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Kann digitale Transformation im ländlichen Raum als Chance zur Verbesserung gleichwertiger Lebensverhältnisse genutzt werden? Anhand von drei bayerischen Modellregionen wurden in zahlreichen Handlungsfeldern – z.B. Gesundheit und Pflege, Mobilität, Kirche, Arbeiten, Schule und Bildung - digitale Lösungen gemeinsam mit Betroffenen entwickelt, eingeführt und getestet. Aufgrund des ganzheitlichen Projektfokus sind „Living Labs“ entstanden, die Synergien, Potentiale, aber auch Herausforderungen deutlich machen und zeigen, dass ländliche Räume eigene Anforderungen haben, die sich maßgeblich von „Smart Cities“ unterscheiden.

This book focuses on how to promote cross-border economic cooperation in the context of China national strategy including BRI. This book summarizes the existing regional economic development theories and sorts out the relevant theories of cross-border economic cooperation. Then, it analyzes the industrial development of China's southwestern border and neighboring countries, the main reasons of rural household poverty in the border ethnic areas by means of empirical methods, and proposes corresponding policy implications. Also, it explores the current border investment and trade policies of China, and compares the similarities and differences between China and Vietnam, and Laos and Myanmar.

This volume spotlights some of the most important economic issues confronting today's emerging developing countries. The topics studied in the book include the importance of productivity to economic growth, international trade and its relationship to productivity; immigration and brain drain; pollution havens, climate change, and the carbon tax; the effectiveness of foreign aid, the efficiency of education, and governance. Written by some of the most respected scholars in their respective fields, the individual chapters apply both economic theory and the most current empirical tools in rigorous but accessible exposition. Researchers can find value in the modeling and empirical techniques that can be applied to other countries and datasets. Policy makers can benefit from the intellectual foundation on which decisions on important issues can be based; and students of international trade, economic development, and environmental economics can gain knowledge of different country settings that give context to their fields of study.

That some cities are vibrant while others are in decline is starkly apparent. In The Wealth and Poverty of Cities, Mario Polèse argues that focusing on city attributes is too narrow. Cities do not control the basic conditions that determine their success or failure as sources of economic growth and well-being. Nations matter because successful metropolitan economies do not spring forth spontaneously. The values, norms, and institutions that shape social relationships are national attributes. The preconditions for the creation of wealth-the rule of law, public education, and sound macroeconomic management among the most fundamental-are the responsibility of the state. By considering national fiscal and monetary policies and state policies governing the organization of cities, this book disentangles two processes: the mechanics of creating wealth and the mechanics of agglomeration or capturing wealth. Polèse explains the two-stage process in which the proper conditions must first be in place for the benefits of agglomeration to fully flower. Polèse interweaves evocative descriptions of various cities, contrasting cities that have been helped or hurt by local and national policies wise or ill-advised. From New York to Vienna, Buenos Aires to Port au Prince, the cities come to life. Throughout the book Polèse highlights four factors that help explain strengths and weaknesses of cities as foci of economic opportunity and social cohesion: institutions, people, centrality, and chance. The result is a nuanced and accessible introduction to the economy of cities and an original perspective on what needs to improve. Cities that have managed to produce livable urban environments for the majority of their citizens mirror the societies that spawned them. Similarly, cities that have failed are almost always signs of more deep-rooted failures. If the nation does not work, neither will its cities.

This book introduces recent developments in both theoretical and empirical analyses of local public economics. Theories of those economics as well as empirical analyses have been developed dramatically in various directions in recent years. One direction has been to reflect real economic circumstances, especially in Japan. In the early 2000s, Japan experienced the so-called great merger (or consolidation) of municipalities in the Heisei era (1999 through the present), with the number of municipalities shrinking from 3,232 to 1,821 for increasing administrative and financial efficiency. This phenomenon is mainly due to a drastic change in demography in Japan: the dimishing birthrate and aging population. Following the consolidation, regional coordination has been undertaken to raise overall administrative and financial efficiency. In sum, various types of public policies for tackling the decreasing birthrate and aging population have been carried out. Urban sprawl and the timing of municipal mergers are dealt with from a broad point of view, and public child care services and tax competition are investigated from a policy standpoint. Another direction has been to incorporate new ideas for forming theoretical frameworks for local public finance, most of which have been based on static situations. In the recent trend toward globalization, local governments have attended not only to the welfare of residents but also to the interests of regional economic development. In addition, decision making by local governments has tended to be affected by political activities. Thus, the endogenous growth setting and lobbying activities for the activities of local governments are discussed in the book. With these new directions for analyses, the author tackles the topics of tax competition, cross-border shopping, local provision of public goods, and soft budgets, thus covering a broad range of aspects of local public finance.

