Search

Objective: Economic nationalism has been on the rise for the past two decades. Scholars have also noted the shift away from globalization and deregulation toward a more prominent role of the state in the economy. I explore the role played by populist governments in the increased adoption of economic nationalism and in this return of the state. I argue that the populist worldview lends itself naturally to a consolidation of power—not just political, but also economic. This consolidation of economic power results in a more prominent state even in countries where the populist regime is a right‐leaning one. Methods: I test this argument quantitatively by analyzing governments in 30 European countries since 1990, levels of state ownership in the economy, and a battery of economic and political controls. Results: The election of a populist government is associated with a strengthening of state ownership in the economy. Conclusion: I conclude with a discussion of the prospects for the future study of this populist economic agenda both domestically and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decade, world economic development was coupled with disruptive challenges. Among them, digitalisation and new forms of globalisation represent a potential threat for economic growth opportunities and for the future of labour markets. Digital transition calls for the assessment of the impact of robotisation and digitalisation on skill composition, employment levels, productivity and growth dynamics. In turn, the largest wave of globalisation after that taking place before the First World War caused, first, the emergence of global value chains and, more recently, their disintegration with partial mechanisms of reshoring, with consequences for growth and employment opportunities. All these challenges call for comprehensive approaches to their modelling. This paper presents the main advances introduced in the fifth generation of the MAcroeconomic, Sectoral, Social, Territorial (MASST5) model, which carved a relevant niche in the empirical literature on macro-econometric regional growth, and has now been strengthened to model future digitalisation transitions, as well as the national and regional breakdown of the way global value chains will reorganise. A longer time series, especially in the regional submodel, also allows one to take the major changes taking place in Europe following the 2007–08 financial crisis, and the 2020 COVID-induced contraction into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From ancient time the economies had periods of expansion followed by recession, each crisis was determined by various internal or external factors. With globalization, economic interconnection and the liberalization of resource exchange between states, high risk of economic crises have sprung up. The main purpose of the article is to determine a data model, using specific data analysis techniques, and based on it to study the economic cyclicality in Europe and the prediction of a possible economic crisis. The study was conducted on a number of 37 indicators selected from 11 categories, a set of 29 countries in Europe and over a period of 24 years (1995 − 2018) using the K-Means algorithm. Grouping the data for each country in three classes and describing each class by taking into account the variables with the highest discriminative power, leads to the main conclusion that in the next several years, an economic crisis in Europe has a high probability to be a reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Atlantic Review of Economics / Revista Atlántica de Economía is the property of Colegio de Economistas de La Coruna and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the factors which determine the impact of network communication and network connections on the likelihood of contracting the new coronavirus in the European and Latin American countries. The author presents several data sets to prove the following suggestions: 1) The generalized indicators of economic development and society's globalization are not indicators of how vulnerable a country's population may be in a pandemic; 2) Not the economy as such, but the conventional way of life of people, their daily behaviour and habits have a decisive influence on the disease spread; 3) Factors of prevention of illness and health promotion such as the habit of exercise, distance, and network communications use modern online services to become protective factors against the risk of infection only at a certain level of development of the country; 4) In the developed countries, a much broader set of factors than in the developing countries determine protection against disease risk; 5) The evolution of a networked society opens up significant opportunities for the developing countries to improve the quality of life, and the emergence of new, progressive traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to prove and examine the economic globalization indicators that affect international trade in Europe. This research uses data from countries in the European continent. The sample of countries consists of twenty (20) countries and this study uses the time series data method, which is for four (4) years, starting from 2014 to 2017. The method used in data collection is secondary data sourced from the European Statistics Recovery Dashboard. This study aims to analyze and prove the hypotesis that occurs in the Foreign Direct Investment (X1), Research and Development (X2), and Employment (X3), on the International Trade (Y), which is tested empirically using the SmartPLS version 3.0. The result of the analysis show that the economic globalization indicators consist of Foreign Direct Investment, Research and Development, and Employment can affect International Trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, society has accumulated a multitude of problems related to the moral health of the family, disastrous social and economic conditions, even ecological. The family, as a type of human group, participates in these processes, adapting