Spatial deconcentration of economic activities, particularly the growth of suburban office, retail and entertainment concentrations, has become a prime concern in European metropolitan areas. This book provides a cross-national comparative perspective on employment deconcentration within selected metropolitan areas in Europe. Whereas most debate over urban sprawl and deconcentration is oriented towards the North American context, this book aims at a better understanding of this phenomenon in the European context, emphasizing the location of economic activities rather than residential patterns. It provides insights on whether different governance attributes produce particular forms of deconcentration versus the influence of market attributes and local specificities, also commenting on quality of life impacts and possible governance and policy implications of the deconcentration process.

Introduction of a comparative framework is followed by eight case study chapters, three representing northern Europe, three the south European-Mediterranean region and two post-communist central Europe. Most chapters examine two metropolitan areas, usually a large and a smaller one. The comparison reveals considerable variations in the magnitude, form, and process of employment deconcentration, only partly in line with expected influences of governance systems. Evidence does not fully confirm an anticipated distinction between Northern and Mediterranean Europe; the Czech Republic and Israel seem to diverge most from prevailing European trends.

The main purpose of this book is to enhance the understanding of differences in productivity performance between countries and sectors and to improve our insight in the drivers of productivity levels and its growth. Due to demographics the speed-up of productivity growth will be of increasing importance to secure GDP growth in the future, since the other source of GDP growth (employment growth) will be limited in most Western Countries. A better insight in the patterns and drivers of productivity performance is therefore not simply a matter of academic interest, however valuable that in itself can be. Improving our knowledge of the drivers of productivity will enable us to determine which are the 'switches' policy makers have to use. The book takes the Netherlands as a case, but is hardly a book on productivity in the Low Countries alone. The different contributors focus on the drivers of productivity that prevail in every modern economy, using the Netherlands' experience as an example, which makes this book relevant for the analysis of productivity in other countries. Moreover, the book contains international comparisons between EU and OECD countries, in particular with regard to productivity performance. The book focuses on productivity in the business sector, leaving public sector productivity aside.

Economic growth in Asia over the past half century has led to significant changes in societies, business organization and the nature of work. This has been accompanied by the rise in some countries of trade unions and also of employers' associations. This book explores the nature of employers' associations in the major countries of Asia. It considers how employers' associations have developed in recent decades, how changes in market structures and the profile of economies have affected employers' associations, how employers' associations deal with issues to do with pay and employment conditions, and how they interact with regulation and the state. The book shows how the differing political and institutional contexts of different countries, and different economic conditions, greatly affect the nature of employers' associations and also the wider context of labour markets and trade unions.

This book examines the economic consequences of immigration and asylum migration, it focuses on the economic consequences of legal and illegal immigration as well as placing the study of immigration in a global context.

This supplement focuses on the NBA with particular reference to pay and performance. In-depth analyses of positional pay variations, player negotiations, supply and demand and econometric models of pay and performance seek to give a much clearer picture of why, how and when pay is awarded in the sports industry and particularly in the NBA. The volume concludes with a retrospective of the 1995 All-Star Players.

This book examines racial and ethnic discrimination in the labour markets and workplaces of western Europe. Scholars from ten different countries set out the experience and implications of this exclusion for two main groups: the more established second and third generations of postwar migrant descent, and the 'new' migrants, including seasonal and undocumented workers and refugees, who are vulnerable to extreme exploitation and unregulated working environments. The book finishes by addressing the implications of these issues for trade unions and employers in Europe.

This book examines essential issues and perspectives on rural labour, helping readers understand the changes that are currently taking place in the labour markets, especially with regard to migrants from rural to urban areas, their socio-economic conditions, factors contributing to such mobility and associated problems. Further, it addresses the question of why the socio-economic conditions of rural labour have not experienced measurable improvements. Presenting a collection of painstakingly researched essays that focus on both India and China, the book addresses these challenges with an explicit focus on safeguarding the interests of rural labour under the neoliberal dispensation. The research is based on primary survey data and analytical issues from selected Asian economies, especially from India. On the basis of the findings discussed, it subsequently suggests ways forward so as to improve the wellbeing of migrant households and put an end to distress migration. Lastly, the book convincingly argues that improving labour market outcomes, and more specifically, generating employment and providing alternative livelihood avenues, represents the most pressing challenge in rural areas.

