Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Volume 4: Cities and Geography (Handbooks in Economics)

Book Description

The new Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics: Cities and Geography reviews, synthesizes and extends the key developments in urban and regional economics and their strong connection to other recent developments in modern economics. Of particular interest is the development of the new economic geography and its incorporation along with innovations in industrial organization, endogenous growth, network theory and applied econometrics into urban and regional economics.

The chapters cover theoretical developments concerning the forces of agglomeration, the nature of neighborhoods and human capital externalities, the foundations of systems of cities, the development of local political institutions, regional agglomerations and regional growth. Such massive progress in understanding the theory behind urban and regional phenomenon is consistent with on-going progress in the field since the late 1960s. What is unprecedented are the developments on the empirical side: the development of a wide body of knowledge concerning the nature of urban externalities, city size distributions, urban sprawl, urban and regional trade, and regional convergence, as well as a body of knowledge on specific regions of the worldEurope, Asia and North America, both current and historical.

The Handbook is a key reference piece for anyone wishing to understand the developments in the field.

Book Description

Positive Political Economy investigates how observed differences in institutions affect political and economic outcomes in various social, economic and political systems. It also examines how the institutions themselves change and develop in response to individual and collective beliefs, preferences and strategies. This volume tackles both monetary and real topics in an integrated way, and represents the first coherent empirical investigation of positive models of political economy.

Book Description

Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 provides a platform for the rapid development of e-Commerce web sites. It integrates with a variety of Microsoft products and services to simplify and accelerate development and deployment. It also provides a rich environment for developing custom sites based of proven techniques and methodologies. Special Edition Using Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 provides a Fast Track for developing and deploying sites. Using the design patterns found in the sample sites and lessons learned from years of field experience, the book defines a path for mapping an e-commerce project.

Customer Reviews:

Works fine for me........2003-06-13

I bought this with some hesitation gvien the mixed reviews and wanted to leave my opinion. I thought the book was more task-based, so when I wanted to do certain things lik epersonalization, it was very easy to turn to the right chapters. I was not looking for an object reference, as the online help has that so why waste money buying it? I did think the examples could have been bigger, but our site is so specialized the examples might not have been helpful anyway. I thought the writing was very clear and I was able to better understand Commerce Server concepts, which I have been struggling with. So I guess if you want a book full of code, this one is not for you. If you want a book that explains how Commerce Server works and how you can use it, then this book is probably a good bet.

Not the best book, the only book.......2003-04-01

I'm in the midst of an e-Commerce project using CS 2002. I've read the book and can't disagree more with previous reviews. Where are the references into what each system object's interfaces are? Where's an example that isn't just "starting with a solution site"?

The structure of the book is awkward, there is no introduction into the CS architecture with an explaination of the various objects. It is up to the reader to notice an object being used and to figure out it's interface from existing online documentation.

This book is little more than a rehash of the existing online documentation, just a little easier to sift through. If you are doing a CS2002 site, this is the book for you because it's the only book out there.

Good Technical Understanding.......2003-02-07

What I like most about this book is how it explains the underlying data structures and stored procedures that are used to develop Commerce Server 2002. I appreciate the fact that they go through each aspect of Commerce Server 2002 and explains it in enough detail that a good developer can further extend.

Probably, the only thing that I would have added to this book is a section on doing development within C2K2 with large teams. This section would talk about the relative difficulties of large team development with C2K2.

A second edition to this book would be a complete site using C2K2 with the type of extensions that most development teams will have to make.

The next edition could be something like "C2K2 by Example" or "The C2K2 Cookbook".

A fast read and packed with information........2003-01-21

I had to write a comment and recommend this book. It is loaded with information about every detail of Commerce Server 2002, plus it's not presented in a way that makes it just an advertisement for Microsoft's Commerce Server. It gives excellent examples of what you should and should not do, and it doesn't leave anyone out (includes both .NET implementation and COM+/VS6 notes). The relaxed tone in the writing makes it a quick read and keeps it from getting too boring. Highly suggested book!!

This book lacks depth.......2003-01-16

This book was a nice overview of the product and its general capabilities. It lacks the depth in real world examples and particularly in the sample code area. Many times it is mentioned that the solution sites provided by Microsoft are not good designs for production, highly scaleable stores, yet most of the actual code samples are stripped straight from the solution site code. It would have been nice to see the author(s) invest some effort in writing some code themselves and showing alternatives to the methods Microsoft has already shown us. If you are looking for a book to help you build sites using Commerce Server 2002, skip this one.

Book Description

Provides professionals with practical, step-by-step guidance to setting up a successful freelance business, either full- or part-time. Going Freelance profiles over 150 professions where independent freelancers are in high demand, including accounting, financial planning, law, editing, engineering, architecture, science and technology, education and training, computer programming, health care, physical therapy, and many more. Packed with proven ideas for marketing your skills, promoting good customer relations, handling difficult customers, and getting paid. Also covers tax aspects of self-employment. A ``freelancer's sourcebook'' lists hundreds of associations and organizations that professionals can turn to for help, references, and 150 career profiles.

