Book Description

At the beginning of the 21st century, the three most important concerns in the developed nations are remarkably convergent_unemployment, the environment, and community breakdown_and there are strong indications that these same issues will remain on top of the agenda well into the next century.

Emerging technologies promise to keep unemployment a major issue, even if all Western economies get out of recession. By 2010, China will introduce as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as the entire world does today. And community breakdown is one of the most systemic, deep, and complex societal trends of the past 30 years, with no signs of any reversal.

Precisely because we will have to live with these issues for the foreseeable future, only a long-term structural approach can successfully resolve these problems. Community and Money is about how community currencies could contribute to tackling all three problems.

Local currencies are springing up all over the world in an impressive diversity and increasing sophistication. In more than 65 different places in the United States and Canada you can earn and use colorful bills with names like Barter Bucks and Time Dollars for anything from buying groceries to having your hair cut or your computer repaired.

Using communities in Ontario and New York State as models, this book, through a combination of theory, practical implementation, and personal interviews, offers a guide to some very attractive alternatives to traditional currency transactions, the goal of which is to encourage [re]localization of the production of wealth, consumption, and exchange; fairly remunerate work that is un- or under-paid; and build a sense of community through personalized, face-to-face transactions.

Mary-Beth Raddon holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Toronto, Ontario, and has contributed to both the research and the debate around the new economy.

Book Description

This book provides a balanced presentation of international trends in infrastructure regulation and financing. Based on recent developments in microeconomic theory, it comprehensively discusses the role of the state and the private sector in infrastructure provision.

As well as a thorough overview of the relevant theoretical issues, the authors carefully examine national experiences of private participation in infrastructure. In particular, they explore sectoral restructuring in the electricity, telecommunications, water and transport sectors. The book includes case studies from both Argentina and the UK, and places a particular focus on Germany which, for a developed country, is a peculiar latecomer in terms of infrastructure sector reform.

Well argued and rich in new insights, this book offers a meticulous and informative analysis of current trends in infrastructure privatization and deregulation. Among the authors are well-known specialists as well as younger researchers who provide a fresh perspective on the issue. The book will be of interest and relevance to researchers, academics, policymakers and international organizations interested in regulation and the modernization of infrastructure both in developed and developing countries. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description

First published in 1973 ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Book Description

Education and Earnings in Europe is based on a two year pan-European research program and presents an in-depth analysis of the returns to education in Europe.

The book begins with a critical review of the literature which compares and contrasts the issues involved in the estimation of these returns. A central message of this review, based on the extensive use of cross country comparisons, is that the estimated return to education can vary depending on the precise methodology and data specification used. This review is followed by 15 country specific chapters which present the structure of the educational system, estimates of the returns to education and extensions to the basic model of each country. The chapters follow a consistent format and style to allow for ease of comparison between the countries discussed. ... Read more

Book Description

This significant new book demonstrates how the ‘systems of innovation’ approach can be utilized to understand the complex interactions between innovation and growth which, in turn, can enhance the prospects of developing nations.

Systems of Innovation and Development confronts the challenges and opportunities of the knowledge era, focusing particularly on the new conditions for industrial and technological advancement. The distinguished contributors address many of the most significant issues including: the globalizing learning economy, the finance-dominated accumulation regime, learning and development divides, systems of innovation and local productive arrangements. They also define the conceptual and methodological instruments which can be used to analyze and understand the core issues of learning, knowledge and innovation. In doing so, they demonstrate the value of the systems of innovation approach in the design and implementation of strategic development policies which are urgently required in many countries.

This book represents a significant contribution to the debates surrounding globalization and local systems of innovation. The diverse perspectives on global and local processes combined with original insights on developing countries will be of immense value to scholars and students of economics, social science, political science, and business administration. The book will also be of interest to policymakers in governmental and non-governmental bodies, particularly international development agencies. ... Read more

Book Description

Southeast Asia is going through tremendous changes economically. The market-oriented economies of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand have been showing robust growth since the 1960s. The transitional economies of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are exhibiting signs of economic awakening and revival after years of internal political and social turmoil. Despite these encouraging signs, the region still has a long road ahead in its efforts to achieve developed nation status.

This book is a serious and concise study of various important economic aspects of Southeast Asia. The existing economic studies of the region are mainly topical in nature. Most books attempt to offer only a partial treatment of the issues and fail to examine these issues in a holistic manner. The objective of this book is to provide a more complete cross-country discussion on the economic issues and problems facing Southeast Asia. Besides critically examining the multiple facets of changes and problems that have been and will be encountered by Southeast Asia, the book presents a lucid exposition of the prospects of the region. However, it does not stop there but moves on to provide pointers and suggestions on how Southeast Asian countries should proceed with their development options and processes. The book should be of interest to economists and graduate students researching on Southeast Asia. It will also be extremely useful to those who want to have a better understanding of the Southeast Asian region. ... Read more

Book Description

This highly topical book addresses the challenge of economic convergence within Europe, beginning with a thorough review of the theory of growth and related empirical research. Historical and more recent economic developments within the present EU and current accession countries are discussed, along with the design for the process of further integration of accession countries into the EU and the Euro area. Moreover, the potential to achieve a sustainable catch-up process in Western Balkan countries, the Ukraine and Russia is explored, focusing on the task facing the EU in designing proper policies vis-à-vis these countries. The contributors’ varied perspectives ensure that the theories and policies postulated are linked closely with the actual situation in accession countries and offer up-to-date insights.

Economic Convergence and Divergence in Europe will be of interest to economists and researchers of regional and European studies, particularly those with a focus on integration. Its accessible and non-technical approach assures its appeal to experts from the banking and governmental sectors. ... Read more

Book Description

Throughout the fourteenth century AD/eighth century H, waves of plague swept out of Central Asia and decimated populations from China to Iceland. So devastating was the Black Death across the Old World that some historians have compared its effects to those of a nuclear holocaust. As countries began to recover from the plague during the following century, sharp contrasts arose between the East, where societies slumped into long-term economic and social decline, and the West, where technological and social innovation set the stage for Europe's dominance into the twentieth century. Why were there such opposite outcomes from the same catastrophic event?In contrast to previous studies that have looked to differences between Islam and Christianity for the solution to the puzzle, this pioneering work proposes that a country's system of landholding primarily determined how successfully it recovered from the calamity of the Black Death. Stuart Borsch compares the specific cases of Egypt and England, countries whose economies were based in agriculture and whose pre-plague levels of total and agrarian gross domestic product were roughly equivalent. Undertaking a thorough analysis of medieval economic data, he cogently explains why Egypt's centralized and urban landholding system was unable to adapt to massive depopulation, while England's localized and rural landholding system had fully recovered by the year 1500. ... Read more

Book Description

The World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) is the world’s most renowned and comprehensive annual report on the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analyzing how a nation’s environment sustains the competitiveness of enterprises.

The WCY is an invaluable, dynamic and constantly updated benchmark for decision-makers. The business community uses it as an essential tool in determining investment plans and assessing locations for new operations. Government agencies find important indicators to benchmark their policies against those of other countries and to evaluate performance over time. The academic world also uses the exceptional wealth of data in the WCY to help analyze world competitiveness. ... Read more