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Has a post-neoliberal policy regime emerged from the challenges to neoliberalism that have accompanied the rise of nationalism and populism in some Eastern and Central European countries? Why has the political organization of these challenges to neoliberalism endured in some countries but not in others? By drawing on a mix of primary and secondary sources culled from the institutional, political and economic realities of Hungary and Romania, this paper makes two claims. First, the article sugegsts that these transformations have amounted to a distinctive variety of neoliberalism that can be dubbed 'national-neoliberalism.' At its core one finds the slightly modified old goals of neoliberal orthodoxy embedded into a protective cocoon of orthodox and unorthodox economic policy instruments and institutions. The second claim of the paper is that the political organization of the national-neoliberal project was resilient in Hungary but not in Romania. The evidence suggests that this variation owes not only to the fact that the 'national' elements of national-neoliberalism had protections against the bond markets. While this factor was indeed critical, the resilience of Hungarian national-neoliberalism seems to have been made possible by the fact that its proponents could manage a broader social bloc and deploy techno-political capabilities that bolstered their political power relative to that of challengers. In contrast, the challengers to orthodox ("globalist") neoliberalism did not posess these characteristics in Romania. As such, the paper rejects the hypothesis of a nationalist-heterodox successor to neoliberalism and takes a first cut at a theory of policy resilience for national-neoliberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper represents an editorial for this special issue on "Surviving post-socialism", with a particular geographical focus on countries located in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). In total, six articles are included in this special issue, which seeks to contribute to the existing body of literature on surviving post-socialism in general and in particular, across all the papers included, paying particular attention to the role of informal economic relations and practices, as fundamental parts of wider economic relations across the FSU and CEE regions. Whilst the papers included in this special issue demonstrate the richness of empirical data which can be generated, also they demonstrate how authors, located in different academic traditions – sociology, political economy and anthropology – can clearly contribute to debates regarding the role of informal economic relations in a number of theoretical and conceptual ways. Design/methodology/approach – This paper attempts to synthesise the main contributions of the six papers within the special issue and in particular seeks to engage with core questions relating to how the empirical findings in these papers contribute to relevant wider theoretical and conceptual debates. Findings – This paper finds that there is a high degree of linkages between the six papers, in particular relating to the issue of the intermeshing of formal and informal economic spheres. Originality/value – The value of this paper is that it provides an introduction, overview and clear and concise summary of the remaining six papers in this special issue on "Surviving post-socialism", outlining the special issue's core aims and contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research into international businesses centered in Central and Eastern Europe. Much of this has focused on theories such as transaction cost economics, agency theory, and institutional perspectives. Articles in this issue analyze the dynamic processes in transitional economies. Each papers analyze different aspects of transition that businesses must go through to fully internationalize themselves. Several researchers found that positive emotions were the key to increasing a Dutch firm's chances of internationalization. Another showed the rough entry of several Swedish firms into the Russian marketplace.

This section presents abstracts of several studies on economics. Julio J. Rotemberg and Michael Woodford examines the business cycle variation in the markup of price over marginal cost in the study Markups and Business Cycle. The paper Pitfalls and Opportunities: What Macroeconomists Should Know About Unit Roots, by John Y. Campbell and Pierre Perron, is an introduction to unit root econometrics as applied in macroeconomics. The paper first discusses univariate time series analysis. A second part of the paper tackles issues in a multivariate context where cointegration is the central concept. Jean Tirole's Privatization in Eastern Europe: Incentives and the Economics of Transition discusses how incentives and market structure considerations ought to guide the choice of sequencing and institutions in the privatization of state industrial property in Eastern Europe.

