This book includes papers presented at the 11th International Conference "Economies of the Balkan and Eastern European Countries" (EBEEC), held in Bucharest, Romania, in May 2019. It sheds new light on the micro- and macroeconomic developments in the Eastern European and Balkan countries, while at the same time taking into account the broader regional and global factors influencing these developments. By examining how the decisions and the performance of economic, social and political actors in the region are intertwined with wider regional and global events, the contributions highlight the dynamic development in Eastern Europe and the Balkans region. Further, the book demonstrates how the region has overcome numerous challenges in the past and is evolving within the framework of European economic integration and the global effervescent economy.

This book provides a detailed examination of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after closer integration in the European Union. An important facet of European economic integration was the development of a free-trade area in Central and Eastern Europe, which improved market accessibility. However, to date these relations have been little explored theoretically.The book examines foreign investments in different transition countries from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. It analyzes changes in the choice of location by foreign investors in nineteen CEE countries between 1992 and 2015, and shows that it is linked to the removal of intra-regional trade barriers. The findings suggest that regional integration increases the incentives for multinationals to invest in the participating countries, especially in those with larger markets and lower production costs.

How does one distinguish between European Union investments that improve welfare and those that create economic malaise? Funding the Greek Crisis: The European Union, Cohesion Policies, and the Great Recession explores the sources of the Greek Crisis that lie primarily in EU policies that appeared to have worked better for other countries but not for Greece. Without overly simplifying the Greek condition, it provides insights into policies the countries of the euro area may need to implement in order to ensure collective cohesion and individual success. Arguing that EU preferences for autonomous investments discouraged organic development with lasting implications, Funding the Greek Crisis sheds new light on the nature of regional competitiveness and public economics.

This book provides an impressive overview of emerging technologies, especially nanotechnologies and biotechnologies, and their prospective applications. It identifies and describes existing and potential markets for emerging technology-based applications, and projects scenarios for macroeconomic development based on these technologies. Integrated roadmaps for the development of a nano- and bioindustry are shown and policy measures and corporate strategies developed to advance these technologies. These measures are illustrated using roadmaps and policy case studies.The book combines a practical, comprehensive overview of the technical side of emerging technologies and their applications in various fields with an analysis of market developments and characteristics.

This book questions whether it is possible for globalization to be reversed and constructs a model for anticipating this potential development in future years. The first part focuses on the preliminary problems of globalization, constructing a model (or index) of its various phases of evolution. It then goes on to consider four problems which represent the principle worries of middles classes when considering globalization: terrorism, inequality, immigration and political representation. It depicts a scenario for the coming years in which globalization may slow down, or fall back altogether, taking care to describe the mechanism whereby either situation would happen.

A non-mathematical introduction to the macroeconomic analysis of both the open economy and the world economy. The text assumes a basic understanding of macroeconomics and is of interest to policy-makers and second year undergraduates.

This volume presents contributions that analyse the extraordinary impact of digital technology on business, services, and the production of value in many sectors of the economy. At the heart of this book is the fact that the entire digital economy is now worth almost 6% of global GDP, and it continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. The volume covers the general debate on taxation and the digital economy with the chapters by Russo, Makiyama and Boccia, before completing the analysis with discussion of three national case studies covering the U.S. (Pagano), U.K. (Leonardi) and Italy (Boccia and Leonardi). Contributors are leading experts in the fields of taxation and the digital economy and contextualise the key issues surrounding the digitalisation of the economy from an international perspective.

In response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and international institutions took steps to contain the harmful consequences on citizens' lives and health, as well as the economy. In the short term, the goal was to limit the spread of the virus and the effects of the restrictions on the economy and, in the longer run, to prevent the appearance of new cases, facilitate the end of social restrictions, reboot the economy, and return to a path of sustainable growth and development. This is an economic and legal exploration of the impact of the pandemic, in the Polish context, examining Polish society and the economy as well as the response of the Polish authorities to the pandemic. The choice of Poland as the subject of the research is justified by its specificity. On the one hand, Poland is a country undergoing systemic transformation with access to European and transatlantic institutions. On the other hand, in recent years, it has evolved towards a hybrid democracy and is currently diverging away from the EU project. The book presents Poland's legal and institutional response to the pandemic, analysed through the prism of common European values and Poland's international commitments. It signposts the financial solutions adopted by the EU in the aftermath of the outbreak to assess how they will be used in combatting the short and longer-term consequences of the pandemic in Poland. The book is an introduction to original research, shaped by the novelty of the subject matter, and as such, will be essential reading for students and researchers of economics, law, and international relations.

