Written by experts and scholars from BRICS countries, with the support of BRICS governments, this is the first study to reflect on the capabilities and synergies of these economies. The report emphasizes best practices, areas of cooperation, and strengthening economic links so that BRICS can collectively play a central role in the post-crisis global economy.

The transformation of the BRIC acronym from an investment term into a household name of international politics and into a semi-institutionalized political outfit (called BRICS, with a capital ‘S’), is one of the defining developments in international politics in the past decades. While the concept is now commonly used in the general public debate and international media, there has not yet been a comprehensive and scholarly analysis of the history of the BRICS term. The BRICS and the Future of Global Order, Second Edition offers a definitive reference history of the BRICS as a term and as an institution—a chronological narrative and analytical account of the BRICS concept from its inception in 2001 to the political grouping it is today. In addition, it analyzes what the rise of powers like Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa means for the future of global order. Will the BRICS countries seek to establish a parallel system with its own distinctive set of rules, institutions, and currencies of power, rejecting key tenets of liberal internationalism, are will they seek to embrace the rules and norms that define today’s Western-led order?

Once among the fastest developing economies, growth has slowed or stalled in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. What policies can governments enact to jump-start the rise of these middle-income countries? Hartmut Elsenhans and Salvatore Babones argue that economic catch-up requires investment in the productivity of ordinary citizens. Diverging from the popular narrative of increased liberalization, this book argues specifically for direct government investment in human infrastructure; policies that increase wages and the bargaining power of labor; and the strategic use of exchange rates to encourage export-led growth. These measures raise up the majority and finance future productivity by driving broader consumption and fostering investment within national borders. Though strategies like full employment, mass education, and progressive taxation are not especially controversial, none of the BRICS have truly embraced them. Examining barriers to implementation, Elsenhans and Babones find that the main obstacle to such reforms is an absence of political will, stemming from closely guarded elite privilege under the current laws. BRICS or Bust? is a short, incisive read that underscores the need for demand-driven growth and why it has yet to be achieved.

This report focuses on special economic zones (SEZs) which are widely used across most developing and many developed economies. It explores the place of SEZs in today's global investment landscape and provides guidance for policymakers on how to make SEZs work for sustainable development. It presents international investment trends and prospects at global, regional and national levels, as well as the evolution of international production and global value chains. It analyses the latest developments in new policy measures for investment promotion, facilitation and regulation around the world.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa represent almost 18 per cent of the world economy, with their contribution to world growth having already exceeded 50 per cent. But what does the emergence of the BRICS mean for global politics? Andrew Cooper discusses the BRICS as a concept and its practice in global politics.

During the 1990s, the governments of South Asian countries acted as ‘facilitators’ to attract FDI. As a result, the inflow of FDI increased. However, to become an attractive FDI destination as China, Singapore, or Brazil, South Asia has to improve the local conditions of doing business. This book, based on research that blends theory, empirical evidence, and policy, asks and attempts to answer a few core questions relevant to FDI policy in South Asian countries: Which major reforms have succeeded? What are the factors that influence FDI inflows? What has been the impact of FDI on macroeconomic performance? Which policy priorities/reforms needed to boost FDI are pending? These questions and answers should interest policy makers, academics, and all those interested in FDI in the South Asian region and in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

BRICs and Beyond is an international business executive text written especially for executive and MBA students. It is based on extensive consulting in emerging economies and several years of experience teaching executive MBA courses around the globe. The author has continually faced the problem that the available textbooks for teaching international business focused almost exclusively on examples of Western multinationals for case illustrations. In the process of preparing cases nearer to the emerging market she worked in, the author realized that the often fascinating, frequently insightful and always different approach to business illustrated by these cases should be required reading for MBA students in typical Western environments too. With its wide range of current case illustrations and concise summaries this is a new-generation text that will welcome today's MBA student to the wider world of 21st century international business. ". . . this book is needed not only because it looks at business from the BRICs points of view; it also looks at business from the point of view of tomorrow's business leaders and the challenges that they will have to cope with." --Professor Jonathan Gosling, Centre for Leadership Studies, and co-founder, The One-Planet MBA, the University of Exeter, UK ". . . Stephanie Jones advises Western businesses on doing business in emerging economies in a refreshingly straightforward manner, integrating in a novel way her three decades of global, practical experience with the daily barrage of reporting on the BRICs--distilling from these many lessons and principles. . ." --Extracted from the Foreword, by Professor Wim Naudé, Director of Research, Maastricht School of Management