What do Goggle, Facebook, mobile phones and creative commons have in common? The answer is: economics! Stefano Comino and Fabio Manenti have written a crisp and thorough treatment of the economics of information and communications technologies. This valuable book fills a real gap in the market.' - Professor Tommaso Valletti, Imperial College Business School'I enjoyed reading this book immensely. So will students, as they will be able to see lucidly the economics behind their inseparable electronic companions. Researchers keeping a copy at hand will have a rich reference source of the ways in which good economic theory has captured the behaviour of sophisticated firms and their customer.' - Gianni De Fraja, The University of Nottingham, UK This text rigorously blends theory with real-world applications to study the industrial organization of the ICT sector. Each of the self-contained chapters, which can be studied in isolation, contains theoretical models that are presented in a clear and accessible way. Throughout, a series of useful boxes complements and elucidates the theories with additional empirical/anecdotal evidence. This text will be of great interest to advanced undergraduate students with a background in microeconomics and game theory, particularly those taking courses in industrial organization, innovation economics and the economics of networks. The authors address the most important issues and are able to explore and explain complex theories and concepts in a clear, logical and coherent manner. Some of the topics covered include: - the economics of innovation - digital markets - network externalities - two-sided networks - imitation, open source and file sharing - antitrust in high-tech sectors. Contents: 1. Industrial Organisation of High-Tech Markets 2. Digital Markets 3. Network Externalities 4. Two-Sided Networks 5. Access and Interconnection in Telecommunications 6. Cumulative Innovation in Dynamic Industries 7. Imitation, Open Source and File Sharing 8. Antitrust in High-Tech Sectors References Index

The choice of location for the production plants of multinational firms is an important issue, not least because this decision is accompanied by so many fears brought into public debate. This book analyses how foreign direct investors choose their locations, whilst exploring the forces which shape international economic geography. Although these two issues are, to some extent, inter-related, researchers have only recently acknowledged the similarity of economic geography and international business approaches to the empirical assessment of likely causes of the degree of spatial concentration observed in many modern industries. Giving insight into the direction that future research should take, this book contains state-of-the-art papers on both theoretical and empirical levels. This original collection makes a particularly important contribution to our understanding of the existence and impact of home market effects. Introducing a welcome synthesis between two related and yet rarely integrated areas of study using case studies of firms in Europe, US MNEs and the Mexican automobile industry, this book will be welcomed by both academic and practising economists. Regional scientists and economists, and those with a specific interest in international trade issues will also find the book enlightening.

This remarkable book outlines the historical framework and the main concepts of the literature on industrial districts. It illustrates a new approach to the study of industrial development, based on well-known industrial districts analysis. Giacomo Becattini has written an authoritative volume which, starting with the theory of districts, explores key aspects of contemporary capitalism. The book concludes that industrial districts are not a provisory phenomenon but a variant of the capitalist mode of production, where financial relationships are relatively less important, and inter-human ones play an unusually important role. Such is the basis for their specific competitive advantage. Academics, politicians and students interested in local development and also industrial development will find much to learn in Industrial Districts, as will industrial geographers and historians of industry and of economic thought.

In this unique and timely volume, Scott Shane systematically explains the formation of university spinoff companies and their role in the commercialization of university technology and wealth creation in the United States and elsewhere. The importance of university spinoff activity is discussed and the historical development of university spinoff ventures is traced over time. Scott Shane provides in-depth analysis of the four major factors that jointly influence spinoff activity: the university and societal environment, the technology developed at universities, the industries in which spinoffs operate, and the people involved. He documents the process of company creation, focusing on the formation of spinoffs, the transformation of the spinoff's technology into new products and services, the identification and exploitation of a market for these new products and services and the acquisition of financial resources. Also detailed are the factors that enhance and inhibit the performance of university spinoffs, as well as the effect that they have on the institutions that spawn them. Authoritative and highly readable, this volume will appeal to scholars researching the spinoff phenomenon, university technology transfer officers, inventors, policymakers, external entrepreneurs and investors.