For the large number of developing countries undergoing significant structural transformations, one of the most important and controversial adjustment areas is that of the financial markets. Focusing on the role of the institutional and enabling environment within which financial reform occurs and on the integration of principles of finance with more macroeconomic approaches to the subject, the book contains case studies of reform experiences in Argentina, India, Nigeria, Turkey and Uruguay. Themes studied include the 'go slow' versus 'big bang' approach and the particular problem of bank-firm inter-linkages in Eastern Europe.

This volume analyzes the economic achievements of China since the opening in 1979, and the measures taken by the government to spur international trade, investment and technology transfer. China's extraordinarily high economic growth rate is examined, and broken down into several parts. Prospects for continued high growth are evaluated. This evaluation looks to the future to weigh the possibility for maintaining high growth into the next century. A concluding chapter examines China's changing role in the world economy and politics.

This book explores the US economy from 1960 to 2010 using a more Keynsian, Cowles model approach, which the author argues has substantial advantages over the vector autoregression (VAR) and dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models used almost exclusively today. Heim presents a robust argument in favor of the Cowles model as an answer to the pressing, unresolved methodological question of how to accurately model the macroeconomy so that policymakers can reliably use these models to assist their decision making. Thirty-eight behavioral equations, describing determinants of variables such as consumption, taxes, and government spending, are connected by eighteen identities to construct a comprehensive model of the real US economy that Heim then tests across four different time periods to ensure that results are consistent. This comprehensive demonstration of the value of a long-ignored model provides overwhelming evidence that the more Keynesian (Cowles) structural models outperform VAR and DSGE, and therefore should be the models of choice in future macroeconomic studies.

This book collects selected articles addressing several currently debated issues in the field of international macroeconomics. They focus on the role of the central banks in the debate on how to come to terms with the long-term decline in productivity growth, insufficient aggregate demand, high economic uncertainty and growing inequalities following the global financial crisis. Central banks are of considerable importance in this debate since understanding the sluggishness of the recovery process as well as its implications for the natural interest rate are key to assessing output gaps and the monetary policy stance. The authors argue that a more dynamic domestic and external aggregate demand helps to raise the inflation rate, easing the constraint deriving from the zero lower bound and allowing monetary policy to depart from its current ultra-accommodative position. Beyond macroeconomic factors, the book also discusses a supportive financial environment as a precondition for the rebound of global economic activity, stressing that understanding capital flows is a prerequisite for economic-policy decisions.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest econometric methods for studying the dynamics of macroeconomic and financial time series. It examines alternative methodological approaches and concepts, including quantile spectra and co-spectra, and explores topics such as non-linear and non-stationary behavior, stochastic volatility models, and the econometrics of commodity markets and globalization. Furthermore, it demonstrates the application of recent techniques in various fields: in the frequency domain, in the analysis of persistent dynamics, in the estimation of state space models and new classes of volatility models. The book is divided into two parts: The first part applies econometrics to the field of macroeconomics, discussing trend/cycle decomposition, growth analysis, monetary policy and international trade. The second part applies econometrics to a wide range of topics in financial economics, including price dynamics in equity, commodity and foreign exchange markets and portfolio analysis. The book is essential reading for scholars, students, and practitioners in government and financial institutions interested in applying recent econometric time series methods to financial and economic data.

This book gathers selected papers from the 29th Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES) Conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal. While the theoretical and empirical papers presented cover diverse areas of economics and finance in various geographic regions, the main focus is on the latest research concerning accounting/audits, banking, the economics of innovation, and empirical studies on emerging economies and international trade. Studies on labor economics and public economics, as well as regional studies, round out the coverage.

