Start here for succinct information on a country's culture

Become a better communicator across cultures

How do firms from emerging economies strive for the internationalization of their business? This comprehensive two-volume collection tackles this question by taking a closer look at underexplored issues, including bottom of the pyramid (BoP) business models, value creation and co-creation, employee commitment and the 'born global' concept. Volume II examines internationalization from the perspective of European and African firms. It covers an array of pressing issues within Europe including responsible business practices between SMEs from developed and emerging countries, and the impact of psychic distance, while coverage of African firms places a spotlight on under-researched countries such as Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria. Providing further examination of emerging markets and internationalization processes, this second volume offers a comprehensive guide for all researchers of international business.

The book examines various aspects of Africa's external economy by focusing on regional monetary arrangements and how they are affected by devaluation episodes. It investigates the relationship between current account balances, trade balances and trade openness with respect to regional integration and regional growth patterns, discusses obstacles to a successful regional integration and paths to structural transformation, and studies the impact of economic partnership on inclusive development. The book addresses researchers and policymakers interested in development economies and African economic development.

In the face of weak governance and growth globally, there is still a window of opportunity for countries in Africa to build on not only their traditional industrial capabilities, but also pave the way for positive developments in international trade and in the way governments tackle poverty and inequality. By focusing on four areas: (1) agriculture and livestock, (2) consumption, poverty and inequality, (3) financial services, employment and corporate governance, and (4) economic integration, international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), this book presents a series of empirical studies that examine important contemporary economic issues facing Africa. The book incorporates a range of methodological approaches, with some chapters providing case study analyses while others embrace more traditional forms of econometric testing.

This book addresses poverty and well-being, equity, and efficiency in selected African countries. The chapters focus on three main topics: studies in the measurement and analysis of well-being and vulnerability to poverty, women's empowerment, and the dynamics and determinants of income and efficiency among smallholders. The chapters in the first section examine poverty, well-being, and vulnerability to poverty, as well as social exclusion, with a focus on households in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania. They highlight the need to consider multidimensional measures of well-being and vulnerability to poverty, the need to address the distribution of vulnerability across different segments of the population, as well as the importance of developing public policies aimed at poverty reduction and promoting the well-being of the poor. The next section deals with issues related to women's empowerment, including a multidimensional case study of women's empowerment in Ghana and women's access to microfinance services in Ethiopia. The final section focuses on dynamics and determinants of income and efficiency among farm households in Ethiopia and Uganda.

This pioneering collection seeks to understand why and how some digital enterprises in Africa progress while others firms either stagnate or regress. Using a range of detailed case studies, it addresses the challenges and barriers that are in place and how some outstanding digital firms deal with operating in a hostile business environment. While digital platforms have created equal access for small businesses, many digital entrepreneurs in Africa continue to struggle with local environments replete with corruption, and other economic inefficiencies. The contributions move the debate forward by addressing the challenges, opportunities, and prospects of digital enterprise in Africa.

A big and bold book by a leading Brazilian public intellectual and scholar-practitioner. Whether or not one agrees with his conclusions, Bresser-Pereira reaches deep into the history of the turbulent twentieth century to set the terms for a new debate on Brazil's development in the twenty-first.

The world economy is not what it used to be twenty years ago. For most of the 20th century, the world economy was characterized by developed (North) countries acting as ‘center’ to a ‘periphery’ of developing (South) countries. However, the recent rise of developing economies suggests the need to go beyond this North-South dichotomy. This tectonic re-configuration of the global landscape has brought about significant changes to countries in the Latin America and Caribean (LAC) region. The time is ripe for an in-depth analysis of the dynamics and nature of LAC’s external connections. This latest volume in the World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Studies series will focus on the implications of these trends for the economic development of LAC countries. In particular, trade, financial, macroeconomic, and sectoral shifts, as well as labor-market aspects will be systematically analyzed.

This volume uses the study of firm dynamics to investigate the factors preventing faster productivity growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, pushing past the limits of traditional macroeconomic analyses. Each chapter is dedicated to an examination of a different factor affecting firm productivity - innovation, ICT usage, on-the-job-training, firm age, access to credit, and international linkages - highlighting the differences in firm characteristics, behaviors, and strategies. By showcasing this remarkable heterogeneity, this collection challenges regional policymakers to look beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and create balanced policy mixes tailored to distinct firm needs.       This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.     

