Money is a legal institution with principal economic and sociological consequences. Money is a debt, because that is how it is conceptualised and comes into existence: as circulating credit - if viewed from the creditor's perspective - or, from the debtor's viewpoint, as debt. This book presents a legal theory of money, based on the concept of dematerialised property. It describes the money creation or money supply process for cash and for bank money, and looks at modern forms of money, such as cryptocurrencies. It also shows why mainstream economics presupposes, but avoids an analysis of, money by effectively eliminating money from the microeconomic market model and declaring it as merely a neutral medium of exchange and unit of account. The book explains that money rather brings about and influences substantially the exchange or transaction it is supposed to facilitate only as a neutral medium. As the most liquid of all assets, money enables financialisation, monetisation and commodification in the economy. The central role of the banks in the money creation process and in the economy, and their strengthened position after the bank rescue measures in the wake of the financial crisis 2008-9 are also discussed. Providing a rigorous analysis of the most salient legal issues regarding money, this book will appeal to legal theorists, economists and anyone working in commercial or banking law.

Behavioral Public Economics shows how standard public economics can be improved using insights from behavioral economics. Public economics typically lists four market failures that may justify government intervention in markets-imperfect competition (or natural monopoly), externalities, public goods, and asymmetric information. Under the rational choice paradigm ('agents choose what is best for them'), public economics has examined the welfare effects of policy. Recent research in behavioral economics highlights a fifth market failure-individuals may make mistakes in pursuing their own well-being. This book calls for a rethinking of assumptions of individual behavior and provides a good foundation for public economic theory. Key features: Introduces behavioral perspectives into public economics. Explains why economic incentives often undermine social preferences. Reveals that social incentives matter for public policy. This book will be an invaluable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in public economics, behavioral economics, and public policy.

Behavioral Public Economics shows how standard public economics can be improved using insights from behavioral economics. Public economics typically lists four market failures that may justify government intervention in markets-imperfect competition (or natural monopoly), externalities, public goods, and asymmetric information. Under the rational choice paradigm ('agents choose what is best for them'), public economics has examined the welfare effects of policy. Recent research in behavioral economics highlights a fifth market failure-individuals may make mistakes in pursuing their own well-being. This book calls for a rethinking of assumptions of individual behavior and provides a good foundation for public economic theory. Key features: Introduces behavioral perspectives into public economics. Explains why economic incentives often undermine social preferences. Reveals that social incentives matter for public policy. This book will be an invaluable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in public economics, behavioral economics, and public policy.

Even after achieving the status of a developed economy, many economies face other challenges which may include economic stagnation and income inequality. The book looks at how a mature economy can continue to weather challenges and how the growth of living standards will depend on productivity growth through Singapore's experience. After Singapore's rapid economic transformation, the nation is at a crossroads. The book explains how productivity growth in turn depends on technological diffusion from abroad as well as indigenous innovation. It also examines how the design of policy to develop indigenous innovation to promote economic dynamism may come with creative destruction and disruptive effects on jobs and wages. The Singapore Economy provides insight into how we can maintain social cohesion and establish a political equilibrium that embraces the new sources of growth through policy formulation for economic inclusion.

Governments typically build and maintain public infrastructure, which they fund through taxes. But in the past twenty-five years, many developing and advanced economies have introduced public-private partnerships (PPPs), which bundle finance, construction, and operation into a long-term contract with a private firm. In this book, the authors provide a summary of what, they believe, are the main lessons learned from the interplay of experience and the academic literature on PPPs, addressing such key issues as, when governments should choose a PPP instead of a conventional provision, how PPPs should be implemented, and the appropriate governance structures for PPPs. The authors argue that the fiscal impact of PPPs is similar to that of conventional provisions and that they do not liberate public funds. The case for PPPs rests on efficiency gains and service improvements, which often prove elusive. Indeed, pervasive renegotiations, faulty fiscal accounting, and poor governance threaten the PPP model.

Herbert A. Simon has been a leading contributor to cognitive psychology, computer science, public administration, philosophy and statistics, and is the winner of the 1978 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics. As this collection demonstrates, his impact on economics has been felt in areas as diverse as the theory of the firm and economic organization, consumer behaviour, law and economics, and environmental economics. Central to his work is the notion of bounded rationality - the mismatch between human decision-making capacities and the scale of the decision problems that people face, which results in satisficing rather than optimizing behaviour - and his belief that economic research should start from the study of actual behaviour rather than being based on convenient but unrealistic assumptions. Peter Earl's choice of articles shows both the kind of economics that emerges when Simon's philosophy is followed comprehensively, and what happens when neo-classical economists partially adopt his ideas.

