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The paper examines the correlation between patriarchal attitudes, women's asset ownership, participation in household decision-making and women's educational attainment across 27 post-communist countries. It hypothesizes that patriarchal attitudes hinder women's educational achievements while women's asset ownership and participation in household decision-making facilitate them. Utilizing regression analysis, marginal effects, post-regression simulation, the study tests and confirms these hypotheses. Results show that for every unit increase in women's asset ownership and participation in decision-making, the odds of achieving higher educational attainment increase by approximately 35.7% and 16.5%, respectively. Conversely, a unit increase in patriarchal attitudes decreases these odds by 15.8%. The findings underscore the importance of state and civil society commitment to addressing gender disparities in education.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the short and long run causal relationship between public health expenditure and GDP per capita in transition economies within the context of the Wagner hypoth­esis. For the period 2000-2020, the empirical analy­sis was conducted using a dataset covering 22 tran­sition countries: Latvia, Belarus, Czechia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Croatia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Ukraine, Armenia, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Romania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan.Wagner emphasizes that increases in govern­ment expenditure, considered an endogenous vari­able, do not drive GDP growth. In essence, Wagner argues that a rise in GDP leads to an increase in government expenditures. The study assessed the validity of Wagner’s hypothesis by applying the Panel Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregres­sive Distributed Lag model (CS-ARDL), developed by Chudik et al. (2016), using annual data. For the empirical analysis, panel data from selected tran­sition countries underwent causality tests pro­posed by Juodis, Karavias and Sarafidis (2021) and Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012). The stationarity of the series was assessed using a panel unit root test. Subsequently, the panel cointegration test de­veloped by Westerlund (2007) was employed to as­certain the long run cointegration of the variables in the subsequent phase. The results suggest that the Wagner hypothesis holds true within the context of transition countries, as indicated by the outcomes of the CS-ARDL model. The causality test revealed a one-way causal linkage between GDP per capita and health expenditure. Recommendations for those who make policy decisions were made in light of the findings.

The paper investigates the impact of total fertility rate as one of the basic demographic variables on economic growth per capita concerning six selected transition countries (including the five countries of the Western Balkans: Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia as a member of the European Union), from 2000 to 2018. The fundamental idea of the research is the view discussed in the recent literature and it concerns the reduction of the total fertility rate as a burning problem of a large number of developed modern economies. Inspired by the question of whether such an attitude is relevant for a group of small European transition countries, an econometric model was constructed , as a framework for the application of statistical analysis of multiple regression. The results of empirical research showed that if the rate of total fertility increased by 0.1% in one of the analyzed countries, the GDP growth rate per capita for this country would fall by 0.53 percentage points in the same year of the period under review.

Following the inconsistency of the effectiveness of aid based on the total economy and agriculture, this study provides evidence for food manufacturing for developing countries and economies in transition. Using data on 22 developing and 9 transition countries from 1990 to 2019, aid is ineffective independently. However, in the presence of appropriate policies (low inflation and increased trade), aid is effective in the food manufacturing sector for developing countries, transition economies and the combination of the two groups. Economic managers of developing and transition economies must keep down inflation and promote trade as these do not only benefit food manufacturing but have a collateral effect on the wider economy.

This article examines the importance of landholdings in explaining income inequality among family farms in four districts in Georgia following the land reform of the 1990s. Income inequality is decomposed by sources of income and by determinants of income. The results indicate that farm income is a disequalizing source of income among family farms in these districts. In addition, a uniform increase in landholding is expected to reduce income inequality. Combining the two results, we conclude that the impact of land reform on farm household income inequality depends on the resulting distribution of landholdings. It can reduce inequality if land is distributed relatively equally, but inequality can increase if the wealthier farmers are able to gain control of more (and perhaps better) land resources. A possible implication of this result is that for land reform to be equalizing, distributing land to smallholders should be accompanied by additional policies and regulations supporting small farmers, such as land titling and registration, support for cooperation, and access to credit and other market services.

This paper provides a historical overview of the concept of corruption, the existing models for studying it, and the main costs that corruption imposes on the economy and society at large. Corruption was first understood as a disturbance of the balance of state power, and later as the immorality of political patronage and favouritism of certain groups. It evolved from the public sphere to the intertwining of the public and private spheres, from a political issue to the intertwining of political and economic issues. The fight against corruption evolved from the maintenance of necessary checks and balances, from moral struggles against a system of privilege, to a major motive for state policy. Looking at all these aspects allows us to understand the origins and evolution of corruption and why the fight against corruption is seen as a way to lead »failed countries«, politically backward and immoral societies, to the right path of political virtue. By understanding the historical evolution of corruption and its various forms, institutions and countries in general can develop more targeted and effective anti-corruption policies to limit the occurrence of corruption.

