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Die Verschuldung in der Eurozone hat neue Rekordhöhen erreicht. Die Mitgliedsländer haben versucht, die wirtschaftlichen Folgen der Corona-Pandemie durch eine massive Erhöhung der Staatsausgaben abzufedern. Es gibt verschiedene Forderungen, die Maastricht-Regeln zur Begrenzung der Staatsverschuldung abzuschaffen oder aufzuweichen. Die Autoren sehen die Gefahr einer neuen Staatsschuldenkrise in diesem Jahrzehnt, wenn es nicht gelingt, die Staatsverschuldung auf ein akzeptables Niveau zu senken. Die Autoren präsentieren eine neue flexible Fiskalregel. Damit sollen die hohen Schuldenquoten sinken. Bei strikter Befolgung soll die Regel die hohen Schuldenquoten innerhalb eines überschaubaren Zeitraums reduzieren, selbst wenn das nominale Wachstum schwach ist. Das wird durch Simulationen mit verschiedenen Szenarien sowie durch die hypothetische Anwendung der neuen Fiskalregel auf die Volkswirtschaften der Eurozone von 2022 bis 2026 bestätigt. Schließlich greifen die Autoren den Vorschlag von ESM-Ökonomen auf, die zulässige Schuldenquote in der Eurozone von 60 auf 100 % des BIP zu erhöhen. Debt levels in the eurozone have reached new record highs. The member countries have tried to cushion the economic consequences of the corona pandemic with a massive increase in government spending. End of 2021 public debt in relation to GDP will approach 100% on average. There are various calls to abolish or soften the Maastricht rules of limiting sovereign debt. We see the risk of a new sovereign debt crisis in this decade if it is not possible to bring public debt down to an acceptable level. Our new fiscal rule would be suitable and appropriate for this purpose, because obviously the Maastricht criteria have failed. In contrast to the rigid 3% Maastricht-criterion, our rule is flexible and it addresses the main problem: excessively high public debt ratios. And it lowers the existing incentives for highly indebted governments to exert expansionary pressure on monetary policy. If obeyed strictly, our rule reinforces the snowball effect and reduces the excessively high debt ratios within a manageable period, even if nominal growth is weak. This is confirmed by simulations with different scenarios as well as with the hypothetical application of the new fiscal rule to eurozone economies from 2022 to 2026. Finally, we take up the recent proposal by ESM economists to increase the permissible debt ratio from 60 to 100% of GDP in the eurozone.

The so-called Troika, consisting of the EU-Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was supposed to support the member states of the euro area which had been hit hard by a sovereign debt crisis. For that purpose, economic adjustment programs were drafted and monitored in order to prevent the break-up of the euro area and sovereign defaults. The cooperation of these institutions, which was born out of necessity, has been partly successful, but has also created persistent problems. With the further increase of public debt, especially in France and Italy, the danger of a renewed crisis in the euro area was growing. The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) together with the (strongly politicized) European Commission will replace the Troika in the future, following decisions of the EU Summit of December 2018. It shall play the role of a European Monetary Fund in the event of a crisis. The IMF, on the other side, will no longer play an active role in solving sovereign debt crises in the euro area. The current course is, however, inadequate to tackle the core problems of the euro zone and to avoid future crises, which are mainly structural in nature and due to escalating public debt and lack of international competitiveness of some member countries. The current Corona crisis will aggravate the institutional problems. It has led to a common European fiscal response ("Next Generation EU"). This rescue and recovery program will not be financed by ESM resources and will not be monitored by the ESM. One important novelty of this package is that it involves the issuance of substantial common European debt.

A functioning enforcement mechanism is crucial to ensure the continued success of the GATT/WTO agreements. In this paper, I examine the WTO members’ dispute selection decisions to judge the effectiveness of the WTO’s enforcement institution, the Dispute Settlement Body. Previous research shows that measures of retaliatory capacity (GDP, trade volumes, export structure) correlate with the incidence of WTO disputes, but fails to account for a number of empirical facts, such as the steady drop in trade quarrels since the early 2000s. To explain the observed dispute pattern, I extend the WTO theory by incorporating a link between endogenous trade policy formation and agreement violation and dispute filing decisions. I show that countries are more likely to engage in trade disputes as complainants or defendants when they have a small “tariff overhang”, which represents the difference between bound tariffs (by WTO negotiations) and the actually applied tariffs. Lower tariff overhangs constrain WTO members’ policy flexibility to respond to adverse shocks, which I motivate in my model by sectoral productivity adjustments due to decreases in trade costs after successful trade negotiations. Guided by this theoretical framework, I present empirical evidence that tariff overhangs are an essential determinant of the WTO dispute pattern.

Considerable technology-based evolution in payment systems offers opportunities for convergence to a regional payment system. Though South Asian wholesale payment systems are more developed, compared to retail, and smaller countries still lag behind, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Payment Council offers a forum to facilitate convergence. The existing Asian Clearing Union can also be revitalized using developments in payment systems. Changes include faster settlement using real-time flow through the system backed by local liquidity encouraging local currency use, reduction in transaction costs and delays, expansion of facilities offered, types of flows allowed and number of participants. Invoicing in local currencies reduces pass through of changes in exchange rates, and hence lowers their inflationary impact. Electronic systems can discriminate between types of flows and provide detailed information without procedural delays, reducing security concerns.