This book is unique and original, constituting a pioneering study in the use of spatial economics and related analytical approaches to Brazil's Cerrado agricultural development and the formation of agro-industrial value chains. This methodology is appropriate because Cerrado agriculture has been developed from scratch in a vast, previously barren area (204.7 million ha.) in which a spatial transformation has taken place. Until 40 years ago, this region, with its huge expanse of tropical savanna was believed to be unsuited to agriculture. Now, however, it has been transformed into an immense breadbasket, contributing to the mitigation of global food shortages. It also has contributed to the inland development of Brazil, promoting urbanization with a higher living standard and modern production techniques. This book identifies critical factors that enabled the transformation of the Cerrado. To understand the process of agricultural development and the formation of agro-industrial value chains, spatial economics and related approaches are essential because the process involves spatial interactions such as transportation, supply chains, knowledge spillovers, environmental constraints, migration, and urbanization. The book demonstrates that the initial development of Cerrado agriculture was a genuine spatial transformation with contributions from pioneering producers, agribusinesses, and central and local governments, as well as through international cooperation. It also discusses agriculture and agro-industrial value chains focusing on inclusive and sustainable development, a major concern of the international community particularly in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals.

This book discusses the latest theoretical advances in regional innovation research, presents empirical cases involving the development of regional innovation systems (RISs), and explores regional innovation policy approaches. Grounded in the extensive literature on RISs, it addresses state-of-the-art developments in light of recent theoretical advances in economic geography and related disciplines. Written in honor of Bjørn Asheim's seventieth birthday, the book includes novel and carefully selected chapters prepared by collaborators, colleagues and former PhD-students of one of the founding fathers of RIS research. Further, it makes a significant contribution to the academic debate on regional innovation and growth and offers valuable insights for scholars and policymakers alike.

This book details the preparation of USAGE-TERM, a computable general equilibrium model that provides regional economic detail in the USA. The model can represent either congressional district or state level economic activity. The latter may include a top-down representation of county activity. Interest in USAGE-TERM is growing among government departments. It is a practical tool, which may enhance analysis of productivity growth and innovation, adverse events such as drought or civil disruption and the dynamic economic impacts of major projects.Economic analysts and policy makers care about regions. Some regions suffer growing pains, as supporting infrastructure and services struggle to cope with population growth. Soaring house prices and rentals may lower affordability for many. Other regions suffer ongoing decline due to structural change. Regional economic fluctuations are often far more dramatic than national fluctuations.

This volume focuses on frontiers in regional research and identifies trends and future developments in the areas of innovation, regional growth and migration. It also addresses topics such as mobility, regional forecasting, and regional policy, and includes expert contributions on disasters, resilience, and sustainability. Building on recent methodological and modelling advances, as well as on extensive policy-analysis experience, top international regional scientists identify and evaluate emerging new conceptual and methodological trends and directions in regional research. This book will appeal to a wide readership, from regional scientists and economists to geographers, quantitatively oriented regional planners and other related disciplines. It offers a source of relevant information for academic researchers and policy analysts in government, and is also suitable for advanced teaching courses on regional and spatial science, economics and political science.

This is the second volume in a two-part series on frontiers in regional research. It identifies methodological advances as well as trends and future developments in regional systems modelling and open science. Building on recent methodological and modelling advances, as well as on extensive policy-analysis experience, top international regional scientists identify and evaluate emerging new conceptual and methodological trends and directions in regional research. Topics such as dynamic interindustry modelling, computable general equilibrium models, exploratory spatial data analysis, geographic information science, spatial econometrics and other advanced methods are the central focus of this book. The volume provides insights into the latest developments in object orientation, open source, and workflow systems, all in support of open science. It will appeal to a wide readership, from regional scientists and economists to geographers, quantitatively oriented regional planners and other related disciplines. It offers a source of relevant information for academic researchers and policy analysts in government, and is also suitable for advanced teaching courses on regional and spatial science, economics and political science.