Because of their sheer size and remarkable growth in recent years, remittances to developing and transition economies have attracted the attention of policy-makers and scholars. One region in which remittances have been growing and having a significant impact on local economies is Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The paper uses data on remittance flows to twenty-seven countries of the former Communist bloc during 1996–2013 and three distinct empirical econometric approaches to study the impact of remittances on financial systems. In particular, the research focuses on the link between remittances and various types of credits and deposits, using dynamic system generalised method of moments estimators to address the issue of reverse causality and allow for dynamic effects. This issue is important for the region, as economic and finance theory documents the growth-enhancing and poverty-reducing effects of financial development. The paper provides evidence of a robust, significant, and positive link between remittances and financial development. The link is especially strong in the ex-Soviet Union and in the case of private credit. The contribution of the present research to the literature is threefold: it is the first study to focus on a relatively homogeneous set of transition countries; the region it addresses is of particular interest because financial development in the region had to start before full-fledged formation of a market economy's financial institutions; and it applies novel, high-quality data on bilateral remittances from Russia to a subsample of transition countries in the former Soviet Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nexus between political instability and economic growth in 10 CEE countries in transition in the period 1990-2009. Our results support the contention that political instability defined as a propensity for government change had a negative impact on growth. On the other hand, there was no causality in the opposite direction. A sensitivity analysis based on the application of a few hundred different variants of the initial econometric model confirmed the abovementioned findings only in the case where major government changes were applied to the definition of political instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the extent of structural or sectoral change and its importance for aggregate productivity growth during times of boom, bust and recovery. The analysis covers 10 EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe over the years 2001-2012. The reallocation of labour across sectors was substantial during the boom, very extensive in 2009 at the depth of the crisis and modest in the subsequent recovery period. The contribution of sectoral change to aggregate productivity growth is computed using various decomposition methods. Changes in labour productivity within sectors play the dominant role for aggregate productivity growth, while reallocation of labour between sectors is less important. This pattern is found through most of the sample period despite large differences in the extent of sectoral change during the boom, crisis and recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews recent socio-economic changes in the 10 new EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe and the earlier and latest debates on the emergence of the post-communist welfare state regime. It asks two questions: are the new EU member states more similar to each other in their social problems encountered than to the rest of the EU world? Do they exhibit enough common socio-economic and institutional features to group them into the distinct/unified post-communist welfare regime that deviates from any well-known welfare state typology? The findings of this paper indicate that despite some slight variation within, the new EU countries exhibit lower indicators compared to the EU-15 as it comes to the minimum wage and social protection expenditure. The degree of material deprivation and the shadow economy is on average also higher if compared to the EU-15 or the EU-27. However, then it comes to at-risk-of-poverty rate after social transfers or Gini index, some Eastern European outliers especially the Check Republic, but also Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary perform the same or even better than the old capitalist democracies. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, however, show many similarities in their social indicators and performances and this group of countries never perform better than the EU-15 or the EU-27 averages. Nevertheless, the literature reviews on welfare state development in the CEE region reveal a number of important institutional features in support of identifying the distinct/unified post-communist welfare regime. Most resilient of it are: an insurance-based programs that played a major part in the social protection system; high take-up of social security; relatively low social security benefits; increasing signs of liberalization of social policy; and the experience of the Soviet/Communist type of welfare state, which implies still deeply embedded signs of solidarity and universalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pickles J. and Smith A. Delocalization and persistence in the European clothing industry: the reconfiguration of trade and production networks, Regional Studies. This paper examines processes of delocalization and the phenomenon of the 'spectre of China' in the European clothing industry following the removal of quota-constrained trade in 2005. It examines the changing geographies of trade and production in the European clothing industry, with a specific focus on the patterns of delocalization and production resilience in East-Central Europe. Through an analysis of trade flows to core European Union markets, it is shown how the articulation of sourcing strategies, trade policies, and locational decisions are producing distinctions in a more liberalized global trading environment between shifts towards the globalization of production networks alongside an intensification of the regionalization of clothing production in lower-cost-producing regions of East-Central Europe (and North Africa) that are proximate to major markets. The paper also examines some of the reasons for these different geographies of sourcing. [image omitted] Pickles J. et Smith A. La delocalisation et la capacite de reprise de la confection: la nouvelle configuration des reseaux d'echanges et de production, Regional