With governments responsible for significant portions of national spending, the promise of including sustainability considerations into that spending can enable policy makers to lead by example with sustainable public procurement (SPP). The report examines the state of sustainable public procurement policies and practices being undertaken by national governments worldwide in the last five years. The research included a comprehensive literature and desktop review, 19 interviews, six country case studies and a survey of 273 SPP experts worldwide. The objective was to create a baseline analysis that examines the evolving field of SPP and the drivers, barriers, needs and opportunities in SPP.

Transnational corporations (TNCs) have moved to the forefront of regulatory governance both within states and in the international arena. The Research Handbook on Transnational Corporations provides expert background commentary and up-to-date insights into regulatory frameworks impacting on TNCs at global, industry and national levels. Written by global experts in their field, this unique collection of essays provides in-depth understanding of how the forces of globalisation affect the world's largest corporations, and how those corporations, in turn, shape globalisation. Comprehensive yet highly accessible, this is the first major work on the reciprocal impact of TNCs on regulatory processes. The Research Handbook provides guidance on how best to understand the rapidly evolving relationship between TNCs and the processes of treaty making, the formation of global industry standards and the processes of national law making and policy formation (with a focus on resource taxation). Global, industry and national-level case studies are used to explain the basic principles used to support state, private, and international regulatory programs. Delivering both theoretical and practical insights into the regulation of TNCs, this timely and authoritative Research Handbook will be of particular interest to policy makers, industry practitioners and lawyers. Students and academics will also find it to be an invaluable resource. Contributors include: R. Anderson, M. Bowman, L. Cata Backer, A. Chou, A. De Jonge, G. Gilligan, D. Gleeson, M.A. Gonzalez-Perez, V. Harper Ho, J.A. Kirshner, D. Kraal, L. Leonard, R. Lopert, M.E. Monasterio, P. Neuwelt, J. O'Brien, A. Ruhmkorf, R. Tomasic, M. Woersdoerfer

Though globalization has removed commercial walls between countries and implemented new international trade policies, trade barriers still exist. Due to the various political barriers surrounding other countries, the future of world trade has become uncertain. Understanding these barriers and their implications is imperative to implementing successful foreign trade policies. International Trade Policies in the Era of Globalization provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings on international trade and improves the understanding of the strategic role of trade policies and their importance in the global economy. The content within this publication contains reports on global trade, trade wars, and foreign policy. This research is designed for policymakers, government officials, economists, business professionals, researchers, and international business students.

The 1970s were a decade of historic American energy crises - major interruptions in oil supplies from the Middle East, the country's most dangerous nuclear accident, and chronic shortages of natural gas. In Energy Crises, Jay Hakes brings his expertise in energy and presidential history to bear on the questions of why these crises occurred, how different choices might have prevented or ameliorated them, and what they have meant for the half-century since - and likely the half-century ahead. Hakes deftly intertwines the domestic and international aspects of the long-misunderstood fuel shortages that still affect our lives today. This approach, drawing on previously unavailable and inaccessible records, affords an insider's view of decision-making by three U.S. presidents, the influence of their sometimes-combative aides, and their often tortuous relations with the rulers of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Hakes skillfully dissects inept federal attempts to regulate oil prices and allocation, but also identifies the decade's more positive legacies - from the nation's first massive commitment to the development of alternative energy sources other than nuclear power, to the initial movement toward a less polluting, more efficient energy economy. The 1970s brought about a tectonic shift in the world of energy. Tracing these consequences to their origins in policy and practice, Hakes makes their lessons available at a critical moment - as the nation faces the challenge of climate change resulting from the burning of fossil fuels.

Rare Earths elements are composed of 15 chemical elements in the periodic table. Scandium and yttrium have similar properties, with mineral assemblages, and are therefore referred alike in the literature. Although abundant in the planet surface, the Rare Earths are not found in concentrated forms, thus making them economically valued as they are so challenging to obtain. Rare Earths Industry: Technological, Economic and Environmental Implications provides an interdisciplinary orientation to the topic of Rare Earths with a focus on technical, scientific, academic, economic, and environmental issues. Part I of book deals with the Rare Earths Reserves and Mining, Part II focuses on Rare Earths Processes and High-Tech Product Development, and Part III deals with Rare Earths Recycling Opportunities and Challenges. The chapters provide updated information and priceless analysis of the theme, and they seek to present the latest techniques, approaches, processes and technologies that can reduce the costs of compliance with environmental concerns in a way it is possible to anticipate and mitigate emerging problems.