Beyond Commodities shows that Latin America and the Caribbean's growth performance over the last decade cannot be reduced to the commodity boom: growth-promoting reforms that strengthened financial development, increased trade openness and improved infrastructure development also played a significant role and can continue doing so. Based on the econometric analysis of panel data from the 1970-2010 period for 126 countries, the study shows that, while the commodity boom facilitated growth in most of the region, it did not determine it. Domestic pro-growth policies and the maintenance of a sound macro-fiscal framework played a central role in explaining the region's good performance during last decade. It also shows that new growth "stars" such as Panama, Peru, Colombia and the Dominican Republic emerged during this period. In addition, a benchmarking exercise reveals which policy gaps will lead to the highest potential growth-payoffs for each country and helps identify potential trade-offs. Finally, with the worsening of external conditions, the authors conclude that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have no choice but to turn their attention to domestic drivers to keep growth going, as the structural reforms agenda remains unfinished.

This work examines the links between economic growth, changing employment conditions, and the reduction of poverty in Latin America in the 2000s.

Caribbean economies have been faced with mounting challenges arising from the increasing pace of economic globalization. The financial crisis of 2007 further exacerbated economic instability due to high foreign debt, lack of competitiveness, declining productivity, and high unemployment and underemployment. This in turn has precipitated increasing social and environmental problems, including poverty, inequality, crime and violence, and environmental degradation, all of which require new perspectives and policy approaches for transformative change and sustainable development. Volume I: Alternative Perspectives and Policy Implications provides scholars and practitioners with alternative theoretical perspectives and concrete policy recommendations.

Caribbean economies have been faced with mounting challenges arising from the increasing pace of economic globalization. The financial crisis of 2007 further exacerbated economic instability due to high foreign debt, lack of competitiveness, declining productivity, and high unemployment and underemployment. This in turn has precipitated increasing social and environmental problems, including poverty, inequality, crime and violence, and environmental degradation, all of which require new perspectives and policy approaches for transformative change and sustainable development. Volume II discusses economic, industrial, and social problems facing the Caribbean along with pragmatic proposals to successfully deal with these, while building local resilience and enhancing institutional strength in the region.

Brazil constitutes a globally vital but troubled economy. It accounts for the largest GDP in Latin America and ranks among the world's largest exporters of critical commodities including iron ore, soya, coffee, and beef. In recent years Brazil's global economic importance has been magnified by a surge in both outward and inward foreign direct investment. This has served to further internationalize what has been historically a relatively closed economy. The purpose of this Handbook is to offer real insight into the Brazil's economic development in contemporary context, understanding its most salient characteristics and analyzing its structural features across various dimensions.

On the backdrop of the institutionalisation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, and the emergence of multi-stakeholder-driven voluntary regulation, this timely collection places special emphasis on India and explores its international voluntary sustainability standards. The authors analyse the adoption and implementation of voluntary governance initiatives across a range of industries, offering insightful sectoral discussion and evaluation of voluntary sustainability standards as forms of transnational private regulation. This book will be of interest to anyone researching CSR, sustainability and supply chain management in emerging markets.

This book studies the Chinese "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), also called "New Silk Road", and focuses on its regional and local effects. Written by experts from various fields, it presents a range of case studies on the geopolitical, socio-economic, ecological and cultural implications of the BRI for European regions and their stakeholders. The book is divided into four parts, the first of which discusses the history of and China's motivations for the BRI. The second part explores the global phenomenon from a number of regional standpoints. In turn, the third part presents studies on the political, socio-economic, cultural and ecological implications of the New Silk Road project. The final part highlights the tourism prospects in connection with the Silk Road project, as tourism has established itself as an important economic sector in many regions along the historic Silk Road.

This book explores how the business transformation taking place in Japan is influenced by the digital revolution. Its chapters present approaches and examples from sectors commonly understood to be visible arenas of digital transformation-3D printing and mobility, for instance-as well as some from not-so-obvious sectors, such as retail, services, and fintech. Business today is facing unprecedented change especially due to the adoption of new, digital technologies, with a noticeable transformation of manufacturing and services. The changes have been brought by advanced robotics, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and digital networks that are growing in size and capability as the number of connected devices explodes.