The near-ubiquitous spread of ICT offers unprecedented opportunities for social and economic agents, reshapes social and economic structures and drives the emergence of socioeconomic networks. This book contributes to the growing body of literature and present state of knowledge, offering the reader broad evidence on how new information and communication technologies impact women's economic and social empowerment and hence have an impact on overall welfare creation. More specifically, it concentrates on demonstrating how ICT may become "empowering technologies" through their implementation. The book is designed to provide deep insight into the theoretical and empirical evidence on ICT as a significant driver of women`s social and economic development. Special focus is given to examining the following broad topics: channels of ICT impact on women's development; the role of ICT in enhancing women's active participation in formal labor markets; examples of how ICT encourages education, skills development, institutions development et alia, and thus contributes to women's social and economic empowerment, as well as case-based evidence on ICT's role in fostering women's equality. The primary audience for the book will be scholars and academic professionals from a wide variety of disciplines but mainly those who are concerned with addressing the issues of economic development and growth, social development, the role of technology progress in the context of broadly defined socioeconomic progress. Chapters 1 and 3 of this book are available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. They have been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Technological progress and globalization have generated indisputable benefits, but also relevant costs, such as growing economic inequality, economic fluctuations, and financial instability. Mainstream economics has usually considered these costs as temporary, evenly distributed, and more than compensated by the gains of the phases of economic expansion. In this book, which focuses mainly (though not only) on the labor market, the authors contend that the major costs of the intensified process of creative destruction, through which economic change proceeded, have been ignored and the benefits overrated, thus incorrectly estimating the net impact of economic growth on subjective wellbeing. The book argues that the positive consequences of economic change and globalization may not compensate for the negatives, because psychological losses are felt more strongly than gains (due to loss aversion) and the costs are unequally distributed (those on low incomes disproportionately suffer more). The result is an overall reduction in wellbeing and therefore appropriate policies are necessary to allow more people to enjoy the benefits of technological progress without suffering the costs. The authors develop a comprehensive framework in which the socio-psychological context and educational level of a community determine the most suitable policies both for the short and for the long run. The book makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on economic growth and development, labor economics, the economics of wellbeing, and applications of behavioral economics. The readers that may be interested in this book are economists and other social scientists, but also general readers, since the analysis is maintained simple and accessible. University teachers can use the book for courses on economic growth and development, on labor economics, on the economics of human capital, on the economics of wellbeing, and on applications of behavioral economics.

The book provides an integrated approach to risk sharing, risk spreading and efficient regulation through principal agent models. It emphasizes the role of information asymmetry and risk sharing in contracts as an alternative to transaction cost considerations. It examines how contracting, as an institutional mechanism to conduct transactions, spreads risks while attempting consolidation. It further highlights the shifting emphasis in contracts from Coasian transaction cost saving to risk sharing and shows how it creates difficulties associated with risk spreading, and emphasizes the need for efficient regulation of contracts at various levels. Each of the chapters is structured using a principal agent model, and all chapters incorporate adverse selection (and exogenous randomness) as a result of information asymmetry, as well as moral hazard (and endogenous randomness) due to the self-interest-seeking behavior on the part of the participants.

Price Theory and its Applications is an authoritative collection of influential papers which illustrate with unusual force the uses and techniques of applied price theory. The collection includes articles by Nobel laureates as well as less well-known economists and covers North America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. The articles selected display a variety of techniques from verbal exposition through geometric methods to sophisticated mathematical techniques such as optimal control theory and game theory. The first section of the book provides an insight into the diversity of market institutions. Some classic questions in market dynamics are addressed in section two, which is followed by a section on the rationale and consequences of government interventions. Various aspects of monopoly power are explored in the next three sections which cover cartels and monopolies, so-called 'natural monopoly' situations and monopolistically competitive markets. In conclusion a more light-hearted example is offered.

* The real strength of the book lies in setting out an alternative vision to the current practice in economics, especially in light of the re-evaluation being forced by COVID-19 in addition to the climate crisis. * Offers an important challenge to the current corporate sustainability gospel expressed in recent books. * Written by a well-recognised commentator on the environment and economics. * The book specifically connects global environmental imperatives with their microeconomic implications for businesses and households, which makes it utterly unique.

