The Political History of Eastern Europe in the 20th Century presents a fresh, up-to-date introduction to the struggle between democracy and dictatorship in Eastern Europe since 1900.The book is broken down into three different parts focusing on those time periods when experiments with democracy threatened to change the established order: the inter-war period, the democratic or semi- democratic interlude in the wake of the Second World War until 1949 and the current experience with the new democracies. In discussing the struggle between democracy and dictatorship, the authors argue that the experience of Eastern Europe reveals the challenges which threaten democracy and the conditions necessary for the survival of democratic government. The book will be essential reading for students of Eastern Europe, comparative politics, and European history.

Since the completion of the original writing in 1978, and the publication of this Garland edition in 1987, several important events came to pass which underscored the importance and relevance of the study of the US foreign trade policy toward steel in the late seventies. One can read the story of US trade policy toward steel in 1977-79 as a critical step in the path which has been moving the US from a policy of organised free trade to one where increasing scope is allowed to market forces.

This volume discusses the evolution of ideas about the desirable combination of planning and market in the former Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary since the 1960s, when major economic reforms started, up to 1991 when the countries have been engaged in a transformation of the economies into market economies. It also discusses the common and contrasting features of the debates which evolved in the countries under review.

After the Second World War, the economics of the western capitalist countries were based on a production system called fordism, but in the mid 1970s this system began to break down, and it has been in crisis since. But does resolving this crisis imply a complete break with the past, notably with the principles of Taylor and Ford?;Based on an analysis of the transformations currently taking place in several international companies, this book reveals the complexities and subtleties of today's transitions.

This is the first book to examine behavioral theories on social preference from institutional and philosophical perspectives using economic experiments. The experimental method in economics has challenged central behavioral assumptions based on rationality and selfishness, proposing empirical evidence that not only profit seeking but also social preferences matter in individuals' decision making. By performing distribution experiments in institutional contexts, the author extends assumptions about human behavior to understand actual social economy. The book also aims to enrich behavioral theories of economics directed toward institutional evolution.The author scrutinizes how specific institutional conditions enhance or mute individuals' selfish incentives or their fairness ideals such as egalitarian, performance-based, labor-value radicalism or libertarianism. From experimental results and their analysis, implications for actual problems in social economy and institutional change are derived: why performance-based pay often fails to promote workers' productivity; why labor wages decline whereas shareholder's values increase after financialization; and whether socially responsible investment can be a social institution for corporate governance.The book is also addressed to philosophers of social sciences interested in how experimental methods can contribute to developing cognition of human behaviors and be extended to social theories. Referring to behavioral theorists in the history of economic thought, the author discusses the meanings of experiments in the methodology of social sciences. She also proposes new ways of interpreting experimental results by reviving historic social theories and applying them to actual social problems.

In the context of the financial and economic crisis, corporate governance and regulatory supervision failures are at the centre of public debates. Who controls the modern corporation, and why, has become one of the defining social power relations in contemporary capitalism. Regulation Corporate Governance in the EU fills a gap in the extensive literature on corporate governance and highlights the political nature of EU corporate governance regulation. Laura Horn advances a critical political economy perspective focusing in particular on political struggles and processes of the neoliberal transformation of company law and corporate governance regulation. Her findings about the marketization of corporate control are at the core to a better understanding of the broader context of capitalist restructuring in the European Union.

This study argues that owing to the wide diversity of nations, their often conflicting policies, and insistence on preserving their sovereignty, the processes of worldwide integration are facilitated by tying these countries together in a system of flexible exchange rates externally, while putting in place a rules-oriented monetary regime internally. The examination of the various issues involved in such an arrangement focuses on money and monetary policy drawing on historical, theoretical, philosophical, and empirical results.

Of all the violent disputes that have flared across the former Soviet Union since the late 1980s, the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is the only one to pose a genuine threat to peace and security throughout Eurasia. By right of its strategic location and oil resources, the Transcaucasus has been and will continue to be a source of interest for external powers competing to advance their geopolitical influence in the region. Under such conditions, the possibility will remain for the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict to reignite and expand to include other powers.

