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The paper is an attempt at applying Samir Amin's lens in the analysis of socio-economic development in Africa. Social and economic development in Africa has been substandard, largely because of the economic system followed and because effective structural transformation has not taken place – Samir Amin's works explained what needed to be done to transform Africa (and the broader global south). It is in this context that the paper posits that post-colonial Africa has had to contend with disruptive socio-economic and political realities instituted by European colonialism, slave trade and inappropriate integration of Africa to the so-called global economy. The fundamental explanation for the poor socio-economic development in Africa is global capitalism, and one of the possible solutions is in Samir Amin's delinking proposal as well as the restructuring of the African economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the work of Michael Novak, a prominent American philosopher and theologian with roots in Central Europe. The study focuses on Novak's understanding of democratic capitalism and its role in promoting economic growth and human flourishing. Novak argues that when properly understood and practiced, capitalism can lead to a more just and prosperous society, as it is based on the human desire for freedom, creativity, and self-expression. However, he emphasizes that the success of capitalism depends on the presence of moral and spiritual values, which he believes are necessary for it to function properly. This paper explores Novak's arguments and evaluates them in the light of current knowledge. It also examines which values Novak deems important and why. The paper concludes that while Novak's understanding of capitalism has some limitations, it offers valuable insights into the relationship between economics and morality. Novak's framework provides a starting point for future discussions on how to ensure that capitalism operates ethically and promotes the common good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ideology of the Austrian passive revolution (the introduction and extension of capitalist social relations from above) in the mid-nineteenth century and reactions to it in Hungary and Croatia. Austrian ideologues of the time believed that capitalism would unify the Austrian empire primarily by bringing about a pan-Habsburg middle class, which would marginalise the potentially centrifugal effects of different nationalities. Indeed, this would have meant the end of the Monarchy as an empire, since coercion would have been rendered unnecessary in maintaining it. Eventual (partial) convergence in development was conceived as a result of both the capitalist system and the civilizing mission of the Austrian state and German population. The paper argues that the universalising discourse of the 1850s was not matched with a corresponding political organisation that could have resulted in 'moral and intellectual leadership' (Gramsci). The political changes in the 1860s better corresponded to the form of sociality referred to in the discourse of the Austrian civilising mission, however, the discourse itself relied more heavily on Germans as bearers of civilisation while the political system remained highly centralised. The paper demonstrates that the civilising discourse was rejected both in Hungary and Croatia, where the Austrian state was deemed too centralised and authoritarian as well as incapable of developing the periphery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes an insight into the relation existing between economic development and resource consumption and the associated implications and challenges for forested areas in Romania. In accordance with this purpose, the methods used are both qualitative and quantitative by using a relevant literature review, including international and national reports. In the 1950s and 1960s, Simon Kuznets introduced to modern economic theory the idea that there are certain market forces directly correlated with economic development. After almost two decades of a market economy in Romania, we are witnessing a relative decoupling process between economic development and social inequality. Moreover, the country strives to make the transition to a circular economy by involving all relevant stakeholders and by attracting the necessary financial support. Sustainable development offers the perspective of reaching an equilibrium between economic, social, and environmental aspects. Finding the right tools to assess multiple impacts has always been challenging as regards decoupling the economic development from natural resource consumption. Although there are multiple interpretations of the outcomes of a decoupling process, this paper aims at assessing the evolution of forested areas through econometric research using the Environmental curve of Simon Kuznets. As our main results, we have observed a decoupling process in the GDP growth that will not lead to a decrease in wooded areas in our country, mainly due to rural–urban migration, shifts in consumption patterns (from firewood toward natural gases, etc.) and improvement in the legislative framework in the case of forestry products. Among the weaknesses of the model used are the limited data availability and the reduced number of observations with annual frequency (data were taken only for 22 years), the use of a square pattern instead of a cubic one (it is possible for the results to differ and consequently another form of this curve, either N or N-inverted) or the use of data with a low accuracy related to the total forest areas in Romania. Among the conclusions of the papers, the decoupling process is not a single action process. Our research focused on forest area and the need to connect it with other policy actions related to mainstreaming sustainability, promoting a circular economy or bioeconomy, or developing innovative public policies and instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ekonomika is the property of Society of Economists 'Ekonomika' and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Polish Journal of Economics / Gospodarka Narodowa is the property of SGH Warsaw School of Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

