Designed to reach a wide audience of scholars and policymakers, Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs provides accessible research on urban areas and issues, including studies on urban sprawl, crime, taxes, education, poverty, and related subjects.

Builders of a New South describes how, between 1865 and 1914, ten Natchez mercantile families emerged as leading purveyors in the wholesale plantation supply and cotton handling business, and soon became a dominant force in the social and economic Reconstruction of the Natchez District. They were able to take advantage of postwar conditions in Natchez to gain mercantile prominence by supplying planters and black sharecroppers in the plantation supply and cotton buying business. They parlayed this initial success into cotton plantation ownership and became important local businessmen in Natchez, participating in many civic improvements and politics that shaped the district into the twentieth century.

This book digs deep in countless records (including census, tax, property, and probate, as well as thousands of chattel mortgage contracts) to explore how these traders functioned as entrepreneurs in the aftermath of the Civil War, examining closely their role as furnishing merchants and land speculators, as well as their relations with the area's planters and freed black population. Their use of favorable laws protecting them as creditors, along with a solid community base that was civic-minded and culturally intact, greatly assisted them in their success. These families prospered partly because of their good business practices, and partly because local whites and blacks embraced them as useful agents in the emerging new marketplace. The situation created by the aftermath of the war and emancipation provided an ideal circumstance for the merchant families, and in the end, they played a key role in the district's economic survival and were the prime modernizers of Natchez.

Hong Kong is one of the most spectacular cities in the world. It has been built in a very short time. Its builders have achieved remarkable results but their contribution had not been documented. The Hong Kong Construction Association decided to correct this omission and commissioned this book to mark its 70th Anniversary.

This book examines the relationship between business expansion and the structure of business in pre-war China through a careful and pioneering study of the enterprises of Liu Hongsheng during the 1920s and 1930s

How did people living on the early American frontier discover and then become a part of the market economy? How do their purchases and their choices revise our understanding of the market revolution and the emerging consumer ethos? Ann Smart Martin provides answers to these questions by examining the texture of trade on the edge of the upper Shenandoah Valley between 1760 and 1810. Reconstructing the world of one country merchant, John Hook, Martin reveals how the acquisition of consumer goods created and validated a set of ideas about taste, fashion, and lifestyle in a particular place at a particular time. Her analysis of Hook's account ledger illuminates the everyday wants, transactions, and tensions recorded within and brings some of Hook's customers to life: a planter looking for just the right clock, a farmer in search of nails, a young woman and her friends out shopping on their own, and a slave woman choosing a looking glass. This innovative approach melds fascinating narratives with sophisticated analysis of material culture to distill large abstract social and economic systems into intimate triangulations among merchants, customers, and objects. Martin finds that objects not only reflect culture, they are the means to create it.

Calculated Futures examines the ethical and theological underpinnings of the free-market economy, investigating not only the morality of corporations and exchange rates, but also how the politics of economics shape people as moral agents. It does this less by insisting on the unfavorable effects of capitalism, and more by drawing on theological virtues, Christian doctrines, and liturgical practices to discover what they might show us about economic exchanges. Calculated Futures seeks a way forward by engaging economics as a social scientific discipline without subordinating theology to it.

