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

This paper focuses on spatial aspects of variability and specifically on the relationship between regional decomposition and spatial autocorrelation. These characteristics are often supposed to be interconnected, but the subject has not yet been studied in sufficient detail and spatial methods are often neglected in regional analysis. We start with a brief discussion of a methodology suitable for identifying and quantifying spatial aspects of variability. The key part of the paper focuses on methodological reflections on measuring spatial aspects of variability and the advantages and disadvantages of our chosen methods. We use the Theil index, which is decomposable without residuum, to assess the relative importance of the regional organization of our studied phenomena. To measure spatial autocorrelation, which enables us to quantify the level of spatial concentration of the studied phenomena and reveal spatial clustering, we use Moran's I (global scale) and LISA (local scale). We explain in depth the properties of these methods, advantages/disadvantages, behaviour in different situations and the potential for them to be combined and used jointly. These methodological findings help to better understand and interpret the results of the subsequent empirical research. We apply the methods in international unemployment research with highly detailed data from Austria, Czechia, Germany, and Poland. Specifically, we are interested in the importance of socio-spatial (regional) organization in relation to unemployment rates, and we present noteworthy results concerning the spatial differentiation of unemployment in the Central European region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to perform a multi-criteria evaluation of selected European Union member states in Central Europe with regard to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in enterprises in 2017. The analytic network process (ANP) methodology and k-means clustering were used. Basing on data obtained from Eurostat, ICT attributes were selected and the network of criteria was built. The preferences for main criteria were extracted from empirical data for each analyzed country (each decision variant). The obtained priority values reflected strengths of the analyzed regions. The preferences for sub-criteria were determined basing on that the criteria describing the newest fields of ICT development (e-commerce and e-business in general) are considered most important. With regard to that, the multi-criteria analysis showed that Slovenia and Austria were leaders in Central Europe in 2017, and the worst-performing country was Poland, preceded by Hungary. The results of the study can be used to generalize about the level of ICT development of each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current economic crisis constitutes an important test for the European Union as a whole and its new member states in particular. Whereas EU membership of the Central European countries is generally considered to mark the end of their period of economic and political transition, the current economic hardships might serve as a crucial test for this proposition. This paper takes two often forgotten theoretical paradigms to study the current developments in Central Europe: dependency theory and World System Theory. More in particular, the paper seeks to establish the relevance of the concept of the semi-periphery to the current Central European states. It concludes that the region has retained its historical position as Europe's semi-periphery, where the hierarchy between the centre and the periphery is primarily shaped through the involvement of transnational corporations that have their headquarters in Western Europe with subsidiaries in Central Europe. This has had important repercussions for economic development in this region, as the countries have no control over the commending heights of their economy, a development of which the consequences are now becoming increasingly clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This paper provides what we believe to be the first collection of data on social capital in the transition countries of Central/Eastern Europe and of the former Soviet Union. Using data from the World Values Survey 1990 and 1995 we document the degree of trust and of civic participation and find that these indicators of social capital are significantly lower than in OECD countries. The paper also provides a preliminary investigation of the link between social capital and growth during transition. Unlike in market economies, in transition countries trust is not positively related to growth; while participation in civic organisations shows a positive correlation. We also construct indicators of trust in public institutions and find positive correlations with growth rates. The positive association of civic participation with growth is robust to the use of instrumental variable techniques to control for potential problems of endogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant role in developing and shaping the city of Bratislava played Danube River. Since 1830 introduced a regular shipping service for people and goods. The Harbour of Bratislava began to grow. At the turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries, next to cargo harbour built a new part Winter Harbour. The harbour experienced a golden age between the world wars. In the 1 st half of the 20 th century belonged among the biggest inland river harbours in Middle Europe. The Czechoslovakia was one of the largest export countries in Europe. At that time, there were also held the International Danube Fairs. The harbour was almost destroyed during the Second World War. In the post-war period the function of the port revived and modernized. Currently consists of Passenger Harbour, Winter Harbour and innovative parts of the cargo harbour built lower downstream. From the beginning Harbour of Bratislava was built as internationally, enabling investment and implementation of activities of enterprises of different countries. According to available sources, we know that in harbour worked except to Slovakia, respectively Czechoslovakia, French, Austrian, Hungarian and German shipping company. In the past, the city with harbour was growing, presently with growing city the harbour decreases. Landing stages and the surfaces of Winter Harbour are taken for the new residential and commercial construction; the historical harbour buildings are demolished. In the past we kept pace with Europe, sometimes we even set an example. At this time is the question whether we would nowadays not take example from Europe. The paper will present a summary of the