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Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Political economy
This fascinating volume offers a critique of recent institutional and cultural turns in heterodox economics and political economy. Using seven case studies as examples, the authors explore how research on sense- and meaning-making can deepen critical studies in political economy, illuminating its role in critiquing the specific categories, contradictions and crisis-tendencies of capitalism.Parts I and II provide a foundation in institutionalism, international political economy and historical semantics, before introducing an original account of sense- and meaning-making and its role in remaking social relations. This account connects the evolution of both economic and extra-economic concepts to dispositives (problem-oriented social fixes), institutions, and capitalist restructuring. In Parts III and IV, specific case studies demonstrate how this new research program can be applied to issues such as competitiveness, the knowledge-based economy, governmental technologies, institutional and spatio-temporal fixes and crisis management. Scholars and students of heterodox, cultural, political and institutional economics will find this book a comprehensive and illuminating addition to their libraries.
Since the world economic crisis of 2007, commentators have pointed to the dangers of a capitalistic system that seems incapable of delivering sustainable growth and well-being. This bold new book offers an exhaustive diagnosis of global capitalism across the world's nations. David Lane examines the nature and appeal of neoliberal capitalism according to different schools of thought, and he analyses proposals for its reform and replacement from state socialism and social democratic corporatism to self-sustaining networks. Looking ahead to a novel system of economic and political coordination based on a combination of market socialism and state planning, this book offers crucial insights for scholars thinking about alternatives to capitalism.
The Welfare State and Life Transitions uses the lens of key life stages to highlight changes in these transitions and in available resources for citizen support within nine European welfare states.This timely book reveals that new life courses are found to require more, and not less welfare support, but only Sweden has developed an active life course approach and only three more could be considered supportive, in at least some life stages. For the remainder, policies were at best limited or, in Italy?s case, passive. The contributors reveal that the neglect of changing needs is leading to greater reliance on the family and the labour market, just as these support structures are becoming more unpredictable and more unequal. They argue that alongside these new class inequalities, new forms of inter-generational inequality are also emerging, particularly in pension provision.This topical book will strongly appeal to academics and students interested in social policy, gender equality policy, pensions, industrial relations, labour economics, political science, and comparative welfare systems.
How can industrial production be managed without the guidance of the state? Adnan Naseemullah discusses industrial development in a new era of drastically constricted state capacity, from the perspective of the manufacturing firm. India's manufacturing economy has been growing after state promotion has receded. How, then, does Indian manufacturing develop in this context? Naseemullah argues that Indian firms must create production structures themselves, investing in networks of capital and labor without signals from above. Depending on manufacturers' backgrounds, these relationships are based either on formal rules or through personal ties, creating a patchwork of institutions that crosscut region and sector. As a result, many firms have been able to regain some certainty for investment, but at the cost of national coherence and the possibility of broader transformation. As a mirror case, this book also explores Pakistan's industrial trajectories, in which similar dynamics suggest the broader applicability of this framework.
This volume engages with the roots, dimensions, and implications of foreign currency domination in states with a national currency. Referred to as unofficial dollarization in literature, this is a worldwide phenomenon among developing countries and has a long history. This monograph provides a political economic analysis of dollarization in Georgia and is structured around three themes: the genesis of dollarization (1991-2003), the persistence of dollarization (2003-12) and the politicization of dollarization (2012-19). The case of Georgia is especially representative of the post-socialist transition states, but also has wider applicability. A high level of dollarization is a significant barrier to economic growth, macroeconomic and political stability, functional monetary policy, as well as social welfare. The Covid-19 crisis and the increasing debt of developing countries in foreign currency exacerbate dollarization-related vulnerabilities for these economies. This book will be of interest to postgraduate students in global/comparative political economy, development economics or transition economies, researchers in monetary sovereignty, central banking, exchange rate policies, currency hierarchy, money, financialization, and policy makers in dollarized countries and global institutions.