The ruling class plays a major role in society. It makes possible what would otherwise be infeasible, by removing constraints that may stand in the way of long-term growth. Historically, economists devoted far less attention than sociologists to the study of ruling classes. Using the theoretical tools of economists, this volume provides an understanding of what drives the formation of a ruling class, and the relationship between politics and business firms. Focusing on Italy, it uses labour economics to analyse the selection of the ruling class, the labour market of politicians, the allocation of managers' time, and their incentives, remunerations, and career paths. It draws on contributions from two teams of leading scholars and on research undertaken by the Fondazione Rodolfo DeBenedetti.
Part I focuses on the labor market of politicians. It uses detailed information on personal characteristics, incomes, performance in office, and career paths (both before and after the Parliamentary mandate) of all the politicians elected to the Italian Lower Chamber (Camera) between 1948 and 2008. This is the first time that this information has been gathered and summarized in key indicators. Part II is devoted to the managerial class. It includes cross-country surveys of managers across a sample of European countries, surveys carried out in cooperation with the largest union of managers in the service sector, social security records, and, for the first time, surveys on the allocation of time for top executives.

This study examines fundamental theoretical and conceptual issues of social change in Latin America in the context of detailed empirical analysis. It challenges the major assumptions and propositions that underlie globalization theory, reworking and fine tuning the concepts of imperialism and social class as relevant to understanding the "new world order." The study centers on the structural features of Latin America and the state policies reconcentrating power in the capitalist class at the expense of labor. It also critically surveys the contradictory tendencies of concentrated wealth and power and the emergence of new socio-political movements and alternative development strategies to the dominant paradigm.

This single-volume comprehensive compilation of documents integrates institutional labour history (movements and trade unions) with aspects of social and cultural history, as well as charting changes in trade union and managerial practices, and integrating the economics and politics of labour history. It includes documents that treat household relations as well as industrial relations; women as domestic workers and unpaid household labour as well as factory workers; and African American, Hispanic American (especially Mexican and Mexican American), and Asian workers as well as white workers. American Labor offers readers an insight into the full spectrum historically of workers, their daily lives, and the movements that they created.

Although a few books on the market set forth the elements of labor arbitration, no single volume exists that gathers the essential elements of the arbitration process in a detailed, comprehensive, and logical presentation. An Introduction to Labor Arbitration is a clear, jargon-free guidebook that inexperienced practitioners will find essential to prepare for arbitration. As an introductory text, this work is an excellent resource for understanding the fundamental theory, practice, and procedure of labor arbitration. It gathers the essential elements of the arbitration process in a detailed, comprehensive, and logical presentation.

This comparative analysis of growth, structural change and labour market dynamics in the Greater Mekong countries (Yunnan Province in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar) of Southeast Asia is the first of its kind. It explores economic integration and cooperation, the possibilities for improving the functioning of labour markets and facilitating mutually beneficial labour flows in the region. The book begins with a comparative overview of policy reforms, economic performance and structural changes, focusing on economic relations in the Greater Mekong countries. It then examines the salient features of labour market structures and policies, patterns of cross-border migration, and information systems, paying attention to the similarities and differences between countries. It is especially timely in the context of economic transition from socialist systems in the three Indochina countries, the ongoing policy reforms in Yunnan Province and Myanmar, and in light of the Asian financial crisis in shaping growth trends. The analysis yields policy recommendations for improvement in labour market performance. The book will be of great interest to development and labour economists and those working in the field of Asian studies, as well as to policymakers.