to changes and modifying their survival strategies. One of the most frequently adopted strategies is labor migration. The phenomenon of migration is one of the aspects of economic globalization, one of the great dramas of modern times. This phenomenon is largely favored by transport possibilities, information flow, social tensions and precarious economic situations. When we talk about parents leaving their children working abroad to ensure a better future, we inevitably believe that having more money, less poverty, a well-paid job, securing rent, with equal opportunities is what it matters most to them, but we do not think about abandonment, sad. The future of abandoned children by their parents for a better material life will be dominated by difficulties arising from: personal and interpersonal development, emotional and cognitive health and physical, behavioral problems, including those related to drugs and other toxic substances, problems related to vocational guidance, vulnerability in relation to human trafficking and other illegal actions ress, worrisome, the separation of persons who love each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the economic regulatory component of the current backlash against liberal democracy and supranationalism in the European Union (EU). I identify a style of economic regulation that seeks to govern markets in the interest of insiders who are framed as vulnerable to the challenges of economic globalization – what I call rearguard economic regulation. While such regulation may be useful to reinforce national cultural attachments and a sense of belonging, it also has an anti-pluralist character that threatens markets' emancipatory orientation. By identifying this challenge, the article seeks to defend a vision of markets as contributing to the promise of democracy, by fostering a plurality of options in each sphere of life. In the European context, I argue, EU economic law may be understood as advancing the realization of such a vision of markets. Viewed in this light, supranational and, specifically, EU economic law appear not so much as ordo- (or neo)-liberal straightjackets on national democracy but, instead, as providing mechanisms for democratization of the economy and society. Such democratizing potential is attributable to (i) the pluralist outlook of the law of EU integration, which forces member states to confront the plurality of forms of economic and social life existing within the polity and being further diversified by globalization as well as (ii) the deliberative and open-ended character of EU law adjudication, which may allow for progressive re-articulations of national market regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalised educational environments and national pressures increasingly drive European universities and faculties within them to adopt both competitive (as opposed to co-operative) and strategic (rather than ad hoc) approaches towards the internationalisation of their activities. This study examines the degrees of implementation of competitive and/or strategic approaches to internationalisation of a sample of 92 European business schools. Several possible antecedents of competitive and strategic orientations towards internationalisation are considered including coercive, normative and mimetic influences, risk aversion, resource availability and institutional priorities. The level of a business school's autonomy from its host university is also hypothesised to affect internationalisation decisions. It seems from the results that engagement with internationalisation activities is widespread and that, apart from risk aversion, all of the above variables typically impact on the total extent of a business school's internationalisation activities. A number of these variables also appear to encourage the application of strategic and competitive approaches towards internationalisation. An important implication of this study is that business schools which to date have not fully recognised and accepted the implications of the Bologna Declaration will increasingly face severe disadvantages vis-à-vis international recruitment and operations as they become ‘left behind’ by rivals that have already taken Bologna on board. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The processes of regionalization and globalization have intensified in the last decade, markets have opened up more than ever and trade has been liberalized under the free trade agreements signed. We could say that regionalization is a stage of globalization, a globalization that still has certain limits, because I do not think it will be achieved at the level of all states. It also feels the need to strengthen the rules at the level of international trade, in order to ensure the fulfillment of the objectives regarding the development of the states and to avoid certain imbalances at the level of the economy of some states. A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, in which regional barriers to trade (tariffs and non-tariff barriers) are reduced or eliminated among participating states. In Europe, several regional blocs have been formed to rebuild this continent decimated by the two world wars. Starting from the idea of rebuilding Europe, the European Union was created, an organization that today enjoys great success, being one of the main players in the world. This structure takes on new dimensions from one period to another, seeking not only to liberalize trade at its level, but also to integrate economically by implementing development projects carried out at the level of candidate countries, new entrants or to further develop the economies of founding member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the University in Europe as medieval invention towards the Roman Catholic Church. Topics include considered that the implicit founding principles of the Europe of Treaties is that role of the Army should be radically cut back; and determines national differences subsist that tend to fade away against the backdrop of economic globalization.

