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Returns to the general question of what sort of science public management is or can be and how cultural theory can contribute to that science. Concludes by taking stock of the cultural‐theory approach as a framework for analysing public management, surveying its strengths and weaknesses. It does not claim there are no problems with the approach—on the contrary, there are major gaps and ambiguities and some of the underlying logic needs attention, but in spite of such weaknesses, the claim is that a cultural‐theory framework has much to contribute to a way of thinking about the art of the state that is neither sham science nor mere craft. To assess the cultural‐theory approach, this concluding chapter discusses three sorts of objections to the cultural‐theory framework as a way of analysing public management. One possible line of criticism might be called the ‘nursery toys’ objection—the claim that cultural theory is too simple for sophisticated analysis and is therefore better suited for the elementary stages of understanding than for advanced or professional analysis; a second possible line of criticism might be called the ‘soft science’ objection—the claim that, whatever its level of sophistication or applicability to management, the theory is, even on its own terms, limited, ambiguous, and perhaps even unfalsifiable; a third line of criticism might be called the ‘wrong tool’ objection—i.e. the claim that cultural theory, however sophisticated, cannot be an adequate basis for a theory of management, because ultimately it has little to say about the central what‐to‐do questions of organization that management and managers need to be concerned with—and by this view, it is the wrong tool for the job.

This chapter starts with a survey of the preceding scholarly literature on Plutarch's practical ethics, a group of twenty-odd texts within the Moralia. Although Ziegler's discussion of what he labelled Plutarch's ‘popular-philosophical’ writings, following upon a century of Quellenforschung, brought about an increased interest in several of the texts involved, it also contributed to them being regarded as second-rank philosophy. This book is the first monograph that studies this group of texts as literary compositions in dynamic interaction with their socio-historical context. Methodologically, it combines close reading with perspectives opened up by new cultural history, new historicism, and speech-act theory in order to show that Plutarch's practical ethics were designed not only to contribute to the ethical and social well-being of the Graeco-Roman elite, but also to establish and consolidate Plutarch's own social identity as a philosopher-citizen. The Introduction ends with a survey of the contents of the book.

This chapter reviews several bodies of scholarly work, namely the international political economy literature on cooperation and standard-setting; the literature on the external economic relations of the EU; and that on financial services regulation in the EU. It then outlines the research design and the analytical framework, whereby the key explanatory variable is ‘regulatory capacity’. A two by two explanatory matrix can be created, with weak/strong EU regulatory capacity on one side and weak/strong US regulatory capacity on the other side. The convergence of international financial regulation and the influence of the EU depend on the combination of EU and US regulatory capacities. The chapter ends by discussing the selection of case studies, methodology, time frame, and empirical coverage of the research.

In 1978 China’s paper industry was small, technologically backward, and energy intensive. Over the next three decades China slowly modernized this industry by closing small, obsolete facilities and encouraging mergers to reap economies of scale and scope; increasing domestic competition and opening the industry to trade and foreign investment; and increasing energy prices and requiring enterprises to reduce their energy intensity. Most critically, though, the Chinese government reformed incentives and institutions to encourage enterprises to adopt state-of-the-art technologies. One important side effect has been a large and rapid decline in energy and CO₂ intensity in China’s paper industry, leading to a substantial delinking of paper production and CO₂ emissions. This success has much to offer other countries in the early stages of their industrial revolutions. The Chinese experience highlights the need to put in place incentives and institutions that encourage enterprises to invest in building technological capabilities.

The introduction presents and contextualizes the corpus of texts and situates this book in both classical scholarship and modern literary theory. It offers a state of the art in both fields, discusses questions of conceptualization and contextualizes three conceptual couples central to this book in ancient theory of character and ancient narrative: typification/individuation, idealistic/realistic characterization and static/dynamic character. It also explains the methodology adopted in this book, discusses different techniques of characterization (direct, metonymical and metaphorical ones) and clarifies how the book marries modern (mainly, but not exclusively, structuralist) narratology and ancient rhetoric as the basis for the close readings offered.

The introductory chapter presents the Brazilian case in the series as a first attempt to understand how the activity of policy analysis has developed in Brazil and how it stands at present. Policy analysis in Brazil can be differentiated from its counterparts in the countries where it originated by its lack of a clearly defined professional activity, specific training or distinctive methods and techniques; however, this has not stopped it developing. With its unique make up, Brazil's vast tradition in the social and human sciences stands as a foundation for the production of analysis oriented towards increasingly multidisciplinary government decision-making. This volume and the studies it presents are a sample of the types of policy analysis being produced in Brazil by different actors and organisations in the various arenas of the policy process.

