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Purpose This paper aims to investigate the long-term relationships of long-term European Monetary Union (EMU) government bond yields. From an asset managers’ or risk managers’ perspective during the euro crisis, the relevance of sovereign credit and redenomination risk became a major issue. Furthermore, it has to be differentiated between core and non-core EMU member countries.Design/methodology/approach Methods of applied time series analysis are used to investigate EMU government bond yields and EMU government bond yield spreads for Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Austria and Germany. Both standard unit root testing procedures and breakpoint unit root tests are used to examine cointegrating relationships and structural changes in these relationships.Findings The empirical results deliver clear evidence for structural shifts in the long-term relationship between German and the two non-core EMU countries (Italy and Spain). The timing of the breaks coincides with the timing of the euro crisis. On the contrary, the results for Austria and The Netherlands are different from the findings for the two non-core countries.Research limitations/implications One major limitation of the study is the limited availability of data regarding to the reaction of asset managers or risk managers to the euro crisis. Especially in the context of the discussion with regard to the relevant risk-free rate for investors, this strand of research is relatively new.Practical implications A deeper understanding of changes in the long-term relationship between government bond yields and the re-emergence of redenomination risk is important for asset managers and risk managers in the financial services industry. This is especially true for German life insurers.Originality/value The study provides various empirical contributions to the literature on the euro crisis and sovereign credit risk. First, previous results with regard to the structural changes in the long-term relationship between German and Spanish, German and Italian, German and Austrian as well as Germany and Dutch government bond yields are confirmed using unit root breakpoint tests. Second, investigating the autoregressive coefficient and the timing of the breaks delivers evidence that non-core countries have been more exposed to the fear of redenomination risk. Third, we raise the question which risk free interest rate is relevant for the affected countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we compare several types of economic dependency ratios for a selection of European countries. These dependency ratios take into account not only the demographic structure of the population, but also the differences in age-specific economic behaviour such as labour market activity, income and consumption as well as age-specific public transfers. In selected simulations where we combine patterns of age-specific economic behaviour and transfers with population projections, we show that in all countries population ageing would lead to a pronounced increase in dependency ratios if present age-specific patterns were not to change. Our analysis of cross-country differences in economic dependency demonstrates that these differences are driven by both differences in age-specific economic behaviour and in the age composition of the populations. The choice of which dependency ratio to use in a specific policy context is determined by the nature of the question to be answered. The comparison of our various dependency ratios across countries gives insights into which strategies might be effective in mitigating the expected increase in economic dependency due to demographic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the relationship between (i) house prices and (ii) local green public goods. The main objective of the paper is to analyse a specific house-pricing mechanism which reflects the utility of being Green Offline, i.e. having access to green areas, versus the utility derived from the ability to be Green Online. The focus will be on data from European Union countries, and in particular Germany. Our results show that on an aggregate level for the EU there appears to be a clear indication for an irrational house-pricing mechanism, ignoring the negative trade-off effect from Green Online and Green Offline public investments (goods and assets). Meanwhile, on an individual level, for the case of Germany, more detailed bounded rationality effects of fashion-driven supply on house pricing are observed, positively related to Green Online values but negatively related to high Green Offline preferences. In conclusion, we find that house prices throughout Europe do not reflect a rational social change in green preferences, but tend to irrationally overprice Green Online values, which may create instability on the local housing market in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Closing the gender gap in the labour market is one of the main goals of European Union and part of a wider effort to eliminate social inequalities. In recent decades, all developed countries have suffered a deep global economic crisis, that has increased social and economic inequalities. In Europe, the crisis involved problems of European stability and growth, but the crisis did not affect the euro-area countries to the same extent, and the consequences and recovery were correspondingly asymmetrical. In this paper, we analyse the changes that occurred in the gender gap in the European labour markets from 2007 to 2012 to understand if the recession has further increased or reduced the gender differentials. At this aim, we combine the use of two different statistical methodologies. Through the composite indicator methodology, we test how the rank of countries in relation to gender equality has changed in these years. In addition, the Dynamic Factor Analysis allows us to identify the factors that drive these changes. Moreover, the contextual analysis of the measures that were utilized to face the crisis could give policy makers some useful suggestions on the most efficacious actions to take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the