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Although it has often been conceived as a material or already‐existing kind of category, the “economy”, before it can be governed, must first be “made up” and constituted in particular ways. This paper seeks to contribute to recent genealogies of the “economy” by highlighting the role of one particular “cultural” technology–the techniques of visuality–in the making up of the national economy during the interwar and postwar periods. To develop this analysis, this paper reviews the ways in which private and public financial initiatives turned to visuality and advertising as a way to appeal more directly to and mobilize working class and everyday populations. In these appeals to “popular finance” visual techniques were used to diagram both a reworked conception of the national economy as well as the modes of citizenship key to this rationality of national economic space. This case also helps underscore the heterogeneity with which the national economy was assembled as a mode of economic governance constitute...

With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union the large economic space of the Eurasian super-continent has also become part of the world-wide globalization process. How this process of integration of Eurasia is proceeding in key areas of cross-continental linkages is of great importance for the future of the region and for the future of the World as a whole. One of the key questions will be whether the regional and global institutions can provide adequate support for this integration process.

��� This paper analyses Singapore 's multi-pronged approach in pursuing multilateral, bilateral, and regional liberalization initiatives to secure and expand its political and economic space. The paper evaluates trade policy trends pre- and post-Asian crisis. Itfocuses on Singapore's priority interests and concerns in the Uruguay Round and its role in moving the negotiating process. Looking ahead, the paper discusses prospects in the Doha Round and what it means for Singapore. The WTO and the Doha Round negotiations remain Singapore's top priority in international trade. The paper also discusses the underlying political and strategic rationale in Singapore 's pursuit of FTAs/RTAs and examines future challenges faced by Singapore in seeking greater liberalization and open markets. It is contended that strategically such FTAs have strengthened and expanded Singapore 's economic linkages globally, as well as helped to anchor the economic interests ofmajor economies beyond the region in Southeast Asia.

The paper is based on the concept of integration as "integration of markets". It identifies factors, which make post-Soviet governments take suboptimal decisions to deny integration, despite significant resources of social integration. For this purpose three concepts of institutions are used - rational choice institutionalism, social constructivism institutionalism and mediated-conflict institutionalism. The paper analyses possible mechanisms of institutional design for common economic space. It considers relations between disintegration of the post-Soviet space and internal disintegration of markets in the CIS countries due to the deficit of trust and the deficit of law.

In 1991, when Russia opened again, the world became a global world, where the regions organised by metropolises turned into global economic players. According to the newest research, a metropolis is an urban centre of not less than a million of inhabitants, concentrating upper service and control functions, disseminating prosperity to its hinterland and acting as "commutator" with the world economy. Empirical evidence shows that the existence of one or a few metropolises is the important condition of the wealth and competitiveness of countries. The paper investigates the question whether the overcentralised and non-metropolised post-Soviet economic space could become a mighty global economic player. The transformation of some Russian big cities besides Moscow into real metropolises is required in that respect.

Ukrainian foreign policy maintains a delicate balance between private, factional, and national interests.

This article uses the CEFTA experience to explore interactions between subregional integration and the EU pre‐accession process. It covers the following issues. What contributions did CEFTA make to the EU membership endeavour? In which ways did the EU membership drive impact on the subregional cooperation process? Were restrictions on the form of integration applied (basic trade liberalisation in the CEFTA case) a conscious choice or are there inbuilt limits to subregional integration pursued in the EU pre‐accession context? What factors influenced the institutionalisation and widening issues? Does the CEFTA experience offer any lessons for other subregional integration exercises, including those already underway – as in the West Balkans – or purportedly on the agenda – as in the ‘United Economic Space’ planned by certain former Soviet states? The discussion is organised as follows: introduction/preliminaries; the origins of CEFTA; the evolution of CEFTA cooperation; outcomes of CEFTA cooperation; the fut...

NASA's Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) program is developing and maturing advanced propulsion and vehicle systems technologies and flight vehicle concepts to enable future development of safer and more economical launch systems. Within NGLT, NASA is developing advanced air breathing propulsion systems and demonstrating these systems in hypersonic flight vehicles. The flight demonstrations are necessary to fully validate these technologies for application to future space launch vehicles and other flight systems. NASA's Hyper-X Program (X-43A) began the effort to flight demonstrate hypersonic air breathing propulsion systems to provide technologies that will enable development of safer and more economic space access vehicles in the future. Following X-43A, NASA, in collaboration with the United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD), is developing additional, progressively more complex hypersonic X-vehicles that will demonstrate new air breathing propulsion systems, propulsion-airframe integration, and other vehicle systems technologies required for high speed flight up to Mach 15. These technologies will contribute to safer, more reliable and more economic future launch systems and hypersonic aircraft/missiles. This paper describes NASA's current hypersonic flight demonstration projects, status of the efforts, and plans for future vehicles.

