Economic crisis in the European periphery: An assessment of EMU membership and home policy effects based on the Greek experience

In this paper we examine the evidence on the impacts on the Greece economy of enhanced transfer assistance from the EMU as well as that of the domestic policies of the Greek government. A simple macroeconomic model is constructed to incorporate the issues related to the formation of the economic and financial crisis in Greece, and to analyze the impacts of Greek government's domestic policies. The model's solution is employed to highlight the outcomes that we believe could be related to EMU membership and Greek government policies after assuming membership. Our finding is that intervention by the Greek government either worsened the harmful impacts of the transfers, or altered the outcomes in a deleterious fashion; the policies which were put in place were of a nature leading unavoidably to a severe economic crisis and eventual bankruptcy.     

Public support for performing arts. Efficiency and productivity gains in eleven European countries

This paper investigates the importance of public cultural expenditure for the efficiency and productivity of the performing arts (PA) firms. To this aim, we estimate a translog production function using the stochastic frontier approach (SFA), and we obtain the estimates of both technical efficiency and its determinants for the PA firms in EU-11 countries over the period 2009–2017. The large panel data set enables the application of robust true random-effects SFA techniques, which control for noise, unobserved firms' heterogeneity and endogeneity of the inputs. Moreover, by estimating a production function, the characteristics of the production technology in the PA sector is also derived. The empirical results demonstrate that PA firms are technically inefficient, implying that the investigated firms could increase their artistic output between 32 and 42% and that decreasing returns to scale are prevalent, due to the presence of too many micro and large-scale firms in the European PA sector. In contrast to the seminal Baumol and Bowen's [5] paper, we also demonstrate that the total factor productivity (TFP) increased in the EU PA firms over the examined period. Technical efficiency, although relatively low, was the main driver of this productivity growth, as opposed to scale efficiency change or technological change, which display very small or no increases. We also find that, contrary to the common wisdom on its negative effects on firm efficiency, public spending on culture increases the efficiency of PA firms. Within this context some policy implications are discussed.     

转轨时期我国中央、地方政府的经济博弈分析

在经济转轨时期，中央与地方的博弈关系是市场化改革过程中的必然产物。在中央的一系列放权让利的改革过后，地方无论是在制度变迁还是在财政分配博弈的过程中都逐渐占据了主导地位，频繁的政策变更已经不能对中央与地方的关系加以约束，取而代之的必然是强制性的法律体系约束。     

The dimension,nature and distribution of economic insecurity in European countries: A multidimensional approach

Economic insecurity is a key well-being outcome because the anticipation of future economic distress reveals itself as a true threat to current well-being. Insecurity has been shown to affect quality of life and to change an individual’s consumption, fertility, labor supply and even political support decisions to mitigate risk. This paper provides evidence on the dimension, nature and distribution of economic insecurity for 27 European countries during a whole decade by using a multidimensional individual approach that considers both objective and subjective indicators. The young, the less educated and the unemployed living in households with dependent children have significantly higher levels of economic insecurity everywhere. However, insecurity affects the population in the middle class only in some countries but not in others, and the level of insecurity in liberal regimes is more linked to large income losses than elsewhere. The role of objective versus subjective dimensions is larger in post-transition Eastern European regimes than in long-standing capitalist countries.     

The information revolution,innovation diffusion and economic growth: an examination of causal links in European countries

Quality & Quantity - Over the last 5 decades, the economic landscape in Europe has been transformed rapidly due to innovation, digitisation of the economy, and emergence of new sources of...     

Employment protection regulation,trade unions and tenure of employment: An analysis in 23 European countries

This article focuses on the relationship between employment protection regulation (EPL), trade unions and tenure of employment. A main hypothesis is that EPL strictness tends to prolong tenure, because rigorous rules imply that remaining with the same employer gives more job security. The role of unions can be expected to be similar. These assumptions are related to issues regarding dualisation in the labour market. Data used are the European Working Conditions Survey 2010—including 23 countries and more than 18,500 employees—combined with national‐level data on EPL, unemployment, union density and collective bargaining coverage. The analyses reveal that EPL strictness and bargaining coverage are associated with longer tenure. The same goes for having an employee representative in the workplace. The institutional variables work through interactions with individual‐level variables. For example, the impact of age, which is strongly linked to tenure, increases with stricter EPL and higher bargaining coverage.     