The Islamic labor market rests on the principles of the free market exchange of Islamic economics. Regrettably, the latter has failed to keep pace with the rapidly growing academic and professional developments of the former. Much of the published work within Islamic economics is idealistic if not radically ideological with little relevance to the Islamic labor market, leaving students of Islamic economics without a coherent body of economic theory to understand the practical objectives of Shariah that gives a sense of direction to the developments in this field. Drawing upon received sources of goals of Shariah, the authors present an independent academic work which: Emphasizes the common conceptual grounds of labor market behavior shared by the objectives of Shariah approach as well as the conventional approach to economics. Adopts standard tools of contemporary economics to explain the industrial relations. Extends the conventional scope of the labor market and forces of the labor market under the umbrella of Shariah. Enables readers and practitioners of Islamic economics to make economic sense of Shariah compliance and human resource development. Explains how the economics of Shariah is liable to offer moral guidance and a sense of direction to regulators and practitioners of the Islamic labor market. Labor in an Islamic Setting will be of interest to postgraduate students, academics, middle and senior management in both the western and the Islamic business communities, researchers and policy makers.

This volume analyzes changing work and employment in British public services. In doing so, it begins by critically engaging with debates around the ideological, regulatory and social drivers of change, and their impact on workforce composition, service ethos, equality, and the role of trade unions. It then analyzes employment relationships within fluid organisational boundaries, tackling the key issues of partnership and trust, pay and rewards and employment security. The concluding section reflects on public service productivity and its comparative context.

This volume challenges the view that unemployment is exclusively determined by structural characteristics of the labour market and the social benefit system. Macroeconomic policies and investment in capital stock are included in the analysis and are shown to have a major role to play. Wage setting in the labour market has no direct impact on employment but nominal wages set in this market affect the price level. Following mainstream recommendations with respect to labour market reforms in an environment of low growth and serious effective demand problems, may contribute to deflationary risks. Unemployment and 'structural reforms' also cause falling labour income shares and more unequal personal income distribution. These developments contribute to slow growth and rising unemployment. This is shown in applying growth models, which rely on the principle of effective demand and which also incorporate the effects of distribution struggle.

Knowledge, Social Institutions and the Division of Labour gives rise to a new and richer institutional analysis of the economy centred around the analysis of language, the division of labour and social knowledge. It is in this perspective that the economic analysis of institutions comes to be associated with the study of civil society, or with the broad framework of communication and coordination behind the interaction of individuals in economic and non-economic spheres. This fascinating book is divided into three parts beginning with the issue of the development of science as an aspect of the division of labour, starting from methodological problems on the communication of scientific knowledge. The volume goes on to explore issues on the moral bases of social interaction and, more particularly, of commercial society before ending with in depth analyses of questions on the division of labour, social institutions and the diffusion of knowledge in society.

Why is it so difficult to turn girls' success at school into success in the labour market? How does detailed evidence about women's engagement with local labour markets affect the 'preference theory' debate? Why is part-time employment such a popular but economically damaging choice for women? What barriers still limit women's horizons and narrow their aspirations? Using a new and original approach, this illuminating book explores women's employment at the start of the 21st century, in particular identifying aspects of women's labour market situation which remain poorly understood and challenging much 'received wisdom' about women and work. The contributors examine pervasive myths about women in employment which have influenced policy and explore a number of theoretical puzzles and problems which persist despite attempts to tackle them. "Policy for a change" will be essential reading for professionals, employers and trade unions working in human resources, regeneration, equalities and diversity, anti-poverty, skills and training, as well as for researchers, teachers and students in sociology, social and public policy, labour market economics, urban studies and management.

This book provides a cross-national European comparative analysis of the presence and absence of women on the board of directors of companies. It asks whether a welfare state regime analysis is useful at this elite level as a way of understanding employment practices or whether state policy gives way to more universal and globalized factors.

