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The paper provides an exploratory analysis of regional dynamics among 264 NUTS2 EU-27 regions over the period 1992-2006. Seven different regional indicators are analyzed including wages, household expenditures, retail sales, investments, productivity, GDP, & GDP adjusted for international purchasing power differences. Several aspects of regional dynamics are studied such as convergence, polarization, role of international component, overall mobility, & individual mobility of Czech regions. Different methods are employed including some traditional techniques such as Gini coefficient, Theil decomposition, or kernel density estimates but also more innovative measures based on the pair-wise comparisons of regions. The results suggest strong regional convergence in relative ratios hand in hand with increasing absolute gaps among European regions. The analysis also indicates a significant bipolarity in the investigated distributions & a major role of international component in the process of European regional development. From the Czech regions, only Praha & Stredni Cechy recorded some upward mobility in the European regional rank distributions, while the relative positions of all other units deteriorated. Adapted from the source document.

Slovak Republic entered the ERM II in the end of 2005 whereby it came nearer to its strategic objective -- joining the euro area. In this paper we try to answer two questions. Section 1 examines the features and risks of the EMU. Is EMU an optimum currency area and what is the OCA scorecard of euro area? We conclude that euro area -- in spite of its indisputable benefits -- is rather a premature monetary union with asymmetric monetary policy effects and other policy asymmetries. Section 2 analyzes possible effects of the EMU on the Slovak economy. We examine the experience of other countries and compare their real convergence to average level of euro area before and after joining the EMU. The readiness of Slovak economy for euro adoption, possible obstacles on this uneasy way and the connection between income level, price level and real convergence are analysed at the end of the paper. Adapted from the source document.

The economic development of the Czech Republic & Slovakia after the split of former Czechoslovakia in 1993 shows some important differences, caused by different economic policy & the starting level. The convergence of the Slovak economic level to the Czech one was very fast after the World War II, due to the massive reallocation of resources (the transfer of resources in favor of Slovakia represented 11% of the Slovak GDP). The Slovak economy adjusted to the lower economic level after the split by sinking real wages & by depreciation of the Slovak koruna, so that the ULC are now the lowest among the Central European countries. Slovakia enjoyed very fast growth of GDP in recent years fluctuating from 7 to 10%, while in the Czech Republic it reached from 6 to 7%. The abundant inflow of FDI & economic reforms helped to speed the real convergence in Slovakia, which continued fluently after a deep fall accompanying the split of Czechoslovakia. In 2007, the Slovak GDP per capita measured in PPS reached 84% of the Czech one. The common challenge for both economies is to overcome the one-sided orientation on cost/price competitiveness based on low wages & pass over to the qualitative competitive advantage, based on the innovations & production of high quality goods & services. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with district level electoral competition in Canada & Great Britain. Analyzing fragmentation, degree of competition & district heterogeneity of party support, using a calibrated set of research tools (Laakso-Taagepera's N, graphical methods, second-first loser ratio (SFLR) & Gini index as measure of heterogeneity), we argue that in respect to the Duvergerian agenda, Great Britain & Canada now represent proximate (and not -- as before -- distal) cases. This convergence has been accompanied by the departure of both electoral arenas from the former status quo in at least one of the dimensions under observation. We briefly discuss possible reasons for that departure, mostly exogenous of electoral rules, stressing their increasing importance for the Duvergerian agenda in general. Adapted from the source document.

The paper evaluates some policy dilemmas the Czech monetary policy will face on the way towards adopting common currency. The assessment of the inflation criterion concentrates on the potential clash with so called real convergence showing that alleged negative influences on the catching-up process seem to be exaggerated. The reasons leading to some scepticism about the ERM-II arrangement are further explained with distinction placed on eligibility & regime selection motives when applying for the ERM-II membership. Finally, the pros & cons of inflation targeting are discussed from the perspective of promoting the fulfilment of Maastricht requirements. Attention is paid to the issue of optimal exit form inflation targeting having in mind the priority of entering Eurozone with a proper conversion rate. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

There is no historical precedent for the institutional set-up of the eurozone. However, it is an arrangement that could not and cannot escape the universal laws and principles of economics. This paper tries to look generally at the consequences of this integration project from the perspective of the former monetary hegemon, Germany, whose hegemony largely ended as a result of the monetary integration method chosen. Those consequences are of course more apparent in bad times than they were in good times. We then specifically examine the problem of convergence and divergence within a currency area and discuss the issue of competitive devaluation. In the conclusion we try to formulate the fundamental dilemma faced by the former monetary hegemon. Its solution will affect those inside and outside the integration project. Adapted from the source document.

The paper deals with the monetary policy of the European Central Bank & its effects on economic development of the Czech economy & other new members of EU from the perspective of Post-Keynesian monetary economics. In the first part the basic principles of contemporary Post-Keynesian monetary theory of relative endogeneity of money are shortly presented. The second part concentrates on the Post-Keynesian criticism of the institutional arrangement of the ECB & its monetary policy. The closing part treats issues concerning potential effects of the policy of the ECB in the given institutional framework on economic development of the Czech economy & economies of other less developed members of EU after joining the Eurozone. Possible adverse effects on the process of real convergence are discussed & alternative policies eliminating this danger are presented. Adapted from the source document.

Empirical research on the differences between unit values in the EU's trade with the Czech Republic & the intra-EU average has shown a significant changes. The comparative level of manufacturing products imported from the Czech republic has increased, the comparative level of products exported to the Czech republic has decreased. The price-gaps, inherited from the communist regime have been substantially reduced. Most remarkable changes of the comparative prices took place in trade with products of metalworking industries. The favorable development of price relations in the Czech foreign trade has been an important element underlying balance of payments performance, it has contributed to the nominal & real improvements of Czech krown & should play an important role in the process of convergence. The analysis is based on Eurostat Comext Database. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

This article deals with the nexus between organized crime and terrorism in the region of post-Soviet Chechnya, and the primary goal is to show the connection between the phenomenon of organized crime and non-state armed actors who are generally labelled as terrorists. As a framework for the analysis, we chose the 'Crime-Terror Nexus' typology of Tamara Makarenko. As organized crime and terrorism are interconnected in Chechnya, the organized crime groups in post-Soviet Chechnya usually employ terrorist tactics (and vice versa) for operational purposes. However, in some periods we can find examples of a strong convergence in which criminal and terrorist organizations could merge into a single entity that initially displays characteristics of both types of groups simultaneously. The article also shows that it is very difficult to categorize some Chechen actors, especially those involved in terrorist activities. Adapted from the source document.

The paper examines the sources of economic growth in the ten new member states of the European Union (EU-10) & in previous member states (EU-15) as a whole. Special attention is devoted to the Czech republic, both from macroeconomic point of view & from the view of nine industries. For the analyses is used growth accounting method, where factors of production are labor, capital & total factor productivity. With the exception of the Czech Republic & EU-15 the reconstruction of capital stock was needed. We have used perpetual inventory method. The analyses has shown, that the main factor of economic growth in EU-10 was total factor productivity, mainly in the Baltic states. In the Czech Republic the main driving force of macroeconomic total factor productivity was manufacturing industry. The fast growing total factor productivity in EU-10 was the main factor of convergence to EU-15. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.