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In November 2014, investments in capital assets amounted to 95.2%, while in January–November 2014, to 97.2% on the respective index of the previous year. A long-term reduction of the volumes of building jobs may result in a dramatic drop in business activities in the business and investment complex early in 2015. The situation is made worse due to a sudden surge of the rate of inflation and growth in the cost of credit resources which situation limits the activities of private investors on the market.

По предварительной оценке Минэкономразвития России, ВВП в I кв. 2015 г. составил 97,8% от показателя I кв. 2014 г. На внутренний рынок в текущем году негативное влияние оказало одновременное сокращение потребительского спроса и инвестиций в основной капитал. Индекс оборота розничной торговли в I кв. 2015 г. составил 93,3% и инвестиции в основной капитал 94,0% по сравнению с аналогичным периодом предыдущего года. Ситуация в экономике осложняется падением реальной заработной платы на 8,3% и ростом безработицы на 1,4% по сравнению с I кв. 2014 г.

В текущем году сокращение внутреннего спроса оказывало негативное влияние на внутренний рынок. Индекс оборота розничной торговли в июле 2015 г. в годовом выражении составил 90,8%, платных услуг населению – 97,5% и инвестиции в основной капитал – 91,5%. В июле 2015 г. выпуск обрабаты- вающего производства снизился до 92,9% по сравнению с июлем прошлого года. Негативное влияние на динамику обрабатывающего производства оказывает сокращение выпуска капитальных товаров.

The volume of investments in fi xed assets over the period of January–July 2015 in real terms amounted to 94.1%; the index for July dropped to 91.5% on the same month of last year. The structure of sources of investment fi nancing displayed a strengthening trend towards increasing the share of equity and federal budget funding. Over the fi rst half-year of 2015, the decline of investment in fi xed assets demonstrated by the segment represented by big and medium-sized enterprises amounted to 7.3% on the corresponding period of last year.

По данным Росстата, ВВП в I квартале 2015 г. составил 98,1% от показателя I квартала 2014 г. Нега- тивное влияние на экономическую динамику в текущем году оказывает сокращение внутреннего спро- са и усиление спада потребительского рынка. Индекс оборота розничной торговли в апреле 2015 г. составил 90,2% и инвестиции в основной капитал 95,2% по сравнению с аналогичным периодом пре- дыдущего года. Ситуация в экономике осложняется падением реальной заработной платы на 13,2% и ростом безработицы на 8,4% по сравнению с апрелем 2014 г.

12 марта 2014 г. со стороны ОЭСР был приостановлен процесс присоединения России к этой орга- низации. Долгая история сотрудничества России с ОЭСР, – сначала в формате в научно-экспертнойподдержки внедрения общепризнанных стандартов ОЭСР с целью развития отдельных институтов национальной экономики, преимущественно в сфере налогообложения, антимонопольной и корпора- тивной политики, затем, с мая 2007 г., формально определенный процесс присоединения, когда на за- седании Совета ОЭСР было принято решение о приглашении России в качестве полноправного члена ОЭСР, – демонстрирует значимость взаимодействия России с данной организацией.

In H1 2015, business activities in the Russian economy were determined by weakening of the external and internal demand. In H1 2015, a decrease of 5.4% and 8.0% in investments in capital assets and the volume of the retail trade, respectively, as compared to the respective period of the previous year produced a negative eff ect on the domestic market. In Q2, the situation became more complicated due to a greater slump in the industry to 4.9%, including the manufacturing industry to 5.1% as compared to the indices of the previous year. A drop in real wages and salaries with a consolidating trend of growth in general and registered unemployment is an alarming factor.