known, but especially the lesser known international contexts of Bratislava harbour. It shows a vision of which direction could move into its development, particularly with regard to its history and unique value which remained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses factors and dynamics underpinning the impact of trade unions on transformation processes in Central Europe. Although the authors focus on the situation in Poland, an attempt is made to contribute to a general analysis of, and conceptualisations about, relationships between government and unions in countries undergoing transformation. The basic assumption of the paper is that economic transformation is viewed as a process of interaction rather than a system of implementing decisions taken at the top. It is noted that post-communist trade unions operate in quasi-market conditions. This leads to externalisation and politicisation of industrial conflicts, which are considered as significant factors in modifying transformation programmes. The paper attempts to demonstrate that the current economic conditions and policies encourage unions to take an attitude of confrontation-and-claims rather than to support enterprise management in its improvement efforts. Finally the paper identifies three broad approaches to trade unions in Poland: anti-union fundamentalism, neo-corporatism and strategic pragmatism. In conclusions, it is noted that which of these approaches may prevail will depend partly on the unions' capacity to work with the government and management, and partly on the government-of-the day's policy as driven by a particular view of trade unionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is likely to exacerbate the negative effects of invasive alien species (IAS) as it will foster their further spread. This paper analyses the potential socio-economic effects of three emerging IAS (giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida ; annual wormwood, Artemisia annua ; and burweed marshelder, Iva xanthiifolia ), which are known to cause substantial harm to human health and to have negative effects on agricultural production. The novelty of the study consists in an integrated approach that combines several aspects of IAS research and management. We model the future spread of the study species in Central Europe by the year 2050 under several climate change, management and spread scenarios. The costs and benefits of controlling the expansion of these IAS are based on this forecast. The results show that an early and coordinated response to the spread of these IAS yields substantial net benefits under all scenarios. Under the conditions of moderate climate change (+1.5 °C), discounted net benefits range from €19 to €582 million. Assuming more severe climate change (+2.4 °C), total savings over the full period are projected to add up to €1063 million. These large socio-economic benefits provide compelling evidence that public authorities should act preventively to restrict the spread of these three IAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the extinction of the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe and the vacuum left behind by them, states have entered a stage of political crisis and establishing future trajectories in terms of governance. In this paper we propose to discusses several aspects concerning different trajectories of post-communist states and the factors that influenced their journey [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DEMOCRATIZATION TERM IS USED IN SOCIOLOGY IN A VAGUE SENSE, IGNIFYING THE PASSAGE OF A STATE AWAY FROM NON-DEMOCRATIC REGIME TO A DEMOCRATIC ONE. IN THE PRESENT PAPER WE WANT TO PRESENT MEANING OF THE WORD DEMOCRATIZATION, STARTING FROM ITS ORIGINS AND REACHING MEANING OF THE TERM TODAY. OUR SCIENTIFIC APPROACH FOCUSES ON THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM AND THE TRANSITION COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE TO DEMOCRACY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the determinants of the changes in the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio in selected European emerging markets. The model was estimated on a panel dataset using a fixed effects estimator for seven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries between Q3:2007 and Q3:2012. The countries analyzed are Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia. Although the literature on NPLs is quite extensive, this is the first empirical research on the countries of CEE region using aggregate, country-level data on problem loans. The results suggest that the primary cause of high levels of NPLs is the economic slowdown, which is evident from statistically significant and economically large coefficients on GDP, unemployment and the inflation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shopping centers play an important role in improving the quality of life in town and city centers around the world. Often seen as drivers of local economies, shopping centers are necessary to maintain economic growth and a sense of community, offering employment, and providing a better quality of life. In last decades in all capital cities and large cities in Central and Southeastern Europe numerous shopping centers were open and therefore the situation at retail market and traditional supply chains changed rapidly. The aim of this paper is to provide key data related to shopping center industry in Central and Southeastern European countries and to analyze the structure of retail offers, opportunities for investors, retailers and consumers at given markets. Comparative analysis of secondary data will give an insight into the current state of shopping center development and discuss the problems related to future retail development in Southeastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Few studies have investigated the relationship between the recent global financial and economic crisis and FDI flows. This paper aims to analyze such a relationship for Central and Eastern European countries (EU members). The crisis had a major impact on capital flows to the region, although the magnitude of the impact differed notably, depending on the type of capital inflows and the receiving country. In order to highlight this, we use a regression model and panel data methodology, trying to find if there is some difference between the analyzed countries. The results will be very useful if there is a pattern for different countries regarding the main effect of the financial crisis and the interaction with economic growth over the FDI. Taking into consideration the fact that we found that economic growth has a significant influence over the level of FDI and, moreover, a positive influence, the present study is very important in supporting the regulatory environment of those specific countries, in order to attract more FDI, as a solution for recovery of the economies affected by crisis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to ensure the innovation-based competitiveness of the Central and Eastern European economies, in each one a more efficient exploitation of human capital is required, through the cultivation and by getting the outmost of the entrepreneurial spirit in conjunction with the active population''s creative and innovative features, as it appears in the objective of New Lisbon and Europe 2020 strategies. Based on the entrepreneurial process research model, considering the economical development stage and competitiveness level of Romanian, Hungary, Latvia and Croatia, the paper aims to identify the short-, medium- and long-term effects of entrepreneurship upon the labour market, at the level of each selected country. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Amid recent financial crisis, has increased the risks related to the sustainability of the households’ banking loans. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the bi-dimensional causality relationship between household sector and monetary policy in the experience of acceding countries Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania between 2007M01-2012M04. Using a Vector Autoregressive Model, we analyze the impact of short term interest rate on loan to deposit ratio for households. Our empirical results suggest that the excessive built-up of financial imbalances related to the households behavior is properly taken into consideration by monetary policy only in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The current economic and financial crisis has had a strong influence on stock market performances in the process of financing the economic activities. This paper aims to analyze the dynamic of the stock market in Central and Eastern Europe under the impact of the macroeconomic imbalances, emphasizing the volatility of the foreign capital inflows. The data selected for the study will be used to test the impact of stock market development on the correlation between foreign capital inflows and economic growth. The result will allow comparisons between the macroeconomic performances and identifying the adequate measures through which national capital market can become more attractive for investors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper aims to reassess the contribution of the Balassa- Samuelson effect to the inflation and real exchange rate appreciation using panel data for nine CEECs covering the period ranging from the mid-1990s to the third quarter of 2010. The main idea of this analysis is to answer the question of whether the Global Economic Crisis had a significant impact on the efforts of CEECs to stay on the path of real convergence. The Balassa- Samuelson effect explains less than 1.5 percentage points on average of inflation differential relative to the euro area and around 1 percentage point of the total domestic inflation. The results are robust across the model specification and estimation method. Most of the results point out that the Balassa- Samuelson effect has not changed considerably during the crisis even though it is lower compared to that in the earlier stage of transition (for the period up to 2004). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to examine the efficiency of foreign investment borrowing by Poland in the 1970s. That decade was of particular significance in the post-war history of Central and Eastern Europe. For the first time after the World War II, Poland – a major country in the socialist block – opened up to western economies by increasing foreign trade and by taking loans to finance the imports of modern technology and investments. Since there has been a major disagreement about the economic impact of the loans, we make an attempt to resolve this controversy. The considerations are conducted in a macroeconomic model. Based on the econometric analysis, we conclude that the efficiency of foreign investment borrowing was relatively high. It means that the policy of using external sources to finance economic growth was fully justified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of the present study is to empirically investigate the effect of economic growth on employment in EU countries, between 2000 and 2010. The main findings of the paper suggest the existence of a low employment elasticity of economic growth in EU, but this has significant differences from one country to another. This fact highlights that one of the main problems of the European countries (especially those in the Eastern and Central EU) is their small capacity to generate employment under the conditions of the existence of an economic growth process. Taking into consideration that only the process of economic growth, which generates new jobs, is the one that assures the conditions for economic and human development it is highly important to act in order to increase the employment intensity of economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper we research statistical properties of the Central European stock markets. We focus mainly on the tail behavior of the Czech, Polish, and Hungarian stock markets and compare them to the benchmark U.S. and German stock markets. We fit the data of the 4-year period from March 2005 to March 2009 with the stable probability distribution model and discuss its tail behavior. As the estimation of the tail exponent is very sensitive to the size of the data set, the estimates can be misleading for short daily samples. Thus, we employ high-frequency 1-minute data, which proves to be a good choice as it reveals interesting findings about the distributional properties. Furthermore, we study the difference in stock market behavior before and during the financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The private sector has used proxies such as sovereign credit ratings, spreads on sovereign bonds and spreads on sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) to gauge country risk,even though these measures are pricing the risk of default of government bonds, which is different from the risks facing private participants in cross-border financing. Under normal market conditions, the CDS spreads are a very useful source of information on country risk. However, the recent crisis has shown that the CDS spreads might lead to some underpricing or overpricing of fundamentals in the case of excessively low or excessively high risk aversion. In this paper we develop an alternative measure of country risk that extracts the volatile, short-term