This book offers a comparative analysis of credit cooperative systems across 23 European countries. Cooperative banking has an important place in the financial, economic and social life of most European countries, and while cooperative banks, credit mutuals, credit cooperatives and credit unions share the spirit of cooperation and mutuality, they often have very different features, history and development. The book examines the evolution and current model of each credit cooperative system, its importance for the national and local banking markets, as well as the impact of the financial crisis on cooperative banking, and also presents the sharp contrasts between these systems throughout the EU. It is of significant scientific and practical interest and enables policymakers, practitioners and academics at European and national levels to deepen their understanding of the evolution of the system and its governance.

This book looks at labor in agriculture and food in a global era by studying salient characteristics of the conditions and use of labor in global agri-food. Written by experienced and also emerging scholars, the chapters present a wealth of empirical data and robust theorizations that allow readers to grasp the complexity of this topic.

From a widely published expert in the field, this major survey reviews two centuries of modernization and examines the dramatic changes in the economies of Eastern Europe. This is a new and comprehensive overview which incorporates fresh research and recent changes to the region to trace this economic history of Eastern Europe within the wider political and ideological context Uniquely taking the broader historical picture into account, David Turnock brings together the entire scope of the modernization process, from the first phase of modern national development in the Balkans and the impact of imperial systems on the area as a whole, to the feeling of 'unfinished business' at the end of the Second World War. He continues up to the present-day state of transition, evaluating the contrasts in the region between the northern and southern states, domestic division between dynamic and backward areas, and the increasing emphasis on the opening up of frontier regions. Wide in scope and including detailed and informative chronologies, this book will prove an invaluable asset to students of European history and economics.