Towards a New Eastern Enlargement of the EU and Beyond

Intereconomics - It is not the first time in EU history that the enlargement perspective is confronted with the need for integration deepening.     

The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands

Researchers and brand managers have limited understanding of the effects social media communication has on how consumers perceive brands. We investigated 504 Facebook users in order to observe the impact of firm-created and user-generated (UG) social media communication on brand equity (BE), brand attitude (BA) and purchase intention (PI) by using a standardized online survey throughout Poland. To test the conceptual model, we analyzed 60 brands across three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and mobile network operators. When analyzing the data, we applied the structural equation modeling technique to both investigate the interplay of firm-created and user-generated social media communication and examine industry-specific differences. The results of the empirical studies showed that user-generated social media communication had a positive influence on both brand equity and brand attitude, whereas firm-created social media communication affected only brand attitude. Both brand equity and brand attitude were shown to have a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, we assessed measurement invariance using a multi-group structural modeling equation. The findings revealed that the proposed measurement model was invariant across the researched industries. However, structural path differences were detected across the models.     

Strategic Commitment and Timing of Internationalization from Emerging Markets: Evidence from China,India, Mexico,and South Africa

In a study of 257 new ventures from China, India, Mexico, and South Africa, we find support for the mediating effect of strategic early internationalization on international sales intensity. We argued that when new ventures from emerging markets internationalize early and with commitment, the legitimacy they acquire helps them overcome liabilities of newness and foreignness. We develop a typology of international new ventures that, based on strategic intent and timing of internationalization, distinguishes strategic early internationalizers from persistent, serendipitous, and long‐term internationalizers. We show that strategic early internationalization accounts for over half of the explained variance in international sales intensity and either fully or partially mediates the effects of managerial knowledge and market orientation on international sales intensity.     

Whence reform? A critique of the stiglitz perspective

This paper discusses the key hypotheses which Joseph Stiglitz proposed, in his wide-ranging critique of the “Washington Consensus”, with regard to transition reforms and economic policies in China and Russia. The primary purpose is to evaluate the Stiglitz perspective in the light of empirical evidence, including the experience of countries outside China and Russia. Although some of the points Stiglitz makes are important for understanding what has happened in the transition, this paper argues that his perspective mis-interprets the key facts of the Chinese transition, mis-describes the facts of the Russian transition and fails to consider the theoretical and policy implications of the success of a “third model”, which is represented by some Central European and Baltic transitions.     

The global financial crisis: Lessons for European integration

The EU's limited fiscal capacity has proven to be the most critical constraint in responding to the global financial crisis in a coordinated manner. The EU does not have enough resources to rescue the troubled financial institutions and member states. This leads to a nationalization of rescue operations, which undermines the Single European Market and requires IMF involvement with respect to member states in distress. The EU must also complete the lacking elements of the Single European Market architecture (such as European financial supervision) and help in strengthening global policy and regulatory coordination.     

The stiglitz-ellerman rejoinder: Our main criticisms remain unanswered

The rejoinder by the US economists Joseph Stiglitz and David Ellerman (S and E) is welcome above all as a clear acknowledgement that our interpretation of what we called the "Stiglitz Perspective" (but what we apparently should now call the "Stiglitz-Ellerman Perspective") is correct. However, S and E make a determined attempt to belittle the differences between their and our perspectives. This they do by emphasising broad agreement between us on the drawbacks of voucher privatization while largely ignoring our main criticisms: that they overlook the critical role of new non-state, mainly private, firms in successful transitions'; that they underplay the pre-transition causes of the transformational recession in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and Central Europe (CE); and that they chose China rather than Central European and Baltic countries, for the purpose of assessing reforms and performance in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). S and E continue to argue as if the choice of methods for privatising state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been crucial for the success or otherwise of transition - hence their singular preoccupation with privatisation to insiders. We wish to change the terms of this debate by drawing attention to the evidence which shows that what really matters are de novo firms and therefore the reforms and policies which foster their growth.