The Economics of Uniqueness
The Economics of Uniqueness

Author: Guido Licciardi

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2012-10-01

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 0821397060

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In a world where half of the population lives in cities and more than 90 percent of urban growth is occurring in the developing world, cities struggle to modernize without completely losing their unique character, which is embodied by their historic cores and cultural heritage assets. As countries develop, cultural heritage can provide a crucial element of continuity and stability: the past can become a foundation for the future. This book collects innovative research papers authored by leading scholars and practitioners in heritage economics, and presents the most current knowledge on how heritage assets can serve as drivers of local economic development. What this book tries to suggest is a workable approach to explicitly take into account the cultural dimensions of urban regeneration in agglomerations that have a history and possess a unique character, going beyond an approach based solely on major cultural heritage assets or landmarks. The knowledge disseminated through this book will help stakeholders involved in preparation, implementation, and supervision of development investments to better assess the values of cultural heritage assets and incorporate them in urban development policies.

Valuing the Unique
Valuing the Unique

Author: Lucien Karpik

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-11-09

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1400835216

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In this landmark work of economic sociology, Lucien Karpik introduces the theory and practical tools needed to analyze markets for singularities. Singularities are goods and services that cannot be studied by standard methods because they are multidimensional, incommensurable, and of uncertain quality. Examples include movies, novels, music, artwork, fine wine, lawyers, and doctors. Valuing the Unique provides a theoretical framework to explain this important class of products and markets that for so long have eluded neoclassical economics. With this innovative theory--called the economics of singularities--Karpik shows that, because of the uncertainty and the highly subjective valuation of singularities, these markets are necessarily equipped with what he calls "judgment devices"--such as labels, brands, guides, critics, and rankings--which provide consumers with the credible knowledge needed to make reasonable choices. He explains why these markets are characterized by the primacy of competition by qualities over competition by prices, and he identifies the conditions under which singularities are constructed or are in danger of losing their uniqueness. After demonstrating how combinations of the numerous and multiform judgment devices can be used to identify different market models, Karpik applies his analytical tools to the functioning of a large number of actual markets, including fine wines, movies, luxury goods, pop music, and legal services.

After Uniqueness
After Uniqueness

Author: Erika Balsom

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2017-03-21

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 0231543123

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Images have never been as freely circulated as they are today. They have also never been so tightly controlled. As with the birth of photography, digital reproduction has created new possibilities for the duplication and consumption of images, offering greater dissemination and access. But digital reproduction has also stoked new anxieties concerning authenticity and ownership. From this contemporary vantage point, After Uniqueness traces the ambivalence of reproducibility through the intersecting histories of experimental cinema and the moving image in art, examining how artists, filmmakers, and theorists have found in the copy a utopian promise or a dangerous inauthenticity—or both at once. From the sale of film in limited editions on the art market to the downloading of bootlegs, from the singularity of live cinema to video art broadcast on television, Erika Balsom investigates how the reproducibility of the moving image has been embraced, rejected, and negotiated by major figures including Stan Brakhage, Leo Castelli, and Gregory Markopoulos. Through a comparative analysis of selected distribution models and key case studies, she demonstrates how the question of image circulation is central to the history of film and video art. After Uniqueness shows that distribution channels are more than neutral pathways; they determine how we encounter, interpret, and write the history of the moving image as an art form.

The Knowledge Capital of Nations
The Knowledge Capital of Nations

Author: Eric A. Hanushek

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2023-08-15

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 026254895X

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A rigorous, pathbreaking analysis demonstrating that a country's prosperity is directly related in the long run to the skills of its population. In this book Eric Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann make a simple, central claim, developed with rigorous theoretical and empirical support: knowledge is the key to a country's development. Of course, every country acknowledges the importance of developing human capital, but Hanushek and Woessmann argue that message has become distorted, with politicians and researchers concentrating not on valued skills but on proxies for them. The common focus is on school attainment, although time in school provides a very misleading picture of how skills enter into development. Hanushek and Woessmann contend that the cognitive skills of the population—which they term the “knowledge capital” of a nation—are essential to long-run prosperity. Hanushek and Woessmann subject their hypotheses about the relationship between cognitive skills (as consistently measured by international student assessments) and economic growth to a series of tests, including alternate specifications, different subsets of countries, and econometric analysis of causal interpretations. They find that their main results are remarkably robust, and equally applicable to developing and developed countries. They demonstrate, for example, that the “Latin American growth puzzle” and the “East Asian miracle” can be explained by these regions' knowledge capital. Turning to the policy implications of their argument, they call for an education system that develops effective accountability, promotes choice and competition, and provides direct rewards for good performance.