Hang Chuon Naron's Cambodian Economy: Charting the Course of a Brighter Future is a tour de force of modern Cambodia's development challenges. The book is without peer in terms of providing a comprehensive and thorough review of Cambodia's economy, from key economic sectors to social development to governance. On a country that still seems 'exotic' and sometimes difficult to penetrate, Dr Naron's survey provides valuable empirical analysis, insightful explanations, and practical recommendati... Hang Chuon Naron's Cambodian Economy: Charting the Course of a Brighter Future is a tour de force of modern Cambodia's development challenges. The book is without peer in terms of providing a comprehensive and thorough review of Cambodia's economy, from key economic sectors to social development to governance. On a country that still seems 'exotic' and sometimes difficult to penetrate, Dr Naron's survey provides valuable empirical analysis, insightful explanations, and practical recommendations for the way forward. The book ought to be required reading for every student, academic, or practitioner working on Cambodia.” - Robert Taliercio, Lead Economist, World Bank"The international community has observed with relief and admiration as Cambodia has made a remarkable recovery from one of the modern world's most awful tragedies. Much has been written about the country, but very little has been from an authentic Cambodian perspective. In this encyclopaedic and original study, Dr Hang Chuon Naron, one of the country's key economic policy architects, fills the gap. The author combines analytical rigour and careful attention to empirics with an accessible expositional style. A must-read for anybody interested in Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and post-conflict development challenges more generally." - Hal Hill, H.W. Arndt Professor of Southeast Asian Economies, The Australian National University"This mammoth volume on the Cambodian economy fills a major gap in the literature on Cambodia’s economic transition - one from a war-torn post-conflict state to a modernizing market economy. It traverses a very vast terrain, ranging from macroeconomics and finance - both private and public, to challenges facing agriculture, infrastructure and energy, to institution building and regional integration. As one of Cambodia's leading intellectuals, and policy-makers, Dr Hang Chuon Naron is uniquely placed to sketch this dramatic transformation, and tell the Cambodian story in a way that is insightful and revealing, yet accessible to a broad audience. This is a book that should appeal to more than just those interested in Cambodia's economy, or economists interested in issues of transition to market, but to anyone interested in Cambodia in general, or in post-conflict societies and the challenges that they face.” - Jayant Menon, Principal Economist, Asian Development Bank, and former Board Director, Cambodian Development Research Institute and sometimes difficult to penetrate, Dr Naron's survey provides valuable empirical analysis, insightful explanations, and practical recommendations for the way forward. The book ought to be required reading for every student, academic, or practitioner working on Cambodia.” - Robert Taliercio, Lead Economist, World Bank"The international community has observed with relief and admiration as Cambodia has made a remarkable recovery from one of the modern world's most awful tragedies. Much has been written about the country, but very little has been from an authentic Cambodian perspective. In this encyclopaedic and original study, Dr Hang Chuon Naron, one of the country's key economic policy architects, fills the gap. The author combines analytical rigour and careful attention to empirics with an accessible expositional style. A must-read for anybody interested in Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and post-conflict development challenges more generally." - Hal Hill, H.W. Arndt Professor of Southeast Asian Economies, The Australian National University"This mammoth volume on the Cambodian economy fills a major gap in the literature on Cambodia’s economic transition - one from a war-torn post-conflict state to a modernizing market economy. It traverses a very vast terrain, ranging from macroeconomics and finance - both private and public, to challenges facing agriculture, infrastructure and energy, to institution building and regional integration. As one of Cambodia's leading intellectuals, and policy-makers, Dr Hang Chuon Naron is uniquely placed to sketch this dramatic transformation, and tell the Cambodian story in a way that is insightful and revealing, yet accessible to a broad audience. This is a book that should appeal to more than just those interested in Cambodia's economy, or economists interested in issues of transition to market, but to anyone interested in Cambodia in general, or in post-conflict societies and the challenges that they face.” - Jayant Menon, Principal Economist, Asian Development Bank, and former Board Director, Cambodian Development Research Institute and sometimes difficult to penetrate, Dr Naron's survey provides valuable empirical analysis, insightful explanations, and practical recommendations for the way forward. The book ought to be required reading for every student, academic, or practitioner working on Cambodia.” - Robert Taliercio, Lead Economist, World Bank"The international community has observed with relief and admiration as Cambodia has made a remarkable recovery from one of the modern world's most awful tragedies. Much has been written about the country, but very little has been from an authentic Cambodian perspective. In this encyclopaedic and original study, Dr Hang Chuon Naron, one of the country's key economic policy architects, fills the gap. The author combines analytical rigour and careful attention to empirics with an accessible expositional style. A must-read for anybody interested in Cambodia, Southeast Asia, and post-conflict development challenges more generally." - Hal Hill, H.W. Arndt Professor of Southeast Asian Economies, The Australian National University"This mammoth volume on the Cambodian economy fills a major gap in the literature on Cambodia’s economic transition - one from a war-torn post-conflict state to a modernizing market economy. It traverses a very vast terrain, ranging from macroeconomics and finance - both private and public, to challenges facing agriculture, infrastructure and energy, to institution building and regional integration. As one of Cambodia's leading intellectuals, and policy-makers, Dr Hang Chuon Naron is uniquely placed to sketch this dramatic transformation, and tell the Cambodian story in a way that is insightful and revealing, yet accessible to a broad audience. This is a book that should appeal to more than just those interested in Cambodia's economy, or economists interested in issues of transition to market, but to anyone interested in Cambodia in general, or in post-conflict societies and the challenges that they face.” - Jayant Menon, Principal Economist, Asian Development Bank, and former Board Director, Cambodian Development Research Institute

