Contaminated land policy is a key concern of governments and policy makers across the globe, yet discussion has traditionally focused on the particular experience of the United States. This major new book develops a framework for assessing laws and regulations regarding contaminated land and polluted properties, their clean up and reuse, and the assignment of costs and responsibilities for reclamation.In Contaminated Land, the authors, a European and two Americans, lay out a framework for cross- national comparisons of policy contexts as well as ways of examining the outcomes of different approaches to contaminated land and systematically compare approaches to this issue in both the EU and US. The use of this framework leads to a reassessment of specific policies, such as the polluter pays principle, which may be more successful in the EU than it has been in the US, and subsidiarity which, while problematic in Europe, may hold promise in a US application. Specific issues discussed include the nature and extent of the contaminated land problem, legal implications, regulation in the US, the 1980 Comprehensive Environmental Liability, Compensation and Reclamation Act, European experience and EU environmental policy, integrated comparative analysis and some lessons for the future. Contaminated Land offers valuable insights on policy responses to the problem of badly polluted land from the perspectives of planning, economics and sociology. In particular, this volume offers frameworks for comparison of different national settings to help determine the preferred and most promising approaches to contaminated land in any social, economic and legal policy context.

This book offers an essential guide to Public Finance and National Accounts in the context of the European Union. Since the creation of the Eurozone, fiscal policy has been at the heart of economic (but also political/media) discussions in the EU. From the Stability and Growth Pact (1997) to the more recent Fiscal Treaty, EU and Eurozone, countries have been subject to various fiscal rules. The importance of these rules, and of the subsequent procedures that every Eurozone country has to adhere to, is unquestionable. The book provides the reader with an in-depth understanding of the complex EU rules concerning fiscal policy, breaking down the corresponding legal texts into simple and accessible language. It has a broad interdisciplinary appeal, and scholars and practitioners whose work involves these areas will find it of particular interest.

Basic information is provided on how contribution programs can be used in community-based development with satisfying results for all. Senior corporate managers are encouraged to go beyond traditional giving and to consider other areas. Concrete suggestions and a review of the experience of some of the pioneers are presented. For companies and foundations which have limited resources, but have a desire to participate, several techniques of indirect investments in social development are shown.

Although what has come to be known as transaction cost economics has its origins in the 1930s, it was not until the 1970s that transaction cost economics as a systematic and identifiable field of study began. Since then, numerous theoretical developments and empirical applications have expanded and enriched the field. Recognition of its contributions to our understanding of organizations and institutions includes two Nobel laureates, Ronald Coase in 1991 and Oliver Williamson in 2009. This is an important selection of key articles on transaction cost economics by distinguished scholars including Ronald Coase, Herbert Simon, Kenneth Arrow and Richard A. Posner. This research review addresses key areas such as private ordering and credibility, contracts and organization, internal organization, vertical integration and contracting.

This major Handbook addresses fiscal relations between different levels of government under the general rubric of 'fiscal federalism', providing a review of the latest literature as well as an invaluable guide for practitioners and policy makers seeking informed policy options. The contributors include leading lights in the field, many of whom have themselves made seminal contributions to the literature. Comprehensive and wide in coverage, the issues covered range from federal systems to other forms of intergovernmental relations, such as supra-national constructs - namely, the European Union - unitary states, regional systems, and more decentralized operations, including community level organizations. The political economy approach emphasizes the importance of institutional arrangements, including the legal, political and administrative aspects, and information flows to ensure that there are appropriate incentives and sanctions to generate good governance. This Handbook also devotes attention to emerging issues, such as environmental protection, the sharing of natural resources among levels of government, corruption and the impact of federalism and decentralization on national unity. It will be a vital reference tool for the area for many years to come.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) - cooperative institutional arrangements between public and private sector actors - are now an increasingly relevant and globally popular public policy option. The authors argue that even though PPPs are still evolving, there is now sufficient research to bring these joint ventures to account and to provide lessons for the future. The aim of the book is to investigate how PPP reforms function in comparison to the more traditional methods of providing public sector services and infrastructure and who typically experiences the successes and failures of these reforms. The Challenge of Public-Private Partnerships advances recent thought on PPPs in the areas of risk transfer, financial implications, contractual matters, politics, management and accountability. International case studies are presented from the United Kingdom, Europe, the US and Australasia, and the authors delineate the experience of PPPs in areas such as infrastructure and human services. A strong thread of accountability is woven throughout the book, synthesizing common issues, separating the rhetoric from the performance reality and providing strategies for better meeting the various international challenges for future PPPs. Re-examining the myriad meanings and definitions given to PPPs, and presenting a range of theories and frameworks to improve understanding of PPP events and outcomes, this book will be of great interest to those involved in public administration and public policy-making.

