Suchergebnisse

The economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have always been characterized by economic volatility and social disparities. The recent 'Arab Spring' wave of protests has increased political uncertainty and instability in the region, and this timely book provides an in-depth analysis of the subsequent changes from economic, political and environmental perspectives. The international contributors provide a comprehensive overview of the situation in the Mediterranean Basin, addressing a wide range of contributing factors including: -productivity and innovation -trade and foreign investment -changing geo-political equilibria -labour markets and the role of women -the environment, climate change and energy sourcing. The book concludes that the key problems shared by MENA countries are the uncertain economic prospects coupled with high levels of unemployment - a combination that, through different channels, limits technological and innovative capacities. This book will prove an enlightening read for scholars, researchers and students in various academic fields including development economics, development studies, political economy, international politics and Islamic studies.

Today's European Union is in an identity crisis as it seems to be losing its points of reference. The principles that upheld its creation are being increasingly questioned around the world and within the EU itself. Its chances to survive hinge upon its ability to deliver at home and abroad, without abandoning its values and principles but rather adapting and re-launching them. This volume offers policy options on key questions for the future of the EU: How to scale-up its role abroad? How to benefit from new partners without severing ties with traditional allies such as the US? How to contain Eurosceptic forces by reducing inequalities? And how to reinforce the euro while aiming at more sustainable and balanced growth?

The issue of the location of Foreign Direct Investment is receiving a renewed interest in the literature since developing countries have now started to compete for the attraction of foreign capital. In particular, the European Union is at the centre of a region where strong integration dynamics are in place, and where the 'peripheries' i.e. Central and Eastern Europe and the South Mediterranean shore, are taking advantage of an increasing presence of European multinationals. The full implications of such dynamics, for both the European Union and the bordering countries, are yet to be fully understood given the complex issues behind the detfirminants of FDI location. At this purpose, we will exploit two unique databases, constructing a panel probit model of FDI detfirminants of more than 3,500 European multinationals having invested in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean over the 1990-1997 period in 48 NACE-3 different industries. We will then discuss the policy implications for the European Union and for its neighbouring countries of those FDI detfirminants.

"Productivity is an essential concept in almost every field related to Economics and Management. As Paul Krugman wrote in \The Age of Diminishing Expectations (1994)" \Productivity isn't everything, but in the long run it is almost everything. A country's ability to improve its standard of living over time depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker." As we slowly exit { at the time of this writing { the nightmare of the 2020 COVID- 19 pandemic, enhancing productivity is even more critical. The crisis has battered global economic activity in an unprecedented way. Entire sectors have been forced to cease trading, and unemployment has risen to record levels. Governments, central banks and international organisations have responded promptly and massively to the shock, sheltering firrms and employees from its impact. This will, however, inevitably further slow aggregate productivity, at least in the short run. Thus, the debate on how to raise productivity is again in the headlines, and that is the subject of this book. We believe that any useful insight must be based on detailed granular information compiled at the level of the firm. To that end we will draw from research and the dataset produced by CompNet1, a large European research initiative that the authors founded a decade ago."

We leverage on important findings in social psychology to build a behavioral theory of protest vote. An individual develops a feeling of resentment if she loses income over time while richer people do not, or if she does not gain as others do, i.e. when her relative deprivation increases. In line with the Intergroup Emotions Theory, this feeling is amplified if the individual identifies with a community experiencing the same feeling. Such a negative collective emotion, which we define as aggrievement, fuels the desire to take revenge against traditional parties and the richer elite, a common trait of populist rhetoric. The theory predicts higher support for the protest party when individuals identify more strongly with their local community and when a higher share of community members are aggrieved. We test this theory using longitudinal data on British households and exploiting the emergence of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in Great Britain in the 2010 and 2015 national elections. Empirical findings robustly support theoretical predictions. The psychological mechanism postulated by our theory survives the controls for alternative non-behavioral mechanisms (e.g. information sharing or political activism in local communities).