Tourism has been considered as a potential factor in development strategy in many developed and developing countries worldwide. Besides, tourism is really a key economic sector in some countries. This study aims to examine the tourism-led growth hypothesis for some transition countries, which includes seven high growth economies Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam. The research database is collected by an annual form in the period of 1995- 2019. These economies are considered successful transitional cases in the global economy, however, the tourism-led growth hypothesis in these countries has been received only a little evidence from academics in recent years. The Johansen-Fisher test and the OLS estimation are applied in the quantitative process. There are some new findings from the empirical results. First, the Johansen-Fisher test confirms the existence of long-run cointegration relationships between tourism (denoted by the tourism revenue and the tourism arrivals) and economic growth in the panel data sample of countries. Second, the long-run coefficients of the tourism variables are positive and significant that concludes the tourism-led growth hypothesis in these transition countries. The contribution of the study is not only to fill the empirical research gap by the estimated results from a group of transition economies but also to confirms the tourism-led growth platform as an efficient development strategy for other developing countries. Furthermore, our study suggests some policy implications for policymakers to use tourism as a key development sector in these countries in the future.

This paper aimed to investigate the FDI determinants in 27 transition countries within the 2002 – 2018 period by employing system GMM analysis. One of the results of our research is that an uncertain political situation and civil liberties violations have a significant negative impact on foreign investors’ confidence. Generally, the erosion of democratic institutions acts as a deterrent to FDI inflows. Transition countries which experienced prolonged periods of central planning also recorded lower levels of FDI inflows. The results show that creating conditions for stimulating foreign investors through the improvement of institutional quality embodied in the control of corruption and voice and accountability impacted positively on FDI inflows. The interplays between overall institutional quality, voice and accountability, regulatory quality, government effectiveness and GDP growth are positive and significant. Hence, macroeconomic development has an important impact on the marginal effect of institutional quality. Therefore, we concluded that the influence of governance on FDI inflows is conditional on the transition countries’ macroeconomic performance. Our findings also reveal that of the governance dimensions, control of corruption and voice and accountability have a significant influence on the decision of multinationals to undertake investment.

Financial development, which is considered to be one of the reasons for economic growth, is one of the issues discussed in the literature in recent years. Financial development is defined as the increase in the financial instruments used in a country and the intensity of the use of these instruments. More generally, it is also possible to define the size of the financial system and the change in size and quality and quantity. The history of theoretical and empirical studies on whether there is a causal relationship between financial development and economic growth goes back to ancient times. The concepts of economic growth and economic development are important for both developed and developing countries at the beginning of each period. Because these concepts are not only economic, but also a longterm process involving social and political parameters.The idea that financial market development can be a policy tool in increasing economic growth accelerated the development of financial markets. However, the relationship between financial market development and economic growth has led to controversy. To reveal the direction of causality between financial development and economic growth is very important in terms of determining policy to increase economic growth. However, although the empirical studies on this issue are different in terms of results, there is no consensus on the direction of causality.The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between financial development and economic growth for the transition economies through the panel Granger causality test developed by Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012). The annual data used covers the period 1995-2018. As a result of the study, a one - way causality relationship was found in transition economies from financial development to economic growth. This result shows that the hypothesis of supply prediction in these countries is valid.

The paper squarely concentrates on an examination of the relationship between a country’s business regulatory environment and the inward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in fifteen selected countries of Central Eastern and Southeast Europe by using a Mean Group (MG) estimator. The paper found no evidence that a country’s business regulatory environment is a statistically significant predictor of FDI neither in Central Eastern European nor in Southeast European countries. However, the study’s findings recommend that a further increase in FDI in both regions can be achieved by further economic growth, political stability, European Union integration and reduction costs of business regulations.

Abstract: Economic growth, production and divergence in the transition countries This article examines developments in income and living standards in the post-communist transition countries. All of these countries had planned economies but differed greatly in their economic and institutional starting points at the time of transition. The extent and speed of reforms has also varied. Production has increased considerably, but many of these transition countries have experienced severe business-cycle fluctuations. Although they have generally narrowed the income gap between them and the world’s richest nations, there are clear signs of divergence, with some of the poorest transition countries making very slow progress here. This is especially the case with the countries of the former Soviet Union and, to a lesser extent, the Balkan countries, but not the 11 countries that have joined the EU. Thus, the economic gains of the post-communist transition have been very uneven across countries.

I examine whether a developing or transition country’s political and social engagement in the international system – labeled as a country’s political and social globalization – has a positive infl uence on its ability to attract foreign direct investments (FDI), and hence, on the amount of FDI that it receives. My research is motivated by insights from signaling theory, which posits that actors provide information about themselves through signals in situations where the underlying quality or nature of such actors is less than perfectly discernible. A high degree of political and social globalization can potentially serve as a positive signal to foreign investors that a country is “invested” in the international system, global society, and in the larger global political economy, thereby lowering the perceived risk of investing in this country. As part of the empirical analysis, I undertake multivariate regressions using panel data on more than 100 developing and transition countries. The results show that both political and social globalization lower the perceived country risk in terms of attracting FDI. While social globalization helps attract FDI through both strategic and non-strategic signaling, the same is true for political globalization only with strategic signaling and not with non-strategic signaling. Given the importance of FDI to growth and development, the fi ndings of this study can particularly inform policymakers in developing and transition countries.