This introduction outlines the possibilities and perspectives of an intertwining between European integration history and the history of capitalism. Although debates on capitalism have been making a comeback since the 2008 crisis, to date the concept of capitalism remains almost completely avoided by historians of European integration. This introduction thus conceptualizes 'capitalism' as a useful analytical tool that should be used by historians of European integration and proposes three major approaches for them to do so: first, by bringing the question of social conflict, integral to the concept of capitalism, into European integration history; second, by better conceptualizing the link between European governance, Europeanization and the globalization of capitalism; and thirdly by investigating the economic, political and ideological models or doctrines that underlie European cooperation, integration, policies and institutions. Finally, the introduction addresses the question of the analytical benefits of an encounter between capitalism and European integration history, focusing on the case of the 1970s. This allows us to qualify the idea of a clear-cut rupture, and better highlight how the shift of these years resulted from a complex bargaining that took place in part at the European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study reports sourcing strategies used by European and Japanese multinational firms and their implications on the transferability of the firms' product and manufacturing process technology. Globalization of markets has a strong impact on firms' sourcing and marketing strategies. The results suggest the uncoupling of innovation location from actual production location. It is strongly motivated both by the growing competitive threat in the global marketplace and by the expectation of increased payoffs to rapid introduction of advanced product and manufacturing process innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu 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.)

Since the 1970s, the reorganization of production and neoliberal 'flexibilization' have made employment increasingly precarious in the developed economies. Examining the concept of precarious employment, the author focuses on two of its dimensions - insecurity and poverty - which he uses to construct a 'precariousness index'. Based on Eurostat data for 1995-2015, he then tracks the growth of precarious employment across the EU-15 and assesses the impact of the 2008 global economic crisis in this respect. While precarious employment generally increased after the crisis, this trend was driven more by poverty in the most deregulated labour markets and more by insecurity in the southern European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article asks whether the trend towards greater inequality in European countries has led to an increase in euroscepticism. Traditionally amongst the most equal societies, West European countries have recently witnessed a stark increase in income inequality. European integration is often presented as one of the main driving factors of this development. This raises the question whether Europeans blame the EU for the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and consequently develop eurosceptic attitudes. A multilevel analysis of 79 pooled Eurobarometer survey waves across 12 countries from 1975 to 2009 confirms that increasing income inequality boosts euroscepticism especially amongst the low educated. The findings are consistent with previous research on the link between income inequality and democratic legitimacy. They also provide empirical support for a new educational divide in the wake of European integration and globalisation, and deepen our knowledge on the predictors of EU support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal for East European Management Studies is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG 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.)