Studies. Cet article cherche a examiner les processus de delocalisation et le phenomene du 'spectre de la Chine' dans la confection en Europe suite au demantelement du contingentement des echanges en 2005. On examine l'evolution de la geographie des echanges et de la production dans la confection en Europe, portant notamment sur la distribution de la capacite de reprise de la delocalisation et de la production dans le centre-est de l'Europe. A partir d'une analyse des flux d'echanges a destination des principaux marches de l'Union europeenne, on demontre comment l'articulation des strategies d'approvisionnement, des politiques commerciales et des decisions de localisation font des distinctions dans des milieux commerciaux mondiaux plus liberaux entre des mouvements vers la mondialisation des reseaux de production conjointement avec une intensification de la regionalisation de la confection dans les zones de production a couts plus faibles du centre-est de l'Europe (et de l'Afrique du Nord) qui sont a proximite des principaux marches. L'article examine aussi quelques-unes des raisons qui expliquent ces differentes geographies d'approvisionnement. Delocalisation de la production Liberalisation des echanges mondiaux Confection Reseaux de production mondiaux Chaines de valeurs mondiaux Centre-est de l'Europe Pickles J. und Smith A. Delokalisierung und Persistenz der europaischen Bekleidungsindustrie: die Neuausrichtung von Handels- und Produktionsnetzwerken, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir die Prozesse der Delokalisierung und das Phanomen des 'Schreckgespensts China' in der europaischen Bekleidungsindustrie nach Abschaffung der Handelsquoten im Jahr 2005. Wir untersuchen die geografischen Veranderungen des Handels und der Produktion in der europaischen Bekleidungsindustrie unter besonderer Berucksichtigung der Ablaufe bei der Delokalisierung sowie der Belastbarkeit der Produktion in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Anhand einer Analyse der Handelsstrome in die zentralen Markte der Europaischen Union zeigen wir auf, wie es im Zuge der Entwicklung von Beschaffungsstrategien, Handelspolitiken und Standortentscheidungen im Bereich des starker liberalisierten Welthandels zu Unterschieden kommt, was die Veranderung hin zur Globalisierung von Produktionsnetzwerken sowie die intensivere Regionalisierung der Kleidungsherstellung in den preisgunstiger produzierenden und nah an den grosseren Markten gelegenen Regionen von Mittel- und Osteuropa (und Nordafrika) anbelangt. Ebenso werden in diesem Beitrag einige der Grunde fur diese verschiedenen Geografien der Beschaffung erortert. Delokalisierung der Produktion Liberalisierung des Welthandels Bekleidungsindustrie Globale Produktionsnetzwerke Globale Wertschopfungsketten Mittel- und Osteuropa Pickles J. y Smith A. Deslocalizacion y persistencia en la industria de confeccion de Europa: la reconfiguracion de las redes comerciales y de produccion, Regional Studies. En este articulo analizamos los procesos de deslocalizacion y el fenomeno de la 'amenaza de China' en la industria de confeccion en Europa tras la retirada de las cuotas que limitaban el comercio en 2005. Analizamos los cambios geograficos del comercio y la produccion de la industria de confeccion en Europa centrandonos especificamente en los modelos de deslocalizacion y la resistencia de produccion en Europa del este y central. Mediante un analisis de los flujos comerciales a los principales mercados de la Union Europea, demostramos como la articulacion de estrategias de suministro, politicas comerciales y decisiones de ubicacion estan creando distinciones en un entorno comercial mas liberalizado a nivel global entre los cambios hacia la globalizacion de las redes de produccion junto con una intensificacion de la regionalizacion de la produccion en el sector de confeccion en las regiones que producen a bajos costes de Europa central y del este (y el norte de Africa) que estan cerca de los mercados principales. En este articulo tambien examinamos algunos de los motivos para estas diferentes geografias de suministro. Deslocalizacion de la produccion Liberalizacion del mercado global Industria de confeccion Redes de produccion global Cadena global de valores Europa central y del este [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the evolution of territorial imbalances in per capita income in the Central and Eastern Europe regions between 1990 and 2001. In order to overcome the limitations of conventional convergence analysis, we have combined a non-parametric approach that allows us to study the dynamics of the entire cross-section distribution, with a series of theoretical results and measures taken from the literature on personal income distribution. The results obtained show an overall reduction in regional inequality over the study period. This process has been compatible with the simultaneous presence of between-country convergence and within-country divergence. Likewise, we have observed a reduction in the development gap between the sample regions and Western Europe. In any event, the polarization of the distribution under consideration has decreased, while the registered level of intra-distribution mobility is relatively low. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the important role played in explaining the distribution dynamics by factors such as the national component, spatial location, productive structure, agglomeration economies and the percentage of gross domestic product devoted to investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze the nature of the shocks hitting the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) over the recent years. To this end, we first evaluate the relative importance of symmetric versus asymmetric shocks, and then extract their temporary component. Our final aim would be assessing the vulnerability of the CEECs to temporary and asymmetric shocks, which would be the most harmful case for the operation of a monetary union. Finally, a comparison with the case of the current EMU members is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explore the challenge of studying geographies of Eastern Europe in Western Europe. It reflects on the growing relationships – imagined and material – between Eastern and Western Europe and engages in contemporary debates over ‘relational geographies’ to make a case for geographies which imagine our plural, European spatial connections, which connect different parts of the continent and which encourage the re-examination and renegotiation of ideas across East and West in the post-Cold War world. In these ways, the paper borrows from postcolonial frameworks and the ongoing reassessment of area studies to call for studies of Eastern and Western Europe which reinvigorate our "sense of Europe". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers some alternative readings of 'the region' in contemporary Europe. It does so through examining cities and regions as moments in webs of connections and through considering the diversity of economic practices that constitute regional economic life. Drawing inspiration from non-essentialist political economy, the paper charts several debates over how European regions are conceived in the mainstream, and emphasizes the limits of seeing regional spaces as bounded, centred on capitalist social relations and fixed in their identities. The paper explores alternative readings that emphasize the relational and open nature of regional spaces through a consideration of the economic practices found in the European garment industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radical changes in Eastern Europe which aim to transform these economies into market economies put the issue of organizational and individual adaptation at the centre of attention. Hungarian-Western mixed management organizations are regarded as effective tools for helping this adaptation process. This paper examines, through the example of five joint ventures, what practices are to be changed and what problems arise in terms of organizational and individual adaptation and learning. For the theoretical framework, the author draws together the insights of four types of learning approaches with structural contingency theory, strategy-structure and strategic choice theories, institutional theory of organizations and organizational change theories. The paper finds that there are changes in the organizational routines and procedures as a response to changes in the contingent factors. Westerners do not, however, necessarily play a positive role as agents of change in introducing strategic thinking among Hungarian managers. This problem relates to the phenomenon of new paternalism which also makes it easier for Westerners to cope with the problems of not being able to change the old philosophies of their Hungarian staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that childhood circumstances can have long term consequences that persist until old age. To better understand the transmission of early life circumstances, this paper analyses the effects of health and financial situation during childhood on quality of life after retirement as well as the mediating role of later life health, educational level, and income in this association. Moreover, this study is the first to compare these pathways across European regions. The analyses are based on data of 13,092 retirees aged ≥ 60 and ≤ 85 years from the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with full information on childhood and later life measures of health, educational level, financial situation, and quality of life as well as relevant covariates. Five European regions are studied: Central-Western Europe (Austria, Germany), Central-Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden), Southern Europe (Italy, Spain), and Western Europe (Belgium, France, The Netherlands). Path analysis is used to identify the direct and indirect effects of childhood measures on quality of life. We find retirees’ quality of life to be associated with childhood finances and health in all five European regions. While both the direct and indirect effects of childhood health are rather moderate and homogeneous across regions, especially the direct effects of childhood finances on quality of life after retirement display a distinct North-South gradient being strongest in Southern Europe. Potential explanations for the regional variations are differences in the countries’ welfare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between well-being inequality and the economic crisis for countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Using data from Life in Transition Surveys waves 2006 and 2010, we assess the level of happiness gap by computing the instrument-effect-corrected standard deviation. Our results indicate that the dispersion in self-reported well-being levels increased after the economic crisis in all considered countries. We also show that the life satisfaction variation is not necessarily higher for those who report being poor compared to those from the upper part of the income hierarchy. Results also suggest that in general the gaps are higher in the case of those who report being not affected at all by the economic crisis compared to those who report being affected to a large extent by the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Radovi Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zaru is the property of Zavod za Povijesne Znanosti HAZU 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.)

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, necessitating adjustments in tax and benefit policies. However, the eventual outcome of these modifications remains uncertain. To evaluate possible changes, we conducted a comparative analysis of current instruments in CEE countries vis-a-vis Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. Our research discovered that tax and benefit systems in both CEE and Scandinavian countries are built on the same foundational principles, yet differ significantly in their specific solutions and approaches. Notably, benefits systems in CEE countries are considerably more intricate and inclined toward means-tested benefits and specialized instruments dedicated solely to individuals with disabilities. We posit that changes arising from the convention's implementation will streamline the benefits system, incorporating more generalized instruments with disability added as supplementary eligibility conditions or income parameters. The velocity of this transformation will be influenced by the pace of economic growth, as evidenced by the strong positive correlation between disability expenditure's proportion in gross domestic product and the European Union countries' level of economic development. JEL classification D61, H51, O52 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the guest editors discuss research study carried out on accounting research development and practice in Eastern and Central Europe.

