In the era of globalization, the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) is increasing in importance while the influence of nation-states is in a corresponding decline. Jain contends that this trend will benefit the cause of worldwide economic prosperity, which MNCs alone are positioned to deliver. The increasing availability of global capital, coupled with advances in computing and communications technology, has accelerated the process of doing business anywhere and everywhere. At the same time, barriers to foreign entities wishing to conduct business in Russia, China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia are falling away. As the process of globalization marches on, what can be done to ensure that material prosperity is the result? A Global Business Confederation, Jain argues, should be established to design rules that apply worldwide and that encourage MNCs to generate global economic prosperity in a manner responsive to cultural, social, and humanitarian concerns.

This book investigates Central America's political economy seen through the lens of its powerful business groups. It provides unique insight into their strategies when confronted with a globalized economy, their impact on development of the isthmus, and how they shape the political and economic institutions governing local varieties of capitalism.

"Economics, Econometrics and The LINK" is a collection of scholarly contributions by leading scholars from the U.S., Europe, and Asia dealing with issues of economics and econometrics. The book contains a learned and erudite exposition of macroeconomics and macroeconomic modeling including national, sectoral, issues exchange rate, environment, international price competitiveness and international linkages. It presents a comprehensive perspective of econometric modeling - country-specific, sector-specific and issue-specific. The volume is a tribute to the work of Lawrence R. Klein from all his friends who share a common agenda, viz. to relate the study of economics to the studies of mankind.

At a time of global economic crisis and disillusionment with capitalism, Adodo offers refreshing and positive insight into a more integral way of business management, enterprise and community development as well as holistic healing in Africa. For over three decades, Africa was the recipient of billions of dollars in aid funds that were meant to catapult the continent from undeveloped to developed status. Yet the more the aid poured in, the poorer African countries became. The devastating effect of western economic models in Africa that followed is well documented. Integral Community Enterprise in Africa exposes the limitations of existing theories, such as capitalism, socialism and communism, and shows how western theories were imposed on Africa. Such imposition of concepts and ideas is not only demeaning but also unsustainable, serving only the interest of the elite. Father Anselm Adodo argues for the need to have a southern theory to serve as an alternative to western theories. The majority of African intellectuals and activists, while criticizing existing theories, often do not provide alternative theories to address the prevalent inadequacies entrenched in conventional social, political and economic systems. This revolutionary book aims to address this lapse and proposes the theory of communitalism as a more indigenous, sustainable and integral approach to tackling the social, political, economic and developmental challenges of today's Africa. There is an African alternative to capitalism, socialism and communism - a surer path to sustainable development in and from Africa. This is a book that is positioned at the very core of a much needed African Renaissance. A profoundly new approach to development in Africa, this is essential reading for anyone concerned with authentic development in Africa and in the world.

China is both the world's most populous country and an important transition economy. It is also a major market for trade and investment. As such, this study of the trends, patterns, issues and problems of trade and investment in recent years is both vital and fascinating.Areas of discussion and analysis in this book include China's trade in a globalized economy, foreign investment after the Asia crisis, the WTO and regional economic development, along with discussion about the relationships with Hong Kong and Australia. Written by nationally and internationally respected experts on the Chinese economy, the book brings together a collection of timely and significant studies on China's trade and investment. The book will be essential reading for scholars of modern China, its economic development and the direction in which it will evolve in the 21st century. Important practical policy implications are reached for use by government, business and academics.

In an international economy where increasing attention is being focused upon global linkages, this book offers unique insights into the role that services provided by major international accounting firms are playing in such linkages and domestic expansion as a selection of Islamic economies in the Middle East. Highlighting Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Turkey, and the small gulf states, this book explores the issues and trends in regional growth and change. It provides a unique overview or assessment of how the accounting firms, through their service offerings, impact international linkages and developmental prospects in the Islamic nations that are featured.

