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The Economic Society of Australia has made the decision to stop producing hard copies of its journals in an effort to reduce paper and plastic usage and cut costs. Starting in January 2024, all financial members of the society will have free access to the journals through the society's website. The article also mentions that the 52nd Australian Conference of Economists will be held in July 2024 at the University of Adelaide, with Professor Leonardo Bursztyn as one of the keynote speakers. Additionally, the text pays tribute to the late Professor Max Corden, a highly respected economist known for his contributions to international economics and Australian economic policy. The first part of the text provides an overview of Max Corden's career and his impact on Australian public policy. The second part is an obituary for Brian Parmenter, a colleague of the author, highlighting his personality and contributions to economic modeling. The author also shares personal experiences working with Brian and describes his coaching and mentoring abilities. The text concludes with a summary of Brian's employment history. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose – This paper is a historical account of the process by which Michael Porter and INCAE Business School put together a regional competitiveness strategy for Central America that was officially adopted by the governments of five participating countries, and implemented through a series of Presidential Summits that occurred between 1995 and 1999. The paper provides a unique case study on the adoption of the concepts put forth by Porter in his book “The Competitive Advantage of Nations” (1990) at the highest level of government. The study arrives at a series of practical implications for policy makers that are particularly relevant for the implementation of supra-national regional strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conduct an extensive literature review of 190 policy papers produced by INCAE Business School, that are used to recreate the historical evolution of the regional competitiveness strategy. The effect of Porter’s intervention is also assessed by comparing the main economic indicators of each participating country with those of 2005-2010. One of the authors was the main protagonist in the successful implementation of the strategy, and the paper relies partially on his accounts of events. Findings – This study describes how economic policy in Central America was profoundly influenced by Michael Porter’s thinking in the second half of the 1990s. These policy changes promoted international competition of Central American clusters and firms, and opened the region for international investment and tourism. The region experienced important increases in its economic integration, its international trade, foreign direct investment and tourist arrivals. Gross domestic product growth was accelerated in Honduras and Nicaragua. Research limitations/implications – Like all case studies, this study has limits related to the generalizability of its conclusions. Additionally, it is not possible to determine the precise nature of the relation between the implementation of the regional economic strategy, and the impact on economic growth, integration, FDI attraction and exports. Practical implications – The paper has several practical implications that relate to the design of regional economic strategies. First, it identifies policy areas that are more effective as part of regional strategies, and distinguishes them from those that should be resolved at the national level. Second, it suggests a process that can facilitate execution. Finally, it provides an example of the coordinating role that can be assumed by an academic institution such as INCAE. Originality/value – The Central American Competitiveness Initiative provides a unique setting to study the implementation of competitiveness policy for several reasons. First, in all countries in Central America, Michael Porter’s diamond framework (1990) and cluster theory were officially adopted at the highest level of government. Second, in addition to their individual competitiveness strategies, all countries adopted a regional strategy for cooperation and economic integration. Finally, the Central American Competitiveness Initiative was founded on one of the first competitiveness think tanks of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This paper examines the contemporary aid effectiveness architecture in Pakistan in the light of the 2005 Paris Declaration (PD) on Aid Effectiveness. First, it looks at the PD commitments and explores the factors that prompted the emergence of the PD at the global level. The paper then examines policy initiatives undertaken as well as institutional set ups established by the Government of Pakistan (GoP) for effective utilization of foreign aid within the PD framework. The main aim is to explore the gaps and linkages between the international aid effectiveness agenda of the PD and the strategies formulated by the GoP for its promotion at the national level. To this end, both the PD doctrine and GoP plans are critiqued to examine to what extent these fulfill the prerequisites for improving aid effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ten Southeast Asian economies will announce the formation of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) on 31 December 2015. The AEC aspires to deliver an integrated market and production base with the free movement of goods, services, capital and skilled labour. However, member economies are still a long way from achieving an integrated production space as they have not yet fulfilled all the stipulated targets