The politics of cutback management in thirteen European countries: statistical evidence on causes and effects

The politics of fiscal consolidation in thirteen European countries are statistically analysed. Based on the political economy literature, political factors are identified that explain for the consolidation. Variables are selected representing strength of government and political orientation, and fiscal consolidation is distinguished into spending cuts and cuts in administration. The statistical analysis of political explanations for cutbacks hardly yields significant results and nor does the analysis of fiscal and economic effects of consolidation. The analysis of political effects of consolidation does lead to significant results. Some earlier political economic findings are not supported for our sample of thirteen European countries.     

The impact of foreign trade issues on economic growth in some developing countries including Iran and Turkey

The issue of foreign trade and economic growth have been on the economic agenda for centuries. Foreign trade is a facilitator of goods and services exchange in the global marketplace and is an engine of economic growth in a country. Moreover, economic growth is a means to improve the output, employment opportunities, and welfare, which in turn could make a favorable impact on the positive foreign trade balance. Economic growth is also an essential component of country competitiveness in international markets. Yet, the objective of this study is to analyze the correlation between foreign trade and economic growth in some developing countries, including Iran and Turkey, by using econometrics applications (panel co-integration method and E-views software), also resting on credible national and international publications. Thus, it is estimated in the study that foreign trade has a positive impact on economic growth, resource allocation, energy and green energy consumption, human capital development, and physical capital consumption.     

Able,willing, and knowing: the effects of HR practices on commitment and effort in 26 European countries

This study extends previous studies of human resource (HR) practices by examining how organizational commitment and work effort are related to the use of HR practices enhancing discretion and skills based on international comparative survey data from 26 European countries. By analyzing individual level data instead of the organizational level data that are examined in prior studies, this article allows investigating whether and how employee perceptions of HR practices are related to their attitudes and behavior. The multilevel analyses largely support the hypotheses that both the intensity and the consistency of these HR practices contribute to organizational commitment and work effort since they enhance the ability of employees and their willingness to cooperate and inform them about the expectations of the organization.     

Influence of technological support,skills and competencies,and learning on corporate entrepreneurship in European technology firms

In the today′s changing environment, firms are hardly competing with each other to achieve a competitive advantage that can differentiate them from others and improve their organizational performance. In this sense, it is crucial to develop corporate entrepreneurship and promote strategic variables that foster it.The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of different technological variables (top management support to technology, technological skills and technological distinctive competencies) and organizational learning on corporate entrepreneurship, and thus analyze the influence of corporate entrepreneurship on organizational performance in the context of technology firms.A sample of 160 European technology firms was selected from the database Amadeus in 2009 with CEOs as our main informants. The hypotheses studied are empirically confirmed by using a hierarchical regression model.     

Trust and corruption: The influence of positive and negative social capital on the economic development in the European Union

Why are the Scandinavian countries in the European Union significantly richer than Southern/Eastern European countries? We try to answer this question from an empirical social capital perspective. In particular, we are interested in the interplay of social trust as a positive and corruption as a negative manifestation of social capital. The opportunities to provide answers by multivariate modelling are, however, limited by several problems related to small sample size and low degrees of freedom. Regarding these problems, we test the interrelating influences between positive and negative social capital by applying a path model that accounts for Granger-like causal effects. Our empirical results, referring to a sample of up to 25 EU countries, show that corruption might harm poor European countries but is not able to affect social trust. However, corruption in itself means that resources end up in the wrong places and not in socioeconomically optimal investments. There is, therefore, a direct damaging effect of corruption on wealth. This implies that economic actors have to invest higher transaction and control costs which will bind resources to non-productive purposes and thus destroy economic wealth. Most remarkable is that the augmentation of positive social capital could work as an effective counterforce to corruption, even if it does not compensate for the economic loss caused by corruption. Thus, adding the social capital perspective may contribute to understanding present day variation in the wealth of European nations by the damaging effect of corrupt activities and/or the positive force of social trust.     

