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Valuation of Regulating Services of Ecosystems: Methodology and Applications (Routledge Explorations In Environmental Economics Ser. #27)
By Pushpam Kumar, Michael D. Wood. 2010
Policy and management decisions are often made on financial grounds. However, the economic value of the benefits that people derive…
from ecosystems, that is, ecosystem services, may not be fully recognised and hence ecosystem considerations may not be incorporated adequately into decision-making processes. This is particularly true for regulating services, the benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes, the valuation of which requires an interdisciplinary approach. In essence, valuation is a problem solving strategy and a problem is a problem, it does not respect the boundary of any particular discipline. The valuation of regulating services is an evolving field of ecological economics. In this book, Professor Pushpam Kumar and Professor Michael D. Wood have invited some of the foremost international experts in the field of ecosystem services valuation to contribute chapters on the valuation of regulating services and highlight some of the main obstacles to the implementation and acceptance of these methodologies in the context of decision-making. The contributors explore the theoretical underpinning of valuation of ecosystem services and demonstrate ways in which these theories can be applied to case-specific problems in order to inform decision-making processes. This collection clarifies some of the doubt and uncertainty regarding the valuation of regulating services. Innovative methodologies in this field have started to emerge and in coming years there may be much further discussion on this topic as methodologies and understanding continue to evolve. This is a highly active area of interdisciplinary research with far reaching social and environmental implications, and this book should be of interest to those who are new to the field, as well as established experts, in moving both theory and practice forward.Informal Work in Developed Nations (Routledge Advances in Heterodox Economics)
By Colin C. Williams, Enrico Marcelli, Pascale Joassart. 2010
Almost everyone residing in a developed nation knows someone who has engaged in paid work that is licit but not…
reported to the government (e.g., babysitting, gardening, construction, financial consulting). But while most acknowledge that such work is helpful to the individuals involved, and that informal work may enhance a sense of community, most scholars view it as a pre-modern form of exchange and something that disappears as capitalist markets expand globally. Both mainstream and heterodox economics typically assume that there is an inevitable shift towards the formalization of goods and services provisioning as societies become more "advanced" or "developed" (the "formalization thesis"). In these views, the existence of informal activities is a manifestation of backwardness and it is assumed that they will disappear as an economy becomes more "modern." This book challenges these conventional theses about the linear trajectory of informal work and economic development by arguing that informal work is not trivial for understanding modern capitalist economies, and that both mainstream and heterodox theories about the economy must be altered to address the role of informal work in relatively developed economies. This edited collection focuses on informal work in various developed nations, including Canada, the United States, and several in Europe. It will therefore be of interest to policymakers, as well as students and researchers in development studies, social policy, sociology, anthropology, public health, geography, economics and planning. Enrico Marcelli is Assistant Professor of Sociology at San Diego State University, USA. Colin C. Williams is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Sheffield, UK. Pascale Joassart is Assistant Professor of Geography at San Diego State University, USA.Social Protection for Africa’s Children (Routledge Studies In Development Economics Ser. #86)
By Sudhanshu Handa. 2010
Social protection is an increasingly important part of the social policy dialogue in Africa, and yet because of its relatively…
new place in a rapidly evolving agenda, evidence on critical design choices such as targeting, and on impacts of social protection interventions, is mostly limited to case studies or small, unrepresentative surveys. This impressive collection makes a major contribution to building the evidence base, drawing on rigorous analysis of social protection programmes in several African countries, as well as original research and thinking on key topical issues in the social protection discourse. Social Protection for Africa’s Children is divided into four parts. The first presents economic and human-rights based right arguments for social protection as an integral part of the social policy menu in Africa. This is followed by a part on targeting, which highlights some of the key policy trade-offs faced when deciding between alternative target groups. The third part presents rigorous quantitative evidence on the impact of social cash transfers on children from programmes in South Africa, Malawi and Ethiopia and the final part addresses a set of issues related to social justice and human rights. This book significantly advances existing knowledge about social protection for children in Africa, both conceptually and empirically. It makes a strong case for social protection interventions that address the short term (amelioration) and long term (structural) needs of children, and shows that programming in this sector for children is both feasible and achievable. Policy makers and practitioners in this sector will have, in this book, the theoretical and empirical evidence necessary to advance social protection for Africa’s children in the decades to come. Furthermore, this book should be an essential resource to postgraduates and students focussing on development economics in Africa.Henry A. Abbati: Selected Writings (Routledge Studies in the History of Economics #119)