This book focuses on the economic and political relationships between Russia and Europe, which are currently characterized by the existence and escalation of contradictions. On the one hand, the common history and geographical proximity of Russia and Europe have naturally produced a close interdependence; on the other, current global political affairs and opposing positions continue to hinder the development of common economic relationships in Russia and Europe. This contributed volume describes integration processes in Russia and Europe to illustrate best practice examples and demonstrates how both parties have increasingly come to understand the importance of international cooperation, highlighting economic, legal, philosophical, political and sociological aspects.

This book examines India's ten years of experience developing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the performance of SEZs in the context of India's growing international engagement, its endeavours to attract domestic and foreign investment in manufacturing and services and its aim to increase and diversify exports of goods and services. SEZs are industrial enclaves/clusters within a country that receive certain incentives and business facilitation benefits that are not generally available to the rest of the country. To facilitate private and foreign investment in SEZs, India introduced the SEZ policy in 2000, which was followed by the SEZ Act in 2005. After ten years under the Act, India now has one of the largest number of approved SEZs in the world and its SEZ policy remains heatedly debated, with a number of studies arguing both for and against it. Given this background, the book also identifies the challenges faced by SEZs inIndia and offers policy recommendations on how to make the SEZs an engine for India's economic growth and development that can more effectively link the country's manufacturing and services sectors to global value chains.

Das vorliegende Buch vereinigt Fallstudien zur Krisenfestigkeit in acht deutschsprachigen Regionen mit jeweils unterschiedlichen strukturellen Voraussetzungen, Anpassungsstrategien und -instrumenten, Krisenerfahrungen und wirtschaftlichen Erfolgen. Im Vergleich zu anderen europäischen Ländern wird die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in den deutschsprachigen Ländern Deutschland, Österreich und Schweiz während des vergangenen Jahrzehnts positiv beurteilt. Beschäftigung und Exporte stiegen an, und das Wirtschaftswachstum sank lediglich relativ kurzfristig im unmittelbaren weltweiten Wirtschaftskrisenjahr 2009. Die Fallstudien basieren auf Experteninterviews in den jeweiligen Regionen und auf nationaler und europäischer Ebene sowie zwei Workshops mit Praktikern aus untersuchten Regionen in Baden-Württemberg und Sachsen. Zielgruppen für das Buch sind zum einen Praktiker in Landesregierungen, regionalen und lokalen Wirtschaftsförderungen, Kammern und Verbänden und zum anderen regionalwissenschaftliche Forscher.

Why should people - and economies - save? This book on the savings problem in Latin America and the Caribbean suggests that, while saving to survive the bad times is important, saving to thrive in the good times is what really counts. People must save to invest in health and education, live productive and fulfilling lives, and make the most of their retirement years. Firms must save to grow their enterprises, employ more workers in better jobs, and produce quality goods. Governments must save to build the infrastructure required by a productive economy, provide quality services to their citizens, and assure their senior citizens a dignified, worry-free retirement. In short, countries must save not for the proverbial rainy day, but for a sunny day - a time when everyone can bask in the benefits of growth, prosperity, and well-being.This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.

Since the early 1950s East Asia (China, Taiwan and South Korea) and South-East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam) have, despite war and other challenges, managed to transform the lives of their people, whereas South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) has lagged behind. The success of East and South-East Asia has not been accidental – it has been driven by action to reduce rural poverty, by the provision of decent education and health services to the people, and by high quality physical and institutional infrastructure, such as roads, ports and railways, and targeted support from the State to develop particular industries. In contrast, Pakistan has never confronted the problem of rural poverty, nor invested in public services. This failure is a reflection of the power of the landed class and its urban allies. This has now taken the form of widespread rent-seeking in the economy with the country's ruling elite sharing out the spoils amongst themselves rather than taking measures to grow the size of the economy so that all might share in the resulting prosperity.Rentier Capitalism sheds light on the reasons behind Pakistan's failure to bring prosperity to its people when compared to other East Asian and South-East Asian countries.

This book shows the necessity of measuring the incidence-basis indirect economic effects of public investments. The essential argument can be traced back to H. Mohring versus J. Tinbergen, the conclusions of one contradicting those of the other. Their arguments are called, respectively, “transfer” and “existing theory” of the indirect economic effect of public investments such as highways. The author has first defined the categories of “generation-basis” and “incidence-basis” economic effects in addition to the categories of direct and indirect economic effects, and has shown that it is essential to measure the incidence-basis indirect economic effects for decision making about public investments. The second major point is that, in this sense, the measurement must rely on the general and dynamic spatial modeling simulation approach. The third essential point is that Tinbergen is correct as far as we have to cope with a real setting in which the Marshallian type of external economies exists.Another characteristic is that the monetary (pecuniary) external economies are dealt with systematically, for the superiority of public investment criteria depends greatly on whether they are taken hold of or not. This book lays emphasis on the process toward the equilibrium, not the equilibrium itself.