The European Union continues to be an important source and destination of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world measured by flows and stocks. Investment is part of the EU’s common commercial policy, because FDI is one of the vehicles through which each country can develop its industries. The EU's investment policy is focused on providing EU investors and investments with market access and with legal certainty and a stable, predictable, fair and properly regulated environment in which to conduct their business. The paper also provides a synthetic approach to investor-state arbitration in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Since the early 1990s, the human security movement has sought to expand the concept of security beyond the traditional military defense of national borders to focus on the intra-state security needs of populations at the individual level. Specific initiatives frequently address problems of population health, ethnic conflict, religious extremism, human rights, environmental or natural disasters, and other critical issues. For expatriate human security workers in the field, the environment may present meaningful challenges to their wellbeing and productivity. This can be especially so for those who have relatively more experience in academic, business, or administrative settings, and less in the field. The authors' goal is to illuminate practices that have demonstrated their efficacy in enhancing wellness, sustainment, and productivity for human security and other humanitarian and development workers deployed to austere environments. The content represents a synoptic consensus of best general practices and guidance from a range of resources comprising United Nations agencies and activities, national and international non-governmental organizations (NGO's), private volunteer organ­izations (PVO's), national military services, and international business concerns.

This question raised emotions in Poland in 2010-2012. They began with the statement by the Prime Minister in March 2010 that Poland was ready to participate in a program of assistance to Greece. It evoked very strong reactions – not only in debates in conferences halls and in professional journals, but also in the tabloids and on TV and the radio. It was not only politicians and academic experts in economics who took part in those debates, but also the editors of the popular newspapers. The arguments “for” and “against” of different character were raised. Those “for” advocated on the grounds of the principle of solidarity, but also on the grounds of the principle of subsidiarity – arguing that the burden of the problem is beyond the possibilities of Greece to solve herself. They also raised the necessity to defend the endangered common good – the European Union, and argued that prudence advises earning reciprocation in case Poland meets problems in the future. Those “against” pointed out that it was immoral to expect that a much poorer society was expected to assist one that was better off. Another point raised in the debate was that it was the Greeks themselves, both the political elites and the society as such, who were guilty of creating Greece’s problems. The main problem was the institutions of the welfare state, developed beyond the capacities of the country. But there were also some more shocking reasons of the Greek economic problems – and among them massive tax-avoidance, unauthorized social benefits payments, and transfers of incomes to foreign bank accounts. There was also the manipulation of statistical data or even their falsification, by (or with the approval of) the government. Some participants in the debate raised the problem Greek frauds and social dysfunctions being very well known to the EU authorities, the partners of Greece in EMU and by the German and French commercial banks. So – following from the above – Poland should not participate in any programs of assistance to Greece, and the burden of the problem should rest on those who had been responsible for it or who had tolerated its growth because of expected profits. In other words: Greek society, its political elites and the banks and those countries that had tolerated the developments. The debate ended in Poland when the member-states of the EMU decided that they would take decisions concerning Greece within their own group. And it was decided that “troika” – representatives of the European Commission, ECB and IMF – would decide on the size of the assistance and of the conditions. Poland, as a member of the IMF, does in fact participate in the costs of the assistance programs, but this fact does not evoke great emotions.

This study engineers a household sector where individuals process macroeconomic information to reproduce consumption spending patterns in New Zealand. To do this, heterogeneous artificial neural networks (ANNs) are trained to forecast changes in per worker consumption. In contrast to existing literature, results suggest that there exists a trained ANN that significantly outperforms a linear econometric model at out-of-sample forecasting. To improve the accuracy of ANNs using only in-sample information, methods for combining private knowledge into social knowledge are explored. For one type of ANN, relying on an expert is beneficial. For most ANN structures, weighting an individual"s forecast according to how frequently that individual"s ANN is a top performer during in-sample training produces more accurate social forecasts. By focusing only on recent periods, considering the severity of an individual"s errors in weighting their forecast is also beneficial. Possible avenues for incorporating ANN structures into artificial social simulation models of consumption are discussed.

Economics is not only a means of interpreting the past, but it must become an instrument for shaping the future, too. It should show inevitable future economic processes, with their links to culture, technology, and environment. With theoretical knowledge of this area, strategies of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable development can be put in place. In the future, heterodoxy is bound to dominate, and economics will become increasingly interdisciplinary. Future generations need economics of moderation and a theory describing it, as opposed to the thus far prevailing economics of either deficiency or excess. We need the New Pragmatism.

Price undertakings are alternatives to imposing anti-dumping duties. In the past, almost half of EU anti-dumping measures were price undertakings. This has drastically changed in recent years. We identify four reasons for the decreasing relevance of price undertakings. First, prior to the accession of Eastern European Countries (EEC) to the EU, price undertakings were heavily used vis-à-vis EEC. At the same time, China became frequent subject of anti-dumping proceedings, where undertakings were rarely used due to monitoring issues. Second, unlike anti-dumping duties, price undertakings are often difficult to monitor and can be circumvented more easily. Third, there are reasons related to the suitability of price undertakings to remove dumping practice and injurious effects, particularly in the context of high price volatility. Fourth, price undertakings may have potentially anti-competitive effects, as minimum prices tend to exacerbate competition policies.

In the postwar period, cooperation in the fields of security, trade and finance in Asia had been conducted mainly through bilateral arrangements. However, since 2010, there have been remarkable advances in cooperation by dint of multilateral frameworks. With regard to security framework, the East Asia Summit has served to promote compliance with laws in relation to territorial disputes in the South China Sea. As for trade liberalisation, negotiations for regional integration have been progressing under such frameworks as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP), a framework for regional integration in East Asia.

The success of the proposed institutional reform of the EU is of particular importance in the nearest future, as setbacks to reforms may ultimately result in the loss of credibility of the EU as a whole in the international arena. However, the decision whether the existing ‘community model’ should be renewed or the federal or the stakeholder model should be preferred is rather complicated, as the visions and interests of the member states of the EU widely differ. The article analyses which of these models will be most achievable and most beneficial from the perspective of the small member state of the EU. The research indicated that the renewal of the existing community model seems to be the most rational choice both in terms of measurable quantitative and qualitative aspects from the small EU member state’s perspective. The renewal of the existing ‘community model’ is also most rational choice in terms of applicability.

