new European Union Directives just approved in 2014 by the EU Parliament. Uniquely, this book combines juridical and technical expertise so as to find a common terrain and language to debate the specific issues that a Public Administration in need of advancing and modernizing has to face. This format features, for each section, an introductory exchange between two experts of different disciplines, made of a series of sequential interactions between an economist and a lawyer that write and follow-up on one another. This is to enrich the liveliness of the debate and improve the mutual understanding between the two professions. There are four sections characterized in this book: supporting social considerations via public procurement; green public procurement; innovation through innovative partnerships; and Lots - the Economic and Legal Challenges of Centralized Procurement. This book will be of interest to policy-makers, practitioners working in the field of EU public procurement as well as academics.

Originally published in 1995 this volume examines and analyzes the factors that have made the township-village enterprise (TVE) such a driver of growth in the Chinese economy in recent years. The book analyzes the background of the TVE and discusses regional differences in TVE efficiency as well as examining the apparent contradiction of the success of the TVE despite the lack of well-defined property rights. Issues of rural-rural and rural-urban migration phenomena are discussed and the differences discussed between the Chinese economy and those of other developing nations.

Originally published in 1994 this book undertakes a comprehensive study dealing with the effects of machine flexibility, tool magazine capacity, varying production demands and different oeprating policies on the production planning problems. Performance measures such as FMS flexibility, makespan and inventory are used in evaluating the effects. Three measures of FMS flexibility - actual routing flexibility, potential routing flexibility and capacity flexibility are defined and operationalized.

Originally published in 1994 this volume investigates the relationship between a firm's decision to integrate vertically and its research and development (R & D) strategy. Literature on vertical integration is reviewed and a framework presented to analyze the costs and benefits of vertical integration. The theoretical basis for the proposed hypostheses is investigated and the hypotheses tested empirically.

Originally published in 1995, this book explores a number of subjects of significance for labor and economic policy, especially the role of U. S. tax policy in the relocation of jobs from the contintental USA to Puerto Rico. The book demonstrates the problems for the USA because of inadequate adjustment policies to protect the interests of communities and workers when plants close and production is relocated. It disproves the myth that markets will take fcare of workers and communities, showing that basic economics is concerned with market forces and not with equity, environmental and worker protections. The Whitehall plant closing case is documented and the economic and political context analyzed which caused that case to be instructive for broader economic and labor policy purposes. In a new age of American Protectionism, this book has enduring relevance.

What changes are occurring at the macro and the sectoral levels, how the labour market changes are taking place and what impactis felt on the low income households are some of the questions that the present volume focuses on. It begins by examining the sectoral composition of growth, revisiting the issues related to industry-services balance, and also brings out the spatial dimension of growth. On the one hand the industry does not seem to have played a major role in the context of employment generation as imported technology is by and large capital intensive in nature. On the other hand, the services-led growth is seen to have reduced the pace of poverty reduction. Given the services-led growth the possible impact of trade in services on employment both in the formal and informal sectors have been worked out, indicating limited positive spill-over effects. The labour market outcomes are brought out with great details suggesting that rapid economic growth in India could not result in productive employment generation on a large scale. The gender dimensions of employment are brought out to verify if reduction in labour market inequality can result in improving the position of women in other spheres encompassing the decision making process both within the household and outside the household. Issues relating to urbanisation and rural-urban migration are also covered to understand the dynamics of urban poverty and to bring out the challenges of population transfer given the spatial concentration of growth. The job search practices pursued by the low income households are often pursued in terms of informal networks. What problems are associated with such mechanisms in experiencing improvements in wellbeing levels are covered in the present volume. On the whole, the volume offers an explanation of limited poverty reduction in a situation of rapid economic growth on the basis of an inter-disciplinary framework though efforts are being made to keep the methodology quantitatively rigorous. "

Boost Efficiency, Sales, and Profits by, Unleashing the Power of Web Technology "Forget Web hype, Internet academia, and all the new technology books you’ve read before. This one really delivers. The authors have created a practical and useful set of tools any CEO, manager, or entrepreneur can use to empower their organizations and themselves. I’m sending copies to all of my companies." —Ed Bennett, Chairman Prodigy Ventures "In this well-written and easy-to-read book, McEachern and O’Keefe help the business manager keep pace with technology and ahead of the competition by showing how business innovators have parlayed Internet technology into business advantage. McEachern and O’Keefe provide insight into how business can leverage the Internet as a powerful commercial tool and strategic weapon." —George Tillmann, Vice President Booz • Allen & Hamilton "Re-Wiring Business gives us the opportunity to not repeat our mistakes by focusing on the Internet as a fantastic communications tool that can increase worker productivity, raise service levels, and allow all who need information to have access to it." —Phyllis K. Sokol, Director of Educational Services for the Commerce Enterprise Business Unit, Sterling Commerce "A powerful reference for companies who are competing in the digital age, this book comes at an intriguing time in business and addresses many of the trends and issues facing organizations today." —Cheryl Currid, President, Currid & Company