The Annual Report objectively reflects the whole year's progress of politics, economy, society, culture, system, environment, innovation and reform, as well as the problems, challenges and countermeasures in traditional special economic zones and new special economic zones. It analyses China's Special Economic Zones, including overall review on the whole year's development state of the reform experimental zone and part of new special economic zones, which focuses on analyzing the transformation of special economic zones, use of resources, the sustainable development, economic and social development, social security and technical innovation from the aspects of present situation of development, the comparative analysis, and policy suggestions and puts forward development suggestions for each specific issue.

Markets are usually discussed in abstract terms, as an economic organizing principle, a generalized alternative to government planning, or even as powerful actors in their own right, able to shape local and national economic destinies. But markets are not abstract. Even as the idea of the market seduces politicians around the world to take advantage of their abstract qualities, they constantly run up against material reality. Markets are always somewhere, in place, and it is in place that the smooth theories of markets falter and fail. More than simply being embedded in particular places, markets necessarily emerge in the various political, social, cultural, and environmental relations that exist in and between places. Markets shape places, but the reverse is also true. This collection of essays approaches markets from the ground up, and from a part of the world often still regarded as peripheral to global capitalism: the South Pacific. With a wide variety of case studies, including on indigenous economies, childcare, agriculture, wine, electricity metering, finance, education, and housing, the authors show how complex local, social and cultural politics matter to how markets are made within and between places, and the insights that can be gleaned from studying markets in this part of the world. They explore the way superficially similar markets work out differently in different places, and why, as well as examining how market relations are constructed in places outside and on the edges of the centres of Western capitalism, and what this says back to how markets are understood in those centres. The book will be of particular interest to scholars and students working in and between economic geography, cultural economy, political economy, economic sociology, and more.

Intellectual property rights are essential for a firm's competitive edge and success and form the significant assets for many firms. The authors of this book argue that intellectual property is a complex phenomenon, which inevitably requires a combination of both economic and legal considerations, because the lack of understanding of the mechanisms for the protection and preservation of IP can serve to undermine any of the potential economic benefits. The book outlines the opportunities that can be derived from the use of IP in business and also identifies the rules necessary for their implementation. It offers a comprehensive, systemic research of intellectual property based on the most up-to-date legislation and cases of IP use in Russia. Such an approach will allow readers to fully understand the peculiarities of IP as a special phenomenon of the Russian market. There is a good balance between theoretical knowledge and practical implementation, and the plain language and unique approach to structuring information make the book accessible and easy to understand. It contains a special glossary of terms to facilitate the understanding of the material presented in the book. Although the book looks specifically at the Russian case, it will have international appeal, since intellectual property, by its very nature, has become a transnational phenomenon. Moreover, the international regulatory framework provides for the similarity of legal regulation of IP. The book will find an audience among researchers concerned with the economics and law of intellectual property, as well as, policymakers and practitioners involved in business IP.

Even after achieving the status of a developed economy, many economies face other challenges which may include economic stagnation and income inequality. The book looks at how a mature economy can continue to weather challenges and how the growth of living standards will depend on productivity growth through Singapore's experience. After Singapore's rapid economic transformation, the nation is at a crossroads. The book explains how productivity growth in turn depends on technological diffusion from abroad as well as indigenous innovation. It also examines how the design of policy to develop indigenous innovation to promote economic dynamism may come with creative destruction and disruptive effects on jobs and wages. The Singapore Economy provides insight into how we can maintain social cohesion and establish a political equilibrium that embraces the new sources of growth through policy formulation for economic inclusion.

After five years of debates, consultations and negotiations, the European institutions reached an agreement in 2013 on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the 2014-2020 period. The outcome has major implications for the EU's budget and farmers' incomes, but also for Europe's environment, its contribution to global climate change and to food security in the EU and in the world. It was decided to spend more than EURO400 billion during the rest of the decade on the CAP. The official claims are that the new CAP will take better account of society's expectations and lead to far-reaching changes by making subsidies fairer and 'greener' and making the CAP more efficient. It is also asserted that the CAP will play a key part in achieving the overall objective of promoting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. However, there is significant scepticism about these claims and disappointment with the outcome of the decision-making, the first in which the European Parliament was involved under the co-decision procedure. In contrast to earlier reforms where more substantive changes were made to the CAP, the factors that induced the policy discussions in 2008-13 and those that influenced the decision-making did not reinforce each other. On the contrary, they sometimes counteracted one another, yielding an 'imperfect storm' as it were, resulting in more status quo and fewer changes. This book discusses the outcome of the decision-making and the factors that influenced the policy choices and decisions. It brings together contributions from leading academics from various disciplines and policy-makers, and key participants in the process from the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Economics and Business Environment is targeted at students preparing for a career in a managerial position in business or public service. With its accessible style and convenient structure, this textbook offers an insight into: 1 current economic developments that are important to (European) businesses and governments; 2 the influence of the business environmenton company profit and turnover. Students are offered an insight into the economic risks faced by all companies. This fifth edition of Economics and Business Environment has been fully updated; including the measurements taken to reinforce supervision of the banking industry.