In the increasingly turbulent political climate, there has been growing interest in economic and international relations with Asia. Understanding the business practices in countries of this region, particularly uncertainties, risks, and opportunities associated with doing business in Asia, will be key for competing in a global economy. Dynamic Perspectives on Globalization and Sustainable Business in Asia provides perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of business growth in Asia with strategic insights on knowledge production, innovation, and disruptive technologies. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as consumer behavior, financial literacy, and value perception, this book is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, government officials, policymakers, and practitioners seeking current research on the development of networks to support competitive advantage in the global economy and viable enterprises.

How do firms from emerging economies strive for the internationalization of their business? This comprehensive two-volume collection tackles this question by taking a closer look at underexplored issues, including bottom of the pyramid (BoP) business models, value creation and co-creation, employee commitment and the 'born global' concept. Taking both a geographic and thematic approach to the topic, the first volume addresses universal challenges such as inclusive innovation, the ethics of corporate leadership, and knowledge management, and also places a special emphasis on China. Providing an overview of the strategies and operations involved in internationalizing Chinese firms, this book is an essential read for those researching emerging markets and globalization in general, as well as Asian Business more specifically.

This comprehensive book is an introduction to the most astonishing economic growth story of the last three decades. Capturing the overall development of the Chinese economy, the authors identify its key stages and unique features, but above all the geopolitical impact on the world economy, with special focus on the European Union. The book explains the reasons behind China's economic success, drawing on factors such as education, urbanisation, the importance of energy policy and the innovation boom in international business of Chinese firms. Written by distinguished experts in the field, this definitive book brings new insights into the Chinese economy, with a unique focus on China's energy policy.

What does it take to successfully launch and scale a startup in Asia? While much of modern business literature covers Silicon Valley and its founders, building a company in Asia-a world center of technology and innovation-is a vastly different journey, and not nearly as widely covered. This book aims to change that. Asian Founders at Work is an essential compilation of in-depth, incisive interviews with over 20 top technopreneurs from the region. Authors Ezra Ferraz and Gracy Fernandez have gathered their exclusive conversations with business leaders: Min-Liang Tan (Razer), Maria Ressa (Rappler), Chatri Sityodtong (ONE Championship), Patrick Grove (iflix), and Khailee Ng (500 Startups) are just a few. Questions about early difficulties, fundraising, business pivots, strategic partnerships, exits via acquisition or IPO, and more are answered in great detail to shine a light on the founders' unique experiences. Learn directly from game-changers in their own voice.

The internationalization of Chinese enterprises is one of the most notable aspects of economic globalization in the 21st century. Despite the 2008 financial crisis and weak global outbound investment, under the "go global" initiative, Chinese outbound investment has gone from strength to strength, while also diversifying in terms of investment modalities, destinations, and industries. However, growing anti-globalization sentiment in some countries has also created new challenges for Chinese firms expanding internationally. Drawing on nearly 3000 data samples, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, this book presents unique insights into the features and patterns of Chinese enterprises' globalization.

This book presents the Balanced Development Index (BDI), measuring socioeconomic development in twenty-two European OECD member countries in a period 1999-2017. Compared to other composite measures of development, BDI looks beyond traditional development indicators, such as GDP, to create an index which gives equal weight to social, economic, objective, and subjective aspects of development. The BDI aggregates forty-two detailed indicators into four composite middle-level indexes: external economic (characterizing functioning of national economies in their international surroundings), internal economic (characterizing various aspects of domestic economic conditions), social expectations (public hopes and fears concerning economic, political and social conditions), and current social condition (including both objective and subjective social indicators)-which are, in turn, aggregated into the general BDI index.

Emerging and developing states are home to powerful corporations capable of deploying economic activities on a global scale through the rapid pace of technological change and globalisation. But such corporations have to date been largely overlooked in the field of business and human rights. Treatment of such corporations has typically been in the context of supply chain studies, as subsidiaries of corporations from economically developed Western states. This book takes a radically different approach. It aims to investigate the conditions under which the European Union and its Member States regulate and remedy human rights violations by corporations from emerging and developing states. Stemming from the hypothesis that the EU intends to play a central role, Aleydis Nissen explores how the EU and its Member States attempt to ensure that EU-based businesses are not undercut by emerging competition, drawing on global examples to illustrate this developing phenomenon.

The year 2019 marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin wall. This symbolic event led to German unification and the collapse of communist party rule in countries of the Soviet-led Eastern bloc. Since then, the post-communist countries of Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe have tied their post-communist transition to deep integration into the West, including EU accession. Most of the states in Central and Eastern Europe have been able to relatively successfully transform their previous communist political and economic systems. In contrast, the non-Baltic post-Soviet states have generally been less successful in doing so. This book, with an internationally respected list of contributors, seeks to address and compare those diverse developments in communist and post-communist countries and their relationship with the West from various angles.

