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This illuminating book analyses energy transitions, carbon dioxide emissions and the security of energy supply in Mediterranean countries. Unpacking the history of energy transitions, from coal to oil and natural gas, and from non-renewable to renewable energy sources, Silvana Bartoletto offers a comparative approach to the major trends in energy consumption, production, trade and security in Mediterranean countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Presenting cutting-edge thoughts on media economics, its history and development, and looking forward to its future, this timely book investigates the changing face of the field. With contributions from some of the most prominent media economics scholars in the world, this provocative and visionary Research Agenda covers theory development, consumer and audience demand, information and cultural goods, and technological dimensions.

This book argues that digital globalization is inducing deep and productive transformations, making industrial policy necessary in order to reorientate development towards inclusive and more sustainable growth. The book also demonstrates that industrialization remains an important development process for emerging countries. Regarding the future of jobs, the authors show how the substitution of labour in automation is not inevitable since technology is also complementary to human capital. Policymakers should pay more attention to the new skills that will be required. A particular concern is is the rapid change in technology and business compared to institutions which take time to adapt. Territories have an important role to play in order to speed-up institutional adaptation, providing they can act coherently with the other levels of government.

As the single most important general purpose technology of recent times, the Internet is transforming the organization, competitive structure and business models of the private, the public and non-profit sectors. In 27 original chapters, leading authors discuss theoretical and applied frameworks for the study of the economics of the Internet and its unique economics as a global information and communications infrastructure. They also examine the effects of the Internet on economic transactions (including social production, advertising, innovation, and intellectual property rights), the economics and management of Internet-based industries (including search, news, entertainment, culture, and virtual worlds), and the effects of the Internet on the economy at large.

The objective of this book is to present a comprehensive evaluation of the smart revolution, including its social and economic impacts. It proposes a modern framework to help assess how recent Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can contribute to societies as a whole. The authors offer a guide to how advanced network technologies have led to a greater variety of applications and social networking services. These allow people to connect with each other both at a more personal and global level, and will ultimately herald a new era of ICTs that will shape the “digital society".

This Handbook explores the economic features of the media and its infrastructure to provide readers with a sophisticated understanding of the critical issues and their influence on companies, audiences and regulators. The contributors explore and explain the impact of underlying factors such as multi-sided platforms, advertising and industry structure. They assess the unique economic factors affecting print, broadcast and broadband-based media, and highlight how the economics of the media can influence policy making. Each original chapter introduces the reader to a specific topic, reviews the literature on the development of knowledge in the field, explores critiques of the approach, and provides an understanding of applying this knowledge and the implications.

Promoting New Telecom Infrastructures examines how current telecom infrastructures are transforming from dedicated networks supporting either voice, data or broadcasting services to converged networks that support a wide variety of communication services, often denoted as Next Generation Networks (NGN). A current key challenge is therefore to define strategies, which can stimulate demand and investments in NGN in order to ensure development of adequate information infrastructures. With contributions from leading authorities in the field, this innovative book explores the three key themes related to this challenge and to strategies for the stimulation of demand and supply for NGN: strategies for expansion of broadband, pricing in NGN and development and pricing of mobile services.

This book, a collaborative effort by researchers from Japan, Italy and the USA, seeks to explore the reasons for industrial clustering in certain regions of Asia, Europe and North America. The studies presented illustrate real examples of industrial clusters, adding anecdotal evidence to the emerging theory of economic geography by exemplifying the centripetal and centrifugal forces that regulate the clustering process. The authors examine clusters in a diverse set of countries including China, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the USA and Vietnam. Significantly, the book provides an interesting split between studies of IT and software-related industries, and more traditional sectors, such as steel and vehicle manufacturing.