Neoclassical economics has been criticized from various angles by orthodox schools. The same can be said about its particular branch: the theory of the firm. This book demonstrates how a successful theory of the firm can be presented without flawed notions of a neoclassical framework and used to comprehend actual business history. The author argues that we should start from the assumption that businesses are inevitably imponderable, as that is their nature, in the process of economic evolution. The book offers an in-depth exploration of neoclassical limitations by examining each of the small details associated with the famous MR = MC rule. It follows a step-by-step approach, which starts off with neoclassical assumptions and then moves into more empirically sound theory, based on modeling logic and rooted in real world examples. The author presents a novel discussion on the size of the firm, both in terms of classifying a firm's expansion and about the factors that limit the size of the firm and argues how formal pricing theory can be built using more indeterminate assumptions about firms. Further, there is a discussion on how firms are rooted in amorphous industries, which helps to explain economic progress better by emphasizing the importance of economic experiments, mistakes and bankruptcies. This is a valuable reference for scholars and researchers who are interested in a range of topics from microeconomics, through pricing theory to industrial organization, history of economic thought and managerial economics.

Metrology is the study of measurement science. Although classical economists have emphasized the importance of measurement per se, the majority of economics-based writings on the topic have taken the form of government reports related to the activities of specific national metrology laboratories. This book is the first systematic study of measurement activity at a national metrology laboratory, and the laboratory studied is the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The primary objective of the book is to emphasize for academic and policy audiences the economic importance of measurement not only as an area of study but also as a tool for sustaining technological advancement as an element of economic growth. Toward this goal, the book offers an overview of the economic benefits and consequences of measurement standards; an argument for public sector support of measurement standards; a historical perspective of the measurement activities at NIST; an empirical analysis of one particular measurement activity at NIST, namely calibration testing; and a roadmap for future research on the economics of metrology.

This book introduces three innovative concepts and associated financial instruments with the potential to revolutionise real estate finance. The factorisation of commercial real estate with factor-based real estate derivatives is the first concept analysed in this book. Methodological issues pertaining to factors in real estate risk analysis are covered in detail with in-depth academic reference. The book then analyses the digitalisation of commercial real estate. The environment in which buildings operate is changing fast. Cities which used to be made up of inanimate architectural structures are growing digital skins and becoming smarter. Smart technologies applied to the built environment are fundamentally changing buildings' role in cities and their interactions with their occupants. The book introduces the concept of smart space and analyses the emergence of 'digital rights' or property rights for smart buildings in smart environments. It proposes concepts and methods for identifying, pricing, and trading these new property rights which will dominate commercial real estate in the future. Finally, the tokenisation of commercial real estate is explored. Sometimes described as an alternative to securitisation, tokenisation is a new tool in financial engineering applied to real assets. The book suggests two innovative applications of tokenisation: private commercial real estate index tokenisation and data tokens for smart buildings. With factorisation, digitalisation, and tokenisation, commercial real estate is at the forefront of innovations. Real estate's unique characteristics, stemming from its physicality, trigger new ways of thinking which might have a profound impact on other asset classes by paving the way for micro markets. Factor-based property derivatives, digital rights, and tokens embody how commercial real estate can push the boundaries of modern capitalism and, in doing so, move at the centre of tomorrow's smart economies. This book is essential reading for all real estate, finance, and smart technology researchers and interested professionals.

The spectacular economic growth experienced by China since 1978 has often been hailed as the "China Miracle". Many economists have tried to understand the forces behind China's phenomenal growth and the explanations can be divided into two broad schools of economic thought - one school of thought which includes Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman explains that market mechanism and deregulation led to China's success, while the other school of thought which include Justin Yifu Lin, the former Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank, explains that China's growth miracle is a unique model to itself defined by the Chinese government's prominent role. The Chinese government has been responsible in identifying and investing in industries that have contributed to economic growth. Some economists in the latter school even claim that the China Miracle cannot be explained by mainstream economics. This book examines both schools of thought and attempts to provide a synthesis of the two schools to explain the China Miracle. It looks at the Solow-Swan growth model, the Harrod-Domar model and transaction cost theory. It provides insights into whether and how China can sustain its growth and how developing countries may replicate China's success.