This paper finds evidence that more democratic political institutions increase trust. Second generation immigrants with ancestries from 115 countries are studied within 30 European countries. Comparing individuals born and residing in the same country, those whose father was born in a more democratic country express higher trust than those whose father was born in a less democratic country. The results are robust to individual, parental, and ancestral country controls.

The paper reviews the negotiations on the EU multi-annual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020 which took place between 2011 and 2013 and involved all EU member states and institutions. Focus is put on the debate regarding the funding of the Cohesion Policy, which emerged as the most contentious issue throughout the negotiation process. By following the reasoning lines of the coalitions built around this controversial issue and how the diverging interests were accommodated to allow the advancement of negotiations, it concludes on the significance of the achieved compromise for the EU growth and convergence related goals, as well as with respect to the inter- institutional balance and the relations between member states within the European Union.

This paper investigates possible options for generating revenue in international unions. The empirical evidence is found for three types of revenue-generating schemes: contributions, direct taxes, and the combination of two. Discussion of peculiarities, advantages and shortcomings of each scheme led to the conclusion that financial needs, interstate heterogeneity, objectives and success of integration are the key factors determining the choice of a revenue-generating scheme. There is no clear pattern in the distribution of the schemes among different international unions. However, mixed scheme becomes more preferable to ensure sustainable financing international unions. Also, direct tax scheme would be the infant stage of a tax union that had no precedent in the modern history of economic integration.

This paper compares the euro area and the US in order to draw lessons for improving the Economic and Monetary Union. Although it is not perfect, the US comes closer to fulfilling the criteria of the Optimum Currency Area theory, and it did not experience the debt crisis that hit the euro area, partly because the US has federal institutions which are totally or partially lacking in the EU. The stability of the euro area would improve if the Member States came closer to meeting the criteria of an optimum currency area. That requires more flexible markets in products and labour and an increase in the regional mobility of labour. Deepening of the single market could also make a contribution here, and could further enhance the benefits of the single currency by boosting trade. In addition, it is necessary to avoid economic imbalances which can generate contagion effects in other Member States. In the absence of a federal economic policy like that in the US, the existing rules on the coordination of national economic policies, translated annually by the Commission and the Council into the country-specific recommendations of the European Semester, must be actually implemented. It is vital to avoid any repeat of the sudden reversal of capital flows such as that which occurred in 2010. That requires a Banking Union like the one in the US. In that respect, great progress has been achieved with the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the comprehensive assessment of the banks which come under it, and with the establishment of a Single Resolution Mechanism. The resolution mechanism needs further refinement by the addition of a fiscal backstop. The third pillar of the Banking Union, a Single Deposit Guarantee Scheme, could also help to prevent adverse financial shocks in the euro area. The development of alternatives to bank financing of the economy via a Capital Union is still necessary to ensure that the ‘risk-sharing’ between the Member States will take place to a greater extent via the financial markets, reducing the need for budget transfers. For the residual risk-sharing need, the US has an important form of debt mutualisation and a federal budget that helps to cushion economic shocks. However, that has evolved over two centuries of political integration. The euro area implemented its common monetary policy immediately, and with success, but we cannot expect the 18 nation states of the euro area to take sufficient steps towards a political union within a relatively short time span, though that is necessary for the issuance of common debt and for an agreement on a significant budget for the euro area or another shock-absorbing fiscal mechanism. The issuance of common debt is a panacea for multiple euro problems and would expand the range of monetary policy instruments, but – like transfers – it is accompanied by the moral hazard problem. Until a convincing solution has been found, we can expect such mechanisms to remain politically taboo. Monetary unions have a central budget because they are also political unions; the euro area is an exception to that historical rule. The euro area can survive without a federal budget; provided they are respected, the margins inherent in the European fiscal rules make it possible to absorb economic shocks via the national budgets, something that an efficient Banking and Capital Union will do much to assist.

Sovereign funds are an important actor occurring on international financial markets in the last decade, being, in fact, state controlled international investments. Generally, they are financed from foreign currency reserves of the emergent countries they are constituted in, being managed apart of the official reserves and used for external expansion; they are likely to be detrimental to certain strategic interests. As public financial vehicles, they own, endorse or manage public funds of some emergent countries, freely invested by them in a great number of assets, being seen as a foreign policy element.

"Europe is nothing but a common Will Of Those who live in it, through a common vocation ... European unity is the European spirit." (Bernard Voyenne) Defined as a "political and economic partnership unique in the world", gathering together 28 member states, the European community Determined since the Beginning of Significant interest. The consistent impact in the field of economic and social inequities generates a strong debate in the member states over the enlargement process. The convergence or divergence regional development impact and perspectives relevant Became the Cohesion policy issues and subsequently Became one of the base Priorities of the EU. Main focus of this policy WAS social and economic disparities reducing Between member states and regions, Sustainable Development and equal Opportunities. In this perspective the present study intend to analyze the main strands of cohesion policy of Estonia and the results obtained in 2007-2013.

Tax evasion means the avoidance of declaring and paying the tax obligations. Through the manifestation of this phenomenon, the state incomes are reduced, the governments not being capable of complying with their tasks. As the economic globalization progresses, tax evasion becomes international thanks to the tax havens which usually are small states that provide various tax facilities to those who want to carry out their activity through their agency, especially through offshore companies. It is not illegal to carry out the activity through an offshore company from a tax haven, this representing more a means, an instrument through which international tax evasion takes place. Money from world countries are drained through tax havens, affecting the budget returns. The European Commission coordinates the efforts to combat international tax evasion by international cooperation, improvement of information exchange between EU countries, G20 and tax havens, using FATCA deed under OECD supervision.