Market deregulation has been integral to economic globalization, but we do not know very much about the comparative dimension of reform, i.e., the performance of liberal and co-ordinated market economies. Co-ordinated market economies are often assumed to perform poorly in deregulation reform, while such reform is path-dependent to the liberal market economy model. The article compares the trajectory of market deregulation in these different ‘varieties of capitalism’. Drawing on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's ‘product market regulation indicators', the analysis shows that co-ordinated market economies have implemented more extensive deregulation than have the liberal market economies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The banking industry in USA and Europe is, up to a great extent, connected to a global slowdown and to the world economy. Globalization and innovation, which used to be regarded as important factors for having contributing the global GDP increase, recently have showed us their downsides. Hazardous behavior of the US financial experts caused series of negative effects that soon after spread out all over the world thus made everyone feel the repercussions of their greedy undertaking. The economic instability and slowdown in developed countries, especially in US and Europe, may affect the economic stability and banking industry at global level to a great extent. The economic slowdown and declining banking industry in US and Europe in the last decade, left a bench-mark influence all over the world. The main point of this paper is the US subprime mortgage crisis and its impact on Europe. In the present paper, the roots of crisis are shortly represented as to help the reader understand why the effects of crisis have become worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation is essential for the functioning of the economy since mobility greatly supports growth and job creation. The transport sector in the EU employs about 10 million people and provides approximately 5% of the GDP. The efficiency of the transport systems is a prerequisite for competitiveness and significantly affects the quality of life of people. Logistics plays a key role in terms of sustainable and competitive mobility in Europe and other objectives, such as a cleaner environment, security of energy supply, and widely available transport facilities. The use of safe and environmentally friendly vehicles is the main priority of all modes of transportation. The key changes include alternative fuels, new materials, new propulsion systems as well as information technology and traffic management techniques. The organization of the transportation of raw materials and finished products within and outside the EU depends on the efficient operation of logistic networks. This is primarily an industrial activity and creating the right framework conditions is the responsibility of the relevant authorities. In my study I analysed the situation of logistics in Europe and in Hungary. In order to exploit the benefits and to avoid the disadvantages of globalization the European Union implements structural changes which I describe and analyse. Considering the EU and Hungary this paper covers the following areas: -- The effects of globalisation, -- The climate-, energy-, and environment protection policy of the EU and their connection to logistics, -- Tendencies in the changes of the transport sector, -- The possible changes in passenger and freight transport, -- The characteristics of the infrastructure and the requirements for its development, -- Future prospects of logistics. On the basis of my examinations I will draw conclusions and offer suggestions regarding modifications in areas I consider most problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies sociological neo-institutionalism to help understand transnational trade union wage policy. We review existing approaches to the role of trade unions as organizational actors in wage bargaining coordination and contrast these with the concepts of organizational fields and institutional work. Besides structural and associational power, transnational institutions are also able to increase the ability and willingness of unions to act transnationally. We draw empirical evidences from existing studies on European wage bargaining coordination in metalworking. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• This study investigates the nexus between bilateral trade, bureaucratic quality and energy poverty. • Role of economic globalization is accessed for energy accessibility and affordability. • The annual data of Europe is utilized from 2000 to 2019. • The panel CS-ARDL and CCE-GMM methods verifies the relationship between bilateral trade, economic globalization, and energy poverty. • Bureaucratic quality is significant determinant for energy expenses and energy accessibility. Energy poverty is a major issue in both developing and developed countries, and its mitigation is a key aspect of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the determinants of energy poverty are relatively less explored. The current research adds to the scholarly literature on energy affordability and accessibility for the lowest 20% poor European population. This is one of the first studies to examine the impact of bilateral trade, globalization, and bureaucratic quality on energy poverty. A variety of robust panel data techniques were used to investigate the role of bilateral trade for energy poverty, which includes cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL), common correlated effects generalized method of moments (CCE-GMM), and instrumental variable regression. This study employs annual data (from 2000 to 2019) from 27 European countries. The econometric findings revealed that bilateral trade increases energy accessibility and causes energy prices to upsurge. Economic globalization was determined to increase energy expenses and reduce access to fuel for the poorest people in Europe. In the future, bilateral trade should be reviewed to ensure the following criteria. All European countries receive maximum benefit from it; low-income countries should be supported; and environmental harm should be minimized. These empirical findings are robust across model settings, enabling us to suggest novel conclusions on energy accessibility and affordability in accordance with the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Who do citizens blame for the recent European economic crisis? In this paper, we test theories about blame attribution with respect to the economic crisis. We argue that blame for the crisis is partially conditioned by partisan bias and framings