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As the shock of the 2008 European financial crisis begins to subside, it is time for scholars to step back and analyze the crisis' causes and effects from a multidisciplinary vantage point. Europe in Crisis examines the current state of the European economy, society, and polity, both on the theoretical and political levels, by placing special emphasis on its current crisis. With important contributions from heterodox economists and radical social and political scientists, this innovative new edited collection seeks to evaluate past efforts and policies (mainly, since World War II), criticize the failed neoclassical/neoliberal perspectives, and offer alternative strategies and policies to Europe's socioeconomic impasse and misery.

This comprehensive volume tackles all aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions activity - including regional concentration of M&As at a global level, the impact of the economic crisis, and theoretical concepts and practical applications, This comprehensive volume tackles the issues of Mergers & Acquisitions activity - the dominant form of both Foreign Direct Investment and domestic direct investment. The volume aims to explore the concept of M&As in a manner that would be useful both to students and academics/practitioners. The subject coverage deals with the core issues and the discussion is not limited to introductory themes but deals with relevant specificities. The volume is divided in three parts, covering theregional concentration of M&As at a global level and the impact of the economic crisis, the determinants of M&As, and theoretical concepts and practical applications related to M&A activity

After the fall of the country's communist regime, Bulgaria faced great political instability, changing prime ministers eight times between 1990 and 1997. Three economic crises were associated with slow economic growth or even recession as well as high inflation rates that weakened the Bulgarian economy and discouraged inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) flows in the 1990s. The establishment of a currency board in July 1997 stabilized the economy and greatly increased foreign participation in the privatization process, leading to a major increase in IFDI flows. The entry of Bulgaria into the European Union (EU) in 2007 was a catalyst for IFDI. Bulgaria received US$ 28 billion of IFDI flows in 2007-2010, compared to only US$ 24 billion during the transition period from 1990 to 2006. A low corporate tax rate (10%) and EU membership have played a decisive role in attracting IFDI to Bulgaria.

PurposeTo investigate the trends of world foreign direct investment (FDI) flows during the last decades and to explore the reasons behind these trends and to examine the role of multinationals and their investment activities.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the statistical data of FDI flows throughout the world and on an action field research which was also based on multinationals' investment behaviour. The FDI trends and the role of multinationals are evaluated.FindingsFDI can play a key role in improving the capacity of the host country to respond to the opportunities offered by global economic integration, a goal increasingly recognized as one of the key aims of any development strategy and an increased growth rate. World FDI inflows grew rapidly and faster than world GDP and world exports during the last two decades. There was a dramatic increase in FDI over the last decade (until 2000) which was based on globalisation and economic integration, technological improvements in communications, information processing and transportation, the changing framework of international competition and the deregulation of several key sectors. There was a dramatic decrease in FDI flows after the year 2000 due to the slowdown in the world economy. M&A deals are the most important driving factors behind overall FDI flows when at least one third (up to two third) of the total FDI flows are due to the M&A cross‐border deals.Research limitations/implicationsThe research should be also be expanded in continents (for example, Asia, America) in order to examine the multinationals' investment activities and behaviour in order to conclude about the FDI trends more thoroughly.Practical implicationsMore investment interest must be given to the developing or transition countries in which (where) the flows in absolute terms are too low. Moreover, the absence of large cross‐border merger and acquisitions in these countries, can obviously be explained by the lack of the existence of significant and well‐known large companies which could have the potential to become significant world players in the sector that they belong to.Originality/valueIt is a valuable paper for scholars, entrepreneurs and multinationals who prefer to understand the reasons behind the FDI trends and/or for the governments/politicians who prefer to create a framework in order to attract FDI flows to their countries by examining the experience of other countries.

1. Post-Crisis Growth: Prospects in the European Union -- 2. Convergence Is Alive and Well in Europe -- 3. Unconventional Monetary Policy in the United States and Europe -- 4. Time to Tidy up EU Competition on Information Exchange Object Restriction Concerted Practices? -- 5. European Union Transport Policy: Post Crisis Challenges -- 6. Size of the Shadow Economies of 28 European Union Countries from 2003-2018: The Latest Development -- 7. Evaluating the Prevalence and the Working Conditions of Dependent Self-Employment in the European Union -- 8. Political Economy, Inward Foreign Direct Investment and EU Accession of the Western Balkans -- 9. Greece as a Bridge to the Most Vibrant Region of the Next Decades -- 10. The Third Hellenic Economic Adjustment Program: Success Story of Macroeconomic Stabilization or Failed Story of Economic Growth Restoration? -- 11. The Quality of Domestic Institutions as a Driver for the Initiation of Firms' Exporting in the EU Post-Crisis Period -- 12. Labor Market Duality under the Insider-Outside Theory, Labor Division, Rent-Seeking, and Clientelism: The Case of a European Union Member Country -- 13. How the Economics Profession Got it Wrong on Brexit

With the fall of centrally planned economies in the Balkans, their liberalization and the opening of their borders to free trade and capital movements, Greece became more active in the generation of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). Greece's OFDI stock increased from US$ 3 billion in 1990 to US$ 6 billion in 2000 and to US$ 38 billion in 2010. The Europeanization process of Turkey and the transition of the economies in the Balkans was accompanied by a gradual rise of FDI from Greece into those economies. More than half of Greece's OFDI stock — over US$ 20 billion in 2009 (67% of total) — is located in South-East Europe: in the Balkans, Cyprus and Turkey. While Greece's early OFDI flows were directed to the secondary sector to reduce costs, the bulk of later flows was directed to the services sector, as new markets were opened. This shift signifies the rise of major corporate players. The Greek Balkan policy, which commenced through the European Union, and the upgrading of the Athens Stock Exchange have positively affected Greece's position as a key regional investor. The expectations for sustaining this leading role, however, have been weakened recently since, due to the Greek sovereign debt crisis, Greek multinational enterprises (MNEs) disinvested US$ 1.6 billion from their FDI abroad in 2010.

In the aftermath of the devastating economic depression suffered for almost a decade, Modeling Economic Growth in Contemporary Greece assesses the conditions shaping the Greek economy's restart, discussing the effect of institutions on the business environment and highlighting the factors which are critical for achieving sustainable economic growth. The intrinsic properties of the Greek economic and business environment imply that there are country-specific factors responsible for the performance of the Greek economy, which is differentiated from its European counterparts. Despite being a member of the European Union since 1981 and one of the twelve first countries who adopted the euro, Greece has not been able to converge in crucial macroeconomic indicators with the early euro area Member States. The European stimulus package to support post COVID-19 recovery appears as a unique opportunity for Greece to develop a long-term vision and materialize reforms that will unlock the economy's true potential. This latest book in the Entrepreneurship and Global Economic Growth series is centred around the determinants of and obstacles to Greece's sustainable economic growth, presenting the macroeconomic and external environment and the dynamics of Greek economy and focuses onto internal conditions shaped by country-specific characteristics affecting labor and product markets' efficiency and the performance of institutions and production factors.