What are the drivers of the large TARGET2 (T2) balances that have emerged in the eurozone since the start of the financial crisis in 2007? This paper examines the extent to which changes in national T2 balances can be statistically associated with cross-border private capital flows and current account (CA) balances. In a quarterly panel spanning the years 1999 to 2012 and 12 countries, it is shown that while the CA and changes in T2 balances were unrelated until the start of the 2007 financial crisis, since then the relation between these two variables has become statistically significant and economically sizeable. This reflects the ‘sudden stop’ in private sector capital that had hitherto funded CA imbalances. I next examine how different types of private capital flows have evolved over the last few years and how this can be related to changes in T2 balances, finding some deposit flight by private customers, a substantial retrenchment of cross-border interbank lending, and also an increase in bank's holdings of high-quality sovereign debt. My first conclusion from this analysis is that since T2 imbalances were caused by a sudden stop and are unlikely to grow without bounds as eurozone CA imbalances are currently diminishing at a rapid pace, there is no evidence that the institutional set-up of the European monetary union needs to be reformed fundamentally. My further conclusions relate to how the current system transfers risks across the currency union. Limiting or settling T2 balances are not viable options. Rather, policies must be geared to limiting the implicit risk transfer from the private to the public sector within T2 creditor nations, which is facilitated by the current system as it may change the incidence of euro break-up risk. — Raphael A. Auer

North Atlantic Treaty Organization has well trained and qualified personnel, ready at any time to work towards global peace and security. Security interests and the objectives of the Romanian military missions in the current geopolitical context and the obligations undertaken by Romania as a member of NATO require quantitative and qualitative human resource. In this context, it is necessary to ensure the quality of human resources, which is consistent with the new military missions and the need for continuous improvement. The aim of this research was to identify the main particularities of the human resources recruitment and selection within the NATO military structure of Romanian system. For this purpose, the author used questionnaire for data collection and the Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and SPSS for data analysis and corelations. The results confirm that human resources’ qualification is a sensitive issue for an international military organization and should be developed further in a systematic and effective way.

The last three decades have witnessed the emergence of a new species of capitalism. In spite of marked differences between its national varieties, a common characteristic of this species can be found in the global monopolisation of knowledge. This monopolisation involves hierarchical relations among firms and between capital and labour, because the capital of some firms includes the exclusive ownership of much of the knowledge used in production. Since the 1994 Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreements, the growing commoditisation of knowledge has extended the role of closed science and closed markets at the expense of open science and open markets. The intrinsic long-term dynamics of this species of capitalism is increasingly characterised by financialisation, inequality and stagnation. In order to exit from the current crisis, we must change many features of intellectual monopoly capitalism and rely on an eclectic approach that draws insights from liberal, Keynesian and Marxian traditions.

This paper considers the integration of economies as a merger of populations. The premise is that the merger of groups of people alters their social landscape and their comparators. The paper identifies the effect of the merger on aggregate distress. A merger is shown to increase aggregate distress, measured as total relative deprivation: the social distress of a merged population is greater than the sum of the social distress of the constituent populations when apart. Physiological evidence from neighboring disciplines points to an increase in societal stress upon merger.

The first major global crisis of the 21st century, the increasingly general name of which is the “Great Crisis” (like the descriptive name of Great Depression of 1929), has been an important challenge for practically all the institutions of multilateral cooperation. The crisis has made it clear once again that avoiding the derailment of globalization of trade and finance, and protecting the globe from fragmentation call for enhanced global cooperation and an efficient, flexible and coherent system of global governance.

Article originally published in “European Monetary Union: The Problems a Transition to a Single Currency”, supplement to Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, n. 196 of March 1996, pp. 137-159. As the ultimate date set for the commencement of the third stage of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the adoption of the single currency approaches, technical, economic and political problems seem to grow in number and size. This paper focuses on one in particular: the regime governing the relationships between the single currency (or, in stage 3a, between the currencies of the Member States fulfilling the necessary conditions for the adoption of the single currency) and the currencies of the Member States with a derogation. The paper sets out the constraints under which the choice will be made and the costs and benefits of alternative solutions for the Euro-countries (the insiders) and for the less homogeneous group of outsiders. In light of this analysis, the paper sketches a possible solution which may be both institutionally feasible and economically viable. JEL Codes: D72, F55, N14, PSL Quarterly Review, V. 66, N. 266 (2013)

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11127-013-0096-4. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the foremost international body responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. Members vote on issues of global importance and consequently receive perks—election to the UNSC predicts, for instance, World Bank and IMF loans. But who gets elected to the UNSC? Addressing this question empirically is not straightforward as it requires a model that allows for discrete choices at the regional and international levels; the former nominates candidates while the latter ratifies them. Using an original multiple discrete choice model to analyze a dataset of 180 elections from 1970 to 2005, we find that UNSC election appears to derive from a compromise between the demands of populous countries to win election more frequently and a norm of giving each country its turn. We also find evidence that richer countries from the developing world win election more often, while involvement in warfare lowers election probability. By contrast, development aid does not predict election.