of the crisis as being related to globalization. We test the argument with new survey data and a survey experiment from Spain. In the experiment, respondents receive different framings of the economic crisis which are endorsed by different political parties and non-partisan organizations. We obtain the following findings: (i) blame for who is responsible for the economic crisis is greatly affected by partisanship; (ii) making globalization as a cause of the crisis salient exonerates the government of blame, but only for co-partisans of the government; and (iii) citizens are willing to blame other globalization-related factors for the crisis, in particular, European governments and blame the domestic government less. The results expand our understanding of public opinion dynamics during major economic recessions and also suggest conditions under which 'scapegoating' globalization can occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional cooperation has been a general trend in the development of international economic relations in the second half of the twentieth century. This process included all continents and is the result of the globalization process. CEFTA 2006 (Central European Free Trade Association) was formed at the initiative of the EU, with economic links to member countries, creating a favorable investment environment and strengthens the competitive position of the region. Taking advantage of the opportunities provided by CEFTA 2006, member states will be competitive on the EU market. CEFTA 2006 is the subject of much discussion and debate in scientific circles, political entities and Government of member countries. This is particularly true with regard to perception of positive and negative effects for the Member States and consideration of the effects of implementation of the CEFTA agreement as a potential precondition on the road to EU countries in the region. Analysis of economic indicators of the countries of the Visegrad Group, which has successfully implemented the original CEFTA agreement, provides the framework guidelines for the conduct of foreign policy of the current CEFTA countries. On the other hand, the analysis of macroeconomic indicators of the current CEFTA countries, provides the guideline and determines necessary courses of action in the further implementation of the Agreement. These analyzes provide a chance to reflect the perspective of the process. Research of recent results of regional cooperation allows the assessment of the impact on the economic development of the region and the prospect of integrating these countries into the EU, by strengthening regional cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the actual context of economic globalization, tax havens represent a significant obstacle for global governments seeking to increase their fiscal incomes and a source of polarization of income and wealth. Statistics reports showed that tax havens hold at least $10 trillion in assets, money generally controlled and hidden by major players from the political and financial areas, as well as from criminal ones. The paper introduces the present situation of European tax havens, with the major poles of action. The conclusion finds the real efforts of international bodies such as OECD, to interdict opportunities to avoid taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has the centre of gravity of international finance irreversibly started to shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific since the financial debacle of 2007-2008? This article discusses this highly topical question in a historical perspective, by considering previous changes in the balance of power in international finance and the role played by global financial in these changes. Particular attention is paid to the Baring Crisis of 1890, the American Panic of 1907, the financial crisis of July -August 1914, the banking crises of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the financial instability of the early 1970s and the ensuing banking failures, the International Debt Crisis of 1982, and the Japanese Banking Crisis of 1997-8. The article concludes that financial crisis, perhaps surprisingly, did not lead to clear changes in the balance of power in international finance; and that the financial debacle of 2007-8 is unlikely, in the medium-term, to fundamentally alter the current order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the institutional responses of welfare states in Europe to globalization and their implications for individual life course, employment trajectories and social inequality. It explores whether an institutional strategy dealing with flexibility demand exists in Continental and Southern Europe. Findings of an international comparative study show that fertility decline and postponement of family formation can be caused by selective labor market deregulation in the region.

In the last twenty years the educational policy of the European Union has sought two objectives: on the one hand, to make the citizens aware of the common European identity and on the other hand, to enable them to make Europe the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. Education is seen as the most effective tool to face the current challenges in Europe in the context of globalization and economic crisis. It is therefore essential to raise the proper orientation to the present European Education crossroads. The hypothesis of this paper is that the education policy raised at European level does not respond with rigor and depth to the current challenges in Europe since it is predominantly subject to a target of economic progress and growth and to a professional training. Neither does it propose a comprehensive education within a code of ethics that achieves to alleviate the profound moral failings of the current crisis, their breeding ground consisting of nihilism and moral relativism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sozialer Fortschritt is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH 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 author describes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after the Cold War and through 2012. Particular focus is given to arguments made by Kagan suggesting that divergent European and U.S. conceptions of power would disintegrate the Atlantic relationship. The author cites similar interests and values, and a lack of alternatives, while acknowledging the potential for fragmentation due to the Eurozone's financial weakness. Topics include European and U.S. military policies; U.S. President Barack Obama's relationship with Asia; the 2010 NATO Summit; and the impact of European integration and globalization.

