Measuring quality of life has been identified as fundamental in assessing the relative progress of societies and as having relevance for both monitoring and policy-making purposes. Self-reported measures of well-being, referred to as subjective well-being, have become increasingly topical given the growing awareness of the limitations of existing measures of well-being including gross domestic product (GDP). In the UK, the ONS's 'Happiness Index' was launched in 2010 by Prime Minister David Cameron. This book aims to improve our understanding of well-being through an analysis of time-use in a post-industrial society, the UK, drawing on empirical data from large-scale surveys such as Understanding Society and smaller-scale case study evidence. It uses a plurality of theoretical perspectives to explore the relationship between our use of time and our reported levels of satisfaction, and considers the policy lessons that we can take from our organization of time.

Contents:
Introduction
1. The Legacy of the Communist Past and its Impact on Foreign Trade in Transition
2. Foreign Trade Adjustment in Early Transition
3. Successes of Trade Reorientation and Trade Expansion: An Enterprise-Level Approach
4. Institutions and Foreign Trade Reorientation: How Much Impact upon Performance?
5. Post-Transition Foreign Trade Problems and Prospects: The Economics and Political Economy of Accession

Universal basic income is a controversial policy which is causing a stir amongst academics, politicians, journalists and policy-makers all over the world. The idea of receiving 'money for nothing', with no strings attached, has for a long time appeared a crazy or radical proposal. But today, this policy is being put into practice. With more and more trials and experiments taking place in different countries, this book provides both the theory and context for making sense of different basic income approaches, examining how the policy can be best implemented. Unlike many other texts written on this topic, the book provides a balanced account of basic income, weighing up the pros and cons from a number of different positions. The book provides a theory chapter, enabling readers to grasp some of the complex philosophical ideas and concepts which underpin universal basic income, such as social justice, equality and freedom. It also provides an examples chapter, which examines both historical and contemporary basic income studies to have taken place from around the globe. The book also features chapters on the environment and the work of women, as well as an 'against' universal basic income chapter, which specifically draws on the criticisms of the policy. This volume is an essential resource for anyone who wishes to get to grips with universal basic income.

Over the last two decades, Routine Dynamics has emerged as an international research community that shares a particular approach to organizational phenomena. At the heart of this approach is an interest in examining the emergence, reproduction, replication and change of routines as recognizable patterns of actions. In contrast to other research communities interested in those phenomena, Routine Dynamics studies are informed by a distinctive set of theories (especially practice theory and related process-informed theories). This Handbook offers both an accessible introduction to core concepts and approaches in Routine Dynamics as well as a comprehensive and authoritative overview of research in different areas of Routine Dynamics. The chapters of this Handbook are structured around four core themes: 1) Theoretical resources for research on the dynamics of routines, 2) Methodological issues in studying the dynamics routines, 3) Themes in Routine Dynamics research and 4) Relation of Routine Dynamics to other communities of thought.

In recent years, the European Commission has attached increasing importance to the use of financial engineering instruments rather than traditional grant-based financing for the microcredit sector, considering these to be the most efficient option available. This book presents a study of capacity building and structural funds in public managing authorities for the microcredit sector. It presents two surveys to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the managing authorities' capacity building. The first survey investigates the authorities' need for and interests in capacity building activities, assessing the areas in which capacity building support is needed, and explores the different types of support offered. The second survey analyses the results of the microcredit and microfinance programming activity, investigating its target groups and other operational features. It examines the key monitoring and reporting issues involved in this activity, before analysing the regulatory framework of the microcredit and microfinance sector. This book presents an in-depth analysis of structural funds and their management by policy-makers in the European convergence regions. It explores the interests of managing authorities, microcredit institutions, operators and other financial intermediaries involved in microcredit programming activities, and offers some core strategic and operational recommendations for the use of structural funds in the microcredit sector.