In this paper, authors aim to show the significance of agriculture in the economic structure and economic development of transition countries. The role of agriculture is undoubtable in the economic development of transition countries particularly because agriculture represents an important branch of economy in former socialist systems, but also of the structural reform in agrarian sector. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of indicators of significance for agriculture in economic structure and economic development of individual transition countries. The analysis includes transition countries of the EU, Western Balkan countries and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The analyzed data refers to the period from 1989 until today, with results created for shorter periods for comparison.

Milton Friedman’s traditional claim is that flexible exchange rates facilitate external adjustment by means of their corrective movements before the balance of payments crisis occurs. In order to test this hypothesis, we employ the first order autoregression based on the panel data on exchange rate regime and external balance expressed as the share of balance of goods and services in GDP. The sample covers 16 Central and Eastern European (CEE) and 12 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) transition countries over the period 2000-2019. The results, which are based on the sample of all transition countries, failed to prove that more flexible exchange rate regimes facilitate external adjustment. When the analysis was performed on two groups of countries separately, the results showed that the deficit of balance of goods and services in CIS countries has a higher persistence compared to CEE countries. However, a more flexible exchange rate regime does not facilitate external adjustment. On the other hand, in CEE countries, the relationship between exchange rate regime flexibility and the rate of balance of goods and services reversion exists, proving that Friedman’s hypothesis does hold.

This study explored the linkage between financial development, human resources, and economic growth in a group of twenty-five transition countries during the period 1995–2019. The author applied a range of estimations such as Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), fixed effects model, and two-step GMM methods in order to estimate the empirical research model. Different from previous research, financial development in this paper was a proxy variable that was assessed based on the level of outcomes of financial institutions and the financial market in three aspects: depth, access, and efficiency. In addition, the labor force participation rate and the human development index were employed as the comprehensive proxies for human resources. Generally, financial development and human resources exert positive impacts on economic growth. Financial access and financial efficiency boost economic growth, while financial depth does not. Human development was also documented as the driver of economic growth. In addition, the interaction between aggregate financial development and the human development index demonstrated a robust spur to economic growth. These findings contribute to the literature on economic growth and have considerable implications for policymakers in transition economies.

Abstract Background Many terminally ill patients in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) fail to receive needed medical attention and social support. In 2016 a primary healthcare centreer (PHCC) in Doboj (BiH) requested the methodological and technical support of a local partner (Fondacija fami) and the Geneva University Hospitals to address the needs of terminally ill patients living at home. In order to design acceptable, affordable and sustainable solutions, we involved patients and their families in exploring needs, barriers and available resources. Methods We conducted interviews with 62 purposely selected patients using a semi-structured interview guide designed to elicit patients’ experiences, needs and expectations. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted, using an inductive thematic approach. Results While patients were aware that their illnesses were incurable, they were poorly informed about medical and social support resources available to them. Family members appeared to be patients’ main source of support, and often suffered from exhaustion and financial strain. Patients expressed feelings of helplessness and lack of control over their health. They wanted more support from health professionals for pain and other symptom management, as well as for anxiety and depression. Patients who were bedridden or with reduced mobility expressed strong feelings of loneliness, social exclusion, and stigma from community members and – occasionally - from health workers. Conclusions Our findings suggest a wide gap between patients’ end-of-life care needs and existing services. In order to address the medical, psychological and social needs of terminally ill patients, a multi-pronged approach is called for, including not only better symptom management through training of health professionals and improved access to medication and equipment, but also a coordinated inter-professional, inter-institutional and multi-stakeholder effort aimed at offering comprehensive medical, psycho-social, educational and spiritual support.

Merkezi planlamadan serbest piyasa sistemine geçen bazı Doğu Avrupa ve Sovyetler Birliğine bağlı ülkeler dünya ile entegre olma sürecine girmişlerdir. Geçiş ekonomileri olarak isimlendirilen bu ülkeler ya da ülke gruplarında, bu süreçte dışa açık büyüme modelleri ve uluslararası girişimcilik faaliyetleri büyümenin artmasına yol açmıştır. Uluslararası girişimcilik faaliyetlerinin artması genel olarak büyümeyi de olumlu etkilemiştir. Ancak yapısal sorunlar yaşayan ve rekabet gücü henüz düşük olan ülkelerde uluslararası girişimcilik faaliyetleri büyüme de beklenen etkiyi sağlayamamıştır. Geçiş ekonomileri ekonomik büyümenin sağlanması için bu sorunları aşarak ticareti serbestleştirme yönünde politikalar üretmeye çalışmaktadırlar. Bu çalışmada geçiş ekonomilerinde ticari serbestleşmeye paralel olarak gelişen uluslararası girişimcilik faaliyetlerinin mevcut durumu ortaya konarak, ülkelerin büyüme ve kalkınmasındaki etkileri analiz edilmiştir. Bu amaçla DYY, ihracat, ithalat, tarifeler ve iş kurma maliyetler girişimciliğin dinamikleri olarak kabul edilmiş ve büyüme ile aralarında nedensellik ilişkisi analiz edilmiştir. Sonuçlara göre, doğrudan yabancı yatırımlar ve iş kurma maliyetleri ile büyüme arasında karşılık nedensellik ilişkisi bulunmuştur. Yani uluslararası girişimcilik faaliyetleri büyümeye sebep olmaktadır.