technical and economical evaluation of the application of a reconfiguration system for photovoltaic (PV) plants, considering the incentives system in some European Union countries. The reconfiguration system is an alternative to the distributed maximum power point tracking technique which used to increase the power production in the PV plants under the mismatch phenomenon. The reconfiguration techniques employ a microprocessor-based or field-programmable gate array-based system that modifies the layout of the PV plant through the change of the connections among modules. After having presented the main features working of the PV reconfiguration system allowing the improvement of the efficiency of the same plant and the relevant installation, the main strength and weakness points of the investment are evidenced in relation to different incentives policies in some country of UE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Adequate performance assessment benefits from the use of disaggregated data to allow a proper evaluation of health systems. Since routinely collected data are usually not disaggregated enough to allow stratified analyses of healthcare needs, utilisation, cost and quality across different sectors, international research projects could fill this gap by exploring means to data collection or even providing individual-level data. The aim of this paper is therefore to (1) study the availability and accessibility of relevant European-funded health projects, and (2) to analyse their contents and methodologies.Methods: The European Commission Public Health Projects Database and CORDIS were searched for eligible projects, which were then analysed by information openly available online.Results: Overall, only a few of the 39 identified projects produced data useful for proper performance assessment, due to, for example, lacking available or accessible data, or poor linkage of health status to costs and patient experiences. Other problems were insufficient databases to identify projects and poor communication of project contents and results.Conclusions: A new approach is necessary to improve accessibility to and coverage of data on outcomes, quality and costs of health systems enabling decision-makers and health professionals to properly assess performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a spatially explicit method for making regional estimates of the potential for biogas production from crop residues and manure, accounting for key technical, biochemical, environmental and economic constraints. Methods for making such estimates are important as biofuels from agricultural residues are receiving increasing policy support from the EU and major biogas producers, such as Germany and Italy, in response to concerns over unintended negative environmental and social impacts of conventional biofuels. This analysis comprises a spatially explicit estimate of crop residue and manure production for the EU at 250 m resolution, and a biogas production model accounting for local constraints such as the sustainable removal of residues, transportation of substrates, and the substrates’ biochemical suitability for anaerobic digestion. In our base scenario, the EU biogas production potential from crop residues and manure is about 0.7 EJ/year, nearly double the current EU production of biogas from agricultural substrates, most of which does not come from residues or manure. An extensive sensitivity analysis of the model shows that the potential could easily be 50% higher or lower, depending on the stringency of economic, technical and biochemical constraints. We find that the potential is particularly sensitive to constraints on the substrate mixtures’ carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and dry matter concentration. Hence, the potential to produce biogas from crop residues and manure in the EU depends to large extent on the possibility to overcome the challenges associated with these substrates, either by complementing them with suitable co-substrates (e.g. household waste and energy crops), or through further development of biogas technology (e.g. pretreatment of substrates and recirculation of effluent). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the nuclear accident in Fukushima the European electricity economy has been in transition. The ongoing shut down of nuclear power plants and the widespread installation of wind power and photovoltaic generation capacities, especially in Germany, has led to a high share of intermittent renewable electricity production. This high amount of generation with very little variable cost has led to a significant decline of the prices at the European energy exchange. This has meant that many thermal power plants are no longer able to work economically and have already been shut down, although they would be needed in times of high demands and as backup capacities. Therefore, a redesign of the European electricity market is needed and in order to find out the right characteristics and effects of such a redesign pre-investigations based on simulation models are reasonable. This paper introduces ATLANTIS, which is a simulation model of the European electricity economy and covers technical as well as economic and environmental issues and allows the calculation of different scenarios up to 2050 and even beyond regarding the specific characteristics of the electricity economy. After a comprehensive introduction of the model some example applications and an outlook are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Marketing (0354-3471) is the property of SEMA - Srpsko udruzenje za Marketing i Ekonomski fakultet Beograd 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 article discusses the aspects of a study that examined the current account (CA) and real effective exchange rate (REER) misalignments in Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union between 2004-2014 using the International Monetary Fund Consultative Group on Exchange Rate Issues standard. The aspects are the measurement of equilibrium REER, the identification of CA determinants and the combinations of the determinants and possible misalignments of REER and CA.

