An updated revisting of the themes of Robin Marris' classic The Economic Theory of Managerial Capitalism (1964). This was widely recognised as pathbreaking as it was the first attempt by a professional economist to make a formal theory of the behaviour and growth of a large-scale 'managerial' corporation based on a realistic assessment of the sociological and institutional environment. The model determined the long-run growth rates of individual firms on the basis of the financial and market environment on the one hand and the needs, interest and aspirations of both managers and shareholders on the other. Managers in particular were shown to trade desire for growth against fear of takeover. These then novel important features of modern capitalism - mergers, takeovers and executive bonuses and the relationship between the growth of firms and the growth of the economy - have become increasingly topical. The book contains the original introduction along with reworked and updated coverage of the theoretical model, along with completely new chapters both of micro-theory and Marris' substantive response to the debate which the original book created.

The book considers the challenge of poverty and deterioration of the ecological environment in China, particularly in rural areas. Examining key factors such as the overuse of natural resources and the loss of biodiversity in the face of an expanding population and rapidly developing economy. It focuses on examining the frameworks of rural households in poor mountainous areas in rural China, considering their livelihood choices and decision-making processes. It analyses the relationship between these households' livelihoods and their environment, notably farmers' attitudes and perceptions towards ecological conservation policies, and their use of forest resources. Cutting across the fields of population studies, sociology, economy and environment, this is an important read for scholars and students interested in how China is dealing with the challenges of natural resources exploitation, sustainable development and social welfare.

Competition in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity is of increasing interest to policy makers as well as to buyers and sellers of power. The use of competition as a social policy tool to benefit consumers carries the necessity of preserving competition when it is threatened by mergers or other structural changes. The work explains central principles of antitrust economics and applies them to mergers in the electric power industry. This work focuses on mergers, but the economic principles explained here will be useful in analyzing many important issues flowing from growth of competition in electric power. For example, proper definition of markets and analysis of market power will be useful in decisions on whether to continue regulation.

The term infonomics has been coined to convey the underlying value of information in terms of its production, market demand, and economic impact. All consumers have come to assume that the information they seek is easily accessible, and more importantly, free of charge. Infonomics and the Business of Free: Modern Value Creation for Information Services addresses the question of whether or not information has become a commodity and examines how infonomics and the "business of free" have changed the way companies must create and market their information to make it accessible and valuable for their customers. Information professionals who are responsible for creating valuable information and making services sustainable and accessible will greatly benefit from this book's unique perspective and complete review of current research.

This book offers an examination of the empirical data of business cycles, the theories that economists have developed to explain them, and major case studies of recessions and depressions both in the United States and internationally. When it first appeared in 2004, the first edition of Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles offered readers an expertly guided tour through fundamental business cycle theories and the latest research on pivotal market failures. In the aftermath of the events of the 2008 economic crisis, Knoop offers an extensively updated new edition. As before, the second edition offers clear explanations of classical and Keynesian economic theory and how each has moved in and out of favor from the early 20th century to the present. It then provides detailed studies of major business-cycle downturns in the United States, from the Great Depression and postwar recessions to the "new" economy of the 1990s, the 2001 recession, and in an all-new chapter, the 2008 global financial crisis. The book also features an exhaustive update of statistical data, plus coverage of recent international crises in Argentina and Japan, and a new chapter on what we do and don't know about business cycles.

The book provides a comprehensive examination of patterns and determinants of production networks in East Asia, a key driver in the region's global success. It provides the reader with an accessible understanding of the theoretical literature on production networks and recent developments in empirical analysis at the industry and firm-levels. The topics covered in the book include: gross trade in parts and components and gravity models, trade in value added, industry case studies, and micro data econometric studies of firm heterogeneity in production networks. The micro data econometric studies explore key aspects of the heterogeneity of firms in East Asian production networks such as technological capability, the entry of small and medium enterprises into production networks, business use of free trade agreements, and access to credit. Blending new sources of data, empirical tools and econometric methods this book is highly recommended for readers who seek to understand the workings of the complex web of production networks in East Asia.

First Published in 1972. The London Discount Market is unique, and its existence has contributed more than any other single factor to the elaboration of what may legitimately be called the Anglo-Saxon tradition in Central Banking technique. The bill of exchange has existed for centuries in its classical late Victorian form by many decades. This book assesses how in no other country in the world did the same relationships evolve between the Central institution and the Money Market.

