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Taking into account recent literature on economic growth, we focus on analyzing the extent to which metropolitan regions (NUTS3 urban predominant regions), as growth poles, especially from Romania and from EU member states and regions with similar levels of development, contribute to economic growth, from the perspective of employment-related issues. We place our analysis in the context of Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and of the urban dimension of the EU regional policies. The variables included refer to labor market indicators, in conjunction with demographic data, from Eurostat, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the contribution of growth poles to the overall development of country, in comparison with the capital region, the national average and EU27 average. The selection of growth poles from countries with similar levels of development as Romania is based on previous research results of cluster analysis for year 2010, conducted using headline indicators of Europe 2020 strategy and GDP per head, for country level, and cohesion policy indicators, for NUTS2 regional level, looking for possible overlaps of the country and regional clustering that include Romanian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the specifics of the current development of the world economy and discusses implications for new member states of the European Union, the EU NMS, with a small case study on the Czech Republic. The paper is divided into four parts: the trends, the EU NMS and the effects of the trends in the EU NMS and in the Czech Republic. The paper is based on a general economic analysis of data provided by the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Eurostat, the European Central Bank (ECB) and by the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO). Being familiar with recent macroeconomic trends is nowadays important for Central and Eastern European managers in order to efficiently adapt their strategies to the constantly changing business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the age of globalisation, implementation and commercialisation of new technologies are perceived as key elements determining competitiveness of particular countries, therefore, the growth of innovativeness is seen as the predominant direction of European Union society’s transformation into information society. The aim of the paper is to propose a procedure of measurement of innovativeness growth over time, with the Summary Innovation Index (SII) methodology as a starting point. The considered issue can be expressed by the following main question: how to measure the innovation performance dynamics for a selected group of countries (such as the EU- 28, EU-15 or EU-13 countries) and for time intervals (not only for two moments of observations). This is an important inquiry since well-known innovativeness indices (SII, GII, or IOI) concentrate mainly on the provision of information about countries’ innovation performance for a specific year of observations. Due to this fact, changes occurring over longer time periods are rather neglected. The main result of the paper is a proposition of average innovativeness growth index. The index uses weights describing the employment share of a selected group of specialists (e.g.: scientists and engineers, research and development personnel) in relation to the economically active population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to determine the pace and directions of changes (understood as: improvement or deterioration) occurring in selected areas of sustainable development of EU Member States. The paper analyzes dynamics of changes in selected areas of sustainable development monitored on the basis of headline indicators published by Eurostat from 2008 to 2015. In the paper, three variants of reference points of synthetic measure of development were considered. On the basis of the obtained results, the countries in which the improvement in the sustainable development and its deterioration can be observed were identified. The results have confirmed the existence of significant developmental disparities between EU Member States in this field, but it should be noted that the obtained results depend on the methodological approach both to the selection of features and the adoption of a specific standardization formula, as well as the considered variants of reference points. The results obtained can be utilized in subsequent years to examine the directions of change observed both from the point of view of European Union as one organization, and the individual EU Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) is an entity in re-evolution in relation to the development of its human rights strategy. This paper will examine the EU's human rights advocacy in external relations in the context of normative power Europe (NPE), particularly in relation to the notion of the EU becoming a 'norm entrepreneur' with its revised human rights 'toolbox'. The promotion and protection of human rights is cited as being at the core of European values, together with democracy and the rule of law, having both an internal and external focus in rights promotion and protection. This paper endeavours to present an analysis of the EU as norm entrepreneur in the context of human rights advocate. In so doing, it will examine the question of EU visibility in terms of human rights promotion. In its external action, the EU has a number of 'tools' in its human rights toolbox. By applying a rights inclusion analysis to the tool of digital diplomacy in an Asian context, the question of EU as norm entrepreneur is seen to be driven by strategic interests and partnerships. This paper argues that the EU is an 'inadvertent' norm entrepreneur through its programmatic pursuit of being an entrepreneur for social good in its external action rather than norm diffusion as experienced in a European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of the paper is to identify the types of capitalism in the Eurasian transition economies