Economic Reform and State-Owned Enterprises in China is a comprehensive and detailed investigation into China's reform process during the period 1979 to 1987, with especial reference to the effect of the reforms on the industries (mostly large-scale) that are still owned by the state. The data on which this book is based resulted from a statistical survey and questionnaire of the managers of approximately 380 enterprises, documenting their responses to the new environment created by the reforms. The survey was undertaken by a team from the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. Donald Hay and Derek Morris have a distinguished reputation for their work in applied industrial organisation. This book takes the statistical data collected and gives a thorough analysis of virtually every aspect of enterprise behaviourproduction and costs, employment, profit margins and profitability, finance, investment decisions and autonomy. The constant question is whether the reform programme was successful in the state-owned sectors, and the authors conclude that the answer is a qualified 'yes' and that in many respects the enterprises began in the eighties to behave like Western firms. The authors also succeed in constructing a model of Chinese state-owned enterprise, and in using this to simulate the results of further reform programmes. They conclude that state-ownership remains a major constraint on market-led behaviour and efficiency. The authors argue that the next stage of reform must be to transfer these large enterprises to share- rather than state-ownership. A comprehensive analysis, packed with statisticaldata, this book will be essential for all those interested in China's economic reform process and the role of the state.

A fearless, unsettling story collection that captures its characters on the verge of vital decisions and follows their twists and turns into regret, loneliness, oblivion, and solace. Uncompromising, often dark, and always insightful, Dying Light explores the mysteries of duty, forgiveness, power, and love through a broad range of narrative voices. We meet a football coach who seeks to avenge his wife's affair, a delusional poet who escapes from a hospital as the bombing of Baghdad begins, a woman whose son was killed in a car accident, and an almost-widower wistful about his first love. In these and other stories, Hays illuminates his characters' most secret and human realisations with unwavering candour and clarity.

Does the market promote its own intrinsic and selfish values, or does it merely reflect the values of society? This question is becoming more important as contemporary opposition to globalization and the unfettered operation of market forces demonstrates. This collection offers reports from all areas of the business and policy sectors, providing a debate on the supposedly conflicting relationship between the market and spiritual values. Sharply contrasting accounts emerge from contributors who have been actively involved in business and finance in the UK, while other authors discuss business models which have a very different set of values from those of most participants in commercial markets. Alternative perspectives are provided by contributors responsible for the design and implementation of public policies with non-market values, and the collection concludes with reflections on the values implicit in modern economic analysis.