Eu widening to the East: Must latin America be concerned?

The pending widening of the European Union to the East has revived concerns in Latin America that its trade and foreign direct investment relations with the EU may suffer as a result. Trade patterns suggest, however, that Latin America's exports to the EU are complementary to the exports of Central and Eastern European countries and the new investment opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe appear to be inducing additional foreign direct investment, rather than causing its diversion.     

Energy and oil in Eastern Europe— Status and prospects

The energy economies of the states in Eastern Europe—East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania—are in a state of transition.¹ This is just one aspect of their overall transition from communism to more liberal political and economic systems. Future developments of the energy sectors in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union will have important implications for world oil and energy market developments, since these countries comprise, as a group, the world's largest oil and gas producers, and they are the second largest energy consumers in the world.     

Enlargement and the Textiles,Clothing and Footwear Industry

The textiles, clothing and footwear (TCF) industry is a labour intensive industry, strongly determined by globalization and easy relocation to low‐cost countries. Hence also in the European Union this industry is relatively more important in the low‐wage regions of the EU‐Southern periphery. With the envisaged enlargement, however, these countries fear a further shift of the sector to Central and Eastern Europe as these countries still have a comparative advantage in terms of low labour costs. The present article investigates whether this fear is justified, looking at three main aspects: first at the position and history of the TCF sector in the European Union and its role in the EU periphery, second at the sector in the Central and Eastern accession countries, and third at gobalization issues. The second aspect is dealt with in great detail, as development trends in the Central and East European countries are important and telling. Much has happened during the 15‐year (and more) period between the collapse of communism and the EU membership in this region, most important the integration to the EU by the means of trade, in particular outward processing trade. These developments mainly seem to determine future trends in an enlarged Europe. Overall however, future prospects have to be seen in a global context, strongly influencing the sector via changes in global trade policies.     

Endogenous tariffs and economic transformation

There is a widespread consensus that trade policy reforms in the successor states of the former Soviet Union in general and in Russia in particular are subject to major obstacles which are larger than in Central and Eastern European transformation countries. The following paper discusses some crossroad decisions facing the implementation of Russian trade policies and analyses the major external constraints facing the Russian economy in this regard. Paper presented at the German-Russian Conference on “New Developments in Economic Theory and Policy”, 5–7 October 1994, organised by the Institut für Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaften at the University of Bonn and convened by the Faculty of Economics, Humboldt University Berlin. The paper reports on research undertaken in a project on the prerequisites for integrating the former Soviet Union into the world economy. Financial support received from the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Stiftung is gratefully acknowledged.     

How can Eastern Europe help American manufacturers?

The end of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States will definitely increase Western involvement in the former East Bloc countries. Recent emphasis has been placed on either developing Eastern markets or using inexpensive human capital to manufacture goods to be sold in the West. A third option does exist: the use of Eastern knowledge and technology in the West. Application of this knowledge and technology, currently not feasible in the former East Bloc because of a deficient infrastructure and lack of incentives, could be practical in the fertile environment of the West. Western firms are advised to catch up with their Japanese competitors in taking advantage of the low-risk opportunities that the break up of the Soviet Union has made available. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

关于战后美国对欧洲一体化政策问题的几点思考

第二次世界大战行将结束之际,在西欧出现的欧洲联合一体化运动,是战后欧洲特定的历史条件下形成的自然历史进程。美国积极支持欧洲一体化,则是从"全球争霸"的战略利益出发,具有长期的战略目标,即传播美国的价值观,推动欧洲走自助、自立、共同发展的道路,帮助美国分担责任,并把自己纳入到大西洋联盟的框架内等。同时,也具有遏制苏联、遏制德国的直接动因。总之,利己主义是美国支持欧洲一体化发展的关键因素,这应该是相关问题研究的主线。     

China＇s Foreign Trade Strategy

Profile of route map In 1949,right after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC),overall economic blockage and embargo imposed by other countries,except the Soviet Union and eastern European countries,separated China from the global economic and trade community.In such a context,China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) was born in May 1952 to facilitate non-governmental trade with other countries,Japan in particular.     

Trade relations with the Communist countries

After the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan is the second largest trade partner of the Communist countries as a whole and of the Soviet Union and the largest partner of the People’s Republic of China. It has only been in recent years that Japan gained this formidable position in the trade with the East.     

Foreign direct investment in Central and Eastern Europe

Foreign direct investment is an important catalyst for the economic changes in transition economies offering host countries external resources, technology, management, and access to foreign markets. It is therefore high on the public policy agenda in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union and figures prominently among assistance activities at the bilateral and multilateral level. This article analyses the legal and institutional framework and the economic performance of foreign direct investment in fourteen European economies in transition at the beginning of 1993.     

International effects of German unification

The merger of the two German states brings together countries with divergent economic systems, different trade orientations and a rift in terms of wealth. Transforming the East German system into a social market economy raises enormous internal and external adjustment problems in a period in which West Germany already faces the challenges of the EC 1992 project and European Monetary Union. German unification reinforces concentration tendencies and protectionist tendencies that will contribute to imperfect competition processes in Europe and the global economy.     

