POZNAŃ SCHOOL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS


Book Description




Development: What Now? Past, Present and Future Challenges in International Development


Book Description

This edited volume on international development is a collection of papers presented at the international postgraduate conference “Development: What Now?” in Hong Kong from the 9th to 11th October 2014. With the support of the Postgraduate Students Conference Grant of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, this conference was organised by the Department of Applied Social Science of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The conference aimed to contribute in answering the vital question for the future of development studies: “What Now?” The conference explored some of the past, present and future challenges in international development. It was a grand success attracting over 60 participants from Germany, Indonesia, Canada, Italy, India, Poland, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, Nigeria, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, the UK and Hong Kong. The participants presented their research papers on ten major themes. These included (1) Empowering People, Climate Change and Education; (2) Poverty Reduction; (3) Gender Studies; (4) Human Rights, Environment and Wellbeing; (5) Foreign Aid and Development Cooperation; (6) Security and Transnationality; (7) Economic Development; (8) Urban and Rural Development; (9) Governance, Diplomacy and Health in Development; (10) Sociology and Diversity in Psychology, Literature and Advertising. The highlights of the conference were the two defining speeches delivered by Emeritus Professor Robert J. Holton of Trinity College Dublin and The University of South Australia, and Professor Damien Kingsbury of Deakin University, Australia. These two keynote speeches, together with other outstanding conference papers, have been selected and published in this volume.




Modeling Economic Growth in Contemporary Poland


Book Description

Trying to explain the sources of Poland’s economic success and decouple it from simple stylized facts on economic convergence anchored in the neoclassical growth models, the chapters show how the Polish economy rapidly moved away from the communist economic system, which had ended up in an economic collapse.




Privatisation against the European Social Model


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This book addresses the EU as powerful driver of the wave of privatizations in the network industries and public services since the early 1990s. Based on theoretical arguments and empirical studies it examines the impact of these policies on what is regarded as the normative pillars of the European Social Model.




Competitiveness and Economic Development in Europe


Book Description

The success of an economy to adapt quickly, flexibly, and effectively to the demands of the changing international economic environment can only be investigated using the achievements of other national economies or regions as a benchmark. This book analyzes the fundamental factors of competitiveness, which will, in turn, facilitate economic development and growth, in the new post-crisis environment. In the economic, social, legal, and technological environment that has emerged in recent years, as well as in the period after the recent financial crisis, it is critical to define, assess, and implement new pathways to competitiveness and economic development. The book covers all aspects of competitiveness and economic growth, from financial intermediaries to tourism and the digital economy, and from regulation and corporate governance to exchange rate dynamics and monetary policy issues. It uses empirical findings from a variety of different countries with divergent economic structures and policies. It examines the new system of production, and the technological, commercial, financial and institutional environment, with the aim of recommending a proportional division of benefits and costs of economic growth. It offers a fresh, holistic, and flexible concept to underscore the new relationship between competitiveness and economic growth. Such an approach is needed, whereby competitiveness is no longer a zero-sum game between countries, but is achievable for all countries. The book recommends future directions and offers policy solutions, and as such, will appeal to students, researchers, and policymakers, as well as those interested in the role of competitiveness in the operation of markets, productivity, and economic development, and how it might foster innovation and growth.




Economic Integration, Currency Union, and Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in East Africa


Book Description

This edited volume focuses on economic integration, currency union, and sustainable and inclusive growth in East Africa. It consists of twelve interrelated studies that provide a comprehensive picture of the state and determinants of economic development and cooperation among countries in East Africa, such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. The contributions are grouped into five parts: economic integration and its effects on trade; common currency and exchange rate; research, innovation, and knowledge, and shadow economics and corruption; inclusive and sustainable growth; and the conflict-growth nexus and reconstruction. This book will appeal to scholars and decision makers looking for the necessary tools and determinants of economic development and cooperation in East Africa.