The ten-year conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been one of the bloodiest and most intractable disputes to emerge from the breakup of the Soviet Union. Animosity that developed between the Armenians and Azeris under czarist Russian rule was fueled by the rise of a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region for which both peoples feel an intense nationalistic affinity. The attachment of the region to Azerbaijan by Stalin in 1923 became a source of deep resentment for the Armenians, and during the rule of Gorbachev, a campaign was begun to achieve the peaceful unification of Armenia and Karabakh. Azerbaijan resisted the move as a threat to its territorial integrity, and clashes that broke out soon escalated into a full-scale war that outlived the USSR itself.

Although a cease-fire has been observed since May, 1994, a peaceful settlement to the conflict has been elusive. Meanwhile, by right of both the strategic location and resources and the unique security characteristics of the Transcaucasus, major external powers--Russia, Turkey, and Iran--have sought to influence the dispute according to their geopolitical interests. With the growth of interest in the oil riches of the Caspian Sea and the increasing engagement of Western countries, including the United States, the risks and implications of renewed violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan will grow. This major study will be of interest to students, scholars, and policymakers involved with international relations, military affairs, and the Transcaucasus.

There is a struggle over governance of the global information network among national governments and international organizations, corporations and NGOs, elites and civil society. The outcome will determine how we communicate, the extent of our civil liberties and human rights, the profitability of e-commerce, and the richness of cultural expression. This collection looks at the processes by which the global information policy regime is being formed - themselves in conflict - as a foundation for understanding its emergent features.

This book analyzes the social capital of the growing knowledge economy, from both theoretical and empirical points of view. The theoretical section discusses social capital as an economic concept, developing a theory of the social capital of the enterprise. The empirical section compares aspects of the social capital of three different socio-economic systems: the US, Japan and Sweden. The book discusses a number of issues for further research.

The aim of this book is to analyse specific sets of macro and structural policies in selected Eastern European countries. The book includes studies on the major Western CIS countries, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, plus a set of cross-country and regional studies. The analysis in this book contributes importantly to the discussion about the economic prospects of the CIS countries.

At the intersection of the warmth of hearth and home and the dangers of the street lies the tenuous position of women engaged in reproductive labour, those involved in the sex trade and those in domestic positions. These are women who are vulnerable, exploited, and whose dirty work allows for the reproduction of traditional social mores and roles. Yet while they are used to sustain tradition, dialectically they reflect the hyperconnections of globalization through the migration of women, the development of placement 'agencies' that often are little but fronts for transnational crime; and the transfer of money from the developed countries to the oppressed world. This book focuses on the interaction of the global and the local through a close investigation of the political economy of desire and reproduction in three states that blur the line between developed and developing: Greece; Turkey; and Cyprus. These are countries at the crossroads, in flux, whose peripheral siting at the centre of global capitalism provides unusual insight into the dark recesses of patriarchy, paternalism and exploitation.

A discussion of the anthropological roots of the market, tracing its development using the history of ideas and cultures as well as simple game theory. In his analysis of market ethics, Bruni calls for a reconsideration of some of the central tenets of modern political economy, and the need for a new spirit of capitalism.

After a description of the new forms of globalization currently shaping our world, and of their possible spatial effects, the book highlights which European regions have in the past succeeded in taking advantage of globalization trends and identifies the major reasons for their success. The book also offers a prospective analysis utilizing scenarios based on different assumptions of how globalization trends will develop, identifying the regional winners and losers for each scenario. The analysis greatly benefits from a unique database which contains, among others, data on FDI by sector and professions at the regional Nuts-2 level for all 27 EU countries. A time-span of more than 10 years is covered, and scenarios are developed for the future development up to 2020.

Neoliberalism has been one of the most hotly contested themes in academic and political debate over the last 30 years. Given the global and persistent influence of neoliberal ideas on contemporary styles of governance, social-service provision, and public policy, this intensive interest is understandable. At the same time, the use of the term has become loose, vague, and over-extended, particularly in the extensive critical literature. Rather than engage in further critique, or in the reconstruction of the history of neoliberalism, this volume seeks to bring analytical clarity to the ongoing debate. Drawing inspiration from the work of the Hungarian economic historian, Karl Polanyi, Remaking Market Society combines critique, original formulations, and case studies to form an analytical framework that identifies the key instruments of neoliberal governance. These include privatization, marketization, and liberalization. The case studies examine the development of neoliberal instruments (reform of the British civil service); their refinement (reform of higher education in England and Wales); and their dissemination across national borders (EU integration policies). Rather than look back nostalgically on the post-war welfare-state settlement, in the final chapter the authors ask why the coalitions that supported that settlement broke down in the face of the neoliberal reform movement. This highly original work offers a distinctive transdisciplinary approach to political economy, and therefore is an important read for students and academics who are interested in political economy as well as social theory and political philosophy.