This is the first book to provide readers with a theoretical and empirical analysis of sustainable economic growth in Asian countries. Recently, most Asian countries have achieved rapid economic growth and their existence cannot be ignored in the world economy. However, these countries now face the serious problems that have confronted more developed countries such as environmental problems, social security and unemployment. Rapid economic growth has brought environmental pollution, regional disparities, and serious congestion due to insufficient infrastructure. Thus, it is necessary to understand the background economic mechanism in order to find the prescription for each problem. This book is intended not only for the researcher but also for the policy maker, for both of whom it provides the basic methods for analyzing regional problems from the points of view of endogenous economic growth theory, environmental economics, and spatial economics. This work presents theoretical as well as empirical analyses. Particularly, we cite the examples of Asian countries: Japan, China, Korea, Thailand and others. The aim is for readers to apply the theories in this book to the above-mentioned problems in Asian countries as an aid in policy making. The authors are specialists in macroeconomics, public economics, environmental economics, transportation economics and spatial economics, all of which are important aspects of regional science.

This book offers a new understanding of how firms determine their location and what kinds of regional economic policies are needed to attract factories to a country and a region in a highly globalized economic setting. The theoretical and empirical analyses examine the influence of the transfer pricing system, corporate tax rates, and a country's industrial structure on a firm's decision to locate and the impact of firms'location on regional economic activities. The theoretical analysis elucidates the importance of the above-mentioned factors in the firm's selection of possible location. The empirical analysis uses as an example the case of a supply chain in East Asia. The empirical analysis is illustrated with the regional/spatial development experiences at the country level and city level of selected countries and cities. The analysis offers a perspective for understanding the spatial patterns of a cross-border production system.

This book focuses on the questions of how territorial differences in productivity levels and unemployment rates arise in the first place and why territorial differences in labor market performance persist over time. Unemployment divergence and unemployment club convergence have been touched on in a large number of works and have recently also been studied using spatial econometric analysis. In this book we aim to develop the debate to include several important new topics, such as: the reasons why structural changes in some sectors cause slumps in some regions but not in others; the extent to which agglomeration factors explain regional imbalances; the degree of convergence / divergence across EU countries and regions; the role of labor mobility in reducing / increasing regional labor market imbalances; the impact of EU and country-level regional policy in stimulating convergence and the (unsatisfactory) role of active labor market policy in stimulating labor supply in the weakest economic areas.

Based on extensive field work involving the leading figures of the diverse Syrian National Coalition, an umbrella initiative of opposition groups fighting against the Assad regime, this study critically evaluates the challenges ahead as well as the inherent opportunities for the post-conflict era in Syria.

This book presents a multiregional input-output model for the metropolitan area of Southern California, which helps to estimate the economic impact of simulated terrorist attacks on seaports, malls etc. as well as of natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The authors also analyze the economic and social effects of metropolitan policies such as growth controls, neighborhood gentrification or road-congestion charges. The model presented in the book has evolved over a period of 25 years and requires a very substantial computer capacity.

This study explores the prospect of the application of the basic principles of ICL into many other potential areas of social and economic policy. Using case studies it evaluates previously implemented ICL schemes where interest rate subsidies are usually the norm, and questions the merits of this approach.

The main objective of the book is to identify and evaluate the major changes in the Cohesion Policy of the European Union and their effects on Polish regions for the period of 2014 - 2020. The reader will learn how these changes result from the successful agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework and implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy. Based on these aspects, the authors describe the main change in the Cohesion Policy of the EU, which is the renewed focus on competitiveness and skills to compete within the EU internal and the global market. The territorial approach taken by the EU with respect to entrepreneurial competitiveness is directly linked to the location attractiveness of regions. The authors argue that the new paradigm of the EU's Cohesion Policy will strengthen the focus on location attractiveness. To illustrate this case, they analyze Poland as one of the most appropriate and relevant Member States to evaluate the new rules underlying EU policies for 2014 - 2020, as Poland is the largest net-beneficiary of the EU budget.