The book brings together an international panel of experts on economic integration and international business to address the essential link between the two fields, namely the impact of integration processes on the business environment. Focusing on the European Union, it presents numerous examples and case studies to demonstrate how local business is becoming international business, and addresses the opportunities, constraints and overall historical changes. Starting with the regional and global economic integration framework, and subsequently exploring the institutional structure that makes everything possible and how the union came to be, the book reveals how the common policies of the EU impact businesses and entrepreneurship within both the common market and the member states.

This book offers fresh insights into the economic development and financial markets of Southeastern and Central European countries. The first part analyses macroeconomic trends and monetary policy issues, while the second part explores the development of financial and insurance markets. With contributions covering topics such as regional and income inequalities, economic embeddedness, industrial competitiveness, entrepreneurship, financial integration, insurance markets, and other socio-economic aspects, it appeals to scholars in the field of economics and finance interested in the further economic development of the Balkans and Eastern European countries as well as to professionals in the financial and insurance sectors.

This book undertakes a theoretical and econometric analysis of intense economic growth in selected European countries during the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first. Focusing on the accelerated economic growth that occurred in Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey, this book investigates the determinants and consequences of this "miracle" growth and discusses them in context of growth and development processes observed in European market-type economies after the World War II. Using imperfect knowledge economics (IKE) as a theoretical framework to interpret the empirical results, this book provides a fresh theoretical perspective in comparison with current Neo-classical, Keynesian and institutional paradigms.

This book discusses the effectiveness of Western organizations' social media strategies in the Middle East. Social media has changed the rules of doing business, but the exact impacts vary across regions. In the context of Middle Eastern societies, social media is seen as a way for individuals and communities to communicate with each other and is generally not viewed as a means for brands to interact with individuals. This book examines how the use of social media in the Middle East is shaped by the region's culture, and discusses the factors that businesses need to consider when creating digital marketing strategies targeted there. Including case studies of Middle Eastern companies, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the rise of social media in the MENA region and the often-neglected role of culture in research in this area. It will provide researchers and practitioners with a deeper understanding of conducting business in the Middle East through the effective and efficient use of social media.

Conflict and instability are built into the very fabric of the Middle East and North African (MENA) state and states system; yet both states and states system have displayed remarkable resilience. How can we explain this? This handbook explores the main debates, theoretical approaches and accumulated empirical research by prominent scholars in the field, providing an essential context for scholars pursuing research on the MENA state and states system. Contributions are grouped into four key themes: * Historical contexts, state-building and politics in MENA * State actors, societal context and popular activism * Trans-state politics: the political economy and identity contexts * The international politics of MENA

This book scrutinizes the last 15 years of exceptional growth in the Turkish economy, and presents a model for sustainable ongoing growth that has particular implications for other key emerging economies. The growth of the Turkish economy in the 2000’s was based on two integrated fundamental factors: fixing deteriorating dynamics and implementing further reforms to stimulate economic activity. This basic formula led to pleasing rates of economic growth, fuelled particularly by domestic private investments along with revived consumption and exports. Driven by political stability established by single party governments in the post-2002 period, an improved economic outlook helped Turkey enjoy record levels of foreign investment, adding momentum to its growth story. The Turkish experience in the post-crisis period implies that in order to achieve a fast and - more importantly - sustainable onward growth, the economy needs a new generation of structural reforms that simultaneously heal fragility and vitalize economic activity. The papers in this book offer professional assessments and assistance - especially for policymakers, and present a new direction upon which the Turkish economy - and emerging markets - can progress successfully for a further 15 years.

Countries in the Middle East have very different economies, even if they are often grouped together. In The Economics of the Middle East, James Rauch focuses on the drivers of their distinctiveness, including the effects of their natural endowments, geographic locations, and interactions with the global economy. This book evaluates the socioeconomic trajectories of three groups of Middle Eastern States: Sub-Saharan African, fuel-endowed, and "Mediterranean." It compares these groups both to each other and to developing countries in other regions with similar characteristics.

This innovative dictionary provides authoritative and easy-to-understand A-Z definitions of terms encountered in the area of business and management in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Coverage includes key theoretical perspectives and concepts, events, companies, people, social customs, and sectors which have shaped and are shaping the development and structures of business and management in the region.