Economics and Finance

“This Handbook offers a timely ‘snapshot’ of the fast-moving global debates on Basic Income. Embracing a range of ideological, ethical, historical and cross-national perspectives, it looks at the case for Basic Income through both a focused and a wide-angled lens. Rather than asserting hard and fast conclusions, it ends with the valuable message that context is all.”
—Ruth Lister, Loughborough University, UK 

“A must-read Handbook that provides solid foundations for the growing number of researchers, policymakers and campaigners involved in the ongoing debate on Basic Income."
—Rubén M. Lo Vuolo, the Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Public Policy, Argentina

A Basic Incomeis an unconditional regular payment for every individual. But is it desirable? And is it feasible? This Handbook brings together scholars from various disciplines and from around the world to examine the history, characteristics, effects, viability and implementation of Basic Income. A variety of pilot projects and ideological perspectives are considered in depth.

Global developments in basic income have reinvigorated political debates on the necessity of progressing to universal basic income implementation. Basic income is a powerful strategy for addressing poverty gaps and growing inequality. This book provides new insights and strategies from an Australian political economy perspective to respond to implementation challenges and distributive justice. The book positions the disability dimension and disability pensions in relation to basic income to explore strategies for strengthening universal provisions. It illustrates the need for socially just conditions and adequate financing to underpin redistribution as a way of safeguarding the sustainability of basic income.

This book examines the evolution of basic income policy and research in advanced economies and is divided into two parts. The first section considers the development of basic income as a social policy initiative in advanced (OECD) nations from the 1960s to today.  It reviews what the negative income tax experiments accomplished, their limitations, and what they can lend to the design and implementation of basic income pilots or a full blown basic income program today. It also considers important developments and research in poverty and economic inequality and in technological change and labour market adjustment over the last half century. The second section focuses on the Canadian case, where the prospects for basic income are perhaps among the most promising. In addition to a review of Mincome and its lessons and limitations, this section considers important developments in poverty research by the Economic Council of Canada and the Canadian Senate in the 1960s,attempts at welfare reform, and the policy initiatives to develop a basic income for elderly Canadians that has endured to this day. Many of the important social and technological developments that are reviewed in the first part will be discussed in more detail with specific reference to the Canadian case. The evolution of the important policy innovations―the National Child Benefit and its successors and the Poverty Reduction Strategy―are outlined in detail and linked to other, more modest, income support initiatives such as the federal sales tax credit that provide a potential foundation for a comprehensive basic income plan in Canada.  Research, including recent microsimulation studies of a basic income, are critically reviewed.  Although the COVID-19 pandemic has increased interest in basic income to support those hardest hit, the book argues for careful design of basic income policies in its aftermath rather than simplistic adoption of emergency pandemic measures.   

Common wealth dividends are universal cash payments funded by fees on the private use of common resources like land, minerals, and the atmosphere as a carbon sink. Thomas Paine’s 1797 pamphlet Agrarian Justice and Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend are staples in the literature on basic income, but there is much more to common wealth dividends beyond these highlights, and common wealth dividends have a distinctive ethical justification and distinctive policy implications that merit discussion. This monograph, a comprehensive study of common wealth dividends, is ideal for readers interested in basic income and researchers focused on environmental studies, including sustainable development, natural resource management, and climate policy.

The global Basic Income debate is now widespread, diverse, and relatively well resourced by academic and more popular literature: but that does not mean that there is universal agreement about every topic of discussion. In fact, there is still a quite heated debate about some of the most basic questions, such as ‘What is a Basic Income?’ ‘What’s the point?’, and ‘Is it feasible?’

This book is not yet another general introduction to Basic Income. There are already plenty of those. It is entirely about those aspects of the debate about which there is most discussion and sometimes the most conflict. It is based on conference papers, previously published chapters, and other previously published articles, working papers, and reports: material that has already benefited from consultation and debate, as is appropriate for a book about aspects of a debate that are the subject of frequent consultation and discussion.

Although modern society is a global one, centered on the economic ideology of neo-liberalism, the negative effects of social polarization caused by this are quite severe. It is also urgent to come up with alternative solutions to the problems of labor reduction and wage labor. Moreover, the expansion of productivity through collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence also presents a challenge. An interdisciplinary study on the meaning and restructuring of labor is therefore needed.

This book addresses the most widespread forms of financial crime today, namely corporate fraud, corruption, tax fraud, the shadow economy, informal entrepreneurship, money laundering, international informal capital flows, cybercrimes, and cryptocurrency scams. Given the rapid rise of digitalization, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a huge surge in financial crime, especially in the form of cybercrime, which affects people’s financial security. Hence, the aim of this book is to stress the connected nature of financial crime and good governance, in order to achieve the most positive, sustainable development of society.

Are you a current or aspiring Ph.D. student determined to overcome the challenges that lie ahead? Do not let statistics discourage you, because this comprehensive guide is here to help you defy the odds and reach the pinnacle of academic achievement. With failure rates hovering between 40% and 50%, it is crucial to equip yourself with the right skills to ensure your success.