How do bank supervisors strike a balance between market self-regulation and pro-active regulatory intervention? This book investigates the choice of banking supervision approach in four European Union member states from Central and Eastern Europe – Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Slovenia – after their transition to democracy and market economy.

The evaluation of public policies is of paramount importance for modern policy making, especially in a period of severe budget constraints. The literature has proposed several methods to deal with the issue of causality and counterfactual evaluation in a variety of contexts, with an increasing attention to the local dimension. The book aims to present the state-of-the-art of evaluation techniques with a special focus on the consideration of geographical and spatial effects into existing methodologies (such as propensity score matching, regression discontinuity, difference-in-difference). Furthermore, the volume highlights how strict the identification conditions for models with spatial effects are and proposes instrumental variables as a technique able to circumvent the issue. Finally, some insights into the emerging literature on ex ante evaluation are offered with respect to EU Cohesion Policy.

The European economy is still in recession, even though there are some weak indications of stabilization. This book examines important aspects of the crisis in selected countries of Southern Europe, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The intensity of the crisis and its economic and social repercussions have varied from country to country, generally impacting the core countries less than those on the periphery. The countries in the latter group currently face significant structural challenges with regard to improving productivity and competitiveness, including the areas of investment, climate, the labour market, and the public sector. The book not only illustrates the scope of the problem, but also informs readers on the policies implemented to address it, and discusses the progress some of the economies have already made. Special topics include the convergence hypothesis, agriculture and growth, Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure (PPPI), and the labour market.

Creating a Eurasian Union offers a detailed analysis of the economies of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan and the proposed Eurasian Union. The authors employ econometric analysis of business cycles and cointegration analysis to prove the fragility of the union's potential economic success. By providing a brief description of the economic integration of the former Soviet republics, this pioneering work analyses the on-going trial and error processes of market integration led by Russia. Vymyatnina and Antonova's distinctive argument is the first consistent analysis of the emerging Eurasian Union. They incorporate both a non-technical summary of the integration process and previous research and analytical comments, as well as a thorough empirical analysis of the real data on the economic development of the participating countries, to caution that the speed of integration might undermine the feasibility of the Eurasian Union.

This volume is the fourth instalment of the'Report on the state of the European Union'series. Its shows that if the EU does not want to be ruled by crisis any longer, it must invest in sustainability, political, economic, social and environmental. Europe must turn this elusive and ever-threatening'crisis'into a chosen and meaningful transition.

Using original qualitative ethnographic field interviews and quantitative field survey results, Consumption, Informal Markets, and the Underground Economy explores the rationale for and model of'off the books'consumption in a borderlands environment.

The Arab upheaval and the world's biggest financial crisis after the Great Depression were almost simultaneous in their occurrence. The Mediterranean economies now face a dual challenge of a political and financial restructuring in the light of a shaky economic pedestal on which they stand. In light of this socio-political and economic shift in both inland and in world markets, this book offers a thorough analysis on problems, prospects and the way ahead for the financial integration of the South-Mediterranean region. Several perspectives on financial integration and policy recommendations are put forward from a leading group of researchers specializing on the Mediterranean region.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the biggest event of worldwide proportion was the 2008 global financial crisis, which was caused primarily by ineffective governance, failed surveillance systems, and implementation flaws. While fiscal and monetary policies succeeded in pulling many countries out of a financial freefall, most economies have performed beneath pre-recession levels as governments continued to struggle with their finances. Examining the financial crisis from the viewpoint of intangible assets provides a different perspective from traditional economic approaches. National Intellectual Capital (NIC), comprised mainly of human capital, market capital, process capital, renewal capital, and financial capital, is a valuable intangible asset and a key source of national competitive advantage in today's knowledge economy. The authors—pioneers in the field—present extensive data and a rigorous conceptual framework to analyze the connections between the global financial crisis and NIC development. Covering the period from 2005 to 2010 across 48 countries, the authors establish a positive correlation between NIC and GDP per capita and consider the impact of NIC investment for short-term recovery and long-term risk control and strategy formulation.Each volume in a series of SpringerBriefs on NIC and the financial crisis provides in-depth coverage of the impact of the crisis, the aftermath, future prospects, and policy implications for a regional cluster. This volume focuses on the BRICKS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, Korea, and South Africa.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the biggest event of worldwide proportion was the 2008 global financial crisis, which was caused primarily by ineffective governance, failed surveillance systems, and implementation flaws. While fiscal and monetary policies succeeded in pulling many countries out of a financial freefall, most economies have performed beneath pre-recession levels as governments continued to struggle with their finances. Examining the financial crisis from the viewpoint of intangible assets provides a different perspective from traditional economic approaches. National Intellectual Capital (NIC), comprised mainly of human capital, market capital, process capital, renewal capital, and financial capital, is a valuable intangible asset and a key source of national competitive advantage in today's knowledge economy. The authors—pioneers in the field—present extensive data and a rigorous conceptual framework to analyze the connections between the global financial crisis and NIC development. Covering the period from 2005 to 2010 across 48 countries, the authors establish a positive correlation between NIC and GDP per capita and consider the impact of NIC investment for short-term recovery and long-term risk control and strategy formulation.Each volume in a series of SpringerBriefs on NIC and the financial crisis provides in-depth coverage of the impact of thecrisis, the aftermath, future prospects, and policy implications for a regional cluster. This volume focuses on China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.