China's growth decelerated substantially after 2010. This paper argues that the main cause for the deceleration is external and cyclical, China has a potential growth rate of 8%, the economy has good investment opportunities and resources, and China is likely to achieve a medium-high growth rate of around 6.5% in the coming years. The paper also examines the various structural reforms that can help China to release its growth potential and complete the transition to a well-functioning market economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temporal and spatial difference between the urban ecological environment and economic development refers to the unbalanced and insufficient contradiction between the quality of urban ecological environment and the development of economic strength. Based on the relevant theories of urban ecological environment and economic development, this paper explores the development laws of urban ecology and economic development and uses graph neural network algorithm to model the spatial and temporal dependence of the city's ecological environment in a province. The quality data and economic development strength data are analyzed in detail. The analysis results show that the ecological benefit index and economic benefit index of each city in the province have reached above 0.6 after 5 years of development. The level of coordinated urban development has improved significantly compared with 2017. However, in the process of the development of the market economy, it is necessary to rationally adjust the proportion of the secondary industry and the tertiary industry in the urban production structure and continuously promote the balanced development of the economy and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, the academic debate on the origins of the economic gap between nations divided deeply historians, sociologists and economists as well. Dependencia theorists pointed exogenous causes for Latin American backwardness while the revisionists emphasized endogenous causes. Finished the Cold War and faced with new evidence, previous conclusions are far from being complete and final. There are different issues, which were superficially investigated, or they were sometimes entirely neglected. With the intention of transcending the two opposing currents of thought the present paper aims to synthetize all the accessible and collected data up today in Romania in order to analyze the impact of the markets' integration in the nineteenth century. On one hand, the Romanian nineteenth century economy is a fertile field for study, because it transferred neither slowly nor quickly from a "world economy" to another, which permitted a short relatively autonomous development. On other hand, even Romania was object to various studies in developmental economics, the foreign researchers did not access important evidence, which can change the conclusions on the main topic. The paper will present the economic and social parameters outlined in early 1800 and how these will evolve at the pressure of the Western markets. It will also point that the markets' integration generated two major trends as long-term tendencies: the increase of land price and the increase of the rate of interest. Both were impediment to a faster development of the Romanian society and in connection with other elements like the dysfunctionality of the state they will form a vicious circle of slow development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Iuridica Lublinensia is the property of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The main aim of the paper is to identify the types of capitalism in the Eurasian transition economies in comparison with the other European countries and evaluate the influence of the recent global crisis on the institutional organization of these states. The paper uses cluster analysis for identifying the types of capitalism. The paper identifies 3 basic groups (core and periphery of the EEA and the other transition economies) and 10 sub-clusters in the European area. According to the results, only Estonia is at the same level as the core of the EEA, whilst the rest of the EU-8 economies and Montenegro with the Mediterranean economies comprise the periphery. In general, CEECs and EU Balkan States have higher quality institutional environment, but on the basis of the analysis of the selected indicators (economic growth, inflows of FDI and unemployment), these economies were impacted more by the recent global crisis than part of the Balkan and post-soviet countries in the clusters "2a" and "2c". For the losing economies, one can consider subcluster "2d" (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates development and protection of economic competition in Kosovo focusing on the analysis of the level of competition in the Gjilan region. The paper deals with the legislative aspect of competition, the sensitive sectors (banks, insurance, gas stations and pharmacies) where the competitions is damaged and finally are presented the measures on improvement based on the EU practices. Like other economies in transition, the economy in Kosovo the activity for protection of competition is faced with many challenges. Moreover, these challenges result from the fact that Kosovo was the last country in South-eastern Europe to start implementing the principles of a free market economy after 1999. Through a case study, it is attempted to give a realistic picture of the level of competition development, where competition is undermined, general business knowledge about the functioning and enforcement of the law on competition protection, and concrete measures to be taken in order for competition to function based on the rules of the market economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current norms governing deposit banking activities are the result of a centuries-old evolution of the construct of bank account, the legal nature of bank account, the subject of deposit, and banking institutions themselves. Different civilizations and cultures have contributed to the shaping of deposit activities. The aim of the article is to present and discuss, from a historical-legal point of view, the origin and unfolding of deposit banking activities over time: from antiquity, through the Middle Ages, the early modern period, to modern times. The deliberations are set against a broader financial and legal backdrop to include the transformation of economic power that accompanies deposit activities, expressed in the form of: commodity money, bullion, paper money, and funds. The picture of evolution is completed by the emerging institutions of supervision, capital requirements or deposit guarantee schemes, constituting a series of normative solutions adopted due to the need to provide a framework for deposit activities that would prioritize the security of the depositor. The study, due to its historical-legal character within the scope of detailed sciences, does not aim at applying the conclusions in legal practice or in the theoretical-legal dimension. It serves to collect and show the already acquired historical-legal knowledge about the foundations of contemporary normative solutions of bank deposit activities. In order to achieve the research goal, the study uses the research method of critical literature review. Thus, a reference was made to scientific historicallegal and historical studies, from the point of view of a selected research problem, which has not been elaborated in a cross-sectional manner so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the contribution of enslaved workers to output and growth in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century is a crucial building block to better understand the contours of nineteenth‐century US economic history, and more generally, the connection between slavery and capitalism. Existing estimates only present a partial picture and are potentially problematic. In this paper, we use data on enslaved person valuations to calculate the contribution made by enslaved workers to regional and national gross national product (GNP) in 1839 and 1859 and to the growth in per capita output in the 20 years before the Civil War. We find that in the United States, enslaved workers were responsible for somewhere between 12.49 per cent and 18.0 per cent of the increase in output per capita between 1839 and 1859. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflation targeting is nowadays used by around 40 countries, with each of them tailoring some features of the strategy to its own needs. This holds especially for deciding on the level of inflation targets. The analysis conducted in the paper aims at identifying factors affecting the choice of the target levels, with macroeconomic, structural and institutional characteristics of the reviewed economies being investigated. The main conclusion is that both backward- and forward-looking models can help to explain how inflation targets are set. Evidently inflation and GDP growth (past and forecast) together with information on a possibly ongoing disinflation process are of key importance, but - especially for emerging market economies - also inflation variance and the level of economic development seem to influence the target levels. Moreover, many of the institutional features related, among others, to transparency and accountability of the reviewed central banks, were found significant in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it is assumed that equity markets reflect the development of the overall economy of a country. Equity markets, among other factors, are considerably affected by factors such as inflation or deflation. Therefore, when inflationary or deflationary pressures appear, Central Banks try to manage those pressures in order to minimise their impact on the economy. In this paper, the case of Japan will be examined. Japan can be considered an example of a country which was under extended deflationary pressures for about three decades. In this study, the authors investigate different time frames for the Japan equity market. The research is based on Japan equity market (NIKKEI) returns. The authors aim to answer the question of whether the Japanese market complies with the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) for different time frames, as well as test analytically if Japan's stock market and economy have improved after the implementation of different attempts at Quantitative Easing (QEs), a Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) or a Negative Interest Rate Policy (NIRP) to curb deflationary impacts on the economy. The analysis and obtained results could be useful for risk and portfolio management, and could be extended to other markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over time, the Danube has been a significant transportation hub, with a key role in developing a specific category of urban settlements: port cities. Several factors influenced the expansion of these cities, each with a different intensity and impact. Based on the historical context, port cities have experienced both times of evolution and periods of decline. This paper aims to analyze two port cities in Romania by highlighting the role of ports and related activities in the economic development of cities. The port cities of Galați and Brăila were chosen as case studies; in these cities, the role played by their ports as engines of development in the two cities was investigated. The analysis revealed that after 1990, the change of political regime and transition to an open market economy affected the economic situation in the two cities studied. Nowadays, ports have much smaller importance in the economies of both studied cities. This research is important as a starting point for understanding the current issues of the two cities and finding potential solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper is about care1 . It proposes a political vision to move towards a care-centred society that will allow the flourishing of everyone while keeping the planet inhabitable and thriving. For this utopian horizon that we name an ecology of care, we propose the creation of a Basic Income system that is constituted outside of and beyond the realm of the nation-state, as a means of changing humanity’s relationship to itself and transitioning from capitalism to a commons-based society. It argues for a dis-embedding of work—and the time allocated to it—from money, through a reformulation of the production of money in the form of an income distributed as an equal share to all those who are part of the planetary commons. Finally, it connects this Basic Income proposal with degrowth as a radical and necessary reformulation of society that considers its ecological roots and replaces the obsession with endless economic growth with the principle of taking care of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to highlight the need for corporations to engage politically to create a more functional capitalist system. Design/methodology/approach: Selective review of relevant economic and sociopolitical developments is presented in this paper. Findings: There is a growing movement among economists and commentators to hold corporations accountable for political engagement which they ignore at their peril. Originality/value: While individual strands of this story have been discussed before, the subject has never been handled from the perspective of corporate reputation in a comprehensive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main purpose of the paper is to highlight some limits of the traditional theoretical interpretation of the relationships between the city and economic activities. This interpretation usually makes reference to two elements: agglomeration economies, cumulatively generating gains in efficiency and consequently in competitiveness and attractiveness and external connectivity, linked to multiple networks of both physical and immaterial nature. This approach, mainly functional and geographical, nowadays looks quite reductionist and overlooks crucial aspects of the urban realm that explain urban economic success The first aspect concerns the social and cultural nature of the main interpersonal and inter-institutional relationships taking place inside the city, conducive to crucial processes of cooperation, collective learning, creativity and innovation. In addition to this, the growing concentration on (mainly large) cities of command and control functions which not only witnesses the presence of their political power - underlined by a growing literature in geography and political science - but also widely determines income distribution in space, at the local, national and global scale. The functional interpretation of the city should be complemented by a relational-cognitive and hierarchical-distributive approach. The latter one is particularly interesting for the interpretation of the development of 'monopolistic' cities which operate on economic functions in which they can