Europe’s monetary union is part of a broader process of integration that started in the aftermath of World War II. In this “political guide for economists” we look at the creation of the euro within the bigger picture of European integration. How and why were European institutions established? What are the goals and determinants of European Integration? What is European integration really about? We address these questions from a political-economy perspective, building on ideas and results from the economic literature on the formation of states and political unions. Specifically, we look at the motivations, assumptions, and limitations of the European strategy, initiated by Jean Monnet and his collaborators, of partially integrating policy functions in a few areas, with the expectation that more integration will follow in other areas, in a sort of chain reaction towards an “ever-closer union.” The euro with its current problems is a child of that strategy and its limits European integration

IMF has been created to make international cooperation on financial matters stronger and for solving the problems of balance of payment. However, the IMF formed policies in order to solve problems of balance of payment till the 1980s, expanded its effectiveness much more by controlling the structural adjustment programs after the 1980s, and undertook the role as an international lender of last resort on crises caused by globalization trends. In developing nations, foreign and domestic deficit occurred due to infrastructural causes that have created economic instabilities portrayed through inflation and unemployment. Especially foreign debt problems sourced by the foreign trade deficit transformed into an economic crisis for these countries. Many countries affected by such economic crisis applied to IMF and its Stabilization Program with the aim of providing economic stability in the hopes of recovering. The important thing here to point out is that the economic programs used by countries during their economic crisis are supported by the IMF in reality. In this situation Mexico and Argentina can be given as a good example. IMF has undertaken the same mission in Turkey with seven stabilization programs put in practice and nineteen Stand-By Arrangements between them. But IMF has failed many times in Turkey just like in many developing countries. This is because IMF did not take into consideration economic and social structure of countries in stabilization programs put in practice. Today, Turkey has reached to an important point from the way of its relationship with IMF; more clearly, Turkey is determined to achieve its future without IMF. Turkey-IMF relationship in the framework of stand-by agreements in the past half century of our economic and political history has come to an ending point. After a period of 51 years of intense relations, Turkey decided to determine its calculations of credit limit by the way of advantages and disadvantages and continue its relations in this way. In this context, this study will try to prove therotically that Turkey will put in place to foreign credit support with the purposes of carrying out stabilized policies and protecting itself from financial shocks. Finally, Turkey will contact IMF with requirements of the rules and regulations that are in its advantage.

The principal goal of integration in Europe has always been the safeguarding of peace through economic integration. The European Union (EU) has overseen splendid economic achievements. A sign of that great success has been the EU’s continuous enlargement. The eurozone is the crown jewel in the process of European integration, but it is also its weakest component. The EU’s most glorious attribute, the eurozone is now synonymous with harsh austerity measures, protests and no prospect of any remarkable growth in many countries for years to come. Obvious rifts between the EU’s countries are shaking its foundations like never before. The EU passed through many crises (approximately one a decade), and it always exited stronger. This time may be different. The EU may weather the storm. It may, however, end up as a big and important group, but not a very happy family of nations. The first decade of the 21 st century was ‘lost’ for the EU, while the second decade may prove to be the epoch of its diminished global relevance. This is a pity as Europe has taken the reins in many global issues (e.g. environment). Compared with Europe, integration in Southeast Asia started from a very different point and at a different time. Nonetheless, the region provides certain context-specific lessons for the integration path. Given the circumstances in Southeast Asia, it is suggested that the region integrate but follow a light institutional model coupled with simple rules of origin to support efficient supply chains and production networks.

Macro-regions are experiencing regional crises. Interestingly, macro-regions are also able to react in terms of policy responses. This article addresses economic governance against the backdrop of two macro-regional cooperation models, in the European Union and in ASEAN. Economic governance is arguably the critical missing element in the current economic globalisation. The gap between market-driven sources - which contributed massively in the last decades to welfare gains globally, and to Asia in particular –and suboptimal regulatory coordination is a risky element. There is an absence of efficient economic governance or cooperation at the macro-regional level and globally. The European Union and ASEAN are examples of two different models of economic governance. Both of them represent an unfinished project. Nevertheless, they both offer experience from which global economic governance or economic governance in other macro-regions can benefit. In the end, the question is not whether there is a need for global economic governance but rather: governance of what, between whom and how far it should go.

The principal goal of integration in Europe in the post-Second World War period has always been the safeguarding of peace through economic integration. The European Union (EU) has overseen splendid economic achievements. A sign of that great success has been the EU’s continuous enlargement. However, geopolitics in Europe is transforming as Germany, France, Britain, Russia and Turkey explore ways to return to a version of the ‘old’ geopolitical equilibrium in which these countries, rather than the EU, call the tune in Europe. The eurozone is the crown jewel in the process of European integration, but it is also its weakest component. The eurozone is now synonymous with harsh austerity measures, protests and no prospect of any remarkable growth in many countries for a good many years to come. Obvious rifts between the EU’s countries are shaking its foundations like never before. The EU passed through many crises (approximately one a decade), and it always exited stronger. This time may be different. The EU may weather the storm. It may, however, end up as a big and important group, but not a very happy family of nations. The first decade of the 21st century was ‘lost’ for the EU, while the second decade may prove to be the epoch of its diminished global relevance. This is a pity as Europe has taken the reins in many global issues (e.g. environment). - Lo scopo principale dell’integrazione europea nel II dopoguerra è sempre stato quello di salvaguardare la pace attraverso l’integrazione economica. L’Unione Europea ha realizzato obiettivi economici grandiosi. Un segno di questo grande successo è stato il continuo allargamento dell’Unione. Comunque la geopolitica in Europa sta cambiando in quanto la Germania, la Francia, la Gran Bretagna, la Russia e la Turchia considerano la possibilità di tornare ad un “vecchio” equilibrio geopolitico all’interno del quale questi singoli paesi, piuttosto che l’Unione Europea, ne detengono il controllo. L’eurozona è il fiore all’occhiello del processo di integrazione europea, ma è anche il suo elemento più debole. Oggi eurozona è sinonimo di aspre misure di austerità, proteste, mancanza di apprezzabili prospettive di crescita per molti paesi e per molti anni a venire. I conseguenti disaccordi tra i paesi membri ne minano le fondamenta come mai era accaduto prima. L’Unione Europea ha attraversato molte crisi (approssimativamente una ogni decennio) e ne è sempre uscita più forte di prima. Ma questa volta potrebbe essere diverso. L’Unione Europea può uscire dalla tempesta, ma potrebbe anche accadere che essa diventi un gruppo di paesi grande ed importante, ma non una famiglia molto felice. Il primo decennio del ventunesimo secolo è “andato perso” per l’Unione Europea, mentre il secondo potrebbe rivelarsi l’epoca della perdita di rilevanza a livello mondiale. Questo sarebbe un peccato poiché l’Europa ha in mano le redini di molti problemi globali, quali per esempio l’ambiente.