set in the 2007 AEC Blueprint. A possible explanation for the current state of economic integration is the presence of conflicting domestic economic interests in member countries. This paper reviews the literature on this issue and synthesizes main observations from selected country studies examining the nature o f these conflicting interests. It concludes by providing key policy recommendations for fostering domestic consensus in the respective countries studied in this special issue so that they may support the implementation of their respective commitments as well as deeper ASEAN economic integration beyond 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of domestic and foreign shocks on the real and financial sector of BRIC countries. For this purpose, we use a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model over the extended period of 1997 to 2016. We conclude that domestic policy shocks have a more substantial impact on Brazilian, Indian, and Russian economy than foreign shocks, while foreign shocks have more contribution in the case of China. Interestingly, results show the negative impact of policy shocks on bank credit provided, implying its role in multiplying the impact of shocks on real variables. Surprisingly EPU of USA has a positive impact on stock markets of India and China, implying capital flight phenomenon, where investor transfer investment from risky to safer places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper gives the description and study of the foreign economic policy of Georgia in the during independence period. The purpose of the study is to describe and analyze the preconditions for the sustainable and stable development of the country by means developing foreign trade, improving investment potential and using an efficient foreign debt management system. During the studies, the paper used the materials of the studies conducted by Georgian and foreign scientists, as well as international and private organizations and their evaluations. The opinions about the improvement and risks of the present-day situation are given following the consideration of different components of the foreign economic policy of Georgia, and opportunities for the rationalization of foreign policy of Georgia are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper accounts for the main determinants of Foreign Direct Investment stocks to 5-South East European Countries and the 10-New Member States of the European Union countries by using an augmented Gravity Model, for the purpose of calculating the potential levels of FDI stock in Macedonia. The study takes into account country specific institutional factors that determine foreign investors' decisions from 20 core OECD countries to invest in SEE-5 and EU-NMS-10 countries. From the results of the study we find that gravity factors (market size and distance), institutional related factors (control of corruption, corruption perception index, regulatory quality, transition progress and WTO membership) and other traditional determinants of FDI (schooling, bilateral exports) appear to significantly determine inward FDI stock to the SEE region and new EU member states. The GMM estimates suggest that bilateral FDI stock is subject to persistence effects. The study additionally confirms the relatively strong gravitational character of Macedonia's inward FDI stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the deadline for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) approaches, the Philippines has yet to complete the implementation of its commitments in the AEC Blueprint. While it is true that the government has implemented most of them, these policy reforms have yet to make an impact on the economy. This paper examines the country's performance in terms of its commitments in the AEC by identifying the gaps between those commitments and actual implementation. It also examines the domestic economic conflicts that have hampered Philippine policy reform efforts, focusing on the automobile industry. The conflicts may be due to a lack of common economic interests among firms in the industry as well as because of the lack of coherence of domestic policies that have limited, if not negated, progress towards economic integration. Domestic conflicts have created an industry that has failed to develop as a major exporter as well as a source of employment and income for the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the end of 2015 draws nearer, the prospect of meeting all the goals of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint appears dimmer by the day. The literature identifies two prominent gaps in ASEAN's journey towards an economic community as defined by its own vision. First, the extensive literature on the AEC, and this includes the scorecard designed to monitor the implementation of its goals, suggests that there appears to be a gap between commitments and the achievements of the AEC Blueprint targets. Second, attaining a "free flow of services" as stated in the AEC goals, is also hampered by a gap between commitments in liberalization and actual practice. The objectives of this paper are twofold. First, it seeks to review the gap between commitments and practice in Malaysia. Second, it aims to examine domestic conflicts that may constrain Malaysia's services liberalization efforts in ASEAN. A key question considered in the analysis is the source or sources of these conflicts. Is the conflict confined to the private sector or is the government conflicted from within in terms of services liberalization? In other words, are there certain policies that may negate or off-set liberalization efforts? The key finding in this paper shows conflicting objectives in government