In 1991, when Russia opened again, the world became a global world, where the regions organised by metropolises turned into global economic players. According to the newest research, a metropolis is an urban centre of not less than a million of inhabitants, concentrating upper service and control functions, disseminating prosperity to its hinterland and acting as "commutator" with the world economy. Empirical evidence shows that the existence of one or a few metropolises is the important condition of the wealth and competitiveness of countries. The paper investigates the question whether the overcentralised and non-metropolised post-Soviet economic space could become a mighty global economic player. The transformation of some Russian big cities besides Moscow into real metropolises is required in that respect.

The difficulty of defining fairs and markets with any methodological clarity is particularly pronounced when one considers the problem of space and the growth of urban centers. The close link between the two economic institutions is especially conspicuous in the case of Italy, a country that not only boasted the highest concentration of towns, but also showed precocious instances of institutional powers adopting urban strategies. What this suggests is that a single model is insufficient and that different analytical approaches must be adopted. The aim of this article is to identify certain lines of development in the relations linking fairs and markets to urban spaces—in the broad sense of both urban spaces and geo-economical spaces dominated by an urban center.

The attempt of the EU, to become the most competitve knowledge based economic space will have a deep impact on social policy in European countries: social policy will change from producer of security against market risks in a tool for opening markets. Especially the new "open method of coordination" will push privatization and deregulation of the health care systems instead of the establishment of European standards. Against this some elements of a left counterstrategy are sketched out.

The paper argues that New Zealand's agri-food sector, a new neoliberalising economic space, is in the midst of widespread contestation over possible food governance relationships and that New Zealand is an especially valuable site in which to examine contemporary governance developments in the globalising world food economy. Two industry examples, on the development of international production standards in organics and on the emergence of supplier–processor relationships in the lamb chain aimed at more precise production, illustrate the emergence of audit and contractual systems in re-aligning supply chains. A third case example, dealing with the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification, suggests that a new regulatory discipline is being brought to New Zealand's agri-food sector. In particular, a possible strategy of co-managing the range of interested parties involves new corporatist and managerial dimensions in food governance.

[EN] Se abordan en este artículo algunas tendencias y campos de trabajo dentro de la Arqueología del paisaje. Se propone, en primer lugar, una aproximación a los registros del paisaje, entendido como el espacio de las relaciones sociales. La aproximación metodológica global icorpora una serie de estrategias de investigación entre las que hemos destacado la Geoarqueología y el papel esencial de la prospección arqueológica en el reconocimiento y estudio del registro off-site., [ES] The aim of this paper is to present some tendencies and working areas within the Landscape Archaeology. First. an approach to !he diverse landscape records is proposed - the economic space, territory and perception-. next their historical synthesis in the landscape. as the space of social relations. The global methodological approach incorporates a series of research strategies among we have pointed out the close connection with and the essential role of the archaeological survey in the recognition and study of the all-site record.

This paper assesses US metropolitan regions in terms of the adoption of e–commerce by businesses using a combination of data from Interactive Week, Alexa Research and Hoover’s Online. This analysis shows that e–commerce is providing the impetus and means to reorganise the economic and geographic space in which businesses operate. Spatial divisions in the use of e–commerce are identified in which many cities in the South and Midwest appear to be lagging behind their counterparts in other parts of the country. Thus, rather than the destruction of place and geography predicted by some, e–commerce is reorganising the economic space in which businesses operate. Although not every place will become a major e–commerce hub, all regions will be shaped by the way in which firms adapt to this new commercial medium.

The paper examines the nature of spatial dependence of growth rates across countries. Economic space as well as geographic space is considered as a possible medium through which growth rates may be correlated. The results indicate that the growth rates of developing countries are influenced by the lagged growth rates of their trading partners' growth rates. Industrialized countries' growth rates, on the other hand, display only contemporaneous correlation with others' growth rates that can be explained by the presence of time-specific global shocks. The conclusions seem consistent with a general model of North–South trade with endogenous knowledge-generated growth in the North and imitation, trade-driven growth in the South.

Although trails are widely recognized as an important element in the shaping of social and economic space, poor preservation and complex interpretations have meant that they are rarely the subject of systematic archaeological analysis. Ancestral Pueblo trails of New Mexico's Pajarito Plateau, in contrast, are both well-preserved and easily identified, providing an opportunity to study patterns of movement through the landscape during the 500 years prior to Spanish colonization. This study discusses the broader issues of analysing archaeological trails with specific reference to the Pajarito case.