Going Freelance: a Guide for Professionals

Average customer rating:

Going Freelance: a Guide for Professionals
Robert Laurance
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N6CTEG

Book Description

Answers the question, "What can I do with an environmental degree?"

Great Jobs for Environmental Studies Majors helps you explore your career options within your field of study. From assessing your talents and skills to taking the necessary steps to land a job, every aspect of identifying and getting started in a career choice is covered. You learn to explore your options, target an ideal career, present a major as an asset to a job, perfect a job search, and follow through and get results.

Download Description

Answers the question, ""What can I do with an environmental degree?"" Great Jobs for Environmental Studies Majors helps you explore your career options within your field of study. From assessing your talents and skills to taking the necessary steps to land a job, every aspect of identifying and getting started in a career choice is covered. You learn to explore your options, target an ideal career, present a major as an asset to a job, perfect a job search, and follow through and get results.

Book Description

Individuals or business owners with substantial property need to incorporate asset protection planning into their financial and business plans to protect that property from creditors, government agencies, third-party litigants, and, in so doing, protect the interests of heirs.

Asset Protection Planning Guide helps accountants and financial advisors master the multitude of asset protection vehicles available, understand the strengths and weaknesses of those vehicles, and skillfully utilize them to achieve their clients' goals.

An ideal reference for estate planning attorneys, trust officers, tax practitioners, financial planners and other wealth planners who are involved in asset protection planning, the Guide covers every aspect of the subject -- describing the various asset protection plans, when to use them, why to use them, and which countries offer the most advantagous arrangements for different situations. Specific chapters include:

Asset Protection Planning and Fraudulent Transfer Law Gifting as a Planning Tool Joint or Concurrent Ownership as a Planning Tools Exemptions as a Planning Tool Foreign Annuities and Foreign Insurance Products Family Limited Partnerships as a Planning Tool Insurance as a Planning Tool Domestic Trusts as a Planning Tool Alternative Tools Under Other Legal Systems Foreign Asset Protection Trusts as a Planning Tool Expatriation as an Asset Protection Tool Protection of Retirement Benefits

The Guide includes numerous practice tools, including:

Engal Ladder of Asset Protection Vehicles Model Foreign Asset Protection Trust Structures Asset Protection Control/Benefit Scale Sample Documentation Language Sample Trust Agreement Sample Fee Agreement

Average customer rating:

What Happened to IBM?

Broken Promises: An Unconventional View of What Went Wrong at IBM
Daniel Quinn Mills , and G. Bruce Friesen
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

IBM Redux: Lou Gerstner and the Business Turnaround of the Decade

Big Blues: The Unmaking of IBM

The Watson Dynasty : The Fiery Reign and Troubled Legacy of IBM's Founding Father and Son

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?: How I Turned Around IBM

The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the Making of IBM

ASIN: 0875846548

Book Description

Once the world's most admired corporation, IBM stumbled badly in the early 1990s. At the depth of the crisis, the company suffered its first-ever operating loss and eliminated nearly 200,000 jobs. What went wrong? Contrary to popular wisdom, the authors argue that the root cause of IBM's difficulties was not that it fell behind in technology, but rather that it disregarded its customers and misled its employees.

In Broken Promises, Mills and Friesen draw on extensive interviews with IBM executives, access to company files, and surveys of the company's customers to explain why, despite its advantages, IBM's executives failed to maintain its leadership. The authors show that IBM:

* developed an overly optimistic strategic plan based more on pride than reality;
* made a financing decision that eventually crippled its industry-leading marketing franchise;
* destroyed its long-term relationship with customers, to whom it had guaranteed high-quality product and close service support;
* broke its implied commitment to employees of lifetime employment security; and
* executed a massive corporate reorganization that left the subsequent strategic crisis unresolved.

Telling the story of IBM's downfall in the context of the company's history, the authors also outline the challenges that lie ahead for current leadership, even in the face of IBM's apparent rebound.

Broken Promises is a cautionary tale of strategic miscalculation, managerial error, and a loss of confidence that demonstrates for executives at any large company the risks of neglecting customer and employee relationships in the face of large-scale change.

Customer Reviews:

What Happened to IBM?.......2005-06-22

This book presents one viewpoint on IBM during the 1980s and 1990s. The authors claim that a choice of IBM "could not be faulted" (p.9). [Was that because IBM, unlike some competitors, did not offer kickbacks to customers?] The authors claim IBM broke its promises of high-quality technology and excellent service to customers, and job security to its employees. But no company can guarantee jobs when losing money.

