This volume brings together leading economists in the UK to address the issue of the sustainable use of the natural environment. The result is a set of original essays which reappraise the 'no growth' debate, investigate the new environmental ethic being built on the concept of sustainable development, look at the way in which projects with major environmental consequences should be evaluated, and ask how future generations are to be represented in economic evaluation.

Restructuring Eastern Europe brings together a distinguished group of scholars and experts who discuss the transition process in Eastern Europe at the microeconomic level. The restructuring and privatization of enterprises has not kept pace with the macroeconomic success that has been achieved in some formerly centrally planned countries. The contributors discuss the ideological, institutional, socio-political and financial problems resulting from the transition process. New insights into complex microeconomic issues such as the dispersion of foreign direct investment, privatization and company management, entrepreneurship and supply-chain development are also discussed. Special attention is paid to the roles of corporate governance, technological integration, the role of environmental and regional policies and the reform of the banking system. This innovative book presents a comprehensive overview of the varying levels of success of the policies of different countries. It will prove invaluable to research scholars, postgraduate students and officials in government agencies concerned with restructuring the economies of Eastern Europe.

This book aims to explain to the readers the basic idea of the general equilibrium theory, which forms the core of the current mainstream economics called neoclassical school. To understand this theory is absolutely necessary, either to study further or to criticize the contemporary economic theories. The author not only explains traditional theories, but also makes clear the many problems which are still unsolved.

As a text book or reference book for those students who are studying microeconomics for the first time, the author recommends the use of Chapter 1, Chapter 2 (except section 9), Chapter 3 (from section 1 to section 3, section 6, section 11), Chapter 4 (from section 1 to section 4), Chapter 5 (from section 1 to section 5, section 8), Chapter 6 (except sections 6 and 7), Chapter 7 (from section 1 to section 5), Chapter 8 (from section 1 to section 6) and Chapter 9 (sections 1, 4 and 7). For more advanced readers, the author recommends the remaining sections and the literature recommended in the last part of each chapter. Problems given at the end of each chapter allow readers to confirm understanding of the content of the chapter and suggest to the readers more advanced studies. Incidentally, the author tried to avoid the use of the advanced mathematics. Onlyelementary knowledge ofdifferential calculus and linear algebra are required to read this book."

This important book provides a systematic and quantitative analysis of the development of the software industry: the major growth industry in advanced economies of the world. It presents the results of a comprehensive set of industry surveys to shed light on the differences in specialization and performance of US and European software firms. Salvatore Torrisi analyses the development of the software industry within the context of theories of technical change. He interprets exhaustive surveys of firms participating in software industries conducted between 1990 and 1997. These reveal the main characteristics of innovation activities in software, including the characteristics of product and process innovations, the sources of technological change within firms, the instruments for the protection of innovation and the nature of innovative skills. The author also compares the historical evolution of software activities in Europe and in the United States and explains the differences in specialization and performance in terms of the geographical proximity to leading hardware manufacturers, the size of the domestic market, regulation and public policies, including property rights and anti-trust. This unparalleled book will be required reading for academics interested in industrial organisation and the economics of innovation.

This scholarly yet accessible book provides an introduction to the main topics in production economics. The book successfully integrates two historically distinct perspectives on modeling technology: from microeconomics and engineering.