policies to be the main reason for the slow pace of liberalization thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author points out that during the first 2 months of the conflict, the G7/NATO/EU/US have supported the efforts of Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion. The benefits of adequate and appropriate reforms of Ukrainian institutions and a consistent economic policy could be rather significant; and it will be interesting to see whether or not the EU could come up with a type of Marshall Plan support program for Ukraine. On September 24th, 2021, the European Institute for International Economic Relations (EIIW/University of Wuppertal) hosted an international workshop in the context of marking the Institute's 25th Anniversary; it had initially been hoped that postponing the workshop from the originally intended date in 2020 to 2021 would allow to have a normal I in person i conference, but COVID-19 dynamics continued to disrupt plans, and the workshop took place belatedly in an online format. [Extracted from the article]

The paper estimates Myanmar's export potential based on bilateral export patterns observed for six countries in Southeast Asia. Against that benchmark and controlling for outliers, Myanmar is found to be trading at about 15 per cent of its potential. The bulk of this gap is explained by low trade with industrialized countries. It is conjectured that economic reforms and integration with the world economy are likely to close this gap to potential rather swiftly, particularly if Myanmar can manage to capitalize on its favourable predisposition to international trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attends to prior equivocal results concerning partner asymmetry and international joint venture (IJV) performance. More specifically, we examine how asymmetric financial strength between the partners influences IJV termination in emerging economies, and consider the asymmetry direction as well as the local partner's equity stake as contingency factors. Our event history analysis of 119 IJVs formed in Brazil shows that asymmetric financial strength increases the likelihood of termination. However, notably, the findings reveal that higher local partner financial strength is less harmful to IJV performance than lower local partner financial strength. Moreover, under both conditions, IJV performance is better when the highest equity stake is attributed to the local partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Initiative of jointly building the Belt and Road has drawn world-wide attention since 2012, and it is reasonable to believe that the ongoing implementation of the Belt and Road strategy will sustainably attract the international society in the years to come. Although the Chinese Government only recently made public the official paper entitled Vision and Actions of the Belt and Road, discussion and comments have been speedily and increasingly abundant among politicians, economists, entrepreneurs and scholars in various disciplines both in China and abroad. In spite of the difficulty at the moment to define the Belt and Road conceptually, especially from a legal point of view, this article tries to make a conceptual analysis of it with available sources and by comparison with its related traditional concepts of regional economic integration, partnership arrangement and community of common destiny, the last of which is as new as the Belt and Road. Finally, the author concludes that the Belt and Road is a new formula of global governance which bears some elements of regional economic integration on the one hand and resembles to some extent a partnership arrangement between States on the other hand. However, the implication of the Belt and Road surpasses both regional integration and partnership. It takes both as its basis and priorities with a far-reaching view of building a regional community of common destiny. This new type of regional community aims at building a "community of shared interests", "a community of shared destiny" and "a community of shared responsibility". In essence, it is a part of the community of common destiny of the whole of mankind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate three distinct hypotheses about the relationship between human resource (HR) practices (discretion and skill enhancement) and the level of trade openness and foreign direct investments of countries. Design/methodology/approach – The study applies multilevel analysis using data of 16,701 employees living in 23 European countries. Findings – Based on the multilevel analysis mixed support is found for the hypothesis stating that economic openness is curvilinearly related (an inverted U) to the use of HR practices. While this holds for discretion, it does not for skill enhancement. Originality/value – While economic globalization is often mentioned as an important factor in understanding organizational relations, there have only been few international comparative studies explicitly linking measures of economic openness and HR practices. This study investigate whether economic globalization is important or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper “Promoting Competition Rules in Romania, 2010-2014 Period” presents the activities carried out by the Competition Council in our country with the purpose of strengthening cooperation relationships with other institutions, as well as activities carried out with the purpose of enhancing the all stakeholders’ confidence in the benefits provided by competition, during the analysed period. The promotion of the competition culture is represented by activities performed by the competition authority by mechanisms that are not directly related to the