The article discusses Robert Kagan's article, “Power and Weakness,” which compared the military weakness of Europe to the aggression of the U.S., and contrasts it to the political weakness of the West in 2012. Particular focus is given to the economic integration of the West through globalization, citing the potential for an impact on international security and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s authority. Other topics include China's rise as an international power and its relationship to the West; the use of social media in the context of North African uprisings; and weak economies, infrastructures, and competition. Also presented are three principles for policymaking.

The article presents a study which investigates the socioeconomic and environmental impact of globalization on the transitional economies of Eastern and Central European countries. It examines the success and failures of business enterprises operating during the period of socioeconomic transition to identify dynamics of globalization in the region. It notes that countries in the area previously based their economic activities on central economic planning.

a time of mounting concern about how traditional welfare states will react to globalization, there has been increasing interest in specifying how global economic forces affect welfare policies in industrialized states. Building on theories from the political economy and comparative institutional literatures, we analyze the influence of an important aspect of globalization-the flow of immigration. Focusing on states in the European Union, we present a theoretical model that illustrates the interactive relationships between immigration, EU labor market integration, and domestic institutions. Our findings highlight how immigration in conjunction with domestic political institutions affects unemployment provisions, while labor market integrative forces remain in the background. The story of immigration and unemployment compensation in the EU is less about the opening of borders and the market forces of integration and more about the domestic political pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of democratic theory and international political economy often disagree over the effects of globalization on state autonomy. Yet, each approach pays minimal attention to the contributions of the other to their common object of study. In an effort to remedy this situation, I identify the premises and procedural habits of each approach which tend to make it appear irrelevant to the other, and then adjust them to remove the appearance of irrelevance without impairing the integrity of each approach. The argument is illustrated by observations from Britain, France and Sweden in recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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

The article discusses the social and economic integration of highly skilled immigrants into European and North American societies. Changes in immigration policy in countries such as Germany and Great Britain that have given them an advantage in competing for well-educated workers are mentioned. A comparative analysis is presented of Canada and Europe's success in exploiting the newcomers' abilities and giving them equal access to opportunities in their professions. Differences in labour markets and labour mobility in a globalized economy are discussed.

The article discusses the policy reforms undertaken by the countries of Scandinavia, especially Sweden and Denmark, to maintain their generous social welfare programs while adapting to the economic pressures of globalization. The Scandinavian welfare states are found to be compatible with economic growth and structural change, and "flexicurity" measures designed to maintain employment and other social policies within the global market economy are discussed. Whether these reforms are adaptable to the other welfare states of the European Union is also discussed.

Our paper is on the linguistic future of the United Europe considering two important theories: that of multilingualism and on the other hand, that of a lingua franca. The two theories have several supporters but, for the moment, neither of the two theories has prevailed. This paper intends to discuss the idea that, in a democratic Europe, all the peoples should be able to communicate among each other, regardless the channel of communication. Globalization of economic changes involves the risk of language and cultural standardization. The European Union is in opposition to this idea, suggesting a multilingual model, based on the consideration of the diversity. Higher education has to play an important part in the cross-cultural preparation of the younger generation and give them the linguistic background for international communication. We are trying to present in the present paper, some means of developing the multi-linguistic skills of the students and, educate them as European citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of technology and globalization in the rise of inequality in Europe. It is stated that technological change expanded the disparities among wage-earners and greater international trade led to skills and wage polarization. It notes that income inequalities and wage dispersion are caused by changes in economic structures, business strategies and government policies. It also mentions the importance of fair distribution of innovation and globalization benefits.