in comparison with the other European countries and evaluate the influence of the recent global crisis on the institutional organization of these states. The paper uses cluster analysis for identifying the types of capitalism. The paper identifies 3 basic groups (core and periphery of the EEA and the other transition economies) and 10 sub-clusters in the European area. According to the results, only Estonia is at the same level as the core of the EEA, whilst the rest of the EU-8 economies and Montenegro with the Mediterranean economies comprise the periphery. In general, CEECs and EU Balkan States have higher quality institutional environment, but on the basis of the analysis of the selected indicators (economic growth, inflows of FDI and unemployment), these economies were impacted more by the recent global crisis than part of the Balkan and post-soviet countries in the clusters "2a" and "2c". For the losing economies, one can consider subcluster "2d" (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper deals with the idea that EU has to reformate as a result of the latest challenges, including the Brexit. A possible effect and opportunity from this can be a stronger position for the EU Balkan Member States. The analysis in the paper takes into consideration all Balkan economies, including candidate countries in order to obtain a general approach for the region. This approach is new because it puts together member and candidate members from a region, in the context of re-evaluating the EU, and leads to the idea of finding a regional leader able to generate regional progress and to support the region's interests in the European Institutions. The analysis covers five representative economic indicators (GDP growth rate, gross fixed capital formation, unemployment rate, inflation rate and general government gross debt) and is realized on three levels: a comparative analyses, a cluster analysis, and a cumulative analysis as well. Moreover, regression is used in order to point out the economic disparities across the region. The main conclusion of the analysis is that the great regional economic disparities can be decrease using common regional policies. Moreover, the analysis identifies a regional economic leader able to coordinate common initiatives at least on short and medium terms. The analysis and the conclusions in the paper are supported by the latest official statistic data, pertinent tables and diagrams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are struggling with internal and external macroeconomic and social factors in their catching-up strategies to be closer, as economic wealth, to the Western developed European countries. In these ex-communist countries, institutional factors could be seen as critical for success in narrowing the income gap. The paper proposes an analysis of the impact of economic and financial development and globalization on the income gap in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia) for the period of 1996 to 2019, taking into consideration institutional factors. The study analyses the variables: transition coefficient as a proxy for income gap, GDP per capita, KOF Financial Globalisation Index, Financial Development Index and World Bank Institutional Indicators in a panel approach methodology and estimation of FMOLS and DOLS equations. The paper's findings show that all considered factors have a significant contribution to the income gap in the examined period of time. Economic and financial development, as well as institutional quality, is positively associated with the closing income gap, while globalization has a negative influence. It is also revealed the direction of the causality relationship between the considered variables: from economic and financial development, globalization and institutional quality to the income gap. These findings suggest some policy recommendations in support of the continuation of the European integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's politicians, especially those who hold public offices, by the exercise of their duties, aim to govern on a local or regional level. Also, most of them, even if not all, claim that, the measures and policies they promote provide the citizens with good governance, on a state level, but also in regard to national/international structures. In this context, this paper aims to analyze the concept of "governance" and especially "good governance" by analyzing the opinions of doctrine; we will also analyze the similarities between "good governance" and "good administration" in the modern times, as well as the modern meaning of the term "good governance". We also wish to research if the concept of "good governance" is specific to politics and the public sector or if it is involved in other areas of activity, specific to every domain. On the other hand, we aim to analyze if the concept of "good governance" and that of "state of law" are intertwined in any way or if they are two independent concepts which identify different aspects of the modern state and the activity within a state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of International Relations / Medzinarodne Vztahy is the property of University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of International Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper empirically investigates the short and the long run impact of public debt on economic growth. We use annual data from both the central and the peripheral countries of the euro area (EA) for the 1961-2013 period and estimate a production function augmented with a debt stock term by applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. Our results suggest different patterns across the EA countries and tend to support the view that public debt always has a negative impact on the long-run performance of EA member states, whilst its short-run effect may be positive depending on the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research, development and innovation hold a prominent position in national economies and the public sector. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the role of public research in EU countries with focus on selected indicators of research and development (R&D). The area in focus is total R&D expenditures and public R&D expenditures in years 2010 and 2015. The author also strives to analyze other R&D indicators in EU countries, pointing out the similarities and differences in the particular countries. The analysis concentrates on not only the selected indicators of public R&D, but also a comprehensive evaluation and role of public research in EU countries. EU countries are evaluated on the basis of indicators of public R&D by means of factor analysis, cluster analysis and box-plot, divided into four clusters depending on internal similarity in 2015. The most marked differences were observed in indicators of public research (R&D public expenditures as % of total R&D expenditures, researchers in public sector as % of total researchers, number of publications per 1000 researchers in the public sector, number of citable publications per 1000 researchers in the public sector) in the first cluster in comparison to the third cluster. In case of the indicator H-index (per 1000 researchers in the public sector) the most marked differences were observed in most countries of the second cluster in comparison to countries of the fourth cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural R&D has been identified as an important determinant of economic output in the agricultural sector. Surprisingly, in previous studies, spatial spillover associated with R&D spending in the agricultural sector has not been taken into account. This paper investigates the effects of spatial spillover of agricultural R&D on regional economic growth across EU-28 NUTS-II regions in the period 1995-2014. In particular, we extend previous studies by considering spillover in all sectors of agricultural R&D performance including business enterprise, government and higher education. The spatial Durbin panel data model is employed to estimate brooders effect including direct and indirect effects. Empirical results show a positive effect of agricultural R&D and its spatial spillover on regional growth in all performance sectors. Moreover, the impact of spatial spillover of agricultural R&D on regional growth depends on the performance of the R&D sectors; positive spillovers are stronger in the business enterprise sector. Finally, the interaction effect between the economic output of the agricultural sector of each region with that of its neighbours is significantly positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores the broader setting of urban and economic development that links ports and cities in Europe and aims at enhancing our understanding of the port‐city interface. A relational view is taken for linking local developments and policies with overarching, more remote spheres of influence and impact, which can be considered both beneficial and critical for the port and the city. In order to illustrate the argument, a framework of three issues is applied to discuss the port‐city interface: first, the role of ports as economic engines of their wider region; second, the cruise ship industry as a market segment that re‐connects port and city; third, semi‐political bodies and institutions that play key roles as intermediaries and knowledge brokers. The paper finally discusses the implications of relationality for governing the port‐city interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe through innovation system foresight and systemic innovation approach to address key systemic issues of European Union (EU) Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) concerning the sustainable development and economic resilience: the authors highlight the need for a systemic approach to innovation policy for the sustainable islands’ growth.Design/methodology/approach This research focuses on a multiple case study of selected OCTs, members of the Association of the OCTs. Specifically, this paper illustrates the foresight approach implemented in six OCTs in the context of the Territorial Strategies for Innovation project funded by the 10th European Development Fund.Findings The focus is on innovation system foresight and systemic innovation: the authors argue that key innovation elements of the individual OCTs can be used as crucial components of an emerging innovation system while this specific type of foresight can assist the governments of respective OCTs in the selection and design of specific instruments in relation to the formulation of their innovation strategies and policies.Originality/value This paper is based on work undertaken by the Territorial Strategies for Innovation project team during a three-year period dedicated to supporting the governments of OCTs both in defining and in implementing their innovation strategies. Its main contribution is to develop the concept of innovation system foresight and systemic innovation for the OCTs. The work presented here is considered to be of value by highlighting specific innovation elements for achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in OCTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of the austerity measures that have been introduced in Greece since 2010 in the patterns of local governance, with a specific focus on the case of the Leader approach for rural development in the Greek region of Peloponnesus. It deploys mixed qualitative techniques in order to outline the changes in local governance capacity and autonomy that resulted from the implementation of the two Memorandums of Understanding and the mid-term Fiscal Strategy since 2010. The diminished local governance capacity and autonomy, and the significant trends towards recentralization are revealed. These are more profound in the case of the five Leader programmes implemented in the region of Peloponnesus. The conclusions drawn by the paper put into serious doubt the mainstream assumptions concerning the impact of austerity measures on the patterns of governance in Greece in general and on local governance in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the