The Economics of Sustainable Development
The Economics of Sustainable Development

Author: Sisay Asefa

Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 0880993219

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Annotation This book contains six essays based on presentations made at the 40th Annual Werner Sichel Economics Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of Economics, Western Michigan University, during the academic year 2003-3004. The Series was made possible through the financial support of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Western Michigan University.

A Culture of Growth
A Culture of Growth

Author: Joel Mokyr

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2016-11-15

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 0691168881

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Why Enlightenment culture sparked the Industrial Revolution During the late eighteenth century, innovations in Europe triggered the Industrial Revolution and the sustained economic progress that spread across the globe. While much has been made of the details of the Industrial Revolution, what remains a mystery is why it took place at all. Why did this revolution begin in the West and not elsewhere, and why did it continue, leading to today's unprecedented prosperity? In this groundbreaking book, celebrated economic historian Joel Mokyr argues that a culture of growth specific to early modern Europe and the European Enlightenment laid the foundations for the scientific advances and pioneering inventions that would instigate explosive technological and economic development. Bringing together economics, the history of science and technology, and models of cultural evolution, Mokyr demonstrates that culture—the beliefs, values, and preferences in society that are capable of changing behavior—was a deciding factor in societal transformations. Mokyr looks at the period 1500–1700 to show that a politically fragmented Europe fostered a competitive "market for ideas" and a willingness to investigate the secrets of nature. At the same time, a transnational community of brilliant thinkers known as the “Republic of Letters” freely circulated and distributed ideas and writings. This political fragmentation and the supportive intellectual environment explain how the Industrial Revolution happened in Europe but not China, despite similar levels of technology and intellectual activity. In Europe, heterodox and creative thinkers could find sanctuary in other countries and spread their thinking across borders. In contrast, China’s version of the Enlightenment remained controlled by the ruling elite. Combining ideas from economics and cultural evolution, A Culture of Growth provides startling reasons for why the foundations of our modern economy were laid in the mere two centuries between Columbus and Newton.

The Economics of Motivation and Organization
The Economics of Motivation and Organization

Author: Peter J Jost

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2014-01-31

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 1783473061

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In this unique book, Peter-J. Jost provides a comprehensive economic-psychological approach for successfully managing employees. Based on the analysis of the employee�s individual work behavior, he illustrates that instead of treating employees as inpu

Uniqueness Of China's Development Model, The: 1842-2049
Uniqueness Of China's Development Model, The: 1842-2049

Author: Paul Kwok-wah Yip

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2012-07-25

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9814397792

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The book discusses the development model of China which has now overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy. This remarkable economic achievement has not followed the Western world's favorite developmental tools — of freedom, democracy and a market driven economy, but rather China's unique model — of one-party authoritarian rule with a mixed economy. The Middle Kingdom's way of development has largely questioned the West's core values — freedom and democracy. The book argues that the model is based on the country's 3,000-year-old civilization, forged by the efforts, innovations, trial and error process of several recent generations, and guided by the Chinese Communist Party in the past 60 years.

The Economics of Heritage
The Economics of Heritage

Author: Ilde Rizzo

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13:

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Based on the assupmtion that without understanding institutions, economists cannot make satisfactory policy prescriptions, this title draws conclusions on the strengths and limitations of applied economics in the field of heritage. Sicily provides an interesting backdrop against which the study is set, demonstrating the economic complexities of heritage and the range of economic tools and concepts which can be employed to analyse it. The book is a compilation of various approaches that economists trained in different branches of economics have brought to bear on heritage. It considers the political economy of heritage policy from a variety of perpesctives. It also discusses the public choice of fiscal federalism and looks at the problems of assessing the efficiency of policy measures. Finally it provides an overview of the national experiences in France, Scotland and Italy in terms of heritage policy.