Service activities such as banking, insurance, telecommunications, business auditing, distribution, trading, and other services have been at the forefront of the transformation process in East Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. These reforms, though far from complete, are now sufficiently advanced to draw lessons and to identify strategic options for foreign service firms expanding in the region. In this volume, leading analysts and practitioners offer an appraisal of the service markets and the challenges related to foreign entry into the services sector in Central and Eastern Europe during the "second wave" of transformation. What is the emerging pattern of change? What is the outlook for promising business in the area of services? Which entry strategies have proven particularly successful? How do the leading service providers from the West deal with the challenges confronting them in service markets of the region?

This collective volume used case studies, field research and industry studies to consider strategic options for foreign service firms in East Central and Eastern Europe for the late nineties and beyond.

This book is intended to provide a basic understanding of current issues and problems of economic integration. Identifying economic integration as one of the main features of modern international economics, the authors examine its many aspects and consequences which remain as yet obscure and unexplored. After addressing general issues regarding economic integration, the authors include empirical theoretical analyses of the monetary union, social policy reform, social union, public finance and technological policies.

The book contains selected papers presented at two international Euro-Asia research conferences held in Nantes and Poitiers, France, in 1994 and 1995. These papers are among the most recent empirical works concerned with the analysis of economic transformation and business strategy in the Asia-Pacific region. Various themes are addressed ranging from an assessment of the environment to more specific issues, e.g. business and marketing strategies of firms operating in this region. Countries given particular attention include: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan and Vietnam. The book represents a comprehensive and up-to-date appraisal of the effects of economic transformation and business strategy of firms operating in one of the world's most dynamic regions.

World hunger is prevalent yet receives relatively less attention compared to poverty. The MDGs have taken a step to address this with the resolution of halving the number of starving people in the world by 2015. Hunger though is not a straightforward problem of producing enough to feed the world's population; it has many cross-cutting dimensions. This volume discusses the significance of human rights approaches to food and the way it relates to gender considerations, addressing links between hunger and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, agricultural productivity and the environment.

The European Community and Latin America profiles the power and goals of the European Community and examines the Community's past relations with Latin America and the techniques for their management. Factors significant for this relationship's future are analyzed: the global setting; the two regions' internal conditions; the potential of each to meet the other's needs; and the procedures for handling interregional affairs. Attention is given to the political/security interests of the two regions and the attractiveness, to each, of closer relations with other parts of the world.

This book contains papers presented at a conference held in Vimeiro, Por- tugal, on March 23 and 24, 1991. The purpose of this conference was to discuss several aspects of the portuguese economy, namely issues and prob- lems related with the european integration of 1992. The sponsorship has been provided by the Junta N acional de Investiga~iio Cientifica e Tecno- logica, the portuguese science and technology foundation, as well as by the Banco de Portugal, the central bank. The first paper, by Horta Correia, Cesar das Neves and Rebelo repre- sents an attempt to characterize and to analyze the main features of the portuguese business cycles. Making use of the real business cycle method- ology, the authors contrast the properties of the portuguese empirical regu- larities with those of other OEeD countries and conclude that the economic fluctuations in Portugal seem much more severe. On the other hand, the rel- ative volatility of the various series analyzed, as well as their co-movement and serial correlation properties, are of the same order of those in other DECD countries. Horta Correia, Cesar das Neves and Rebelo evaluate the properties of the portuguese time series in light of the predictions of two dynamic general equilibrium models: a closed economy model and a model of a small open economy. Surprisingly, their closed economy model provides a good fit for the portuguese fluctuations, while the small open economy model predicts unplausibly low volatilities for both aggregate consumption and the trade balance.

This book demonstrates how human rights instruments and values have brought different movements together in the struggle against free trade under the banners of state duty and law enforcement with their underlying principles of equality and human dignity. Special emphasis is placed on how subjectivities influence identification with certain values and legal or political strategies. Furthermore, by focusing on the understanding of human rights by social agents the book also shows that specific human rights have more political potential for certain types of subjects in the struggle against free trade than others, such as the right to development, the rights of women and the right to food. This analysis is conducted with a specifically Latin American theorization of human rights that challenges both Eurocentric scholarly works on the issue and the arguments of European activists directed at the allegedly Western authorship of human rights discourses.

