How do social networking services earn money? What is the "second hand of the market" and how does it operate? Why does society need so many different kinds of goods? What does happiness economics not reveal about happiness? What is the link between talent, success and “stardom”? What is the business development model for the entertainment and media industry? What is emotional hysteresis? How can we measure cultural values? What is subjective time and how can it be made qualitative? What is club economics? You can find the answers to all these questions in the book. It describes the main trends in development of our digital society. It appeals to those who are curious about what will replace search engines, and how social networking services will evolve. It is about the profit from different forms of informational collaboration (crowdsourcing, collaborative filtering) and how it will affect the structure of the society and human pursuit for happiness.

This book examines the emergence of both financial markets and carbon markets, and provides an in-depth investigation on the fundamental determinants of financial development.

“Trade Unions on YouTube provides a much-needed assessment of how old social movement actors employ new social media platforms to promote themselves and their activities today. A must-read for trade unions scholars and activists alike, this book illustrates how, in the age of digital media, there is more than one pattern towards trade union revitalization and each of them implies different communicative challenges.”—Alice Mattoni, Associate Professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy This book investigates how trade unions representing different social classes use YouTube videos for renewal purposes. Information and communication technology has undoubtedly offered new opportunities for social movements, but while research suggests that these new means of communication can be used for trade union revitalization, few studies have examined what unions actually do on social media. By analysing more than 4500 videos that have been uploaded by Swedish trade unions, Jansson and Uba explore how unions use YouTube to address issues such as recruiting new members, improving internal democracy, promoting political campaigns and constructing (new) self-images. The results demonstrate that trade unions representing a range of social classes use different revitalization strategies via YouTube. This research will be of use to students and scholars researching European politics and political participation, trade unionism and labour movements in the digital age.

Public spending on infrastructure plays an important role in promoting economic growth and poverty alleviation. Empirical studies unequivocally show that under-investment in infrastructure limits economic growth. At the same time, numerous other studies have shown that investment in infrastructure can be an effective tool in fighting poverty reduction. In that context, the financing of infrastructure has been a critical element of most economic growth and poverty reduction strategies in developing countries since the start of this millennium. This book provides a comparative analysis of the aggregate and sectoral implications of higher spending on infrastructure in three very different Asian countries: China, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Particular attention is paid to the role of alternative financing mechanisms for increasing public infrastructure investment, namely distortionary and non-distortionary means of financing. The book will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers concerned with economic growth in developing countries.

This open access book analyses the development problems of sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) from the eyes of a Korean diplomat with knowledge of the economic growth Korea has experienced in recent decades. The author argues that Africa's development challenges are not due to a lack of resources but a lack of management, presenting an alternative to the traditional view that Africa's problems are caused by a lack of leadership. In exploring an approach based on mind-set and nation-building, rather than unity - which tends to promote individual or party interests rather than the broader country or national interests - the author suggests new solutions for SSA's economic growth, inspired by Korea's successful economic growth model much of which is focused on industrialisation. This book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, NGOs and governmental bodies in economics, development and politics studying Africa's economic development, and Korea's economic growth model.