Suchergebnisse

Since the 1970s, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council which is composed of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman) members succeeded to have economic development through their natural resource endowment. Nevertheless, starting from the 2000s, they have been struggling with local and international economic and political shocks. It became indispensable to diversify their economies to protect their economies from unexpected external shocks. Islamic financial instruments, particularly sukuk offers alternative solutions to these countries. In this vein, this study focuses on sukuk and its possible role in the macroeconomic performance and sustainable economic growth of the GCC. As a relatively new Islamic financial instrument, sukuk was first issued in 2001-2002 for drawing funds from international funds. Since then, sukuk became one of the most crucial Islamic financial instrument in passing 20 years. The aim of this study is to pinpoint the benefits of sukuk practices for the the GCC economies and analyze how sukuk can contribute to the economic growth in the member countries. The anaysis will be based on the case study. It is concluded that sukuk market has a great potential to contribute to the macroeconomic performance of the GCC. Development of sukuk markets in the GCC will not only promote the financial inclusion but also induce economic growth.

The article is devoted to analyzing various aspects of the impact of Brexit consequences on the states of the Scandinavian-Baltic region and the prospects for relations with them. It is noted that Brexit may lead to a slowdown in the economic growth of the countries of the region, but it will not be significant. At the same time, given the small scale of the economies and their dependence on the external economic situation, the Baltic countries will experience a relatively greater negative impact than the highly developed innovative economies of the Nordic states. Revision of the priorities for the EU funding will also lead to a decrease in subsidies within the framework of the cohesion policy and the implementation of infrastructure projects, which can be painful for the economies of the Baltic states. A change in the direction of migration flows from these countries is also highly likely. As for security and defense cooperation, changes are unlikely here, since the UK has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to the principles of collective defense within NATO. However, a reduction in the number of channels of interaction and coordination of positions in international affairs (as a natural consequence of withdrawal from EU political institutions) is likely to intensify UK participation in other formats of regional political and defense cooperation (NB+1, JEF, NORDEFCO, etc.).

AbstractAnti‐globalization sentiments have risen significantly in developed economies, impacting the outcome of national elections in the US and the BREXIT referendum in the United Kingdom. It has also led to tariff escalations and trade wars, especially between the US and China. These developments run contrary to the conventional wisdom that globalization has positively Impacted the global economy and that the distribution of gains has been in favor of developed economies. This paper argues that it is the incomplete implementation of the main pillars of globalization that has created rising discontent in developed countries. Conceived as the process of integration of goods, capital, technology and labor, globalization was premised on free movement of goods and factors of production within and across countries as well on the assumption that factors of production would be perfect substitutes everywhere. The paper posits that it is the immobility of labor across and within countries that has led to the globalization‐induced dislocations in some developed economies. Across countries, artificial immigration barriers restrict labor movement while within countries, labor market rigidities and absence of perfect substitution in the labor market constrain the migration of labor from the declining to the booming sectors of the economy creating large income inequalities. Implications of the foregoing for the future of globalization and Africa's export‐led industrialization are presented.

Questo contributo presenta, sinteticamente, il sistema del cibo di Torino come oggetto di riflessione e spazio di azione da due punti di vista, strettamente interconnessi. In primo luogo, il sistema del cibo di Torino (inteso in una logica multiscalare che tiene insieme il livello urbano e quello territoriale metropolitano) viene analizzato in quanto filiera economica, costituita da un insieme complesso di attori, risorse, spazi, flussi e relazioni che attengono alla produzione, trasformazione, distribuzione, consumo e smaltimento di cibo. La filiera agro-alimentare intercetta la città e il territorio producendo molteplici economie urbane, molte delle quali capaci di migliorare la sostenibilità ambientale, la giustizia e l'inclusione sociale del sistema stesso. Inoltre, queste economie rappresentano sempre più una leva fondamentale nella costruzione simbolica e materiale della Torino post-industriale. In secondo luogo, il sistema alimentare di Torino viene letto come spazio di politiche (urbane e territoriali) che, negli ultimi anni, si muovono nella direzione di strategie integrate e partecipate, le quali rappresentano anche un'occasione preziosa di contaminazione e reciproca valorizzazione tra le economie del cibo e gli aspetti socioculturali ad esso sottesi. Le riflessioni qui presentate vanno lette all'interno del più ampio progetto di Atlante del cibo di Torino Metropolitana, strumento di analisi, rappresentazione e comunicazione del sistema del cibo urbani e territoriale.