Showcasing fuzzy set theory, this book highlights the enormous potential of fuzzy logic in helping to analyse the complexity of a wide range of socio-economic patterns and behaviour. The contributions to this volume explore the most up-to-date fuzzy-set methods for the measurement of socio-economic phenomena in a multidimensional and/or dynamic perspective. Thus far, fuzzy-set theory has primarily been utilised in the social sciences in the field of poverty measurement. These chapters examine the latest work in this area, while also exploring further applications including social exclusion, the labour market, educational mismatch, sustainability, quality of life and violence against women. The authors demonstrate that real-world situations are often characterised by imprecision, uncertainty and vagueness, which cannot be properly described by the classical set theory which uses a simple true-false binary logic. By contrast, fuzzy-set theory has been shown to be a powerful tool for describing the multidimensionality and complexity of social phenomena. This book will be of significant interest to economists, statisticians and sociologists utilising quantitative methods to explore socio-economic phenomena.
In contemporary global capitalism, the most powerful corporations are innovation or intellectual monopolies. The book's unique perspective focuses on how private ownership and control of knowledge and data have become a major source of rent and power. The author explains how at the one pole, these corporations concentrate income, property and power in the United States, China, and in a handful of intellectual monopolies, particularly from digital and pharmaceutical industries, while at the other pole developing countries are left further behind. The book includes detailed empirical mappings of how intellectual monopolies develop and transform knowledge from universities and open-source collaborations into intangible assets. The result is a strategy that combines undermining the commons through privatization with harvesting from the same commons. The book ends with provoking reflections to tilt the scale against intellectual monopoly capitalism and arguing that desired changes require democratic mobilization of workers and citizens at large. This book represents one of the first attempts to capture the contours of an emerging new era where old perspectives lead us astray, and the old policy toolbox is hopelessly inadequate. This is true for the idea that the best, or only, way to promote innovation is to transform knowledge into private property. It is also true for anti-trust policies focusing exclusively on consumer prices. The formation of global infrastructures that lead to natural monopolies calls for public rather than private ownership. Scholars and professionals from the social sciences and humanities (in particular economics, sociology, political science, geography, educational science and science and technology studies) will enjoy a clear and all-embracing depiction of innovation dynamics in contemporary capitalism, with a particular focus on asymmetries between actors, regions and topics. In fact, its topical issue broadens the book's scope to those curious about how innovation networks shape our world.
Values-based organizations are institutions, communities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which are inspired by a mission or a vocation - for these groups it is their ideals which are most important to them and economics does not have a way to incorporate that into its analysis. This book provides a short introduction to the economics of values-based organizations. The book opens with an analysis of some phenomena common to all organizations: the management of vulnerabilities in relationships and the role of incentives, especially in relation to loyalty. Turning to values-based organizations more specifically, the book explores the motivations of their members, how they retain their most motivated people, what happens when the ideals of the organization are perceived to have deteriorated, and the decisions made by those in charge, who focus on efficiency, oblivious to values and identities. The second part of the book explores the narrative dimensions of values-based organizations. "Narrative capital" is a precious resource in many of these organizations, particularly through periods of crisis and change. But problems can also be caused if the second and later generations after the foundations continue to use the original narrative without enough innovation. Finally, the book discusses the gaps - the surpluses and misalignments - between people, their ideals and the organizations and how these can be managed. The book is written for academics, students and others interested in the role of values and ideals in organizations - economists, sociologist, business scholars, theologians and philosophers.
Makes an important contribution to the debates on the Covid-19 pandemic in global political economy. Has important implications for public policy formulation in individual nation states. Offers global focus and appeal while also including individual country-specific case study chapters.
