Suchergebnisse

In the 1980s and, in particular, in the 1990s the countries of the European Union experienced divergent developments of gross fixed capital formation. Estimating an investment function for a panel of ten countries and analyzing the paths of the determinants of investment in the countries under consideration reveals that the different development of final demand is the main factor responsible for the divergences in investment. Other factors are disparities in the decline of real interest rates and of relative prices for capital goods.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine Okun's Law in European countries by distinguishing between the transitory and the permanent effects of output changes upon unemployment and by examining the effect of labor market protection policies upon Okun's coefficients.


Design/methodology/approach
– Quarterly data for 13 European Union countries, from the second quarter of 1993 until the first quarter of 2014, are used. Panel data techniques and Mundlak decomposition models are estimated.


Findings
– Okun's Law is robust to alternative specifications. The effect of output changes to unemployment rates is weaker for countries with increased labor market protection expenditures and it is more persistent for countries with low labor market protection.


Originality/value
– The paper provides evidence that the permanent effect of output changes upon unemployment rates is quantitatively larger than the transitory impact. In addition, it provides evidence that increased labor market protection mitigates the adverse effects of a decrease in output growth rate upon unemployment.

An authoritative and wide-ranging analysis of current issues and dilemmas in the European Union's relations with the developing world. The book brings together politicians, academics and policy-makers to address recent experience and the way ahead after the EU's leading policy, the Lome Convention, expires in February 2000. Development policy in the various member states and at EU level and the prospects for furthering the international community's human rights and good governance agenda are examined in detail. This thorough assessment of one of the EU's oldest, most important and yet little known policy fields will be of use to scholars and students of development, of European integration and international relations

The aim of this paper is to analyse tax revenues and examine similarities of selected tax revenues (mainly VAT, CIT, PIT and excise duty) in the European Union countries. The analysis of the EU members concerns the period between 2003 (i.e. the year preceding the biggest enlargement of the EU) and 2012 (due to data completeness). Tax rates and the structure of tax revenues in the EU countries were compared and then the cluster analysis was applied to assess the similarity of tax revenues. The analysis suggests that the process of tax harmonization, which took place in the period considered, did not exert a significant impact on the similarity of the structure of tax revenues in the EU countries. The structure seems to be still determined by e.g. social, economic or historical factors, which influenced the tax systems creation in particular EU countries.

"Transport Policy and European Union Policy" published on by Oxford University Press.

In the 1970s Islamic financial system based on religious belief emerged in some of Muslim countries. The purpose of the Islamic financial system is just like in the case of the conventional one, to facilitate the smooth flow of funds between savers and investors. However, what is distinguishable about the Islamicfinancial system is that it is based on principles of sharia, which is a religious law of Muslims. With the share of around 80% in total assets of Islamic financial institutions, Islamic banks play a dominant role in the Islamic financial industry. They operate in over 75 countries, not only Muslim ones, but also those,where Muslim minority live. The aim of the paper is to analyse the opportunities and challenges for development of Islamic banking in the European Union countries. The analysis should give an answer to the question whether Islamic banks can have more significant presence in the European financial market in the future, than they have today.The article consists of four parts, not counting introduction and concluding remarks. The first part of the paper is a descriptive analysis of the main principles of sharia, which have impact on operations of Islamic banks. They include: prohibition of interest (riba), avoidance of uncertainty (gharar) and prohibition of trading in illegal (haram) products. Because of the necessity to comply with those principles, the instruments offered by Islamic banks must be constructed differently than conventional ones.Islamic financial instruments are briefly described in the second part of the paper. In the third section of the article the evolution and the current state of Islamic banking in the EU countries is presented.The main focus is put on the United Kingdom, since in this country Islamic banking sector is the most developed. In the fourth part prospects for development of Islamic banking in the EU are discussed.First the factors that should contribute to the development are presented. Then challenges faced by Islamic banking industry in the EU are ...

