A great merit of this stimulating volume lies in the fact that, by Locke's open, explicit claim of the priority to be accorded to a local rather than a national perspective in the interpretation of Italian political economy-and more generally in his interpretation of political economies of advanced democracies within a changing global environment-he urges interested readers to adopt a point of view.

The Oxford Handbook of the Italian Economy Since Unification provides, for the first time, a comprehensive, quantitative "new economic history" of Italy.

How well are European firms responding to the new opportunities for growth, and in which global value chains are they developing these new activities? The policy discussion on the future of manufacturing requires an understanding of the changing role of manufacturing in Europe's growth agenda.

In this age of multicultural democracy, the idea of assimilation--that the social distance separating immigrants and their children from the mainstream of American society closes over time--seems outdated and, in some forms, even offensive. But as Richard Alba and Victor Nee show in the first systematic treatment of assimilation since the mid-1960s, it continues to shape the immigrant experience, even though the geography of immigration has shifted from Europe to Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Institutional changes, from civil rights legislation to immigration law, have provided a more favorable environment for nonwhite immigrants and their children than in the past. Assimilation is still driven, in claim, by the decisions of immigrants and the second generation to improve their social and material circumstances in America. But they also show that immigrants, historically and today, have profoundly changed our mainstream society and culture in the process of becoming Americans. Surveying a variety of domains--language, socioeconomic attachments, residential patterns, and intermarriage--they demonstrate the continuing importance of assimilation in American life. And they predict that it will blur the boundaries among the major, racially defined populations, as nonwhites and Hispanics are increasingly incorporated into the mainstream.

Today, many Americans regard globalization as a significant threat to our work force, and to our very way of life. As unemployment soars, the American automotive and manufacturing industries crumble, countless jobs continue to ship overseas, and the retail sector faces the worst slump in decades, cries of “Buy American” have grown louder and louder - in our communities, in the headlines, and in the halls of Washington. But at a time when an Italian company has bailed out one of our oldest and most iconic automakers; a French-German consortium is closing in on a multibillion dollar military contract to build our tanker planes and helicopters; companies based everywhere from Switzerland to India to Belgium are stocking our grocery aisles; and the assets of some of our most venerable financial institutions have been stripped down and bought up by banks from Hong Kong and London, what does “Buy American” mean any more? That said, there is a great deal of discomfort about the influence that foreign companies are exerting on our economy. Are they making us more competitive in the global marketplace, or less? Are they creating jobs for Americans, or importing their own workforces? Are they a threat to our national security, or are they bringing us technology that actually makes us safer? When they open plants and factories on our shores, are they siphoning money from our economy, or bolstering it? In welcoming their investments, are we, as some critics contend, selling our economy to the highest bidder? In THE SELLING OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, New York Times senior business correspondent Micheline Maynard argues that despite the lingering xenophobia that colors American perception of foreign-owned companies, foreign investments are actually an overwhelmingly positive force. Not only do they create thousands of jobs and pump billions of dollars into national and local economies, she says, they reinvigorate and strengthen communities, foster innovation and diversity in the marketplace, and teach Americans new ways to live and work. At a time when our most cherished home-grown institutions, still reeling from the financial crisis, are downsizing, shuttering plants and factories, and filing for bankruptcy, the need for foreign investment has never been greater. In this compelling narrative, Maynard shows that if we are in fact selling our economy to the highest bidder, this may be very good news for America. Through moving stories of workers whose lives have been transformed by the arrival of companies like Toyota, Airbus, and Tata, probing interviews with a host of government officials and local leaders who have fought to lure foreign companies to their communities and states, and revealing conversations with both American and foreign executives (including a rare and hard-won visit with Toyota’s elusive young new president) Maynard paints a fascinating portrait of the paradigm shift that is transforming the American economy - and remaking the American dream.

This important collection presents an authoritative selection of papers on "Institutional Conflicts and Complementarities" This publication is intent on building bridges between economics and the other social sciences. The focus is on the interaction between monetary policy and wage bargaining institutions in European Monetary Union (EMU). Institutional Conflicts and Complementarities is written by acknowledged experts in their field. The outcome is a broad analysis of the interactions of labour market actors and central banks. The volume addresses the recent changes in EMU. An important theoretical, empirical, and policy-relevant conclusion that emerges from Institutional Conflicts and Complementarities is that even perfectly credible monetary conservatism has long-term real effects, even in equilibrium models with fully rational expectations.

After the end of the Cold War, liberalism emerged as the world's dominant political-economic ideology, and economic liberalism seemed to have achieved global hegemony. In Liberalism in Illiberal States, Mark Vail acknowledges the dominance of economic liberalism, but argues that its implementation in specific countries is always unique and dependent upon powerful historical factors. He focuses on France, Germany, and Italy--countries that many scholars do not view as "liberal" at all--and contends they have in fact developed distinct forms of national liberalism, of which their postwar models of capitalism were merely one manifestation. Vail argues that these states' political economies have been shaped by centuries-old liberal traditions, which have continued to inform national alternatives to transnational neoliberalism in the contemporary era. He presents case studies that show how nationally-specific interpretations of liberalism are flexible and responsive to local realities, especially in times of economic uncertainty. By demonstrating how variegated the practice of economic liberalism actually is, Liberalism in Illiberal States will reshape our understanding of liberal political economy in the contemporary world.

Using a common framework developed by a collaborative Harvard University and Brandeis University affiliated research team, this volume surveys and analyzes the strategic responses of national unions in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain to the last two decades of economic change. Also evaluated is the response of Sweden, long seen as the most successful variation of the European model, as well as EU level transnational unionism. The volume concludes with a reflection on new union positions and their implications, particularly on the question of what will happen to the "European model of society" as a consequence. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This is a collection of business teaching cases, focusing on human resource management issues around the world. Each case is based in a single country and illustrates one or more significant challenges faced by managers and HR practitioners.

The framework sketched in this new book explains the relationship between state and capital in Italy as well as some of the major directions in macroeconomic theory. These fields encompass both Italy's entry to EMU in 1999 and the impact of Silvio Berlusconi on Italian politics and economics.