This article reveals, by studying correlative relationships between US regime support and regime properties, that the US foreign policy in the Middle East has traditionally helped governments to limit the political participation of Islamists, communists, enemies of Israel and populations that could be hostile to the US oil interests. This way the US economic and strategic security interests have contributed to human insecurity in the region. With the exception of the last interest, the US has relaxed its support for repression of the above-mentioned groups. This seems to be one of the international factors that made the Arab Spring possible.

This paper examines whether the movement toward convergence of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has ended. The methodology for this research is based on comparative institutional analysis and experimental game theory. In addition,we adopt a 3×3 coordination game because an essential factor of global accounting convergence is the coordination of accounting standards. The results confirm the termination of a movement toward the convergence of IFRS. Namely, our experiments indicate that global accounting convergence toward IFRS may not be successful. This is because some “egoist” countries maintain their initial systems and do not enter long term cooperation.

This paper outlines a long-term policy and institutional framework for reducing the intensity of recessions, debt crises and financial instabilities, especially for the Core nations and areas that bore the brunt of the anomalies during 2008-2013. We argue that institutional changes need to be systemic, amounting to the construction of a new social structure of accumulation (SSA) or mode of regulation (MOR), which we call an SSA of embedded communitarian liberalism. Five institutional spheres are introduced which are in need of systemic change, due to the entrenched contradictions and problems which the current set of institutions generate. These involve firstly institutions within the world-system of finance and production; secondly relating to finance versus industry; thirdly capital versus labor; fourthly state systems of production; and fifthly the interlinking of state, community and ecology.

Although all the Western Balkan countries have been offered the prospect of European Union (EU) membership, the accession process still constitutes a complicated and multi-aspect challenge. EU support and engagement in the region have resulted in a few successes, nonetheless, describing them as major breakthroughs is far from the reality. Since the establishment of the Dayton Agreement in 1995, ending the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of the Balkan states have not managed to accomplish their political, ideological and civic transformations yet. However, the difficult situation and frequent negotiation stalemates are not only the outcomes of the unsatisfactory progress made by the Peninsular countries. Ambiguous and unethical (in some cases) behaviour can also be noticed from the EU decision-makers’ side. The following article aims to present concrete examples of EU external policy actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina which can be described as controversial. However, the author attempts to prove the thesis that unethical external policy is not always a zero-sum game, and in particular circumstances it can be paradoxically perceived as the best solution. Taking into consideration the comprehensiveness of the problem and editorial limitations, the analysis focuses on activities of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, who used to be (during four out of seven tenures) the EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It should come as no surprise that prisons can become breeding grounds for radicalisation and terrorism as prisons serve as reservoirs for society’s most dangerous individuals (Useem & Clayton, 2009). Prisons are places of vulnerability and they provide a space where radical and extremist ideologies can flourish. Despite being a popular topic among researchers and policymakers, there still remain significant gaps in our understanding and many unanswered questions. This paper provides a literature review on prisoner radicalisation. It specifically explores the role religion plays in prison and its link to radicalisation, prisoner vulnerability to radicalisation, the radicalisation process, and outlines the current debate as to where terrorist prisoners should be held. This paper concludes by identifying the major gaps in the literature and offering concluding remarks.

Článok definuje inštitút rotujúceho predsedníctva v Rade Európskej únie na základe primárneho práva a vychádzajúc z tradície predsedníctiev a doterajšieho fungovania Únie. Následne identifikuje povinnosti vyplývajúce z tejto funkcie pre predsednícky štát a agreguje z nich vyplývajúce úlohy do ôsmich oblastí. Úlohy zasadzuje do kontextu východísk pre podmienky Slovenskej republiky ako štátu pripravujúceho sa na predsednícku funkciu v druhej polovici roku 2016. Metodologicky ide o syntézu záverov štúdií hodnotiacich predsedníctva vybraných štátov. Článok je rozdelený do dvoch častí a v závere zhŕňa jednotlivé poznatky; obsahuje jednu tabuľku.

The paper reviews the series of G-20 high-level meetings which brought about an increase in the international significance of this structure for cooperation between industrialized and emerging countries, hence enhancing the accountability of the latter in addressing global economic challenges. Thus, G20 emerged as the main framework for the global economic governance, replacing the G8 format, and managed to at least give the appearance of a structure able to coordinate action, especially at the London Summit, the only one hitherto followed by harmonized anti-crisis policies. But with the transition from the acute to the chronic state of the crisis, pressure required for coordination seems to have weaken, G20 last meetings letting foresee the artificial union of rather different interests and lack of a coherent mechanism for leading the world economy beyond the crisis.

