New Perspectives in Economics and Finance

Rachel Sangster, Publisher for Palgrave Macmillan’s scholarly Economics list, talks about the changing field of comparative economics and its relevance for today.

The transition from socialism to capitalism for various economies in recent years has been striking, and has led to the sub-field of comparative economics evolving even further to focus on institutional economics – not least, the comparison of the economic effects of the various institutions of capitalism. Why is this important now? Certainly, geopolitical shifts across the world, and the global financial crisis, are contributing factors that have led to a re-evaluation of economic policies. The changing face of Europe, in particular, has called for a review of what is working and what is not working. Palgrave author Beata Farkas elucidates this for us in her author blog ‘The Future Path for EU Integration: Lessons Learned from Comparative Economics’. Her extensive research explores post-crisis perspectives for each EU member state to conclude that the differences for each member state in response to, and management of, the crisis were so great that they require the rethinking of European integration theory.

Africa, too, has joined the agenda. No longer a discipline focused on traditional Eastern European countries, or the former USSR, comparative economics is relevant today on a much broader scale – both in geography and research. Wellbeing, and its impact on health and longer life expectancy, is a core area of focus for scholars. Further, innovation can be considered a key topic as different countries’ approaches to innovation, and the impact such policies have had on economic growth, changes dramatically for any given country. Iurii Bazhal tells us, in his author blog, why innovation post-crisis cannot be ignored as he proposes a new ‘Political Economy of Innovation Development’.

The comparative study of economics systems, a country’s approach to economic development as part of this framework of systems, and the implications of alternative systems continues to play out at the forefront of economic research today.

At Palgrave Macmillan we welcome all research that addresses such questions as those posed above. Our book series Studies in Economic Transitions exemplifies some of the very capable and expert authors with whom we have worked, and we congratulate the series editors Jens Holscher and Horst Tomann on reaching the impressive publication milestone of 50 volumes in 2017 (with more books in the pipeline!).

For those authors interested in publishing a shorter-form work, our Palgrave Pivots present the perfect option very effectively bridging the gap between a journal article and full length monograph.

I am always keen to hear new ideas, and welcome a discussion, via rachel.sangster@palgrave.com.

Rachel is currently accepting new proposals, including but not limited to, the areas of comparative economics, transition economics, political economy, international economy, history of economic thought, labour economics and development economics.