Инвестиции в основной капитал в мае 2015 г. составили 92,4%, а за январь–май текущего года – 95,2% от соответствующих показателей 2014 г. Продолжающееся уже шестой квартал подряд сокраще- ние инвестиций определяется снижением деловой активности со второй половины 2012 г. и усугу- бляется ухудшением макроэкономической ситуации в начале 2015 г. (в результате чего продолжала сокращаться доля привлеченных средств в структуре источников финансирования инвестиций), ос- ложнением бюджетной ситуации в регионах и сокращением внутреннего платежеспособного спроса (что ведет к снижению инвестиций в строительстве, торговле и сфере платных услуг). Особую тре- вогу вызывает нестабильность инвестиционного спроса в сырьевом секторе обрабатывающей про- мышленности, оказывавшем позитивное влияние на динамику отечественного производства в 1 кв. 2015 г. В то же время инвестиционная ситуация в машиностроительном секторе демонстрирует определенный потенциал импортозамещения

Early in 2015, a further drop in investment activities was registered. In January–February 2015, investments in capital assets and the volumes of jobs in the building industry amounted to 93.6% and 96.7%, respectively, as compared to the relevant indices of the previous year.

In May 2015, investments in capital assets amounted to 92.4%, while in January–May 2015, to 95.2% as compared to respective indices of 2014. A drop in investments which continues for six quarters running has been determined by a decline of business activities since H2 2012 and made worse by the macroeconomic situation early in 2015 (due to that the share of borrowed funds in the pattern of sources of funding of investments kept decreasing), complicated budget situation in regions and reduction of domestic solvent demand (which situation results in a drop in investments in building, trade and the sphere of paid services). Instability of investment demand in the primary sector of the manufacturing industry which had a positive eff ect on the dynamics of the domestic production in Q1 2015 is of a particular concern. At the same time, the investment situation in the engineering sector demonstrates a certain potential of import substitution.

In April 2014, the economic situation was determined both by slowdown of growth rates of consumer demand and a drop in investment demand. Investments in capital assets in April 2014 and January–April amounted to 97.3% and 95.7%, respectively, against the respective indices of the previous year. A decrease in growth rates of retail trade sales volumes year on year to 2.6% was determined by dramatic slowdown of households’ real income and real wages and salaries. After a drop in January, year on year indices of industry demonstrated growth in February–April 2014. In April 2014, year on year growth rates of industrial production amounted to 2.4%, while in manufacturing and production of primary products, to 3.9% and 1.7%, respectively. However, despite the fact that the situation has improved to some extent the expected growth in industry in 2014 will amount by the estimate of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation to 1.0%, which is justified by the expected 2.4% drop in investment activities in 2014.

Fixed investment in real terms stood at 97.42% in the period of January to July 2014 compared to the corresponding period in 2013. The structure of sources of fi nancing saw an upward trend towards the formation of a bigger share of equity at enterprises as the share of federal budget resources tended to diminish. In H1 2014, fi xed investment stopped falling in the segment of large and medium-sized enterprises, up by 2.8% relative to the corresponding period of the previous year, although it couldn’t off set entirely the negative growth dynamics observed in the preceding year. Investment upsurge in industrial and transport sectors had a positive eff ect on the dynamics of investment at large enterprises in H1 2014. Fixed investment kept diminishing in the investment and construction sector.

GDP advanced 0.8% in H1 2014 relative to the corresponding period of 2013, according to the preliminary data from Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service). The products and services output index by basic type of economic activity remained near a positive value of 100.3% on an annualized basis in July 2014 compared to July 2013. The industrial production index stood at 101.5% in July 2014, including the manufacturing industry (102.4%) and the mineral extraction sector (100.2%). Reduction in both exports of traditional raw materials and their by-products, and the scale of output in the construction and investment sector had an adverse eff ect on the dynamics of general economic indicators..

In January–May 2014, capital investments in real terms amounted to 96.2% on the respective index of the previous year. In the patiern of sources of investment funding, the share of own funds and banks’ participation increased with a reduction of investment of federal budget funds. In Q1 2014, in the segment of large and midsized enterprises a drop in capital investments stopped and they increased by 1,8% as compared to the respective period of the previous year. In Q1 2014, a positive effect on the dynamics of investments by large enterprises was produced by growth in investments in the primary sector (5.4%), manufacturing (2.6%), oil refi ning (35.1%) and transport and communications (10.5%).