Background: The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have experienced a lot of changes at the end of the 20th century, including changes in the health care systems and especially in primary care. The aim of this paper is to systematically assess the position of family medicine in these countries, using the same methodology within all the countries. Methods: A key informants survey in 11 Central and Eastern European countries and Russia using a questionnaire developed on the basis of systematic literature review. Results: Formally, family medicine is accepted as a specialty in all the countries, although the levels of its implementation vary across the countries and the differences are important. In most countries, solo practice is the most predominant organisational form of family medicine. Family medicine is just one of many medical specialties (e.g. paediatrics and gynaecology) in primary health care. Full introduction of family medicine was successful only in Estonia. Conclusions: Some of the unification of the systems may have been the result of the EU request for adequate training that has pushed the policies towards higher standards of training for family medicine. The initial enthusiasm of implementing family medicine has decreased because there was no initiative that would support this movement. Internal and external stimuli might be needed to continue transition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, I focus on the consequences of corrupt behavior, the context and causes of corruption, the effectiveness of anti-corruption initiatives, the political nature of corruption, and the role of political institutions in curbing or increasing corruption. The purpose of this article is to describe the findings from this review and to discuss implications and future directions for the causes and consequences of corruption within the criminal justice system, the impact of anti-corruption strategies, policies and measures, structural and cultural measures to combat corruption, the broad and pervasive nature of corruption, and the reality of corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an exploratory comparative analysis of the spread of the flat tax in postcommunist Eastern Europe. The paper reviews the flat tax as a public policy prescription, discusses the various arguments that underpin its potential reception, introduces and applies a synthetic comparative method to study its spread in eleven East European countries, draws several conclusions regarding the conditions associated with implementing flat taxes, and suggests further research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the patterns of involvement in the informal economy by households in post-communist countries between 1992 and 1998. Countries covered include Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, FRY, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Belarus. The analysis covers the extent to which households depend upon the formal economy or the informal economies, including household production, the social economy, the cash economy for their means of livelihood. In the paper it is argued that whilst countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary have seen an expansion in the formal economy and a decline in the informal economies, other countries such as Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria have seen an expansion of the informal economies and decline of the formal over the same period. The analysis also finds that whilst the formal economy and the cash economy is important for better educated and better off households to improve their standard of living, the household economy is more a safety net for poor, rural households with older members. The analysis draws upon the New Democracies Barometer for 1992 (N = 10,160), 1994 (N = 10,709), 1996 (N = 10,069) and 1998 (N = 11,296). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the welfare effects in a block of selected eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Romania, former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and former Yugoslavia) emerging from the possibility to participate in the European integration process and to act as strategic players in dynamic games. The results of the cooperative and noncooperative dynamic game scenarios are compared with fixed policy solutions. The McKibbin-Sachs global model (MSG2 model), which incorporates rational expectations, is used as a framework. A global supply-side shock and a fixed exchange rate regime are considered under the alternative policy layouts. It is shown that international economic cooperation may be advantageous over noncooperation. For the anchor currency of the European Monetary Union (EMU), fixing the eastern European block currencies to the EMU may lead to significant destabilization. (JEL E61, E63, C73) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the topics of the April 1992 issue of "Economic Policy." This special issue is entirely devoted to Eastern Europe. It features five papers presented at the 14th Economic Policy Panel Meeting held in Prague, Czech Republic on October 18-19, 1991. One way or another, Western Europe will channel resources to help the East. As different official agencies contemplate the appropriate nature and scale of support, there is renewed interest in the role of the Marshall Plan in Western European reconstruction after World War II.

Criticizes four papers concerning the World Bank's role in economic recovery efforts of Eastern European nations presented at two conferences organized by the Bank in Washington, D.C. in 1990 and 1991. Speed and sequencing of reforms; Problems and methods of privatization; Microeconomic reforms; Macroeconomic stabilization policies and financial reforms; Role of the state.