In 1989, after several years of discussion and negotiation, the Regional Econornics Applications Laboratory (REAL) was formed. This unique relationship between the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been a significant source of intellectual inspiration for many students, visiting colleagues and members of the participating institutions for the past decade. The idea for REAL was hatched by Philip Israilevich and Geoffrey Hewings in typical Chicago style - in the back room of a local bar. In early December 1997, their collaboration came to an untimely end when Philip died after a three-year battle with cancer. The challenge of moving across a spectrum from theory to model development to implementation and interpretation provided the underlying motivation for REAL's formation together with an equally important component, namely the translation of many of these efforts into a form that could be understood and implemented by policy­ makers. For Philip, REAL and the Regional Science Association International provided the forums for his intellectual endeavors, although he also contributed many papers in banking. In recognition of his contributions and to provide a sense of the current research in the fields in which he published, many of the authors of these chapters assembled in Chicago in November, 1998 to participate in a small seminar in his honor. Several others who were not able to come nevertheless contributed chapters to this volume. Subsequently, all of the papers have been revised and updated.

Regional economic models are the key to predicting the effects of transportation, economic development, energy, fiscal and environmental policies. Despite this, the principal regional economic policy analysis model used throughout the United States by government agencies, universities, and the private sector has not been presented in a book until now. The approach to building, understanding and using regional models presented in Regional Economic Models: A Systematic Approach to Forecasting and Policy Analysis is progressive. It begins with the simplest possible models and concludes with a full presentation of the leading model used by policy makers today. The full details are presented along with facilitating software, which is made available so that the reader can build a prototype model for any state or country and can perform policy simulations with full operational models for a sample area. Policy studies are discussed that have been carried out with the model, as well as the range of ways in which policies can be tested through policy simulations. The necessary background is developed for understanding the ways in which models can be used to improve the basis upon which policies are evaluated, as well as the sensitivity of the predicted effects to the model chosen for the analysis. The presentation is multifaceted and includes equations, diagrams and numerical examples. The professional literature is integrated with introductory materials to produce the first comprehensive book on regional modeling that extends from economic base models to modeling advances that are currently being published in economic journals.

Looking into the future and trying to visualize long-run regional disparities is difficult. There is no agreed single theory to guide our model building, although some insight can be gained from analysisofthe past and by looking at the differ­ ent theoretical positions to see if there is any agreement at least in terms of out­ come ifnot in terms of mechanism. This is what is attempted in this book, which brings together specialists with a common interest in European regional growth and in applying quantitative analytical and simulation techniques in order to pro­ vide different perspectives on the topic. Manyofthe Chapters in the book employ the methods of spatial econometrics. Spatial econometrics is a suite of statistical and econometric tools dedicated to the analysisofspatial data, in other words data that is set within the context of socio-econornic theories and which can be repre­ sented most informatively in mapped form. These methods have emerged over the last half-century from aseries of influential papers and books in the fields of re­ gional science, spatial statistics and quantitative geography, and are ripe for seri­ ous application in the context of the EU's development. In particular they provide the means by which to analyze spatially indexed data where the time dimension is essentially suppressed because, for instance the variables of interest are not avail­ able or are of questionable accuracy, which is often the case when one is inter­ ested in regional, rather than national, variations across a numberofcountries.