Countries in transition are economies that are changing from a centrally planned organized to the countries of the free market. The essence of this process is the implementation of economic liberalization in which market forces influencing the prices formation, reduction of trade barriers to the abolition, privatization of state enterprises and resources, and the creation of financial sector which should facilitate the movement of private capital. Due to the inefficiency of the system, at the end of twentieth century socialism as a social system and economic model ceased to be an alternative to the capitalist economic model. Although official statistics showed growth of economic activities which used to exceeded the growth rates of developed market economies, it was not the growth that creates new value. This research work deals with the review of the effects of systemic economic reforms in countries in transition. The analysis of nine transition indicators, prescribed by EBRD, the existence of differences between the two groups of countries in transition was explored, that are formed on the basis of the average value of the transition indicators, in terms of the value of GDP. Using the Mann-Whitney U test statistical methods, it is found that countries in transition that have higher value of the average transition indicator recorded a higher value of GDP. Also, based on the results we could see which countries have the best progress in the transition process in the respective calendar year.

The nature of nationhood is changing in the age of globalization, marketization, and mediatization. In this context, the nation is built as a brand with the aim of attracting tourists and increase economic development. A particular case of nation branding is to be found in Romania and Moldova, two countries that started to reposition themselves after the fall of communism. In this context, this paper focuses on a comparative semiotic analysis of two nation branding campaigns initiated by the Romanian and Moldavian Governments: “Discover the Place Where You Feel Reborn” (Romania, 2014) and “Discover the Routes of Life” (Moldova, 2014). In so doing, a multimodal approach (Iedema, 2003; Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996; Van Leeuwen, 2001) is employed, highlighting the importance of image, sound and text as semiotic resources in the discursive configuration of Romania’s and Moldova’s nation brands, comparatively. Special attention is given to the analysis of logos, websites and videos, comprising different communication situations used to create meaning in the tourism campaigns. The paper investigates how elements of neoliberal ideology are addressed in two governmental campaigns, comparatively, considering the “marketization of public discourse” (Fairclough, 1993).

One of the key goals of the economic policy makers of every country is to achieve internal and external balance. An unavoidable segment of the analysis concerning the achievement of internal and external balance is certainly the influence of the exchange rate regime applied in a country. European transition countries, despite their similar initial problems and final objectives, applied different exchange rate regimes adapted to the economic circumstances and needs of the country. The paper aims to examine and demonstrate the impact of the applied exchange rate regime on the internal balance of the transition countries. The research encompasses 10 representative transition countries, in the period from 2000-2014. The results of the research, from the aspect of internal balance, confirmed the justification of the application of the floating exchange rate regime in more developed, but not in less-developed, European transition countries. The application of floating exchange rate regimes in less-developed transition countries is associated with a considerably higher average inflation rate, which may be explained by the higher import dependence of lessdeveloped countries and by the consequent transfer of depreciation to price growth.

This paper examines the causal relationship between economic freedom and foreign tourist arrivals for 17 post-socialist transition countries during the period from 1996 to 2012. We employ the recently introduced panel Granger causality approach that is flexible enough to take account of both cross-country correlation and heterogeneity across the countries. The empirical results support the evidence on (i) the neutrality between economic freedom-economic growth and between economic growth-international tourism with few exceptions and (ii) the causality from economic freedom to tourism in six out of seventeen transition economies. Post-socialist countries are still in the process of integrating into the market economic system and also the global system; and consequently, the results of the current study are heavily shaped by the historical backgrounds and also the infancy of the transition process of these nations.

We use an institutional approach to analyze differences and similarities between competition policy regimes in Slovenia and Germany. We first indicate differences that exist in the implementation of EU competition law at the national level, given the unified framework of EU competition policy. In a next step, we discuss recent cases in both countries and indicate how historical developments and economic factors influence decision making and case law. We also discuss recent developments of the national competition policy regimes and indicate how the digital economy might shape competition policy in the future.

This study empirically investigates the short- to medium-term effects of fiscal policy on output and other macroeconomic variables in European Union countries between 1995 and 2012, with particular reference to transition countries. It applies Panel Vector Auto Regression with recursive identification of government spending shocks as the most appropriate method for the aim of the study and the sample used. The main results indicate that expansionary spending shocks have a positive, but a relatively low effect on output, with the fiscal multiplier around one in the year of the shock and the following year, and lower thereinafter. There are indications that this result is driven by the recent crisis, as multipliers are considerably lower in the pre-crisis period. Effects of fiscal policy are strongly dependent on country structural characteristics. Fiscal multipliers are higher in new European Union member states, in countries with low public debt and low trade openness. Further, spending shocks are followed by rising debt levels in old member states, which could be related well to the recent European debt crisis. Finally, the analysis of the transmission mechanism of fiscal policy yields results that are consistent with both extended Real Business Cycle models and extended New Keynesian models.