The paper examines the causal relation between the stock markets development and economic growth in the EU countries. In particular, the nature and causality direction is investigated. Panel data techniques including cointegration tests, vector error correction models and Granger causality tests were applied to indicate the nature and direction of causality. Long-run effects of the economic growth upon stock market development was detected in the sample of the Euro area member countries. In addition, the short-run mutual relations between growth and stock markets were indicated in that country-sample. In the non-Euro area countries, only short-run impact of the stock market development upon economic growth was found. The empirical findings bring up implications for macroeconomic stabilization and development policies. The indicated relations also play a role in predicting economic growth and stock markets' development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reverses the relatively frequent examined interrelation that links an impact of the public sector (and within it the general government sector) on the economy of the analyzed countries. The article analyses whether the size of the general government sector is a function of the economy expressed through variables that were adopted for research. Realization of the research objective that was raised in this article focused on typing, grouping and selecting variables that describe respectively: the economy and the size of the sector. For identifying relationships between variables assigned to each group, the LEM2 algorithm was used. Rules that were generated by the application of this algorithm provided not only information about the relationships of individual variables, but also provided an indication of how frequently they occurred in relation to the examined pairs of variables describing the economy and the size of the general government sector. The subject of research was EU Member States (their economy and public finance systems) and the research period was set on the years 2000 to 2013 (inclusive). Among the economic variables and variables describing the size of the sector, there were included both standard variables used in the analyzes dedicated to macroeconomic issues as well as variables that the authors' team selected in order to test their applicability in describing the economy and the size of the general government sector. Such a composition of the variables is well-founded as, besides the main objective of this article (i.e. to establish a link between the economic situation and size of the general government sector) the additional effect of research, and that is the optimization of the selected variables that are used to explain the relationship of the economy and the size of the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important driver of change in work, employment and skills is European Union policy aims of sustainable economic growth and the cultivation of a green economy. Part of the latter – which is supported by increasing environmental regulation – focuses on the development of a ‘green skills agenda’, which involves the ‘greening’ of existing occupations as well as meeting the skill needs of new environmental sectors and occupations. In this paper, we compare attempts to ‘green’ work and skills through an examination of engineering apprenticeships within the German and British steel industries. We argue that efforts to ‘green’ skills are taking place at varying degrees of intensity, mostly because of variations in institutional context. The evidence we present suggests that implementation of change is much more dynamic in the context of Coordinated Market Economies such as Germany, where development is shaped by robust VET frameworks and wider processes of environmental innovation. In contrast, within Liberal Market Economies such as the UK, there are significant barriers to the vision for and investments in skills generally, as well as those necessary for greening the labour process, with an extant development paradigm that is driven by short-term benefits and a limited focus on environmental compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the Global Financial Crisis the frequency of reported losses of companies has increased significantly in countries of the European Union. Moreover, the fi nancial leverage of companies have increased and even exceeded 100% in several countries. The reason of this development is negative equity that companies find themselves to report. At first sight negative equities are caused by accumulated losses from prior periods. However, there are some other reasons that can result in increasing negative equities in companies. They remain adequate as long as a company is able to pay its bills. Nevertheless, a company with negative equity is exposed to risks. This paper investigates whether the corporate negative equity is a sign of the future failure of a company. We examine nonfi nancial manufactured companies from selected countries of the European Union within the period 2005-2012 from database Amadeus (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Germany). By the means of comparison between negative and positive equities we applied descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis. We find that in all surveyed countries the size positively influences the equity of companies. Other factors as profitability and growth opportunities do not influence the corporate equity. In addition the binary logistic regression