This book focuses on the application of workstudy in productivity of manufacturing SMEs locally and abroad and also explores various industrial problems which face manufacturing SMEs in developing and underdeveloped countries in the rest of the world. Low productivity is currently a serious challenge facing manufacturing SMEs, where these SMEs are operating below expected production output levels which makes it difficult for them to compete in the global market. SMEs are the engine drivers of economic growth, one of which is manufacturing. The challenge is that government from various countries in developing and underdeveloped countries, mandated agencies in their respective areas, to ensure that there is economic progress for these SMEs, but productivity remains low in the manufacturing SMEs. When SMEs do not perform well, productivity of manufacturing SMEs declines and unemployment increases. Thus, an increase in unemployment results in a drop of GDP in the country and can become a global and economic crisis. This book describes a process which enables the reader to use effective knowledge that addresses problems facing the productivity of manufacturing SMEs such as work study tools and case studies and provides solutions and applications to improve the running of the manufacturing SMEs in growing their productivity.

Discussing how and why institutions influence growth, this volume provides an overview of the literature on the impact of institutions on growth. It considers theoretical and empirical relationships between institutions and growth.

Contents:Growth and the Change of Economic Structure in the Chinese Economy: The Case of Jiangsu's Economy (Y Cao & S B Chew)The Importance of Jiangsu's Economy in the Formation of Regional Pattern of the Emerging Chinese Market (T M Tan et al.)The Development of Township and Village Enterprises and Its Impact on Jiangsu's Economy (Y Cao & K-R Shen)Rural Enterprises in Jiangsu Province: The Performance and Potential (S B Chew et al.)The Comparative Advantages of Township and Village Enterprises in Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou in Jiangsu Province (Y-H Liu & Z-B Liu)Case Studies on the Economic Structure of Township and Village Enterprises in Jiangsu Province (S B Chew & Y-H Liu)Foreign Trade Development and the Comparative Advantage of the Jiangsu Province of China (E-Z Zhang & R Chew)Inward Foreign Direct Investment in Jiangsu (R-F Wang & E-Z Zhang) Readership: Business executives and researchers on China's market economy. Keywords:

This book looks at the policy challenges confronting India and other developing countries in creating a robust, sustainable and industrialized economy. It investigates different facets of the nature, structure, growth and impact of innovation in industries, education and within institutions to foster greater productivity and growth. The volume examines systems adopted to boost innovation and diffusion of technology in different economies while also mapping their success and failures. It offers suggestions for the future for long-term growth, sustainability and inclusiveness amidst dynamic, fast-changing technological frontiers using examples and case studies from India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, among others. The chapters in the book, written to honour the academic work of Professor Lakhwinder Singh in the field of development economics and innovation economics, highlight the importance of adopting and adapting new technologies and development models to local contexts and small industries. An important contribution to research on innovation economics, this interdisciplinary book will be of interest to students, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers working in industrial economics, international economics, political economy, innovation economics, institutional economics, industrial organization and international trade.

In this book, competitiveness is viewed as a multifaceted concept comprising aspects of the economy and society needed to implement change and move toward sustainable convergence.

Presents a common vocabulary to facilitate the indexing, retrieval and exchange of development-related information.

A survey and synthesis of the theoretical and empirical literature on the economics of research and development.