Financial and capital market integration in Europe is now well-advanced, but it confronts a serious challenge in the design of workable arrangements for crisis prevention, management and resolution. The expansion of large, complex financial intermediaries exposes the limits of a supervisory regime based strictly on the traditional principle of home-country control. Contemporary European debates on last-resort lending, home-host supervisory responsibilities, and fiscal transfers clarify the fundamental challenge globalizing finance poses more generally for world order. Ultimately, they suggest the necessity of reliable, legitimate and effective instruments for financial burden sharing among integrating polities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I investigate the development and determinants of CDS spreads for 18 major European banks between December 2001 and January 2004 applying factor analysis to daily data. Two clear-cut conclusions can be drawn. First, the dominating first common factor that explains 88 percent of all variation in the system, impacts on all banks in a similar direction. This suggests a strong market integration. However the size of the response of each bank’s CDS spread to the first common factor differs substantially, probably reflecting differences in individual bank’s exposure and riskiness. Second, the first common factor appears significantly related to the European P/E ratio and the European-wide 2-year nominal interest rate. This finding suggests that the common factor may be interpreted as a general indicator of market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Maastricht Treaty established an independent European Central Bank (ECB) in charge of managing Europe's new currency, the euro. But in recent years, many have expressed fears that the ECB's independence could lead to an undemocratic situation in which central bankers are never held accountable. Based on an analysis of the relations between the ECB and the European Parliament, this article demonstrates the emergence of a certain practice of central bank accountability. This practice, which is both real and limited, can be understood as the result of a power play between central bankers and parliamentarians in the institutional context of the European Union. In the age of the euro and economic globalization, the difficulty of defining a border between expertise and politics casts a new light on a fundamental problem of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The globalized economy remains deeply rooted in historically shaped territories, in opposition to the common-place image of a footloose economy of flows. Regions provide the market economy with immaterial resources essential to its development. This is strongly reinforced, in my opinion, by a range of complex effects primarly linked to the change in competition patterns in global markets. Firms are driven to adopt quality - and innovation-based strategies, and still are obliged to reduce costs. Traditional, rigidly fragmented, Taylorist production organization, highly efficient in a stable price-based competition environment, is becoming counterproductive in this new context. The competitivness of companies lies no longer in the mere intensification of work and traditional productivity effects. It results mainly from the density and the relevance of co-operation established between the different actors in a value chain. And this co-operation cannot be set up - this is the point I wish to emphasize - either by the decisionmaking of a more or less centralized technostructure or through sheer market forces. The ability to promote inter-firm co-operation and confidence, to share values and anticipations, the convergence of projects, the relevance of institutionnal frames and finally the quality of local public and private governance are the key factors of success, instead of traditional geographic location factors, more or less neutralized by the decrease of communication costs. In other words, the key resources for development are socially and politically built up,and not a given of nature, as in the past. Potentially, all regions and cities, whatever their size, stand to benefit from this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The globalization of competition in key high technology sectors has confronted European policy-makers with a dilemma. While the promotion of high technology sectors has become a major priority of European policy in recent years, the growing physical presence of subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies (MNCs) in the European Union (EU) has complicated the issue of what the promotion of 'European high technology industry' means. In practice, a large number of 'foreign' subsidiaries from EFTA and the US gain access to important European technology programmes such as ESPRIT, RACE, BRITE and EUREKA, as well as some national programmes. However, this has not been true for most subsidiaries of Japanese firms, despite the increasingly large presence they have in the European economy. This article asks what can explain this outcome. Two important cases which have brought issues of foreign firm access to the fore of European technology policy-making, IBM and ICL-Fujitsu, are examined. Both European corporate and state preferences need to be understood in order to explain outcomes in these cases. The argument is that a 'technological Fortress Europe' has not been a real policy option because European national champions have been unable to agree, and because certain governments, such as the UK, have perceived an interest in promoting foreign MNCs. European governments and institutions have moved towards a policy based more upon the location of economic activity rather than the ownership of assets. The article also suggests that theorists seeking to understand the consequences of globalization must consider not only how foreign investment, local production and alliances with local partners affect host state and corporate preferences, but also why broader cultural and historical factors also affect outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]