analysis has been conducted based on the evidence from Czech companies. Our results indicate that negative equities are not a sign of bankruptcy or insolvency of a company. But the low profitability or low business activities (that are predictors of bankruptcy) might lead to negative equities in the balance sheet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of Europe and of the European Union (EU) has changed significantly after the Cold War. These shifts continued in the 21st century, as the EU is a continuously altering establishment, posing the question: Where does the EU stand today? How was it characterized in the international system by its policy-making and diplomatic means at the end of the Cold War and at the beginning of the 1990s? And how has it changed over the years? The topic of cooperation and competition seems to be a 'never-ending story' in international politics and in the field of international relations. This paper tries to find the answer whether the EU stands against or works together with other actors in the international arena, and also summarizes the main cornerstones and principles of the European diplomacy in the globalized world from the end of the Cold War to today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Third-country immigrants are over-represented among lower status workers in all EU countries and rarely achieve upward mobility. The present paper aims to analyse the migration trajectories of foreign-born women who entered the Italian labour market as domestic workers, in order to assess the role of personal and group characteristics in determining the chances of leaving this sector. The data were collected as part of a project studying the working trajectories of migrants in Italy. The survey was conducted during 2009 on 13,000 migrants aged 18 and over, living in Italy at the time of the interview and born in high emigration countries. We used a piecewise exponential model with random intercept for citizenship with time measured from the beginning of the person's first domestic work in Italy. Our results show low exit rates from the domestic sector but we identify personal and group characteristics which facilitate exit from this segment of the labour market. Employment experience, including unskilled, has a positive effect on the transition in the host country, as do education achieved in the country of origin and higher levels of tasks and duties in the last job held in the country of origin, whereas ethnic networks limit access to other occupations. The aims of the women's migration project include a strong emphasis on occupational mobility, whether they migrate for work or for family reasons. Finally, we find evidence of the existence of a 'U-shaped' pattern in occupational mobility for this particular subpopulation of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that examined the current account and real effective exchange rate (REER) misalignments in Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union between 2004-2014 using the International Monetary Fund Consultative Group on Exchange Rate Issues standard. The researchers also assessed the different methodologies that consist the standard, including Macroeconomic Balance and External Sustainability, to calculate the REER misalignments.

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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to assess how the recent financial and economic crisis has affected European Union (EU) member states’ ability to attract intellectual capital. The issue was found to be relevant, as one of the key elements of competitiveness today is the ability to attract intellectual capital and the question how the recent financial and economic crisis has changed this ability of EU member states can be asked. The question is relevant in relation to the diversity of effects that the crisis had on EU member states, including, the different levels of real economy adjustment constraints. Design/methodology/approach – The concept of competitiveness applied by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in constructing the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) was used. Based on selected WEF GCI sub-indicators and the WEF’s methodology, we a new index named “Ability to attract intellectual capital” was generated. EU member states’ performance was compared along this indicator for the 2007-2008 (pre-crisis) and the 2013-2014 (post-crisis) periods. In this way, EU member states can be ranked before and after the crisis; their performance can be compared in the two periods, relatively to each other, and in relation to their performance along other relevant indices. Findings – The findings show interesting results. First, many peripheral EU member states, deeply affected by the crisis, could considerably improve their relative positions between 2007 and 2013. Second, the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries show a rather mixed picture, drawing up rather different individual development paths. Third, the advancements in some countries do not imply that overall convergence is proceeding in the EU. Nevertheless, some countries have not wasted the “good” crisis to take those steps of structural reform. Research limitations/implications – Because we only look at two time periods (pre-and post-crisis), the authors are not able to describe the processes that were going on in the EU member states during the years of the crisis; the results can only show the difference between the two