河南省城镇化与经济发展实证研究

经济发展导致人口的城镇化聚集,城镇化进一步提高经济效率,两者密不可分。本文针对河南省1980-2014年城镇人口比率与GDP数据进行实证研究,发现城镇化进程以1995年为节点呈现两阶段特征,且各阶段速度先快后慢。根据变量特征借助虚拟变量建立双曲线模型较好地解释了两者的变化关系。通过格兰杰因果关系检验发现两者互为因果关系,根据实证结果提出相关发展建议。     

湖北物流业发展与经济增长关系实证研究

应用近几年实际数据从定量的角度进行物流对经济的影响作用分析,主要采用逻辑模型进行分析判断,并使用边际效用分析以及弹性分析法具体量化物流业对湖北经济的拉动作用,在此基础上提出了发挥物流业推动作用的相关建议.     

湖北物流业发展与经济增长关系实证研究

应用近几年实际数据从定量的角度进行物流对经济的影响作用分析,主要采用逻辑模型进行分析判断,并使用边际效用分析以及弹性分析法具体量化物流业对湖北经济的拉动作用,在此基础上提出了发挥物流业推动作用的相关建议。     

中小企业经营者能力培养的经济分析

国家刚刚在1999年9月推出了《个人独资企业法》,积极鼓励个人投资兴办中小企业。但是人们在作出决策之前都会考虑自己有没有能力经营管理企业,如果还有所不足,是不是可以弥补。由此可见,想要投资企业的人都在思考一个自我能力培养的问题。为此,本文对企业经营者能力培养作出经济分析。     

2007年一季度经济形势及未来走势分析

一、2007年上半年经济走势判断进入2007年以来,我国经济增长出现了一些新特点。主要是:外贸出口大幅增长,消费活跃,投资增长趋稳,经济增长率趋高;货币供给增长加快;物价涨幅加大。在这些纷繁的表象之下,综合扩张性因素与收缩性因素,我们认为上半年经济增长基本处于高位趋稳态势     

中国工业经济与环境协调发展的经济计量分析

本文通过分析我国工业经济与环境协调发展中存在的问题,提出新的环境库兹涅茨数理模型,并结合经济计量工具对我国的工业经济与环境的协调发展情况进行评价,提出基于可持续发展的我国工业经济政策建议。 一、我国工业经济与环境协调发展中存在的问题 (1)矿产资源综合回采率低,损失浪费大。我国矿产种类较为齐全,但共伴生矿床比重大,占80％左右;特别是金属矿产中,综合矿多,单一矿少。而我国共生伴生矿综合开发     

本轮经济周期波动特征与2005年经济走势分析

近两年,我国经济在加快结构调整中保持了较快的增长势头,2003年和2004年GDP增长分别达到9．3％和9．5％,全社会固定资产投资增长高达27．7％和25．8％,出现局部经济“过热”。2004年以来,政府采取了一系列宏观调控措施并已经取得初步成效,工业生产、投资和进出口在持续高增长后增幅均有所回落,各种价格指数也出现了不同幅度的下降。2005年是宏观调控和经济发展的关键之年,投资是否会出现反弹?通货膨胀的压力是否继续存在?我国经济能否实现可持续的稳定增长已成为人们普遍关心的问题。     

浙江省区域物流与经济增长的实证研究

基于浙江省1990~2012年统计数据,运用ADL模型及格兰杰因果检验对浙江省区域物流与经济增长的相互关系进行了研究。结果表明:从长期来看,浙江省GDP、全社会货物周转量及港口货物吞吐量三者之间存在着单向的因果关系。港口货物吞吐量是全社会货物周转量增加的格兰杰原因,全社会货物周转量和港口货物吞吐量平均每增长1%,分别带动浙江省GDP增长0.8672%和0.9903%。