University of Chicago Press: New Titles in Economics and Business

University of Chicago Press: New Titles in Economics and Business http://www.press.uchicago.edu/rss/newecon.xml The latest new books in Economics and Business en-us erg@press.uchicago.edu Kazakhstan's New Economy http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=4343014 Jay Nathan <br><br><DIV><DIV>Kazakhstan has faced severe economic challenges since it gained independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. <I>Kazakhstan’s New Economy</I> explores how the country might shed the outdated business practices that continue to hamper its growth. Jay Nathan first provides a historical overview of the economy and then delves deeper into the strengths and weaknesses of nine major industries, including oil and gas, banking, telecommunications, and transportation. Nathan’s careful analysis and recommendations will provide valuable insight for anyone interested in Central Asia’s economic growth. <BR /><BR />“An excellent resource on major industries in Kazakhstan.”—Byrganym Aitimova, Minister of Education and Science, the Republic of Kazakhstan <BR /><BR /></DIV></DIV><br></div> Hybrid http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=5387732 Noel Kingsbury <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Disheartened by the shrink-wrapped, Styrofoam-packed state of contemporary supermarket fruits and vegetables, many shoppers hark back to a more innocent time, to visions of succulent red tomatoes plucked straight from the vine, gleaming orange carrots pulled from loamy brown soil, swirling heads of green lettuce basking in the sun. </P><P> </P><P>With <I>Hybrid</I>, Noel Kingsbury reveals that even those imaginary perfect foods are themselves far from anything that could properly be called natural; rather, they represent the end of a millennia-long history of selective breeding and hybridization. Starting his story at the birth of agriculture, Kingsbury traces the history of human attempts to make plants more reliable, productive, and nutritious—a story that owes as much to accident and error as to innovation and experiment. Drawing on historical and scientific accounts, as well as a rich trove of anecdotes, Kingsbury shows how scientists, amateur breeders, and countless anonymous farmers and gardeners slowly caused the evolutionary pressures of nature to be supplanted by those of human needs—and thus led us from sparse wild grasses to succulent corn cobs, and from mealy, white wild carrots to the juicy vegetables we enjoy today. At the same time, Kingsbury reminds us that contemporary controversies over the Green Revolution and genetically modified crops are not new; plant breeding has always had a political dimension.</P><P> </P><P>A powerful reminder of the complicated and ever-evolving relationship between humans and the natural world, <I>Hybrid</I> will give readers a thoughtful new perspective on—and a renewed appreciation of—the cereal crops, vegetables, fruits, and flowers that are central to our way of life.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Castles, Battles, and Bombs http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=5721693 Jurgen Brauer and Hubert van Tuyll <br><br><DIV><DIV><DIV><DIV><P> </P><P><I>Castles, Battles, and Bombs</I> reconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economics—with dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France’s decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for today’s military, from counterterrorist strategy and military manpower planning to the use of private military companies in Afghanistan and Iraq.</P><P><I></I> </P><P>"In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant's campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II. The results are invariably stimulating."—Martin Walker, <I>Wilson Quarterly</I></P><P><I></I> </P><P>"This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare."—Thomas C. Schelling, Winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV><br></div> Wannabe U http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6130399 Gaye Tuchman <br><br><DIV><DIV><DIV><P>In most debates over its future, the university is represented—by both its critics and its champions—as a secular temple for learning, a sacred space freed from the more mundane concerns that trouble other institutions. But lately this lofty image looks increasingly tarnished, especially with regard to public research universities. There, a new class of administrative professionals has been busy working to make colleges as much like businesses as possible. In this eye-opening exposé of the modern university, Gaye Tuchman paints a candid portrait of these wannabe corporate managers and the new regime of revenue streams, mission statements, and five-year plans they’ve ushered in.</P><P> </P><P>Based on years of observation at a state school, <I>Wannabe U</I> tracks the dispiriting consequences of trading in traditional educational values for loyalty to the market. Aping their boardroom idols, the new corporate administrators wander from job to job and reductively view the students as future workers in need of training. Obsessed with measurable successes, they stress auditing and accountability, which leads, Tuchman reveals, to policies of surveillance and control dubiously cloaked in the guise of scientific administration. Following the big money to be made from the discoveries of Wannabe U’s researchers, Tuchman probes the cozy relationships that the administration forms with industry and the government.</P><P> </P><P>Like the best campus novelists, Tuchman entertains with her acidly witty observations of backstage power dynamics and faculty politics, but ultimately <I>Wannabe U</I> is a hard-hitting account of how higher education’s misguided pursuit of success fails us all.</P><P> </P></DIV></DIV></DIV><br></div> Enabling Creative Chaos http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6797144 Katherine K. Chen <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>In the summer of 2008, nearly fifty thousand people traveled to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert to participate in the countercultural arts event Burning Man. Founded on a commitment to expression and community, the annual weeklong festival presents unique challenges to its organizers. Over four years Katherine K. Chen regularly participated in organizing efforts to safely and successfully create a temporary community in the middle of the desert under the hot August sun.