periods. Furthermore, there may be other methodological approaches to countries’ abilities to attract intellectual capital that may bring results different from this study’s results. For the countries who, according to our investigations, could improve these abilities, enhanced competitiveness is likely to occur in a few years’ time. Practical implications – For those countries aiming at improving their abilities to attract intellectual capital, or for EU policy design, this research may provide useful results. Moreover, not only this study’s results but also the methodology can be used by others, for other purposes: to compare different years, different sets of countries included in the WEF GCI or even along different dimensions. Social implications – This study’s research findings, the authors believe, will help EU member states and the EU as a whole in getting to know their abilities to attract intellectual capital better. In the introductory part of this paper, the aim was also to collect arguments from the economic theory to explain why such abilities are crucial for future competitiveness of countries. Originality/value – The methodology that was used is the adoption of WEF methodology, and the data are from the WEF GCI dataset. However, to the authors’s knowledge, no other research work has applied this methodology on this set of WEF GCI sub-indicators, with such purposes as to compare EU member states’ abilities to attract intellectual capital before and after the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Financial & Credit Activity: Problems of Theory & Practice is the property of University of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine 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 creation of the European Union was led by the processes of economic integration, in which the European countries promote the economic cooperation, first, by sectorial liberalization of certain products and by establishment of free trade zones, up to the unification of the economic and monetary policies and the establishment of the economic and monetary union. The crucial factor on the road towards higher stages of economic integration, which have allowed building of a common economic policies and deepening the process of economic integration, was the establishment of a customs union. Due to the customs union the application of numerous economic policies, including the excise policy, was made possible, thus creating equal economic conditions for all European business organizations of the single market. In this context, and in order to establish the expected effects of Macedonia's membership in the EU in terms of changes in the excise system, this paper studies the forms of economic integration and economic benefits of their creation, the excise system and excise policy the EU, as well as the expected effects of the adjustment of the excise system of the Republic of Macedonia with EU directives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active labor market policies (ALMP) are often used to assist in structural adjustment, including change to information society, and to prevent the jobless from getting ensnared in long-term unemployment. ALMPs can help reduce dependency on public transfers, especially in recent years when countries have struggled maintaining financial sustainability due to the global financial crisis and large public debt, by assisting workers in finding jobs. The main types of ALMPs have different ways of accomplishing the same objectives, chief among those reducing unemployment. As a result, ALMPs are frequently costly. There are two measures to determine the importance of ALMPs at the macro level: 1) the number of workers in an ALMP program as a share of the labor force; and 2) the public expenditures on ALMPs as a percentage of GDP. This paper will focus on the second measure, public expenditures on ALMPs as a percentage of GDP, to examine the importance of ALMPs in Romania, the financial sustainability of the public policies, and attempt to empirically illustrate how they impact the labor market. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy issues associated with ALMPs in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews effects of exchange rate regime's choice for adjustments processes in current accounts (CA) in the Central and Eastern Europe countries between 2008-2012. During the period of global financial crisis, Poland may be treated as a handbook example of the reaction of floating exchange rate to shock and adjustments in the form of expenditure switching. However, the Polish experience is not typical among the Central and Eastern Europe countries. There is no evidence for the positive role of floating exchange rate in macroeconomic adjustments after the crisis in Central and Eastern Europe countries which belong to EU. The adjustments in the countries with fixed regimes were fast and deep. The real exchange rate decreased and export, CA and goods and services balance improved, development distance against EU countries was reduced. However, the experience of Baltic countries, which have internal devaluation, should be very carefully conveyed to other countries. [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 global competition compelled companies to look for flexibility and cost-reduction (Antalik-Juhász-Poór, 2014). The support of small- and medium sized enterprises (SME) is a central element of the European Union (EU) policies, because SME are meaningful for the prosperity of the European Union´s