By Serena Di Gaspare. 2010
Henry A. Abbati was not an economist by profession. After retiring from business, in 1924 he published his first book,…
The Unclaimed Wealth: How Money Stops Production in which he expounded his theory of ‘effective demand’ (terminology of his own) and its differences with respect to current theories on economic fluctuations. He was advocating public intervention in the economy in the crisis. His second book, The Final Buyer marshalled his criticisms of current theories and further clarified salient aspects of his theory, such as ‘saving’ and its various definitions, the working of the banking system, the interest rate and the role of public works as a means of reducing unemployment. Later work in the 30s and 40s looked at full employment, reflections on the economic crisis and further analysis of the concept of unclaimed wealth. In many ways Abbati’s work in the twenties was an important precursor to Keynes’ Treatise on Money, though despite being admired by Robertson and indeed Keynes, his work is today largely unknown and entirely ignored by the numerous authors who have examined the debate of the twenties and thirties on the crises and business cycles and by academic opinion in general. In this book, Di Gaspare restores Abbati’s position as a pioneer in macroeconomic theory with a selection of his writings and a far reaching introduction to his contribution to the history of economic thought.Free Market Conservatism: A Critique of Theory & Practice (Routledge Revivals)
By Edward Nell. 2010
First published in 1984, this book carefully dissects and convincingly demonstrates that conservative economics is incoherent in theory and disastrous…
in practice. The three main schools of thought supporting "free-market" policies – supply side economics, monetarism and rational expectations – are examined in turn and each is found defective. Three case studies of conservative policy in action follow: Reagan’s U.S., Thatcher’s U.K. and Pinochet’s Chile and their courses are charted in depth. In addition, Robert Heilbroner and Edward Nell analyse economic conservatism’s ideology and social policy, and the book concludes with an assessment of the political reasons for the continuing appeal of free-market conservatism despite its theoretical incoherence and practical failure. This is a careful and comprehensive look at this subject which tackles both the theory and the practice head-on. It will make useful and stimulating reading for students of economics and political economy on courses of economic policy and macro-economics and in addition will be of keen interest to all those involved in the debate about one of the major policy issues of our time.Studies in Social Economics
By Léon Walras. 2010
Léon Walras (1834–1910) is one of the four or five most important economic theorists in the history of the science.…
The present book is a complete English translation of the second edition (1936) of his Études d’économie sociale (1896), in which he applies economic theory to real problems, presents the essence of his normative economic ideas, and reveals himself to have also been a great thinker on human nature, justice, mores, and the structure of scientific inquiry and knowledge. The book will be of interest to researchers and postgraduate students in the area of the history of economics as well as those interested in Walrasian topics, such as social justice, taxation, intellectual property, and land ownership.The European Union (EU) has provided trade preferences to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries since 1975. To maintain…
these preferences, a series of economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the EU and regional groupings of ACP countries are being agreed, (negotiations started around 2003 and many framework agreements have been signed). As multilateral negotiations within the World Trade Organisation have stalled, EPAs are currently the single most important policy issue for ACP trade. This volume assesses EPAs and the potential impact on ACP countries, provides guidance for ACP negotiators in future negotiations and introduces methods to analyse the impact of future trade reforms. The essential features are that ACP countries commit to remove tariffs on substantially all imports from the EU and the EU offers improved market access to ACP exporters. For ACP countries the major impacts will be increased imports from the EU, hence a loss of tariff revenue and increased competition from imports in domestic and regional markets, implying significant adjustment costs, which may be offset by some increases in exports to the EU. This collection excellently outlines a variety of analytical methods that can be used to assess the potential economic effects of trade policy reforms, shows how these can be applied to EPAs and derives implications for the issues that should be addressed in negotiating the details of agreements. This valuable contribution offers a balanced assessment of the issues and should be essential reading for postgraduates and researchers focussing on Development Economics. Furthermore, the book is written in an accessible style and should be an excellent resource for trade negotiators and government officials concerned with trade relations, as well as officials in the European Commission, individual countries (ACP, Commonwealth, EU) and in multilateral organizations (WTO, UNECA, World Bank, UNCTAD).Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy
By Tim Harford. 2017
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 by BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND AMAZON A lively history seen through the…