Small jurisdictions have become significant players in cross-border corporate and financial services. Their nature, legal status, and market roles, however, remain under-theorized. Lacking a sufficiently nuanced framework to describe their functions in cross-border finance - and the peculiar strengths of those achieving global dominance in the marketplace - it remains impossible to evaluate their impacts in a comprehensive manner. This book advances a new conceptual framework to refine the analysis and direct it toward more productive inquiries. Bruner canvasses extant theoretical frameworks used to describe and evaluate the roles of small jurisdictions in cross-border finance. He then proposes a new concept that better captures the characteristics, competitive strategies, and market roles of those achieving global dominance in the marketplace - the "market-dominant small jurisdiction" (MDSJ). Bruner identifies the central features giving rise to such jurisdictions' competitive strengths - some reflect historical, cultural, and geographic circumstances, while others reflect development strategies pursued in light of those circumstances. Through this lens, he evaluates a range of small jurisdictions that have achieved global dominance in specialized areas of cross-border finance, including Bermuda, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Delaware. Bruner further tests the MDSJ concept's explanatory power through a broader comparative analysis, and he concludes that the MDSJs' significance will likely continue to grow - as will the need for a more effective means of theorizing their roles in cross-border finance and the global dynamics generated by their ascendance.

This up-to-date book demonstrates how the purchasing power parities (PPPs) of currencies are being increasingly used in place of exchange rates for a variety of purposes. These include: comparisons of real income, measurements of global inequality and poverty, calculation of the human development index and assessment of nations economic performance. Despite the increasing popularity of PPPs, many users have very little appreciation of the data and methods used in their derivation. This timely monograph brings together a number of significant contributions from leading researchers in the field, offering a comprehensive review of the latest methods used in the construction and application of PPPs. The authors provide a broad overview of the current state-of-the-art both in terms of techniques as well as current practice with various international organisations. Given the increasing application of PPPs in this truly globalised world, this book will be a stimulating read for researchers and academics involved in international comparisons and development economics, general economists and economist statisticians.

Countries that need industrial policy the most typically have the worst governance. This terrific book explicitly recognizes this difficulty, and provides a rich discussion of how it can be overcome. It presents a valuable series of country studies that focus on both successes (such as Ethiopian cut flowers) and failures (such as Namibia's export processing zones). The authors show that weak capacity is not necessarily a hindrance to effective industrial policy, just as strong capacity does not guarantee it.' - Dani Rodrik, Princeton University, US'This is the book our students have been waiting for.' - Hubert Schmitz, Institute of Development Studies and Founder of Sussex MA course Competing in the Global Economy 'A green transformation holds the potential to sustain a healthy planet where ecosystems are well-managed and human well-being is secured for future generations. This book makes a compelling case for the design of industrial policies that support a green economy. Being at the crossroads of their development pathways, developing countries have the unique opportunity to define their industrial policies in a resource-efficient, low-carbon and socially inclusive manner in the context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.' - Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Industrial Policy in Developing Countries offers an in-depth assessment of both the potentials and perils of designing and implementing policy in countries at early stages of economic development. The range of insightful case studies illustrates the key dilemma: directing economic and social development through what are often incipient and weak institutions. This realistic, evidence-based assessment will appeal to both development researchers and industrial policy practitioners, particularly those working in developing countries.

The main challenges the European Single Market is facing in the 21st century result from the enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe, the EMU, and the globalization of trade and investment that has aided the rise of competitive emerging markets. This state-of-the-art book provides fresh theoretical and empirical evidence on the challenges presented by integration and globalization for both developed and developing countries. The authors demonstrate how the European Single Market remains a work in progress with many critical issues still to be addressed. These include the rigidities in product and labor markets, the need for innovation and quality upgrading, and the rapid catch-up of new member countries. They go on to show how firms use the opportunities provided by integration and globalization to fragment their production processes internationally, which brings gains but also requires structural adjustment. The book also argues that global environmental coordination may be less detrimental to the growth prospects of developing countries than is commonly believed. Illustrating a number of methodologies, this book will be a great resource tool for postgraduates and undergraduates in the fields of international economics and business, as well as researchers and policy-makers.