This volume gathers together key new contributions on the subject of the relationship, both empirical and theoretical, between economic oscillations, growth and structural change. Employing a sophisticated level of mathematical modelling, the collection contains articles from, amongst others, William Baumol, Katsuhito Iwai and William Brock.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203164830

This book, first published in 1971, reports on the first detailed study of pricing decisions ever made in the UK. Based on case studies, it shows precisely how thirteen pricing decisions were taken. In doing so, it reveals the objectives pursued by these firms and how conflicts between these objectives were resolved. The assessments of the pricing decisions show the strengths and weaknesses of the procedures used by the firms, and the relative importance of economic and organizational elements in such decisions.

Contents:
Part I. Gains from Regionalism and Multilateralism
1. Regional regionalism Wilfred J. Ethier
2. Multilateralism vs. regionalism: tariff co-operation and interregional transport costs Eric Bond
3. The 'gains' from preferential trade liberalization in the CGE models: where do they come from? Arvind Panagariya and Rupa Dutta-Gupta
4. The anatomy of multilateral trade policy reform Arja Turunen-Red and Alan Woodland
5. Regionalism and illegal immigration in North America: a theoretical analysis Helena Gaytan-Fregoso and Sajal Lahiri
Part II. Regionalism and Globalization for the Developing Countries
6. Regionalism for developing countries: assessing costs and benefits L. Alan Winters
7. Multilateral trade reform, regionalism and the developing countries David Greenaway and Chris Milner
8. Trading with the enemy: a case for liberalizing Pakistan-India trade Ijaz Nabi and Anjum Nasim
9. Foreign Direct investment and globalization V.N. Balasubramanyan and M.A. Salisu
Part III. Globalization and the Capital Markets
10. Financial liberalization and the globalization of financial services: two lessons from the East Asian experience Philip Arestis, Panicos Demetriades and Bassam Fattouh
Part IV. Globalization via Unilateral Actions
11. Unilateral liberalisation in an multilateral world Martin Richardson
Part V. Regionalism: Monetary, Fiscal, and Industrial Policy Co-ordination
12. Regional integration and the development of tax systems in the European Union Andreas Haufler
13. Regional approaches to cross-border competition policies P.J. Lloyd and Kerrin Vautier
14. Multiple steady states with unemployment and the exchange rate co-ordination Yoshiyasu Ono

This textbook provides a one-semester introduction to mathematical economics for first year graduate and senior undergraduate students. Intended to fill the gap between typical liberal arts curriculum and the rigorous mathematical modeling of graduate study in economics, this text provides a concise introduction to the mathematics needed for core microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics courses. Chapters 1 through 5 builds students' skills in formal proof, axiomatic treatment of linear algebra, and elementary vector differentiation. Chapters 6 and 7 present the basic tools needed for microeconomic analysis. Chapter 8 provides a quick introduction to (or review of) probability theory. Chapter 9 introduces dynamic modeling, applicable in advanced macroeconomics courses. The materials assume prerequisites in undergraduate calculus and linear algebra. Each chapter includes in-text exercises and a solutions manual, making this text ideal for self-study.

The Microeconomics of Wellbeing and Sustainability: Recasting the Economic Process explores the civil economy tradition in economic thought. Gaining increasing consensus worldwide, this alternative-not heterodox-view of the economic process and agents explains how modern economics is placing increasing emphasis on the determinants of subjective wellbeing and environmental sustainability. With support from behavioral economics, this book makes a foundational contribution that will help users better understand and prepare for future economic challenges.

Focusing on the service economy, and designed especially for non-economics majors, this practical text establishes a new and enduring blend of topics for courses in consumer economics and consumerism. Consumer Economics develops useful perspectives and rules of thumb to guide decision making. As it introduces the fundamentals of markets, consumer choice, financial assessment, risk avoidance, etc., it presses students to appreciate the world of markets and to clarify their personal priorities for decision making in such a world.

Boxed sections throughout the text illustrate concepts and provide examples, and each chapter includes a summary, consumer workshop, questions for study, and suggested readings.

