This reissue, first published in 1984, presents a study of the key phenomenon of global banking, carried out from special financial centres in underdeveloped countries, which contributed heavily to the contemporary debt crisis. This book gathers together previously disparate and unpublished data to give a detailed picture of the scope and the effects of transnational banking in the new international financial centres which have largely been set up since 1970.

This reissue, first published in 1984, presents a study of the key phenomenon of global banking, carried out from special financial centres in underdeveloped countries, which contributed heavily to the contemporary debt crisis. This book gathers together previously disparate and unpublished data to give a detailed picture of the scope and the effects of transnational banking in the new international financial centres which have largely been set up since 1970.

This book examines the extent of, and motives for, the diffusion of flexible automation (FA) at global level and then turns to the local and firm level, bringing together in-depth studies of sixty-two firms in Brazil, India, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela. Research focuses on the impact of computer-numerically-controlled machine tools on scale and scope by exploring changes in lot sizes and product variety (product scale and scope), total plant output (plant scale) and total firm output (firm scale). Barriers to setting up FA-based operations are discussed, as are factors which may affect a decision to locate in a developing country. The contributed studies reveal a relatively slow diffusion of FA in developing countries and it is demonstrated that while FA possibly increases scope, it also requires that plant output be increased in order to maintain efficiency. Alcorta concludes that the location in developing countries will probably only be viable for large domestic firms, multinationals seeking to relocate simple but labour intensive assembly processes and firms in countries with significant domestic markets. This work is unique in addressing the scale and scope issues in developing countries and in the wealth of information regarding machine tools which it provides. The data provided in the appendix includes official United Nations data, previously unpublished. This will be of use for all research into trends in the use of machine tools.

New Perspectives on Structural Change is a comprehensive edited volume that outlines both the historical roots and state-of-the-art debates on the role of structural change in the process of economic development, including both orthodox and heterodox perspectives and contributions from prominent scholars in this field. The volume consists of four main sections. The first section covers the theoretical foundations of the structural change literature. The second section presents an empirical overview of the major trends of structural change, using up-to-date data sources and methods. The third section presents a broad ranging empirical analysis of the drivers of structural change. The fourth section examines how processes such as inclusive growth, poverty reduction, productive employment, the global income distribution, and environmental sustainability are affected by structural change, and how they can be influenced by policy.