In the 1970s Islamic financial system based on religious belief emerged in some of Muslim countries. The purpose of the Islamic financial system is just like in the case of the conventional one, to facilitate the smooth flow of funds between savers and investors. However, what is distinguishable about the Islamic financial system is that it is based on principles of sharia, which is a religious law of Muslims. With the share of around 80% in total assets of Islamic financial institutions, Islamic banks play a dominant role in the Islamic financial industry. They operate in over 75 countries, not only Muslim ones, but also those, where Muslim minority live. The aim of the paper is to analyse the opportunities and challenges for development of Islamic banking in the European Union countries. The analysis should give an answer to the question whether Islamic banks can have more significant presence in the European financial market in the future, than they have today. The article consists of four parts, not counting introduction and concluding remarks. The first part of the paper is a descriptive analysis of the main principles of sharia, which have impact on operations of Islamic banks. They include: prohibition of interest (riba), avoidance of uncertainty (gharar) and prohibition of trading in illegal (haram) products. Because of the necessity to comply with those principles, the instruments offered by Islamic banks must be constructed differently than conventional ones. Islamic financial instruments are briefly described in the second part of the paper. In the third section of the article the evolution and the current state of Islamic banking in the EU countries is presented. The main focus is put on the United Kingdom, since in this country Islamic banking sector is the most developed. In the fourth part prospects for development of Islamic banking in the EU are discussed. First the factors that should contribute to the development are presented. Then challenges faced by Islamic banking industry in the EU are ...

Adopting a strong interdisciplinary approach, the author skilfully examines the politics and economics of the new innovation policy of the EU, addressing such diverse topics as research and knowledge production, the changing regime of intellectual property rights, building the information society, standard setting, risk assessment and the social sustainability of innovation. The conclusions pose many theoretical questions which will require further research, most notably the extent to which EU innovation policy underpins a European system of innovation.

Purpose: The goal of the paper was to perform a literature study, to determine the state of the theory and practice of investment valuation in the countries of the European Union which should be the starting point for further research. Design/Methodology/Approach: In this paper, an analysis of literature sources was carried out about assessing the effectiveness of investments in European Union countries. The conducted review and description of the found scientific sources is aimed at determining the current state of investment valuation practice, a description of the research carried out so far, which will allow us to determine the starting point for a new study. Findings: During preliminary research found it profoundly surprising that despite the huge potential impact of better capital allocation, there are two main problems regarding investment appraisal practices in European companies. First and foremost, a large part of even the largest European corporations do not use advanced investment appraisal techniques or apply them only to a limited extent. Secondly, yet there has not been a research into practical applications of investment appraisal methodologies that would cover the entire Single Market, i.e., the European Economic Area and Switzerland. Practical Implications: Obtained conclusions allowed us to recommend a study of the relationship between investment appraisal practice and company performance for all the countries of the European Single Market. Originality/value: Further research should identify the differences regarding the use of investment appraisal methods between countries as well as sectors. It is expected that the conclusions from projected future research will considerably broaden the knowledge about a particularly important area of corporate activity – making decisions regarding resource allocation. ; peer-reviewed

Paper read at the ESPRN Conference "Social Values, Social Policies" Tilburg University. 29-31 August 2002. ; This paper explores the relation between family values and options for social policies of representative citizens from thirty European societies, constituting member and applicant countries of the European Union. It seeks to understand the values and value orientations supporting specific family structures and options for social policies of distinct groups of nations, corresponding to the various waves of accession or application for membership to the European Union. These include European Union (EU) members identified for an IPROSEC (Improving Policy Responses and Outcomes to Socio-Economic Challenges: changing family structures, policy and practice) project according to their welfare system and wave ofEU accession as Continental (France, Germany, Italy [joined in 1951]), Universal (United Kingdom, Ireland [1973]), Latin Rim (Greece [1981], Spain [1986]) and Nordic (Sweden [1995]) countries; post-communist (Hungary [applied in 1994], Poland [ 1994], Estonia [ 1995]) and Mediterranean (Malta [ 1990]) applicant countries (Hantrais 2001); and the remaining countries taken together: members, applicant and non-applicant countries of the European Union. ; peer-reviewed