Rubber is one of the world's major commodities. The industry's changing pattern of production, ownership and trade reflects major features of industrial organization and economic integration in the evolving global economy. Yet, in spite of the global importance of the industry, little has been written about it in recent years. "The World Rubber Industry" redresses this imbalance and brings the study up-to-date. The authors present a thorough analysis of the industry covering the production and processing of synthetic and natural rubber and their subsequent manufacture into rubber goods. They look first at the history and development of the two types of rubber in countries around the world, exploring the technologies and institutions involved and reviewing social and political influences on events. They also scrutinize the history and development of rubber manufacturing, and the patterns of rubber consumption, marketing and trade which this sustains. Finally, they address some central features arising from the analyses and discuss future prospects for the industry. Information is clearly presented and accessible with numerous tables and illustrations.

Trends in the political and economic situation influence all sections of the business environment. The changes and continuities these create in workplace relations have an impact on the whole organization. While the formal, structural aspects of workplace relations are more often studied, the atmosphere in which those relations take place is central to understanding the ways they function in an organization. This book investigates not only the processes of industrial relations themselves but also the climate in which they work. As well as studying union behaviour, it views the topic from the wider perspective of human resource management and integrates theories of industrial relations and organizational analysis. The empirical evidence presented in the book, which draws on manufacturing and service industries in Canada, tests a model for analyzing the causes and consequences of this climate. By examining the possiblities for organizational design, it discusses the way improvements in the climate of workplace relations can benefit the overall effectivenesss of the organization.
This book should be of interest to lecturers and students of industrial relations, human resource management and organization studies.

Water Pollution

by Allen V. Kneese

Published 1 January 1941

Public agencies and industry will probably spend tens of billions of dollars on new water pollution abatement facilities in the next few decades. Added billions will be spent for the operation of new and existing facilities. How can physical science research reduce the cost of achieving objectives? And how can social science research make sure that the right objectives are being efficiently pursued? This title, first published in 1962, is directed to the orientation of the research effort, and the tool used for this purpose is an economic framework. This book will be of interest to students of economics and environmental studies.


This volume originated as a report given to the World Bank in 1978 on the household energy consumption of both the urban and rural poor in developing countries. Originally published in 1979, this title supplies alternatives for meeting the domestic energy needs of the poor in developing countries and looks at the results of experiments in introducing new forms of energy. This book is a valuable resource for public policy makers and students interested in environmental studies and developmental studies.


The early chapters of this book review the existing AMT (Advanced Manufacturing Technologies) decision-making literature. This section of the book concludes that AMT decisions can be handicapped by over-emphasis on short-term financial calculation. A number of theoretical models have been suggested which combine both financial and strategic analysis. These are reviewed, and it is concluded that these models are not grounded in practice and often provide unconvincing and inconsistent guidance for practitioners. An empirical survey is reported which identifies "best practice" in ATM decision-making. The questionnaire survey is supported by a series of field case studies. In the final chapter the mathematical models reported earlier are grounded in the empirical data and extended by the case of fuzzy set theory to deal with imprecise, estimated data.

Contemporary society is dependent on man's ability to work fundamental changes in the natural environment. In using resources to produce high and rising levels of income, however, effects are often produced that are incidental to the main purpose. This study, first published in 1965, explores some research approaches to the economic analysis of some of the key environmental problems, including water and air pollution, the introduction of chemical substances into the environment and the development of urban and rural space. This title will be of interest to students of environmental studies and economics.


Economics and the Environment

by Allen V. Kneese and etc.

Published 1 January 1971

This monograph length report, first published in 1970, originated from a program of research at Resources for the Future that dealt with the management of residuals and of environmental quality. It presents some of the broad concepts that the program was based on and represents the effort to break out of the traditional approach in pollution and policy research, which had treated air, water, and solid waste problems as separate categories. This book will be of interest to students of economics and environmental studies.


Originally published in 1974, this report dwells on the problems of meeting global energy demands and the time, effort and knowledge needed to research new energy methods. With rising costs, the uncertainty of supply from the Middle East and concern over the environmental impact of energy products, Energy and the Social Sciences outlines the intense need for well-designed research. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies.


This re-issued work, first published in 1980, represents a work of normative political philosophy which argues positively for the centrality of the obligation to meet the various demands of social need in our society, and will be of particular interest to students of politics, philosophy, social politics and administration.

Bringing the insights of analytical Political Philosophy to bear on the issues of social welfare and welfare provision, the authors discuss such issues as the basis of the sense of stigma involved in the receipt of welfare benefits, the right of welfare and the concepts of 'community'.


The membership and alignment of Sweden, Finland and Norway in the EU has had a significant impact on the alcohol policies of each of these countries. Each has had a long history of state control of alcohol production as well as wholesale, import and retail sales. The purpose of such state control is to maintain a lower overall consumption of alcohol and the associated lower level of alcohol problems. This book descibes the changes in alcohol policy and practice and the consequences for each of these countries as a result of the association with the EU. It describes the negotiations and their results concerning alcohol policy, the patterns of alcohol sales and consumption, changes in public values and attitudes concerning alcohol sales and its control, the health and social problems which are related to these changes and economic factors, and the consequences of changes in alcohol policy.

First published in 1985, this book examines the major components of working time from an international perspective, considering the individual aspects of working time, with particular emphasis on the argument that work should be shared to alleviate unemployment and the case for further increasing the flexibility and choice in working arrangements. Paul Blyton reviews working time since the Industrial Revolution, when a strict time-frame was first imposed on workers, and the growth in work-sharing, flexitime, part-time working and changes to the retirement age.