CONTENTS

I. Getting Started

1. Introduction -- 2. Consumers -- 3. The Marketplace 4. Negotiation -- 5. Household Accounts

II. Priorities and Choices

6. Routine Shopping -- 7. Buying Durables -- 8. Borrowing 9. Risk and Uncertainty -- 10. Saving and Investing 11. Gains from International Trade

III. Consumer Rights and Protections

12. A History of Consumer Protection

13. Today's Consumer Protection System

14. Economic Footings for Consumer Policy

IV. Momentous Decisions

15. Housing -- 16. Cars -- 17. College -- 18. Kids 19. The Green Way -- 20. Health Care 21. Retirement -- 22. Death: Planning and Perspective

V. Consumers and the National Economy

23. National Consumption Its Measurement and Determination

24. Consumption and National Prosperity

25. Consumers and Government Spending

First published in 1943, this work contains five interconnected essays presenting the author's renowned additions to the business cycle theory. Written by one of the most distinguished economists of the 20th century, this work will be essential reading for students and scholars of the history of economic thought, monetary theory and macroeconomics.

Contents:
Part One: Causes and Correlates 1: The Twin Crises: The Causes of Banking and Balance of Payments Problems; 2: The Asian Financial Crisis: A Fait Accompli?; 3: Financial Crisis in the MIT Countries; 4: Japanese Banking Problems: Implications for Southeast Asia; Part Two: Cases and Caveats 5: Indonesia: The Long Road to Recovery; 6: The Malaysian Currency Crisis: Capital Flows Policy Responses and Macroeconomic Vulnerability; 7: Speculative Attack Theory and Currency Crisis in Korea; 8: Banking Crisis in Mexico; 9: Capital Flows and Economic Policy in Brazil; 10: The Yen that is too Strong: A Note on Japanese Crisis; 11: The Lessons from the Asian Financial Crisis; Part Three: Crisis Management and Reforms 12: The Asian Model, the Miracle, the Crisis and the Fund; 13:Financial Crises and Reforms: Towards an Assessment of the Emerging International Financial Architecture; 14: Sustainability, Vulnerability and Risk Management; 15: Should Capital Controls be Banished?

This concise and comprehensive introduction to economics offers readers at all levels a more realistic approach to understanding the elements of resource and product markets, including the role of business decisions; technological change; product differentiation; uncertainty; and the optimal location of activities. With the book's easy-to-use software package for computations, even non-economists will become strongly motivated and can gain a proficiency in economic analysis as well as in practical and professional decision-making skills. End-of-chapter problems, computer exercises, programming examples, and numerous diagrams further enhance the book's usefulness.

What do business organizations do? The results of business behaviour can be observed and experienced in the form of the goods that are produced. However what goes on within organizations is often hidden from the outside world. This reader enables the student to make sense of business behaviour by offering an understanding of what organizations do. The book is underpinned by a systems perspective and takes a process view of organizations. This enables it to demonstrate that any business is a number of interrelated business processes and that success is determined by the extent to which these activities add value whilst minimising cost. Specifically the book focuses on: activities through which the organization interacts with its customers including marketing and sales; how organizations process materials including purchasing and manufacturing; and forms of business organization, with a critical account of new paradigms including business process re-engineering. The book features articles by leading business gurus including Michael Porter, Philip Kotler and John Kay.

In developed countries, the food superstore or hypermarket has become the dominant mode of food distribution; and their success has transformed the retail sector. But each new store has changed the employment regime of the stores they replace. For retailers, labour is a major cost; with opening hours being extended, and consumer demand patterns changing, one solution has been the use of part-time labour. Extensive use of such labour characterises British food retailing for example whereas it is less common in France. This book examines the reasons for such differences, and the potential which management and employees have within the operation to manage working time to their benefit. This book makes use of a four country research programme, covering France, Germany, Great Britain and Japan. Investigations and interviews at store, company and individual level, paint a picture of working time in the sector and in each of the countries. The volume provides some explanations for national differences as well as the similarities; supply and demand issues, as well as societal and social backgrounds. Large format food retailing is a major force in each country, employing millions in many di