Through a series of studies, the overarching aim of this book is to investigate if and how the digitalization/digital transformation process affects various welfare services provided by the public sector, and the ensuing implications thereof. Ultimately, this book seeks to understand if it is conceivable for digital advancement to result in the creation of private/non-governmental alternatives to welfare services, possibly in a manner that transcends national boundaries. This study also investigates the possible ramifications of technological development for the public sector and the Western welfare society at large. This book takes its point of departure from the 2016 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report that targets specific public service areas in which government needs to adopt new strategies not to fall behind. Specifically, this report emphasizes the focus on digitalization of health care/social care, education, and protection services, including the use of assistive technologies referred to as "digital welfare." Hence, this book explores the factors potentially leading to whether state actors could be overrun by other non-governmental actors, disrupting the current status quo of welfare services. The book seeks to provide an innovative, enriching, and controversial take on society at large and how various aspects of the public sector can be, and are, affected by the ongoing digitalization process in a way that is not covered by extant literature on the market. This book takes its point of departure in Sweden given the fact that Sweden is one of the most digitalized countries in Europe, according to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), making it a pertinent research case. However, as digitalization transcends national borders, large parts of the subject matter take on an international angle. This includes cases from several other countries around Europe as well as the United States.

This book provides an in-depth look at the primary foundations of economics explored through the lens of the Pawnee Department of Parks and Recreation. Each episode of the hit television series, Parks and Recreation, includes material to help an eager learner understand the basics of one of the most fascinating fields of study. Whether you've wondered how economists determine specialization or why fast-food restaurants continue to pop up around your neighborhood, the same situations have occurred in Pawnee. Each chapter highlights key scenes or major episodes that demonstrate how the characters experience economics in exactly the same way the rest of us do. This text primarily builds on the debates that take place between Leslie, Ron, and their co-workers, while also exploring key questions such as whether governments should try to help people through direct intervention or sell off all the swings to private corporations and let businesses handle day-to-day decisions. Learn how incentives can make Jerry appear to be a more productive employee short-term, but end up causing chaos. Do you wonder what it would be like to live in the early 1800s? Thankfully Leslie has already done that for us. This book is a must-read for anyone looking for a fun way to learn the principles of economics, including as a supplementary text, and for all fans of Parks and Recreation. Take the advice of Tom and Donna and treat yo' self to this key read.

This book provides an in-depth look at the primary foundations of economics explored through the lens of the Pawnee Department of Parks and Recreation. Each episode of the hit television series, Parks and Recreation, includes material to help an eager learner understand the basics of one of the most fascinating fields of study. Whether you've wondered how economists determine specialization or why fast-food restaurants continue to pop up around your neighborhood, the same situations have occurred in Pawnee. Each chapter highlights key scenes or major episodes that demonstrate how the characters experience economics in exactly the same way the rest of us do. This text primarily builds on the debates that take place between Leslie, Ron, and their co-workers, while also exploring key questions such as whether governments should try to help people through direct intervention or sell off all the swings to private corporations and let businesses handle day-to-day decisions. Learn how incentives can make Jerry appear to be a more productive employee short-term, but end up causing chaos. Do you wonder what it would be like to live in the early 1800s? Thankfully Leslie has already done that for us. This book is a must-read for anyone looking for a fun way to learn the principles of economics, including as a supplementary text, and for all fans of Parks and Recreation. Take the advice of Tom and Donna and treat yo' self to this key read.

Pandemic Economics applies economic theory to the Covid-19 era, exploring the micro and macro dimensions of the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic phases. Using core economic tools such as marginal analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and opportunity cost, this book explores the breadth of economic outcomes from the pandemic. It shows that a tradeoff between public health and economic health led to widespread problems, including virus infections and unemployment. Taking an international and comparative approach, the book shows that because countries implemented different economic policies, interventions, and timelines during the crisis, outcomes varied with respect to the extent of recession, process of recovery, availability of medical equipment, public health, and additional waves of the virus. Pedagogical features are weaved throughout the text, including country case studies, key terms, suggested further reading, and discussion questions for solo or group study. On top of this, the book offers online supplements comprising PowerPoint slides, test questions, extra case studies, and an instructor guide. This textbook will be a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses on pandemic economics, macroeconomics, health economics, public policy, and related areas.