The failure of Doha Round is a serious step backward for the WTO and the multilateral trading system. Some analysts already discussed in their research about the round as being already closed and they propose the developing of a new program within the organization. WTO still remains a very important institution due to its proven role in encouraging states not to take protectionist measures during the recent economic crisis, but the global trade governance reform must reflect all the changes and realities. The transition is being made toward a more regionalized and preferential global trade and the emergence of strong developing countries shape the whole multilateral trade negotiations. The important growth rates in emerging countries are translated also in strong demand for representation in global trade governance. Objectives: This paper aims to underline the role of multilateralism as form of international cooperation, the link with global economic governance and what concerns academic community in terms of having a reform of it. Prior Work: It has been tried to emphasizing the concepts already developed by known researchers in the field. Approach: The approach is a more theoretic one done in a comparative manner with emphasis on results and future research. The critical method approach is done with qualitative results. Results: The key results are related to pros and cons of reforming the World Trade Organization, as well as presenting the criticisms and proposals for having a second World Trade Organization. Implications: The implications are varied in terms of studying the concepts and addresses researchers in the field, but also lecturers and students. Value: The main added value is the compared approach of the traditional WTO as it derived from General Agreement on Tariff and Trade and the proposal for a new one and its formal relationship with the global economic governance.

Taxes on the rich will only be useful instruments in the fight against inequality if they are effectively enforced. Therefore, this article assesses international cooperation to counter harmful tax flight and tax competition. It describes different forms of tax avoidance, evasion and competition and the respective instruments to counter them. Using a "trilemma of international tax policy" I show that there are hardly any cooperative international measures to counter tax avoidance by multinational companies. In contrast, concerning tax evasion by individuals, some progress has been achieved. Currently there is a controversy over the right means of fighting evasion between automatic exchange of information and anonymous withholding taxes in source countries. This dispute crystallizes in current discussions surrounding the renegotiation of the EU savings tax directive, the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" (FATCA), and Swiss bilateral tax treaties. Eine höhere Besteuerung der Reichen kann nur dann Ungleichheit begrenzen, wenn sie konsequent durchgesetzt wird. Deshalb beschäftigt sich dieser Beitrag mit der internationalen Kooperation gegen Steuerflucht. Es wird erörtert, welche Formen von Steuerflucht, -vermeidung und -wettbewerb es gibt und welche Gegenmaßnahmen jeweils zu ergreifen wären. Anhand eines "Trilemmas der internationalen Steuerpolitik" wird gezeigt, dass es bezüglich des Wettbewerbs um Unternehmensstandorte und -gewinne kaum erfolgreiche politische Initiativen gibt. Im Unterschied dazu hat man gegen die Steuerflucht natürlicher Personen manches auf den Weg gebracht, auch wenn noch wichtige Lücken in der gleichmäßigen Durchsetzung bestehen. Derzeit gibt es eine politische Auseinandersetzung über die Wahl des geeigneten Instruments gegen Steuerhinterziehung: Soll sie durch automatischen zwischenstaatlichen Informationsaustausch über ausländische Anleger oder anonyme Abgeltungssteuern in den Quellenstaaten bekämpft werden? Diese Kontroverse kristallisiert sich an den Diskussionen um die bilateralen Steuerabkommen der Schweiz, die Neuverhandlung der EU-Zinsrichtlinie und den "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" (FATCA).

Although national culture is an important regulator of entrepreneurship, there is a dearth of studies that: (1) explore the effects of national cultural practices on entrepreneurial behaviors by individuals; (2) use appropriate multilevel research designs; (3) consider the effects of culture on different entrepreneurial behaviors, such as entry and post-entry growth aspirations. We combined Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) data from 42 countries for 2005–2008 to address these gaps, using a multilevel design. We found societal institutional collectivism practices negatively associated with entrepreneurial entry, but positively associated with entrepreneurial growth aspirations. Uncertainty avoidance practices were negatively associated with entry but not with growth aspirations, and performance orientation practices were positively associated with entry. Our analysis highlights the differential effects of cultural practices on entrepreneurial entry and growth aspirations, and demonstrates the value of multilevel techniques in analyzing the effect of culture on entrepreneurship.

This paper proposes a framework to identify the various dimensions inherent in the concept of international cooperation in science, technology, and innovation (STI). The study employed two methods to identify an integrative framework where the agency perspectives of international cooperation can be integrated and contrasted. First, surveys of four major international cooperation agencies with an explicit commitment to STI funding were conducted. The study looked at how individual agencies define and classify this type of investment as well as their approach to development and innovation. Second, we distil from the literature two innovative theoretical frameworks that inform international cooperation in STI initiatives. The first approach focuses on the inputs and outputs of innovation, and the second is the Systems of Innovation that emphasises the capabilities and development of actors, institutions, and organisations that participate in national innovation systems. Building upon these two methods, we posit a set of minimum attributes that any STI governance system should have. We also provide a tentative typology of such a system.

V tomto článku autor rozoberá modely riadenia hospodárskej diplomacie v dvoch susedných krajinách, a to na Ukrajine a v Slovenskej republike. V krátkosti sa v ňom uvádza charakteristika pojmu „hospodárska diplomacia“, a zároveň sa rozoberajú jednotlivé modely riadenia hospodárskej diplomacie na Ukrajine a v Slovenskej republike. V článku sa poukazuje na ich podobnosť a rozdiely. Okrem štátnych orgánov pre medzinárodné hospodárske vzťahy sú rozobraté aj inštitúcie nediplomatického charakteru, medzi ktoré môžeme zaradiť obchodno-priemyselné komory a ostatné agentúry, ktoré sa bezprostredne podieľajú na uskutočňovaní celkovej hospodárskej diplomacie štátu.

Developing countries employ about two-fifth of the world's researchers, originate one quarter of world expenditures on R&D, and their inventions are subject to imitation. Nevertheless, the previous literature focuses on North–South setups in which the South is restricted to imitating northern inventions. To analyze the effects of IPR policies on developed and developing countries, we extend this literature to allow not only for southern innovation and imitation of northern goods, but also for imitation targeted at southern innovations. We find the effects of IPRs on R&D and welfare to be non-monotonic and dependent on innovation efficiency and an innovation threshold in the South. For sufficiently strong IPRs the South engages in original R&D and stronger IPRs promote southern innovation, welfare, and a reduction in the North–South wage gap. Below the threshold, a strengthening of IPR protection fails to promote innovation and decreases welfare. Stronger IPRs exclusively for southern firms can benefit both regions by shifting southern resources from the imitation of northern goods to original southern innovation.