Based on a relational concept of regional analysis this contribution emphasizes that European Union (EU) Eastern enlargement will primarily lead to a restructuring or intensification of interregional economic relations. However, it rejects the widespread view that at first the border regions at the present EU Eastern boundary would be affected by Eastern enlargement. This view relies on the problematic assumption that the regions' transnational relations are subject to a logic of geographical nearness. The most important nodes of transnational economic relations in an enlarged EU are not the border regions, but certain regional development centres in the interior of the European economic space. Thus the regional impact of EU Eastern enlargement should be differentiated with regard to different types of regions: Particular advantages come towards the structurally strong regions in the interior of the present EU as well as the accession countries, whereas the structurally weak regions at the present EU East...

Экономическое пространство оказывает существенное влияние на предпринимательскую деятельность, развитие малых и средних предприятий. Взаимосвязи между свойствами экономического пространства и результатами деятельности малых, средних предприятий важны для повышения эффективности предпринимательской деятельности и регионального развития. Однако существующие исследования предпринимательства обычно не уделяют внимания пространственным аспектам. В статье представлены содержание и характеристики эффектов территориальной концентрации и снижения мобильности малых и средних предприятий под влиянием свойств экономического пространства, показано их влияние на предпринимательскую деятельность. В результате анализа основных положений теории «центр ‒ периферия» Дж. Фридмана раскрыта роль малых и средних предприятий в сглаживании неоднородности и поддержании единства национального экономического пространства. Предложена классификация малых и средних предприятий периферии в зависимости от их роли в этих процессах. Выводы статьи могут быть использованы при разработке программ развития малого и среднего предпринимательства в регионах России.

In the article were analyzed the present state of business relations of Ukraine and People’s Republic of China (PRC). Investigations of state threats to economic security were made; options of changes in the commodity flows structure were suggested, as well as the prospects of cooperation between the two countries on the basis of maximizing the volume of domestic high technology products exports and minimizing Ukraine’s dependence on the ever-increasing role of China in the global economic space were considered.

The European space has experienced relentless geo-economic changes that result in a re-conceptualisation of their industrial growth pattern. The aim of this paper is to empirically detect the determinants of industrial growth covering the entirety of Europe, thus embracing economies of different production systems and welfare levels. Integration has influenced the economies and their industrial growth not only inside the EU but inside the whole European area, on the one hand, by attributing to them common behavioural characteristics, and on the other hand, by forming their industrial growth pattern under the influence of different natural factors in alignment with the regions’ comparative advantage and the markets’ maturity levels.

This article aims to establish the role of industrial, transport, social and institutional infrastructure as a “growing point” of the regional economic area. To accomplish the purpose the article presents a theoretical model to manage infrastructure complex development; defines an algorithm to form “growing points” within the framework of territorially located spatial entity. Correlation between information infrastructures development and financial sector organizations is positive while the tie between railway and roads provision and the GRP volume is negative. The admission of national and regional economic space multipolar character predetermines the necessity to search for "its growth areas", the activation of which provides for their turning into the supporting territories and faster development zones, which in its turn predetermines spatial parameters and finds its reflection in the dynamics of aggregated factors of territorial subdivisions development.

The influence of transport factors on the dynamics of regional competitiveness and the integrity of the country economic space is considered in the article. The assessment of transport factors influence allows identifying the priority directions of modernization of the Russia regional transport segments and developing a system of organizational and economic tools to increase its effectiveness and external regional competitiveness. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n24p313

espanolEl reino nazari de Granada muestra entre los rasgos mas notables de su caracterizacion socio-economica una marcada orientacion comercial de parte de su economia productiva. A traves de la misma se proyecta hacia los mercados internacionales, en particular hacia una plataforma de mercados integrados que se esta definiendo en esos momentos en el area del Occidente bajomedieval. Asi es como se explica la presencia constante y en ascenso de grupos y comunidades de hombres de negocios extranjeros en tierras nazaries. En este sentido, cada vez se percibe con mas claridad la sensacion de que nos encontramos ante una realidad proxima a procesos de convergencia, con sus dificultades, exitos y fracasos, de un mercado que esta naciendo y que se esta integrando en un espacio economico nuevo, definido como precapitalista. En todo caso, lo verdaderamente importante en el futuro sera calibrar la verdadera dimension de este viraje que experimenta la estructura economica nazari de manos de esta orientacion especulativo-comercial, y que grado de distorsion introduce en los principios caracterizadores de lo que se entiende como sociedad islamica clasica. EnglishThe Narsi Kingdom of Grenade shows among the most notable features of its social and economic characterization a pronounced trade orientation in its productive economy. Thus, the territory projects itself on the international markets, particularly on the platform of integrated markets that is being defined in Late Medieval West. That is how we explain the constant and growing presence of groups and communities of foreign trade and businessmen on Nasri soil. In this sense, we perceive with more and more clarity the feeling that we are facing a reality close to convergence processes, with its difficulties, its successes and its failures, of a rising market that is integrating itself in a new economic space, defined as precapitalist. In any case, in the future the important issue will be to weigh-up the real dimension of this turn that takes place in the economic Nasri structure, led by this speculative-commercial orientation, and what degree of distortion it introduces in the characterizing principles of what we understand as classic Islamic society.

