New wealth for old nations : Scotland's economic prospects / Diane Coyle, Wendy Alexander, Brian Ashcroft, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Coyle, Diane.

Alexander, Wendy.

Aschroft, Brian, 1947-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic policy.

Scotland--Economic policy.

Scotland.

Regional economics.

Physical Description:

ix, 244 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Scotland's economic prospects

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2005]

Summary:

New Wealth for Old Nations provides a guide to policy priorities in small or regional economies. It will be of interest to policymakers, students, and scholars seeking avenues to improved growth, greater opportunity, and better governance. Here, some of the world's leading economists combine their research insights with a discussion of the practicalities of implementing structural reforms. Scotland is the ideal case study: the recent devolution of government in the United Kingdom offers a natural experiment in political economy, one whose lessons apply to almost any small, advanced economy.

One fundamental conclusion is that policy can make a big difference to long-term prosperity in small economies open to flows of knowledge, investment, and migrants. Indeed the difficulty in introducing growth-oriented policies lies more in the politics of implementing change than in the theoretical diagnosis. Public sector governance is consequently a key issue in creating a pro-growth consensus. And faster growth must be seen to improve opportunities for the population as a whole. Further, setting out the evidence-as this book does for Scotland-is vital to overcoming entrenched institutional barriers to policy reform.

The first chapter is by Jo Armstrong, John McLaren, and the editors; and the subsequent chapters are by Paul Krugman, William Baumol, Edward Glaeser, Paul Hallwood and Ronald MacDonald, James Heckman and Dimitriy Masterov, Heather Joshi and Robert Wright, Nicholas Crafts, and John Bradley.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Political Economy of Scotland, Past and Present / W. Alexander, J. Armstrong, B. Ashcroft, D. Coyle, J. McLaren 11

Part 1 Growth 33

Chapter 2 Second Winds for Industrial Regions? / P. Krugman 35

Chapter 3 Four Sources of Innovation and the Stimulation of Growth in the Scottish Economy / W. J. Baumol 48

Chapter 4 Four Challenges for Scotland's Cities / E. L. Glaeser 73

Chapter 5 The Economic Case for Fiscal Federalism / P. Hallwood, R. MacDonald 96

Part 2 Opportunity 117

Chapter 6 Skill Policies for Scotland / J. J. Heckman, D. V. Masterov 119

Chapter 7 Starting Life in Scotland / H. E. Joshi, R. E. Wright 166

Part 3 Governance 187

Chapter 8 High-Quality Public Services / N. Crafts 189

Chapter 9 Committing to Growth in a Small European Country / J. Bradley 210.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0691122563

OCLC:

56825110