This book takes readers on a unique journey across some of the most debated implications of the rise of the Chinese economy on the global scene. From the analysis, suggestions emerge on how to improve statistical tools to measure performance and to obtain more precise macroeconomic forecasts. Moreover, it confirms the suspicion that a governance model of firms that does not sufficiently encourage market competition may have significant costs in terms ofefficiency for the Chinese production system. The analysis of demographic factors and of household savings gives further support to calls for a serious reform effort, particularly of the pension and health care systems, to utilize households' savings more efficiently and equitably. Finally the analyses of Chinese and global trade underscore the need for a less superficial consideration of the implications of the Chinese presence in global markets.
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This book attempts to explain the changes in specifiC macroeconomic vari- ables-such as the relative share oflabor, the profIt rate, and the real wage rate in advanced capitalist economies-in relation to the influence of the business cycle in income distribution. In the pursuit of this inquiry, I fIrSt establish some stylized facts that I wish to investigate. The three countries discussed here-the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan-are observed over a period of twenty-two years beginning in 1970, which covers at least three business cycles. This study makes several assumptions. First, there is no common feature on whether labor share moves countercyclically or procyclically; however, labor share increases in the fIrst year of contraction and decreases in the fIrst year of expansion, though there are some exceptions. Second, the profIt rate moves pro cyclically . Third, labor productivity moves pro cyclically and shows a symmetrical change; productivity sharply increases in the fIrSt year of expansion in terms of the growth rate and decreases in the fIrst year of con- traction. Fourth, the real wage rate has no common feature. Finally, labor shares with and without "labor income of self-employment" imputed from self-employment income are almost parallel (except for Japan), and their move- ments are also similar, though they move differently for some years. To explain these facts, I examine three types of model (or theory)-Kaldorian theory, real-business-cycle theory, and new Keynesian theory-but the focus is on Kaldor's approach-hence, the book's subtitle, A Kaldorian Analysis.

Economics has paid little attention to the psychology of economic behaviour, leading to somewhat simplistic assumptions about human nature. The psychological aspects have typically been reduced to standard utility theory, based on a narrow conception of rationality and self-interest maximization. The contributions in this volume, some focused on analytical models and methodology, others on laboratory and field experiments, challenge these assumptions, and provide novel and complex understandings of human motivation and economic decision-making. With a pioneering introduction by the book's two editors, this volume brings together exciting contributions to a field that is rapidly growing in influence and reach.

The book discusses the mechanisms by which securities are traded, as well as examining economic models of asymmetric information, inventory control, and cost-minimizing trading strategies.

Productivity Change, Public Goods and Transaction Costs presents in one definitive volume a selection of Yoram Barzel's acclaimed articles and papers. It will improve access to his many important contributions and reveals how his research interests have evolved over more than three decades. Focusing upon issues in microeconomics, this volume features pathbreaking articles and papers on production functions and productivity, optimal timing, labour, public choice, industrial organization, demand analysis, and property rights and transaction costs. Key contributions featured in this collection include 'Some Observations on the Index Number Problem', 'An Alternative Approach to the Analysis of Taxation', 'An Economic Analysis of Slavery' and 'Measurement Cost and the Organization of Markets'. As an introduction to this volume, Professor Barzel has prepared an autobiographical sketch in which he discusses his education, the development of his ideas and influences such as Don Patinkin, Douglass North and Aaron Director.

To date, the formulation of a systematic theory of the organization of markets has proved to be a difficult task and remains unfinished. Nevertheless, explanations do exist as to why, under given conditions, the basic activities of trade are organized in one particular fashion rather than another. This invaluable collection of essays brings together important papers by authors working in the tradition of the new institutional economics. The editors have provided an original introduction which presents a comprehensive overview of their selection. The volume is an essential source of reference and an excellent resource for economists, students of public policy, sociologists, political scientists and legal analysts.

This text focuses on two key components of microeconomics - optimization subject to constraints and the development of comparative statics. It assumes familiarity with calculus of one variable and basic linear algebra, allowing more extensive coverage of additional topics like constrained optimization, the chain rule, Taylor's theorem, line integrals and dynamic programming. The book contains numerous examples that illustrate economics and mathematical situations, many with complete solutions.;"Mathematics for Economists" provides a collection of topics to complement first semester PhD microeconomics course. It contains the mathematical material necessary as background for topics covered in graduate level microeconomics courses.

Price and Markup Behaviour in Manufacturing examines the role that cost, competing domestic and foreign prices, domestic demand and market structure play in determining the price and markup of manufacturing firms across a range of countries and industries. Michael Olive models imperfectly competitive behaviour at the firm level, establishing logical relationships between these variables. Aggregating these relationships gives predictions for price and markup at the industry level. Empirical analysis is carried out by estimating a pricing equation for 11 industrialised countries in Asia, Europe and North America, and for 24 International Standard Industrial Classification industries from 1970 to 1991. The results exhibit a pattern of incomplete pass-through from competing foreign price into industry price and markups that are not fixed. The author illustrates that for higher levels of industry concentration cost becomes less influential in determining industry price, while the opposite is true for competing domestic and foreign prices. This comprehensive and thorough examination of the literature on pricing, the innovative model development and the comparative analysis in this study will be of great interest to government policymakers and academics wanting to keep abreast of new developments in the area of pricing and markup.