economy. Furthermore SMEs fulfil the needs of local markets (Bencsik-Juhász, 2014). A central goal is to support entrepreneurship and to design a best possible business environment for SME. The policies and hence the decision on the financial support measures are built on a definition of SME by the EU. However, the current definition seems to be insufficient or not flexible enough. The "Mittelstand" is a specific German economic and social definition approach; the support of it is an elementary goal of several German state subsidy programs. The example of the German "Mittelstand" shows, that there is a gap between the EU definition and the business reality. As a result companies of the "Mittelstand" might not be considered as SME and could therefore not apply successfully for financial support. This paper tries to give an overview about the basic elements and intentions as well as measures of the European Union to support SME. Thus it tries to shed some light on the definition gaps by describing exemplarily the German "Mittelstand" as a specific phenomenon and its definition. By these theoretical bases it aims to pave the way for further research and empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large IT (Information Technology) companies propose cloud government's (G-Cloud) development model through investment from the private sector, which will facilitate the access of users from public sector to the new generation IT services. Through the G-Cloud private operators that operate governmental cloud infrastructure by adding specific SaaS (Software as a Service) functionalities, proposed model by big companies, supports public institutions in optimizing costs and increased operational efficiency, bringing tangible benefits in relation with citizens and thus with the whole society. These optimizations are achieved by moving the initial investment to the private sector, through type subscription model cost by eliminating dependency on human factors (technical) and by providing a low cost [1]. This paper aims to bring to the attention of specialists, some aspects of Governmental Cloud from the European Union (EU) countries to be understood and implemented in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For quite some time a profound preoccupation for many economists, politicians, environmentalists, sociologists or philosophers looking towards the coming decades consisted in searching for a new paradigm of development and growth that is feasible within the given limits of planet Earth. There are already widely accepted concepts like "sustainable development" or "low-carbon economy" that seem right but not enough. Such concepts seem to address the effects and not the causes. In this paper we analyze a broader approach that places human activity into a long term historical perspective, namely the circular economy. This new development paradigm, supported by the European Union, is, in fact, an "old" one moved upwards on a dialectical spiral so that it connects and resonates with the spirit and realities of our times. The conclusions reflect optimism concerning the success in large scale implementation of the circular economy concept in the European Union and worldwide and thus in taking advantage of opportunities rather than wasting resources by opposing the ineluctable changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis presented in this paper emphasize the applicability and the limitation of Investment Development Path (IDP) theory, taking into account the results of empirical studies that underlined the differences between the "narrow" and the "broad" version of the IDP framework. We analyse both in a static and dynamic manner, the specific indicators, respectively Gross Domestic Product per capita at PPP and Net Outward Investment /capita for the years 2005 and 2011, in the case of EU countries. The results of the analysis carried out for 27 Member States of the European Union demonstrate that the "narrow" version of the IDP is rather indicative, as the net outward investment position is not always accurately related to the level of economic development. Consequently, as some of the IDP theorists revealed, in order to analyse the relationship between foreign direct investment and economic development it is important to measure the quality of FDI received by a country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of income poverty in European countries have been extensively analysed using the ECHP dataset, run from 1994 to 2001 in the ‘old’ fifteen member states. Using EU-SILC longitudinal data, the purpose of this paper is to update this type of analysis to 2006 by including the ‘new’ EU member states and focusing on poverty mobility. The demographic and economic events associated with households falling into or exiting poverty are analysed through both descriptive analyses and logit regressions. The analysis compares six groups of countries clustered according to welfare regime typologies. The results reveal that most poverty transitions are associated with economic events, but the entry rates after the occurrence of demographic events are also crucial. With respect to poverty entry rates, differences among groups of countries are consistent with their welfare regime typologies, but a less clear ranking among them emerges when considering poverty exit rates and when regressions are estimated while controlling for household characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