fifty inventions that shaped it most profoundly, by the bestselling author of The Undercover Economist and Messy. Who thought up paper money? What was the secret element that made the Gutenberg printing press possible? And what is the connection between The Da Vinci Code and the collapse of Lehman Brothers? Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy paints an epic picture of change in an intimate way by telling the stories of the tools, people, and ideas that had far-reaching consequences for all of us. From the plough to artificial intelligence, from Gillette's disposable razor to IKEA's Billy bookcase, bestselling author and Financial Times columnist Tim Harford recounts each invention's own curious, surprising, and memorable story. Invention by invention, Harford reflects on how we got here and where we might go next. He lays bare often unexpected connections: how the bar code undermined family corner stores, and why the gramophone widened inequality. In the process, he introduces characters who developed some of these inventions, profited from them, and were ruined by them, as he traces the principles that helped explain their transformative effects. The result is a wise and witty book of history, economics, and biography.Governing Cities: Asia's Urban Transformation (Routledge Advances in Regional Economics, Science and Policy)
By Kris Hartley, Glen Kuecker, Michael Waschak, Jun Jie Woo, Charles Chao Rong Phua, Tommy Koh. 2020
This book presents the latest research on three issues of crucial importance to Asian cities: governance, livability, and sustainability. Together,…
these issues canvass the salient trends defining Asian urbanization and are explored through an eclectic compendium of studies that represent the many voices of this diverse region. Examining the processes and implications of Asian urbanization, the book interweaves practical cases with theories and empirical rigor while lending insight and complexity into the towering challenges of urban governance. The book targets a broad audience including thinkers, practitioners, and students.Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism
By Anne Case, Angus Deaton. 2020
From economist Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, a groundbreaking account of how the flaws in capitalism are…
fatal for America's working classLife expectancy in the United States has recently fallen for three years in a row—a reversal not seen since 1918 or in any other wealthy nation in modern times. In the past two decades, deaths of despair from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism have risen dramatically, and now claim hundreds of thousands of American lives each year—and they're still rising. Anne Case and Angus Deaton, known for first sounding the alarm about deaths of despair, explain the overwhelming surge in these deaths and shed light on the social and economic forces that are making life harder for the working class. They demonstrate why, for those who used to prosper in America, capitalism is no longer delivering.Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism paints a troubling portrait of the American dream in decline. For the white working class, today's America has become a land of broken families and few prospects. As the college educated become healthier and wealthier, adults without a degree are literally dying from pain and despair. In this critically important book, Case and Deaton tie the crisis to the weakening position of labor, the growing power of corporations, and, above all, to a rapacious health-care sector that redistributes working-class wages into the pockets of the wealthy. Capitalism, which over two centuries lifted countless people out of poverty, is now destroying the lives of blue-collar America.This book charts a way forward, providing solutions that can rein in capitalism’s excesses and make it work for everyone.Capital in the Twenty-First Century
By Thomas Piketty. 2014
The main driver of inequality—returns on capital that exceed the rate of economic growth—is again threatening to generate extreme discontent…
and undermine democratic values. Thomas Piketty’s findings in this ambitious, original, rigorous work will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.Strength in Numbers: The Political Power Of Weak Interests
By Gunnar Trumbull. 2012
Many consumers feel powerless in the face of big industry’s interests. And the dominant view of economic regulators (influenced by…
Mancur Olson’s book The Logic of Collective Action, published in 1965) agrees with them. According to this view, diffuse interests like those of consumers are too difficult to organize and too weak to influence public policy, which is determined by the concentrated interests of industrial-strength players. Gunnar Trumbull makes the case that this view represents a misreading of both the historical record and the core logic of interest representation. Weak interests, he reveals, quite often emerge the victors in policy battles. Based on a cross-national set of empirical case studies focused on the consumer, retail, credit, pharmaceutical, and agricultural sectors, Strength in Numbers develops an alternative model of interest representation. The central challenge in influencing public policy, Trumbull argues, is not organization but legitimation. How do diffuse consumer groups convince legislators that their aims are more legitimate than industry’s? By forging unlikely alliances among the main actors in the process: activists, industry, and regulators. Trumbull explains how these “legitimacy coalitions” form around narratives that tie their agenda to a broader public interest, such as expanded access to goods or protection against harm. Successful legitimizing tactics explain why industry has been less powerful than is commonly thought in shaping agricultural policy in Europe and pharmaceutical policy in the United States. In both instances, weak interests carried the day.The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets Since The Depression
By Angus Burgin. 2012
Just as today's observers struggle to justify the workings of the free market in the wake of a global economic…
