Stern - Böcker

All people wish to avoid nuclear war, but this fact provides little guidance for policy. One reason is a lack of understanding of how a nuclear war might come about or how one could be prevented; much of what is offered as expert knowledge cannot be defended as more than educated opinion. Behavior, Society, and Nuclear War assesses current knowledge to create a basis for new intellectual approaches to the subject of international security that are conceptually rigorous, theoretically eclectic, and methodologically self-conscious. Leading scholars review specific behavioral and social phenomena and processes that may be critical in determining war and peace, including the behavior of decision makers during crises, the pressure of public opinion, the causes of war among great powers, and the processes of international security negotiation. This work was sponsored by the Committee on Contributions of Behavioral and Social Science to the Prevention of Nuclear War, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences.

In the last year the world has witnessed changes in East-West relations that would have been unthinkable only a short time ago. The Berlin Wall has crumbled, Eastern Europe has thrown out its authoritarian leaders, and the Soviet Union itself has undergone dramatic changes in political structure and foreign policy. The U.S. public no longer regards the Eastern Bloc as the principal threat to national security. Yet even with the undeniable thaw in the Cold War many of the old scenarios for "World War III" remain as plausible as they were in the past, and new sources of instability could arise from ethnic conflicts, economic competition, or other sources. The second volume of Behavior, Society, and Nuclear War addresses the potential causes of nuclear war within the context of this changing political landscape. As in the first volume of this series, leading scholars review specific behavioral and social phenomena and processes that may be critical in determining war and peace-how foreign policy decision are made, the role of arms races, and the activities of third-party moderators.Volume Two also explores the effects of changing international conditions on the potential for the growing importance of conflicts between small powers, the possibility that techniques of reassurance can supplement deterrence, and the sources of moderation in Soviet security policy. Informed by the most up-to-date scholarship, Behavior, Society, and Nuclear War will be essential reading for anyone interested in international relations, disarmament, political science, and sociology.

New for the Second Edition: L The second edition includes a thorough updating of the text, the addition of new sample articles to replace the six original ones, and discussions of new quasi-experimantal research methods, mutivariate analysis, and meta-analysis. Evaluating Social Science Research addresses the perennial need of students and all citizens to develop critical thinking skills, training them to be intelligent consumers of social science research. The authors show how knowing how to make critical, independent judgements of scientific claims is an important skill of living in a world where scientific claims are used increasingly to influence personal and political behaviour. The changes in this second edition reflect developments in the last 15 years of social science research, both in methods and perspectives.

Edited by the United Nations Development Programme, this collection of papers offers a new rationale and framework for international development cooperation. Its main argument is that in actual practice development cooperation has already moved beyond aid. In the name of aid (i.e. assistance to poor countries), we are today dealing with issues such as the ozone hole, global climate change, HIV, drug trafficking and financial volatility. All of these issues are not really poverty-related. Rather, they concern global housekeeping: ensuring an adequate provision of global public goods.

Around the world, the 1990s have seen greater attention being given to the role of markets as an instrument of economic development. Responding to new thinking and changed economic circumstances, governments perceptions of their own role in the management of their economies have shifted. As a result, many have withdrawn from direct involvement in certain sectors of the economy and have reduced their intervention and control in others. The reorientation has been most dramatic in the former centrally planned economies, but governments in developing countries, as well as in advanced countries where markets are already pre-eminent, have profoundly reconsidered their development role and the means of fulfilling it. In this process, it has been recognised that, left entirely to their own devices, markets may be either inadequate or inappropriate for a country's overall economic and social development. Government has a vital role to play even in facilitating the effective functioning of markets--to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place, to sustain macroeconomic stability, to provide a framework for effective interaction with the international economy. It also has a responsibility to correct the market's inclinations in certain directions, in particular to provide a fuller perspective on the future, to give direction in critical sectors and, importantly, to fulfil a number of social objectives. The challenges lie in identifying policies and selecting instruments that enable the government to fulfil these roles complementing the contribution of markets. In this era of transition and experimentation in economic management, the Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis of the United Nations convened a group of economists to distil their thinking and experience on the changing role of government in the development process. The first volume in this two volume set contains the views of the members of the group on critical dimensions of the management of market economies. The second volume contains some of the companion papers that were prepared as a compliment to the work of the group.

The Revolution in Corporate Finance has established itself as a key text for students of corporate finance with wide use on a range of courses. Using seminal articles from the highly regarded Bank of America Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, it gives students real insight into the practical implications of the most recent theoretical advances in the field. This extensively revised and updated fourth edition contains a significant amount of new material while retaining key original articles from previous editions. It offers, in one volume, coverage of the latest academic thinking, written by leading financial economists in a way that is accessible to students and corporate management. Uses seminal articles from the highly regarded Bank of America Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. Gives insight into the practical implications of recent theoretical advances in the field. Enhanced by new material, including two new sections on International Finance and International Corporate Governance. Highlights contributions of Nobel Laureate Merton Miller to the field of Finance.

This volume explores the origins of Japan’s current economic crisis and assesses the country’s prospects for recovery. An exploration of the origins and consequences of Japan’s current economic crisis. Examines the collapse of the equity and real estate market bubbles in the late 1980s. Analyses the failure of Japanese monetary and fiscal policies to reverse the ensuing economic decline. Evaluates unorthodox options available to policy makers that might enable Japan to recover from its ‘lost decade’. Suggests that Japan’s prospects for economic recovery are still uncertain.