The concept of competition is frequently regarded with ambivalence. While its champions wholeheartedly endorse it for reasons of efficiency, critics believe competition undermines ethics. They denounce competitive thinking, call for modesty in profit-making, and rail against economisation. However, Christoph Lütge argues convincingly that intensified competition can work in favour of ethical goals, and that many criticisms of competition stem from an inadequate understanding of how modern societies and economies function. The author illustrates his view with examples from ecology, healthcare and education, and concludes with a call for more entrepreneurial spirit.
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Edited by Andreas Nölke and Christian May
Over the past few decades, corporations have been neglected in studies of international political economy (IPE). Seeking to demystify them, what they are, how they behave and their goals and constraints, this Handbook introduces the corporation as a unit of analysis for students of IPE. Providing critical discussion of their global and domestic power, and highlighting the ways in which corporations interact with each other and with their socio-political environment, this Handbook presents a thorough and up-to-date overview of the main debates around the role of corporations in the global political economy.
Regional Infrastructure Systems
The Political Economy of Regional Infrastructure
Colin Turner
As the international economy globalises, there is a need for national infrastructure systems to adapt to form a global infrastructure system. This network of networks aids mobility between national systems as a means of supporting their territorial needs and preferences. This reflects a strategic approach to state infrastructuring as nations seek to utilise these physical systems to support and enhance their territoriality. Providing a thorough examination through the lens of economic infrastructure, the book addresses the forces of integration and fragmentation in global networks.
All Fall Down
Debt, Deregulation and Financial Crises
Jane D’Arista
All Fall Down traces the ways in which changes in financial structure and regulation eroded monetary control and led to historically high levels of debt relative to GDP in both developed and emerging economies. Rising stocks of debt drove the global financial system into crisis in 2008 when households, businesses, financial institutions and the public sector in some countries strained to generate sufficient income for debt service. The stagnation and fall in asset prices that followed began the process of unwinding that led to a run on the financial sector by the financial sector.
The New Global Politics of Science
Knowledge, Markets and the State
Mats Benner
Science has become a central political concern with massive increases in public investments and expectations, but resources are embedded in a complex web of societal expectations, which vary between countries and regions. This book outlines an insightful understanding of science policy as both concerning the governance of science itself (priority-setting, funding, organization and articulation with polity, society, and economy) and its extra-organizational connections, in terms of higher education, innovation and national policy concerns.
Varieties of Capital Cities
The Competitiveness Challenge for Secondary Capitals
David Kaufmann
The political and symbolic centrality of capital cities has been challenged by increasing economic globalization. This is especially true of secondary capital cities; capital cities which, while being the seat of national political power, are not the primary economic city of their nation state. David Kaufmann examines the unique challenges that these cities face entering globalised, inter-urban competition while not possessing a competitive political economy.
Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy
Bilateral Relations in a Context of Geopolitical Change
Edited by Peter A.G. van Bergeijk and Selwyn J.V. Moons
This Handbook positions economic diplomacy as a multidisciplinary field and presents state of the art research relevant to policy makers and academia around the globe focusing on four themes: the role of economic diplomats, the impact and evaluation of economic diplomacy, politics and trade and emerging markets. It offers academic, business and policy perspectives taking stock of knowledge produced with qualitative and quantitative research on Northern America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Religion and Comparative Development
The Genesis of Democracy and Dictatorship
Theocharis Grigoriadis
Religion and Comparative Development is the first analytical endeavor on religion and government that incorporates microeconomic modeling of democracy and dictatorship as well as empirical linkages between religious norms and the bureaucratic provision of public goods within the framework of survey data analysis and public goods experiments. Moreover, it explores the rising significance of religion in Middle East and post-Soviet politics, as well as in current migration, security and party developments in the United States and Europe alike through these lenses.
Paul Oslington, Paul S. Williams and Mary Hirschfeld
The interdisciplinary field of economics and religion has come a long way since 2003 when Edward Elgar published the pioneering volume Economics and Religion. The influence of religious ideas on the birth of economics as a discipline and its rise to cultural dominance is now widely recognized. The largely Protestant discussion has been enriched by Roman Catholic contributions stimulated by recent Papal Encyclicals. The economics of religion has now matured into a respectable subfield of economics and articles on religion regularly appear in top economics journals. This original and insightful research review places the most recent contributions in context and will be an invaluable resource for scholars and academics alike.
Bridging the Prosperity Gap in the EU
The Social Challenge Ahead
Edited by Ulf Bernitz, Moa Mårtensson, Lars Oxelheim and Thomas Persson
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the authors invaluably pinpoint both overarching problems and possibilities associated with the social dimension of European integration. Prominent researchers of economics, law and political science tackle this complex issue, providing new solutions within their respective fields of expertise. Illustrating the importance of cohesion, this book is vital for those interested in comparative European studies, from backgrounds in public and social policy, law and economics.