European policy is focusing on innovation as a way out of the economic crisis. At the same time, job insecurity is rising as Europe is still in crisis. In this paper, we examine whether job insecurity affects the innovative work behaviour of employees by focusing on the relation between job insecurity, job autonomy, work engagement and innovative work behaviour ( IWB). Using employee level survey data, we use structural equation modelling to disentangle the relations between these variables. The partially mediated model shows the best fit with the data. This model shows that job insecurity and autonomy are both directly and indirectly, through work engagement, related with IWB. For autonomy these relations are positive, while they are negative (and smaller) for job insecurity. Moreover, a negative covariance is observed between job insecurity and autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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For millennia, humans have modified plant genes in order to develop crops best suited for food, fiber, feed, and energy production. Conventional plant breeding remains inherently random and slow, constrained by the availability of desirable traits in closely related plant species. In contrast, agricultural biotechnology employs the modern tools of genetic engineering to reduce uncertainty and breeding time and to transfer traits from more distantly related plants. Critics express concerns that the technology imposes negative environmental effects and jeopardizes the health of those who consume the 'frankenfoods.' Supporters emphasize potential gains from boosting output and lowering food prices for consumers. They argue that such gains are achieved contemporaneous with the adoption of farming practices that lower agrochemical use and lessen soil. The extensive experience with agricultural biotechnology since 1996 provides ample evidence with which to test the claims of supporters and opponents and to evaluate the prospects of genetic crop engineering. In this paper, we begin with an overview of the adoption of the first generation of agricultural biotechnology crops. We then look at the evidence on the effects of these crops: on output and prices, on the environment, and on consumer health. Finally, we consider intellectual property issues surrounding this new technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economics / Ekonomia 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 notion of ‘social investment’ has come to play a major part in debates about the role of social spending and the future of welfare states in Europe. This paper argues that social investment can be seen as a more or less detailed orientation or paradigm for social policies and spending or as a conceptual base and framework for analysis, and that it is also increasingly employed for political or rhetorical as well as academic purposes. It then sets out some serious issues and concerns in that regard, including whether social investment can credibly be presented as the paradigm most likely to underpin economic growth per se or indeed employment-friendly growth, whether the distinction between social ‘investment’ and other social spending is robust conceptually and the difficulties faced in seeking to make such a distinction empirically, and whether focusing on that distinction and on a narrowly economic rationale is the most useful way to frame the debate about the future of social spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy sector, as one of the most important sectors of economy, represents an accelerator of economic growth and sustainable development in the contemporary society. Likewise, the energy sector has, for the Southeast European countries, the key role in the process of EU integration. Conducting and implementation of reforms in this area is also clearly manifested through the processes of ratification and implementation of the Energy Community Treaty of the Southeast European countries. In this way, contracting parties have assumed responsibility to harmonize their legislation with the demands of the European Union Directives that refer, primarily, to energy and environment protection from a negative influence of energy activity. This would provide a full participation of the Southeast European countries in the internal energy market of the EU. The aim of this paper is to present in brief the importance and amenities of the integration to the Energy Community and the prospects for development of the energy sectors of the region and of the Republic of Serbia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is essential for sustainable growth and development, and it is one of the key European Union (EU) strategies. The Programme for Competition and Innovation of the EU is especially important for the economic revival and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development in transition countries. There are several core conditions which enable innovation and encourage economic growth and development. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the most important are: strong standards and effective enforcement of intellectual property protection; dynamic competition and contestable markets; a strong and sustainable fundamental research and development infrastructure; encouraging information and communications technology developments and a strong emphasis on education at all levels. The current paper examines the most critical and interlinked conditions in the context of the FYR of Macedonia. [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.)