benefit from a captive market: capital cities and art cities in particular. Methodology/Approach: While the first part of the paper is mainly theoretical, it presents also an empirical side in the second issue, namely the destiny of medium-sized cities. The last section of the paper concerns a logical turnaround: 'cities as businesses' where high surpluses are generated in the real estate field, taking advantage of the economic success of the cities themselves and appropriating a consistent share of the generated profits in the form of land rents. Findings: The traditional view is that medium-sized cities cannot take full advantage of agglomeration economies and therefore will necessarily show lower growth rates in the long term. This paper argues against this view, on both theoretical and empirical grounds, looking at the evidence of European cities in the last twenty years. In many countries, this process should be more appropriately taxed in order to allow sustainable and socially equilibrated development: a fairer sharing of these surplus-values between private and public parties is justified by the collective nature of urban externalities. Originality/Value of paper: The implications of the arguments presented here are relevant on both the interpretative and policy ground. The sources of urban economic success are not linked only to functional or efficiency elements but also to cultural-psychological and to power elements. The former ones require subtler policy strategies and the latter more appropriate policy tools oriented towards the widely ignored challenge of income distribution in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost two decades after the war, Kosovo is an import-based consumption economy. Its weak export does not get any closer to imports, and this makes the country dependent on foreign assistance and remittances. The structure of the economy, with trade as a dominating undertaking, a sustenance-based agriculture and very limited production facilities, is a very fragile ground for economic development. Incentives to attract FDI were not competitive with neighboring countries and the country development is still lagging behind. In this respect, the lack of a proper marketing and business approach is present too. Theory and practice from developed countries show that firms that want to increase sales produce what is needed or/and wanted from costumers. In most of the market economy countries, when one wants to engage in business, the first step to start is market research; this rarely happens in Kosovo, people go in business almost ad hoc. Evidence shows that firms do neglect marketing by being mainly sales-oriented; they do produce what they think is good for the costumers and then use lots of resources to convince them that this is what they need. In general, this paper analyses the dynamics of economic development in Kosovo in post-conflict time, the government efforts to change the economic structure, its constraints with emphasis on perception of marketing and the role of consumers for SMEs in the country. In particular, the paper tries to explain why companies need to change their way of doing business; hence, it recommends the change of their business approach. The research, done with 200 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kosovo, shows there are rather few firms that understand marketing and through it fight competition and strive to establish long-term relationships with their customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mural Internacional is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Economic development and transformation processes have become much more intense in economic reality in the last years than they have ever been before. At this time a lot of questions were raised about the causes of the actual Global Crisis, future crises, the factors affecting the modern economy, about the essence of contemporary capitalism, demographic problems and overgrown bureaucracy. The most spectacular threat to capitalism, (based on private entrepreneurship) according to Schumpeter, stems from the high, growing and progressive taxation. Schumpeter saw clearly that the financing of public goods and services (requiring taxes, maybe even relatively high) is something other than a clerical control of the economic system that violates the natural economic mechanism. Moreover, Schumpeter says explicitly that an entrepreneur does not have to be one person, he even states that the country (state) itself, or its agenda, can act as an entrepreneur. Therefore, it can be concluded that we may have to deal with "Tax State", which is typical for "fettered capitalism", and with "entrepreneurial state", which is typical for "unfettered capitalism". The main goal of this paper is to present two different approaches to the economic development concept: Schumpeter's "fettered" and "unfettered" capitalism in the context of "Tax State" and interventionism. The Author analyzes presented concept in contemporary issues from the banking perspective. In the paper, the Author used critical analysis as a research method. This allowed to identify gaps in the current state of knowledge and the scientific discussion focused on J.A. Schumpeter's theoretical concept. Analysis was performed in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economics of Agriculture / Ekonomika Poljoprivrede is the property of Institute of Agricultural Economics (IAE) / Belgrade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we analyze whether the Romanian economic context confirms the Armey model, and present the relationship between public spending and economic growth that may offer a suitable basis for decision makers. The analysis is based on both annual and quarterly data regarding public spending and economic growth in Romania. After investigating the correlation validity, the analytic results did not confirm the premises related to the Armey Curve for the Romanian context during 1990-2011. However the time interval is marked by unpredictable phenomena such as the transition from the state economy to the market economy and the world financial crisis, both is altering the results. The fact determines us to search the coordinates for developing a new model that describes better the connections and the period characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution is the first part of a debate between Michael Hardt/Toni Negri and David Harvey on the occasion of Marx's bicentenary. The discussion focuses on the question of what capitalism looks like today and how it can best be challenged. This contribution asks: In what type of capitalist society are we living today? And what is the Marxian praxis that we need to challenge it? First, this paper analyses capitalism in respect to the extraction of value from the common, immaterial labour, digitisation, automation, and finance capital. The greatest abstraction in the productive process of value, in its implementation of languages, codes, immaterial articulations of being together, cooperation, affective elements, and so forth presents also in