crisis, an earlier generation of economists revisited their worldviews following the Great Depression. The Great Persuasion is an intellectual history of that project. Angus Burgin traces the evolution of postwar economic thought in order to reconsider many of the most basic assumptions of our market-centered world. Conservatives often point to Friedrich Hayek as the most influential defender of the free market. By examining the work of such organizations as the Mont Pèlerin Society, an international association founded by Hayek in 1947 and later led by Milton Friedman, Burgin reveals that Hayek and his colleagues were deeply conflicted about many of the enduring problems of capitalism. Far from adopting an uncompromising stance against the interventionist state, they developed a social philosophy that admitted significant constraints on the market. Postwar conservative thought was more dynamic and cosmopolitan than has previously been understood. It was only in the 1960s and '70s that Friedman and his contemporaries developed a more strident defense of the unfettered market. Their arguments provided a rhetorical foundation for the resurgent conservatism of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan and inspired much of the political and economic agenda of the United States in the ensuing decades. Burgin's brilliant inquiry uncovers both the origins of the contemporary enthusiasm for the free market and the moral quandaries it has left behind.The Chinese Economy Under Maoism: The Early Years, 1949-1969
By Andrew M. Greeley. 2011
Over sixty years have elapsed since the Communists gained control of the Chinese mainland. The years between 1949 and 1969…
were a time of constant change and periodic cataclysm-the initial purges, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution-all bound up with the Communist conception of how to move the country into modernity in the shortest possible time. The Chinese Economy under Maoism summarizes and evaluates the economic consequences of the Communist path to development in a concise, factual presentation that can be readily comprehended by non-economists. The authors review the major features of the Chinese economy prior to the Communist takeover and discuss the policies, performance, and problems of the individual sectors of the Chinese economy during its initial years under Communism. Included in their review are industry, agriculture, foreign trade, resource allocation, population, employment, and living standards. A concluding chapter summarizes Chinese economic growth and presents a discussion of future policy alternatives and an optimum economic policy for China. Based on important findings of Western scholars, with many original interpretations by the authors, this material is presented from a developmental point of view. Since it was originally published in 1972, sections of the book devoted to comparative studies of progress in India and the former Soviet regime will be of particular interest now. Free of technical language and providing insights into the economy of one of the most important countries in the world, this book will be useful not only to economists but to a broad range of sinologists, political scientists, sociologists, and historians interested in the path of revolution.The Economics of Identity and Creativity: A Cultural Science Approach
By Carsten Herrmann-Pillath. 2011
The Economics of Identity and Creativity aims to sythesize naturalistic evolutionary theory while discussing new developments in economics. The author's…
approach reexamines fundamental assumptions about how a capitalist economy works, from the relation between producers and consumers to the functioning of intellectual property rights. In the creative economy, the author argues, identities merge with the flow of creative action. To explain these changes, he draws upon a range of theories from analytical philosophy to biology, and from economics to sociology.The first part of the book examines the role of language in the naturalistic approach to cultural science. Hermann-Pillath draws on Darwinian evolutionary theory to map a concept of knowledge. Part Two offers a systematic approach to creativity and identity from the naturalistic point of view developed in Part One. Here the author builds a theory of creativity from the ideas of conceptual blending in the cognitive sciences.Herrmann-Pillath presents a theory of identity based on analytical philosophy, and looks at the problems in fixing the boundaries of an individual identity both in biological evolutionary theory and brain sciences. He takes the concept of identity through the current economic approaches, examining the distinction between social and personal identity. This fascinating interdisciplinary work provides a precise argument that the foundations of economics can be found in cultural science, and it has evolved to become the cultural institution at the core of the modern economy.This book provides a theoretical framework to better understand how firms, economies and labor markets have evolved. This is done…
in a reader-friendly fashion, without complex mathematical arguments and proofs. Economic Growth and the High Wage Economy shows how high wage economies help make firms and economies more productive and why high wage economies can be competitive even in an increasingly globalized environment. It also demonstrates why concerns that labor supply will dry up as wages increase and social benefits rise are largely based on impoverished economic reasoning. The first chapters provide a theoretical basis for the rest of the book, showing for instance how higher wages are prone to increasing the level of economic efficiency by getting people to work harder and smarter (mainly smarter). Altman also explains that our understanding of technological change can be markedly improved by modelling technological change as a product of higher wages and improved working conditions and other shocks to the economic system. As the book develops, it is shown that increasing and high levels of income inequality are not necessary for growth and development, because the