This report presents the proceedings of a workshop held in Constanta, Romania on 22 May 2014. During the workshop, representatives from 18 Central and Eastern European countries gave oral presentations on the current oral health of children and young adults aged 16 years and younger. The aim of the workshop was to collect and present data relating to the oral health of children from Central and Eastern European countries and to discuss them in the context of the political changes that have taken place over the last two decades and the recent economic crisis. The presenters had previously completed a series of questions on oral epidemiological studies, prevention of oral disease, treatment and payment, dental personnel, uptake of oral health care and other considerations and structured their presentations on these topics plus the influence of the economic crisis on oral health. It should be remembered that this paper is a report of the proceedings of a workshop and not a study. Ethics approval is not required for workshops. After the 18 oral presentations a 90 min discussion took place during which further points were raised. The presentations, the discussion and the conclusions which were reached are reported in this manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past years, new patt erns of regional disparities between metropolised core regions and the remaining parts of Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) have emerged. Such spatial disparities have lately fuelled concerns about further regional polarisation and the peripheralisation of non-metropolitan regions in particular. This is the case although balancing spatial development has been a major goal of European Regional Policy. The paper argues that there is a clear need to bett er understand the social, economic, discursive and political processes constituting regional polarisation and to conduct further research on approaches to deal with and respond to peripheralisation. The proposed research agenda focuses on a multi-scalar relation between core and peripheral regions and applies a process based dynamic understanding of peripherality and centrality. Following this, peripheralised regions bear agency capacities and cannot be seen as powerless victims of some overarching processes associated with the globalising economy. Applying the notions of polarisation and peripheralisation to guide further research, off ers multi-dimensional, multi-scalar and process based conceptualisations of regional development research. With the proposed research agenda, I would like to open up the discussion on new interpretations of the terms peripherality and centrality, rurality and urbanity, border and rural areas, core and peripheral regions, and contribute to the development of new approaches in multi-level governance and ultimately in regional policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a globalizing economy, maintaining and enhancing external competitiveness has become of increasing concern to countries around the world. This applies in particular to Western Balkans countries (WBC), whose small economies have to rely mainly on export-led growth and which have reported large current account deficits and widening trade deficits over the past decade. This paper aims to point out of the directions for achieving external competitiveness of WBC. Starting from the assumption that a strong export performance is a sign of a country's competitiveness in the long run, we have considered a broad list of indicators, such as those related to structural trade indicators, price and cost competitiveness, the sold of the current accounts, productivity, foreign direct investment, as well as institutional factors. Secondary analysis of previous quantitative data and published studies, combined with an own qualitative study in the field has provided a reliable and convincing basis for analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last few decades have showed that corporate governance can change the life of companies and even of global economies. As competition increases in all fields of economic life, the better approach to business can make a significant change. Therefore, in the last few decades we have been faced with new types of corporate governance models, more and more adapted to the economic environment where they were to be applied. The purpose of our paper is to identify the main corporate governance models that are applied in the geographical area of the Central and Eastern Europe, as well as to establish which are the differences between them and how the quality of such models influences the evolution of the national economies. Even though we are aware that classifying and including the corporate governance model of a country into a certain category cannot be extremely accurate, we believe that such a classification offers the background for researches concerning the inter-countries interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University 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 explores the evolution of pension schemes from the “pay-as-you-go” system to the “capital funded” system in former socialist countries over the last two decades. The impact of the financial crisis on the schemes is discussed as well as political implications. The introduction outlines various aspects of the topics and compares four countries accordingly. Further, the article addresses the future of pension policies and reform, public debt, and old-age security.

