Why do societies benefit differently from knowledge? How exactly does social interaction interfere with knowledge acquisition and diffusion? This original Handbook brings together a wide range of differing approaches to shed light on these questions and others relating to the role and relevance...

The Handbook of Social Capital offers an important contribution to the study of bonding and bridging social capital networks, balancing the'troika' of sociology, political science and economics. Eminent contributors, including Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom, explore the different scientific...

"Is economics a science? What distinguishes it from other sciences, both natural and social? Does it have a distinctive method? Can its models of perfect rationality and perfect competition help us to understand real market economies and to help them to function better? This book offers answers...

This thought-provoking book discusses the concept of progress in economics and investigates whether any advance has been made in its different spheres of research. The authors look back at the history, successes and failures of their respective fields and thoroughly examine the notion of...

"The political economy of research and innovation (R&I) is one of the central issues of the early twenty-first century. 'Science' and 'innovation' are increasingly tasked with driving and reshaping a troubled global economy while also tackling multiple, overlapping global challenges, such as...

This volume addresses a variety of topics where economic concepts are intertwined with important legal and policy issues in North America and Europe. Five articles involve analyses of competition issues, including economic plus factors in price fixing cases, the impact of refusals to deal on...