This paper examines the relationship between FDI inflow per capita and unemployment rates in 17 transition countries over the period 2000-2014. It aims at testing the premise, usually suggested by policy makers, that higher attraction of FDI in transition countries results in inevitable unemployment reduction. The empirical analysis contributes to the existing literature applying panel cointegration approach in testing and assessing long-run impact of FDI on unemployment, as an alternative to typical panel analysis that examine contemporaneous relations. The evidence from seven performed panel cointegration tests provide the mixed results, while the Fully Modified and Dynamic OLS panel estimations indicate that FDI and unemployment are most likely not cointegrated. The inconclusiveness of the empirical evidences gives the argument in support of the general conclusion that long-run impact of FDI on unemployment in transition countries is either very loose or does not exist.

This paper deals with the economic effect of cross-border mergers and acquisitions on GDP per capita in European transition countries for the 2000- 2014 period. Our analysis shows that cross-border mergers and acquisitions have a negative effect on GDP per capita in the current period, whereas their lagged level positively impacts output performance. We found that transition countries characterized by a higher quality of institutional setting have achieved a positive impact on GDP per capita.

Motivation: Cross-country growth regressions indicate that institutions are important for growth. Some institutions are created, protected and enforced by the government — they are the institutions of state. The most important for economic growth are: economic freedom and protection of property rights, political freedom (or democracy), quality of governance and the rule of law. The changes that took place after 1989 in the countries of Central-Eastern Europe were not only political but also economic. The post-socialist transition was, above all, a change of the institutions of state. It was a kind of the so-called ‘quasi-natural experiment’. Therefore, my intention is to answer the question: how the institutions of state affect economic growth in transition countries.Aim: The aim is to identify the impact state institutions had on the economic growth in transition countries during the financial crisis of 2007–2010.Results: In the first part of this article I review the literature and present hypothesis about dependency of economic growth and institutions during the financial crisis in transition countries. In the relevant literature there is a consensus that without an appropriate institutional background, market incentives do not lead to optimal resource allocation. Institutions have a particularly crucial impact in the case of post-socialist countries which have undergone political and economic transition. A significant and positive impact on economic growth rate is exercised by such institutions as: protection of property rights and political stabilization, government efficiency and rule of law. The experiences of transition countries confirm also the significance of economic freedom for economic situation.

The current global economic crisis raises many questions and the most important imperative is to find solutions and recover the world economy. Neoliberalism as a cause of the crisis has shown fundamental shortcomings and proved that the market is an imperfect self-regulating system. At the present time in the media, politicians and some economists mention foreign direct investment (FDI) as a life-saving solution for economic problems and economic growth. The analysis of the economic indicators proved that FDI cannot be, to the necessary extent, a generator of economic growth and that development of each country should be based on endogenous components. The development of critical thinking and questioning of the neoliberal concept, especially with today's time distance through comparisons of indicators such as economic growth, absence of inflation, employment and the export-import ratio, has revealed major systemic defects of the market fundamentalist policies. A strong indicator and argument to this thesis is particularly evident in the industrial production indexes, in the number of industrial workers and in the share of industry in GDP of transition countries.

Motivation: Cross-country growth regressions indicate that institutions are important for growth. Some institutions are created, protected and enforced by the government — they are the institutions of state. The most important for economic growth are: economic freedom and protection of property rights, political freedom (or democracy), quality of governance and the rule of law. Institutions are especially important in transition countries. Two questions arise: were institutions important for economic growth in transition countries during the financial crisis? What happened to the institutions of state during the financial crisis?Aim: The aim of the second part of this article is to verify two hypothesis about institutions and economic growth in transition countries, which were put forward in the first part of this article. In order to estimate the relationship between institutions and economic growth in transition countries during the crisis, a cross-sectional regression was conducted. Additionally the Granger causality test was conducted.Results: The obtained results indicate that during the recession, in countries were before the crisis the institutions were worse, the pace of the economic growth was greater (hypothesis 1 should be rejected). In order to verify hypothesis 2 that the economic growth contributes to changes in state institutions in such a way that the faster the pace of growth the greater the improvement in state institutions a cross-sectional regression was used and the Granger causality test was conducted. Obtained results do not confirm the hypothesis 2. The estimates of parameters were in line with the expectations but statistically insignificant.

Informal employment became a serious challenge for the Ukrainian economy during its adjustment to market conditions. Trends of the number of workers participating in the informal sector have been rising for the last years. The research presents the current state of informal employment in Ukraine. Detailed attention is paid to labour distribution across different population categories. We examine labour market of Ukraine using the data of Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for the year 2007.

The paper studies corporate governance characteristics in a panel of transition countries to investigate the relationship between the investment in intangible capital (specifically innovation) and corporate governance. We show that innovation is restricted by finance and the managerial attitude towards activities that support innovation. In case of financial restriction, softer innovation (process, marketing, organization) are more less impacted by the restriction and are also more common. Lack of managerial support to innovation results in less innovation, regardless of the type. We also show that external determinants, like the intensity of competition and international orientation, are related to innovation. The paper extends the knowledge about the link between corporate governance and intangible investment at large and in particular in transition countries. As such it provides useful implication at microeconomic as well as macroeconomic (developmental) level.

