Suchergebnisse

This article is dedicated to the German policy towards the EU enlargement. Its history as well as the current German policy towards prospective enlargements are analyzed in this paper. The article offers party-political and sociological analysis of Germany`s attitude towards the EU enlargement, also the reasons for it are determined. FRG supported all of the European Community and European Union enlargements. This line is being continued, but nowadays only step to step approach is being supported. Germany's motives to the EU enlargement are based on the liberal concept of the common security. The main goals of this policy are the including of European countries into the Western community of developed countries (the EU), the extension of the stability and security area. The economic integration is also very important for Germany. The key priority of the EU enlargement is the Western Balkan region (the so called "Europeanisation" of Western Balkans). This process is being supported by political elites of the region and by the European Union itself. It is recognized, that the Europeanisation of Western Balkans was used as a sample for the Eastern Partnership Program. Without consideration of the Russian factor, though, this strategy towards the post-Soviet countries has many weaknesses. But the EU-membership for the Eastern Partnership members is not excluded.

This study examined the impact of indirect taxes on economic growth of Nigeria, utilizing time series data spanning a thirty-four year period, from 1981 to 2014. The data collected from secondary sources, were analyzed and tested for unit root, using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test. The residuals, whose unit root are usually tested at level, were found to be stationary while all other variables, such as the Value Added Tax (VAT), Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and Custom and Excise Duties (CED), except the Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP), were stationary at second difference, suggesting a long run relationship. Consequently, the study utilized the Error Correction Model to evaluate the impact of VAT, PPT and CED on the RGDP. The findings revealed that VAT and PPT exert a positive and significant relationship on the RGDP. It was also revealed that CED of two-period lags has a positive relationship with RGDP and VAT of two-period lags showing a negative but significant relationship with RGDP. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that some caution on the part of the government is required to identify all administrative loopholes for linkages to plug and to continue to maximize the contribution of VAT revenue to economic growth. This is important when it is realized that any action taken on VAT, as it relates to RGDP will take a year to become effective while taking two years to slow down the economy. In addition, and to achieve an optimum policy thrust, there must be commitment and honesty on the part of the agents of VAT., PPT., and CED with respect to its collection and payment ; special remuneration, training and retraining of these agents, all in an attempt to enhance impact of these taxes on economic growth.

Transition economies offer a test case for concepts and theories, for broader ideas and for the methods of scientific enquiry, but also for the multiplicity of ideological interpretations. This volume addresses the major issues of transformation, institutional design, the redistribution paradigm and the macroeconomic decisions to be made.

ABSTRACTIn the extensive literature on the rules versus discretion debate three related, but logically distinct, areas of debate are frequently confused: the active versus passive policy debate, the rules versus discretion debate proper, and the open-loop (i.e. fixed) rule versus closed-loop (i.e. contingent) rule debate. Section 2 of this paper examines the nature of and interrelations between these three areas of debate. In section 3 the contributions of economic analysis to the debate are explored in an apolitical framework, in particular, the arguments for rules proposed by Friedman and Kydland and Prescott are assessed. Section 4 extends this framework to take into account the political dimension and the rules versus discretion debate is viewed as a cost-benefit problem involving both political and economic factors. A general conclusion is that since the rules versus discretion debate is an exercise in political economy, the debate cannot be properly assessed in the sterile apolitical framework of pure economic analysis.

China's rising profile in world economic affairs is beyond dispute. This article explores several ways to think about China's experience as a latecomer, offering a preliminary assessment of its development trajectory and the evolving nature of its foreign economic relations. In particular, the analysis rejects the view that China is emerging as the hub of a regional economic order in East Asia that is increasingly cohesive and independent vis-à-vis other regions of the world. Alternatively, the article highlights the promise of research that focuses on the role of Chinese economic activity within global commodity chains and how this particular form of cross-border integration affects interdependence among nation-states at multi-continental distances.