Profit Power Economics is the first comprehensive manual of competitive strategy and value-investing for the economic realities of the 21st century, an age in which information costs are getting close to zero and everyone is connected. This book offers a new economic paradigm for our age-and the tools to make the most of it. Readers learn to apply these rules step-by-step to navigate today's new challenges: to choose among vastly expanded investment opportunities; exploit unprecedented freedom to structure and manage modern global enterprises; win in new 3-dimensional corporate competition; and tailor strategies to new powerlaw market dynamics. Profit Power Economics includes lively lessons from the author's experience and examples from other successful investors and enterprises-all in the context of cutting-edge economics. Visionary strategist, experienced corporate executive, banker, and economist Mia de Kuijper takes readers from first principles to practical applications. She offers new ideas and concepts, illustrated with lively lessons from her own experience and from other successful investors and organizations. Profit Power Economics gives readers a clear grasp of the underlying forces that are reshaping our world as well as a step-by-step approach to build (or find) exceptionally high-return enterprises and to navigate new-age market dynamics. She declares that it is high time that we update our ideas about competition, business models, market dynamics and risks, even about the nature of winning itself. The emergence of perfect information-fast-moving, very cheap, universally available information and unlimited connectivity-is transforming our fundamentals so dramatically that this is grounds for doubting many of the most familiar principles of mainstream economics. Corporate leaders, political leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, strategists, not-for-profit organizations, marketers, and students of modern economics will find an invaluable resource in Profit Power Economics.

This book explores the complex relationship between social security and economic development, arguing that social security contributes positively to economic development by promoting social investments that not only foster economic growth but enhance social welfare for all. The contributors analyse the various forms of social security, and, through comprehensive analysis of country experiences, demonstrates that the relationship between social security and economic development defies the simplistic interpretations currently popular in literature on the subject. A variety of country case studies are explored including Britain, Chile, China, India, Korea, Norway, Singapore, South Africa and the United States. This topical volume is a vital companion for all interested in the dynamics of the relationship between social security and the economy.

This book investigates and documents multidimensional poverty in the United States and identifies patterns and relationships that contribute to the development of a more complete understanding of the incidence and intensity of deprivation. The first part introduces multidimensional poverty and provides a rationale for viewing poverty through a lens of multiple deprivations. It discusses how the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) compares to more narrowly-focused, income-based poverty measures and emphasizes its usefulness and applicability for the formulation of related, welfare-enhancing public policies. The second part documents multidimensional poverty incidence, intensity, and corresponding MPI values at the aggregate level of detail, for various demographic cohorts, and across geographic locales. The book then presents results from an empirical analysis that identifies the determinants of multidimensional poverty incidence and of individual deprivation scores. The third part consists of three studies of multidimensional poverty, examining the effect of the Affordable Care Act on multidimensional poverty incidence and intensity, variation in multidimensional poverty across native- and foreign-born residents (and across immigrants' home countries) of the US, and variation in the respective indicators that contribute to multidimensional poverty across the life cycle. The book closes with two chapters. The first relays the findings of counterfactual exercises where certain deprivations are assumed to have been eliminated. The final chapter summarizes the work, draws inferences and arrives at conclusions, and discusses the corresponding public policy implications.

This volume explains the salient features of the Japanese labour market and their evolution through time. The key idea is integrated segmentation: on the demand side, within the educational system; on the supply side, monitoring the costs which underlie labour contracts. Demand- and supply-side segmentation exists in a number of countries. What is peculiar to Japan is the way demand and supply segmentation overlap and the muting of the wage and income differentials which segmentation generates. Because it is segmented on both supply and demand sides the Japanese labour market is highly competitive; but because it is integrated, cooperation is deeply rooted within it as well.

This book is about the enterprise reform in China in general, and the Contract Management Responsibility System (the CMRS) in particular. The latter is an institutional arrangement to deal with the relation between the government and the state-owned enterprise which has always been at the centre of the enterprise reform. This research is based on four in-depth case studies of Chinese state-owned companies.

This book provides an up-to-date survey of existing economic literature on the dimensions of growing income inequalities in both advanced and emerging countries. The different explanations and dimensions of inequalities are addressed, particularly globalization, technical progress, in-work poverty, changes in labour market institutions, education and intergenerational mobility, growth and development. The nine chapters provide simplified models exploring each of these elements, and assess commonly accepted explanations and mechanisms.