Extensive usage, new designs, rapid upgrades and short life-spans of electronic devices has resulted in ever growing generation of electronic waste (e-waste) worldwide. Burgeoning volumes of e-waste are becoming a global issue of greatconcern with developing and poor economies rapidly catching up with developed nations. This article presents an overview of regulatory measures being developed and operated across Europe, Asia, Oceania, Americas and Africa.Developed economies are more likely to have e-waste regulations and enforceable management systems in place but are relatively inefficient in e-waste collection as compared to poor and developing nations. E-waste collection occurs through channels broadly described as formal and informal sectors. The formal collection occurs largely in developed economies often managed by waste management services operating within national or local e-waste regulations. Informal collection in Africa, China, India and other Asian countries encompasses a range of unregulated and unreported collection arrangements including door to door brokers between households and mid-level scrap dealers, dismantlers and repairers. The opportunities and challenges for the management of e-waste remain complex and vary depending on the local political, cultural and socio-economic waste management issues. With recycling rates still below 20%, these need to evolve further for environmentally and economically sustainable management of e-waste.

The paper provides a conceptual framework of the Special Issue by theorising and analysing the evolving nature of capitalism in emerging economies and the European periphery today. The conventional conceptual tools of comparative capitalism provide a useful structure for the analysis but have not been up to the task of capturing the changing nature of capitalism in the globalised world, in particular the rise of the emerging powers as well as their current crises. Neither do the conventional tools allow one to capture the developments in the political economies of the European periphery since the Eurozone crisis and the advent of austerity policy. In order to adequately assess these developments we need to rethink the comparative capitalism framework in the global context. To do so, we propose a more dynamic conceptual approach better suited to capturing the changing nature of political economies in and beyond the OECD world. We build upon Uwe Becker's open Varieties of Capitalism framework, among other approaches. Our theoretical conceptualization highlights five aspects: 1) the role of the state as a central force organising the market 2) patrimonialism, understood as a distinct structural mode of political-economic organisation based on clientelism, patronage and informal relations between actors 3) policies and political institutions 4) the role of ideas, and 5) pressures from globalisation and economic crises. ; Published version

One of the main priorities of the socio-economic policy of the state in the conditions of globalization and instability of the competitive environment is the formation of a competitive economy. The competitiveness of economies is looked at from the point of view for the achievement of positive results as well as the development of society. The task of theoretical generalization of the experience and leaders of the present day, as well as the development of effective development strategies, all contribute to the growth of economies. At the present stage of development, one of the most urgent issues is the fulfillment of this task. It consists of ensuring the economic, political and military security of the states as the basis for the competitive development of the economies of the countries. Attempts to change geopolitics, are the forms and means of resolving international issues and conflicts, contradictions between states. As well as the contour of regions with the help of new technologies of influence to necessitate a revision of the traditional means of security of the states. The armaments market is an important segment of the world market. Successful operations in the market of armaments can only be those states that implement high-tech and advanced production in the militarily-industrial sector or have a political influence in a separate region.

Comparative studies of capitalist political economies have settled on a new understanding of how historical choices about electoral rules were constitutive of the current varieties of capitalism that are distinguished by their strategies of growth and adjustment to competitive conditions. The countries that have "coordinated market economies" typically have well-organized unions and employers with distinct partisan representation under multiparty electoral rules, and they have more egalitarian outcomes. The countries that have "liberal market economies" have arms-length market-based relationships under the plurality rule that are more conflictual, and they have inegalitarian outcomes. This article develops the analysis of electoral rules and industrial order by taking another look at the United States, which has always been taken as a case of plurality and liberal market economy. In contrast, New York had multiparty politics for most of the twentieth century, in part because of its cross-endorsement fusion rule of nominations. This article argues that fusion operated in a similar way to proportional representation to enable labor–management collaboration and social regulation. Collaboration in New York City was a constitutive element of the New Deal's laboristic politics. The later disruption of this American version of coordination transformed the U.S. political economy into a liberal market economy.

This paper presents a comprehensive cross-country database of fiscal space, broadly defined as the availability of budgetary resources for a government to service its financial obligations. The database covers up to 200 countries over the period 1990-2016, and includes 28 indicators of fiscal space grouped into four categories: debt sustainability, balance sheet vulnerability, external and private sector debt related risks as potential causes of contingent liabilities, and market access. We illustrate potential applications of the database by analyzing developments in fiscal space across three time frames: over the past quarter century; during financial crises; and during oil price plunges. The main results are as follows. First, fiscal space had improved in many countries before the global financial crisis. In advanced economies, following severe deteriorations during the crisis, many indicators of fiscal space have virtually returned to levels in the mid-2000s. In contrast, fiscal space has shrunk in many emerging market and developing economies since the crisis. Second, financial crises tend to coincide with deterioration in multiple indicators of fiscal space, but they are often followed by reduced reliance on short-term borrowing. Finally, fiscal space narrows in energy-exporting emerging market and developing economies during oil price plunges but later expands, often because of procyclical fiscal tightening and, in some episodes, a recovery in oil prices.