The situation in the investment sphere remains tense despite the fact that in November 2013 growth rates of investments in capital assets entered the positive zone and amounted to 100.2% year on year after a drop in the previous three months. In January-November 2013, investments in capital assets amounted to 99.2% of the level of the respective period of 2012. Despite a low base of December 2012, on the basis of the results of 2013 annual growth rates can hardly exceed those of 2012. Reduction of volumes of building with growing rates of commissioning of housing and reduction of volumes of incomplete building may result in a sharp drop in business activities in the building and investment complex early in 2014.

Falling investments in fixed assets in early 2014 were the result of the negative tendency which had formed in the construction investment complex in 2013. Investments in fixed assets in January-February this year were 95.0% while the volume of construction works was 96.2% of the corresponding indicator for last year.

We propose a multisector endogenous growth model incorporating social capital. Social capital only serves as input in the production of human capital and it involves a cost in terms of the final good. We show that in contrast to existing alternative specifications, this setting assures that social capital enhances productivity gains by playing the role of a timing belt driving the transmission and propagation of all productivity shocks throughout society whatever the sectoral origin of the shocks. Further econometric work is conducted in order to estimate the contribution of social capital to human capital formation. We find that depending on the measure of social capital considered, the elasticity of human capital to social capital varies from 6% to 10%. Finally we investigate the short-term dynamics and imbalance effects properties of the models depending on the value of this elasticity (taking the Lucas-Uzawa model as a limit case). In particular, it's shown that when the substitutability of social capital to human capital increases, the economy is better equipped to surmount initial imbalances as individuals may allocate more working time in the final goods sector without impeding economic growth.

In November 2014, a trend of weak economic dynamics intensifi ed. In November 2014, the industrial production index amounted to 99.6%, including 97.0% in manufacturing as compared to the previous year. Investments in capital assets fell by 4.8% as compared to November 2013; irregularity in fulfi llment of jobs in building intensifi ed. The situation is complicated by slowdown of growth rates of households’ real incomes by 4.7% year on year in November 2014 and growth in the rate of inflation to 9.1% as compared to November 2013.

In January 2015, a drop of 5.1% and 6.3% year-on-year in retail trade volume and investments in capital assets, respectively, had a considerable eff ect on the domestic market. The dynamics of the consumer market was determined by a simultaneous drop of 5.5% and 3.5% in demand on food products and non-food products, respectively, as compared to January 2014. In January 2015, the market of investment goods and services was characterized by a decrease of 3.5% year on year in building. In January 2015, industrial production increased by 0.9% year on year with growth of 1.5% in the primary sector and a drop of 0.1% in manufacturing. In January 2015, the total number of the unemployed and the number of the offi cially registered unemployed increased by 3% and 2.6%, respectively, but the above indices remained much below the respective values of January 2014.

На внутренний рынок России в текущем году негативное влияние оказало одновременное сокращение по- требительского и инвестиционного спроса. Индекс оборота розничной торговли в феврале 2015 г. в го- довом выражении составил 92,3%, платных услуг населению – 98,5% и инвестиций в основной капитал – 93,5%. Начало 2015 г. характеризуется резким ухудшение показателей реальных доходов населения.

According to the preliminary data of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, in Q1 2015 GDP amounted to 97.8% against the index of Q1 2014. A simultaneous shrinkage of consumer demand and investments in capital assets had a negative eff ect on the domestic market in 2015. In Q1 2015, the retail trade index and the index of investments in capital assets amounted to 93.3% and 94.0%, respectively, as compared to the same period of the previous year. The situation in the economy is complicated by a 8.3% drop in real wages and salaries and a 1.4% growth in the rate of unemployment as compared to Q1 2014.

In early 2015, Russia’s domestic market was strongly aff ected by the simultaneous shrinkage of consumer and investment demand. In February 2015, the retail trade turnover index amounted to 92.3% in annual terms; the index of paid services delivered to the population amounted to 98.5%; and the index of investment in fi xed assets – to 93.5% in annual terms. The beginning of 2015 was characterized by a profound deterioration of the indices of the population’s real incomes.

