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Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Between 1980 and 1997, municipal waste in OECD countries increased by around 40%. This paper outlines the very real negative effects of this increase and then introduces the two main European Union policies that have been established to address this problem: a landfill directive and legislation on extended producer responsibility (EPR). The paper then describes and compares the four alternative strategies to reducing end-of-life waste within the context of extended producer responsibility: namely repairing, reconditioning, remanufacturing or recycling. It also introduces a more robust definition of remanufacturing, validated by earlier research, which differentiates it from repair and reconditioning. From a consideration of the different factors involved, it concludes that remanufacturing may well be the best strategy. This is because it enables the embodied energy of virgin production to be maintained, preserves the intrinsic ‘added value’ of the product for the manufacturer and enables the resultant products to be sold ‘as new’ with updated features if necessary. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The migration-development nexus has been of increasing importance in international relations between African and European countries since 2000. Linking migration to development has spurred political interest in the development potential of migrants as a substitute for official development assistance. This paper analyses the convergence in discourse and practices on migration and development in the context of migration policies formulated to manage migration between Africa and Europe. The discourse on migration and development is mobilised by different actors to justify their actions; it stems from different migration management concepts and frameworks advocated by the European Union, particularly in its Global Approach to Migration. The migration and development discourse is sustained by increased funding from the European Union and some member states to instil a particular view of the nexus between migration and development. The case of Senegal in this paper illustrates the application of the dominant discourse. The first section provides an analysis of the discourse mobilised by different actors at the European and African levels to justify the promotion of the migration-development nexus. The second section scrutinises the practices and roles of the actors involved in the design and implementation of recent programmes in Senegal. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops multi-dimensional analyses of socio-spatial relations. Building on previous research, we identify some tensions associated with different dimensions of socio-spatiality and introduce the theme of compossible and, more importantly, incompossible socio-spatial configurations. Two short studies are deployed to highlight the socio-spatial implications of the principle that not everything that is possible is compossible. The first shows the power of thinking varieties of capitalism compossibly (via the concept of variegated capitalism) and then examines the successive strategies adopted by the European Communities and European Union to address the significance of changing patterns of variegation for approaches to European integration, spatial strategies, and economic and social policies. The second case discusses some related problems for state spatial projects, starting in the 1980s with spatial planning, promotion of a Europe of the Regions and/or of Europe and the regions, and then turns to examine city-regional development strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 2 decades, Europe's economy experienced a productivity slowdown whereas the United States (US) economy exhibited a marked acceleration. The result is that since the early 1990s the relative productivity levels between the two regions have continuously diverged, leading to a transatlantic productivity gap. Much of the explanation for this is the strong performance of the US in the so-called 'new economy' or 'knowledge economy' and in particular the underinvestment in R&D, and as a result, productivity and innovation has been at the forefront in the European Policy agenda. However, various explanations for the US-European Union transatlantic productivity gap suggest that the picture is rather more complex than simply the effects on, or the result of, particular technology-driven sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim This paper identifies socio-economic driving forces of biodiversity change and analyses their political and economic dynamics by modelling socio-economic parts of three scenario storylines developed for the ALARM (assessing large-scale risks for biodiversity with tested methods) project. In the BAMBU (business-as-might-be-usual) scenario policy decisions already made in the European Union (EU) are implemented and enforced, but no additional measures are introduced. The GRAS (growth applied strategy) scenario describes a future world orientated towards economic growth and complete deregulation. And finally, SEDG (sustainable European development goal) is a normative scenario focusing on the achievement of sustainable development. Methods The GINFORS (global inter-industry forecasting system) model is applied to quantify the effects of different sets of policy measures representing the three scenarios. It allows investigation of the inter-relations between socio-economic driving forces and the state of the environment. Results The presented results for the 25 EU countries focus on the following variables: unemployment, material extraction, energy supply and CO2 emissions. The lowest amount of unemployment is in the SEDG scenario, where it steadily decreases from 2005 to 2020. In BAMBU it falls to a level that is also below that of 2005. In GRAS, the number of unemployed people in 2020 is clearly over the value of 2005. The development of total material extraction from 2005 to 2020 is nearly stable in BAMBU, while it clearly increases in GRAS. Only in SEDG is there a reduction in resource use. None of the scenarios achieves a substantial reduction in energy use. However, the development of CO2 emissions shows a decoupling from energy supply. For BAMBU there is a slight decline in CO2 emissions over time, for GRAS they increase but with a slightly smaller growth rate than energy supply. In SEDG the emissions are reduced. The decoupling trends can be explained by a shift to more renewable energy sources in all scenarios, with the highest share in SEDG. Main conclusions The results indicate that a growth-oriented policy design, such as presented in the GRAS scenario, is not compatible with the conservation of biodiversity. Only in the SEDG scenario do the policy measures support the idea of a sustainable development, but in some respects they are still not ambitious enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial distribution of manufacturing in the regions of the European Union over the period 1977–1999 is examined in this article, using a series of nonparametric instruments proposed within the framework of the economic growth literature. These enable us to overcome some of the methodological limitations of the studies of this issue that have appeared to date. The results obtained reveal an increase in geographic concentration in most industrial activities during the whole of the period considered, the relevance of which has been especially important coinciding with the progress made in the economic integration process currently underway in Europe. Indeed, the empirical evidence presented in this respect suggests that this trend will continue in the future. Additionally, the observed degree of intrasectoral mobility is relatively low. Nevertheless, these findings reveal that the probability of further growth or decline in a given sector within a particular region is greater in those areas with an intermediate presence of the sector in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides an overview of policies for economic growth and employment in the European Union as of October 2005. Background on the Lisbon Agenda; Relative position of Western Europe with regard to economic growth and job; Details of an analytical framework linking growth and jobs.