Why do countries move from public to private financing of healthcare? This paper explores this issue by looking at the divergent reform trajectories of three postcommunist countries — the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. While existing accounts emphasize veto points to explain changes in healthcare systems, the present analysis finds that moves towards private financing can be better explained by differences in access to the policymaking arm of the state. Specifically, a penetrable single-party government and weak bureaucratic capacities allow physicians to capture the reform process and implement their preferred policies. The results suggest that scholars of health policy should focus more attention on the actors seeking change and their access to policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on entrepreneurship has suggested entrepreneurial phenomena to take place in a wide variety of contexts that deal with new venture emergence. Opportunity discovery and effectuation are seen as the essence of entrepreneurship. The present study examines entrepreneurial behaviour in the organising of an international joint venture (IJV) in Polish transition markets. The paper aims to answer the following question: How is an international joint venture organised in turbulent context through opportunity-discovery and effectuation behaviours? Based on theoretical analysis and a longitudinal case study, we illustrate the organising of an international joint venture in transition markets through specific behaviours of opportunity discovery and effectuation. We show especially the relationship-based nature of all the behaviours. The study advances international entrepreneurship research by emphasising the intertwinedness of the entrepreneurial behaviours with the drastic developments in the transition markets and the evolution of the IJV partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the real economic convergence between the new EU entrants in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE-8) and the EU core (EU-12 or EU-15). It includes new estimates on the speed of income-level convergence and new findings about the conformity of cyclical changes. The results offer further evidence of continuous progress in real economic convergence between Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the social impact of globalization. It focuses on the mediating role of the sectoral pattern of transnational production relocation to the postcommunist economies of Eastern Europe. We argue that the collapse of the socialist heavy industries and the eastward relocation of traditional light industries initially forced the social conditions of the East European countries to converge at the bottom and deepened the gap between the West and the East. Later, the eastward migration of high-skilled labor and capital-intensive industries and jobs led to decreasing social disparity between the West and some of the former socialist countries. However, convergence appears uncertain, costly, and uneven, and coincides with increasing social disparity within the group of East European new members and candidates of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East European countries" transition towards market economy and democratic governance seems blocked. In this context, the paper argues that integration with the EU and NATO might offer a second chance for turning the transition process successful. From all causes of this delayed economic and democratic development, I chose to analyse the one essential for Romania: obstruction of free and fair access to resources and services by a narrow group of transition winners. These individuals have used the advantage of past positions in the communist bureaucracy to, currently, constitute an informal, but efficient, structure that monopolizes resources, prevents free access to the economic system, and, therefore, nurtures corruption. Moreover, the still existent state monopoly enables corruption turning it into a force that is blocking development of free markets. The paper argues that integration with the European Union and NATO may offer a solution for eradicating corruption and for increasing transparency in the system. This is possible for two reasons. First, the two above-mentioned institutions enjoy great legitimacy in Romania and can therefore act as levers for triggering effective reforms. Second, the conditionality of adopting the Acquis Communautaire -- a body of laws that can fight corruption -- might lay a solid basis for successful internal reforms that would create sustainable and transparent structures able spur economic and democratic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic transition in the Central and Eastern European Countries provides a unique opportunity to observe the evolution of economies from planned systems to more market-oriented and decentralized systems. Aside from the bounty of economic policy issues raised by such a transition, a more fundamental adjustment involves the design of education for the future managers in these economies and, in particular, the role of economics- a subject at the core of the transition-in the management curriculum. Using the MBA curriculum as its focus, this paper discusses both the rationale for including economics in the program for various curricular models and the particular relevance of the subject to management students in the transition environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cervical cancer screening with human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing has potential advantages over conventional, smear testing in that it can predict cases in which invasive cancers are more likely to develop, may be cheaper to implement and improve compliance. In areas of the world where little formalized cervical cancer screening takes place, or where health resources are limited, HPV testing has been suggested as a possible alternative for primary screening. In this paper we demonstrate the use of mathematical modelling to evaluate the effects of setting up screening programmes in Eastern Europe with HPV DNA testing as the primary screening tool and compare it with conventional smear testing. The impact of screening is measured in terms of the life years gained and the resulting resource usage and cost. We investigate several screening options with different screening intervals and age ranges for the target population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses how incentives and market structure considerations ought to guide the choice of sequencing and institutions in the privatization of state industrial property in Eastern Europe. It first reviews some essential features of private incentives and government intervention in western economies. It then analyzes whether these features are likely to carry over to the Eastern European environment, characterized by a large amount of uncertainty and a nonstationarity in its level, and by the need for substantial efficiency--and competition-oriented restructuring. Finally it draws suggestions concerning the issues of the timing of privatization, that of the introduction of a stock market, the choice among governance structures, the structure of incentives within and outside productive units, and the evolution of industrial policy during the transition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been estimated that the costs of remediating contaminated sites in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will be very high. These contingent environmental liabilities have emerged precisely at the time CEE countries are attempting to privatize their capital stocks, creating major challenges for privatization agencies. It is also generally agreed that an inadequate handling of these liabilities in the past has reduced sales of state-owned enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe. This paper uses an analytical model to identify optimal policiesfor minimizing the damage to privatization processes from environmental liabilities. Policy simulations are conducted which evaluate the effects of the use of liability indemnifications and environmental audits on privatization sales, prices and government revenues net of environmental costs. The major finding of the paper is that goals to mitigate the effects of environmental liability on privatizations and maximize government net revenues from privatization sales require equivalent environmental liability policies. Both goals require optimal provision of information and indemnifications to investors, and moreover it is found that the two policies are complementary rather than substitutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces the articles published in the periodical "Eastern European Economics". Topics of the articles; Authors who contributed to the issue; Development in the economic condition of the region focused on in the issue.