effective application of the law, especially those related to strengthening cooperation relationships with other institutions and those performed with the purpose of enhancing all stakeholders’ confidence in the benefits provided by competition (ministries and state institutions, economic agents, magistrates, business associations and trade unions, non-governmental organizations, consumers, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses Singapore's progress in implementing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and tries to explore whether the city-state has encountered any domestic conflict whilst doing so. It concludes that being a highly trade- and FDI-dependent economy, it is in Singapore's national interest to be a part of the AEC. It is one of the leading ASEAN countries to implement the AEC initiatives. When examining domestic conflicts, Singapore presents a unique case as the city-state has long been exposed to the competitive forces of globalization, well before the development of the AEC. The country adopts non-protectionist measures to manage competitive pressures from the global economy. Almost full employment and a low incidence of poverty also minimize the negative impacts of liberalization. Case studies of the electronics and aviation sectors highlight how these two sectors are adjusting to liberalization and competition from the global economy, including the AEC. With respect to the electronics sector, which is an integral part of regional production networks, Singapore is continually progressing up the value chain. In the case of the aviation sector, the city-state continues to meet global and regional challenges through cooperative arrangements with the aviation industries of other countries and by upgrading and expanding its air services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is Thailand' s current priority and the AEC Blueprint is being progressively implemented in the country. However, different domestic economic interests have contributed to the slow pace of implementation. Three case studies--the agricultural sector, the logistics industry, and the mobility of medical professionals--are used to illustrate this. To move the AEC beyond 2015 and to enhance consensus-building during the community-building process, this paper puts forth the following policy recommendations: (i) the Thai government should enhance awareness of the community-building process and convey more details about the AEC to stakeholders and the general public; (ii) closer consultation and more integrated relationships between the government and stakeholders should be fostered; (iii) the government should formulate policies to improve the competitiveness of the affected stakeholders and industries to reduce the adverse impact from the AEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This paper argues that a new agenda for the relations between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is necessary, and that city regions can play an important role in it. Due to the shortcomings of the previous interregional strategy and the futile discussion if Latin America follows the European integration model, this new agenda should focus more on triangular and decentralized forms of cooperation aid, trade issues, and the knowledge transfer of poverty- and polarization-reduction strategies. Based on the foreign policy approaches of two Colombian case studies (the city-regions of Barranquilla and Medellin), it is shown that the international activities of Latin American city-regions can open new perspectives for EU-LAC relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Location is of paramount importance within the retail sector, yet defining locational obsolescence remains overlooked, despite significant concerns over the viability of parts of the complex sector. This paper reviews the existing literature and, through this, explores retail locational obsolescence, including the multi-spatial nature of the driving forces that range from the global economy, local markets and submarkets, to individual property-specific factors; and, crucially, the need to disentangle locational obsolescence from other important concepts such as depreciation and functional obsolescence that are often mistakenly used. Through this, a conceptual model, definition and diagnostic criteria are presented to guide future studies, policy development and the allocation of resources. Importantly, three stages are presented to enable the operationalization of the model, essential to future academic and industry studies as well as the ongoing development of policy in this economically important, complex and contentious area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the evidence on monetary policy transmission. It extends the existing literature in three dimensions. First, we attempt to internalise potential international channels of transmission by taking a global perspective. More specifically, we explore global aggregates covering a broader set of countries (ca. 70% per cent of the world economy) and a longer time span (from 1960 to 2013) than previous studies. Second, we broaden the set of transmission channels considered, notably by exploring interactions among monetary variables, inflation and asset prices (including residential property prices). Third, we look at the potential role of public debt in driving price developments, on the grounds underpinned by fiscal theories of the price level. On the basis of a VAR analysis, we find that: (1) global money demand shocks affect global inflation and global commodity prices (which, in turn, impact on inflation); (2) global asset price dynamics respond to financing cost shocks and (very modestly) to shocks to