Background: Biotechnology is rapidly developing on a global scale. However, some evidence indicates that Eastern European (EE) countries are not fulfilling their potential in this field.

The subject of this article is the concept of venture capital, one of the most attractive model of financial intermediation in the modern business environment. The paper will first present the concept of venture capital, its presence on a global level, the form in which it occurs and stages of this type of investment. Then it will be analyzed the challenges related to the implementation of this financial arrangement, especially in the transition countries. The aim of the research is to look at the key features of venture capital and the possibility of its implementation in different social and economic conditions, given the obstacles faced by the venture capital investors.

The business cycle synchronization was widely discussed before the last economic crisis and now the interest in this topic revives. The majority of literature about business cycle synchronization evaluates the role of mutual trade and similarities among the economies, while the investment links, mainly foreign direct investment flows and stocks are very often completely ignored or at least marginalized. The paper aims to discuss and then estimate the importance of continually increasing stock of foreign direct investment in synchronization of business cycles. It focuses to selected Central European economies after economic transition and their business cycle co-movements with their most important trade partners – France, Germany and Italy. The extent of trade flows, industrial structure similarity and selected trade environment variables are used to extend the standardly employed regression formula.

The financial market is an important element of any market economy. The study of the impact of financial development on the country’s economic growth is a very important and urgent topic. The financial sector plays a key role both in developed and developing countries. Financial markets play a critical role in the distribution of capital, financial intermediation, the transformation of available funds into investment, the distribution and diversification of risks. A well-functioning financial market increases productivity and significantly affects the country’s economic growth. The main objective of this study is to investigate the causal relationship between financial development, trade openness and economic growth. The empirical analysis of this study consists on panel data of 9 transition countries (Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Tajikistan) over the period 1998 to 2015. Inorder to investigate the causal link between financial development and economic growth a three-stage Panel Granger causality test was employed. Firstly stationarity properties of the series are examined with the help of Pesaran (2007) panel unit root test. Then Westerlund (2007) panel cointegration method is applied. In the final stage Panel Granger causality test is performed. The results obtained suggest that there is evidence of a bidirectional causality between financial development and economic growth in the short-run. Policy makers in transition countries should consider the impact of financial development on economic growth.

The study investigates the impact of cross-border mergers and acquisitions on GDP per capita and domestic investment in 22 European transition countries from 2000 to 2014 by using the system Generalized Method of Moments estimator. The main implications are that cross-border mergers and acquisitions have a negative effect on GDP per capita in the year of merger or acquisition, while their lagged level shows a positive impact. From long-term perspective, this type of FDI has negative and significant effect on GDP per capita. The results show that one-year lagged cross-border mergers and acquisitions positively affects domestic investment, suggesting that spillover effects of this type of investment can be expected not earlier than one year after the merger or acquisition. The value of this paper is that our results show how the advances in structural reforms enhance GDP per capita whereas their influence on domestic investment activity is insignificant. We found that there is insignificant impact of the relationship between overall structural reforms and cross-border mergers and acquisitions on GDP per capita and domestic investment both in short and long run. The originality of this study lies in investigation of the dynamic nature of cross-border mergers and acquisitions and their economic effects depending on the quality of structural reformss.

The systemic transformation of post-socialist countries from central planning to a market economy was a very complex and unprecedented undertaking. In this study we critically examine three influential classifications proposed by Coates [2000, 2006], Hall and Soskice [2001], and Amable [2003], within the “comparative capitalisms” literature stream, and argue that they are unsuitable for evaluating the progress made by transition economies since 1990. The basis of the criticism stems from timing: these theoretical frameworks were developed primarily to evaluate the growth of advanced and mature capitalist countries. Thus, they fail to capture the unique features of transition economies and the complexity of the transformation process that led to the emergence of different market-based systems. From this vantage point, we discusses and also critique a recent classification developed by Myant and Drahokoupil [2011, 2015], who distinguish five ideal models (i.e. “varieties of capitalism”) that have evolved within transition countries. In our conclusion we point to areas within the field that may be explored by future research.

The business environment in transition countries is often extraordinarily challenging for companies. The transition process these countries find themselves in leads to constant changes in the institutional environment. Hence, institutional voids prevail. These institutional voids cause competitive disadvantages for small and medium enterprises. Cluster policy can address these competitive disadvantages. As cluster policy generally aims at supporting companies’ competitive advantage by spurring innovation and productivity, it can help to bridge institutional voids. This article’s research question aims at analyzing and comparing cluster policies in the institutional context of two transition countries (Serbia and Tunisia) and analyzes to what extent cluster policies in these two countries are adapted to institutional voids prevailing there. The case studies offer insights into apparent difficulties of clusters in bridging formal institutional voids, as well as, notably, into the informal void of skill mismatches in the labor market. Still, for some specific voids, clusters do at least implicitly assume a bridging role. While the cluster policies examined do not explicitly target the institutional voids identified, cluster management can—in the course of time—align its service offering more closely with these voids. Bottom-up designed cluster policies can play an especially important role in such an evolution towards bridging institutional voids.

