THE PUZZLE OF HOUSING PRIVATIZATION IN EASTERN EUROPE

This paper focuses on the part of the housing sector proving most difficult to reform in Eastern Europe-State-owned rentals—which typically constitute about 20 percent on the housing stock overall and half of the units in the largest cities. The paper argues that two objectives must be pursued simultaneously: (1) selling units at or near market prices to tenants or other households willing to purchase them; and (2) integrating the remaining state-owned rentals with the nascent but expanding rental market. The six elements of a strategy for achieving these objectives are described.     

MONETARY TRANSMISSION MECHANISM IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: SURVEYING THE SURVEYABLE

Abstract.  This paper surveys recent advances in empirical studies of the monetary transmission mechanism, with special attention to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Our results indicate that the strength of the exchange rate pass-through substantially declined over time mainly due to a fall in inflation rates and to some extent due to the so-called composition effect. The asset price channel is weak and is likely to remain weak because of shallow stock and private bond markets and because of low stock and bond holdings of domestic households. House prices may become an exception with booming mortgage lending and with high owner occupancy ratios. While the credit channel could be a powerful channel of monetary transmission – as new funds raised on capital markets are close to zero in CEE – it is actually not, as both commercial banks and non-financial corporations can escape domestic monetary conditions by borrowing from their foreign mother companies. The moderately good news, however, is that those banks and firms are influenced by monetary policy in the euro area because their parent institutions are themselves subjected to the credit channel in the euro area.     

FINANCIAL CRIME TRENDS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Central and Eastern Europe, as political and military strategists found to their frustration during the Cold War, is an extremely large and diffuse area. It contains the blocs of Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation and the Balkans. For the purposes of this paper, there is a general section and then a focus on two countries. These are the Russian Federation, arguably one of the main areas of organised crime impacting upon a global scale, and Romania, one of the latest Candidate Countries for joining the EU.     

POLITICIZED MANAGERIAL CAPITALISM: ENTERPRISE STRUCTURES IN POST-SOCIALIST CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

The paper contributes to the sociological tradition of comparative institutional analysis. It argues that a distinctive form of capitalism is emerging in post 1989 Central and Eastern Europe, politicized managerial capitalism. This is a bifurcated system, one sub‐system internationally oriented, a still peripheral but increasingly integrated part of global capitalism, and a second sub‐system, more nationally oriented, dominated by managerial élites allied with weak states. Politicized managerial capitalism is founded upon the inherited practices of late Socialism, moulded by the post Socialist development process and congruent with the stage of development of capital, labour and product markets. It is unclear as to whether this is a transient or long‐term structure.     

TRANSITION OF THE HOUSING SECTOR IN THE EAST CENTRAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The fall of socialism in 1989–1990 led to the end of the East European housing model, which was based on the limitation of property rights, extensive central planning and politically determined allocation of subsidies. This paper aims to present a clear picture of the current housing situation through a reliable information system. The major observation is that in the countries studied, the housing situation is relatively good; it is not housing shortage, but die inefficiency of the institutional system, affordability and deferred maintenance that are the main problems. Based on the idea of "enabling policies" - policies that facilitate the activities of the key stakeholders in the sector while providing an essential element of the social safety net - the paper establishes the goals and objectives that should guide the formulation of policy and institutional reforms within the sector, and defines priorities for actions to be taken by national and local governments and by international agencies in support of governments.     

THE USE AND ABUSE OF MARKETS IN HOUSING POLICY

This paper argues that, despite its rhetoric in support of markets, government does not understand how markets work, but is rather trying to use certain aspects of markets to control social housing. The paper looks at three areas: first, the idea of private finance and how this is used by government as a form of public policy; second, the notion of risk and whether it actually occurs in social housing; and third, the contention that government is incapable of appreciating the manner in which markets operate because it only wishes to provide safe options and so cannot countenance real choice and competition.     

REGIONALISM AND FREE-MARKET REFORM: THE CASE OF POLAND

In Poland, there is a widening gap between well-developed core regions and depressed peripheral ones. This article argues, on the one hand, that any EU- or government-funded assistance to less developed areas should be accompanied by nationwide liberalisation and, on the other, that lack of reform and increasing regional disparities might fuel discontent in the worst-off regions, which, in turn, might make politicians adopt a fully-blown interventionist policy.     