The goal of this work comprises the scientific substantiation of the theoretical and methodological framework and methodological approaches to the essence and directions of regional economic space modernization. In accordance with the set goal the authors provide the representation of economic area and a region in agreement with the quasi-government paradigm; substantiate the functions of regional economic area and the factors of its development; carry out the comparative analysis of functional and heuristic opportunities of different scientific approaches to the study of the essence and directions of development of the spatial organization of regional economy; define the algorithm of formation of "growing areas" in regional economic area. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n18p223

We are raising a problem of overcoming the unidimensionality and one-sidedness of the economy in application considerations. The tools of so-called systemic productions , which are suggested for this purpose, allow presenting, for instance, monetarist policies as a certain profile, a reflection of the economic space. This fact is illustrated by models developed by the author. An option of resolving the current crisis state is produced in this work through a proposed system of accelerated revival and modernization of Ukrainian economy.

In this article you will find a review of Ukrainian laws concerning reforms in agricultural sector of economy, which influence direct food safeness of the country, and their consequences. The privatization in villages, that destroyed kolkhozes and sovkhozes, and the liberalization of prices on food have led to rapid price increase on consumer market. Lack of required investments and intense shortening in subsidies for food production have a negative impact on quantity and quality of food products. Filling the market with export products doesn’t support domestic producers. Deficiency in governmental subsidies for food production and, first of all, for livestock production has caused full degradation of agriculture in modern Ukraine. Negligibly low level of governmental support in agricultural sphere is able to keep afloat only crop farming and partially production of fowl and pork. During implementation of market reforms the main mechanisms of price formation on vital food products were shifted from production sphere to sphere of sales and distribution. According to official data, the size of agriculture of independent Ukraine reduced after 1990 by 3,7 times (in comparable monetary equivalent). Infrastructure of village has been completely destroyed: schools, medical institutions, houses of culture, limited bus connections, and infrequent post system. Then, application of educational and medical reforms also damaged situation in villages. The reason is trivial – lack of money in state budget. In this article I will try to find a way how to deal with current situation in villages and, first of all, how to provide food safeness of the country., В статье рассматриваются Законы Украины по реформированию аграрного сектора экономики, от которого напрямую зависит продовольственная безопасность страны, их последствия и пути преодоления негативных явлений этих законов. Особое внимание уделено не только производству основных продуктов питания, но и состоянию занятости сельского населения, инфраструктуры села, инвестиций и дотаций в сельскохозяйственный сектор экономики современной Украины., В статті розглядаються Закони України по реформуванню аграрного сектору економіки, від яких напряму залежить продовольча безпека країни, їх наслідки та шляхи подолання негативих явищ цьїх Законів. Особливу увагу призначено не тільке віробницьтву основних продуктів харчування, но і стану зайнятості сільского населення, інфраструктури села, інвестицій та дотацій у сільскогоспорадчій сетор економіки сучасній України.

The time and space structure cannot be ignored by the socio-economic, but the economics make most of their research on time which is detached from the space foundation and the research on space have an inclination of ignoring the time, which lacking the unified view of time and space and analytical methods. In this paper, we take the whole economic space on as the object of the research, and combine the feature of fresh agricultural products to analysis the importance of the space, putting forward the importance of logistic to improve the space value of the fresh agricultural products.

The main processes and typicalities of transformations, especially – economic changes in Central and Eastern Europe under theconditions of EU enlargement, are analysed in this publication. The general and specific development trends are described andcompared; some new non-traditional ideas and models of possible economic development in the future are discussed. The followingfeatures of economic transition in Central and Eastern Europe in the period of EU enlargement and further globalization in the futuredeserve particular attention: intensive diversification of traditional economic structures, profound changes in all sectors of the nationaleconomic systems, creation of new forms of interregional cooperation in the new integral economic space; very uneven economicgrowth in the various countries, regions and sectors, increasing differences and disparities in economic and social developmentas well as between various groups in the society; intensive innovation processes taking various forms, and the realization of newmodels of innovation activities; controversial industrial development, very uneven technological progress, multiplication of hightechnologiesand new forms of industrial activity influencing the new quality life as well as new social and economic difficulties andproblems. New non-traditional ideas of intensive economic development in Central and Eastern Europe in the future are described:the main attention is paid to the idea of rational specialization of every national or regional economic system and to the idea of thenetworking of regional “oases” and clusters. Key words: Central and Eastern Europe, transformations, regional economy, cluster, typicality. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/rfds.v9i1.597

The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle is often referred to as evidence of poor capital mobility between countries. One might expect that integrated economies (such as in the EU) would lead to the end of this puzzle. On the contrary, disintegration would be likely to produce this puzzle. The Comecon’s members, especially former Soviet republics, have suffered such a destruction of common economic space last several decades. However, we find that the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle is not clearly observable among these countries.We try to find an explanation in the sense of ties between economic actors. The specific circumstances of the post-socialist transformation made it more or less difficult to run long-time investment projects. Therefore, investments in these countries were not constrained in this way and could “choose” their direction relatively freely.It brings us to the conclusion that the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle is a characteristic of economic actors and their environment to a greater extent than capital market frictions per se.