This study examines the ability of the Central and Eastern European countries to attract foreign direct investment during the first decade of transition. After considering a model of profit maximizing firms, we undertake an empirical investigation of the factors that determine multinational firms’ location decisions within Europe. We find empirical support for the traditional market size and cost factors. In addition, we examine the effect of key European Union announcements regarding the accession process. Results indicate that the announcements had statistically significant and quantitatively important effects on foreign direct investment in the Central and Eastern European candidate countries.JEL classifications: F23, P33. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 30 years, the economies in Europe have undergone major transformations that have been powered by diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT), intensification of innovation, and reforms in the financial sector to support innovative endeavors. The primary objective of this study was to examine the causal relationships among ICT diffusion, innovation diffusion, venture capital investment, and economic growth for 25 countries in Europe for the period from 1989 to 2016. Using a vector error‐correction model, the study examines the underlying short‐run and long‐run relationships for the above variables. The empirical analysis shows that in the long run, venture capital investment, ICT diffusion, and innovation diffusion have significant impacts on economic growth in Europe. However, in the short run, the direction of the causality varies depending on the specific measures of ICT diffusion and innovation diffusion that are utilized. Results from this study provide valuable insights into the types of policies that will contribute to sustainable economic growth in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on European economic governance in 2017 and the growth and recovery that the European Commission, amongst others, deployed in 2017. Topics include how European Union (EU) economic policy plays a key role in establishing gendered and racialized hierarchies in the EU, several prominent indicators show a growing economy, with unemployment continuing its downward trajectory, debt low and confidence among the business community high, and the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union address to the European Parliament, celebrated the recovery and growth, delighting in the fact that growth in the EU has outstripped that of the U.S. for the past two years as of 2018.

The introduction of environmental taxation policies had reached most European countries by the late 1990s. The pricing of activities considered harmful to the environment has given rise to the design of various economic instruments, such as environmental taxes, aimed at promoting environmental responsibility and at enabling the Kyoto Protocol targets to be met, and at the same time generating a marked increase in tax revenues. The aim of this article is to examine whether convergence in environmental taxation has taken place among 27 EU countries, doing so by analyzing time series and applying unit root tests. Our findings show there has been no such convergence, overall, despite the existence of groups of countries with common patterns of behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of the location patterns of economic activities in both Europe and the US has been addressed in an extensive literature dependent on increasingly more sophisticated techniques that arguably reframe debate away from the policy questions in focus and towards debate on the complex empirical techniques that seem to be in vogue at any given time. In part this has been a response to some clear shortcomings in the use of simple locational Gini coefficients. It is argued herein that simple index approaches can still retain value if augmented with intuitive reading of some relevant maps. An example of the utility of this approach is provided in relation to the location patterns of four exemplar manufacturing industries in the EU and USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice so far has indicated that there is a sensitive relationship that exists between social and economic subsystem of sustainable development, therefore this research suggests comparison of the states of these two subsystems as a new conceptual frame which is essential for strategic conceptualization of development. The research pointed out a rather visible collision between the achieved degree of economic and social development in the countries of South Eastern Europe in respect to Germany and France, which were taken into consideration as two of the most developed countries in the European Union and in the entire world. The indicators which are given in this research point to the necessity of further scientific and practical consideration of strategic conceptualization of relationship between economics and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of EuroChoices is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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 article reports on the status of European integration within the "Libson Strategy," which was launched by the European Council in 2000. The strategy was intended to increase social cohesion while stimulating widespread economic growth and promote European unity. The authors examine the rationale of the strategy and the future direction of European coordination. They advance a range of critical perspectives on the evolving governance of the Lisbon Strategy and offer a series of concrete proposals for its reform.

The 10 new member states and candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe have made the institutional reforms embodied in the acquis communautaire, including developing institutions of social dialogue which are supposed to ease the path to entry into the European Monetary Union (EMU). This review assesses the challenges facing the Central and Eastern European countries in achieving the targets set for EMU entry and questions whether the existing institutions of social dialogue will be able to bear the strain of achieving those targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the economic performance of the EU cohesion countries—Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland — from 1960 to the present, in order to identify the processes that have promoted or inhibited real convergence prospects at various points in time. The likely impacts of EMU in strengthening or weakening these processes are then analysed. Amongst the factors studied are labour-market performance, macroeconomic stability and the efficacy of microeconomic policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)