The radical transformations to which the economy and society have been subjected for decades have gained momentum in recent years, not least because of the coronavirus pandemic, the consequences of which are yet to be fully understood. As a result, certain economic models and business practices are becoming less sustainable. One of the reasons for this is the rapid advance of Revolution 4.0. The issues raised in this book are central to understanding the theoretical and practical aspects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its overwhelming impact on emerging socio-economic relations. The book addresses the future and flexibility of the labour market in the era of digital transformation; issues related to the emergence of new patterns of production and the distribution of public services. It examines the impact of Revolution 4.0 on the global business services sector and business project management models, in times of increasing complexity. The book covers a broad spectrum of concerns associated with Industry 4.0, such as social, economic, technological, and environmental, making it a comprehensive resource offering state-of-the-art knowledge. Further, it includes a discussion on the perspectives for the development of Revolution 4.0 in the context of the post-pandemic world. This book skillfully combines theoretical considerations with practical applications, offering a valuable, engaging and accessible resource for researchers, scholars, students, policymakers, public decision-makers, and businesspeople alike.
Presenting case studies and comparisons across seven countries, this book addresses key questions as to the nature of state fragility, policies used to mitigate it, assessment of outcomes and prospects. It offers a novel empirical contribution in examining a range of distinct but interdependent dimensions of state fragility, not only focusing on questions of state legitimacy, capacity and authority, but also involving the economy and resilience to political and economic shocks, as well as at vital questions of context and diversity. Examining Afghanistan, Lebanon, Burundi, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and Rwanda within the context of their different local circumstances, and within broader questions of global security, the book identifies unique factors that have played a part in their specific context and explores key drivers and dominant features. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of state fragility and more broadly to students of politics, public policy, development studies, state-society relations, political economy, state building, peace and conflict studies, international studies, security studies regional studies., as well as NGOs and international organizations.
This book uses a combination of business history and political economy to chart the development of Indian business organisation from independence in 1947 through to the twenty-first century. The Indian economy has undergone a dramatic transformation to become one of the leading global economies of the twenty-first century. After ending colonialisation and gaining independence in 1947, the economy moved from a reliance on the export of raw materials to an era of state-promoted development, followed by an era of liberalisation and integration in the world economy by the close of the twentieth century. This book looks at traditional industries, such as textiles, to industries of the second and third industrial revolution, ranging from chemicals and oils to telecommunications. This book highlights how Indian businesses proved capable of importing both new managerial ideas and organisational developments while adapting them to the specific domestic context. The case studies underline the use of human resource management in the post-colonial 'indianisation' of foreign-owned multinationals and the rise of new business organisation and management training in the development of Indian multinational organisations such as Tata Sons. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Business History.
Using a philosophical and interdisciplinary approach, this book looks at how accountability can provide solutions to our current environmental and global political problems. When a social system has external elements imposed upon it, or presented to it, political problems are likely to emerge. This book demonstrates that what is needed are connecting social elements with a natural affinity to bring people together despite their differences. This book is different from others in the field. It provides new insights by critiquing the extant understandings of accountability and expands the possibilities by building on Charles Taylor's philosophies. Central to the argument of the book are perspectives on authenticity and expressivism which are found to provide a radical reworking of our understanding of being in the world, and a starting point for rethinking the way individuals and communities ought to be dealing politically with accountability and ecological crises. The argument builds to an accountability perspective that utilises work from interpretivism, liberalism, and postmodern theory. The book will be of interest to researchers in environmental philosophy, critical perspectives on accounting, corporate governance, corporate social reporting, and environmental accounting.
