This publication contains a wide range of comparable and up-to-date data for the European Union and its Member States, euro-zone countries, the European Economic Area and other global key players. Chapters cover: social statistics relating to population, health, education, the labour market, household and welfare issues; the economy including national accounts, prices and wages, balance of payments and international trade; the environment, including water resources and supply, waste treatment, air pollution and climate change; science and technology issues such as research and development, and the growth of the information society; business sectors and enterprises, including industry and construction, tourism, transport and energy; agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The yearbook contains all Structural indicators the European Commission and national governments have agreed to use to evaluate progress in the EU.

Well over one-third of the total economic output of OECD countries is generated by just 10% of OECD regions. This one-stop guide for understanding regional competitiveness provides comparative statistical information at the sub-national level, graphs, maps and growth strategies.

This book for the first time thoroughly investigates the extent of economic and institutional integrations and the underlying governance reshuffling process of China’s city-regionalism. By using the Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou sub-region (SDH) in southern China as an empirical case, this book provides convincing evidence that China’s city-regionalism is essentially a state-orchestrated and institution-based process. Perspectives from “market-industry-infrastructure” and multi-level governance (MLG) have been provided to systematically examine China’s city-regionalism. This book has essentially made a definitive contribution to China’s regional governance. Methodologically, it shows how China’s city-regionalism can be examined through a problem-solving and case-by-case paradigm, through building a bridge between an empirical slogan and an inclusive theoretical term for institutional integration and through MLG and its integrative approaches in China. Exhilarating findings are presented using extensive tables, graphs, and maps along with the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods. Undergraduates, graduates, and researchers who are interested in China’s city-regionalism and regional governance would be the readership of the book, and officers from different levels of government as well as policymakers will find the book inspiring.

This book provides an extensive overview of the diversity of soils in Georgia. It highlights the soil-forming environment (climate, geology, geomorphology), the characterization of the physical, chemical and morphological (macro-, micro-) properties of soils, the history of soil research in Georgia, and the geographic distribution of different soil types. In addition to describing the soil cover, the book also zones and classifies the soils. Past and current land use issues, ecological properties and implications of soils, and many other aspects are elaborated on; special attention is paid to anthropogenic soil degradation due to the contamination and erosion of soils in Georgia. This comprehensive and richly illustrated book, which includes a wealth of pictures and soil maps, offers an essential field guide for soil scientists, geographers and researchers in related areas.

Regional development is attracting the attention of policy makers and scientists again, as regions, urban centers and rural areas, experience substantial pressures, particularly in Europe, as a consequence of globalization and geopolitical changes which lead to changes in spatial structures and dynamics. This book is based on the contributions of Greek regional science research presented at the 2006 Congress of the European Regional Science Association at Volos, Greece. The contributions selected to be presented in this book address these changes offering a fresh look into regional development. They provide an overview of regional development concerns from Greek regional scientists but the issues discussed pervade Greek particularities and stimulate thinking about regional science, regional development and regional policy in the early twenty-first century.

Suitable for upper level undergraduate and postgraduate courses in international economics, this book explores various issues including the fortunes of the international stock market, the impact of the Iraq war, and the rise of China and India as economic powers.

Volume Three of the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis, contains chapters concerned with "Regional Comparisons and Policy Analysis" – one of the most prevailing approaches in comparative public policy. Through the prism of inter-jurisdiction comparisons of similarities and variations, they address comparisons in specific policy sectors, governance or institutional constructs, and political regimes. The foci are, nevertheless, on those comparisons between countries or regions, which help to lesson-draw by identifying and understanding the variation in policy analysis and policy making that exists within or across regions. One benefit of regional comparisons is that it often allows studies to hold constant many variables, ranging from colonial legacy to federal systems, or from language to specific traditions, and more effectively isolate dependent variables. Regional organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or European Union are also considered as catalysts for regional policy approaches and harmonization, and occupy a major role in this volume. The chapters address a broad and diverse number of countries and geographical areas: Latin America, North America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, the Baltic states, the Nordic states, Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Europe as a whole. "Regional Comparisons and Policy Analysis" will be of great interest to scholars and learners of public policy and social sciences, as well as to practitioners considering what can be learned or facilitated through methodologically and theoretically sound approaches. The chapters were originally published as articles in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis which in the last two decades has pioneered the development of comparative public policy. The volume is part of a four-volume series, the Classics of Comparative Policy Analysis including Theories and Methods, Institutions and Governance, Regional Comparisons, and Policy Sectors. Each volume showcases a different new chapter comparing domains of study interrelated with comparative public policy: political science, public administration, governance and policy design, authored by the JCPA co-editors Giliberto Capano, Iris Geva-May, Michael Howlett, Leslie A. Pal and B. Guy Peters.

This atlas describes the West African region, its population, settlement, territories, its economy and its vulnerabilities. It analyses the developments and the ways in which West Africa is conforming to a constantly changing global environment.

With a combined population larger than that of the EU or NAFTA, economic integration of the ASEAN states will have a massive impact on both the Asian and global economies. This book examines the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and its opportunities and challenges. It looks at the impacts of economic integration, trade structure and economic interlinkage among these countries through case studies. The book also utilizes theories to further examine areas such as trade, cross-border infrastructure, border management, and the regional development in terms of trade liberalization and foreign labor. This book also provides insight and analysis to developing policies for "ASEAN Connectivity". Given the challenges faced and huge potential impacts of the AEC’s cross-border project, this book will be of interest to policy makers, business leaders and researchers in the ASEAN region and throughout the world.

This publication offers a synthesis of the major factors at play in the global food and agricultural landscape. Statistics are presented in four thematic chapters, covering the economic importance of agricultural activities, inputs, outputs and factors of production, their implications for food security and nutrition and their impacts on the environment. The Yearbook is meant to constitute a primary tool for policymakers, researchers and analysts, as well as the general public interested in the past, present and future path of food and agriculture.