Russian Abstract: В работе проведен сопоставительный анализ институтов и органов Европейского союза и Таможенного союза (Единого экономического пространства) в рамках ЕврАзЭС, представлены юридические основы функционирования Европейской Комиссии, процедура принятия решений, хронологическая взаимосвязь между развитием ЕС и его институтов, а также результаты краткого анализа функционирования интеграционных структур Карибского сообщества.English Abstract: The paper presents a comparative analysis of the institutions and bodies of the European Union and the Customs Union (Common Economic Space) within the Eurasian Economic Community, represented by the legal basis for the functioning of the European Commission, the decision-making procedure, the chronological relationship between the development of the EU and its institutions, as well as the results of a brief analysis of the functioning of the integration structures Caribbean Community.

Russian Abstract: Реформа железнодорожного транспорта является одной из самых масштабных структурных реформ в России. В ходе реформирования должны быть созданы правовые и экономические условия для повышения устойчивости работы железнодорожного транспорта, его доступности, безопасности, качества предоставляемых им услуг, для обеспечения единого экономического пространства страны. Проведение тарифной политики в соответствии с направлениями преобразования рыночной экономики является одной из задач структурного реформирования железнодорожного транспорта.English Abstract: The reform of rail transport is one of the most ambitious structural reforms in Russia. In the course of the reform legal and economic conditions should be established to improve the sustainability of rail transport, its availability, security quality of provided services, to provide a single economic space in the country. Execution of the tariff policy in accordance with the directions of the transformation of the market economy is one of the tasks of the structural reform of rail transport.

Since the opening up of the Indian economy in 1991 and the boom of the 2000s, there has been much increase in trade and investments with the rest of the world, and the EU in particular. Given the potential for economic interaction between the two economies, they have been negotiating a Bilateral Investment and Trade Agreement (BITA) that can have positive ramifications for both the economies and South Asia as such. This paper seeks to explore the economic potential of the BITA and the possible spillover impact for the SAARC region.

Russian Abstract: Анализ европейского опыта реализации торговой политики, расширения зоны интеграции и взаимодействия со странами интеграционной периферии приобретает в настоящее время высокую актуальность для России и ее партнеров по Таможенному союзу и Единому экономическому пространству.Создана рабочая группа и подготовлена дорожная карта по вопросу присоединения Киргизии к ТС-ЕЭП. Началась такая работа с Арменией. С учреждением к началу 2015 года Евразийского союза, а скорее всего раньше этого срока, встанут вопросы о возможных форматах взаимодействия со странами-кандидатами на присоединение, в том числе о режимах ассоциации, привилегированного партнерства, о статусе наблюдателя и других.Исследование европейского опыта реализации торговой политики и расширения экономического пространства для интеграции важно как для развития вширь евразийской экономической интеграции, так и для ее конструктивного совмещения с процессом европейской интеграции с выходом на амбициозный проект Большой Европы от Лиссабона до Владивостока.English Abstract: Analysis of European experience in the implementation of trade policy, the expansion of the zone of integration and cooperation with the countries of the periphery of the integration currently gains high relevance for Russia and its partners in the Customs Union the Common Economic Space.A working group prepared a road map on the accession of Kyrgyzstan to the CUEEA. This work has begun with Armenia. With the establishment of the beginning of 2015 the Eurasian Union, and probably sooner, the questions are about the possible formats of interaction with the candidate countries for accession including the modes of association, privileged partnership observer status, and others, are raising.The study of the European experience in implementing trade policy and expanding economic space for integration is important for both the breadth of the Eurasian economic integration and for its constructive alignment with the process of European integration, with access to the ambitious project of a Greater Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok.

Russian Abstract: Данная статья посвящена разработке возможных форм тесного взаимодействия экономик соседних стран с Таможенным союзом Белоруссии, Казахстана и России (ТС) и Единым экономическим пространством данных стран (ЕЭП) без вступления в эти объединения, применительно к Армении, Молдове и Таджикистану. На основании анализа как общих особенностей и направлений возможного сотрудничества и инструментов взаимодействия, так и специфики каждой страны в отдельности, с учетом мирового опыта сотрудничества крупных экономических объединений с другими странами авторы предлагают анализ экономических эффектов применения тех или иных форм сотрудничества между странами.English Abstract: This article is devoted to development of possible forms of close collaborative relationship between the economies of neighboring countries of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia (CU) and the common economic space of these countries (CES) without joining of these associations, in relation to Armenia, Moldova, and Tajikistan. On the basis of the analysis of both the common features and areas of possible cooperation and collaboration tools, as well as the specifics of each country, taking into account the world experience major economic cooperation alliances with other countries authors provide the analysis of the economic effects of the certain forms of collaboration between the countries.