The apparel industry has the scale, reach, and technical expertise to deliver on-target sustainable development goals within the industry's sphere of influence in its interconnected global and local value chains. From the farm to the consumer, the textile, retail, and apparel production industry has an array of economic, environmental, social, and governance impacts. In order to meet sustainable goals, the industry is challenged to buy and produce goods and services that do not harm the environment, society, and the economy. Circular Economy and Re-Commerce in the Fashion Industry is a pivotal reference source that explores and proposes solutions for best practices to meet sustainable development goals in the fashion industry and provides guidelines for assessing the technological landscape and modeling sustainable business practices. Highlighting a wide range of topics including digital marking, consumer behavior, and social and legal perspectives, this book is ideally designed for suppliers, brand managers, retailers, multinational investors, marketers, executives, designers, manufacturers, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

In recent years, the potential role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in fostering socio-economic development has received increasing attention in the international economic community. However, no previous works have dealt with the technological capabilities of these enterprises. Here, A. S. Bhalla and a distinguished group of contributors fill this gap by presenting a sustained analysis of the technology issues and options facing small and medium enterprises in both urban and rural settings. The work is organized around three major issues: the policies and programs that affect small and medium enterprises; the innovation potential of these businesses; and the institutions and infrastructure most conducive to their success in developing and advanced economies.

Following Bhalla's introduction, Part One looks at the macro- and microeconomic policy environment necessary to stimulate the innovative capacity and potential of SMEs. The contributors show that existing policy measures are invariably geared toward large enterprises and discuss whether removal of these policy biases is enough to promote SME growth or whether more interventionist approaches are needed. Part Two focuses on the capacity of SMEs to design and manufacture equipment or products--adapting technology to suit their particular requirements. The contributors challenge the accepted views in this area, demonstrating that even microenterprises have the capacity for product and process innovations. In Part Three, the contributors examine the success of the business incubation process in fostering technological innovation, the traditional forms of support offered to SMEs in developing economies, and the linkages between SMEs and research institutions. In each section, individual chapters examine the operation of SMEs in a variety of settings in both advanced and developing countries. Must reading for policymakers and students of international economics, "Small and Medium Enterprises" is a catalyst for informed action in this vital segment of economic activity.

This book, now in its third edition, explores how human populations grow, based on their creative abilities. To reconsider the theory of economic growth from a physicist's perspective, the book analyses the concepts of value and utility and their relationship to thermodynamic concepts. This approach allows the author to include characteristics of technology in descriptions of development and to formulate a phenomenological (macroeconomic, no-price fluctuations are discussed) theory of production as a set of evolutionary equations in one-sector and multi-sector approximations. The theory is proved to be useful for describing both national economies and global production in ancient times. This monograph presents the topics in a compact and consistent manner and can be used by students with a background in physics and other natural sciences who wish to specialize in economics. It explains how the growth of production is connected with advances in technology, consumption of labour and energy and makes it possible to analyse past and present social production systems and to build scripts of future progress. The book is of interest to energy specialists engaged in planning and analyzing the production and consumption of energy carriers, and to economists wanting to know how energy and technology affect economic growth. This third edition has been substantially revised and three brand new chapters have been added. Chapter 8 illustrates the robustness of the theory with the aid of statistical historical data from the Russian economy, while Chapter 12 is devoted to a reconstruction of the global production activity in ancient times. Chapter 13 discusses the principles of the organization of social production.

The encouragement of the birth and growth of high technology small firms is a major goal of both national and regional government planning agencies. However, while there is broad agreement on the increasing value of this type of small firm to future industrial expansion beyond the year 2000, there is little hard evidence on which to base measures to encourage the rate of new firm formation and subsequent growth. This book aids policy prescription by providing a detailed study of regional variations in the management of innovation in high technology small firms. The empirical research considers all the major management factors that are inputs to the innovation process through a time-series study of innovation in British and American high technology small firms. In conclusion, results of this study form the basis of a radical new policy approach to the promotion of growth in high technology small firms.

The book provides a thorough treatment of set functions, games and capacities as well as integrals with respect to capacities and games, in a mathematical rigorous presentation and in view of application to decision making. After a short chapter introducing some required basic knowledge (linear programming, polyhedra, ordered sets) and notation, the first part of the book consists of three long chapters developing the mathematical aspects. This part is not related to a particular application field and, by its neutral mathematical style, is useful to the widest audience. It gathers many results and notions which are scattered in the literature of various domains (game theory, decision, combinatorial optimization and operations research). The second part consists of three chapters, applying the previous notions in decision making and modelling: decision under uncertainty, decision with multiple criteria, possibility theory and Dempster-Shafer theory.