Baltic Business and Socio-Economic Development 2007


Book Description

HauptbeschreibungThe 3rd International Conference on "Baltic Business and Socio-Economic Development" took place between 17th and 19th of June 2007 in Tallinn. The conference provided an opportunity to discuss issues related particularly to assessment of socio-economic development and business environment in the Baltic Sea Region, the economic and financial situation of SMEs, and possibilities of international co-operation in the area of education activity. With more than 100 participants the conference represented a great platform to disseminate knowledge on socio-economic conditions for regi.




Collective Sustainable Consumption


Book Description

In the face of climate change and resulting environmental and social crises, sustainable consumption has become a widely discussed issue and a key plank of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The majority of the sustainable consumption research uses the SDG framework, but this only serves to reinforce an individualistic, efficiency-based approach and it does not sufficiently cover the specific situation of transition economies. In contrast, this volume promotes a collective approach to sustainable consumption, and combines general theoretical issues with empirical examples from the Polish economy. The first part of the book presents a theoretical approach to collective consumption which has the core concepts of justice and human nature at its heart. This approach emphasises the role of collective rationality and categorises aspects of sustainable consumption as a common and public good. The second part investigates diversified aspects of sustainability, including socio-economic inequalities as barriers to sustainable consumption, consumer sovereignty in the context of current legal regulations, and the impact on employees of changes to the types and conditions of work. It also examines the sharing economy and the legal conditions of its development. The third part adopts a political perspective focusing on the state policies enhancing the role of investment in public goods, analyses photovoltaic programmes which promote prosumption and indicates challenges to sustainability faced by many countries such as the energy crisis, sustainable finance, and cooperative platforms. This book will be of great interest to researchers and scholars interested in sustainability and consumption issues in economics, management, law, public administration, and political science.




Poland in the Single Market


Book Description

By all accounts, the case of Poland and its segue to market economy and democracy is a success story: 30 years of uninterrupted growth and development, infrastructure expansion, and modernization of the economy and society. Epochal changes have unfolded in a timespan of merely three decades. Change has taken place so fast that children born in late 1980s and onwards cannot remember what life in Poland under communism was like and cannot relate to it. Also, many elderly people, easy victims of romanticizing their own youth, tend to forget. As a result, the uniqueness of Polish transition and transformation, the boldness and efficiency of reforms, and the success that Polish society mastered together, tend to be undermined today both domestically and internationally. Poland has now been a member of the EU for more than 15 years. During that time, Poland’s image on the EU scene evolved from newcomer, through ‘model child’, champion of growth, to – in some respects – a maverick. This volume’s objective is to remind society, old and young, researchers, scholars and practitioners, that Poland’s success is an outcome of well-thought out and bold structural reforms implemented in a swift and timely manner, of society’s support for these reforms, and of third actors’ benign assistance. Looking back on the 30 years since the collapse of communism, and at the over 15 years of EU membership, this book offers an interdisciplinary, comprehensive and critical insight into factors and processes that have led to today’s Poland.




The Political Economy of the Eurozone in Central and Eastern Europe


Book Description

The idea for this volume came from the enigma that some Central and Eastern European (CEE) European Union (EU) member states have been keen to join the Eurozone while others have shown persistent reluctance. Moreover, the attitudes towards joining have seemingly not correlated with either the level of economic development or the time spent as part of the EU, nor with any other rational reason such as the level of integration into the EU real economy, or the level of trust in the EU on the part of the public. Therefore, at first sight, the answer to the question ‘why in, why out?’ remains rather unclear. The attractiveness of the currency union has nevertheless not disappeared for the CEE countries. Despite the Eurozone crisis of 2010–13, it was during that time that the Baltic states introduced the euro. Then, after a few years of inactivity, Croatia and Bulgaria successfully applied for membership of the exchange rate mechanism in July 2020, amid the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. At the same time, the three Visegrad countries still using their national currencies – Poland, Czechia and Hungary – no longer have a target date to join the monetary union. This volume aims to discuss these issues from horizontal aspects and through country studies, with contributions from expert authors from, or closely related to, the CEE region.