This textbook equips instructors and students with an overview of the existing literature so that the latter can attain an overall understanding of macroeconomic and microeconomic public finance. The literature on public finance has grown dramatically with theoretical studies and empirical analysis, and much of the focus has been on macroeconomic effects of public services. The standard textbook offerings, however, are mainly restricted to microeconomic topics of public finance. This text intends to fill this gap by presenting a theoretical-based, comprehensive explanation of public finance. Particular emphasis is directed at developing tools that can be applied theoretically and empirically to clarify essential economic concerns in the current public sector in advanced countries, including Japan. Such concerns include the macroeconomic effect of fiscal policy, the dependence on bonds for covering government deficits, and social security reform. The main text explains the standard concepts of public finance, and the appendix offers various advanced topics. The material will facilitate an understanding of how to investigate changes in the public sector, interpret results, and basically do research on fiscal policy. The textbook will be of value to a broad range of course offerings, including those generally focused on fiscal policy, on social security reform and on tax reform.

This book is a contribution to the debate about the transition process, and focuses on structural institutions in Russia and the East.

In transitional countries with unfavourable initial conditions and weak institutions, economic and social performance can only in part be explained by the approaches followed in the field of macroeconomic adjustment, privatization, and liberalization. By reviewing the impact of initial conditions on industrial and institutional conditions in the gradual and late reforming countries, this book aims to rekindle the debate surrounding these largely neglected issues.

Although a number of selected African countries have made efforts to implement various financial sector reforms, many countries have not fully implemented the requisite reforms required for sustainable development. Instead, they have focused mainly on bank-based financial reforms, thereby neglecting market-based financial reforms. This study provides a one-stop shop for understanding the history and evolution of the financial sector in Africa with a special focus on the sub-Saharan region where the financial system in many countries is still at a relatively nascent stage. The analysis is extensive and robust, and starts from financial repression to financial liberalisation (both internal and external), and its role in sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The book covers a range of important research issues pertaining to financial development in selectede African countries, including interest rate and exchange rate reforms, the dynamics of bank-based and market-based financial development; the role of the informal financial sector in sustainable development; the finance-growth nexus; bank-based versus market-based financial sectors in Africa; financial development and information and communication technology; and financial development and gender equality, among other topics. The book also considers the relationship between the COVID-19 global pandemic and financial development, and concludes by presenting a forecast of the future trends of financial and sustainable development on the African continent in general and sub-Saharfan Africa in particular. The chapters are authored by prominent scholars and researchers in the field of finance and banking, applied econometrics and development economics, with a deep understanding and knowledge of financial development and the local situations in African countries. This book provides crucial reference material for academics, researchers, policymakers and students of all levels and is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the nature of finance and sustainable development in Africa in relation to the rest of the world. It covers African countries, but with more emphasis on the sub-Saharan African region where the financial systems in many of the countries are still relatively underdeveloped.

Introduction to Quantitative Macroeconomics Using Julia: From Basic to State-of-the-Art Computational Techniques facilitates access to fundamental techniques in computational and quantitative macroeconomics. It focuses on the recent and very promising software, Julia, which offers a MATLAB-like language at speeds comparable to C/Fortran, also discussing modeling challenges that make quantitative macroeconomics dynamic, a key feature that few books on the topic include for macroeconomists who need the basic tools to build, solve and simulate macroeconomic models. This book neatly fills the gap between intermediate macroeconomic books and modern DSGE models used in research.

EBES conferences have been intellectual hub for academic discussion in economics, finance, and business fields and provide network opportunities for participants to make long lasting academic cooperation. This is the 24th volume of the Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics (EBES's official proceeding series) which includes selected papers from the 37th EBES Conference - Berlin. The conference was jointly organized with the GLO (Global Labour Organization, a global, independent, non-partisan and non-governmental organization based in Germany) with the support of the Istanbul Economic Research Association and in collaboration with the FOM University of Applied Sciences (Germany). Due to COVID-19, the conference presentation mode was virtual. In the conference, 177 papers by 379 colleagues from 54 countries were presented. Both theoretical and empirical papers in this volume cover diverse areas of business, economics, and finance from many different regions. Therefore, it provides a great opportunity to colleagues, professionals, and students to catch up with the most recent studies in different fields and empirical findings on many countries and regions.