This volume centres on the issues surrounding the likely economic impact that EU membership has on joining nations, with the main emphasis on new issues and methods. Given the significantly greater level of economic integration that now exists in the EU, accession brings up a host of issues that either did not arise or were of secondary importance during earlier enlargement waves. For instance, EU membership now entails eventual membership in the monetary union. This raises a series of new issues such as interest rate convergence, exchange rate stability and the loss of sovereignty over monetary policy. Additionally, these macro issues interact with micro issues such as export performance, capital formation and foreign direct investment (FDI). Migration, unemployment and foreign direct investment are further issues that acquire a magnified importance for the prospective entrants. All of these questions are treated in the contributions in Economic Impact of EU Membership on Entrants: New Methods and Issues that should be of particular interest to academics as well as decisionmakers in prospective member countries. Richard E. Baldwin worked for the Institute of International Studies. He was a Senior Staff Economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisors in the Bush Administration (1990-1991) and has advised the European Commission on several integration issues. He has also worked in the past for the European Commission, EFTA, the OECD, the FCO, the World Bank, USAID and UNCTAD. From 1991 to 2001 he was Co-Director of the International Trade Programme of the Centre for Economic Policy Research. His areas of specialisations are international trade, regional integration, andeconomic geography. Before coming to Geneva in May 1991, he was a professor at Columbia University Business School, having done his PhD in economics at MIT, an MSc at LSE, and a first degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Aymo Brunetti is Head of Economic Analysis in the State Secretariat of Economic Affairs of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Switzerland. In addition, he is Professor of Economics at the University of Basel and teaches at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

This book addresses the recent debate about copyright law and its impact on the distribution of scientific knowledge from an economic perspective. The focus is on the question whether a copyright regime or an open access regime is better suited to the norms and organizational structure in a purely global science community. The book undertakes a thorough economic analysis of the academic journal market and showcases consequences of a regime change. It also takes account of the Digital Divide debate, reflecting issues in developing countries. Finally, a comprehensive analysis of legal action in the light of international Intellectual Property (IP) agreements offers prospects on the future of academic publishing.

In the early 1800s, Robert Owen was a mill owner, political figure, and an advocate for social reform, and his publications attained considerable circulation. He believed that people need good working conditions in order to be encouraged to work and motivated to learn. Despite the higher costs associated with this kind of operation, compared to the traditional ones, Owen's management resulted in increased productivity and profit. His results caught the attention of men of wealth who were interested in social reform. In particular, at a similar time, Jeremy Bentham was developing his own theories. Owen and Bentham seemed to be based on some similar ideas that the greatest happiness creates the greatest results. Their ideas developed against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, and growing social and economic problems in England. Owen and Bentham were forerunners of highly relevant current theories of economics - marginalism, entrepreneurship, personnel management, and constructivism. They were acquainted with such important authors as James Mill, Malthus, Ricardo and John Stuart Mill. However, their economic theories were ruled out by classical economists, who actively tried to silence perspectives different from the orthodoxy. This book presents an innovative study of these two social thinkers and reformers, who have rarely, if ever, been studied together. This comparative study provides new context both on the social debate taking place during the Industrial Revolution, and on the development of modern social thought, in particular, the relationship between socialism and utilitarianism. Economics, Entrepreneurship and Utopia will be of great relevance to scholars with an interest in the history of economic ideas, the history of entrepreneurship, and social reform in both historical and contemporary contexts.

Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Nikolai Bukharin were the three leaders of the Russian Revolution who shaped the new society most, both through their theories and their political leadership. All three were motivated by the ideal of building a utopian collective. Once in power, they tirelessly tried to put their vision into practice, but the Soviet system that resulted was nothing like the one they tried to create. In Spontaneous Order and the Utopian Collective, Nell takes her cue from the personal writings and documents of Lenin, Trotsky, and Bukharin to consider them anew from an Austrian theoretical perspective, analyze the divergence between theory and practice using a spontaneous order framework, and identify three interconnected prerequisites necessary for a utopian collectivist society. Nell then asks whether it might be possible to create this utopian collective somehow, and avoid the pitfalls of planning.

Tax "justice" has become an increasingly central issue of political debate in many countries, particularly following the cardiac arrest of global financial services in 2008 and the subsequent worldwide slump in trade and production. The evident abuse of tax systems by corporations and rich individuals through tax avoidance schemes and offshore shadow banking is increasingly in the public eye. Above all, the political challenges of recovery and structural reform have raised core issues of burden-sharing and social equity on the agendas of both civil society groups and political elites. Democratic states need tax revenue to fund public goods and combat public "bads" with any degree of legitimacy. The contributions to this book discuss the haphazard evolution of contemporary taxation systems, their contradictory effects in a globalized economy, and the urgency of their reform as a precondition for social justice.

There is a complex challenge of economic recovery and reconstruction given long-term economic deterioration and war-related destruction in the Balkans. The Balkan Stability Pact stands for a networked approach of international organizations to deal with these problems. The analysis critically looks into strategies, actors, and preliminary results. There are shortcomings and inconsistencies and there is some potential for transatlantic conflicts over the issue of burden sharing. There is also a risk of EU imperial overstretch facing eastern and south-eastern EU enlargement.

While major theories of economic regionalism in the existing literature are primarily constructed to explore institutionalized regional integration, European integration in particular, the analytical framework developed in this work explains the unique process and pattern of regional integration in East Asia.

This book explores the role of the welfare state in the overall wealth and wellbeing of nations and in particular looks at the American welfare state in comparison with other developed nations in Europe and elsewhere. It is widely believed that the welfare state undermines productivity and economic growth, that the United States has an unusually small welfare state, and that it is, and always has been, a welfare state laggard. This book shows that all rich nations, including the United States, have large welfare states because the socialized programs that comprise the welfare state-public education and health and social insurance-enhance the productivity of capitalism. In public education, the most productive part of the welfare state, for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States was a leader. Though few would argue that public education is not part of the welfare state, most previous cross national analyses of welfare states have omitted education. Including education has profound consequences, undergirding the case for the productivity of welfare state programs and the explanation for why all rich nations have large welfare states, and identifying US welfare state leadership. From 1968 through 2006, the United States swung right politically and lost its lead in education and opportunity, failed to adopt universal health insurance and experienced the most rapid explosion of health care costs and economic inequality in the rich world. The American welfare state faces large challenges. Restoring its historical lead in education is the most important but requires investing large sums in education, beginning with universal pre-school and in complementary programs that aid children's development. The American health insurance system is by far the most costly in the rich world, yet fails to insure one sixth of its population, produces below average results, crowds out useful investments in children, and is the least equitably financed. Achieving universal coverage will increase costs. Only complete government financing is likely to restrain long term costs. In memory of Robert J. Lampman Colleague, Co-author, Friend and Mentor

In the 1970s, the large size of enterprises was one of the symbols of the mass production system's rigidity. The second symbol was state interventionism--blamed for the economic difficulties of the period: growing unemployment and upsurge of inflation. Globalisation is characterised by the predominance of deregulated finance ("big finance") over economic activities. Between free enterprise capitalism and monopoly capitalism stands finance-based capitalism. The financial sphere is mobilised to promote variety and reinforce selection.
This book presents in its first part the financial determinants of innovation processes considered in a macro-economic perspective, which are limited by short-term constraints and studies in its second part the linkages existing between the necessity to innovate in order to survive and the constant attention given to financial results.

Can the needs of capital ever be reconciled with the needs of people? To what extent can social policies bridge the gap between social rights and human welfare, and economic competitiveness in a global world? Building on his previous writings on political economy and human need, Ian Gough throws new light on these perennial questions in a series of penetrating and original essays. The conclusion is upbeat: social policy still has the potential to narrow (though never close) the gap between the drive of capital and the universal needs of people.