Business Teaching in the Era of Perestroika

The reform of economy has brought the problem of training personnel quickly for the requirements of market economy in the Soviet Union. Because marketing, especially international marketink education has been a neglected, or occasionally even prohibited side of economic education it has a real demand. But this should not lead to the overemphasis of this area at the expense of other sides of business education. Against this background, I shall try to describe some basic issues of developing higher business teaching in the Soviet Union. Because of the shortages in eeneral business education and its importance even from the viewpoint of teaching in international business, I start with the general issues and deal with international business teaching later. Most arguments raised concern analogously the smaller Eastern European countries, too.     

The relationship between CMEA and EC

In early 1970 responsibility for the conclusion of trade agreements was transferred from the individual member states to the EC. Since then the EC has been recognized throughout the world as a contractual partner in its own right within this area. Only the Soviet Union and the CMEA are being difficult accepting these changes in responsibility since 1970. This means that in trade between the EC countries and the state trade countries there exists at present a situation without treaties. Where do the problems lie? What models offer themselves for overcoming this situation?     

East Asian FDI in Europe and Germany

During the 1980s foreign direct investment (FDI) expanded remarkably. Simultaneously, the regional structure of foreign direct investment changed. This relationship is discernible among industrial countries, as well as between industrial and developing countries. Of particular importance is the interface of foreign trade relations between the “Triad” and the economically dynamic East Asian and Pacific area. This article highlights, in particular, foreign investment coming from Eastern Asia into Europe and Germany.     

Soviet natural gas — A threat to Western Europe’s security?

The gas-pipeline deal planned between the Soviet Union and several Western European countries has met with objections from the US government, which fears that Western Europe could be politically blackmailed as a result of its increasing dependence on energy supplies from the USSR. Are these fears justified? Are there any realistic alternatives open to the countries concerned?     

中国与中东欧16国贸易效率和潜力研究——基于非效率项随机前沿引力模型

贸易效率和贸易潜力是衡量国际贸易有效程度、确定未来贸易发展方向的重要指标。基于非效率项随机前沿引力模型,分别在"16+1"和"16+1+10"背景下测算了中国与中东欧16国的贸易效率和潜力,结果表明:中国与中东欧国家的双边贸易效率较高,但贸易潜力不显著;中国对中东欧国家的出口贸易效率低于双边贸易效率,出口贸易潜力超过双边贸易潜力;出口贸易潜力在"16+1+10"背景下较"16+1"背景下有显著提高。由此,提出进一步落实"16+1"合作机制、扩大进口、改进交通运输设施的建议,以期实现贸易潜力,提高贸易效率。     

The Cuban market:: Opportunities and barriers

To open our feature on business in Cuba, Kaplowitz presents a brief overview of the dramatic changes in the Cuban market since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989. Until 1988, 85% of Cuban two-way trade was with the former Soviet Union, but by 1993 the COMECON nations accounted for only 20% of Cuban trade. The resulting chaos has created openings for Latin American, European and Canadian businesses to fill the investment void in Cuba. Kaplowitz lays out how recent developments have affected Cuban laws on foreign investment and trade, reviews which foreign companies are barkening to Cuba's call, and what the opportunities might be for U.S. businesses should relations between the two countries improve over the long-term. Her article is the first of seven articles in this feature.     

The Salmon-Agreement Between Norway and the European Union—A Welfare Economic Analysis

The relationship between tariff policy and anti-dumping use is empirically examined. Using a panel dataset of 56 countries over the period of 1995–2007, the effects of tariff liberalization on anti-dumping use are found to vary across world regions. For European countries, as well as developed North American and Latin American countries, a lower tariff rate appears to induce more use of anti-dumping measures, which emerge as a protection tool among trade liberalization regimes. In contrast, a reduction in a tariff rate leads to lower anti-dumping use in developing North American and Latin American countries and in developed Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries. In terms of initiating anti-dumping action, developed countries are likely to be more sensitive than developing countries to tariff policy change in most regions of the world.     

Monetary policy spillovers and currency crisis in comparative perspective: East Asia before the 1997 crisis and Eastern Europe after tapering

This paper estimates the possibility of currency crisis in Eastern Europe that can be triggered by monetary policy change in the key currency countries, such as tapering measure. We examine the crisis possibility in the five Eastern European nations—the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania—by performing a comparative analysis with East Asian countries before the 1997 currency crisis. For the analysis, we estimate how much the exchange rate deviates from the estimated equilibrium exchange rate, as well as the synchronicity of currency value towards some of the key currencies by creating market pressure index. The results can be explained in two ways. First, the market pressure in the Eastern Europe after 2012 is smaller than they were in East Asia before 1997. The crisis possibility especially intensifies when more the exchange rate deviates from the equilibrium value. Second, the monetary policy change in the key currency countries does not greatly affect the crisis possibility in Eastern Europe when their local currencies have the strong synchronisation with euro. Therefore, Eastern European countries show strong synchronicity towards the euro, so the crisis possibility may be alleviated if the Eurozone continues its expansionary monetary policy.     

EU integration of transition countries: Overlap of requisites and remaining tasks

Transition and reorientation towards Western Europe have been the two decisive challenges for the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) since 1989. Whereas in the early 1990s the transition from the central planning system to a market economy was the main goal of economic policies, the requirements for closer integration with the Western European countries have since then increasingly gained in importance. How do the two processes overlap? What requirements remain to be met before the candidate countries can join the European Union?