In recent years the Russian government, concerned about sustaining its economic performance, has sought to promote more diversified and broader economic growth beyond the profitable natural-resource sector. Economic officials would like to see something closer to a "knowledge-based economy." One of the areas in clear need of upgrading is the manufacturing sector. This book quantifies and benchmarks the relative strengths of that sector, identifying opportunities to increase Russian productivity and competitiveness. Drawing on original survey data from Russian firms of all sizes, the authors formulate proposals that aim to • enhance the innovative potential of Russian firms, • upgrade the skills of their workforce, and • develop a business-friendly climate of lower administrative costs and greater policy certainty. This book examines the underlying firm-level determinants of knowledge absorption, competitiveness, and productivity, with an eye to improving workers' skill levels and improving the investment climate, which should in turn enhance the innovation needed to keep up in a globalized economy. The original research and analysis of Desai, Goldberg, and their colleagues will be of use to anyone interested in the problems of building manufacturing competitiveness, especially in Russia and the post-Soviet transition economies. It will also be of interest to organizations planning to do business with Russia or to invest in it.

"Defines the challenges facing the movement and offers comprehensive prescriptions for its successful transformation."
—The George Washington Law Review

A valuable analysis of the rise, fall, and--hopefully—the revival of unionism in America. [The book] distills into readable form a mass of legal and empirical analysis of what has been happening in the workplaces of the United States and other industrial democracies. Most important, Craver has drawn a blueprint of what must be done to save collective bargaining in this century—must reading for scholars, lawmakers, and, especially, union leaders themselves.
—Paul C. Weiler, Harvard Law SchoolAuthor of Governing the Workplace: The Future of Labor and Employment Law

"A thoroughly researched, insightful, and readable look at why American unions have declined. . . . This is a very informative analyis of a vital topic, and it will have a multidisciplinary appeal to anyone interested in union- management relations.
—Peter Feuille, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois

When employees at firms like Greyhound and Eastern Airlines walk out to protest wage and benefit reductions, they are permanently replaced and their representative labor unions destroyed. Every year, the threat or drama of a high-profile strike—in air traffic control towers, at Amtrak, or at Caterpillar—makes national headlines and, every year, several hundred thousand unrepresented American employees are discharged without good cause.

During the past decade, employer opposition to unions has increased. Industrial and demographic changes have eroded traditional blue-collar labor support, and class-based myths have discouraged organization among white-collar workers. As the American labor movement begins its second century, it is confronted by challenges that threaten its very existence. Is the decline of the American labor movement symptomatic of a terminal condition?

In this work, Charles Craver presents an incisive analysis of the current state of the American labor movement and a manifesto for how this crucial institution can be revitalized. Journeying with the reader from the inception of labor unions through their heyday and to the present, Craver examines the roots of their decline, the current factors which contribute to their dismal condition, and the actions that are needed--such as the recruitment of female and minority employees and appeals to white-collar personnel--that are necessary to ensure union viability in the 21st century.

Craver thoughtfully discusses what labor organizations must do to organize new workers, to enhance their economic and political power, and to adapt to modern-day advances and to an increasingly global economy. He also suggests changes that must be made in the National Labor Relations Act. This book is essential reading for lawyers, scholars, and policy-makers, as well as all those concerned with the future of the labor movement.