This important new book deals with some of the most fundamental issues of transaction cost economics. It focuses on the analysis of the internal nature and characteristics of organizations and on the subtle interactions between institutional environment and governance structures over time.Transaction Cost Economics investigates the nature of contractual arrangements involved in large organizations, the 'configurations' of corporations, the modes of governance implemented, and the respective role of different constituencies. The second series of problems addressed in the book concerns the interaction between the institutional environment and governance structures over time, with special emphasis on the Russian privatization programme and the narcotics market. These twin analyses substantiate the distinction between private and public ordering. The book is strongly oriented towards increasing the operationalization of the concepts of transaction cost economics. The book will be essential reading for everyone interested in the new institutional economics and by recent developments in the theory of contracts, in transaction costs economics and in organisation theory. Because of its emphasis on potential applications, it will also be of interest to readers from management science and those involved in the analysis of economies in transition.

Showing that economic development and public health, often thought of as distinct, are both interdependent and dependent on social and political conditions, this book provides a new appreciation of the close relationship between microenterprise development and health in developing countries. Many of the world's poor earn a living from microenterprises, often outside the formal economy, and international practitioners have recently turned their attention to this underground economy, providing support through group poverty lending and village banking models, but overlooking the potential benefits of linking income generation with public health. This book argues for a conceptual and practical relationship between microenterprise development and household health, nutrition, and sanitation.

To support their framework, the authors look at specific actions for harnessing the power of microeconomic development to improve health and human development. They support their argument further with case studies of innovative programs carried out in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The book challenges the reader to cross disciplinary and professional boundaries to not only understand the interrelationships between health and income generation but to use available tools to enhance those interrelationships.

The class is theory of price regulation assumed that the regulator knows the fIrm's costs, the key piece of information that enables regulators to pressure fmns to choose appropriate behaviors. The "regulatory problem" was reduced to a mere pricing problem: the regulator's goal was to align price with marginal cost, subject to the constraint that revenues must cover costs. Elegant and important insights ensued. The most important was that regulation was inevitably a struggle to achieve second-best outcomes. (Ramsey pricing was a splendid example. ) Reality proved harsh to regulatory theory. The fmn's costs are by no means known to the regulator. At best, the regulator may know how much is currently spent to provide services, but hardly what costs would be if the fmn vigorously pursued effIciency. Even if the current cost curve were known to the regulator, technologies change so swiftly that today's costs are a very poor indicator of tomorrow's, and those are the costs that will determine the fIrm's future decisions. With the burgeoning attention to information considerations and game theory in economics, the regulator's problem of eliciting host information about cost has received considerable attention. In most cases, however, it has been in context that are both static and stylized; such analyses rarely capture many of the essential elements of real world regulatory issues. This volume represents a fresh approach. It reflects Glenn Blackmon's twin strengths, a keen analytic mind and important experience in the regulatory arena.

Your classic advanced microeconomic theory textbook delivering rigorous coverage of modern microeconomics.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 envisioned a competitive free-for-all in the U.S. telecommunications industry with removal of barriers to entry in local telecommunications markets and the lifting of the artificial restrictions that kept the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) out of the interLATA long-distance market. After close to 5 years, only one RBOC has been granted permission (controversially) to enter the interLATA market, and local competition has yet to provide most consumers with meaningful choices. In addition, the wave of mergers across the industry has raised the specter of putting the former Bell System back together again. Policymakers now openly question whether the Act can deliver what it promised. Three principal themes are developed in this book. First, there has been a coordination failure between Congress and the FCC in translating the principles embodied in the Act into practice. The authors provide evidence for this by analyzing stock market reactions to legislative and regulatory actions. This coordination failure was largely predictable, given the ambiguity in the Act, as well as conflicting jurisdictions between the FCC and the states. Second, the Act calls for wholesale prices to be based on cost.' Regulators adopted a costing standard (TELRIC) that provides a means to subsidize competitive entry in local telephone service markets. The ready adoption of the TELRIC standard by regulators is shown to be tied to the third theme: price cap regulation provides regulators with insurance' against the adverse effects of competition in local telephone markets. Statistical analysis reveals that regulators in price cap states set uniformly lower unbundled network element prices (lower barriers to entry) in comparison with regulators in rate-of-return and earnings sharing states. The result is a triumph of regulatory processes over market processes - the antithesis of the purpose of the Act.

