Draghi’s démarche and the nightmare of the Bundesbank (by Jan Toporowski; pp. 1-2) Keywords: monetary policy, monetary union, euro, bonds’ buyout Countries covered: EU Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Trade does not drive global growth (by Leon Podkaminer; pp. 3-8) Keywords: global growth, global trade, VEC Countries covered: The World Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy, International Trade A note on Kazakhstan’s Oil Fund (by Vasily Astrov; pp. 9-14) Keywords: sovereign wealth, oil revenue Countries covered: Kazakhstan Topics: Sectoral studies ...more

Summary This paper looks at the changing role of the EU-27-based multinational companies in the global economy as compared with the main regions of the world. It makes conclusions reflecting on the framework conditions of various global development scenarios defined in the framework an international research project of the Seventh Framework Programme of the EU, ‘AUGUR’ (http://www.augurproject.eu/). First we summarize the findings of recent research on corporate internationalization and international sourcing strategies. Then we turn to the analysis of FDI balance of payments statistics, ma...more

(Report based on Background Study for European Competitiveness Report 2012, see http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/industrial-competitiveness/competitiveness-analysis/european-competitiveness-report/index_en.htm) Summary The ongoing internationalization of production has altered the economic landscape. Many products used to be produced locally using inputs drawn largely from the domestic economy, which implied that most of the value chains or production processes used to be located in the country where a firm had its headquarters. Technological development has facilitated the geogra...more

The recent economic downturn The decline in GDP during the recession has been concentrated in manufacturing and construction and triggered significant (though smaller) declines in basic services (distribution, hotels and restaurants, and transport). The decline in manufacturing production was particularly strong in Germany, while in Spain and Ireland as well as the Baltic states there was a pronounced decline in construction, which had expanded markedly in these countries over the years preceding the recession. Just as in previous economic downturns in the EU, the recent recession has h...more

The share of knowledge-intensive services and products in total output and demand and in the production of advanced, but also less advanced or emerging economies, has steadily increased over time and especially so for the knowledge-intensive services. This ‘quaternization’ of the economies not only points towards the rising shares of services but also stresses the role of knowledge-intensive services and their growing importance as sources of innovation and technology and as inputs into the manufacturing process. First the study documents the important role played by services in the EU as comp...more

Higher global grain output but still fairly high food prices (by Zdenek Lukas; pp. 1-4) Keywords: agricultural production, demand for food, food prices, biofuels Countries covered: Wider Europe Topics: Sectoral studies The speed of catch-up depends on human capital (by Roman Stöllinger; pp. 5-9) Keywords: catch-up, human capital, growth accounting, threshold regressions Countries covered: non-specific Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Two transitions: a brief on analyses and policies for MENA and CESEE (by Vladimir Gligorov; pp. 10-12) Keywords: transition, ...more

Poland: new government, but not-so-new policy? (by Leon Podkaminer; pp. 1-2 ) Keywords: fiscal policy, fiscal consolidation Countries covered: Poland Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Banks in Poland should be under domestic control (by Stefan Kawalec; pp. 3-10) Keywords: banking system ownership, deleveraging Countries covered: Poland Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy; Sectoral studies Bulgaria: fiscal space and competitiveness (by Vladimir Gligorov and Michael Landesmann; pp. 11-17) Keywords: competitiveness, fiscal policy Countries covered: Bulgaria ...more

Supply-demand imbalanced drive food prices (by Zdenek Lukas; pp. 1-6) Keywords: agricultural production, food supply and demand, food prices, inflation Countries covered: EU, New EU Member States Topics: Sectoral studies; Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy The gas and electricity sectors of the Western Balkan countries (by Vasily Astrov and Doris Hanzl-Weiss; pp. 7-12) Keywords: electricity sector, gas sector Countries covered: SEE Topics: Sectoral Studies; Regional Development Recent problems with private pension funds in Poland (by Lech Keller-Krawczyk; pp. 13-16) Keywords: pe...more

The objective of this study is to analyse employment developments in the gas and electricity sectors in seven Western Balkan Contracting Parties of the Energy Community. These are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99. In addition, the impact of the liberalization of the respective markets is examined (quantitatively and qualitatively) and the most likely trends for the future development are identified....more

Hungary: taking stock (by J. Kornai; pp. 1-12) Keywords: economic policy, reform Countries covered: Hungary Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Developments in trade and FDI in services in the Visegrad countries (by O. Pindyuk; pp. 13-20) Keywords: trade, services, FDI Countries covered: Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia Topics: International Trade, Competitiveness and FDI The labour market in Serbia: an assessment (by V. Gligorov, K. Ognjenovic, R. Stehrer and H. Vidovic; pp. 21-27) Keywords: labour market, unemployment Countries covered: Serbia Topics: Labour...more