Despite a wealth of efforts that examine separately the role entrepreneurs and universities play in economic development, no systematic effort has been made to examine the role universities play in promoting economic development through entrepreneurship. This book fills that gap, focusing on policy aspects of government-university partnerships with a discussion both of best practices and problematic strategies. The book begins by tracing the history of American government-university-industry partnerships that have promoted economic development. In succeeding chapters, well-known scholars focus on linkages in different domains such as: technology transfer, innovation networks, brain drain, cluster-based planning, and manufacturing. Practitioner commentaries follow many of the chapters in order to present an evaluation of the arguments from the perspective of someone directly involved in the fostering of these relationships. Non-technical and accessible in nature, the chapters summarize existing knowledge and research in order to help policymakers, foundations, university officials, business leaders and other stakeholders create and enhance partnerships between universities and governments that encourage economic development through entrepreneurship.

The capitalist economies of the developed world fall loosely into two highly divergent camps: one in which securities markets are robust and the ownership of large firms is broadly dispersed; the other in which securities markets are weak and ownership is highly concentrated. There is now a lively debate about the role of law in producing these diverse patterns. This volume brings together the foundational contributions to that debate, edited and introduced by one of the key participants. They are a must read for anyone who wishes to understand the relationship between law and the economic structure of modern societies.' - Henry Hansmann, Yale Law School, US 'Mark Roe, one of the world's leading corporate law scholars, here presents a collection of first rate work (including his own) that addresses the deepest puzzle in comparative corporate governance: why is it that stock ownership patterns differ so significantly across countries, even where the stage of economic development is comparable? This volume will be of genuine value to scholars and students interested in comparative political economy as well as corporate law.' - Jeffrey N. Gordon, Columbia Law School, US This insightful volume explores the issue of why some nations have deep securities markets while others do not, and investigates the new hope that securities markets could be the road to wealth and not just the result of it. This collection of key articles, together with the editor's comprehensive introduction, examines the recently emergent theories in the field.

Research suggests that an increasing number of people experience organisational changes such as mergers and acquisitions as highly emotional life events. Indeed, given that, as the authors prove, 70% of all mergers and acquisitions fail to reach their initial goals largely because of neglected people issues, it is a must for every manager and M&A researcher to understand the emotional side of such change processes. This fascinating book explains how managerial behaviour and communication styles influence the emotions of employees and affect their readiness to contribute to a successful post-merger integration. It combines emotion theories from other disciplines with recent M&A findings, and offers practical implications through illustrative case studies. Academics and practitioners will find the combination of management literature with psychology and sociology literature of great interest.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. A Research Agenda for Entrepreneurial Cognition and Intention suggests new directions and approaches to study the internal thought processes of entrepreneurs by examining areas that have been under-researched, ignored or overlooked. Proposing new views on the idea of an entrepreneurial personality, new methodologies and theories of cognition and influence of personality, the contributors go beyond the study of individual intentions to evaluate group intentions. Furthermore, the book proposes that current research methods limit our understanding of entrepreneurial processes by not connecting to the wider entrepreneurial audience. With this in mind, key chapters focus on the role and relevance of language and gender in entrepreneurship. Academic researchers and advanced students looking to explore the latest research methods and statistical approaches will find this Research Agenda extremely useful for creating new research pathways. The case studies will also be exceptionally useful for those with a wider interest in entrepreneurship and those who wish to have a greater understanding of entrepreneurial intention. Contributors include: G.A. Alsos, G. Bertrand, M. Brannback, C.G. Brush, A.L. Carsrud, R. Germon, P.G. Greene, D.M. Hechavarria, A. Ingram, I. Jaen, F. Kropp, N. Krueger, F. Linan, A. Maalaoui, J. Mezei, S. Nikou, T.F. Nogueira, C. Perez, M. Razgallah, L. Schjoedt, K.G. Shaver, R. Yitshaki

Agility in business has become one of the most important management topics of recent times. The ability to create and respond to change in order to succeed in an uncertain and turbulent business environment is the essence of agile. But being agile starts with the leader, who has to make the shift from traditional "command and control" to "enabling people". This book is a practical workbook for leaders on their journey to achieving agility. It moves the conversation over agility into practice; exercising measures and techniques that will encourage leaders to adapt with changing times. To help and encourage leaders to make that personal shift, it offers ideas and tools to master agility in their organizations. Designed to be sensible and self-reflecting, the book also includes an appendix of over 20 exercises that have been tried and tested with executives all over the world in their successful pursuit of agile.