This is a comprehensive set of essays on myriad facets of public choice by many of the leading contributors in the field. The coverage is excellent and the essays are terrific. I highly recommend this book for researchers and students.' - Todd Sandler, University of Texas at Dallas, USThe Elgar Companion to Public Choice, Second Edition brings together leading scholars in the field of political economy to introduce readers to the latest research in public choice. The Companion lays out a comprehensive history of the field and, in five additional parts, it explores public choice contributions to the study of the origins of the state, the organization of political activity, the analysis of decision-making in non-market institutions, the examination of tribal governance, and to modeling and predicting the behavior of international organizations and transnational terrorism. With broad and up-to-date coverage, this second edition will appeal to politicians and policymakers, academics and researchers in public and social choice and political science as well as graduate students in economics, political science and public administration. Contributors include: D.G. Arce M., A. Batinti, F. Bose, G. Brennan, M. Brooks, U. Cantner, R.D. Congleton, C.J. Coyne, N.V. Crain, W.M. Crain, R.B. Ekelund Jr, J.S. Ferris, R.K. Fleck, A. Glazer, A. Hamlin, F.A. Hanssen, A.L. Hillman, R.G. Holcombe, L.W. Kenny, Y. Kim, M.S. Kimenyi, K.M. Larkin-Wong, J.G. Matsusaka, F.S. McChesney, R.R. McGregor, D.C. Mueller, M.C. Munger, F. Padovano, A. Pellillo, R. Pietrantonio, A. Razo, L. Razzolini, M. Reksulak, C.K. Rowley, P.H. Rubin, J.M. Shepherd, W.F. Shughart II, R.S. Sobel, T. Stratmann, O. Taiwo, R.D. Tollison, R. Vaubel, M. Wohlgemuth
Syria has been at the centre of world news since 2011, following the beginnings of a popular uprising in the country and its subsequent violent repression. Eight years on, Joseph Daher analyses the resilience of the regime and the failings of the uprising, while also taking a closer look at the counter-revolutionary processes that have been undermining the uprising from without and within. Through a sharp reconstruction of the key historical developments, Daher focuses on the reasons behind the transition of a peaceful uprising into a destructive war with multiple regional and international actors. He argues that other approaches have so far neglected a global analysis of the conflict's economic, social and political characteristics. He also shows that it is impossible to understand the Syrian uprising without a historical perspective dating back to the seizure of power by Hafez al-Assad in 1970. A result of years of research and discussions with activists, students, members of political parties and Syrian academics, this book will be the go-to analysis of Syria for years to come.
Trust is increasingly recognized as a crucial aspect of successful economic relationships, albeit a difficult one to define, and Mark Casson has been at the forefront of recent research in this area.In this sequel to his classic work The Entrepreneur, Professor Casson examines how the entrepreneurial firm succeeds by synthesizing information from different sources. The quality of this information is just as important as the quantity and the cheapest way to ensure quality is through a moral obligation to tell the truth. The author argues that a nation needs to invest in social institutions, such as schools, families and organized religion, in order to instil a sense of moral obligation and so sustain entrepreneurial success. Themes raised in this important volume include cultural perspectives on economic issues, entrepreneurship in a cultural context and the political economy of national culture. Entrepreneurship and Business Culture presents a state-of-the-art analysis of entrepreneurship and the social structures in which it is embedded. Together with its companion volume, The Organization of International Business, this topical and wide-ranging book offers a definitive analysis of the importance of trust in economic life as well as the related concepts of networking, consultation and empowerment.
Economic governance institutions (rules, norms and enforcement practices) define the cost and incentive structures that influence the decisions of economic actors. They therefore have a significant impact on micro and macro economic performance across countries and time. This book contributes to the growing governance literature in three ways. First, it extends the analysis to new areas such as power asymmetry, regulation, transnational company strategies, and law enforcement. Secondly, it examines the role of formal institutions that shape and enforce the rules/norms codified in law; but also private-ordering institutions that function under the umbrella of the State; and private institutions (such as market rules/norms) that provide reputational and other information that foster compliance. Finally, the book extends and enriches the governance debate, addressing issues such as the determinants of institutional quality and efficiency, and the interaction between actor networks and institutional norms. Does Economic Governance Matter? brings together state-of-the-art research and analysis that will appeal to academics and undergraduate and postgraduate students of economics, public policy, network analysis, corporate governance and business law. The book will also appeal to a wide range of practitioners and policymakers in areas such as regulation, competition, international development, corporate law and macroeconomic policy design.