the multitude the virtuality of an extraordinary potential of resistance and autonomy from capital. Second, the paper discusses what forms of praxis are needed today. Marxian ontology is constituted and always renewed by class struggle, by the material antagonism that distributes the elements of real being and by the continuous excess of value that living labour expresses. Today, we discuss Marxian praxis in a society where intelligence is put to work at the centre of the productive process. Here emerges with great force the theme of the liberation of humans from work, on the basis of the transformations of work. Marx demonstrates how much cognitive and intellectual activity is central to production, and how much fixed capital is mixed with cognitive labour. In this context, the notion of the appropriation of fixed capital is of key importance for class struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses two fundamental problems in the absorptive capacity (AC) literature: conceptual ambiguity on what AC is and a lack of synthesized empirical findings showing how AC matters for firm outcomes. We take a two-pronged approach to address these problems: (1) conceptual distillation of the literature to discern the core AC dimensions, outcomes, and contingent external knowledge conditions and (2) meta-analysis of the empirical literature to synthesize the findings. For conceptual distillation, we identify three dimensions of AC: absorptive effort (i.e., the knowledge-building investments made by a firm), absorptive knowledge base (i.e., the current knowledge stock of a firm), and absorptive process (i.e., a firm’s internal procedures and practices related to knowledge diffusion). We develop these dimensions by explicating their theoretical roots, functions, mechanisms, and corresponding measures. Leveraging the conceptual distillation, we conduct meta-analyses of the empirical literature and synthesize key findings. We find that AC has a significant positive effect on firm outcomes and that the most commonly used dimension, absorptive effort, has the lowest mean effect size. We also find that knowledge acquisition and innovation generation fully mediate the effect of absorptive knowledge base but partially mediate the effects of absorptive effort and absorptive process on firm performance. Furthermore, AC’s effects on firm outcomes vary across external knowledge contingencies. Overall, this paper provides a strong theoretical and empirical basis to advance a dimensional approach in AC research and thereby facilitates a more rigorous research necessary for cumulative knowledge development on this important topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the formation and development of the Bosnian town of Teslić from the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878 to the end of the First World War in 1918. The goal is to emphasize the significant characteristics of the town's development: the spread of capitalism; economic modernization; the arrival of a non-Slavic, predominantly German population; and the town as the leader of industrialization in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The industrial origin of Teslić and its structure demonstrate Austria-Hungary's need to economically integrate Bosnia and Herzegovina into its state area. The aim of this paper is to show to what extent the dynamics of industrial development influenced the town's formation and to see how the colonist population, which was mostly of German origin, influenced the industrial development and social life of the town. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the period of colonialism the implementation of colonial capitalism resulted in the integration of Southeast Asia into the global economy, which directly influenced the local socioeconomic system. The changes occurring in the region since the 19th century, which is the period discussed in this article, can be analyzed from many points of view. The following paper focuses on the territory of present-day Malaysia, an exceptionally heterogeneous country, and it analyses the results of this transformation and the influence it had on the current socio-economic system. Colonialism has undeniably contributed to the economic growth of the Malay Peninsula while excluding parts of the population and destroying local institutions and existing models of the socio-economic system. Despite this apparent quantitative growth, oligarchic institutions were created, impeding the area's actual qualitative socio-economic development. The decolonization process did not change it sufficiently. The first aim of the article is to indicate the direct historical relationship between colonial capitalism, violently implemented by colonial empires in the conquered territories, and the crony capitalism formed after the decolonization period. Secondly, the author tries to identify oligarchic institutions and the outcomes of their influence. These institutions were created in the historical process within colonial capitalism and are still present today. They fundamentally influence the politics and society of contemporary Malaysia, thus inhibiting qualitative socio-economic transformation. Thirdly, the author, using a variety of indicators and indexes measuring, for example, corruption, the democratization process, or social development, seeks to demonstrate the power of crony capitalism and its institutions and their impact on impeding socio-economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: In the last years, a lot of attention has been paid to economic inequality -- a phenomenon that may lead to what some commentators predict as the end of capitalism. At the same time some economists believe that the economic inequalities are natural and excessive inequalities can be reduced through the process of economic growth. The natural starting point in the discussion concerning the relation between inequality and economic growth is the theory proposed by Simon Kuznets, according to which inequality rises in the early phases of economic development but falls eventually as the growth advances, taking the shape of the inverse-U shaped pattern. The empirical validity of the so-called "Kuznets curve" has been intensively investigated, but the evidence is ambiguous. In this context re-examining Kuznets theory in CEE countries is interesting especially because of the observed rapid economic growth as a result of structural transformation in these countries. Aim: The aim of the study is an attempt to investigate the nature of relation between economic growth and income inequality levels in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries in years 2004-2020 and verify if the analysed relation is taking an inverse-U shape as indicated by the Kuznets curve. Results: The results of conducted analysis indicate that the evidence for an inverted-U shaped relation between inequality levels and economic growth in CEE countries is much less robust than what is implied by Kuznets curve theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Iberian Journal of the History of Economic Thought is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