market sentiment component from the sover eign CDS spread in order to improve its reliability in periods of market distress. We show that adverse market sentiment was a key driver of the sharp increase in sovereign CDS spreads of central and eastern European (CEE) countries during the most severe phase of the crisis. We also show that our measure of country risk sheds some light on the observed stability of cross-border bank flows to CEE banks during the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore the main determinants of growth in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in central and eastern Europe. The important role played by SMEs in the economic development of central and eastern European (CEE) countries has attracted the recent attention of academics and policymakers but remains relatively unexplored. Empirical research has suggested that firm growth is determined not only by the traditional characteristics of size and age but also by other firm-specific factors such as indebtedness, internal financing, future growth opportunities, process and product innovation, and organisational changes. Although growth in manufacturing and service SMEs in transition economies is well explained by the traditional firm characteristics of size and age, there is no empirical evidence concerning what other specific factors may be associated with SME growth and performance in these countries. Using a panel dataset of 560 fast growing small and medium enterprises from six transition economies we find that firm size when measured by firm total assets can explain to a large extent the growth in SMEs in these countries. When size is proxied by a firm's number of employees the observed effect is marginal. Firm specific characteristics such as leverage, current liquidity, future growth opportunities, internally generated funds, and factor productivity are found to be important factors in determining a firm's growth and performance. Age and ownership do not seem to be able to explain firm growth. The results of our empirical study have also some policy implications: we argue that governments in transition economies need to pay an increased attention to small and medium sized enterprises and try to create a business environment that will be beneficial for SME development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

The present debate on the varieties of capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe is marked by two different theoretical strands, both of which highlight the integration of the region into overarching discourses, and the end of the transformation research which has been current until now. On the one hand, the attempt has been underway with some time to apply the Varieties-of-Capitalism (VoC) approach; on the other hand, the dependency and world-system theory is undergoing a renaissance, and taking a critical stance vis-à-vis VoC. But the strengths and weaknesses of both strands can be seen as complementary. East Germany no longer plays a role in this discussion, since it is a debate related to nation-state entities. In the concluding part of this paper, an attempt is made to show that despite no longer being a national economic unit, the consideration of the new East German states is still a useful exercise. Their integration into the world economy can be read as an extreme "dependent market economy" case, and helps us at the same time to understand the regional dimension of the debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the methodology of computer modeling and simulation of complex markets with electricity and related products. The methodology is presented using a particular configuration of Central European markets with decentralized trading and international electricity transfers. The modeling approach is based on pure computer numerical solution in discrete state space determined by problems on which the modeled players are expected to decide-price offered for electricity supplied to various markets, breakdown of total power generation into individual commodities (yearly band, monthly band, spinning reserve) and setting bids in auctions for cross-border profiles. Similar approach to decision-making is adopted on the buyer's side. Buyers are expected to strive to contract power supplies in the way that is most advantageous for them. The generated state space is then analyzed using concepts of mathematical game theory. In this way, we obtain a prediction of probable decisions of modeled players in their market competition. Finally, we present a simplified power system forecast for Central Europe for year 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This commentary shows the patterns of a production model in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) that was based on a specific division of labour within the enlarged Europe. Its foundation was a newly emerged manufacturing base in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and it was seen as a prerequisite for economic renewal in post-communist countries. This production model seems to be in danger now. The first section highlights the main elements of the process where CEE production locations became integrated into the value chains of western European manufacturing enterprises. The example of the automobile industry demonstrates the principles of this production model of with its particular pattern of division of labour between the East and west of Europe. The foundations of the past success have however proved to be fragile, as the dramatic effects of the economic crisis show us these days. The second part of the paper shows, how the particular pattern of the division of labour between East and West have become a risk factor and its sustainability is being questioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has become leading recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI). Meanwhile, an increasing share of global FDI is going to many Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs). What is the relationship between inward FDI of China and the CEECs? We conceptualize the relationship according to three alternative paradigms: (1) China and the CEECs each exist in its own regional production network, with no linkage between FDI flows into China and into CEECs; (2) China and the CEECs together comprise a global production network, so that China's FDI is positively related to CEECs' FDI; and (3) FDI into China is a substitute for FDI into the CEECs, with the correlation being negative. In this paper, we study empirical estimates of this issue for 15 CEECs for 1990-2004 using four different econometric approaches: FGLS with Random effects, FGLS with fixed effects, EC2SLS and GMM. The result supports