In what are generally understood as unsettled times, this book explores the possibility and desirability of bringing integrated theory back into globalization research. While there can hardly be a single and all-encompassing 'grand theory' of globalization-in-itself, is there scope for the development of a general and systematic approach to globalization dynamics, past and present? In other words, can theorizations of the global be holistic and integrative, taking place in tandem with methodological frameworks that consider the contradictory and uneven layering of different transnational practices across all social relations? Is it possible to develop a general and integrated approach to globalization that links theory and practice in a socially engaged way, and is it desirable to do so? Many relevant academic and non-academic developments suggest not. For example, the postmodernist turn at the end of the last century expressed a profound 'incredulity' toward 'grand narratives' in the social sciences and humanities. A decade later, some neo-Marxist critics condemned the 'follies of globalization theory'. More recently, the 'post-truth' interventions of national populists suggest not only that 'globalism' is the political enemy but also that attempts to understand its patterns and manifestations are relative or irrelevant. Taking Manfred Steger and Paul James' acclaimed book Globalization Matters as a back-drop against which to interrogate these issues, contributors from a variety of disciplinary, analytical and normative standpoints deliver a thoughtful and much needed assessment of the scholarship of globalization and the ways it is theorized. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Globalizations.
This interdisciplinary collection examines the significance of constitutions in setting the terms and conditions upon which market economies operate. With some important exceptions, most notably from the tradition of Latin American constitutionalism, scholarship on constitutional law has paid negligible attention to questions of how constitutions relate to economic phenomena. A considerable body of literature has debated the due limits of the exercise of executive and legislative power, and discussions about legitimacy, democracy, and the adjudication of rights (civil and political, and socioeconomic) abound, yet scant attention has been paid by constitutional lawyers to the ways in which constitutions may protect and empower economic actors, and to how constitutions might influence the regulation and governance of specific markets. The contributors to this collection mobilize insights from other disciplines - including economic theory, history, and sociology - and consider the relationship between constitutional frameworks and bodies of law - including property law, criminal law, tax law, financial regulation, and human rights law - to advance understanding of how constitutions relate to markets and to the political economy. This book's analysis of the role constitutions play in shaping markets will appeal to scholars and students in law, economics, history, politics, and sociology.
Analyzing informal trading practices and smuggling through the case study of Novi Pazar, this book explores how societies cope when governments no longer assume the responsibility for providing welfare to their citizens. How do economic transnational practices shape one's sense of belonging in times of crisis/precarity? Specifically, how does the collapse of the Ottoman Empire - and the subsequent migration of the Muslim Slav population to Turkey - relate to the Yugoslav Succession Wars during the 1990s? Using the case study of Novi Pazar, a town in Serbia that straddles the borders of Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo that became a smuggling hub during the Yugoslav conflict, the book focuses on that informal market economy as a prism through which to analyze the strengthening of existing relations between the emigre community in Turkey and the local Bosniak population in the Sandzak region. Demonstrating the interactive nature of relations between the state and local and emigre communities, this book will be of interest to scholars and students interested in Southeastern Europe or the Yugoslav Succession Wars of the 1990s, as well as social anthropologists who are working on social relations and deviant behavior.
This volume historicizes the use of the notion of self-interest that at least since Bernard de Mandeville and Adam Smith's theories is considered a central component of economic theory. Having in the twentieth century become one of the key-features of rational choice models, and thus is seen as an idealized trait of human behavior, self-interest has, despite Albert O. Hirschman's pivotal analysis of self-interest, only marginally been historicized. A historicization(s) of self-interest, however, offers new insights into the concept by asking why, when, for what reason and in which contexts the notion was discussed or referred to, how it was employed by contemporaries, and how the different usages developed and changed over time. This helps us to appreciate the various transformations in the perception of the notion, and also to explore how and in what ways different people at different times and in different regions reflected on or realized the act of considering what was in their best interest. The volume focuses on those different usages, knowledges, and practices concerned with self-interest in the modern Atlantic World from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, by using different approaches, including political and economic theory, actuarial science, anthropology, or the history of emotions. Offering a new perspective on a key component of Western capitalism, this is the ideal resource for researches and scholars of intellectual, political and economic history in the modern Atlantic World.