Russian Abstract: В данной работе подвергнуты анализу отношения России с ЕЭП, СГ и Каспийской пятеркой. Такой выбор связан с тем, что Единое экономическое пространство объявлено своеобразным «локомотивом» евразийской интеграции. Одновременно проект Союзного государства России и Белоруссии продолжает функционировать, хотя и существенно сбавил обороты в связи с тем, что оба государства входят в ЕЭП. ЕврАзЭС в соответствии с недавно принятыми решениями постепенно передает свои функции Евразийской экономической комиссии и к 2015 г. прекратит свое существование. ГУАМ за последние годы потерял свою политическую значимость, а экономического смысла в нем было мало и раньше. Каспийская «пятерка», хотя и оформлена менее формально, представляет для России огромный геополитический и геоэкономический интерес.English Abstract: In this paper we analyzed the relationship between Russia and the EEA, the SG and the Caspian Five. This choice stems from the fact that the Common Economic Space announced a kind of "locomotive" of Eurasian integration. At the same time the project of the Union State of Russia and Belarus continues to operate, albeit significantly slowed down due to the fact that both countries are included in the EEA. EEC in accordance with the recent decisions gradually transfers its functions Eurasian Economic Commission and by 2015 will cease to exist. GUAM in recent years has lost its political importance and economic sense it was a little earlier. Caspian "five", although less formally framed, is Russia's huge geopolitical and geo-economic interest.

The attempt to make a comparative study of Lviv and Łódź in search of certain regularities seems at the first glimpse rather farfetched, because apparently there are rather few analogies between the city of Lviv with its long history and multifunctional tradition and the monofunctional, rather young, industrial city of Łódź. But deeper analysis shows that despite many differences in the course of the history of both cities, some common tendencies can be traced, such as dynamic demographic and spatial development in the second half of the 19th century based on introduction of railway transport, the building of socio-economic and spatial structures of these cities by multi-cultural local communities, and going through half-a-century period of centralized socialist economy after the Second World War. Lviv and Łódź regained political independence almost at the same time (1989 in Poland and 1991 in Ukraine) and entered the route of democratic development, undergoing political and socio-economic transformations during the last 20 years. As a result of these processes as well as the influence of globalization, today we can observe in Łódź and in Lviv similar problems and phenomena, influencing their spatial development and functional restructuring. Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00.

As part of the formulation of a vision for Bulgaria’s force development in the horizon of 2035, the authors were tasked to study the evolution of the economic environment and provide a view on the potential resource allocation to defense. Our study resulted in three scenarios—“Bulgaria in the gray zone of the European economic space,” “Peripheral economy,” and “Catching up economy”—each one plausible under a set of driving factors and conditions. The paper presents the process of scenario design, the scenarios, the respective defense budget levels and the impact on Bulgaria’s defense and armed forces.

The purpose of this article is to discuss conceptual approaches to the development of stabilization policy in federal countries. In this article, the authors have justified the need for a regional component in the mechanism of the domestic price level stabilization policy and systemized relevant factors that have a significant impact on the spatial outcome of stabilization policy. The article proposes a method of determining the spatial zones of high, medium and low “susceptibility” to measures of stabilization policy center, and includes the following: 1) analysis of regional price manageability background; 2) sensitivity study of the regional banking system to a change in central bank policy; 3) elasticity analysis of the reaction of the popula tion and business in the region to change the activity of the regional banking system. The authors have formulated the principles of coordination of actions between the federal center and the regions in the implementation of stabilization policies that allow to take into account differences between the regions in response to the changes made in federal policy. The paper has substantiated the system of performance indicators that measures anti-inflationary policy and also takes into account the heterogeneity of economic space of the Russian Federation in the context of the “direct” and “conjugate” effects on the central regions. Theoretical position application and output indicators, which are outlined in this article allow building a system of coordination and interaction between the federal center and the regions and thus ensuring the effectiveness of stabilization policies and non-inflationary development of Russia.

The goal of this work comprises the scientific substantiation of the theoretical and methodological framework and methodological approaches to the essence and directions of regional economic space modernization. In accordance with the set goal the authors provide the representation of economic area and a region in agreement with the quasi-government paradigm; substantiate the functions of regional economic area and the factors of its development; carry out the comparative analysis of functional and heuristic opportunities of different scientific approaches to the study of the essence and directions of development of the spatial organization of regional economy; define the algorithm of formation of "growing areas" in regional economic area.