IBM's "incompatible small computers" may have deviated from the S/360 model, but followed industry standards of that era (p.11). One of IBM's mistakes was to listen to its critics (p.15), who could have ulterior motives. The world economy affects IBM (p.24). The discussion about personal computers missed the point (pp.35-40). IBM did not pioneer microcomputers and mass market them. It did give an imprimatur to what some sneeringly called "toy computers". The problem noted by T. V. Learson is common to bureaucracy (but didn't he retire then?). Did IBM really give away control of personal computers to Intel and Microsoft (p.62)? Such an opinion can only show ignorance of the history from 1976 to 1982. Chapter 5 talks about "loyalty". Can any corporation offer "employment security" (p.66) in a cyclical economy where management's first priority is to the share owners? No, but its a good idea. [The only way to guarantee job security is to be the owner-operator of your own business. But even then you can have problems.] The authors state IBM's hiring policy (p.68) but don't say how this was implemented. Did family connections ever trump this ideal? The "Open Door" policy is one way for top management to find out what is really happening, and avoid filtered feedback (p.69). Was there really no management favoritism (p.76)? Does "scientific management" work (p.77). Is "scientific management" just special pleading for the managerial class? Don't employees pay for management's mistakes (p.82)?

The authors say IBM's big mistake was to sell equipment rather than lease it. It brought in cash which was used to enlarge manufacturing plants (pp.90-91). But this plan soon failed; they liquidated their assets and squandered the money. No mention of the Board of Directors! The authors tell of IBM engineers forming "their own company" in 1967, but not of the venture capitalists behind them (p.92). The authors say IBM failed to drop "poor performers" (p.94), but don't explain any errors in hiring practices. The author's comments on page 104 show credulity. Watson Sr. sold cash registers, which recorded and tabulated money. Hollerith cards were a more general form of recording and tabulating data. Did IBM spend too much time on executive politics rather than profit and loss (p.123)? I don't believe the authors on the F/S project failure, since they overlook customer acceptance. Did customers want another new system that would obsolete all their existing software (p.130)? The story of Stalingrad sounds like an urban legend (p.131)! This all seems as if the authors didn't do their homework. Chapter 9 considers the advice of "Wall Street"; but Wall Street produces nothing, it profits from other people's money. Wall Street's own management is marked by failures, scandals, and mergers of failed firms. Wall Street's special pleading is listed (p.135); they have hidden agendas (p.136). Inflation is caused when the Federal Reserve (a private banking cartel) prints and distributes paper money for its purposes. The authors correctly question the wisdom of following Wall Street's advice. Wall Street can benefit by selling short, and promoting "high tech" stock to gain from a company's distress (p.149).

Chapter 11 asks about the future of large corporations, given the reports of financial losses for many old companies (p.179). I think the authors drew the wrong conclusions about IBM's selling and not leasing; its what they did with the money. Lloyds of London had "great losses" (p.183) on computer equipment that became obsolete. The comments on small vs. large staffs (p.185) overlooks the rate of administrators to production workers. This is called "bureaucracy" (p.187) but it could also be called "patronage". What about special relationships (like nepotism), or if personal whims decided on projects. Was there an abuse of overtime? Could an outside organization have members inside to influence policy?

Could anti-trust enforcement have prevented the IBM debacle? When difficulties arose, IBM did split away functions (like Lexmark). Real innovation comes from a small group (p.189). You can add the 1930 invention and patent of the transistor by a long-extinct company.

Book Description

This comprehensive resource guides students step-by-step through the product development process, from concept through launch in the marketplace. Case histories profile successful new product introductions in a changing marketplace. This text details the best ways to:

* Identify and respond to the real needs of consumers. * Plan for products that fit the company's charter and win top management commitment. * Test new products to spot and cure defects, assess market potential, and plan expansions. * Develop a complete marketing plan for a major new product introduction.

Book Description

This volume is the third in an annual series in which top economists provide a concise and accessible evaluation of major developments in trade and trade policy. Each annual volume examines key issues pertinent to the multilateral trading system, as well as regional trade arrangements and policy developments at the national level. Each volume also provides assessments of several of the World Trade Organization's current Trade Policy Reviews.This year's volume contains an evaluation of the World Trade Organization and its role in the evolving global trade regime; a review of developments in the treatment of intellectual property rights, and an analysis of globalization and its implications. In the area of regional trade arrangements, the volume features assessments of Mercosur; of open regionalism in APEC; and of proposal for a Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Area. Among current Trade Policy Reviews, those for Brazil, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand and Uganda are examined.

Book Description

bBelarus is unique among the states of the former Soviet bloc, in that after a decade of transition', the country remains stalled' and backward-oriented. Political and economic changes are characterised by half-measures, and recently a new suppression of dissent has been introduced; the country balances between the prospect of democracy and a retreat to authoritarianism. These developments contrast starkly with the many democratic changes in neighbouring states and suggest a possible alternative path for future development in Eastern Europe. This book provides a thorough overview of current developments in Belarus. It looks at historical, political, economic and social changes, and at international relations, especially relations with Russia and the European Union, considering all these factors both in their domestic and international contexts and defines the type of democracy, if any, which exists in Belarus, exploring the prospects for further democratisation.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Contribution!!!!!.......2003-10-17

This book fills an obvious gap in contemporary east-European political literature. Unlike other books on Belarus, the strong point this book has is that is written primarily by young Belarusian scholars who have studied both within Belarus and in the west and thus gives a far more even account of the true nature of this interesting nation.

This book is required reading for any serious scholar of east European politics, economics, culture or society.

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