"Foreign Direct Investment in the United States" examines the factors that have motivated foreign firms to invest in the United States. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has changed from being a one-lane country road, handling a modest flow of financial traffic to a two-way superhighway carrying huge amounts of capital into, and out of, the country. There is an explanation regarding how this has all come about, through a multidimensional/multidisciplinary approach to the subject, applying both microeconomic and organizational theory. Cultural and political factors associated with FDI are considered whilst two full chapters are devoted to an analysis of the effectiveness of public policies (both federal and state) in attracting capital to the U.S. The book contains data that tracks FDI since 1950 by industry and by country of origin. Of special interest is the discussion of the relationship between the U.S. and Japan and how the chronic current account surplus of Japan became FDI to the U.S.

Economists have come a long way in understanding the economic growth process since Adam Smith. Economic growth research has not only had a great impact on policy making, it has also generated a large and diverse literature. Designed to facilitate teaching and research on economic growth, this book will help the scholar and student to navigate the literature on determinants of economic growth. The book's opening essay highlights the important theories and empirical findings, while the bibliography includes over 1,200 annotated entries. International in scope, the volume covers individual-country studies, cross-country comparative studies, and cross-continent and worldwide research.

With chapters arranged by continent and country, the book enables the reader to quickly find titles of particular interest. Although the focus is on English-language titles, the book includes works in other languages as well. Coverage includes both books and articles. With this book, the reader can navigate through the literature accumulated over 45 years in just a few hours.

s countries around the globe were rediscovering political freedom, speakers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' fourth annual South A west Conference called for greater economic freedom-free trade in markets free of artificial barriers and misguided regulations, free trade through out a continent (perhaps a hemisphere) that has discarded unnecessary restraints and is poised to emerge as a preeminent competitive force in the 21st century. The Dallas Fed conference, titled "Beyond the Border: Expanding Trade for Prosperity" and held October 24-25, 1992, brought together several hundred participants interested in the possibility of free trade throughout North America and beyond. "How far south can we go?" conference speaker Javier Murcio asked. His answer: "As far as economic reform takes hold. " Around the globe, countries were becoming engulfed in what Henry an "absolute prairie fIre of democracy. " And one of the fIrst Cisneros called places many nations were attempting to exercise this new-found political freedom was in the marketplace. As Richard Fisher put it: " . . . market capitalism is a universally accepted dogma. " "This world . . . is becoming one interdependent marketplace. State and national boundaries have become meaningless. No longer are there such things as domestic or foreign fIrms. Decisionmakers can be anywhere they wish to be because computerization and telecommunications allow people to be every where at once," Fisher said."

The dramatic increase of Japanese direct manufacturing investment in the United States since the 1970s has brought with it many questions about the Japanese investment decision-making process. Japanese Direct Manufacturing in the United States is the first book to investigate this process, explaining the behavior of both the micro- and macro-level actors involved in it and examining such issues as government-business interaction. Based on interviews with Japanese executives and government officials, this book provides an up-to-date and intensive look at this investment phenomenon for Japanese and American policymakers as well as researchers and students interested in Japanese multinational business.

This book answers the recently topical questions of how China's processed trade affects the trade of Southeast Asia. What is Southeast Asia's role in Factory Asia, the region's complex of cross-border supply chains? What is Southeast Asia's involvement in building or joining production networks in the region? And, most important, how can Southeast Asia increase the value added of its products and improve its competitiveness? This book provides rigorous analysis of how trade policy affects value added, highly disaggregated at the firm and product level, of the six Southeast Asian countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam - and combines this with thorough examinations of their trade, industrial and labour policies.