This paper refers to the possible interaction between the European Union and the Black Sea region, following the consequences the international and financial crisis placed upon the Eastern neighbourhood of the Union. It provides a comprehensive picture on the economic situation in the Black Sea area, correlating the economic realities from the field with the required domains of policy actions. \\r\\nThe research performed tries to reveal the impact the economic crisis had on the Black Sea region, to identify the suitable sectors of cooperation following the recognition of the common challenges and problems. Moreover, it offers a quick insight for the possible future interaction of the region or the countries within with the European Union or at intra-region level.\\r\\nThe paper complements and enhances other researches (not that many though) on the subject. It studies previous researches, it uses the valuable information offered by the most comprehensive international economic data bases and it takes into account the present framework of dialogue developed by the European Union for its Eastern neighbours. \\r\\nThe research methodology included quantitative and qualitative approaches. The analyses of the international literature and the interpretation of the data covered a range of fields pertaining to the European economy. The reading of the information processed was made in a personal key and it was correlated in an integrated, systematic and interdisciplinary manner. The instrument of Opinion Survey was used in two circumstances: in one case, elements were extracted from an existent poll, while in another a personal Survey was created to further inquire on the theme.\\r\\nThe results of the research are of interim and final nature. The final results highlight the economic overview of the Black Sea region, pointing out the challenges and the risks on short, medium and long term. As a response to these challenges and risks, several common domains of dialogue can be identified, including a cooperation attempting to boost growth, competitiveness and productivity at the level of the entire region, through a sustainable development strategy. An important conclusion relates to the relevance of the European Union, as a main partner for the area. The Survey on the interaction European Union -Black Sea region generates interim results. Its limitation is given by the relatively small number of respondents.\\r\\nThe implications of the paper can be reflected in the political decision-makers field and in the policy-debate domain; the findings could be used by economic operators. The research offers a good portrait of the economic realities of the region, it tries to link the possible cooperation between the European Union and the Black Sea region with the concrete needs and it offers an insight from the region for an eventual future interaction of the above mentioned actors.

We explored the impact of exchange rate volatility on industrial production before and after the introduction of common currency for eleven European countries included in European Monetary Union and for four European countries that did not adopt ‘Euro’ as common currency. Study employed monthly data of exchange rate and macroeconomic variables from January 1980 to April 2009 for the analysis. We employed AR(k)-EGARCH(p,q) models for calculation of volatility in growth rate of nominal and real exchange rates for all countries before and after the introduction of common currency separately. In this paper, we used Pooled IV/TSLS. We can conclude that all the countries enjoyed benefits after the introduction of common currency by reduction in negative impacts of real exchange rate volatility even some countries also faced increase in real exchange rate volatility. More than this, it can also be concluded that basket of fruits is not same for every country that joined common currency.

V posledných dvoch desaťročiach došlo k rapídnemu nárastu počtu regionálnych obchodných dohôd na bilaterálnej a multilaterálnej úrovni. V novom tisícročí je možné pozorovať rast počtu komplexných regionálnych obchodných dohôd, ktoré sa netýkajú len zabezpečenia voľného obchodu s hotovými výrobkami, ale aj obchodu so službami, investícií, práv duševného vlastníctva a mnohých ďalších oblastí. Vďaka prehlbujúcej sa komplexnosti dohôd, môžu mať vplyv na multilaterálny obchodný systém zastrešený Svetovou obchodnou organizáciou. Cieľom príspevku je komparatívna analýza vybraných regionálnych integračných zoskupení, ktoré majú kľúčový vplyv na medzinárodný obchod a ich základných makroekonomických ukazovateľov.

Massive intra-Asian economic integration has been accompanied by very little institution building. This paper considers whether Asia needs new institutions by drawing lessons from the EU’s supranational integration sequence and EFTA’s intergovernmental sequence. Sequencing theory is presented and used to structure historical narrative of Europe’s and Asia’s sequencing and then used to draw implications of the analysis for future efforts to bring regional institutions to Asia.

Usporiadanie a inštitucionálna organizácia vládnych rezortov a orgánov, ktoré realizujú hospodársku diplomaciu, je v jednotlivých štátoch rôzna. Napriek tomu existujú niektoré charakteristické vlastnosti, podľa ktorých je možné zatriediť štát do odpovedajúceho modelu. Článok je zameraný na definíciu modelov, poskytuje všeobecný prehľad jednotlivých modelov a ich základných charakteristík. Ako príklad sú uvedené inštitúcie, ktoré sa zúčastňujú na výkone hospodárskej diplomacie Nemecka, Rakúska, Švajčiarska a Slovenska. Jednotlivým krajinám je priradený odpovedajúci model hospodárskej diplomacie. V závere sú rozanalyzované inštitucionálne štruktúry hospodárskej diplomacie týchto krajín s ohľadom na pozitívne a negatívne vlastnosti aplikovaných modelov.

During the Cold War, the most important attempt to carry the concept of transatlantic unity into effect was proposal of the Atlantic Declaration in 1973. The objective of this article is to present the origins and the breakdown of this plan. As the most serious transatlantic divergences concerned the economy, it can be stated that the idea aimed at regulation of trade and monetary issues according to American interest. The Europeans were reluctant to sign the document, which joined economic matters with the political and defence aspects of cooperation. The fiasco of the Atlantic Declaration was a proof of decline of the US hegemony.