the conclusion that China's inward FDI does not crowd out CEECs' inward FDI. In fact, it shows that in some regressions FDI flows in these two regions are moderately complementary. Our analysis also confirms the importance for FDI flows of determinants such as market size, degree of trade liberalization, labor quality and a healthy global FDI supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Central European cities memories and material histories of socialist regimes remain particularly difficult to address and incorporate into the new democratic present. After 1989, city authorities in the region have chosen to emphasize some pasts and neglect others and, thus, (re)write their own versions of (urban) history and (re)shape their (urban) identities. In my paper I inquire into how post-1989 Central European urbanities are shaped by and communicated through various designations including signs and symbols on city streets, monuments, and buildings. Predictably, many material remnants of the socialist regimes have been destroyed or hidden from the public eye - my interest lies not only in which various designations on buildings and which monuments had to go, but also in why and how they disappeared. I discuss the most popular methods of hiding and/or effacing the remnants of socialism that range from subtle (surrounding of communist landmarks with tall buildings) through the obvious (renaming of streets, squares, metro stations; giving old communist buildings new names and functions) to the irreversible and, thus, most controversial (the razing of socialist architecture and monuments). The disappearance of the material capital of the socialist past has been accompanied by intense commemoration practices verging on memorial obsessions. New monuments, plaques, street names, and museums appeared almost as quickly as the old "disposable" ones were forced out from the urban landscape. The complexity of an urban identity as communicated through city streets, monuments, and buildings not only invites, but necessitates an interdisciplinary approach and, thus, my analysis includes elements from such diverse areas of knowledge as aesthetics, architecture, communication studies, comparative cultural studies, economics, history, and political science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of a new model of territorial development based on a bottom-up approach appears to be an entirely new process in the formerly communist countries of Central Europe. However, the ongoing process of Europeanisation in these countries is acting as a catalyst for the transmission of this model of endogenous development, a model whose principles are to highlight the specific advantages of each territory and to foster the initiatives taken by decentralised actors. 'Territorial governance' is a notion that sums up these new patterns of public policies that are in keeping with a multi-level environment. At the crossroads of European and national policies with bottom-up initiatives, taken by local stakeholders (local representatives, project managers, etc.), new patterns in territorial resetting are also appearing as part of the change in territorial governance. How does such a transfer of model take place and what effects does it imply? This paper is aimed at analysing the reception of this European model of local development by local actors and their ability for social learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the author''s personnel experience in the Slovak Republic and on information gathered during a health impact assessment (HIA) workshop with participants from Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia. There is a long tradition of health impact assessment in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In the former Czechoslovakia, legislation made in 1966, although it did not explicitly mention HIA, provided a legal basis and made the public hygiene service responsible for assessment of health impacts. However, political structures, prevalent values, reliance on limit-based comparisons, and lack of adequate training meant that HIA had little influence on decision making. Political changes since 1990 are allowing development of HIA. This experience highlights the importance of values and methods in undertaking HIA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

SUMMARY: BACKGROUND In a multicenter case-control study of lung cancer in central and eastern Europe and in Liverpool, exposure to occupational agents was assessed by teams of local experts. We performed an interteam agreement study to estimate the levels of exposure misclassification and the expected attenuation of the risk estimate.METHODS Eight teams of experts and a reference rater assessed exposure to 70 putative lung carcinogens for 19 jobs. Agreement among teams was calculated through Cohen's kappa, sensitivity, and specificity.RESULTS Each team showed an overall fair to good agreement with the reference (kappa between 0.53 and 0.64). The agreement among teams in the presence of exposure was excellent for 9 agents, fair to good for 16, and poor for 29. For all agents the specificity was high (average 0.94), although sensitivity varied considerably.CONCLUSIONS This study of expert exposure assessment showed a small range in reliability among teams of experts, but large differences among agents. This paper presents the range in levels of misclassification that can be expected using experts for assessing occupational exposure to different agents, and the attenuation of the odds ratio that can be expected to result from this misclassification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collected Papers of Zagreb Law Faculty / Zbornik Pravnog Fakulteta u Zagrebu is the property of Sveuciliste u Zagrebu, Pravni Fakultet and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the gender wage gap between Czech Republic and other Central European countries. The EU-SILC 2008 was used by the author for her study, which targets to reveal the real situation of women on the labor market. The difference between male and female mean hourly log-wage is highest recorded in Czech Republic while Hungary and Poland saw much lower values in the observed gender wage gap with 0.093 and 0.089 log points respectively.

The article focuses on the empirical investigation of the purchasing power parity's (PPP) relative version. Turkey and some countries in Central and Eastern Europe were the focus of the investigation. It found that based on conventional univariate tests (URTs), mild evidence favors the PPP hypothesis and added that non-linear test for structural breaks proved the existence of PPP. The author says the findings could be used when working with exchange rates models.