This year, Russia’s domestic market was operating under the negative eff ects of shrinking domestic demand. In July 2015, the retail trade turnover index amounted to 90.8%; the index of paid services delivered to the popula- tion – to 97.5%; and the index of investment in fi xed assets – to 91.5% in annual terms. Over the same month, output in the processing industries dropped to 92.9% on July 2014. The growth rates in the processing industries were negatively infl uenced by the shrinking output of capital goods.

Russia’s GDP in Q1 2015 stood at 98.1% compared to that for Q1 2014, according to the data provided by the Russian Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat). The economic dynamics in 2015 are aff ected by weakening domestic demand and the increased downturn in the consumer market. The retail turnover index in April 2015 stood at 90.2% and fi xed investments at 95.2% compared with that for the corresponding period last year. The economic situation has been deteriorating through a 13.2% decline in real wages and a 8.4% increase of unemployment rate compared to that for April 2014..

According to the preliminary estimates of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, in 2014 GDP annual growth rates amounted to 100.6% as compared to the previous year. Slowdown of growth rates of the Russian economy is justifi ed by low internal demand. Investments in capital assets fell by 2.5%, while growth rates of the consumer market slowed down to 2.5% as compared to 2013. In 2014, a positive trend was a speed-up of growth rates of industrial production to 101.7% with advanced growth in manufacturing (102.1% on the previous year). A negative factor of 2014 was a drop in households’ real income due to growth of 11.4% in the consumer price index in 2014. The situation on the labor market is getting worse: in December 2014 as compared to the previous month the total number of the unemployed rose by 0.9%, while the number of offi cially registered unemployed, by 7.5%.

The slowdown of the economic growth in April 2013 was determined by the slackening of the investment demand dynamics. In April 2013 the investments in fixed assets made 99.3%, in January– April – 99.8% of the corresponding indices of the previous year. However, the indices of the industrial production in March–April 2013 in annual terms demonstrate some growth after the recession of January–February. The growth rates of the industrial production this April in annual terms made 2.3%.

In Q1 2013 the slowdown of the economic growth was determined both by the decrease in the external demand by 4.6% versus the corresponding period of the previous year and the sudden weakening of the internal demand dynamics. In Q1 2013 the indices of the industrial growth and the volumes of investments in fi xed assets remained at the level of the previous year. The rates of retail trade turnover in Q1 2013 nearly halved as compared with the corresponding period of the previous year and made 3.9% while the growth rates of the real disposable incomes went up to 5.3% versus 1.6% a year ago. The level of the unemployment in Q1 2013 remained below the indices of the corresponding period of the previous year but exceeded the indices of Q4 2012

In January thru May 2013 capital investments in real terms stood at 99.6% on a year-on-year basis. An uptrend in corporate own funds and federal budget funds was boosted in the structure of sources of investment financing. In Q1 2013, investments dropped in real terms on a year-on-year basis by 11.4% in the extractive industries, 13.9% in the production and distribution of electric power, gas and water, and 19.1% in transport sector. The preceding-year uptrend in investments remained unchanged in manufacturing industry, but output declined due to ineffective usage of investments.

At the beginning of 2013 the economic activity continued to slow down – the process that started in 2012. In February 2013 the investments in fixed assets growth rates made only 100.3% in annual Terms.

Since the fall of the monetary system from Bretton Woods, based on a system of fixed rates, numerous theoretical and empirical articles have emerged through which the volatility of the exchange rate and the commercial influxes was analyzed and the identification of specific connections regarding the transmission of the effects of the modification of the exchange rapport of a currency in economy was tried. The general idea from these works start from the uncertainties regarding the evolution of a currency in comparison to another and their effects on the goods and services balance of a state. Important works from the domain are evaluated. The authors are renowned researchers in the area of international finances and some of them are part of the personnel of the most important international finance-banking institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of International Settlements. The studies regarding the relation between the exchange rates and the direct foreign investments are contradictory: some do not find a significant influence of the exchange rate and other demonstrate that there is a strong connection between the two variables. If a connection between the two variables is established, it remains to be settled if the connection is direct or reversed. The Granger causality test identified the characteristics of the relation between the direct foreign investments and the exchange rate. The conclusions of the research mark out the complex nature of the relation between the two variables, the results being extremely heterogeneous from one country to another.