From the 1970s onward, the work performed by women within the household was critically examined, and a feminist critique of Marx emerged. The critique was first developed in the Campaign for Wages for Housework, founded in 1972, by Mariarosa Dalla Costa, Selma James and other renowned feminists. A major contribution of this critique was to highlight women's domestic labor in the process of capital accumulation, an issue which Marx did not address. This movement therefore sought to make visible women's work which was naturalized into nonexistence by capitalism. This problem of visibility exists all over the world, and women continue to bear the brunt of unpaid care work; they are perceived as "natural" caregivers and shunned for seeking paid care services. Although this phenomenon is common all over the world, this paper will deal with the importance of making women's unpaid work visible in India, as India is a developing country and more people tend to engage in unpaid subsistence work (production for self-consumption, unpaid work in family enterprises and care related work) in developing countries compared to wealthier countries. Portraying the importance and challenges of making women's unpaid care work visible in India can trigger economic and social development of the country. This paper aims to put forward the value of women's unpaid care work in India, and to pinpoint the obstacles that stand in the way of exposing their unpaid contributions. Considering the context of India this paper will examine the following questions: 1. Why is it important to make unpaid care work visible? 2. What are the challenges of making unpaid care work visible? The questions mentioned above will be answered by looking at suitable literature so that theoretical and methodological issues that have emerged can be brought forward and the problems and recommendations can be grasped to arrive at a conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration is not a new phenomenon, neither for Europe, nor for the entire world and it exists since the beginning of mankind. Over time, this kind of international mobility generated many opportunities, but many challenges as well. Being an extremely important and complex phenomenon, both in economic terms and mostly from the social perspective, mass emigration has never been more intense as nowadays. Together with this particular complexity, the intensity of the migration phenomenon reveals each individual's profound freedom desire, but also the acute need to ensure a better future for himself and especially for his family. Currently, an ever increasing number of individuals migrate in search of a better place, changing regions, countries or even continents. Witnessing the events that transcend the people all around the world, we consider that migration generates economic, social and cultural, but also political profound changes. These major changes require the involvement of the political actors, namely the governments, in creating a favorable and reliable framework so as the society and decision makers to understand that immigrants represent an opportunity for the emerging economies and not a phenomenon that should be criticized. In this paper we aim to follow the theories regarding the migration process, as well as the changes it generates, taking into consideration that of the 507 million current inhabitants of the EU, approximately 20 million are from countries outside the EU. We consider this research to be underlain, taking into consideration that regardless of the form it takes, in Europe immigration is and will remain a difficult to manage reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper was aimed at understanding the importance of SMEs in the market economy as the economic engine continues to be the factor that motivates both business and human existence. The yield and quality of the results of a national economy depend largely on the ability to determine the creation and operation of a large number of businesses which provide products and services of quality, cost and reduced prices and quantities and of appropriate requirements domestic and foreign market. The article deals with the content and structure, activities that are specific to SMEs and how they operate in the market, and how these types of companies influence the economy of the European Union and Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the narrative that the informal economy in Africa has no place within the framework of economic development. Considered as a sign of “backwardness”, “traditionalism” and “underdevelopment”, the informal economy in Africa has persistently grown notwithstanding Africa’s economic destabilisation through the adoption of neo-liberal economic interventions and free-market policies. This paper argues that the informal economy cannot be marginalised at the fringes of economic development, in the construction of a holistic development pathway.Design/methodology/approach The methodological basis is discourse analysis.Findings The outcome is a call to re-think and open up the feasibility, and possibilities for, alternative economic futures beyond free-market capitalism.Originality/value This paper makes a critical consideration on one of the multiple narratives that continue to inform economic policy making in Africa, by contesting and deconstructing its basis in order to encourage a pluralistic approach and understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to estimate the influencing factors on the size of the underground economy using fuzzy logic. The illegal nature of the underground economy also limits private investment and economic growth. For example, companies that operate in the underground economy are not able to use the institutions that support the market economy (judiciary and courts), which makes them less inclined to invest. Therefore, it can be said that one of the most important issues that should be considered in economic policies is the underground sector of the economy. The research method in this research is of a descriptive-survey type, and the type of research in the current research is causal and practical in terms of the purpose, because the expected results of the research can be used in examining the dimensions of the underground economy. It is used in university and economic resources. To estimate the index of the underground economy and examine its trend using fuzzy logic, it is necessary to perform these steps; Accurate determination of indicators, fuzzification, definition of basic rules, inference engine, determinism and sensitivity analysis. To estimate the index of the underground economy with fuzzy logic, they are divided into three sub-criteria including the financial sector, the monetary sector and the real sector. The results showed that the informal sector constitutes an important part of the economy and the labor market in developing countries. This sector plays a major role in production, creating employment and income by producing goods and services, transferring skills by newcomers