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Many environmental damages are caused by substances which come into existence as undesired joint outputs in the production of desired goods. Whether an output is desired or not, however, is not an inherent property of the substance itself but depends on the context of production. This book studies the role of a potential ambivalence of joint outputs for the description and analysis of dynamic economy-environment interactions and for the design of efficient environmental policy. This is done in an interisciplinary way: methods and insights from thermodynamics, engineering sciences, economics and the methodology of economics are combined in order to develop an encompassing view on the complex and multivarious phenomenon of ambivalent joint production. By using the concept of joint production as a unifying framework for describing and analyzing the relations between human economic activity and the surrounding natural environment this book contributes to a critical and constructive assessment of the traditional environmental economic approach.
Ethics and Economics is divided in two parts. In the first one, Italian and French catholic thinkers, are analysed by well-known scholars, with basic reference to the economic view of their work. In the second part the economic environment is described and proposals, based on the social catholic thought, for the solution of the most diffused economic problems are given. The book therefore furnishes an alternative approach to the orthodox economic analysis and, for this reason, it may be a useful tool for researchers who wish to compare their theoretical approach with a less conventional one, and for scholars who want to examine closely alternative views to the traditional economic models and paradigm.
This book addresses the macroeconomic implications of a country's transition to a monetary union. By using a dynamic multi-country simulation model, it is possible to pinpoint a monetary union, and repercussions produced by fiscal retrenchment policies. Interest and exchange rate effects could only be captured once a new approach including innovations in the solution methodology had been developed. Not only can we draw lessons for newly joining members to the EMU or to any other monetary union, but the analysis also implicitly offers a new explanation for the weak Euro in the first half of 1999.
This book deals with aspects of the national innovation system of Belgium. It is the result of a study jointly undertaken by teams of the University of Antwerp (RUCA) and the Free University of Brussels (ULB) in the context of the OECD DSTI Working Group on Innovation and Technology Policy, which brought to gether specialists from most of the OECD countries in an effort to streamline and co-ordinate research on national innovation systems. The 'systemic' approach - as opposed to the traditional 'linear causal' ap proach - has, in recent years, increasingly become the framework for the study of the complex relationships between R&D, innovation, the economic performance of firms and of the eco...
Helmut Wagner University of Hagen, Feithstr. 140, D - 58084 Hagen In the last few years decisive methodological and thematic focal points which are important for practical economic policy have been developed in the theory of monetary and exchange rate policy. This book is concerned with these developments, their assessment and the open questions which have still not been solved. It is divided into four parts. The first part deals with central bank design, the second with strategies of monetary policies and their implementation. Part III is concerned with theoretical aspects of exchange rate policy and monetary union, and part IV with selected issues of monetary and exchange rate policy in de...
and Feldman, 1996 or Audretsch and Stephan, 1996) show that unformalized knowledge may playa major role in the innovation of new products. Now if unformalized knowledge is communicated personally, distance will be an important variable in this process, since the intensity of contacts between persons can be expected to be negatively correlated to the distance between them. In the discussion of section 3.3.1 (page 42) we saw that it was this aspect of localization that Marshall had in mind when he was alluding to "local trade secrets".4 Note that if this spatial dimension of communication between agents exists, it is possible to transfer it to regional aggregates of agents: the closer two regi...
This collection of papers focuses on the recent pension reform experiences in Central-Eastern Europe, while starting from a broader theoretical and empirical context. It provides evidence for the political feasibility of radical pension reform, considered unlikely in the West. The approach is both multi-disciplinary and cross-regional: The book contains papers by economists, political scientists and sociologists. The authors come from Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the US. The volume consists of four parts: First, general questions of transformation and social security in post-1989 Central Eastern Europe are addressed, followed by an introduction into issues and role models in the international pension reform debate. Then, three Central European country cases are presented, analysing institutional legacies, recent reform measures and relevant political actors. A comparative section on Central-Eastern European pension reforms concludes this book.
Grateful acknowledgement is made to CICYT (Comision Intenninisterial de Ciencia y Tecnoiogia), National Plan R+D, Projects N-TXT96-2467 and N TXT98-1453 for its financial support. This text presents the economic theories on Utility and Production. In addition, such theories are used to explain the real problems of consumers and firms and several studies carried out by the author are displayed. Some collaboration by other professors of Economics is mentioned in the corresponding footnotes. The responsibility for errors and omissions, however, rests entirely upon tbe author. In chapters 1 and 4 of the book try to present the theory of Utility and Production. Chapter 3 presents new functional forms and two empirical applications, on demand functions and systems. In chapters 2 and 5, the main theorems and properties presented in chapters 1 and 4 are applied. Chapter 6 presents new functional forms and two empirical applications, on production and cost functions respectively.
This book presents interdisciplinary approaches towards achieving regional sustainability. The relevance of interdisciplinary research and its consequences for economic research into the environment are elaborated, and new approaches are developed to integrate knowledge from ecological and social sciences into economic research. Regional Sustainability includes the development of theoretical concepts as well as applied regional case studies relating to nature conservation and agricultural policies, coastal management and air pollution problems. Centered around the themes of decision-making processes, modelling as support for policy analysis and the evaluation of policies, it successfully addresses problems facing researchers and policy-makers in the context of regional sustainable development. The book pays special attention to human behaviour and stakeholders in decision-making processes, and contributes to the transition from ecological economics to socio-ecological economics.
This book investigates two issues that have been slowing down the development of equity capital markets in transition economies - slow progress with privatisation and the lack of shareholder rights. Both problems are illustrated with data for the largest publicly traded Russian firms. Furthermore, two theoretical models are developed to offer insights into the nature of both problems. The principal conclusion is that partial privatisation as well as the lack of shareholder rights are likely to be only a temporary phenomenon and both problems are likely to be mitigated as the transition process advances. The book should enhance the understanding of academics as well as policy makers and practitioners of potential pitfalls in fostering the development of equity markets in transition economies as well as developing countries.