global money demand; and (3) positive house price shocks exert a significant influence on inflation. From a global perspective, the study suggests that an understanding of inflation requires recognition of the externalities that global commodity and asset price developments exert over domestic inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic importance of foreign direct investment in the contemporary economies has been tremendous. While various countries (developed and developing economies) have benefitted from the direct and spillover effects of FDI, which range from improved technology and knowledge diffusion through to individual and corporate capability enhancement, FDI outflow remains largely channelled to the developed countries, and the rapidly developing countries in Asia and South America. Evidence suggests that the development- enhancing effects of FDI are felt more highly in the developing economies, such as economies in Africa. However, FDI inflow to the developing economies has been very low. Using data generated from the African Development Indicators (ADI) between 1980 and 2008 in econometric estimations, this paper finds that government policies (especially fiscal and monetary policies) play significant roles in facilitating FDI inflow to the African countries studied. The study thereby suggests an improved regulatory framework to make Africa more attractive to inflow of FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has entered the new millennium with the goal of returning to the club of the great world powers and is running as the clearest candidate to dispute the hegemonic power of the United States. The "Chinese dream of revitalization of the great Chinese nation" and the "community of destiny" have become two of the main foreign policy purposes of the current president, Xi Jinping. In both concepts, the economic arena occupies a priority place. In this context, the economic statecraft, understood as the manipulation of international economic activities by a State to achieve strategic objectives (Norris, 2010) becomes a fundamental tool for Beijing in the framework of consolidation of its global power. It has also become an effective means to attract Latin American countries, rich in the natural resources that China needs to sustain its economic growth rates. In this regard, the Asian giant has established strategic partnerships aimed at strengthening ties with Beijing, which focus on trade, investment and finance (priority areas of action in the economic statecraft). This paper intends to analyze the economic statecraft that China deploys in Latin America and its link with the establishment of strategic associations in the region, in order to understand if they contribute to give an institutional framework to the economic policy of power that China deploys in the region. For this, we will take the case of the Argentina-China relationship at the beginning of the 21st century, analyzing its process of approach and evolution of bilateral political-diplomatic relations until the signing of the 2014 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the prospects for the digital transformation of Ukraine's foreign economic policy in the context of international digital trade/economy agreements, especially the Digital Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ukraine. The economic and legal effectiveness of these agreements in the process of digital transformation of foreign economic policy (foreign trade) in Ukraine and at the international level is proven. To increase their effectiveness and accelerate implementation, the political and legal framework is of great importance. Under other circumstances, the realisation of such agreements will be complicated by the need to bring domestic legislation in line with their provisions, as the case of Ukraine shows. It is substantiated that the implementation of the Digital Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ukraine is complicated by the lack of national legislation regarding electronic document management in cross-border trade; the slow pace of implementation of international legislation, for example, on personal data protection; the existence of differences in the legislative approaches of the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland regarding certain issues of trade in goods and services etc. It is emphasized that certain norms of the agreement are declarative and that it does not address some important issues that can be of great value for cross-border trade in the future. The expediency of Ukraine's constant participation in international cooperation in order to modernize foreign economic and national economic policy, taking into account the requirements of international documents and current challenges, is reasoned. In this context, constant monitoring, study of foreign experience and analysis of the consequences of resolving such important issues as cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, localization of data and entities that provide their transfer, non-discrimination, etc. are vital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades of isolation, Myanmar is now actively re-engaging with the global economy. For successful re-engagement, Myanmar needs to implement comprehensive economic reforms based on a shared vision of long-term economic development characterized by human-centred, sustainable, pro-poor, inclusive, high and balanced economic growth. In this paper, we propose five growth strategies: an "Agriculture Plus Plus" strategy; an export- oriented strategy; a foreign direct investment driven strategy; a two-polar growth strategy; and a domestic economic corridors development strategy. These strategies are used as