Spatial fixity is one of the characteristics that distinguishes housing from most other goods and services in the economy. In general, housing cannot be moved from one part of the country to another in response to shortages or excesses in particular areas. The modelling of housing markets and the interlinkages between markets at different spatial levels - international, national, regional and urban - are the main themes of this book. A second major theme is disaggregation, not only in terms of space, but also between households. The book argues that aggregate time-series models of housing markets of the type widely used in Britain and also in other countries in the past have become less relevant in a world of increasing income dispersion. Typically, aggregate relationships will break down, except under special conditions. We can no longer assume that traditional location or tenure patterns, for example, will continue in the future. The book has four main components. First, it discusses trends in housing markets both internationally and within nations. Second, the book develops theoretical housing models at each spatial scale, starting with national models, moving down to the regional level and, then, to urban models. Third, the book provides empirical estimates of the models and, finally, the models are used for policy analysis. Analysis ranges over a wide variety of topics, including explanations for differing international house price trends, the causes of housing cycles, the role of credit markets, regional housing market interactions and the role of housing in urban/suburban population drift.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, the oldest and fourth-largest US investment bank, in September 2008 precipitated the global financial crisis. This deepened the contraction in economic activity that had already started in December 2007 and has become known as the Great Recession. Following a sluggish and uneven period of recovery, levels of private debt have recently been on the rise again making another financial crisis almost inevitable. This book answers the key question: can anything be done to prevent a new financial crisis or minimize its impact? The book opens with an analysis of the main elements responsible for the 2007/2009 financial crisis and assesses the extent to which they are still present in todays financial system. The responses to the financial crises - particularly the Dodd-Frank Act, the establishment of the Financial Stability Board, and attempts to regulate shadow banking - are evaluated for their effectiveness. It is found that there is a high risk of a new bubble developing, there remains a lack of transparency in the financial industry, and risk-taking continues to be incentivised among bankers and investors. Proposals are put forward to ameliorate the risks, arguing for the need for an international lender of last resort, recalling Keynes' idea for an International Clearing Union. This book will be of significant interest to scholars and students of financial crises, financial stability, and alternative approaches to finance and economics.

This work analyzes recent economic performance in the Commonwealth Caribbean by examining the IMF/World Bank Structural Adjustment Package and its relation to the deteriorating economic and social conditions in this part of the world. Ramesh F. Ramsaran not only takes a critical look at structural adjustment as it has been applied in the Caribbean but also examines recent structural adjustment theory in general and some of its contradictions in practice.

Ramsaran argues that if structural adjustment programs are to be effective with minimum social cost, their design must take into account the specific conditions of individual countries. This argument against the general application of policies and principles remains firm, despite the fact that international aid agencies in the 1980s did find general guidelines useful in particular situations. His analysis will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers in international and development economics and international finance and trade.

Economic Disturbances and Equilibrium in an Integrated Global Economy: Investment Insights and Policy Analysis helps readers develop a framework for analyzing economic events and make better, more consistent decisions. Victor Canto presents the theoretical building blocks that make up the overall framework, then expands the framework to tackle more complex problems, applying additional considerations to actual policy or investment issues. Drawing upon the most recent trends in monetary policy and international economics, the book offers sustained direct engagement with the main research question and makes innovative use of the simple concepts of supply and demand to illuminate modern finance literature. The book succeeds by highlighting the often-forgotten interconnectedness of different economic processes. How do we respond to a change in policy or an economic shock? Are all the expected changes to the general equilibrium consistent with each other?

Why is it that government debt in the developed world has risen to world war proportions in a time of peace? This can largely be attributed to governments maintaining welfare expenditures beyond what tax revenues allow. But will these governments refrain from doing what is necessary for economic growth for fear of losing their electorate?

Changes in the international environment, from the stagflation of the 1970s to the globalization of capital markets in the 1990s, have challenged the ability of all advanced welfare states to maintain postwar achievements of full employment, social security and social equality. Nevertheless, national responses and actual performance differed greatly. This two-volume study examines the adjustment to external economic challenges over three decades in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom Volume I presents comparative analyses of differences in the vulnerabilities and capabilities of these countries, in the effectiveness of their policy responses, and in the role of values and discourses in the politics of adjustment Volume II presents in-depth analyses of the experiences of the countries, including special studies on the participation of women in the labour market, early retirement, the liberalization of public services and international tax competition.