This chapter explains that while Itek bathed in the glow of national press attention and Leghorn worked on plans for his next acquisition, the entire Corona Project team continued its effort to get a spy satellite into space. Itek stock appeared to discount an unusually favorable view regarding the firm's future earnings growth—despite the recent correction in the stock's price. When Itek's business plan was written, the phrase didn't mean building cameras for spy satellites, selling photocopy machines, or manufacturing and distributing tools for the printing industry. It meant the integration of advanced photo-optics with state-of-the-art computer technology to create a system that extended the limited memory of computers reliant on punch cards. Investors who read Itek's 1959 annual report, whether they were partners of Wall Street firms or individual investors, would still have no way of understanding the full risks associated with buying the company's stock.

This chapter begins by reviewing several bodies of scholarly works that are relevant to this research, notably, the international relations literature on regime complexity and the international political economy literature on financial regulation. It then discusses three mainstream theoretically informed explanations—a state-centric, a transgovernmental, and a business-led accounts—which can be useful to explain how regime complexity in derivatives was dealt with. Finally, it outlines the research design, the analytical framework, the methodology, the sources, the timeframe, and the empirical coverage. Empirically, this book examines all the main aspects concerning the regulation of derivatives markets, namely: trading, clearing and reporting derivatives; resilience, recovery and resolution of central counterparties; capital requirements for bank exposures to central counterparties and derivatives; margins for derivatives non-centrally cleared via central counterparties.

In 1978 China’s steel industry was small, technologically backward, and energy intensive. Over the next three decades China modernized this industry by closing small, obsolete facilities and encouraging mergers to reap economies of scale and scope; increasing domestic competition and opening the industry to trade and foreign investment; and increasing energy prices and requiring enterprises to reduce their energy intensity. Most critically, though, the Chinese government reformed incentives and institutions to encourage enterprises to adopt state-of-the-art technologies. One important side effect has been a large and rapid decline in energy and CO₂ intensity in China’s steel industry, leading to a substantial delinking of steel production and CO₂ emissions. This success has much to offer other countries in the early stages of their industrial revolutions. The Chinese experience highlights the need to put in place the incentives and institutions that encourage enterprises to invest in building technological capabilities.

The Introduction describes the theme and aim of the book—namely (1) to clarify the meaning of the biblical notion that the human being has been created b’tselem elohim (Genesis 1:26–7; 5:1–3; 9:6), in the image of an invisible God, (2) to trace different Jewish and Christian interpretations of ‘humanity in God’s image,’ and (3) to reconsider the significance of the imago Dei in a post-Holocaust context. Further, the Introduction gives an account of the scope and methodological approach, the state of the art, and the distinctive features of the present study—for instance, its focus on an ethical and theological dialectics of in-visibility. Finally, it outlines the argument and four-part structure of the book and provides abstracts of its eight chapters. Part I is entitled “Creation and Creativity”; Part II “Revealment and Concealment”; Part III “Reorientation and Redemption”; and Part IV “Ethics with an Eschatological Proviso.”

In 1978 China’s aluminum industry was small, technologically backward, and energy intensive. Over the next three decades China modernized by closing small, obsolete facilities and encouraging mergers to reap economies of scale and scope; increasing domestic competition and opening the industry to trade and foreign investment; and increasing energy prices and requiring enterprises to reduce their energy intensity. Most critically, though, the Chinese government reformed incentives and institutions to encourage enterprises to adopt state-of-the-art technologies. One important side effect has been a large and rapid decline in energy and CO₂ intensity in China’s aluminum industry. This success has much to offer other countries in the early stages of their industrial revolutions. The Chinese experience highlights the need to put in place incentives and institutions that encourage enterprises to invest in building technological capabilities so they can reap the large-scale technique effects that lead to improved energy efficiency and increased productivity.

This introductory chapter lays out the relevance of the research topic, denotes the empirical puzzle, and derives two operational research questions. How is the policy position of a DG formed with regard to a specific legislative proposal and how can the DG’s policy choices be explained? And: How are different DG positions coordinated and how can the assertiveness of a DG in forming the final Commission proposal be explained? The chapter contains a review of the literature on the Commission, the EU integration process and political economy questions pertaining to the EU. It highlights contrasting views on the type of Commission agency that prevails in the literature and discusses existing shortcomings before outlining how the book will be structured in order to fill the theoretical and empirical gaps.