Examining the role of the public sector in small-business debt-capital formation, this book describes current approaches, conceptually and pragmatically, and evaluates their advantages and disadvantages from a variety of perspectives. It also suggests a model for improving our approach to small business capital formation in the United States. Financing small business creation and expansion has always been difficult. Private debt capital providers tend to avoid small business because the latter are preceived to be too risky. Yet because of the importance of small businesses to national economic growth, stability, and innovation, ensuring that these businesses can obtain and effectively use appropriate levels of debt capital is vital to national well-being. How, and to what extent, should the public sector intervene in the debt capital markets to ensure that sufficient capital flows to small businesses? This book is an attempt to answer that question.

Internalization theory, despite criticism of its empirical deficiency, has dominated the industrial organization approach to the multinational enterprise and its foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions. Liu improves the empirical foundations of internalization theory, through the elaboration of the FDI signaling framework, which holds that a firm's direct foreign investment influences the perceptions of less-informed market participants. The signaling concept is derived from the premise that a firm's intangible assets in know-how cannot be correctly priced in a market with asymmetric information, and this motivates the firm's decision to undertake FDI. If the premise is correct, the firm's decision is based on inside information, and the firm's action reveals that information to the market. The firm's FDI internalization is evidence of management's confidence in its intangible assets, and its action may further influence market perceptions. The hypotheses generated along this line of analysis are subjected to investigation, and the evidence supports the FDI signaling proposition. Moreover, the study represents an indirect test of internalization theory. As a result, internalization is transformed from a untested theory to an empirical result.

As the rural township, village and private enterprises are becoming more significant in the Chinese economy, this text focuses on the comparison of the rural (non-state) and state firms in terms of performance. The analysis is based on the empirical results from estimating various production functions applied to cross-section and panel data. Both aggregate and firm-specific efficiencies are examined in the case studies, exploring potential sources of efficiency differentials such as ownership, scale, factor intensity, location and economic reforms. Special attention is also paid to the regional comparison of industrial development and performance. The implications of the findings in the book for economic and reform policy are thus highlighted.

Contemporary studies on social structure and the world political economy tend to be concerned primarily with present conditions and what these promise--or threaten for the future of the planet. The authors of this volume have taken a less fashionable stance, looking instead to the recent past and the pivotal historical moments that have formed the world we live in. Consisting of fourteen essays contributed by an international group of specialists, Rethinking the Nineteenth Century examines the social formations of that period and integrates them into a modern theoretical framework. The broad issues of class and state formation, imperialism and nationalism, and ascent and decline in the world system are the central focus of the book.

Financial economics is a fascinating topic where ideas from economics, mathematics and, most recently, psychology are combined to understand financial markets. This book gives a concise introduction into this field and includes for the first time recent results from behavioral finance that help to understand many puzzles in traditional finance. The book is tailor made for master and PhD students and includes tests and exercises that enable the students to keep track of their progress. Parts of the book can also be used on a bachelor level. Researchers will find it particularly useful as a source for recent results in behavioral finance and decision theory.

This volume brings together business, government and academic representatives from the United States, Pacific and Asian nations to address issues of regional economic cooperation in the Pacific Basin. The contributors focus particularly on cooperation in five areas: development, commodities, technology, human resources, and issues and directions. Their papers explore both the broad questions of cooperation in regional economic development and more practical concerns such as appropriate technology, political constraints, and foreign aid. Invaluable supplemental reading for courses in economic development and comparative economics, "Pacific Cooperation and Development" provides important new insights into the dynamics of economic development in an increasingly critical global market.

How Markets Work presents a new and refreshing introduction to elementary economics. The venerable theory of supply and demand is reconstituted upon plausible and defensible assumptions concerning human nature, the law, and the facts of everyday life - in short - the 'Real World'. The message is that markets differ in ways that matter. Starting with a brief survey of property and contract law, the lectures develop several 'ideal types' of markets - such as credit, assets, and labor - while illuminating the similarities and differences among them. Care has been taken to ensure that the reformulations presented are accessible to students and compatible with a variety of non-mainstream traditions in economic thought.Topics covered include the theory of markets, labor markets, market processes when influenced by the availability of information, and social, ethical and political considerations. Also discussed are commodity, credit and asset markets, contracts, dynamics of labor markets, and the economics of discrimination. This book is intended as an essential supplemental text for undergraduate economics students, particularly in heterodox programs, as well as for those in companion liberal arts and sociology fields looking for an accessible introduction to essential economic theory.