The credit insurance protects the dealers and the producers from the risk of non-payment by the consumers who buy or rent goods or benefit from similar credit facilities. It appeared as a necessity coming from the fact the most of the trade contracts are concluded when the payment is made partially or totally after the delivery of the goods or the performance of the services making the contract object, so with a late payments, respectively “a credit sale”.

It was marked out that the investors should be prepared for permanent changes of the forms in which the risk can manifest itself from the evolution of market economy grounded in the industrialized countries: operational, financial, strategic risks are also added to the traditional exposition to chance, caused by a series of factors, as legislation modifications, certain standards and European codes, the risks imposed by the evolution of the new economy, pressures that emerge in the personnel policy domain, the new needs for technical equipment, the costs efficiency, the spontaneous (unexpected, unplanned) economical events. It is interesting to analyze in what measure one can talk about the risk management in the strategies to attract the foreign investors in this context. This supposes an additional effort of the authorities to identify and subsequently eradicate the risk that could emerge in the case of some direct foreign investments in Romania.

In case of certain important objectives referring to product deliveries, the execution of works or the performances of services abroad, having big values, the international competition gets sharp forms. Some economical agents, for being placed on a more advantageous position in the competition where they participate, present firm offers valid for a certain lapse of time. The change of the economic conditions (price, interest, appreciation, financing conditions) during the validity of the firm offer in report to the one considered when accomplishing this one, could train for the exporter agent, in case of adjudicating the order, a loss that cannot be recovered from the importer..

In a seminal paper on Marxian business cycle theory, Goodwin (1967) presented a model which assumed that a higher wage share leads to lower investment and thus a general economic slowdown. In contrast Kalecki (1971) was arguing that a higher wage share would have an expansionary effect because the consumption propensity out of wage income is higher than that out of profit income. Based on a general model that allows for wage-led as well as profit-led demand regimes, this paper estimates the effects of a change in the wage share on aggregate private domestic demand with quarterly data for 12 OECD countries. JEL classification: E11, E12, E20, E22, E25

Germany has experienced a period of extreme nominal and real wage moderation since the mid 1990s. Contrary to the expectations of liberal economists this has failed to improve Germany’s mediocre economic performance. However, Germany is now running substantial current account surpluses. One possible explanation for Germany’s disappointing performance is found in Kaleckian theory, which highlights that the domestic demand effect of a decline in the wage share will typically be contractionary, whereas net exports will increase (Blecker 1989). The size of the foreign demand effect will critically depend on the degree of openness of the economy. The paper aims at estimating the demand side of a Bhaduri-Marglin (1990) –type model empirically for Germany. The paper builds on the estimation strategy of Stockhammer, Onaran and Ederer (2007) and Hein and Vogel (2008a, 2008b). The main contribution lies in a careful analysis of the effects of globalization. Since Germany is a large open economy by now it is a particularly interesting case study.

Промышленное производство в феврале 2014 г. в годовом выражении увеличилось на 2,1%, в том числе обрабатывающее производство -на 3,4%. Однако производство машин и оборудования упало на 11,4%, строительных материалов – на 2,0% , работ в строительстве на 2,4% в годовом выражении. Резко замедлился спрос на услуги. Индексы оборота розничной торговли и платных услуг населению в январе–феврале 2014 г. к соответствующим показателям предыдущего года составили 103,2% и 101,0%, годом ранее аналогичные показатели были на 0,6 п.п. и 3,3 п.п. выше.