This book probes the hollow rhetoric of debt, deficits and austerity. It explores the decisions of parties of the left which have attempted to deflect criticisms of economic mismanagement and gain trust by depoliticising the budget process and financial management with various rules, albeit with elements of discretion. The book argues that this is a perverse form of trust as it is premised on the belief that political leaders and the public sector cannot be trusted to make appropriate decisions given the economic circumstances of the time and need rules, but at the same time that they can be trusted to follow the rules. The book also explores parties of the right, which often advocate stricter rules and which tend to be the least effective. The book describes how few conservative governments have admirable records on sustained surpluses, given a propensity for unsustainable tax cuts, and the future opportunities this provides to advance a political program of deeper spending cuts.

Project Finance in Theory and Practice: Designing, Structuring, and Financing Private and Public Projects, Fourth Edition provides essential, core coverage of project finance, offering new insights into Sharia-compliant instruments and a comprehensive overview of the current state of international regulation of banking post financial crisis. This updated edition includes new case studies and topics related to country risk, along with insights from project finance experts who share their specialized knowledge on legal issues and the role of advisors in project finance details. The book will be useful for readers at all levels of education and experience who want to learn how to succeed in project finance.

In May 2010 the incoming UK Coalition Treasury Secretary was greeted by a light-hearted note from his predecessor, stating 'there is no money.' This message was relayed more seriously to the country that indeed 'we have no money' - a warning of the difficulties to come. A prime challenge to be faced is how to reduce public spending in relation to national income, while achieving a balance between a public sector that provides services that people need and also supports the functioning of a private sector that can finance a generous welfare state. Warwick Lightfoot uses his experience in government and economics to analyse the background to the current situation and sets out the potential for reform in the public sector. He shows that a large public sector can yield significant social and economic benefits, ultimately a wealthier economy with higher living standards and an economy better placed to meet the challenges of an older community in a more competitive world. "This book is a timely reminder of how little the UK's problems have to do with individual bank failures, recession and the business cycle. Warwick Lightfoot provides a clear and balanced account of the last few decades' dilemmas, controversies and policy choices; and argues convincingly that we should revisit the analysts and analyses of the 1970s as a guide to future action." Alison Wolf, Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management, King's College London "All main party politicians are signed up to Mr Lightfoot's direction of travel; they should look to this book to understand why it might be a good idea to cut public spending." John Redwood MP, Chairman of the Conservative Economic Affairs Committee "A very timely book with a wide perspective and good argument." Professor Peter Sinclair, University of Birmingham "The historical causes and possible consequences of Britain's large public sector are the focus of Sorry We Have No Money. The arguments made by Warwick Lightfoot are provocative and well worth reading." Dr Graham Brownlow, Queen's University Belfast

This book identifies and explores the mechanisms linking political institutions and variation in capitalist systems. A strong correlation exists between varieties of political regimes and varieties of capitalism: majoritarian political regimes are correlated with liberal market economies (LMEs) and consensus political regimes are correlated with coordinated market economies (CMEs). Still, correlation is not causation. Empirical findings illustrate that partisanship and policy legacies, the number of political parties, electoral rules, and constitutional constraints are significant indicators of LMEs and CMEs. Arsenault finds that majoritarian institutions create an environment of adversarial politics and strong competition between actors, which makes credible commitment to nonmarket coordination mechanisms unlikely. Consensus institutions, on the other hand, promote an atmosphere of cooperation and coordination between actors, thus encouraging credible commitment to nonmarket coordination mechanisms. Qualitative case studies of Germany, Britain, and New Zealand confirm the quantitative findings and suggest that political regimes were instrumental in shaping the economic adjustment paths of these countries during the era of liberalization in the 1980s.