The theory of costs is a cornerstone of economic thinking, and figures crucially in the study of human action and society. From the first day of a principles-level course to the most advanced academic literature, costs play a vital role in virtually all behaviors and economic outcomes. How we make choices, why we trade, and how we build institutions and social orders are all problems that can be explained in light of the costs we face. This volume explores, develops, and critiques the rich literature on costs, examining some of the many ways cost remains relevant in economic theory and practice. The book especially studies costs from the perspective of the Austrian or "causal-realist" approach to economics. The chapters integrate the history of economic thought with contemporary research, finding valuable crossroads between numerous traditions in economics. They examine the role of costs in theories of choice and opportunity costs; demand and income effects; production and distribution; risk and interest rates; uncertainty and production; monopsony; Post-Keynesianism; transaction costs; socialism and management; and social entrepreneurship. Together, these papers represent an update and restatement of a central element in the economic way of thinking. Each chapter reveals how the Austrian, causalrealist approach to costs can be used to solve an important problem or debate in economics. These chapters are not only useful for students learning these concepts for the first time: they are also valuable for researchers seeking to understand the unique Austrian perspective and those who want to apply it to new problems.

Examines consumer decision-making on products and services of variable quality at the level of retail markets. Addresses for the first time consumer-producer interaction at the level of the individual consumer; issues of quality, consumption experience, and willingness-to-pay, as exhibited by individual consumers; and how these issues affect the decision-making process.

Series Information:
Routledge Studies in the Modern World Economy

Examines the fast growing role of internal and international tourism on local economic development in certain areas of China, and identifies the factors that determine the success or failure of tourism-oriented development.

This is the third volume in a new, definitive, six-volume edition of the works of Joseph Stiglitz, one of today's most distinguished and controversial economists. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for his work on asymmetric information and is widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers in the field of modern information economics and more generally for his contributions to microeconomics. Volume III contains a selection of Joseph E. Stiglitz's work on microeconomics. It questions well-established tenets, including many that are so fundamental they are almost taken for granted, covering basic concepts of risk and markets; the management of risk; the theory of the firm; the economics of organization; and theory of human behaviour. Stiglitz reflects on his work and the field more generally throughout the volume by including substantial original introductions to the Selected Works, the volume as a whole, and each part within the volume.

This book brings together cutting edge contributions in the fields of international economics, micro theory, welfare economics and econometrics, with contributions from Donald R. Davis, Avinash K. Dixit, Tadashi Inoue, Ronald W. Jones, Dale W. Jorgenson, K. Rao Kadiyala, Murray C. Kemp, Kenneth M. Kletzer, Anne O. Krueger, Mukul Majumdar, Daniel McFadden, Lionel McKenzie, James R. Melvin, James C. Moore, Takashi Negishi, Yoshihiko Otani, Raymond Riezman, Paul A. Samuelson, Joaquim Silvestre and Marie Thursby.

This book brings together empirical evidences and theoretical perspectives to provide a comprehensive overview of the microfinance sector in India. The essays in the volume: focus on the application of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in microfinance institutions to strengthen the savings movement and widen credit access to the poor and marginalized sections of society; present case studies on self-help group (SHG) movements, federations and SHG-Bank Linkage programmes; propose measures for strengthening regulatory and governance structures of the microfinance sector; and identify linkages between overall financial inclusion and the contribution of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The volume will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of microeconomics, South Asian economics and development economics as well as professionals and aspirants in the microfinance, rural banking and financial inclusion sectors.

This volume is a history of economics - as it was interpreted, discussed and established as a discipline - in the 20th century. It highlights the pluralism of the discipline and brings together leading voices in the field who reflect on their lifelong work. The chapters draw on a host of traditions of economic thought, including pre-classical, classical, Marxian, neoclassical, Sraffian, post-Keynesian, Cantabrigian and institutionalist traditions in economics. Further, the volume also looks at the history of economics in India and its evolution as a discipline since the country's independence. This book will appeal to students, researchers and teachers of economics and intellectual history, as well as to the interested general reader.