European Union’s (EU) economic governance framework as a key component and driver of the EU - Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Considerable measures to strengthen the EMU have been undertaken in recent years. In spite of this, its effectiveness in tackling challenges that might appear especially in times of crisis, is still called into question. The creation or reformation of institutions seems to be the most efficient manner in which the Eurozone can advance policies and mechanisms meant to stimulate economic growth. We have found that the major obstacles to more efficiency are two components: 1. the political dimension of the EU – or better said political interference of MS’s to protect their own interests; 2. weak EU leadership and vision – this, together with political interests, dilutes significantly the building of institutions, creation and enforcement of policies. Ultimately the question of improving effectiveness of EU economic governance lies in the EU’s ability to build a stronger foundation for its institutions. As a modern political and economic entity, subjugated to the MS’s, the EU must maintain a balance between state powers and institutional powers, a legal and democratically accountable system of governance, the enforcement and respect of law, whilst also protecting economic growth and the right for a better future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Economics / Economia Internazionale is the property of Camera di Commercio di Genova and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Economics of Agriculture / Ekonomika Poljoprivrede is the property of Institute of Agricultural Economics (IAE) / Belgrade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses reports within the issue on topics including economic development in the Netherlands, pension system design in the European Union, and private saving imbalances.

The article presents an editorial where the author discusses the economic implications of the elections in various countries in the European Union and also on the economic development in the U.S. and the European Union and the failure of globalization and the reasons for the failure and the migration policies.

Copyright of Economics of Agriculture / Ekonomika Poljoprivrede is the property of Institute of Agricultural Economics (IAE) / Belgrade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Local Action Groups (LAGs) represent a dynamic platform for inter-municipal cooperation in Europe. Their principal advantages include EU funding and the capacity to generate economic returns and stimulate the development of local communities. The methodology used for the evaluation of the performance of LAGs is defined by the EU on the one hand and by national authorities on the other. Furthermore, there are an entire array of evaluation tools and academic experiments available. The present paper does not aim at a comprehensive evaluation of LAGs, but instead only examines the technical efficiency of LAGs. Using the Czech Republic as an example, the paper introduces an evaluation tool to measure the technical efficiency of LAGs and describes how it can be applied. The adoption of this tool is seen as a means of improving one of the parameters of the performance of LAGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last year, a central issue in regional economic growth debate has been represented by the empirical analysis of Verdoorn's law related to the long-term dynamic relationship between the rate of growth in output and the productivity growth due to increasing returns. Several papers have tested Verdoorn's law on European countries as well as many other world economies. Recently, attempts have been made to provide foundations for a spatial version of the original law specification. The main contributions were dedicated to the inclusion of spatial dependence in the economic model. Surprisingly, in the literature on Verdoom's law the analysis of the spatial heterogeneity is not often considered. The aim of this paper is the regional analysis of the spatial dependence and heterogeneity in Verdoorn's law, identifying spatial regimes that can be interpreted as clusters of productivity growth in European regions at NUTS 2 level. To pursue this objective, an optimization algorithm for the identification of groups is used. This constitutes a modified version of Simulated Annealing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the environmental Kuznets curve relationship between greenhouse gases and chosen indicators of economic development based on the panel data of 20 countries of the EU in the period 2006–2013. Besides the typical variables, such as the share of a particular polluting industry, environmental taxes, energy taxes, research and development, the dummy variable of the crises and enterprise’s sustainability score were also included in the model. The fixed effect panel model was used as a framework for the analysis. The original contribution of this paper is that the factor referring to the enterprises’ sustainability was empirically tested in the expanded model. Higher energy taxes, research and development and the number of sustainable enterprises decrease the level of greenhouse gases. The size of agriculture, production and construction has a positive sign, which means that a higher value of the indicator is associated with a higher level of greenhouse gases. This implies that the analysed set of factors can be applied to adjust the trend in the region and might be useful for the climate change policy adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Socio-economic development of EU countries has been and remains a constant concern of specialists in the field in recent years, reflected in a country's welfare analysis by socio-economic factors. The study shows that while some European Union countries have a high level of GDP, it lags behind other countries if we consider other indicators showing the level of socio-economic development. The paper evaluated and compared disparities between the 28 EU countries based on a set of indicators