Russian Abstract: Согласно текущей Концепции внешней политики России «задача формирования Евразийского экономического союза, призванного не только максимально задействовать взаимовыгодные хозяйственные связи на пространстве СНГ, но и стать определяющей будущее стран Содружества моделью объединения» является приоритетной для России.Отражением указанной роли региональной экономической интеграции являются наблюдаемые в последние годы многочисленные попытки России укрепить сотрудничество между странами СНГ и, прежде всего, с наиболее открытыми этим попыткам странами, такими как Белоруссия и Казахстан. Результатом указанных действий стало создание Таможенного союза и Единого экономического пространства России, Казахстана и Белоруссии. Россия активно пытается вовлечь в данные процессы и Украину, для чего имеются объективные экономические обоснования (например, Украина является главным получателем российских прямых инвестиций в СНГ).Долгосрочные эффекты от реализации интеграционного потенциала стран «четверки» (Россия, Белоруссия, Казахстан и Украина) в перспективе до 2030 г. выражаются в ежегодной средней прибавке к темпам прироста ВВП стран-партнеров от 2% (Россия) до 14% (Белоруссия). При этом может быть достигнут качественный скачок в изменении структуры ВВП. В целом по всем странам ожидается снижение доли добывающих секторов промышленности в структуре ВВП и повышение доли стоимости, добавленной обработкой. Рост конкурентоспособности за счет реализации накопленного потенциала и межгосударственной технологической кооперации возможен, в первую очередь, в следующих отраслях: энергетическое машиностроение, производство обычных вооружений, ракетно-космическая отрасль, самолетостроение и вертолетостроение, черная металлургия, энергетика, атомная промышленность, транспортная инфраструктура и сети, связь.Будущее экономическое развитие России, других стран ЕЭП и Украины невозможно без технического перевооружения существующих и запуска новых наукоемких отраслей промышленности. В этой связи на первый план выходит технологическая кооперация на основе советских взаимосвязей, но на новых рыночных принципах.B рамках планируемого на базе ЕЭП Евразийского экономического союза (EAC) должна быть, в том числе, создана единая банковская система и единая евразийская валюта. В то время как переход на единую региональную валюту является вопросом отдаленного будущего, требующим значительной проработки, важной задачей сегодняшнего дня является финансовая интеграция «четверки» стран, в том числе за счет создания крупных региональных финансовых компаний, банков, валютных и фондовых бирж.Важной составляющей финансовой интеграции также является согласованная денежно-кредитная и бюджетная политики. Соглашение о согласованной макроэкономической политике ЕЭП предусматривает введение странами-участницами количественных макроэкономических параметров, в том числе предельное значение годового дефицита государственного бюджета не выше 3% ВВП, государственного долга не выше 50% ВВП и уровня инфляции не более чем на 5% выше уровня инфляции государства-участника ЕЭП, имеющего наименьший рост цен.Одной из важнейших предпосылок финансовой интеграции «четверки» стран является рост значения рубля как валюты расчетов в регионе. В 2012 г. в валютной структуре направленных и полученных платежей государств-участников ЕврАзЭС как по количеству, так и по объему преобладали платежи в российских рублях: 79,0 и 55,4% соответственно. Примечательно, что рубль используется в качестве валюты расчетов между странами региона помимо Российской Федерации. Использование рубля как региональной валюты имеет большое значение для создания в России регионального, а в дальнейшем международного финансового центра.Если на территории ЕЭП и Украины в ближайшее время не будет сформирован региональный финансовый центр, то страны региона останутся глобальной финансовой периферией, будут зависимы от иностранного капитала, подвержены чрезмерному влиянию глобальных экономических процессов, будут иметь слабую, низколиквидную валюту, а задачи успешной экономической интеграции и перехода к инвестиционной модели роста так и не будут выполнены.English Abstract: Under the current Russian Foreign Policy Concept «the task of forming a Eurasian Economic Union, designed to not only maximize the use of mutually beneficial economic relations within the CIS, but also to become a defining model for the future of the Commonwealth states» is a priority for Russia.The reflections of the stated role of the regional economic integration are observed in recent years in the form ofRussia’snumerous attempts to strengthen cooperation between the CIS countries and, above all, with the countries most open to those attempts, such as Belarus and Kazakhstan. The result of those actions is the creation of the Customs Union and Common Economic Space (CES) of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Russia is actively trying to engage Ukraine in these processes and there are objective economic grounds for that (for example, Ukraine is a major recipient of Russian direct investment in CIS).Long-term effects (up to 2030) of the «quartet»’s (consisting of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan andUkraine) integration are expressed as annual average GDP growth rates’ addition from 2% for Russia up to 14% for Belarus. Moreover a qualitative leap into the change of the GDP’s structure could also be achieved as a result of the integration. For the «quartet» in general the share of mining sector in the GDP is expected to decline and the share of value added by processingis expected to increase. The growth of competitiveness through the implementation of the accumulated integration potential and interstate technological cooperation is possible first of all in the following sectors: energy engineering, production of conventional weapons, rocket-space industry, aircraft and helicopter engineering, metallurgy, energy, nuclear industry, transport infrastructure and telecom.The future economic development of Russia and other CES countries and Ukraine is impossible without modernization of existing and launching new high-tech industries. In this regard, technological cooperation on the basis of Soviet relationship, but with application of the new market principles is coming to the forefront.Unified banking system and a unified Eurasian currency is planned to be developed on the base of the Eurasian Economic Union in which CES is going to be transformed. While the transition to a unified regional currency is a matter of the distant future, which requires considerable study, an important task of today is the «quartet»’s financial integration, i.e. through the creation of large regional financial institutions, banks, currency and stock exchanges.Unified monetary and fiscal policy is also an important component of financial integration. The Agreement on coordinated macroeconomic policy provides the CES member countries with quantitative macroeconomic parameters, including the limit of the annual budget deficit no higher than 3 % of GDP and public debt not exceeding 50 % of GDP and the inflation rate no more than 5% above the inflation of a CES state with the smallest prices increase.One of the most important preconditions for the «quartet»’s financial integrationis the increase of ruble’s role as a settlement currency in the region. In 2012 payments in Russianrubles prevailed in the EurAsEC region both in number and in volume: 79.0 and 55.4%, respectively. It is noteworthy that ruble is used as the settlement currency between the countries of the region besides the Russian Federation. The use of ruble as a regional currency is of great importance for the creation of regional and further international financial center in Russia.If CES countries and Ukraine don’t form a regional financial center in the near future, the countries of the region will remain the global financial peripherals, dependent on foreign capital, subject to undue influence of global economic processes, will continue to be weak, have illiquid currency and on the whole the problems of economic integration and a successful transition to investment-based growth model will not be executed.