guides to translate wide-ranging development agendas into a set of implementable policies, programmes, and projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the trade competition between China and India in Africa over the period from 2008 to 2017. After the 2008 financial crisis, China increased its advantage over India in exports of goods to rich African countries and in imports of goods from resource-abundant Africa's least developed countries. China-Africa and India-Africa trade relations are win-win relations. However, African countries are becoming more and more dependent on the condition of the Chinese economy. Compared to Chinese exports, Indian ones destroy fewer African markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Institute is a world leader in macroeconomic modelling and forecasting. It has produced quarterly economic forecasts for around sixty years, supported by macroeconomic models. The aim of the original builders of macroeconomic models was to transform understanding of how economies worked and use that knowledge to improve economic policy. In the early years, when computers were rare, macroeconomic modelling was a new frontier and Institute economists were among the first to produce a working model of the UK economy. It is remarkable how quickly models were being used to produce forecasts, assess policy and influence the international macroeconomic research agenda. The models built at the Institute were mainstream in the sense that they followed the contents of standard macroeconomic textbooks, developed with the subject, and fitted the facts as they were known at the time. There were continual improvements in understanding as the subject developed in response to new ideas and developments in the global economy. This article celebrates the development of macroeconomic modelling at the Institute and the contribution it has made to public life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to analyze the evolution of trading networks, emphasizing aspects of centrality and reciprocity among the major exporting nations, specifically, the U.S., China, India, Japan, and South Korea, from 1992 to 2020. The study problem we address is how these network structures have shifted over time, and what the implications of these changes are for international economic relations and policy. We further consider the impact of major global events on these trade networks and how they have shaped the evolution of these networks. We utilized three distinct methods. First, we examined time-series trade data during the study period and quantified network reciprocity through the sum of squared trade imbalances across different product categories. Second, we visualized these trade networks using arrows, with their sizes being proportional to the trade value between each pair of countries; significant trade relationships were indicated by arrows with a standard deviation value of 55 or above. Finally, we introduced a new cluster analysis methodology for studying the evolution of network structures over time. This method utilized an 80-dimensional vector representation of the annual networks, divided into four categories, and the resulting structures were visualized as dendrograms using R software. The network structure has become more reciprocal for most product categories, and the center of the network has shifted from the U.S. to China for all product categories, except for consumer goods and raw materials. The study also highlights the significant impact of global events and crises such as 9/11 attacks on the international trade network structure. Our findings inform several policy recommendations. These include encouraging balanced trade for economic stability and improved international relations, realigning trade focus in response to the shift in trade network center, and developing resilience policies that account for the substantial impact of global events on trade networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Governments are present-biased toward spending. Fiscal rules are deficit limits that trade off commitment to not overspend and flexibility to react to shocks. We compare coordinated rules, chosen jointly by a group of countries, to uncoordinated rules. If governments’ present bias is small, coordinated rules are tighter than uncoordinated rules: individual countries do not internalize the redistributive effect of interest rates. However, if the bias is large, coordinated rules are slacker: countries do not internalize the disciplining effect of interest rates. Surplus limits enhance welfare, and increased savings by some countries or outside economies can hurt the rest. (JEL D82, E43, E62, H62) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasingly closer economic relations among Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have emerged and expanded the need for monetary cooperation. The pursuit of monetary cooperation could not only have a long-term strategic significance for the internationalising progress of RMB, but also a practical significance in boosting the mutually beneficial development of regional economy, as well as reducing financial risks and the political divergences between the two sides of Taiwan Strait. In this paper, the feasibility of monetary cooperation among Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan is analysed from the perspectives of static state and dynamic trend by using the three-variable SVAR model (output, price and interest rate), state-space model and impulse-response analysis. The research finds that an overall symmetry of economic shocks from these four regions is relatively symmetrical. Besides, the restructuring speed of economic shock and the dynamic trend of the symmetry