How far can government be reinvented? What is the impact of globalization on the delivery of government services around the world? This comparative book debates new managerial and policy paradigms, with a sophisticated analysis of the potential effects of the marketizing of government services. Case studies explore The US Government's National Performance Review, the relocation of Britain's Inland Revenue IT services with a US multi-national, the impact of the Europeanization of government in the EU, the implausibility of reinventing government, and the applicability of new theories of analysis.

Fiscal federalism has been the subject of much scholarly debate over the years. These volumes successfully bring together seminal articles from the past fifty years to demonstrate how the focus has evolved from 'first generation' to 'second generation' theories of intergovermental relations. The editors enhance the collection with detailed analyses of how competition affects relations between varying levels of government, and examine the hypotheses underlying the theory of fiscal federalism. This set of authoritative papers will be an indispensable reference source for scholars and practitioners in this field.

This book introduces and contextualizes the revised and strengthened legislation on the laundering of criminal funds mandated by the European Union on the 20th May 2015. The authors provide fresh and new insight into the EU's fourth directive 2015/849, with a specific focus on topics such as: beneficial ownership and effective transparency, the risk-based approach, the issue of supervision of payment institutions that operate across borders by agents, the new method of risk assessment, tax crimes inclusion in "criminal activity" definition, and the effects of new rules on the gambling sector. The authors present the new laws in the context of their legal genealogy and demonstrate the benefits they bring in raising the standards for anti-money laundering regulation and counter-terrorism financing. The book's comprehensive exploration of this new legislation will appeal to policy-makers, students and academics hoping to understand the changes more clearly.

This book offers a comprehensive empirical analysis of South African inflation dynamics, using a variety of techniques including counterfactual analysis. The authors elaborate the roles in inflation of thresholds, nonlinearities and asymmetries introduced by economic conditions such as the size of exchange rate changes and volatility, GDP growth, inflation, output gap, credit growth, sovereign spreads and fiscal policy, providing new policy evidence on the impact of these. Ndou and Gumata apply techniques to determine the prevalence of updating inflation expectations, and reconsider the propagation effects of a number of inflation risk factors. Asking to what extent the evidence points to a need to enforce price stability and the anchoring of inflation expectation, the book fills existing gaps in South African Policy, and maintains a clear argument that price stability is consistent with the 3 to 6 per cent inflation target range, and that threshold application should form an important aspect of policy analysis in periods of macroeconomic uncertainty. As such, the book serves as an excellent reference text for academic and policy discussions alike.

The research purpose of this book is to advance the reform of the existing international monetary system through the establishment of a new international currency standard that is a super-sovereign currency. International Monetary System provides international economic activities rules for the human society. It has significant influences not only on international economic activities of various countries but also on their domestic economic activities as well. Since the disintegration of International gold standard in 1971, studies on reform of international monetary system have remained as the important research themes for international economic research fields. Improvements of international monetary system to facilitate worldwide economic developments have been interests to all. Thus this book has valuable theoretical contributions. Since the collapse of Bretton Woods System, the current international monetary system of Jamaica System has come into being. Under Jamaica System, the sovereign currency US dollar has acted as the main international currency. This has caused vulnerability of money standard, instability of exchange rate system, and frequent occurrences of currency crises. Calls for international monetary system reforms have increased under these circumstances. Various programs such as improved international gold standard system, expansion of Special Drawing Rights, as well as establishment of single world currency surface. So this book has significant practical contributions as well. The major contribution of this book is the proposal of new scheme of establishment of supra-sovereign international currency. This is an entire new reform program that differs significantly from any past or current reform programs in international economic research fields from all over the world.

The financial sustainability of the welfare state, its efficiency in covering new risks and to effectively reallocate resources in a fair way are now classic issues for debate. This book explores the more understated question of the democratic legitimacy of a 'quasi' European policy in a field which is subjected to the contradictory impact of ever tighter European economic governance. With the wide vision of a comparative perspective and the deep knowledge of social policy scholars, the authors of this book offer inspiring insights into different facets of democratic governance which are likely to inform European decision makers in the coming decade.' - Agnes Hubert, member of the Bureau for European Policy Advisors - European CommissionThe welfare state in Europe has been reformed gradually over the past two decades, with the intensification of the economic and monetary union and the addition of fifteen new members to the EU. This book explores the pressures that have been placed on the welfare state through a variety of insightful and thought-provoking contributions. As the standard of living has increased, aspirations and financial constraints have required major rethinking. There is considerable disparity between European countries in how they approach the welfare system, with differing concern over aspects such as income, employment and the ability to participate in society. Choices over welfare lie at the heart of the democratic system; this book explores the tensions this has produced and the innovative responses in policy content and institutions. The Changing Welfare State in Europe has a wide appeal, which will have relevance to economists, scholars in public and social policy, public and private finance experts, policymakers and also academics with an interest in the impact of financial and economic development. Contributors: T. Altman, C. Cheyne, K. Lyons, D.G. Mayes, A. Michalski, Z. Mustaffa, C. Shore, M. Thomson