Though considerable research literature is now available on China-India relations, most of it still follows a conventional narrative, viewing the relationship through the narrow conflictual prism limited to South Asia than in the new, larger perspective, especially in the context of emerging East Asian dynamics. This book offers comprehensive analyses of some of these issues in papers addressing two broad themes. One, significant trends in the relationship between China and India on a range of issues, including economic development models, their military strategies, and the boundary dispute; and two, how others are responding to the rise of India and China and their impact on East Asia. Together, the chapters constitute a comprehensive study on both China-India relations and their concurrent rise, including a variety of perspectives and methodologies. Written by some of the top experts on the subject from India, China, Japan, and Taiwan and covering a broad range of issues, the book will generate considerable interest in understanding this relatively neglected dimension of today's East Asia.

The recent earthquake in Kobe posed an unexpected threat to Japan's future as a leader in world trade and investment. In the aftermath of such an event, Japan--U.S. relations are likely to become increasingly important as Japan seeks to rebuild itself and encourage international investment.

Trade and Investment in the 1990s provides crucial insight on the future of Japan--U.S. relations. Presenting views of such distinguished economists as Nobel Laureate Paul A. Samuelson, this volume covers such topics as Japan--U.S. relations under the Clinton Administration, trade negotiations, international competition and investment, and recent economic and financial trends. A compilation of recent lectures sponsored by The Center for Japan-U.S. Business and Economic Studies at New York University, this volume is sure to be of use to all those interested in the critical relationship between Japan and the U.S.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have become a popular development policy throughout the world over the last half a century. These zones form designated areas where governments offer businesses lower taxes, tariffs, and often lighter regulations. Generally, SEZs aim to attract investments and raise a country's export and employment rates, but although success stories are often cited, there are numerous failed projects that have instead become burdens for their host countries. This book examines SEZs from a political economy perspective, both to dissect the incentives of governments, zone developers, and exporters, and to uncover both the hidden costs and untapped potential of zone policies. Costs include misallocated resources, the encouragement of rent-seeking, and distraction of policy-makers from more effective reforms. However, the zones also have several unappreciated benefits. They can change the politics of a country, by generating a transition from a system of rent-seeking to one of liberalized open markets. In revealing the hidden promise of SEZs, this book shows how the SEZ model of development can succeed in the future. Applying frameworks from various schools of political economy, this volume places SEZs in the context of their mixed past and promising future. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in international economics, development economics, and political economy, including practitioners and consultants of SEZ policies.

The book brings together the two major developments of the past decade: the collapse of the Soviet Union with the subsequent abolition of the East-West conflict on the political side and the development of 'globalization' on the economic side. It is shown that both of these drastic changes has resulted in an increased demand for regulation and guidance by international organizations, which in turn were pressured by their own need for reforms and adjustment to the changing international agenda.

The global business area has witnessed a remarkable radical change. The recent spectacular rise of emerging economy multinationals sets numerous questions requiring explanation and understanding. Successes and Challenges of Emerging Economy Multinationals investigates a broad variety of cases presenting clear evidence of fast successful internationalization of emerging economy multinationals originating not only from big economic players such as China, India and Russia but also from other successfully internationalizing emerging countries, namely South Africa and Poland. In terms of size, the firms vary from huge multinational firms such as Huawei, Tata and Gazprom, to really small high technology firms. The in-depth analysis conducted in this book leads to the indication of numerous novel directions for further theoretical expansion and new empirical research.

This open access book focuses on public actors with a role in the settlement of investment disputes. Traditional studies on actors in international investment law have tended to concentrate on arbitrators, claimant investors and respondent states. Yet this focus on the "principal" players in investment dispute settlement has allowed a number of other seminal actors to be neglected. This book seeks to redress this imbalance by turning the spotlight on the latter. From the investor's home state to domestic courts, from sub-national governments to international organisations, and from political risk insurance agencies to legal defence teams in national ministries, the book critically reviews these overlooked public actors in international investment law.

Central and Eastern European countries are entering the development race at a crucial juncture in EU enlargement and the wider phenomenon of globalization. In the face of hesitant and controversial EU policy, these countries need to engage sound development strategies. International production networks are expected to be decisive in helping them strengthen their competitiveness and establish knowledge based economies. Julie Pellegrin looks at whether and how production networks develop in Central and Eastern European countries and assesses their chances of catching up with the rest of Europe.