</P><P> </P><P><I>Enabling Creative Chaos</I> tracks how a small, underfunded group of organizers transformed into an unconventional corporation with a ten-million-dollar budget and two thousand volunteers. Over the years, Burning Man’s organizers have experimented with different management models; learned how to recruit, motivate, and retain volunteers; and developed strategies to handle regulatory agencies and respond to media coverage. This remarkable evolution, Chen reveals, offers important lessons for managers in any organization, particularly in uncertain times.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Problems of Disadvantaged Youth http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6823472 Edited by Jonathan Gruber <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>One of the most important public policy issues in the United States is how to improve the life prospects of disadvantaged youth who, in their formative years, face low-quality school systems, poor access to health care, and high-crime environments. <I>The Problems of Disadvantaged Youth </I>includes a broad range of research examining various aspects of disadvantage, and ways of increasing the ability of low-income youths to improve their circumstances later in life. </P><P> </P><P>Taking an empirical economics perspective, the nine essays in this volume assess the causal impacts of disadvantage on youth outcomes, and how policy interventions can alleviate those impacts. Each chapter develops a framework to describe the relationship between youths and later life outcomes, addressing such factors as educational opportunity, health, neighborhood crime rates, and employment. This vital book documents the serious short- and long-term negative consequences of childhood disadvantage and provides nuanced evidence of the impact of public policy designed to help needy children.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Saving Alma Mater http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6963834 James C. Garland <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>America’s public universities educate 80% of our nation’s college students. But in the wake of rising demands on state treasuries, changing demographics, growing income inequality, and legislative indifference, many of these institutions have fallen into decline. Tuition costs have skyrocketed, class sizes have gone up, the number of courses offered has gone down, and the overall quality of education has decreased significantly. </P><P> </P><P>Here James C. Garland draws on more than thirty years of experience as a professor, administrator, and university president to argue that a new compact between state government and public universities is needed to make these schools more affordable and financially secure. <I>Saving Alma Mater</I> challenges a change-resistant culture in academia that places too low a premium on efficiency and productivity. Seeing a crisis of campus leadership, Garland takes state legislators to task for perpetuating the decay of their public university systems and calls for reforms in the way university presidents and governing boards are selected. He concludes that the era is long past when state appropriations can enable public universities to keep their fees low and affordable. <I>Saving Alma Mater</I> thus calls for the partial deregulation of public universities and a phase-out of their state appropriations. Garland’s plan would tie university revenues to their performance and exploit the competitive pressures of the academic marketplace to control costs, rein in tuition, and make schools more responsive to student needs.</P><P> </P><P>A much-needed blueprint for reform based on Garland’s real-life successes as the head of Miami University of Ohio, <I>Saving Alma Mater</I> will be essential for anyone concerned with the costs and quality of higher education in America today.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> International Differences in the Business Practices and Productivity of Firms http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6963852 Edited by Richard B. Freeman and Kathryn L. Shaw <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>In recent years, globalization and the expansion of information technologies have reshaped managerial practices, forcing multinational firms to adjust business practices to different environments and domestic companies to adjust to their foreign competitors. In <I>International Differences in the Business Practices and Productivity of Firms</I>, a distinguished group of contributors examines the phenomenon of widespread differences in managerial practices across firms, establishments within firms, and countries.</P><P> </P><P>This volume brings together eight studies that combine qualitative and quantitative insider analysis of business practices such as the use of teams, incentive pay, lean manufacturing, and quality control, revealing the elements that determine which practices are adopted and why. <I>International Differences in the Business Practices and Productivity of Firms</I> offers a much-needed model for measuring the productivity and performance of international firms in a fast-paced global economy.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Uncommon Sense http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=7919487 Gary S. Becker and Richard A. Posner <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>On December 5, 2004, the still-developing blogosphere took one of its biggest steps toward mainstream credibility, as Nobel Prize–winning economist Gary S. Becker and renowned jurist and legal scholar Richard A. Posner announced the formation of the Becker-Posner Blog.</P><P>In no time, the blog had established a wide readership and reputation as a reliable source of lively, thought-provoking commentary on current events, its pithy and profound weekly essays highlighting the value of economic reasoning when applied to unexpected topics. <I>Uncommon Sense</I> gathers the most important and innovative entries from the blog, arranged by topic, along with updates and even reconsiderations when subsequent events have shed new light on a question. Whether it’s Posner making the economic case for the legalization of gay marriage, Becker arguing in favor of the sale of human organs for transplant, or even the pair of scholars vigorously disagreeing about the utility of collective punishment, with reference to Israel’s battles with Hezbollah and Hamas, the writing is always clear, the interplay energetic, and the resulting discussion deeply informed and intellectually substantial.</P><P>To have a single thinker of the stature of a Becker <I>or</I> Posner addressing questions of this nature would make for fascinating reading; to have both, writing and responding to each other, is an exceptionally rare treat. With <I>Uncommon Sense</I>, they invite the adventurous reader to join them on a whirlwind intellectual journey. All they ask is that you leave your preconceptions behind.