to the sector, reducing unemployment and using individual capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the end of the Second World War Taiwan ranked among the poorest countries of the world. In spite of its limited natural resources, it has succeeded in building a dynamic and open free market economy that is driven by industrial manufacturing and reached a gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity of more than $50,000 in 2017. In a relatively short period of time, Taiwan achieved impressive industrialization and high economic growth. The aim of the paper is to identify and analyse in brief the key factors that conducted Taiwan towards sustainable economic development. The methodological approach was based on a quantitative method and a case study. The paper shows that the role of state in economy, the rapid industrialization and the importance of education are among the key factors that enabled Taiwan's sustainable economic development. The "state and market" approach proved to be highly beneficial for Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even when the neoliberal ideology of the free market was more dominant than it now is, the state was involved in economic activities that could be undertaken by private firms. State capitalism takes increasingly diverse forms, including beyond direct, partial or even indirect ownership. This paper briefly reviews some of these forms without claiming to be exhaustive as the shape state capitalism takes differs widely across the institutionalized contexts of countries. We assess state capitalism using Polanyi's double movement framework and argue that this framework needs adaptation to novel forms of state capitalism that include, e.g., state-owned multinationals and sovereign wealth funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper challenges the mainstream stance in the study of applied ethics in international development. Applied ethics is positioned at the macro-social level of global ethics while a specific codification is attempted by formulating international development based on its structural synthesis, in a threefold level: First, the structural synthesis -associated with the framework of existing international development policy-can be found in the 'market relations'. Second, the analysis specifies the policies applied at the national level and the role of nation-state policy. Third, the paper criticizes the international development institutions' policies. In each of the levels mentioned above, the analysis reveals the fundamental policy theory issues of neoclassical economics, as the intellectual defender of free market economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine government influence on the acquisition behavior of Chinese firms. Drawing from the state capitalism literature, we test hypotheses regarding the effect of provincial government ownership and managerial ties respectively on industry relatedness of firm acquisitions. We furthermore test hypotheses concerning the moderating effect of institutional development and governor age and tenure. We test our hypotheses based on analysis of 346 majority acquisition deals completed by first-time acquirers in China between 2002 and 2014. Our results show that provincial government-owned firms and firms with ties to the same are more likely to conduct unrelated acquisitions within their home province compared to acquisitions across provincial boundaries. Similar patterns do not exist for privately owned firms or for firms with no managerial ties to provincial governments. Institutional development and governor age and tenure are found to have no moderating effects. We relate our findings to the main theoretical views of state capitalism and suggest that our results reflect government attempts to promote economic growth and social development. Our study contributes to the understanding of Chinese state capitalism and the cross-province barriers for business in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to explore the socio-political and economic dimensions of increasingly becoming popular rise of the Global South. It is argued that the slogan of the rise of Global South which seemingly implies that the Global South in its pursuit of development as an ideal will end up being different than the North is questionable. Scholars have long debated on the nature and spirit of development in South and explain the rising South either in terms of gradual expansion of Westernization or in terms of emerging indigenous alternate model of development or alternate modernity. This distinction in describing the emerging economies rely primarily on the specific use of notion of capital as somewhat Western and the culture it produces as Western culture or either in the sense of internalizing the spirit of capital yet maintaining distinctive identity (other than the Western) which tends to reflect in the vocabulary of the Global South. This is to argue here that the spirit of capital is neither West nor East. And similarly it is neither North nor South. It is only the question of when and how the forces underlying capitalism will emerge in particular geography. The development discourse emerged primarily after the WWII put all post-colonial nations pursuing development instead of questioning it. There may have been changes in the vocabulary of development in the Global South to adjust in local cultures and perhaps also in the structure. There may have been call for alternate modernity. Notwithstanding the spirit remains the same. It is in this backdrop locating or understanding the very notion of the East not as a homogenous civilization but rather a pool of civilizations intending to express power of traditions in transitions becomes important. The purpose of this paper is to understand the withering traditions of East in the Global South development process dominated by the spirit of Capitalism. It is asked in environmental debate that can capitalism go green, in the political and cultural realm I would try to explore can capitalism go East in the Global South; can traditions survive in transitions? If not then Why? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a neo-Kaleckian–Goodwin model of growth and distribution. The key innovation is the introduction of managerial pay. Kaleckian monopoly power determines the functional distribution of income and Goodwin labour bargaining power determines the wage-bill division. The model helps explain slower US growth over the past 30 years. For much of that period the functional distribution of income was relatively constant, but growth slowed because income inequality increased owing to a wage-bill shift from workers to managers. The wage-bill division effect explains why economies can display wage-led and profit-led characteristics. Economies can be profit-led regarding functional income distribution and wage-led regarding wage-bill distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With China's economic transformation into a high-quality development stage, the importance of credit system construction has become increasingly prominent. The problems existing in the current telecom credit system include: (1) insufficient coverage of credit features; (2) traditional credit assessment models are difficult to reflect user credit status objectively, comprehensively and timely; (3) user demand for credit management and credit services are ignored. Due to these deficiencies, a new multi-level credit system is necessary to meet the rapid development of market economy. Telecom operators have large amount of precious data, with the advantages of large-scale, high-precision and data-diversity, which can provide new ideas for the construction of credit system. This work focuses on the current problems and conducts research as follows: design a Telecom Credit Assessment Model based on Boosting and Stacking ensemble techniques, called TCAMBS, to improve the evaluation accuracy, and to select the best model according to the experimental results. On the one hand, this work can promote the innovation of telecom credit assessment models and provide new ideas for the construction of the credit system. On the other hand, this work will also help telecom operations to improve the quality of telecom credit services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is part of a debate between David Harvey, Michael Hardt and Toni Negri. It takes Marx's bicentenary as occasion for an update of his concept of alienation. The paper asks: how are we to interpret universal alienation and from whence does it come? Marx radically reformulated the concept of alienation in the Grundrisse. The humanism of the early Marx can be re-rooted and reconceptualised in the scientific mode proposed in the Grundrisse. In the Grundrisse, the universality of alienation is specific to capitalism's historical evolution. Today, alienation exists almost everywhere. It exists at work in production, at home in consumption, and it dominates much of politics and daily life. Such trends intensify through the application of information technologies and artificial intelligence. Widespread alienation has resulted in Occupy movements as well as right-wing populism and bigoted nationalist and racist movements. Donald Trump is the President of alienation. The circulation of capital as totality consists of the three key moments of production, circulation and distribution. A lot of contemporary economic struggles are now occurring at the point of realisation rather than at the point of production. Protests are therefore today often expressions of broad-based discontent. Our future is dictated by the need to redeem our debts. Under such conditions democracy becomes a sham. The big question is what forms of social movement can help us get out of the state-finance nexus. The theory of objective alienation along with an understanding of its subjective consequences is one vital key to unlock the door of a progressive politics for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines Kosovo's attempts to create efficient political and economic institutions while assuming that if these institutions cannot perform well and the market economy will also fail. Thus, the main aim of this paper is to understand the reasons behind institutional and economic failure. A qualitative research approach that we used is based on a longitudinal perspective and a set of secondary data which are analyzed by using Qualitative Content Analysis technique. Our findings suggest that the state-building period which was administrated by the international organizations created problems such as polarizations in views, duality and imbalance in power distribution and illegitimacy of the governing institutions. These problems are more or less reflected in other institutions in the following independence period. Moreover, due to continuing and deepening political fragmentation and tension amongst the local parties, attempts to create wellfunctioning and supporting institutions have not yet produced fruitful results. With such institutional performance Kosovo has not yet been able to create a functioning market economy and to overcome economic challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starting point for my reflections was a thesis presented by Max Weber more than one hundred years ago. According to this thesis, a Protestant ethos was an important factor responsible for the spectacular economic growth of Northern Europe. In his own reflections, the German scholar paid attention mainly to both Protestant asceticism, which concentrated the energy of believers on the work they did, as well as on theology, especially Calvinism, which provided explanations for hard work and the accumulation of capital. It seems, however, that in his reconstruction of the Protestant ethos, Weber described universal mechanisms which are responsible for social mobilization in general. The problem is that instead of trying to analyze them, he ultimately concentrated on their cultural manifestations. The main aim of my paper is an identification of these mechanisms. They discipline individuals, or more correctly, they discipline the patterns of playing these social roles, which are functionally significant for initiating and sustaining the mobilization process. In other words, when there is a need in a society to achieve specific goals, including economic ones, it should develop social norms which will be able to bolster the engagement of its members and focus their energy on specific aspects of their life. Moreover, there is a need to prepare non-normative mechanisms, which increase the probability that members of the society will adhere to these social norms. The reflections in this regard seem to be important mainly for developing states. On the one hand, they should prepare mechanisms which allow them to develop their economies. On the other hand, the members of these states must face many costs associated with their implementation and this problem should also be a part of the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend" is an iconic dictum of the early Maoist era, when the free speech was nominally encouraged in order to determine intellectuals to debate and develop socialism, though soon proved to be some perverse strategy to encourage the self-signalling of the too critical stances on the system and to ease their shutting up. The Deng Xiaoping's U-turn consecrated the "seeking (of) truth from facts", marking a process of gradually finding the right path towards the "socialism/capitalism with Chinese characteristics" and since then a worldwide competition among the explanations for the "successfulness" or "sustainability" of China's transformations has spurred in the academic community of social scientists. Nowadays the Chinese unique hybrid model is under siege, with the turmoil installed in its financial markets calling for explanations of whether too much capitalism or too much socialism/interventionism is responsible for this. Our paper will propose a scrutiny of the theories standing behind Chinese realities, calling for a strategy we named "seeking truth from principles". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]