This book describes official statistics as a tool to hold up a mirror to society - but also as an instrument for those who can manipulate this mirror. It addresses the precarious interaction of politics, official statistics, and ethical principles. Three sets of themes can be derived from this relationship, which are the focus of this book: Political systems and guiding principles, official statistics as a science of the state, and ethical issues arising from them. Ultimately, the determining factor is the political system that exists in each case. The book contains eleven chapters. The first three focus on the key concepts of the book: power and morality, official statistics and policy making, and ethical principles for statistical work. Three further chapters focus on episodes that illustrate, as "drastic" examples, the misuse of official statistics over the past hundred years, covering the situation in the Soviet Union, the Third Reich and Greece. The remaining five chapters take up current topics that pose particular challenges to official statistics. These are the phenomena paraphrased by digitalisation, globalisation, happiness research, overpopulation, migration, the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. The book is primarily aimed at statisticians working in national and international statistical institutions, but also at readers interested in statistics, national accounts, economic and statistics history, and ethical issues.

This book offers a multidisciplinary account of the 'rule of law' as a central pillar of the classical liberal tradition. The authors analyze the original meaning of this expression as first introduced by British jurist A. V. Dicey, before examining its subsequent elaboration by Leoni, Fuller, Hayek and Oakeshott. Addressing the main philosophical and legal aspects of the rule of law, this volume will appeal to all those engaged in law, political theory, philosophy, economics, business ethics, and public policy.

This book provides comprehensive analysis and descriptions of China's ageing finance system . China is undergoing the largest, fastest and longest process of population ageing in the world. It becomes a pressing challenge to the Chinese social security system in this era. Many developed countries have been going through this process. Pension and other financial tools have been studied and practiced for decades. China now is developing its own ageing finance systems by learning from other countries' experiences and making innovations to suit the country's request. Finance, a field that deals with the study of investments and the science of money management, is the most important tool to manage this situation. And hence Ageing finance has been developed into an independent area for research and practice. It helps the country adapt to new elderly support systems which is the necessary result from China's admirable economic development and changes in population structure. Ageing finance is the sum of financial activities centered on various social need of providing for the aged and serving for their society. It includes pension finance,old age wealth management service and finance of ageing industry. Chinese government and people are facing a very unique situation as our population structure is deeply changed by the One Child Policy since last 70s. The slope of ageing curve is sharper than most countries yet it has achieved the most successful economic development in the world during the same period. Academic researchers, financial practitioners, and policy makers will find this book to be essential reading, as they study this process and look forward to new theories, innovations and lessons raised from it.

The recent world economic crisis showed very clearly that financial crises and sovereign defaults are severe threats to economic and social prosperity. In addition, it became apparent that currency crises and banking crises often occur together and are closely related to sovereign debt crises and defaults.

The present book contains new research on various important issues related to financial crises and sovereign default risk by leading experts in the field. The book discusses new modelling approaches to financial crises, defaults and their interdependencies. It also sheds light on the consequences of different sorts of crises for the trust in the institutions which are concerned with managing them. Moreover, it provides discussions of several institutional features of the EMU and the world financial system and in particular the risks inherent in these institutions. The book also includes interesting suggestions for solving crises and improving financial stability.

This volume offers an impressive collection of scholarly papers which investigate the historical foundations of globalisation before 1945. The book explores the effects of the nineteenth century technologies of the railway, the telegraph and the steamship which promoted the globalisation process by boosting trade across frontiers and triggering migration of labour and flows of capital to the temperate areas of agriculture. The colonial empires, in particular the British Empire, facilitated the process, as the integration of capital markets and monetary systems and methods of business organization followed trade and labour. The volume also covers the time between the wars, when impediments to trade, migration and currency movements increased and led to a period of deglobalization and divergence.