The Blue Economy is emerging on the global scene as a powerful and persuasive new concept for sustainable development based on economic activities associated with the ocean. Several regions globally have adopted this concept at national and regional levels, including the Caribbean. Given the complex, multisectoral and multilevel nature of the Blue Economy, it is clear that different approaches will be needed for different regions. Hence, this volume explores the opportunities, threats and risks involved in operationalising the Blue Economy in the Wider Caribbean Region, defined as northern Brazil to the USA and all mainland and island countries and territories in-between. The first part of the book looks at where the region stands in the global picture regarding adoption of the Blue Economy and what is planned. The second set of chapters examines key crosscutting issues such as ecosystem services, climate change and governance at national and regional levels that could make or break the Blue Economy initiative. The book then goes on to explore the main sectoral activities that will constitute the Blue Economies in the region: fisheries, tourism, shipping and transport, renewable energy, oil and gas, seabed mining and waste management are all considered. The book ends with a synthesis of the political and technical requirements to overcome threats and take advantage of opportunities in the Blue Economy.
The United States-Australia alliance has been an important component of the US-led system of alliances that has underpinned regional security in the Indo-Pacific since 1945. However, recent geostrategic developments, in particular the rise of the People's Republic of China, have posed significant challenges to this US-led regional order. In turn, the growing strategic competition between these two great powers has generated challenges to the longstanding US-Australia alliance. Both the US and Australia are confronting a changing strategic environment, and, as a result, the alliance needs to respond to the challenges that they face. The US needs to understand the challenges and risks to this vital relationship, which is growing in importance, and take steps to manage it. On its part, Australia must clearly identify its core common interests with the US and start exploring what more it needs to do to attain its stated policy preferences. This book consists of chapters exploring US and Australian perspectives of the Indo-Pacific, the evolution of Australia-US strategic and defence cooperation, and the future of the relationship. Written by a joint US-Australia team, the volume is aimed at academics, analysts, students, and the security and business communities.
Drawing on recent work in the contemporary philosophy of economics, this book presents new ideas on liberalism, including the concept of 'growth-oriented liberalism'. Since the end of the Cold War, questions and definitions of liberalism have moved from the sphere of political systems (the socialism versus liberalism debates) to the sphere of ethics (what it means to live in a liberal society). The chapters in this work trace the trajectory of the concept of liberalism in the philosophy of economics by exploring the ideological implications of the methodological debate between socialism and liberalism, the idea of liberty as real freedom, the ethical implications of Max Weber's methodology on autonomy and liberty, and new typological theories of ideologies in the context of contemporary economic ethics. This book marks a significant contribution to the literature on liberalism in the philosophy of economics and economic methodology, and is highly recommended for readers who seek updated ideas on liberal society in its ethical and philosophical contexts.
In his reflections on decolonization and post-development, Gustavo Esteva forged a unique synthesis of critical theory and political economy. This book presents more than half a century of "reflection in action" in the form of essays, books, and interventions in national and international forums and newspaper articles-most published here for the very first time. It showcases Esteva's evolving thought on economic theory, social change, revolutionary subjectivity, transition, development, the challenges of a new era and personal and communal autonomy, all associated with the challenges and advances in the construction of a new society. Through this translation, Esteva's writings engage with many of the important cultural and political debates of the present day and retain their power both to provoke and move the reader. Readers will see a thinker at work, formulating local, grassroots alternatives as they are emerging in Mexico and Latin America, with a keen sensibility to what happens in other regions of the world. Gustavo Esteva: A Critique of Development and Other Essays offers a lucid insight into the climatic and sociopolitical collapses we face and will be of interest to students and scholars of critical theory, post-colonial and de-colonial studies, and post-development studies. |
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