Emerald Publishing Limited

Lloyd J. Dumas

Building the Good Society

$31.99

In many countries, society seems to be going off the rails. Economies are mired in widening and deepening inequality while the polity has deteriorated into a state of permanent hyper-partisan confrontation. Compromise and pragmatism seem a thing of the past. The central value of fairness has been cast aside. An individual's freedom and prosperity increasingly appear to depend not on personal and social commitments to the fundamental institutions of market economy and political democracy, but rather on whether his or her side dominates in the struggle for power.

Leading political economist Lloyd J. Dumas presents a pragmatic alternative view of a society that is capable of maximizing individual freedoms and producing sustained prosperity while preserving socially responsible behavior. In six interconnected essays, he investigates how to secure political freedom and sustainable democracy while avoiding the deliberate manipulation that produces less-than-democratic results; how to achieve equity and material abundance within the market system while avoiding the disadvantages of excessive income and wealth inequality; how to foster individual attitudes that promote progress rather than destroy the idea of individual dignity; how to shape the international organizations and institutions that will construct a solid and truly global social foundation; and how to sustain these foundations through democratic transitions. No blue sky utopian vision of idealists living in a perfect society, this book draws upon real examples from around the globe in order to outline an achievable future where ordinary, fallible human beings can overcome the most troubling limitations of democratic institutions and free market economics in order to harness their power to bring prosperity and maximize personal freedom.

With chapters that collectively build a pragmatic conceptual foundation for envisioning an optimally ethical international politico-economic system, Building the Good Society is a must-read for political economists and policymakers interested in realistic, theoretically rigorous recommendations for social development. Because its chapters are digestible as standalone essays, this book is also of interest to anyone concerned with the most pressing political, economic, and social issues of the past ten years.

Meir Russ

Human Capital and Assets in the Networked World

$123.99

The application of continuously changing ubiquitous computing and network technologies and the ensuing new networked society is challenging the traditional perspectives of what is human and social capital. Human Capital and Assets in the Networked World extends the discussion of the interaction between multiple types of capital among different actors over different time frames, assuming that the nature of such interaction is dynamically modified resulting from the adaptation by individuals and organizations of the new technologies. Such interaction of a multilevel system is enabled for example by the pervasive mobile technologies and the internet of things and ‘blockchain’ technologies.

Featuring contributions from leading scholars in the field, the book discusses human capital and human assets from a connectionist perspective, focusing on the growing infusion of the traditional human capital and social and knowledge-based systems. It goes beyond the current literature by providing a platform for a broad scope of discussion regarding human capital and assets, and more importantly, by encouraging a multidisciplinary fusion between diverse academic disciplines. Multi-level and multi-discipline chapters are represented, as well as when appropriate, plurality of empirical methods from diverse disciplines that are enhancing the opportunity for the building of a holistic theory of human capital and assets in the new networked society. The book also broadens the human capital praxis framework introduced and used by Russ, into the new networked society focusing on definitions, management, value creation, valuation and reporting of human capital and assets.

Human Capital and Assets in the Networked World provides researchers and students in all disciplines of management with a wide-ranging reference and will provide new insights of developing and managing talent in the the new networked economy that could be applied by advanced practitioners to augment company success.

Marco Sartor

Quality Management

$67.99

The current economic climate, characterized by growing international competition, is forcing companies to rethink their approach in terms of strategy, the customer and supplier relationship, processes and human resource management. In this context, 'quality management' - synonymous with efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness, becomes essential.

Quality Management: Tools, Methods and Standards fills a gap in the current literature by providing an updated overview of the discipline and its boundless fields of application from industry to public administration. Written by authors with both academic and practitioners backgrounds, the book serves as a culmination of the knowledge they have gained as managing directors and chairmen of leading companies. Starting from the history of quality, the authors provide the reader with a review of the main tools and approaches aimed at improving effectiveness and efficiency in organizations. Balanced scorecard, QFD, and FMEA are some of the solutions that are first introduced theoretically and then described in their application. International standards are also broadly discussed: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and SA8000 are described in their essential features and implementation patterns.

This book should be considered a must-read for students, academics, and practitioners who are interested in the theory and practice of quality management.

Daniel J. D'Amico

Contemporary Methods and Austrian Economics

$115.99

Austrian economics is known for extensive—and many economists would say excessive—ruminations on methodology. Attempting to steer a middle course between radical forms of historicism (there are no economic laws) and scientism (economic laws are as precise as physical laws), this approach often appears to diminish the importance of empirical testing and quantitative methods more generally. Since the Austrian revival of the 1970’s, social scientists have developed a number of new theoretical and empirical approaches to studying the social world. Experimental and behavioral economics have exploded in popularity. Econometrics has arguably taken a more central role in the discipline than even formal economic theory. And, most prominently, econometricians have developed quasi-experimental techniques for examining real-world data as part of the “credibility revolution.”

This volume, Contemporary Methods and Austrian Economics, examines the relationship between Austrian economics and these new social scientific methods. Do Austrian critiques of the excessive ambitions of formal theory and empirical measurement still hold water (if they ever did)? Do the findings of these new approaches bolster or undermine distinctively Austrian theories? How should we update our views on the relationship between abstract economic theory and empirical investigations?

John Hasseldine

Advances in Taxation

$116.99

In the latest volume of Advances in Taxation, series editor John Hasseldine compiles cutting-edge, peer-reviewed studies from expert contributors to explore topics such as: the effects of level of government on trust in revenue agencies; whether understanding tax laws reduces charitable giving; the link between distributive justice and tax fairness judgements; the role of states' R&D tax credits effectiveness in business location; and consumption tax collection on cross-border online sales. Two further contributions separately study the role of designated permanently reinvested earnings (PRE) in the financial statements of multinational corporations.

This volume is an exploration of the latest issues in tax and taxation theory, including empirical studies using a variety of research methods from different institutional settings and contexts. It is essential reading for anyone interested in tax policy and its impact in practice.