Although there is a common understanding that almost all industries are somewhat localized, a number of studies measure the localization levels of FDI and its influence on host economies. That relationship between collocating firms and the formation of centers of economic activity within a country influence the location choices of future entrants into that country (von Thunen, 1826, trans, of 1966; Marshall, 1920; Krugman, 1991). Also, so-called “Marshallian factor” market externalities (David and Rosenbloom, 1990), which include capital stock and size of the labor force and markets, strongly contribute to the growth and competitiveness of urban-industrial agglomerations, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of a region to potential foreign investors. Even earlier than Marshall, Adam Smith (1776) spoke of trade impacts on location decisions, suggesting that trade and location are interrelated and have a significant role in regional economic geography.

The paper assessed, from a methodological and practical point of view, opportunities available in the fiscal sphere and limitations arising from the formation of the integration associations of the former Soviet Union, and to develop proposals for improving the agreements between integrating countries.В работе проведена оценка, с методологической и практической точек зрения, имеющихся в налогово-бюджетной сфере возможностей и возникающих ограничений при формировании интеграционного объединения стран на постсоветском пространстве, а также выработаны предложения, направленные на совершенствование соглашений между интегрирующимися странами.

The conflicts that have plagued the Great Lakes Region during the last 20 years are domestic and regional at the same time, with considerable inputs and outputs across national borders. As elsewhere in Africa and the world, borders unite as much as they divide. State weakness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and border porosity enable non-state armed groups, neighbouring governments' armies and private entrepreneurs of instability to freely operate on Congolese soil. As most analyses tend to focus on the macro-level structures and patterns of economic control, they do not take into account the dynamic processes of renegotiation of the existing local political, social and economic space. This article attempts to bring together hitherto scattered micro-level field data and analyses produced by other scholars and UN experts, which it organises in five themes: regulatory activities, including taxation; the straddling of public and private spheres; the struggles for control; the transnational nature of activities and, closely linked, profound regional integration; and non-state groups acting as proxies for states. In addition to addressing the greed versus grievance debate, the cases presented here challenge a recent strand in research that sees criminal activities and forms of hybrid governance as potential processes towards state formation.

Economic geographers have increasingly acknowledged the importance of discursive constructions and metaphorical representations of economic space. The representational has been recognized as more than just colourful rhetoric, being also a construction of reality that contains implicit understandings of how economic processes work and the corollaries of such processes in terms of government policy. Furthermore, the connections between understanding processes, making policy, and retaining legitimacy mean that such metaphors are highly political. The author explores some of the metaphors that have been employed by political leaders in understanding the Asian financial crisis of 1997–99. Two sets of contrasting metaphors are highlighted in the rhetoric of leaders in Malaysia and Singapore, respectively: in Malaysia, metaphors of colonial domination and militaristic aggression dominate; in Singapore, ‘natural’ metaphors of typhoon damage and tectonic shifts tend to prevail. These representational strategies can be linked to discourses of political power and the construction of economic policy in each context.