How can the notion of competitiveness be reasonably applied to an economy? What relation does high or low competitiveness have to the current account? Do huge and persistent imbalances really reflect competitive positions of local firms or are they merely due to a misalignment of exchange rates or even outright protectionism, as the US-Japan trade conflict suggests?All these questions are rigorously addressed in International Competitiveness and the Balance of Payments. In examining the determinants of current account balances the conventional competitiveness approach - in which deficits are assumed to indicate low competitiveness - is contrasted with an intertemporal view of the balance of payments. By emphasizing locational quality as the decisive factor in international competitiveness, the authors are able to offer fundamentally different conclusions about the determinants of current account debates. As well as theoretical evidence advocating the intertemporal view, the authors present four case studies in support of this approach: Germany before and after unification, Spain before joining the EMS, the United States since the early 1980s, and Japan's persistent current account surpluses.

The book is an innovative compilation of papers that explore the relationship between cultural features and entrepreneurship. The relative stability of differences in entrepreneurial activity across countries suggests that other than economic factors are at play. The contributions to this edited volume deal with the foundations of entrepreneurship and with the effects of different cultural settings on the incidence and success of entrepreneurs. Topics are individual decision making in a cultural context, regional aspects of entrepreneurship, cross-country differences, and the influence of culture on entrepreneurial activity.

This innovative book uses mainstream theoretical analysis to explain the successes and failures of monetary reforms. Andreas Freytag argues that there is a systematic economic relationship between the success of a reform, the degree of monetary commitment and the institutional setting in a particular country. The book begins with a theoretical discussion of this relationship, and a formalisation of the theory of monetary reform. It goes on to offer an empirical assessment of the theory, using cross-section methods and case studies, before finally presenting economic policy options for countries facing monetary problems. Success and Failure in Monetary Reform will be of unique interest to economists and central banks. Scholars and students of monetary economics all over the world, in particular in developing countries, will also find this book invaluable.

Securing the Global Economy explores how and why the G8 and other institutions of global governance deal with increasingly comprehensive and complex economic-security connections. These connections are explored from an interdisciplinary perspective, with economists, political scientists and those in the policy world bringing their insights to bear. Moreover, this volume explores this economic-security connection from a constitutional or institutional perspective. In a classical liberal spirit, it is concerned with the organizing principles of a liberal international economic order and the framework of rules that enables it to survive and flourish. Security issues, national trade policies, the multilateral trade system and the detailed technical issues they subsume are analysed from this higher vantage point. This is thus a work about global governance as a whole and at its core, rather than a problem-solving manual for a few of the issues now at centre stage. Furthermore, it applies this larger vision to the current G8 and global economic-security agenda to generate a set of policy recommendations about how the global community, through and outside the G8, can better cope with the complex interconnected challenges it now confronts. Its innovative policy recommendations are especially timely when the recent global financial crisis, economic recession and fragile recovery place great strains on the liberal economic order, while new challenges from Iran, ongoing terrorist threats and corruption make this security-economic connection critically important.

Securing the Global Economy explores how and why the G8 and other institutions of global governance deal with increasingly comprehensive and complex economic-security connections. These connections are explored from an interdisciplinary perspective, with economists, political scientists and those in the policy world bringing their insights to bear. Moreover, this volume explores this economic-security connection from a constitutional or institutional perspective. In a classical liberal spirit, it is concerned with the organizing principles of a liberal international economic order and the framework of rules that enables it to survive and flourish. Security issues, national trade policies, the multilateral trade system and the detailed technical issues they subsume are analysed from this higher vantage point. This is thus a work about global governance as a whole and at its core, rather than a problem-solving manual for a few of the issues now at centre stage. Furthermore, it applies this larger vision to the current G8 and global economic-security agenda to generate a set of policy recommendations about how the global community, through and outside the G8, can better cope with the complex interconnected challenges it now confronts. Its innovative policy recommendations are especially timely when the recent global financial crisis, economic recession and fragile recovery place great strains on the liberal economic order, while new challenges from Iran, ongoing terrorist threats and corruption make this security-economic connection critically important.

This title was first published in 2001. John Kirton, Joseph Daniels and Andreas Freytag present an indispensable and authoritative collection of papers in this volume in the G8 and Global Governance series. This is an essential tool for those interested in keeping abreast of the ongoing and rapidly expanding work of the G7/G8 system. Containing the first treatment of China's relationship with the G7/G8 and comprehensive analysis of the new G20 forum, this volume in the G8 and Global Governance series also looks at the possibilities for the G8 system. It places the work of the G7 within a broader context of global governance and the new challenges facing the international community in the new century. A balanced selection of distinguished experts from the G7 countries and from emerging markets outside, provide an essential addition to the bookshelves of academics, government officials and business and media communities interested in keeping abreast of the ongoing and rapidly expanding work of the G7/G8 system.

This title was first published in 2001. John Kirton, Joseph Daniels and Andreas Freytag present an indispensable and authoritative collection of papers which examine both the professional economic merits and the underlying politics, of the hotly contested competing initiatives for strengthening the international financial system. Containing the first treatment of China's relationship with the G7/G8 and comprehensive analysis of the new G20 forum, this volume in the G8 and Global Governance series also looks at the possibilities for the G8 system. It places the work of the G7 within a broader context of global governance and the new challenges facing the international community in the new century. A balanced selection of distinguished experts from the G7 countries and from emerging markets outside, provide an essential addition to the bookshelves of academics, government officials and business and media communities interested in keeping abreast of the ongoing and rapidly expanding work of the G7/G8 system.

The book is an innovative compilation of papers that explore the relationship between cultural features and entrepreneurship. The relative stability of differences in entrepreneurial activity across countries suggests that other than economic factors are at play. The contributions to this edited volume deal with the foundations of entrepreneurship and with the effects of different cultural settings on the incidence and success of entrepreneurs. Topics are individual decision making in a cultural context, regional aspects of entrepreneurship, cross-country differences, and the influence of culture on entrepreneurial activity.