of economic shock are relatively optimistic. From the perspective of economy, it is believed that, as their trade and financial cooperation deepens, the conditions for monetary cooperation among Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, would gradually mature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) on cash holding decisions of firms in BRIC countries. Our focus is on the firms in BRIC countries, a particularly interesting group of countries to consider given their increasingly important role in the world economy. By using firm-level data through the 10 years period of 2006–2015, we find that firms prefer to hold more cash when uncertainty increases after controlling for firm level variables with industry and year fixed effects. The results are robust to alternative control variables, EPU calculations and selection of sub-samples. In addition to the country specific EPU levels, global EPU also has a significant positive impact on corporate cash holdings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Slovak-Ukrainian border, as well as the mutual economic interaction has been changing in the course of the following periods: a) 1993-2004: the bilateral intergovernmental regime of the border; b) 2004-2016: the community regime of the border between the EU and Ukraine, and c) the new border regime after the signing and subsequent implementation of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement (DCFTA), as well as an agreement on visa-free regime between the EU and Ukraine. Within the outlined context, the paper seeks to explore the history and dynamics of Slovak-Ukrainian mutual economic interaction, as well as the recent conditions in the CBC area, the understanding of which may contribute to building capacities of CBC actors to make best use of opportunities brought by AA/DCFTA and thus consequently boost economic development of the Slovak-Ukrainian borderland regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate in a sample of 53 emerging markets over 1980-2014 whether countries with open capital accounts are necessarily at the mercy of global events, or are able to take policy actions when receiving inflows to mitigate the impact of a subsequent reversal. Our analysis suggests that, while changes in global conditions have an important bearing on crisis susceptibility, countries that allow the buildup of macroeconomic and financial vulnerabilities during boom times, and which receive mostly debt flows, are significantly more likely to see capital inflow surge episodes end in a financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia Contemporanea is the property of Historia Contemporania 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.)

Regardless of the pro and against globalization opinions, the reality demonstrates the fact that the new world economy is based on the globalization process. In the international economic arena, apart from sovereign states there are new important players coming into action, such as multinational companies. We must also not neglect international institutions which have left their mark on the international arena. In the current context, multinational companies, hold a force unthought of half a century ago and represent both the main entities generating value and the main beneficiaries of the redistribution of added value, mainly through speculative actions. In the current paper I have attempted to present the different spectrum of roles which multinational companies play in the process of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When differentiating among different types of populism (right-wing, left-wing and anti-establishment populism), the econometric results differ based on the indicator used to measure protectionism. For example, when using a trade freedom index to measure populism, Jones finds no significant effect of populism on protectionism. Kent Jones' book I Populism and Trade i examines the effects of rising populism on growing trade protectionism across the world. [Extracted from the article]

Although worldwide poverty, a basic concern of John Kenneth Galbraith, is reducing on average, I argue that poverty remains a critical issue in many countries. This led the Chinese government to propose the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. Broadly, the BRI constructs a cross-continental nexus between countries to reduce their development uncertainties by increasing their connectivity. As a result, the Chinese government has invested trillions of infrastructure dollars in projects that have been introduced to the involved countries as sovereign debt along with the participation of Chinese multinational corporations. Although evidence has shown that this initiative is gaining increasingly more support from the less-developed countries, signs of uncertainty in various forms have clearly emerged. In light of such, I propose that possible in-country political instability, political conflicts among the participating countries, national debt defaults, and competition between China and the United States of America in regional influence may have added to the underlying uncertainties that have challenged the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

The article focuses on the International Conference World Economy 2019: Learning from the Past and Designing the Future, that was held on May 9 and 10 at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). It mentions about the development of the global economy and the resulting challenges and opportunities for Poland; and also mentions about the global economy, including shifts in economic centers, globalization, global value chains, trade agreements, sharing economy, and use of the Internet.