A new corporate scandal seems to break every day. And not just in America: Canada has its Nortel, Bre-X, Livent, and Hollinger. In this book, Allan Hutchinson insists that a lasting solution to these ills requires more than a rooting out of particular miscreants. We must address the larger organizational structures and culture within which such roguery thrives. What currently passes as "good corporate governance" is a large part of the problem. Hutchinson argues that if we want good corporate citizens, then we must seek a sea change in how we think about corporations, how we constitute them, how we regulate them, and what we expect of them. In light of the enormous power and presence of corporations in Canadian society, there are few more pressing or important items on the contemporary political and social agenda.

"The Companies We Keep" offers an original and provocative challenge to turn corporations into civic sites for democratic advancement. The whole notion of "governance" implies a public and accountable aspect to the dealings of corporations which recognizes continued wealth creation as well as greater popular participation.

The book situates the existence and activities of large corporations within a more encompassing social, political, and economic context. As well as offering a wide-ranging, comparative, and analytical examination of present governance structures, it offers a series of practical, focussed, and precise recommendations for reform. In short, this book is intended to be as much a detailed contribution to public policy and law reform as it is intended to be a general political and economic critique.

This book suggests that the scope and breadth of regulatory reforms since the mid-1980s and particularly during the 1990s, are so striking that they necessitate a reappraisal of current approaches to the study of the politics of regulation. The authors call for the adoption of different and fresh perspectives to examine this area. The contributors to this volume analyse how regulatory regimes that were once peculiar to the US and a few industries have, in recent years, come to define the best practice of governance over the world capitalist economy and over numerous social and economic sectors. They go on to suggest various explanations for the expansion of regulatory institutions, addressing some of the most critical problems and offering new methodological techniques to enable further study. The contributions also provide distinct cross-national and cross-sectoral comparative approaches, and emphasise the changes in the economic and social context of regulation and the implications of these developments on the rise of the regulatory state. These changes, together with the general advance in the study of regulation, undoubtedly demand a re-evaluation of the theory of regulation, its methodologies and scope of application. This book is a perceptive investigation of recent evolutions in the manner and extent of governance through regulation. Scholars and students of comparative politics, public policy, regulation theory, institutional economics and political sociology will find it to be essential reading. It will also prove a valuable source of reference for those working or dealing with regulatory authorities and for business managers in private industries and services operating under a regulatory framework.

The authors of this comprehensive study address why it is that some small firms perform well and others don't, and whether high-performing firms share characteristics that distinguish them from low-performing firms. By exploring bundles of resources and their interaction with other factors, the authors explain important small business outcomes such as growth, performance, entrepreneurial activity, and the chance of receiving debt or equity capital. The authors find that while resources may be valuable, it is essential that small businesses have the processes to facilitate the manipulation of resources into value-creating strategies. Rather than reaching the conclusion that more is always better, the authors tease out the conditions under which certain resources are particularly valuable, as well as the conditions under which these and other resources are less valuable. The resource factors examined range from aspects of the human capital of the small business manager, such as length of education or prior experience with business start-ups, to social capital variables and firm-level resources, such as access to financial capital and competence. Representing leading-edge research across several levels of analysis, this volume will be a useful resource for scholars and students of entrepreneurship and small business, as well as for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Policymakers will find the volume helpful in understanding the effect policies may have on small businesses and the subsequent impact on the economic performance of a region.

Privatization has dominated industrial restructuring programs since the 1980s and continues to do so. This authoritative and accessible Handbook considers all aspects of this key issue, including: the theory of privatization; privatization in transition, developed and developing economies; as well the economic regulation of privatized industries. The studies in this volume, introduced by international experts in the field present evidence of the scope and effects of privatization, and consequently provide the basis for improving both policy formulation and implementation. However, they also emphasize that privatization is not an end in itself. It is argued that for privatization to be worthwhile and for lasting economic efficiency gains to be achieved, supporting reforms must accompany most privatization programs, particularly in the arenas of corporate governance and capital markets, product market competition, and state regulatory processes. Furthermore, several contributions demonstrate that the degree to which ownership and market liberalization can be usefully separated, and whether privatization without either competition or effective regulation is worthwhile, remain controversial issues. Furnishing the reader with a comprehensive and lively discussion of privatization in theory and practice, this Handbook will be the essential source of information for researchers in the field, and for a wide-ranging audience including public policy makers and specialists, development experts and agencies, international banks, public policy and regulation economists, and management consultants.