In this book, you will embark on a transformative journey toward becoming a confident and accomplished scholar. This book takes a meticulous approach, addressing the six essential skills every Ph.D. student must possess: research, writing, presentation, time management, persistence, and collaboration. Each chapter delves into the significance of these skills within the Ph.D. process, explores the necessary competences, and provides practical strategies for their acquisition.

Armed with numerous tips, tricks, and actionable advice, this invaluable resource empowers you to optimize your performancethroughout your Ph.D. journey. Within these pages, you will discover how to assess your current skill set, identify areas for improvement, and develop a personalized academic development plan. With the aid of many informative figures and tables, you will find quick and easy access to expert guidance.

Do not let uncertainty and self-doubt hinder your progress. “Unlocking PhD Success” is your roadmap to triumph, supporting you every step of the way as you conquer the challenges of doctoral studies. Embrace this book as your trusted companion, and unlock your full potential as an exceptional Ph.D. candidate.

This book is about the crises of the world economy that have occurred from the 1970s to the present day. It makes the specific case that the global economy has experienced six crises during this 50-year period. Crises of the global economy are periods of substantial slowdown in world economic activity—as measured by investment, industrial production, trade, or unemployment—in which many national economies are technically in recession. To pose the existence of crises of the global economy implies that the world economy is a real entity with its own dynamics; it implies also that the usual approach that views national economies as the appropriate units of economic analysis has major limitations. The author provides data illustrating the global and regional manifestations of these crises of the world economy, elaborates on the concepts of world economy and economic crisis, and discusses the theories that have been used to explain them. The book shows how these recurrent global crises are discrete, countable phenomena, distinct states of an entity that can be appropriately referred to as the world or global economy, or world capitalism.

This contributed volume explores the relationships between politics, economics, and evaluation. With a special focus on Greece, it addresses how evaluations within different sectors impact policymaking and explains what this means for sustainable development.

Featuring interdisciplinary perspectives on economic policy evaluation for inclusive and future-forward public policy, the chapters rethink and reform evaluation to meet modern economic challenges.

The book outlines the concept and principles of resource allocation in evaluation, offering a framework for economic transformation. It highlights the role of evaluation in achieving sustainable development.

It provides a new way to measure the quality of public policy, governance, and economic policy.

This edited volume discusses the concept of resilient cities within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Written by an international panel of scholars and experts, the book presents theoretical approaches, identifies risk factors, and suggests policies for building resiliency in a region of the world undergoing rapid urbanization. Chapters cover a diverse range of topics, including innovative concepts and studies in resilient city design, the interaction of social, entrepreneurial, governmental, and ecological transformations in the GCC region, and international best practices for risk reduction. Coupling rigorous economic analysis and practical policy implications, this book will be useful for students and academics of finance, governance, energy and resource economics, and climate change, as well as policymakers, community leaders, and risk reduction professionals.

This is an open access book.

This book contains eight empirical applications of the median voter model. There exists a large literature in economics explaining public policy outcomes using the median voter model.  The papers in this volume contribute to our understanding of how the institutional context of voting matters for collective decision-making. The authors of this volume apply the median voter model in a variety of different contexts, from testing the interest group orientation of government spending to voting by members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Chapters also focus on the political economy of: state-level psychedelic drug legalization, bank entry restrictions, public pension reform, state renewable portfolio standards, automobile insurance regulation, and profits in the dialysis market.

This open access edited volume discusses the impact of digitalization on taxation, using the Swedish welfare state model as a lens through which to examine the disruptive effect of new technologies on traditional tax models. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, it integrates perspectives from economics, law, audit, and public policy to shed light on contemporary challenges in taxation.

With Sweden as a central case study, the chapters in this book address broader concerns surrounding the impact of digital transformation on how states calculate and enforce tax, as well as the role of international coordination in reforming tax policy. The book covers many important topics such as financing public welfare, international attempts to combat issues concerning multinationals and consumption taxation, legitimacy and democratic implications, as well as how digitalization impacts firms’ and tax authorities’ tax administration. The effects of AI, automation and remote work are all considered, as well as how greater labor mobility is decreasing the emphasis on a geographical nexus for taxability and creating a need for urgent tax reform. Providing a diverse set of theoretical and policy considerations, this book will be essential reading for scholars, students and policymakers working in the spheres of tax law, the welfare state and public economics.

Neoliberalism is a politico-economic framework that emphasizes deregulation, free trade, and minimal government intervention in the economy; further, it suggests that social issues are best addressed through market mechanisms. Responsibilization occurs when individuals internalize responsibility for addressing problems caused by large social structures, and is a salient instrument in the inculcation of neoliberal ideology. This monograph examines ethical consumption within the context of cultural neoliberalism. Using a qualitative approach, the book is organized around a series of interviews with self-identified ethical consumers and their experiences of responsibilization. The chapters explore the spaces in which these consumers deploy their efforts, the ways they attempt to shape the market through their economic agency, the ideologies that inform their approach, and the way they conceptualize their own identities as ethical consumers. Revealing the dilemmas intrinsic in the undertaking of ethical consumption, including instances of role strain, role conflict, and the frustration and sense of futility consumers can feel in the face of the global capitalist juggernaut, this volume provides a nuanced view of the behavior of the ethical consumer. As such, it will be of interest to researchers and students across the disciplines of economics, sociology, politics, and business.