that combine relevant economic and social data. The indicators used in research provide insight into three key areas for sustainable development- economic development, innovation, competitiveness and employment. The method used is that of real rank, resulting in a ranking of them according to the importance given to each indicator in terms of information content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed at answering the question of whether absolute income (GDP per capita) beta-convergence exists in the case of regions in new EU Member States before the period of 2000-2008 and during the 2008-2011 crisis. The sample consists of 211 regions (NUTS 3-level) of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. The research is based on econometric models, namely on the spatial lagged model (SLM), the spatial error model (SEM) and the Durbin spatial model which contrary to the ordinary least squares the (OLS) model include possible spatial dependencies. The SLM and SEM models as well as the Durbin spatial model detect the absolute income beta-convergence on the level of about 1% during the years 2000-2008. Additionally, models do not confirm the existence of absolute income beta-convergence during the crisis of 2008-2011. SLM models (which offer the most reliable findings) find a spatial correlation (measured by the rho-parameter) at a level of 0.75 during 2000-2008 and 0.35 during 2008-2011. Thus, absolute income beta-convergence in the case of NUTS 3 regions in 10 new EU Member States existed only in the pre-crisis period and this period is characterized by much stronger spatial dependencies than the period of 2008-2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the economic polarization in countries of the EU at NUTS 2 level in the years 2007-2012. The studies have to decide on positive or negative verification of the hypothesis, which states that the economic crisis of 2008-2013 had an influence on rising economic polarization in EU countries. The method used in this article is an application of some measures of economic polarization and inequality of income distribution. The carried out research did not allow for the positive verification of the hypothesis. Only in a few countries did the economic crisis have an influence on a reduction of the middle class. In most cases the economic collapse did not play any role in the raising of the economic polarization index. The statistical data used in this paper was taken from the following databases: Statistical Yearbook of the Regions - Poland from 2009 to 2013 and Eurostat - Regional statistics by NUTS classification*. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Th e paper assesses the competitiveness of agriculture of 27 countries of the European Union in the years 2009- 2011. Due to the complexity of the phenomenon of competitiveness, a wide range of variables was adopted to evaluate it - including the relationship between the production factors, productivity, and the importance of agriculture in the international trade. Based on the evaluation criteria chosen for the competitiveness assessment and using the TOPSIS method, a synthetic measure of the studied phenomenon was constructed and then divided into four groups of countries similar in terms of the level of competitiveness of agriculture. Th e diff erence between the value of the synthetic measure of the country with the highest level of competitiveness of agriculture (Netherlands) and the country least competitive in this regard (Slovenia) was 3.5-fold. In addition to the Netherlands, there were classified also France, Germany, Denmark and Belgium in the fi rst group, so the countries with high levels of the socio-economic development. In the second group, there were seven countries: Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Cyprus, Austria, Ireland and Luxembourg. Th erefore, the fi rst two groups are formed by the countries belonging to the so-called "Old 15" (except Cyprus). Th e last two groups are formed primarily by the countries that joined the European Union in 2004 or later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nexus between political instability and economic growth in 10 CEE countries in transition in the period 1990-2009. Our results support the contention that political instability defined as a propensity for government change had a negative impact on growth. On the other hand, there was no causality in the opposite direction. A sensitivity analysis based on the application of a few hundred different variants of the initial econometric model confirmed the abovementioned findings only in the case where major government changes were applied to the definition of political instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper interprets the growth experience of three Western European countries (France, Germany and the UK) and three Central-Eastern European economies (the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland) through the lens of the neoclassical growth model. It combines the methodologies of Development Accounting (Caselli, F. 2005. "Accounting for Cross-Country Income Differences." In Handbook of Economic Growth, Chapter 9, 679-741.) and Business Cycle Accounting (Chari, V. V., P. J. Kehoe, and E. R. McGrattan. 2007. "Business Cycle Accounting." Econometrica 75 (3): 781-836.) to calculate distortions - "wedges" - in production efficiency, and in the labor and capital markets. The exercise sheds light on the extent and evolution of factor market distortions between 1996 and 2009. The main result of the paper is that capital and labor market distortions do not explain income differences across the two country groups, but are important to understand income differences within groups. In addition, observed labor and capital taxes are related to the measured wedges, but significant unexplained components remain. Reducing labor and capital market distortions would lead to significant output gains in all countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the relationship between the social factors and the economic growth. A summary of social and economic environment is presented for Romania. As such, the paper analyzes the global evolution of social and economic environment over time and establishes a direct correlation between human development and economic welfare. An econometric model and a clustering model are tested for European Union countries. The results of the paper reveal the social factors that are positively correlated with the economic growth (i.e. the expected years of schooling and the life expectancy) and, respectively, the factors that are negatively correlated with the economic growth (i.e. the population at risk of poverty and the unemployment rate). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have established the predictive power of the yield curve in terms of real economic activity. In this paper we use data for a variety of E.U. countries: both EMU (Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain) and non-EMU members (Norway, Sweden and the U.K.). The data used range from 1991:Q1 to 2009:Q3. For each country, we extract the long run trend and the cyclical component of real economic activity, while the corresponding ECB euro area government benchmark bond interest rates of long and short term maturities are used for the calculation of the yield spreads. We also augment the models tested with non monetary policy variables: the respective unemployment rates and stock indices. The methodology employed in the effort to forecast real output, is a probit model of the inverse cumulative distribution function of the standard distribution, using several formal forecasting and goodness of fit evaluation criteria. The results show that the yield curve augmented with the non-monetary variables has significant forecasting power in terms of real economic activity but the results differ qualitatively between the individual economies examined raising non-trivial policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional development agencies (RDAs) have been established in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, where the development of economically underdeveloped areas primarily targeted the federal republics and autonomous provinces. The role of RDAs has been underpinned by the EU due to significance of the cohesion policy for new EU member states (Slovenia and Croatia), the process of association and negotiations on regional policy and the coordination of structural instruments for candidate and potential candidate countries. The paper elaborates on whether and to what extent the RDAs are expected to enhance national administrative capacities for programming, coordination and implementation of financial assistance. On the basis of a normative analysis of policy documents, relevant legislation and desk-research of the core competences and activities of the RDAs, the paper aims to portray the institutional arrangements for regional development, in particular the role of RDAs in the promotion of productivity and growth. Although regional partnerships have emerged as new collaborative governance structures, the principle of partnership is not fully respected as a result of strong centralization, the multitude of actors with overlapping roles and the underdeveloped systemic communication with stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to appoint the causality between economic activity in the sector of distributive trade and the economic growth of 28 European Union nations. Specifically, it examines the impact of changes in turnover per employee in the distributive trade sector in EU member states on the tangible economic growth rate. The determination to adopt this approach stems from the fact that existing studies mainly explore indirect relationship between economic activities in distributive trade and economic development, with less focus on the direct impact of distributive trade on economic growth. The paper utilizes information for the period from 2008 to 2015. The research relies on multiple regression model, with the Hausman test its robustness. The results indicate that a hike in turnover per employee in the distributive trade sector by 10 euros per year in one EU member state increases its real economic growth rate by 0.15% in that same year. The significance of the made results is reflected in the fact that the survey takes into account the last economic crisis, and highlights negative effects of final consumption expenditure of general government % GDP on the tangible economic growth rate in EU member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the emigration flows from Croatia and other new EU member states to the core EU countries after their EU accession. In order to assess the magnitude and dynamics of the recent emigration wave properly, we construct the series of indirect emigration flows, resorting to the national statistical offices of the selected core EU destination countries. We compare the Croatian experience with that of other NMS and show that the intensity of Croatia's emigration flows after EU accession is proportional to that of the Romanian and Bulgarian cases. Finally, we empirically analyze the economic and non-economic drivers of emigration from NMS to the core EU in the 2000-2016 period. Results show that both economic (measured by different GDP and labour market indicators) and noneconomic factors (capturing the EU accession, the level of corruption in the economy and demographic characteristics of the origin country population) are relevant for emigration decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of human capital on the process of innovation and technology catch-up in European Union countries. Based on the framework proposed by Benhabib and Spiegel (in: Aghion and Durlauf (eds) Handbook of economic growth, 1A, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 2005), a panel data model is estimated from 1950 to 2011 using the improved total factor productivity and human capital variables included in PWT 8.0. Following Vandenbussche et al. (J Econ Growth 11(2):97-127, 2006) we also analyse the differential impact of skilled and unskilled human capital on growth. The