The internet and the electronic economy are a technological revolution whose secular importance is apparent. The internet eliminates the temporal and spatial constraints on the exchange of information. It changes deeply the world of production and of labour. It transforms the exchange relationships between producers and consumers as well as between the suppliers within the supply-chain. The electronic economy is able to generate more accurate con sumer profiles and, therefore, a more powerful and effective marketing di rected to the individual consumer. There is no industry that is not undergoing thorough changes caused by the internet. The volume at hand gives an analysis of the internet revolution. It covers questions reaching form the highly controversial thesis of the end of property rights in the internet caused by the non-rivalry of the "consumption" of in formation to questions regarding the repercussions of the internet on our understanding of the human person. Technological changes like the introduction of the electronic economy pose the question of how to handle it and how to manage reasonably its ethi cal problems and dilemmas. The ethical problems and the business ethics of the electronic economy in the fields of production and labour, of consump tion, and in handling trust and the abuse of trust are analysed by the contribu tions from applied ethics and business ethics."

"Economics at the Wheel" is about cars and driving, and all the problems that cars and drivers create for America. It explains actual government policy intended to reduce the damage cars and drivers do to us, and it explains why these government policies are almost all failures because they attack the wrong problem or attack it in the wrong way. The reader will come away with a much fuller understanding of air pollution, global warming, highway safety, auto insurance, gasoline taxation, rush-hour congestion, leaking underground storage tanks, and many other auto-related issues. It looks at common actions and circumstances from an economics perspective. It is readable with accessible prose style and few footnotes. It includes questions to provoke student thinking and boxed sections of side materials to stimulate discussions.

? In his "Prime ricerche sulla rivoluzione dei prezzi in Firenze" (1939), Giuseppe Parenti, by Fernand Braudel regarded as an author who "se classait, d'entree de jeu et sans discussion possible, a la hauteur meme d'Earl Jefferson Hamilton. . . . " begins his opening lines with a description/de?nition of the price revolution which took place in the XVI in Europe as "that extraordinary enhancement of all things that occurred in European countries around the second half of the XVI; revolution in the true meaning of the word, as not only, like any strong price increase, it modi?ed the wealth distribution process and changed the relative position of the various social categories and of the different functions of the economic activity, but affected too, in a way that was not enough studied yet, the relative evolution of the various national economies, and ?nally, . . . . . . . . . ., certainly contributed to the birth, or at least to the dissemination, of the new naturalistic economic ideas, from which the economic science would have sprung." De?nition that can be taken as the founding metaphor of this volume."

An important new resource for managers in marketing, finance, acquisitions analysis, and strategic planning, this book explores a question central to the financial health of every company: Is there a rate of corporate growth that is both desirable and sustainable? As the authors point out, excessive growth in sales can be as destructive to the survival of a firm as no growth. Here they present analytical models and tools that enable corporate planners to evaluate their own growth needs, target realistic expectations, and assess the collateral risks of growing either too fast or too slow.

Focusing throughout on the concept of managed growth, the authors begin with a theoretical micro/macroeconomic analysis and proceed to a practical, applied presentation of growth theory in management decision making. They present models useful for both short- and long-term management, all of them illustrated with concrete data taken from corporate annual reports and SEC 10K reports. By employing these models, planners will be able to accurately forecast optimal and feasible growth rates, evaluate the impact of price fluctuations on the sustainable growth rate, isolate the effects of productivity trends, plan working capital requirements, determine the most favorable capital structure of the firm, and measure the impact of potential mergers or takeovers on sustainable growth. Each of the models can easily be programmed for computer usage. The authors also pay considerable attention to remedial actions that can be taken when the actual growth rate either exceeds or falls short of the sustainable growth rate, making this an especially practical tool for anyone charged with financial, sales, and strategic planning responsibilities.