This study examines whether the long-run purchasing power parity (PPP) holds in transition economies (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Russia) using monthly data over the 1995–2011 period. We apply a recently introduced panel stationary test, which accounts for sharp breaks and smooth shifts. The results indicate that the PPP holds only in two countries (i.e., Lithuania and Poland).

The first aim of this study is to identify possible natural disasters and catastrophes and to summarize the state of economic literature in the domain. Further are analyzed the methodologies used for estimating the economic impacts of disasters and catastrophes. The second aim is to compare disasters and catastrophes from several transition countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine) in the 1900-2014 time period, underlining their negative impact on the economy.

This study investigates causal dynamics between crude oil prices and exchange rates in Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary by employing monthly data from the beginning of flexible exchange regime in each country to December 2011. The study benefits from the recent advance in the time series econometric analysis and carries out linear causality, non-linear causality, volatility spillover and frequency domain causality tests. The frequency domain causality analysis results imply that oil price fluctuations affect real exchange rates in the long run in Poland and Czech Republic. On the other hand, frequency domain causality test results indicate that oil price fluctuations do not affect exchange rate in any period in Hungary despite its economy’s high imported energy dependency.

This paper studies the impact of fiscal policy and external shocks on the sustainability of Serbia’s external position. The key determinants of Serbia's current account balance are identified using model averaging techniques and are compared with estimates obtained for other small open economies (Poland, Georgia, Morocco, Ukraine, and Estonia). The paper uses estimated influences of macrovariables on the current account balance to generate a rich set of possible outcomes for the external position of the country. The results suggest the importance of fiscal policy for the reduction of external imbalances in all countries in our sample. In particular, credible and sustained fiscal adjustment can reduce current account deficit and stabilize Serbia’s external position close to its current level over the medium term. The analysis also warns that lack of success in fiscal consolidation coupled with external shocks may easily push the external position onto an unsustainable path.

This paper examines the impact of remittances on poverty measures in transition economies using the panel data for the sample of nine countries in the period of 2002-2013. LSDV (Least Squares Dummy Variable) model with panel-corrected standard errors is used for estimation of remittance effects. The results show that remittances have a significant impact on each of the three poverty measures. Taking into consideration the endogenous regressor problem, a 10-percent increase in remittances per capita will lead to a decline, on average a 4.7 percent in poverty headcount, and also 5.2 percent in poverty depth and 5.8 percent in poverty severity. These results can be important for defining the policy measures on providing more efficient management of remittances.

Transition period of the post-socialist countries and opening of their markets have led to the positive shift in understanding the role of employees in organizations and the importance of proper management of this specific resource. An important factor in spreading modern principles of human resource management in transition countries is the arrival of foreign companies on their market. In that context, this paper focuses on the relationship between the ownership structure of the organisation and the level of development of the core activities of human resource management. The subject of the empirical research was companies which operate on the territory of the Republic of Srpska, and employ more than 200 employees. Empirical data were collected by using questionnaire, and some of them were generated from the official websites of the observed companies. Testing of hypothesis was performed with the Analysis of Variance. The research results show that in the foreign-owned companies there is a statistically significant difference in the level of development of human resources management, compared to the state-owned and national private companies. On the other hand, among foreign-owned companies, which differ in the country of origin of the majority owner and the number of years in business in the domestic (BiH/RS) market, there is no statistically significant difference in the level of development of basic activities of human resource management.

The paper investigates to what extent some basic tools of the ECBs monetary analysis can be useful for other central banks given their specific institutional, economic and financial environment. We take the case of the Bank of Russia in order to show how to adjust methods and techniques of monetary analysis for an economy that differs from the euro area as regards, for instance, the role of the exchange rate, the impact of dollarization and the functioning of sovereign wealth funds. A special focus of the analysis is the estimation of money demand functions for different monetary aggregates. The results suggest that there are stable relationships with respect to income and wealth and to a lesser extent to uncertainty variables and opportunity costs. Furthermore, the analysis also delivers preliminary results of the information content of money for inflation and for real economic development.

The Purpose – An evaluation of 197 hotel websites in Croatia was conducted to determine whether hotels in this economically lagging transition country exploit the potentials of the Internet as a marketing tool. Design/Methodology/Approach – A team of 30 trained assistants evaluated the websites using an amended modified Balanced Scorecard (mBSC) approach from the user-friendliness, site attractiveness, marketing effectiveness, and F&B informativeness perspectives. MANOVA was used to test main and interaction effects of hotel size, quality rating, and location on four website performance perspectives. Findings – Although hoteliers recognize the importance of online presence, most are not effectively using websites from the user-friendliness, marketing effectiveness, and F&B perspectives. Hotel quality rating, location, and their two-way interaction are significant in explaining differences in site attractiveness and marketing effectiveness. Hotel size does not explain the differences among the four website perspectives. Originality – In lieu of the rapidly evolving IT and consumer trends, this study provides hoteliers with an updated website assessment tool that can serve as a point of comparison against contemporary e-marketing approaches. Moreover, since tourism website evaluation is an under researched topic in transition economies, this article makes a contribution in the needed direction. The study ends with a discussion of results and implications for hoteliers, policy makers, and scholars.

