The Schumpeterian process of 'creative destruction' is an essential ingredient of a dynamic economy. In many countries around the world, however, this process is weakened by pervasive regulation of product and factor markets. This book documents the regulatory obstacles faced by firms, particularly in developing countries, and assesses their implications for firm renewal and macroeconomic performance. Combining a variety of methodological approaches--analytical and empirical, micro and macroeconomic, single- and cross-country-- the book provides evidence that streamlining the regulatory framework would have a significant social pay-off, particularly in developing countries that are also burdened by weak governance. The book's chapters trace out analytically and empirically the links between microeconomic policies and distortions, on the one hand, and aggregate performance in terms of productivity, growth and volatility, on the other. The volume adds to a novel but increasingly influential literature that seeks to understand macroeconomic phenomena from a microeconomic perspective, and derive the relevant lessons for development policy. Such literature is still fairly scarce in the case of industrial countries, and virtually in its infancy for developing countries.

Global knowledge is increasingly essential for all aspects of social work. Today's professionals respond to concerns including permeable borders, the upheavals of war, displaced workers, natural disasters, international adoption, and human trafficking. Everywhere, social workers work with service users and colleagues from diverse cultures and countries. Globally relevant concepts such as human rights, development, and inclusion offer new perspectives to enhance policy and practice and facilitate the international exchange of ideas. This handbook is the first major reference text to provide a solid foundation of knowledge for students and researchers alike. The extensive collection of 73 chapters confirms the integral and necessary nature of international social work knowledge to all areas of practice, policy, and research. Chapters systematically map the key issues, organizations, competencies, training and research needs, and ethical guidelines central to international social work practice today, emphasizing the linkages among social work, development, and human rights practice. In-depth country case studies and policy examples encourage readers to understand how their practice in social work touches on international issues, regardless of whether the work is done at home or abroad. Representing all regions of the world, a wide range of contributors that are leaders in their fields have put together an exhaustive collection that represents the state-of-play of international social work today.

The world over, clusters are home to leading firms and institutions that compete on the edge of technology. They can be found in developed and developing countries alike and comprise such famous ones as Silicon Valley, London ‟s financial center, ceramic tile and fashion in north Italy, wine in Bordeaux, automotive in Stuttgart and Munich, software in Bangalore, and manufacturing in China ‟s Pearl-river delta. Today they are studied by a variety of scholars from different fields including economists, social scientists, and strategists, but also by a growing number of business practitioners and policy makers.3 As a result, knowledge on the capacity of clusters to promote regional economic development and national prosperity and the role of local industrial policy in creating new clusters has increased rapidly in recent years The present research is best described as being exploratory in nature. It elaborates and extends existing theory. By doing so, it takes up a distinct position within scientific theory that is defined by three levels of analysis: (1) the meta-methodological level, (2) the methodological level, and (3) the theoretical level.

Looking for accurate, up-to-date data on development issues? 'World Development Indicators' is the World Bank's premier annual compilation of data about development. This indispensable statistical reference allows you to consult over 900 indicators for some 150 economies and 14 country groups in more than 80 tables. It provides a current overview of the most recent data available as well as important regional data and income group analysis in six thematic sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links.

The transition from a command economy to a capitalist market economy has entirely altered the industrial landscape in which Chinese trade unions have to operate. This book focuses on how the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is reforming under current conditions and demonstrates that labour unrest is the principal driving force behind trade union reform in China. Presenting case studies where reform has been largely inspired by the pressure of worker activism from below, the book examines three crucial areas of trade union activity - collective bargaining, labour rights and trade union direct elections - against the background of China’s turbulent industrial relations history. As well as exploring the principal direction of trade union reform, which has been to channel disputes into juridical forms of dispute resolution sponsored by the State, the book also highlights key examples of more innovative experiments in trade union work. These represent a clear break with past practice and, crucially, have been recognised by both the union and Party leaderships as models for future trade union policy and practice. The book provides both a timely reference point and highlights the road to effective trade union solidarity.

More than 630 million Chinese have escaped poverty since the 1980s, reducing the fraction remaining from 82 to 10 percent of the population. This astonishing decline in poverty, the largest in history, coincided with the rapid growth of a private enterprise economy. Yet private enterprise in China emerged in spite of impediments set up by the Chinese government. How did private enterprise overcome these initial obstacles to become the engine of China’s economic miracle? Where did capitalism come from? Studying over 700 manufacturing firms in the Yangzi region, Victor Nee and Sonja Opper argue that China’s private enterprise economy bubbled up from below. Through trial and error, entrepreneurs devised institutional innovations that enabled them to decouple from the established economic order to start up and grow small, private manufacturing firms. Barriers to entry motivated them to build their own networks of suppliers and distributors, and to develop competitive advantage in self-organized industrial clusters. Close-knit groups of like-minded people participated in the emergence of private enterprise by offering financing and establishing reliable business norms. This rapidly growing private enterprise economy diffused throughout the coastal regions of China and, passing through a series of tipping points, eroded the market share of state-owned firms. Only after this fledgling economy emerged as a dynamic engine of economic growth, wealth creation, and manufacturing jobs did the political elite legitimize it as a way to jump-start China’s market society. Today, this private enterprise economy is one of the greatest success stories in the history of capitalism.

The area of work and aging is complex and multi-faceted. Its foundation is formed by a wide array of disciplines that both contribute to the complexity of its understanding, and offer fertile promise for research, development, and application in the years ahead. With an ever-growing population of older workers, many of whom are suggesting they will likely continue to work past traditional retirement age, it becomes all the more important that we increase our efforts to develop a more thorough understanding of older workers, the nature of their interactions with work and the organizations for which they work, and the process of transitioning to retirement. Clearly, there are huge societal and global challenges that will both inform and influence research and application at the individual and organizational levels. The Oxford Handbook of Work and Aging examines the aging workforce from an individual worker, organization, and societal perspective, and offers both an integration of current cross-disciplinary knowledge, and a roadmap for where research and application should be focused in the future to address issues of an aging workforce. The volume is divided into six core sections: demography, theoretical and methodological issues, the older worker, organizational strategies for an older workforce, individual and organizational perspectives on work and retirement, and societal perspectives with an aging workforce. Bringing together seasoned authors from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, new approaches to recruiting, workplace flexibility, and the right mix of benefits and incentives are presented as a way of engaging an older workforce.