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Breeding Bio Insecurity http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8273991 Lynn C. Klotz and Edward J. Sylvester <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>In the years since the 9/11 attacks—and the subsequent lethal anthrax letters—the United States has spent billions of dollars on measures to defend the population against the threat of biological weapons. But as Lynn C. Klotz and Edward J. Sylvester argue forcefully in <I>Breeding Bio Insecurity</I>, all that money and effort hasn’t made us any safer—in fact, it has made us more vulnerable.</P><P> </P><P><I>Breeding Bio Insecurity </I>reveals the mistakes made to this point and lays out the necessary steps to set us on the path toward true biosecurity. The fundamental problem with the current approach, according to the authors, is the danger caused by the sheer size and secrecy of our biodefense effort. Thousands of scientists spread throughout hundreds of locations are now working with lethal bioweapons agents—but their inability to make their work public causes suspicion among our enemies and allies alike, even as the enormous number of laboratories greatly multiplies the inherent risk of deadly accidents or theft. Meanwhile, vital public health needs go unmet because of this new biodefense focus. True biosecurity, the authors argue, will require a multipronged effort based in an understanding of the complexity of the issue, guided by scientific ethics, and watched over by a vigilant citizenry attentive to the difference between fear mongering and true analysis of risk. </P><P> </P><P>An impassioned warning that never loses sight of political and scientific reality, <I>Breeding Bio Insecurity</I> is a crucial first step toward meeting the evolving threats of the twenty-first century.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Gems and Gemstones http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8331041 Lance Grande and Allison Augustyn <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Gems are objects of wealth, icons of beauty, and emblems of the very best of everything. They are kept as signs of prestige or power. Given as tokens of love and affection, they also come in a kaleidoscopic array of hues and can be either mineral or organic. Gems can command a person’s gaze in the way they play with light and express rich color. And they can evoke feelings of passion, greed, mystery, and warmth. <B></B></P><P>            </P><P>For millennia, gems have played an important role in human culture: they have significant value, both financially and within folklore and mythology. But just what <I>are</I> gems, exactly? This lavishly illustrated volume—the most ambitious publication of its kind—provides a general introduction to gems and natural gemstones, conveying their timeless beauty and exploring similarities among different species and varieties. <I>Gems and Gemstones </I>features nearly 300 color images of the cut gems, precious and semiprecious stones, gem-quality mineral specimens, and fine jewelry to be unveiled in a new Grainger Hall of Gems at The Field Museum in Chicago this October. The book and exhibition’s overarching theme will be the relationship between finished gems and their natural origin: while beautiful as faceted and polished pieces of jewelry, gems are often just as lovely—or even more so—as gemstones in their natural state. For example, an aquamarine or emerald as originally found in a mine with its natural crystal faces can be as stunning as any cut and polished gem prepared for a ring, bracelet, or charm.</P><P> </P><P>Thoughtful of both ancient and modern times, <I>Gems and Gemstones</I> also includes fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden the historical portrait of each specimen. When Harry Winston, for instance, donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1958, he sent it through the U.S. mail wrapped in plain brown paper. And for anyone who has ever marveled at the innovations of top jewelry designers, <I>Gems and Gemstones</I> features a dazzling array of polished stones, gold objects, and creations from around the world. Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, amethysts, pearls, topaz, amber—every major gem gets its due in what will be an invaluable source on the subject for years to come. </P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 23 http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8352728 James M. Poterba <br><br><DIV><P><I>Tax Policy and the Economy </I>publishes current academic research findings on taxation and government spending that have both immediate bearing on policy debates and longer-term interest. The articles in Volume 23 address a range of topics, including Social Security, understanding corporate tax losses, the influence of globalization on the design of a tax system, and the question of whether federal provision of goods and services crowds out their provision by lower levels of government or the private sector.</P></DIV><br></div> Managing Performing Living http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364796 Fredmund Malik <br><br><DIV><P>In this classic study from management expert Fredmund Malik, managers will find sound professional advice for successful management in their organizations. Malik offers advice for improving skills in organization, decision-making, supervising, budgeting, and numerous other management-related tasks. This volume is designed for managers in business and industry, students of management, public and university administrators, and executives in other types of organizations. It can be used independently or as a companion volume to Malik’s <I>Management: The Essence of the Craft</I>.</P></DIV><br></div> Management http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364800 Fredmund Malik <br><br><DIV><P>In today’s competitive world, good management is essential. With <I>Management: The Essence of the Craft</I>, Fredmund Malik—one of the most prominent authors of management scholarship in Europe—draws on the works of Stafford Beer, Peter Drucker, Friedrich von Hayek, and Viktor Frankl to outline the basic principles of effective professional management. While previous studies have relied strictly on human psychology to evaluate existing theories of management, Malik instead employs a cybernetics of complex systems for the task. Though <I>Mangagement </I>is written primarily for managers in the business world, it will be valuable to those in other fields facing management tasks.</P></DIV><br></div>