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 Basel III Accord on a ‘Global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems’ was issued in late 2010 as the cornerstone of the international regulatory response to the global financial crisis. Its adoption into European Union (EU) legislation has, however, been met with considerable member state reticence and intra-EU negotiations are ongoing. This paper investigates the political economy of new capital requirements in the EU, arguing that the institutional features of national banking sectors convincingly account for the divergence in EU member state preferences on capital rules. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper the hypotheses on differences among welfare state sectors with regard to decline and convergence are subject to comparative empirical tests focusing on healthcare. A diachronical cross-national analysis of healthcare services is performed, comparing developments with that of cash benefits. Contrary to previous claims we find that European healthcare systems are not particularly hit by retrenchment and that convergence is absent in key healthcare dimensions, namely coverage and provision. Convergence appears mainly in terms of the increased reliance on private healthcare financing. Our examination is based on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Data and institutional data on entitlement levels of major cash benefit programmes, providing both a descriptive analysis and multi-level regressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to assess recent data on the prevalence of chronic pain as part of chronic diseases; the prevalence of chronic pain as a chronic condition in its own right; the costs attributed to chronic pain; and the European Union (EU) policies to addressing chronic pain. Recent literature was reviewed for data on the prevalence and cost implications of chronic pain in the EU. Following on from an earlier systematic review, 8 databases were searched for prevalence and 10 for cost information from 2009 to 2011 and relevant EU organizations were contacted. Ten cost and 29 prevalence studies were included from the 142 full papers screened. The general adult population reported an average chronic pain prevalence of 27%, which was similar to those for common chronic conditions. Fibromyalgia had the highest unemployment rate (6%; Rivera et al., Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2009;27[Suppl 56]:S39-S45) claims for incapacity benefit (up to 29.9%; Sicras-Mainar et al., Arthritis Res Ther. 2009;11:R54), and greatest number of days of absence from work (Rivera et al., Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2009;27[Suppl 56]:S39-S45). Chronic pain is common and the total population cost is high. Despite its high impact, chronic pain as a condition seems to have had little specific policy response. However, there does appear to be sufficient evidence to at least make addressing chronic pain a high priority alongside other chronic diseases as well as to conduct more research, particularly regarding cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to compare the financial performance of the banking sector in some ex- Yu countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia for period from 2005 to 2010. The banking sector of these countries experienced reforms after the separation from the Yugoslavia. The financial performance of banks is studied on the basis of some selected financial variables and ratios that are either obtained from different sources either calculated by author. During this period the banks become privatized and there is increase in the presence of the foreign owners on the Balkans. This is mostly descriptive research that explains and provides some insights about situation in banking of the selected countries. Financial performance in this study is measured by selected indicators, such as return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE), capital adequacy ratio (CAR), share of non-performing loans (NPL), participation of deposits, assets and loans in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Data show that banking system of these countries suffers from problems in the banking sector, largely influenced by its huge debt to IMF, political situation, financial crisis, internal situation and other political factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tendencias: Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas is the property of Universidad de Narino, Facultad de Ciencias Economics y Administrativas 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 International Law is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana 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.)

Numerous studies have tried to model the connection between aging and the financial markets, showing the possibility of a future meltdown in the financial markets, via lower savings and investments given the reaching of the baby-boom cohorts at the age of retirement. In general the research has focused on the case of more industrialized countries, were the aging phenomenon is more felt in the present. The case of Central and Eastern European countries was somehow left aside, although the issue of aging should be an important one, considering also the current state of development of the CEE capital markets. Our empirical work, based on the case of five CEE countries, suggests also that the demographic dynamics have had a detectable impact on the domestic stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global problem of counterfeiting and piracy has increased in European Union though there are special laws defending Intellectual Properties Rights. The aim of this paper is to point out the aspects on the topic of counterfeiting and piracy inside the European Union Single Market. Analysing the information gathered, we can conclude that there are evident facts of growing and increasingly dangerous phenomena in the European Union, with significant impact on the economic and social sectors. European Commission is the one that identifies strategies and effective practices to help rightful owners protect their Intellectual Property Rights [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the most controversial and discussed treaty over the last period and its consequences on the marketing strategies of different companies in fields such as the movie industry, the music industry and the publishing domain. The A.C.T.A. treaty was signed by over 27 countries, and brings up positive effects upon the strategies of those companies which suffer losses from piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual property rights. The paper reflects the changes that the treaty can bring especially to the online marketing strategies of the biggest movie studios and music production labels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]