Экономическая динамика в I квартале 2014 г. определялась ростом потребительского спроса и падением инвестиционного. Инвестиции в основной капитал по итогам I квартала 2014 г. снизились на 4,8% относительно аналогичного периода предыдущего года при одновременном сокращении объемов работ в строительстве и производства капитальных товаров. Темпы роста оборота розничной торговли в I квартале 2014 г. составил 103,5%, что на 0,5 п.п. ниже аналогичного показателя 2013 г. Позитивное влияние на экономическую ситуацию в январе–марте текущего года оказало восстановление промышленного роста за счет увеличения выпуска обрабатывающего производства на 2,4% по сравнению с январем–мартом предшествующего года. В государственных учреждениях службы занятости населения на конец марта 2014 г. в качестве безработных было зарегистрировано 941 тыс. чел., что на 13,2% меньше по сравнению с мартом 2013 г..

In the fi rst fi ve months of 2014, the economic situation was determined by slowdown of growth rates of consumer demand and a drop in investments. In January–May 2014, investments in capital assets decreased by 3.8% against the index of the respective period of the previous year. In January–May 2014, the retail trade volume increased by 3.1% against 3.9% a year earlier. A positive contribution to the dynamics of the economic development is made by recovery of output growth in manufacturing. In January–May 2014, manufacturing output index amounted to 103.2% against 98.9% a year before with a high diff erentiation of production rates in diff erent sectors which situation is primarily justified by prevalence of negative trends in production of capital goods.

In January–September 2014, the index of physical volumes of GDP amounted to 100.8% on the respective period of 2013. The positive factors behind positive quarterly dynamics of GDP are, fi rstly, the speed-up of growth rates of manufacturing industries to 3.6% year-on-year in October 2014 against 0.6% a year before, secondly, growth in consumer demand though its rates are much lower than the index of October 2013 and, thirdly, growth in the net export despite a decrease in the foreign trade turnover. In January–October 2014, a 2.5% reduction in investments in capital assets on the respective period of the previous year had a negative eff ect on the domestic market.

In February 2014, industrial production increased by 2.1% on an annualised basis, including a 3.4% increase in manufacturing. However, the production of machines and equipment decreased by 11.4%, construction materials, by 2.0%, and construction works, by 2.4% in annual terms. Demand for services slowed sharply. In January-February 2014 the indices of retail turnover and paid services provided to the public were 103.2% and 101.0% of the corresponding figures for the previous year, whilst, in the year before that, these indicators had been 0.6 and 3.3 percentage points higher.

In January 2014, the macroeconomic situation is under the effect of the same factors which determined the economic dynamics in 2013. In January 2014, a drop of 7.0% and 5.5% in investments in capital assets and the volume of building work, respectively, against January 2013 had a substantial impact on the domes?? c market. Also, slowdown of growth rates of consumer demand on the commodity market (to 102.4% against 104.4% a year earlier) and the market of paid services (to 101.6% against 105.6%) was observed.

Экономическая ситуация в апреле 2014 г. определялась замедлением темпов роста потребительского спроса и спадом инвестиционного. Инвестиции в основной капитал составили в апреле 2014 г. 97,3%, а в январе – апреле – 95,7% от соответствующих показателей предыдущего года. Сокращение темпа прироста оборота розничной торговли в годовом выражении до 2,6% обусловлено резким замедлением реальных доходов населения и реальной заработной платы. После январского падения в феврале – апреле 2014 г. индексы промышленности в годовом выражении демонстрируют рост. Темп прироста промышленного производства в апреле т.г. в годовом выражении составил 2,4%, обрабатывающего производства – 3,9% и добычи полезных ископаемых – 1,7%. Однако, несмотря на некоторое улучшение ситуации, ожидаемый рост промышленности в 2014 г. составит, по оценке Минэкономразвития России, 1,0%, что обусловлено прогнозируемым в текущем году снижением инвестиционной активности на 2,4%.

