Productivity Perspectives offers a timely and stimulating social science view on the productivity debate, drawing on the work of the ESRC funded Productivity Insights Network. The book examines the drivers and inhibitors of UK productivity growth in the light of international evidence, and the resulting dramatic slowdown and flatlining of productivity growth in the UK. The reasons for this so-called productivity puzzle are not well understood, and this book advances explanations and insights on these issues from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives. It will be of value to all those interested in, and engaging with, the challenge of slowing productivity growth.

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.

By the end of 2007, Chile's total factor productivity was lower than ten years earlier, a performance that contrasted sharply with the previous decade, when productivity grew by a cumulative 30 percent. This paper assesses productivity trends in Chile, by decomposing productivity into investment-specific technological change (associated with improvements in the quality of capital) and neutral technological change (related to the organization of productive activities). It concludes that investment-specific technological improvements have contributed significantly to long-term growth in Chile, in line with trends observed in other net commodity exporters, while neutral technological change has been slow.

This paper uses firm-level data that covers over 1.2 million Spanish firms during the period of 2003-2019 to provide an updated assessment of the drivers of labor productivity in the Spanish economy, focusing on both TFP and firm investment. The empirical analysis shows significant differences in production constraints in both the capital market and the labor market, across firm size and age. This paper also includes a review of Spain’s ambitious reform commitments under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and concludes with recommendations for further action.

Here is a comprehensive edited volume that outlines the historical roots and state-of-the-art debates on the role of structural change in the process of economic development, including both orthodox and heterodox perspectives and contributions from prominent scholars in this field.

Today women find themselves playing an ever-increasing role in caring for older family members who are frail, developmentally disabled, or suffering from serious mental illness. While this has role of women as caregivers has been documented, the actual impact on the lives of women has remained largely unstudied. In this volume, the authors examine caregiving as a central feminist issue, looking at its impact on women socially, personally, and economically. The authors review how changing family structures, the changing economy and workforce, and the changing health care demands of needy adults have impacted on women′s lives. They critique existing public and private policies, demonstrating a need for fundamental structural changes in social institutions and attitudes to improve the lives of women. Finally, they propose a social model of care that is oriented toward gender justice--recognition of the work of caring and its impact upon women socially, personally, and economically. For students, scholars and practitioners in the field of gerontology, gender studies, and social work, this book is a must.

In this collection of essays David A Dyker explores some of the most difficult and fascinating aspects of the process of transition from autocratic “real socialism” to a capitalism that is sometimes democratic, sometimes authoritarian. The stress is on the economic dimension of transformation, but the author sets the economic drama firmly within a political economy framework and a historical perspective. Trends in key economic variables are analysed against the background of the struggle between different social and political groups for power and command over resources. While the book pays due attention to topical issues like EU enlargement, the underlying perspective is a long-term one. Transition is viewed not as a set of once-and-for-all institutional changes or a process of short-term stabilisation, but as a historic opportunity to solve the inherited problem of poverty and underdevelopment in Central-East Europe and the former Soviet Union. The book ends with a critical assessment of how economics, as a discipline, has coped with the challenge of that historic opportunity.

The great resignation, quiet quitting, #MeToo workplace cultures, bro culture at work, the absence of more minorities in cybersecurity, cybercrime, police brutality, the Black Lives Matter protests, racial health disparities, misinformation about COVID-19, and the emergence of new technologies that can be leveraged to help others or misused to harm others have created a level of complexity about inclusion, equity, and organizational efficiency in organizations in the areas of healthcare, education, business, and technology. Real-World Solutions for Diversity, Strategic Change, and Organizational Development: Perspectives in Healthcare, Education, Business, and Technology takes an interdisciplinary academic approach to understand the real-world impact and practical solutions-oriented approach to the chaotic convergence and emergence of organizational challenges and complex issues in healthcare, education, business, and technology through a lens of ideas and strategies that are different and innovative. Covering topics such as behavioral variables, corporate sustainability, and strategic change, this premier reference source is a vital resource for corporate leaders, human resource managers, DEI practitioners, policymakers, administrators, sociologists, students and educators of higher education, researchers, and academicians.