Economies In Transition: Conception, Status And Prospects


Book Description

To date, the record of economic transition has decidedly been mixed. The worldwide political climate is still in favor of economic reform and the process continues to have considerable momentum. On the other hand, this process now faces a number of formidable obstacles. There appears to be general agreement that in many countries the promise of a better standard of living which economic transition offers to the mass of the citizenry has failed to produce the rapid and dramatic results hoped for. There is an increasing conflict of interest between multinational firms and the national business community. Moreover, many transition economies have experienced a slowing of economic growth in real terms and social services have been severely cut.This book deals with the development of those forces that have played a major role in the successes and failures of economic transition. Its distinctive feature is that it does this from the perspective of economic, political and social analysis, taking into account both theoretical constructs and economic realities for those countries which have attempted the grand experiment with economic transition.




Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy


Book Description

The second edition of an innovative undergraduate textbook in Comparative Economic Systems that goes beyond the traditional dichotomies.




State Capitalism Reforms and the Path for Belarus


Book Description

This book is an insightful study of the transition economy, using the little-known case of Belarus, a country “trapped in transition” for almost three decades. The model of state capitalism, so widely internationally known, has different specific roots, metrics and instruments in Belarus. The book outlines several pitfalls facing by the Belarusian economy, all of which lead to long-term economic recession in Belarus.




Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy, third edition


Book Description

An approach to comparative economic systems that avoids simple dichotomies to examine a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, with updated country case studies. Comparative economics, with its traditional dichotomies of socialism versus capitalism, private versus state, and planning versus market, is changing. This innovative textbook offers a new approach to understanding different economic systems that reflects both recent transformations in the world economy and recent changes in the field.This new edition examines a wide variety of institutional and systemic arrangements, many of which reflect deep roots in countries' cultures and histories. The book has been updated and revised throughout, with new material in both the historical overview and the country case studies. It offers a broad survey of economic systems, then looks separately at market capitalism, Marxism and socialism, and “new traditional economies” (with an emphasis on the role of religions, Islam in particular, in economic systems). It presents case studies of advanced capitalist nations, including the United States, Japan, Sweden, and Germany; alternative paths in the transition from socialist to market economies taken by such countries as Russia, the former Soviet republics, Poland, China, and the two Koreas; and developing countries, including India, Iran, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil. The new chapters on Brazil and South Africa complete the book's coverage of all five BRICS nations; the chapter on South Africa extends the book's comparative treatment to another continent. The chapter on Brazil with its account of the role of the Amazon rain forest as a great carbon sink expands the coverage of global environmental and sustainability issues. Each chapter ends with discussion questions.




Risking the Future


Book Description

More than 1 million teenage girls in the United States become pregnant each year; nearly half give birth. Why do these young people, who are hardly more than children themselves, become parents? This volume reviews in detail the trends in and consequences of teenage sexual behavior and offers thoughtful insights on the issues of sexual initiation, contraception, pregnancy, abortion, adoption, and the well-being of adolescent families. It provides a systematic assessment of the impact of various programmatic approaches, both preventive and ameliorative, in light of the growing scientific understanding of the topic.




Sustainable Energy Democracy and the Law


Book Description

Sustainable Energy Democracy and the Law offers a legal account of the concept of sustainable energy democracy. The book explains what the concept means in a legal context and how it can be translated into concrete legal instruments.




Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research


Book Description

The aim of the Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research is to create an overview of the field of Quality of Life (QOL) studies in the early years of the 21st century that can be updated and improved upon as the field evolves and the century unfolds. Social indicators are statistical time series “...used to monitor the social system, helping to identify changes and to guide intervention to alter the course of social change”. Examples include unemployment rates, crime rates, estimates of life expectancy, health status indices, school enrollment rates, average achievement scores, election voting rates, and measures of subjective well-being such as satisfaction with life-as-a-whole and with specific domains or aspects of life. This book provides a review of the historical development of the field including the history of QOL in medicine and mental health as well as the research related to quality-of-work-life (QWL) programs. It discusses several of QOL main concepts: happiness, positive psychology, and subjective wellbeing. Relations between spirituality and religiousness and QOL are examined as are the effects of educational attainment on QOL and marketing, and the associations with economic growth. The book goes on to investigate methodological approaches and issues that should be considered in measuring and analysing quality of life from a quantitative perspective. The final chapters are dedicated to research on elements of QOL in a broad range of countries and populations.




The Chinese Economy after WTO Accession


Book Description

This book provides an analysis of the Chinese economy in the context of globalization after China's admission to the WTO. In four parts it addresses globalization, privatization, fiscal policy and financial development. In depth analysis is also given to international trade, industrial development as well as economic performance and the labour market. The Chinese Economy after WTO Accession is a comprehensive study supported by recent data and quantitative analysis. It provides a solid basis for better understanding the possible future directions of China's economy. This volume is an indispensable source for scholars and students alike.




Principles of Institutional and Evolutionary Political Economy


Book Description

This is the very first book to explicitly both detail the core general principles of institutional and evolutionary political economy and also apply the principles to current world problems such as the coronavirus crisis, climate change, corruption, AI-Robotics, policy-governance, money and financial instability, terrorism, AIDS-HIV and the nurturance gap. No other book has ever detailed explicitly such core principles and concepts nor ever applied them explicitly to numerous current major problems. The core general principles and concepts in this book, which are outlined and detailed include historical specificity & evolution; hegemony & uneven development; circular & cumulative causation; heterogeneous groups & agents; contradiction & creative destruction; uncertainty; innovation; and policy & governance. This book details the nature of how these principles and concepts can be used to explain current critical issues and problems throughout the world. This book includes updated chapters that have won two journal research Article of the Year Awards on climate change (one from the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy, EAEPE); as well as a Presidential address to the Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE) on corruption. The structure of the book starts with two chapters on the principles of institutional and evolutionary political economy: firstly their history, and secondly a chapter on the contemporary nature of the principles and concepts. This is followed by nine chapters applying some of the core principles to current world problems such as the coronacrisis, climate change, corruption, AI-robotics, policy, money & financial instability, terrorism, HIV-AIDS and the nurturance gap. The book finishes with a conclusion, a glossary of major terms and an index. The author’s principles are well established in the literature and this book provides a detailed exposition of them and their application.




Global Economic Issues and Policies


Book Description

This introduction to all aspects of international economics, public policy, business, and finance is the clearest guide available to the economics of the world we live in. Written in a highly engaging style, packed full of up-to-the minute, real-world case studies and pitched at an introductory level, the book does an expert job of drawing students in and will leave them equipped with a comprehensive toolkit of methods and essential facts. Covering the wide range of economic issues and policies generated by globalization, the text provides an introduction to the topic that emphasizes facts as well as theories, presenting all new economic concepts clearly and in detail. This third edition reflects continuing developments in the world economy and in the analysis of international economics. Chapter introductions, pedagogy and data have all been thoroughly updated throughout, and key topics for expansion and revision include * Free Trade versus Fair Trade * Bilateral and Multilateral Treaties * International Outsourcing * Public Perceptions of International Trade * The Trilemma Issue * Business-Cycle Synchronization * Central Bank Emergency Tools * Sovereign-Debt Problems This text is suitable for any introductory module in international economics, public policy, and business, whether taught as part of an economics, public policy, business, or international studies program. It is also the ideal MBA level introduction to the global economy.