AFTER THE GREAT RECESSION: THE FUTURE OF CASINO GAMING IN AMERICA AND EUROPE

The economic recession of 2007–09 had dramatic effects on spending on gambling and, therefore, on a number of major gaming companies, resulting in situations where cash flows were increasingly inadequate to service debt obligations. The recession thus interrupted growth trends in various segments of casino industries in America and Europe, which undermined future growth expectations and potential. This analysis examines economic events and other factors that have affected the casino industry in the last few years, and examines their implications for the future of casino and gaming markets in America and Europe.     

ECONOMICS,RELIGION AND THE DECLINE OF EUROPE1

This article asks whether there is any casual connection between the contemporaneous decline in industriousness and religiosity in Europe over the past 25 years. In the United States working hours and levels of religious faith and observance have held steady or even increased over this period. But in most European countries they have declined together. Could this be a posthumous vindication of Max Weber's thesis about the Protestant work ethic and the rise of capitalism? Though there clearly are some important links between religion and economic behaviour, the article concludes that the evidence does not perfectly fit Weber's theory, which emphasised abstinence rather than consumption as a determinant of economic development.     

THE ROLE OF CENTRAL BANKS IN FINANCIAL SUPERVISION AND REGULATION

This article describes thinking on the institutions of financial supervision and regulation prior to the current crisis and goes on to examine what lessons have been learnt subsequently. It concludes that the problem is not so much that central banks needed to be more closely involved in supervision at the outset but that many countries did not have satisfactory schemes in place for resolving problems in large institutions. Central banks and governments were then forced into ad hoc measures that could have unfortunate implications for moral hazard in the future unless fundamental problems are addressed.     

TIME VARIATION IN THE DYNAMICS OF WORKER FLOWS: EVIDENCE FROM NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE

Vector autoregressive methods have been used to model the interrelationships between job vacancy rates, job separation rates and job‐finding rates using tools such as impulse response analysis. We investigate whether such impulse responses change across the business cycle or over time, by estimating time‐varying parameter–vector autoregressions for data from North America (the USA and Canada) and Europe (France, Spain and the UK). While the adjustment process of the labour market to shocks in Canada and the USA is similar, we find the adjustment process differs much more across the European countries, with greater persistence in shocks relative to the USA and Canada. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EMPLOYMENT OF OLDER WORKERS IN POLAND: ISSUES AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS1

The aim of this paper is to discuss barriers to the employment of older workers in Poland, where, due to various structural weaknesses and institutional arrangements, this problem has taken on a particularly acute seriousness. After analysing the causes of inactivity amongst older workers, the paper concludes by making policy recommendations.     

THE ROLE OF TENURE SECURITY IN HOUSING SELF-IMPROVEMENT: A CASE-STUDY OF SURABAYA, INDONESIA

Some developing countries are tapping into the opportunities offered by self-help gradual improvement of houses in order to relieve the environmental problems besetting their urban areas. For decisionmakers and planners it is important to know the factors that can entice slum dwellers to improve their houses. Using Indonesian data, this paper has tested and verified the assumption that tenure security is a powerful factor that can entice slum dwellers to internalize the benefits from neighborhood environmental quality improvement.     

POVERTY AND RECOVERY: THE HISTORY OF AID AND DEVELOPMENT IN EAST AFRICA

Poor countries are believed to be trapped in a vicious circle of poverty where low incomes lead to low savings and insufficient resources for investments. Foreign aid is supposed to boost investment and link poor countries to a virtuous circle of growth. But real per capita growth has not been present in the modern history of Kenya and Tanzania ‐ even though foreign aid has increased many times over. Does the recent history in Uganda pave the way for new principles of efficient aid, or is it just a rare occasion of aid‐induced behavioural change?     

INCIDENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF HOUSING UPGRADING IN CAIRO

Cairo is a very high density metropolis, where informal multi-unit housing accounts for a large share of the housing stock. Combined with a low residential mobility rate, this argues for dwelling improvements as a key element by which lower income homeowners can improve their housing circumstances. The article reports the extent of dwelling upgrading for this group and analyzes the determinants separately of both maintenance and major improvements. The analytic model is based on prior work, adjusted to the Egyptian context and available data. The incidence of improvements appears to be lower in Cairo than in more tropical megacities. However, the findings broadly confirm a general similarity in the determinants of housing investments by lower-income Cairene owners with those of lower income owners in more tropical locations. Three factors stand out: tenure security, household income, and the stimulation effects on investment of better infrastructure and poor dwelling conditions.