"The aim of this short book is to understand which countries do well on key indicators and why. After a short philosophical and historical survey of the literature to put the book into context, the Better-Place Index is developed. This is subsequently tested against a number of policy variables,...

Contents: 1. Convergence in the EU: what role for industrial relations? / Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead and Rosalia Vazquez-Alvarez -- 2. Social convergence of the Baltic states within the enlarged EU: is limited social dialogue an impediment? / Jaan Masso, Vladyslav Soloviov, Kerly Espenberg and...

Assessing changes in living standards in Southeast Asia in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries -- The colonial period: population and output growth in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors -- The colonial period: measures of welfare and changing living standards -- Confronting the...