The paper begins with a summary of the concept, emphasizing that sustainable development is a strongly supported policy around the world. The case study examines specific aspects of sustainable development in Coca-Cola HBC Romania. Finally it presents the main obstacles and opportunities identified for adoption by Romanian companies in their business of sustainable competitiveness strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainability manifested locally expanded to national, outlining the context of Romanian tourism industry under guidance protection, conservation and regeneration of environmental resources. The paper analyzes the evolution over time of the number, and surface of protected natural areas, being a reference point in the direction of strategic management thinking of tourism in the protected areas in Romania under the spectrum of sustainability, leading to a quantitative development and qualitative at high levels. The analysis of the number and surface of protected natural areas is through the data retrieved from the database Tempo-one line from the NIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze how European integration and, especially, changes in ownership, has affected banking efficiency in Central and Eastern European countries which have recently experimented this process more intensely. Using a stochastic frontier approach, applied to panel data, we have estimated bank efficiency levels in a sample of 189 banks from 12 countries during the period 2000 to 2008 and we have analyzed the influence of some bank characteristics on these efficiency levels. The results show that European integration has significantly improved the cost efficiency of banks in these countries, but profit efficiency has significantly decreased. We have found very small differences between different ownership types and only a very small impact of foreign ownership on cost efficiency, showing that the entry of foreign ownership is not enough to explain the significant variations in banking efficiency after the accession. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The influential World Bank Averting the old-age crisis study profoundly influenced pension policies around the globe, but nowhere more so than in Eastern Europe. While Western Europe dismissed radical carve-out pension privatization initiatives, Eastern European countries with similar Pas-As-You-Go legacies pursued World Bank reforms hoping to increase retirement incomes, spur economic growth, and hedge political risks inherent in public systems. However, 25 years later, reversals are taking place in all reforming countries, ranging from outright dismantling of mandatory private pension funds to their scaling-down and moving to voluntary participation. Empirical evidence presented in this article suggests that carve-out privatization failed to accelerate economic growth, while private pension funds turned out to be dynamically inefficient and inferior to PAYG systems they were intended to replace. We argue that the carve-out approach is the root cause of inherent economic and fiscal tension between public and private pension pillars. We identify a minimum set of Pareto improving reform adjustments that address the most pressing sources of economic inefficiencies and political instability by undoing the carve-out financing. The suggested re-reforms would be a first step in enabling private pension funds in Eastern Europe to become a meaningful supplement to existing PAYG benefits, in line with typical pension practices in Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of democracy in the communist countries, which generated profound social and economic transformation, was accompanied by a decline in fertility. We attempt to provide an overall survey on fertility since 1989 in ten Central and Eastern European Countries, members of the European Union, and to identify the variables which explain the fertility decline. We will use univariate and multivariate statistical analysis to identify disparities between the ten countries, and the variables which explain these differences. Also, we developed a panel econometric model to confirm the hypothesis of a similar pattern of evolution for fertility in these countries and that the decline in fertility can be explained both through demographic and economic variables. The decline in fertility can be explained by economic growth, marriage, divorce, abortion, and migration. The empirical evidence presented in this paper supports the view that the decline in fertility over the 1989s represents the continuation of a longstanding trend of the previous period, according to the demographic transition theory, but its speed and magnitude has been influenced by the new social and economic landscape. These results can be useful for public authorities of the CEE countries to rethinking demographic policies and to ensure the sustainability of demographic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the cyclicality, inertia and effect of EU accession on fiscal policy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) using a real time dataset. Budget balances are found to react in a stabilizing way to economic activity – every extra percentage point of economic growth is associated with an improvement in the budget balance of 0.3 percentage points of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – and there is no evidence of an asymmetric reaction to the cycle. Balances are much less inert than is typically found in Western Europe. However, there is clear evidence of a fiscal loosening in the run-up to EU accession. This began in 1999 in larger central European countries, often identified as ‘front-runners’. The other seven began loosening in 2001, after the Nice Treaty was agreed. For both sets of countries, this loosening cumulatively amounts to some 3% of GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]