Economic integration is one of the most noteworthy issues in international economic policy at the end of the twentieth century. The recent examples of the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) have raised important questions about the economic integration process and the possible establishment of economic unions in other parts of the world. Against the backdrop of the financial crisis in Europe and prospects of increasing integration in Asia, this volume showcases research from an international array of researchers to provide a basic understanding of the current issues, problems, challenges, and opportunities for achieving integration, addressing both empirical and theoretical aspects of such topics as monetary union, social policy reform and social union, public finance and technology policy. The chapters in Part 1 are focused primarily on economic issues, while Part 2 covers on social policy, the welfare state, and political reforms, with a particular emphasis on the European Union. Among the questions addressed:What are the main determinants and implications for socio-economic integration?How can economic policy influence the growth and integration process?Why is innovation important for regional economic development?What has been the policy response so far and what lessons have we learned from it?And finally, what are our action lines for the future?

New information and communication technologies unquestionably brought about enormous changes that resulted in an ever-increasing networked society. Indeed, there is no area in the social and economic world which is unaffected by the recent advances. In response to these changes scientists from numerous disciplines teamed up in 1997 to lay a foundation for a common theory of networks. The objective was to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind social, economic, technical and other kinds of networks in order to develop a unified theory of networks. Such a theory would then guide public and private decisions concerning the planning, operations and controlling of all kinds of networks. The contributions in this book represent the first steps toward this ambitious goal.

In March 1998 the European Union formally launched the accession process that will lead to a significant enlargement of the Union. So far ten countries from Central Europe: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia have submitted their applications for EU membership. This unique process immediately attracted attention of economists and policy makers. Nevertheless, it can be noticed that among numerous results already published, there is a distinctive shortage of books and papers in which quantitative research methods are applied. This is to a large extent justified by the fact that the transition and accession processes are new to the economic sciences, their methodology is not wellresearched, statistical data for the Central and East European countries are scarce and not always reliable and, generally, quantitative approach seems to be a risky and uncertain business. All these all problems can also be seen as a challenge rather than an obstacle. With this on mind, we have decided to clarify the status quo by organising a research seminar which focused on the methodology and quantitative analysis of the Central and East European transition and pre-accession processes. The seminar, East European Transition and EU Enlargement: a Quantitative Approach organised by Macroeconomic and Financial Data Centre (University of Gdansk and University ofLeicester) took place in Gdansk in June 2001. Our edited volume contains papers developed from this seminar.

Thorvald Stoltenberg Ambassador Chairman of the Editorial Advisory Board Most of us have been overwhelmed by the speed and extent of the changes that have been taking place in Europe since the late 1980s. Over the span of a few years, we have witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the unification of Ger­ many. This process has had far-reaching implications for Northern Europe: the Baltic states have attained independence, and with the establishment of the Baltic Sea regional co-operation and the Barents co-operation, a new type of East-West relations has come into being. The process of change continues. Its latest manifestation is the agreement between Russia and NATO, and NATO and EU enlargement is expected to take place over the next few years. With such far-reaching transformations, we need to reflect on what is hap­ pening. We need a more coherent picture of the new situation in Northern Europe and of where we are heading. This Yearbook is an attempt to fulfil this need. I would like to thank the editors for taking this initiative, which has been long awaited by those of us who have been actively interested in the improved relations between the former East and the old West that have been made possible by the end of the Cold War - and particularly in the new opportunities for cross-border co-operation and integra­ tion in the North European and Baltic space.

The American public has a fascination with railroad wrecks that goes back a long way. One hundred years ago, staged railroad accidents were popular events. At the Iowa State fair in 1896, 89,000 people paid $20 each, at current prices, to see two trains, throttles wide open, collide with each other.'Head-on Joe'Connolly made a business out of'cornfield meets'holding seventy-three events in thirty-six years. Picture books of train wrecks do good business presumably because a train wreck can guarantee a spectacular destruction of property without the messy loss of life associated with aircraft accidents. A'train wreck'has also entered the popular vocabulary in a most unusual way. When political manoeuvering leads to failure to pass the federal budget, and a shutdown is likely of government services, this is widely called a'train wreck.'In business and team sports, bumbling and lack of coordination leading to a spectacular and public failure to perform is also called'causing a train wreck.'A person or organization who is disorganized may be labelled a'train wreck.'It is therefore not surprising that the public perception of the safety of railroads centers on images of twisted metal and burning tank cars, and a general feeling that these events occur quite often. After a series of railroad accidents, such as occurred in the winter of 1996 or the summer of 1997, there are inevitable calls that government'should do something.