On the basis of the results of January–September 2013, the index of the physical volume of GDP amounted to 101.3% against the respective period of the previous year. With the existing dynamics of investment and con¬sumer demand, slowdown of growth rates of households’ income and decrease in the financial performance of enterprises and entities, on the basis of the results of 2013 the expected growth rates of GDP will amount to 103–104%. From June 201, growth in the rate of unemployment renewed which factor would make the situation more complicated on the labor market early in 2014.

In the 1st quarter of 2014, economic dynamics was determined by growth in consumer demand and a drop in investment demand. On the basis of the results of the 1st quarter of 2014, investments in capital assets fell by 4.8% on the respective period of the previous year with simultaneous reduction of volumes of jobs in building and production of capital goods. In the 1st quarter of 2014, growth rates of retail trade turnover amounted to 103.5%, which is 0.5 p.p. lower than the respective index of 2013. In January–March 2014, recovery of industrial growth thanks to a 2.4% increase in the output of manufacturing industries as compared to January–March 2013 had a positive effect on the economic situation. As of the end of March 2014, offices of the state employment service registered 941,000 persons as unemployed which is 13.2% lower as compared to March 2013.

In September 2014, the trend of slowdown of economic dynamics by the baseline types of economic activities stopped. Growth in industrial output, manufacturing and mining amounted to 2.8%, 3.6% and 2.4%, respectively, as compared to September 2013. However, the situation is complicated by the continued drop in investment activities. Investments in capital assets decreased by 2.8%, while the volume of jobs in building, by 3.7% as compared to September 2013. In September, year-on-year growth of up to 8% in the inflation rate and a 1% reduction in real wages caused a sudden slowdown of households’ consumer activities and the retail trade volume.

According to the RF Ministry of Economic Development’s preliminary estimates, GDP annual growth in 2013 was 1.3%, while its average per annum growth over the period of 2010–2012 had hovered around of 4.1%. The slowdown of Russia’s economic growth in 2013 was determined by a low domes?? c demand. Investments in fixed assets declined by 0.3%, and the consumer market’s growth rate dropped from 6.3% a year earlier to 3.9% on 2012. The processing industries displayed growth of 0.1% on 2012, while the quarterly rate of production decline in machine-building and metallurgy was on the rise against the backdrop of shrinking investment demand. Dwindling profits, rising production costs, an accelerated growth of wages vs. labor productivity, shrinking demand for labor all contribute to the very unfavorable business situation in 2014.

In H1 2014, the business activities in the Russian economy were characterized by slowdown of growth rates of the external demand on goods of the Russian export and termination of growth in domestic demand. In H1 2014, a 2.8% reduction of investments in capital assets and the minimum growth of 2.7% in the retail trade volume in the past 4.5 years as compared to the respective period of the previous year had a negative eff ect on the domestic market. A positive factor of the current year was a renewal of industrial growth with advanced rates of development of manufacturing.

Economic integration refers to trade unification between different states , and one of its most important aspects is liberalisation of capital movement. In this paper is presented a brief evolution of economic integration cases focusing on one of the most integrated economies - European Union. We concentrate on the participation of foreign investors in different economies and their impact, taking the example of Central and Eastern European Countries and their markets. Also , the level of influence that direct investments in capital markets entails on the Stock Exchange evolution is presented for the case of Romania .

The paper contributes to the empirical analysis of financial uncertainty and investment from a Post Keynesian perspective. The paper uses the volatility of the exchange rate, the volatility of the stock market index, and the real gold price as indicators for financial uncertainty. An increase in the volatility of a variable is a sufficient, but not a necessary condition for an increase in uncertainty regarding this variable. The effects of changes in uncertainty on investment are investigated econometrically for the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and France. Financial uncertainty, we find, has significant negative effects in the US and the Netherlands.

Foreign direct investment can be regarded as a factor out of the crisis of the Romanian economy. The relationship between the foreign direct investment and the gross domestic product is beneficial for the economy to the extent to which investment is directed towards innovation and new technologies. The virtuous circle diversity - change - technology needs investment to take effect. Microeconomic level investment completes the strategies and the investment decisions at macroeconomic level.