economic ‘pie’ grows when the economic wellbeing of the lower half and even the middle improves. The evolution of the state can also be better understood by applying this analytical framework. So too can the persistence of inefficient systems of production and cultural traits that appear to be inconsistent with economic prosperity. On top of this, the book examines the implications of Altman’s theoretical framework for macroeconomic analysis and policy. Finally, it is shown that labor supply can be better understood by introducing target income into the analytical mix. The main contribution of this book is providing the theoretical underpinning for why relatively high wages and, moreover, competition with high wages is good for dynamic growth and development. This work establishes why an alternative model of labor supply, based on the notion and reality of target income, does a better job of explaining the evolution of labor supply. The latter also reinforces the view that increasing wage and workers’ benefits should not be expected to damage the economy, even in the realm of labor supply. This book will be of interest to public policy experts, trade unions, human rights experts and scholars of behavioural economics, labour economics and globalization.First published in 1976, this book deals with contemporary tensions between the West and the Third World, caused by hunger,…
malnutrition and poverty, perpetuated by an imbalance in the distribution of world resources. The book deals with the issue of malnutrition in the Third World, which owes much more to poverty and unemployment than to agricultural failure. The author also believes that population control can do little in the absence of a more equitable distribution of world resources and political power within and between countries involving a fundamental change in ideology and education. This is a challenging and critical book, whose arguments cannot be ignored by anyone concerned with the creation of a just and stable world order.Prosperity and Depression: A Theoretical Analysis of Cyclical Movements
By Gottfried Haberler. 2011
First issued in 1937 and then revised in 1957, Prosperity and Depression focuses on the task of analyzing existing theories…
of the business cycle and deriving a synthetic account of the nature and possible causes of economic fluctuations. The application, as far as possible, of quantitative tests to the various causal hypotheses - influences the manner in which the problem of economic cycles is approached in Haberler's book.The first part on ""The Systematic Analysis of the Theories of the Business Cycle"" gathers various hypotheses of explanation, to test their logical consistency and their compatibility with one another and with accepted economic principles. It gives a well rounded picture of the possible explanations of economic fluctuations. The second part, ""Synthetic Exposition Relating to the Nature and Causes of Business Cycles"" argues that there are many points where no definitive solution can be proposed, but have a number of possibilities. The choice between these can then be made only on the basis of empirical investigations.Haberler argues that theoretical reasoning supported only by broad facts as one happens to know without special statistical or historical investigations can create intelligent questions, but it cannot definitely answer them. By analyzing various theories and explanations of the business cycle, this book clarifies a number of issues presupposed. The difference between the theories analyzed is not as complicated as is sometimes believed. In fact it is shown how theories which seem prima facie to contradict one another can be reconciled. David Felix's new introduction underlines the continuing importance of this classic.Economic Planning and Social Justice in Developing Countries
By Ozay Mehmet. 2011
First published in 1978, this book was written at a time when belief was high in Western-guided economic development of…
the emerging countries. The success of Marshall Plan in war-torn Europe generated a US-led optimism that, with generous inflows of aid and technical assistance, the Third World could be won over in the Cold War. The author’s direct experience as a young academic economist in Cyprus, Malaysia, Uganda and Liberia led him to question this general optimism: the reality on the ground in the developing world did not seem to match Western optimism. Theories and blueprints, made in the West, did not fit the requirements of developing countries. Higher production and better income distribution were inseparable twin objectives of developing nations. That meant, production of a higher national output must at the same time promote social justice. Investment must create adequate jobs so that new entrants into rapidly expanding labor force could be gainfully employed. Yet, the dominant (Western) theories of development at the time, in particular the Trickle Down Theory of Growth, prescribed "Growth First, Distribution Later" strategy. Similarly, Import Substitution Industrialization theories were emphasized at the expense of export-led growth. Dualistic Growth theories preached urban-biased, anti-rural development. This book was written as a rebuttal of such faulty theorizing and misguided professional technical assistance and the book’s message is no less valid today than in the 1970’s.Econometrics: A Varying Coefficients Approach (Routledge Revivals)
By Baldev Raj, Aman Ullah. 2011
Originally published in 1981, this book considers one particular area of econometrics- the linear model- where significant recent advances have…
been made. It considers both single and multiequation models with varying co-efficients, explains the various theories and techniques connected with these and goes on to describe the various applications of the models. Whilst the detailed explanation of the models will interest primarily econometrics specialists, the implications of the advances outlined and the applications of the models will intrest a wide range of economists.