Russia and many other transition countries are now facing the challenges of opening up, restructuring, and modernizing their economies, which requires addressing numerous institutional weaknesses and supply-side distortions. The papers in this collection examine these issues both in Russia and from a regional perspective, drawing on the experience of other reforming countries. Aspects addressed include the implications of trade and capital flows, the process of labor market reform, financial market development, productivity growth, and innovation dynamics. The dynamics of the reform process are also studied in the context of new political economy models.

An in-depth analysis of one of the most important and complex issues of the post-Soviet era, namely the (re-)integration of this highly interconnected region. The book considers the evolution of'holding-together'groups since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, looking at intergovernmental interaction and informal economic and social ties.

This is the first book to explain the expansion of multinational enterprises (MNEs) into a transition economy from a technology accumulation perspective. The author provides a theoretical alternative to accepted wisdom regarding technology transfer, and discusses the policy implications of this new approach for economic development.

The Eurasian continent, which has for over a century lagged behind in global markets, is currently gaining economic and political momentum. This book investigates emerging economic linkages in the area, examining the factors shaping this integration, the benefits and risks involved, and the future of these states on the global stage.

Critical Infrastructures: State of the Art in Research and Application, comprising a selection of reviewed and edited contributions from all over the world, aims to shed light on the various aspects of critical infrastructures. The editors of this book have opted for a broad view on the various criticality aspects on infrastructures itself as well as contributions that discuss the institutional and technical environment of critical infrastructures which are crucial for their proper functioning. Critical Infrastructures brings to light a number of eye-opening critical issues that have been only marginally touched upon in research and practice. Hence, the book is an indispensable resource for infrastructure policy makers, managers, consultants and researchers alike. The book is divided into four sections: •Vulnerability and Risk; •System Development and Adaptation; •Institutional Change; •Capacity Management.

Post-colonial Africa is littered with regional trade agreements that amounted to little more than a photo opportunity for the leaders that signed them. This book explores conventional explanations for past failures and posits a new theory rooted in the symbiotic relationship between authoritarian politics and crony-capitalism.

Inevitably, at a panel discussion not too long ago comparing planning cultures the discussion turned on the issue of globalisation. As a member of the panel, this author asked those in the audience who lived and/or worked in a country different from their country of origin to raise their hands. About half of the audience of well over one hundred academic teachers and researchers from all comers of the world, the present author included did so. Next he asked who had a spouse or partner from a country different from their country of origin to also raise their hands. About half of the audience, the present author included, raised their hands. This is the soft side of globalisation. The soft side of globalisation is important. Exchanges, personal mobility, international romances, multi-culturalism and multi-lingualism (inevitably meaning non-native speakers struggling to keep up with native English speakers) are part of the academic scene, so much so that we can hardly imagine it to be otherwise. These are not entirely new phenomena, but they have become ever more prominent, relying on an ever more elaborate institutional infrastructure of exchange programmes, international journals, associations and the global conference industry. It was at the AESOP (Association of European Schools of Planning) congress at Bmo in the Czech Republic in July 2000 that the plan for this book was hatched.

After a description of the new forms of globalization currently shaping our world, and of their possible spatial effects, the book highlights which European regions have in the past succeeded in taking advantage of globalization trends and identifies the major reasons for their success. The book also offers a prospective analysis utilizing scenarios based on different assumptions of how globalization trends will develop, identifying the regional winners and losers for each scenario. The analysis greatly benefits from a unique database which contains, among others, data on FDI by sector and professions at the regional Nuts-2 level for all 27 EU countries. A time-span of more than 10 years is covered, and scenarios are developed for the future development up to 2020.

Is small still beautiful? The recent economic and financial crisis has shown that developed countries in which firms are smaller suffered the biggest GDP plunges. Today, economic growth depends more than in the past on sound and well-organized firms, which means more innovation, a better educated labor force, higher likelihood of access to financial resources and efficient investments. This does not mean the end of small-sized firms, but that they need to be different from the way they were in the past. This book provides an international perspective on analyses and policy recommendations for how small businesses can reinforce their role in modern economies.

Following the 2010 earthquake catastrophe, this book examines the economic and political challenges facing Haiti. It presents an overview of the country's economic history, and seeks new prospects for economic growth and development in the future.