empirical analysis applies instrumental variables panel data methods which resolve the endogeneity bias. Our results show robust evidence of the significant direct and indirect effects of human capital on the process of total factor productivity (TFP henceforth) growth in euro area countries. When we analyse the impact of different kinds of human capital on different ways of increasing TFP we conclude that, regardless of academic level, the quantity of unskilled human capital boosts imitation in EU countries while, by contrast, highly qualified human capital is essential for growth through innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) has introduced a price for carbon, thus generating an additional cost for companies that are regulated by the scheme. The objective of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the effect of the EU ETS on firm-level economic performance. There is a growing body of empirical literature that investigates the effects of the EU ETS on firm economic performance, with mixed results. Differently from the previous literature, we test the effect of the EU ETS on a larger set of indicators of economic performance: employment, average wages, turnover, value added, markup, investment, labour productivity, total factor productivity and ROI. Our results, based on a large panel of European firms, provide a broad picture of the economic impact of the EU ETS in its first and second phases of implementation. Contrarily to the expectations, the EU ETS did not affect economic performance negatively. Results suggest that firms have reacted to the EU ETS by passing-through costs to their customers on the one hand and improving labour productivity on the other hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial integration contributes to the development of the financial system by increasing competition, increasing stability, and the efficiency of financial intermediation, resulting in lower intermediation costs and a more efficient capital allocation. Financial integration increases the depth and liquidity of financial markets and thus enhances the resilience of the European financial system. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of European financial integration on economic growth using the factors through which financial integration affects growth. Thus will be seen which of these factors had a significant impact on economic growth in the EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing dominance of neoliberalism as the key steering mechanism of the European Union (EU) since the early 1990s has implied the competitiveness-oriented reshaping of cohesion policy. The aim of this paper is to initiate a debate from a critical political economic perspective on the implications of this shift for Central Eastern European (CEE) member states. To this end, the paper discusses the formation of EU centre-periphery relations from a CEE point of view and formulates some preliminary suggestions as to how cohesion policy would need to be rethought in order to ensure the better integration of lagging CEE regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient use of market-based policy instruments is an area of increasing importance as scholars and policymakers work to balance effective climate policy with economic growth. Carbon allowances and carbon offsets, despite being statutorily substitutable, behave in practice like imperfect substitutes. This paper provides a synthesis of extant work, market data and the regulatory frameworks of the world’s major carbon markets, and provides a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of demand for carbon offsets. It also provides a detailed assessment of the process through which international carbon offsets are produced, the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism. Demand for carbon offsets is heavily influenced by key programme design parameters that are specific to carbon market design and its implementation. These design parameters heavily influence the degree to which transaction costs, regulatory uncertainty and risk factor into the decisions of firms operating within the carbon trading programme. This paper also identifies key extra-statutory drivers that are outside of the policymaker’s control, which should be considered in both the policy design and the implementation process. This paper provides an instructive set of guiding criteria for policymakers and scholars for the design of future market-based environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Macroeconomic stabilization of every country depends largely upon the conduct of appropriate economic policy, which comprises both fiscal and monetary policy; therefore, it is of great importance to choose the most adequate and productive ones. Many countries across the board have employed monetary policy in their attempt to ease the consequences of economic crises in the aftermath of global financial meltdown, and in the search for sustainable economic development. This paper was confined to the monetary policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina specifically, and its aim was to address the current Currency Board Regime along with the available monetary policy instruments and to determine whether an opportunity for the improvement of economic growth and consequently economic development lies within it. The importance of Central Bank was stressed out, as it represents the anchor of the monetary system. The paper comprises the analysis of the implemented CBR, its brief history, monetary policy instruments available and its consequences on the economy of B&H and based on that, the recommendations for exit-strategy which, ceteris paribus, represent a key to achieving higher levels of development. The economic indicators suggested that macroeconomic performance under CBA is not advantageous for B&H; therefore, it is thought that abandoning the arrangement either by joining the EMU or by making the Central Bank more independent is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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