This book analyzes how financial liberalization affected the development of the financial crisis in Europe, with particular attention given to the ways in which power asymmetries within Western Europe facilitated financial liberalization and distributed the costs and gains from it. The author combines institutional narrative analysis with empirical surveys and econometrics, as well as country-level studies of financial liberalization and its consequences before and after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Author Nina Eichacker charts institutional liberalization and privatization of European finance from the 1960s onward and presents a survey of descriptive statistics that show how different financial stability, financial flow and macroeconomic variables have changed in Western Europe since the early 1980s, generally increasing financial and economic instability. It also demonstrates the change in securitization, and European banks' tendencies to hold securitized assets on their balance sheets. It creates a framework for understanding the power dynamics between national, industrial, and class interests in Western Europe that promoted secular financial liberalization as well as the institutional design of the EMU that mandated financial liberalization. Finally, it examines the process of financial liberalization in detail in three states, Iceland, Ireland, and Germany. Students and researchers interested in financial liberalization and financial crises as well as policymakers will find the analyses in this book invaluable.

O. Yul Kwon uses an institutional framework to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental and operational dynamics of international business in South Korea from the rapid growth period 1963-1996, through recovery from the 1997 financial crisis, to the present. The study assesses that the South Korean market and business practices will maintain some sui generis characteristics because of the country's idiosyncratic culture and singular form of institutional development in the recent past. The book contains comprehensive analysis of macro-level topics (such as business opportunities, cultural influence, country risk and market configuration) and micro-level topics (including business negotiation, business ethics, management of international joint ventures and the management system). This book delivers a wealth of valuable information for a scholarly audience including undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics in international business, as well as for firms considering market entry into South Korea.

This study forms an entirely new area of research on Small Island Tourism Economies (SITEs). It addresses the importance of uncertainty in monthly international tourist arrivals and country risk indicators to the macroeconomy. Conditional volatilities are estimated for international tourist arrivals, and an economic interpretation from the estimated results is provided. In achieving these two objectives, this work presents an extensive assessment of the important characteristics and the impact of tourism in SITEs in relation to their gross domestic product, balance of payments, employment and foreign direct investment, among other factors. This book is unique in giving emphasis to macroeconomic implications rather than an industry focus.The Economics of Small Island Tourism will appeal to academics at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels involved in environmental and tourism management as well as tourism economics.

Environmental, health and sanitary requirements in developed countries are sometimes perceived in developing countries as non-tariff barriers to trade. This book shows that such restrictions are perceived to be more stringent during the domestic production season or when stock levels are high. The authors argue that scientific data for specific thresholds or limit values sometimes appear to be questionable and that they vary widely between countries. In some cases, products that had initially been refused access to a domestic market have subsequently been allowed access but at a lower price. Thus standards are perceived to be a mechanism for bidding down the export price. Countries from the same region with similar water or climatic conditions may be subject to differential degrees of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS). Measures to address protectionist aspects of standards must be devised to ensure free and fair trade.The contributors to this book show that there are good reasons for suspecting that these standards could indeed be protectionist. Utilising a wealth of empirical evidence, the book includes case studies written by authors based in the regions and does not fail to address awkward issues such as 'whose standards?', 'why standards?' and whether cartelisation is the consequence of standards. The contributors also address the political economy of standard setting, not simply the technical process, north-south issues and the political economy of organic food markets. Environmental Regulation and Food Safety will appeal to policymakers and NGOs, researchers and scholars of international and development economics as well as industry strategists. Copublished with Canada's International Development Research Centre.

Amidst mounting global policy attention directed toward international migration, this book offers an exhaustive review of the issues and evidence linking economic development in low-income countries with their migration experiences. The diversity of outcomes is explored in the context of; migration from East Europe and from the Maghreb to the EU; contract labor from South Asia in the Persian Gulf; highly skilled migrants moving to North America; and labor circulation within East Asia. Labor market responses at home, the brain drain, remittances, the roles of a diaspora, and return migration are each addressed, as well as an exploration of the effects of economic development upon migration and the implications of long-term dependence on a migration nexus. Robert Lucas concludes with an assessment of the winners and losers in the migration process, both at home and in the destination regions, before summarizing the main policy options open to both. This accessible and topical book offers invaluable insights to policy makers in both industrialized and developing countries as well as to scholars and researchers of economics, development, international relations and to specialists in migration.