In the period 1990-2013 the world economy has evolved increasing and decreasing with good and weak years, with mini crisis, and with a recent strong crisis, which apparently has not yet passed. World seaborne trade, inextricably linked to the global economy followed the upward and the downward trend of the global economy, but with much higher amplitudes. Comparative analysis of the evolution of the global economy and world seaborne trade during the period 2005-2013 shows a decrease in world seaborne trade in tandem with the global economy.

The main objective of this paper is to present and analyze the evolution of the main contributors to GDP in the transition countries: Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova and to compare them with the main contributors to GDP in the developed country of Austria. We will take a look at the Gross Domestic Product and its main contributors (agriculture, industry and services). Following the analysis of the statistical data, conclusions will be drawn regarding the situation of the economy in each country. Computer software tool R is used in the study.

Kamu Yönetiminde idareyi geliştirme, yeniden düzenleme ya da yapısal dönüşüm, dünyadaki tüm ülkelerinin gündeminde olan bir konudur. Siyasi rejimi ne olursa olsun kamu yönetiminin dönüşümü, bugün gelişmişve gelişmekte olan ülkelerin gündemini meşgul eden konuların başında gelmektedir. Özellikle 1980’den sonra dünyada yaşanan gelişmeler, kamu yönetiminin yapısal dönüşümünü bir ihtiyaç olmaktan çıkartıp bir zorunluluk haline getirmiştir. Kamu yönetimi alanında yaşanan değişimi anlayabilmek öncelikle dünyada yaşanan değişim sürecini anlamaktan geçmektedir. Kamu yönetimi alanında yaşanan değişimin siyaset, ekonomi ve toplumsal alandaki temel düşünce akımları, tarihsel dönüm noktasıniteliğindeki önemli olaylar ve olgularla birlikte ele alıp değerlendirmek bir zorunluluk haline gelmiştir. Özellikle Doğu Blok’unun çökmesiyle birlikte dünya genelindeki iki taraflıpolitik güç rekabeti ve ideolojik bloklaşma son bulmuştur. Merkezi planlamacıkamu yönetimi sistemlerinin esnekleşmesi, iletişim ve bilgi teknolojilerinin gelişmesiyle birlikte ekonomik alanda hızlıbir uluslararasılaşma yaşanmıştır. Buna ek olarak ulus devletlerin sınırlarınıaşan şiddetli bir rekabet tüm dünyaya egemen olmuştur. Bu periyotta bireyin temel hak ve özgürlüklerinin önemi ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu durum vatandaşın kamu otoritesi ve devlete karşıolan bakışaçısınıdeğiştirmiştir. Diğer taraftan kamu hizmetinin kaliteli ve şeffaf bir biçimde yerine getirilmesine yönelik istek ve beklentiler artmıştır. Ayrıca bu durum, demokratik mekanizmalara işlerlik ve etkinlik kazandırmışve vatandaşların yaygın bir biçimde yönetime katılma taleplerinin gündeme gelmesine yol açmıştır. Böylece bir önceki döneme ait zihniyet dünyasıve bu dünyaya has yönetim analayışıdeğişmiştir. Özgürlükçü, ekonomik ve siyasal düşüncenin temel dayanaklarıolan bireycilik, esneklik, girişimcilik, etkenlik, kar elde etme, risk alma ve yarışmacılık gibi unsurlar, ortaya çıkan yeni ekonomik, toplumsal ve siyasal yapılanmanın temel değerleri haline gelmiştir. Bu çalışmada kamu yönetimindeki bu dönüşümün temel araçlarından faydalanarak bağımsızlık sonrasıOrta Asya ülkelerinde söz konusu olan kamu yönetimi reformlarıincelenmektedir. Çalışmada gerek merkezi planlamacıekonomik sistemden serbest piyasaya geçişi sağlayan kamu yönetimi reformları, gerekse devlet vatandaşilişkileri ve yeni anlayışta ki devletin rolünü ilgilendiren dönüşüm süreçleri de ele alınmıştır. Böylece bu ülkelerde ne derece bir değişim olduğu ve ne derece geçmişyapıyla bağlantılıbir direnç yaşandığı, dönüşümün kurumsal yapılarının ne derece oluşturulabildiği ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır.

The US dollar gained the status of the world's reserve currency in the Bretton Woods system and has preserved it until the present day. Such position in international finance entails both advantages and disadvantages to the USA as the issuer of this currency, and to the rest of the world using it in trading, as store of value, and for the purpose of various financial operations and transactions. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the regime of fixed FX rates was replaced by floating FX rates. Yet, regardless of this change, the dollar kept its role of the world's reserve currency. Numerous banking and currency crises following the transfer to the floating FX rates regime, along with the shifts in international capital flows, forced the developing countries and countries in transition to increase their FX reserves. In the tendency to store their value, central banks usually invest them into US Treasury securities, as liquid and reliable assets. However, due to the risk incurred by the reliance on a single national currency in the role of the world's reserve currency, there have been many proposals to reform the international monetary system. According to the current global tendencies, the most serious candidates for acquiring the status of the world's reserve currency in the future are the dollar, the euro, and the Chinese yuan.