This paper presents a comprehensive cross-country database of fiscal space, broadly defined as the availability of budgetary resources for a government to service its financial obligations. The database covers up to 200 countries over the period 1990-2016, and includes 28 indicators of fiscal space grouped into four categories: debt sustainability, balance sheet vulnerability, external and private sector debt related risks as potential causes of contingent liabilities, and market access. The authors illustrate potential applications of the database by analyzing developments in fiscal space across three time frames: over the past quarter century; during financial crises; and during oil price plunges. The main results are as follows. First, fiscal space had improved in many countries before the global financial crisis. In advanced economies, following severe deteriorations during the crisis, many indicators of fiscal space have virtually returned to levels in the mid-2000s. In contrast, fiscal space has shrunk in many emerging market and developing economies since the crisis. Second, financial crises tend to coincide with deterioration in multiple indicators of fiscal space, but they are often followed by reduced reliance on short-term borrowing. Finally, fiscal space narrows in energy-exporting emerging market and developing economies during oil price plunges but later expands, often because of procyclical fiscal tightening and, in some episodes, a recovery in oil prices.

The failure of exceptional monetary measures pursued in response to the financial crisis in advanced economies to achieve a strong recovery has created a widespread concern that these economies suffer from a chronic demand gap and face the prospect of stagnation. This paper reviews and discusses the alternative views on the causes of the slowdown in accumulation and growth and the policies implemented and proposed to deal with it. It is argued that growing inequality, notably the secular decline in the share of wages and financialization are the main factors. Neither spending booms driven by financial bubbles, nor exporting unemployment through trade provide sustainable solutions. It is necessary to rebalance capital and labour, restrain finance and assign a greater role to the public sector in aggregate demand management and income and wealth distribution. However, the dominant neoliberal ideology rules out such socially progressive and economically effective solutions. Consequently, stagnation is likely to remain the new normal in the years to come with governments attempting to reignite growth by creating credit and asset bubbles and/or trying to export unemployment through beggar-thy-neighbour macroeconomic, labour market, trade and exchange rate policies, thereby generating financial and economic instability and tensions in international economic relations with significant repercussions for emerging and developing economies.

The paper aims to find, which sectors mostly affect growth at different stages of innovative development and if these sectors differ for each stage. The authors contributes to the scientific and practical debates using the case study of the European Union and paying attention to different phases of innovative development, i.e. result (level of innovative development) and process (growth rates of innovative development) as well as to sectors' technological intensity. Employing of nonlinear regression log-log model and linear regression model provides evaluation of relationship between tested variables. The authors have found that sectors' impact on growth mostly differs between phases (i.e., between result and process of innovative development), rather than within them (i.e., across different stages of innovative development). Manufacturing significantly affects growth during the process of innovative development, especially, when economies are experiencing fast catching-up. However, economies boost specialization in all sectors of economic activity, even in low-tech and less knowledge-intensive, during the fastest improvements of level of innovative development as well. Services, in turn, affect growth at the phase of result mostly, especially, when economies are experiencing high level of innovative development. In general, authors have concluded that services affect growth in bigger extent in both phases of innovative development (result and process) and their technological intensity matters. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3p171

Visegrad countries, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary have common history and have faced the same challenges created by globalisation process for the last three decades. They have successfully transformed form central planned to market economies. They have implemented fundamental reforms of their whole institutional systems and finally joined the European Union in the year 2004. During this process the most significant changes, which were directly influenced by opening of these economies in the reality of globalisation, have been seen on the labour markets. From the policy point of view the labour markets are always considered as crucial for social and macroeconomic stability of economies. This forces the economists to constant empirical research in this field. In this context the aim of the article is to conduct comparative analysis of the unemployment phenomena in the four countries. For this purpose wavelet analysis was applied. In the research a discrete wavelet transformation was used, which has been recently effectively used for analysis of macroeconomic indicators. The empirical research was conducted for the years 1998-2016 and it was based on the Eurostat data. In the research the following hypothesis was verified: the phenomenon of unemployment in the case of Poland, Slovakia and Hungary is formed in a quite similar way, whereas in Czech Republic the situation on the labour markets is mainly determined by factors of different nature.

European and Chinese economies belong to the largest economies in the world. These economies are also heavily intertwined into bidirectional supplier - customer chain. Bilateral trade between European countries and China was in the nineties of the last century relatively weak. Development of the Chinese economy caused an increase in the volume of foreign trade. Chinese leaders began to promote the development of the New Silk Road. This trade route in addition to maritime has two railway routes - northern and southern. Since 2008 there has been significant development of connections and transport volumes on these routes. This article will deal with the analysis of the development of rail to rail routes, the New Silk Road. ; Evropská a čínská ekonomika patří k největším ekonomikám na světě. Tyto ekonomiky jsou také silně provázány do obousměrného dodavatelsko-odběratelského řetězce. Bilaterální obchod mezi evropskými zeměmi a Čínou byl v devadesátých letech minulého století relativně slabý. Vývoj čínské ekonomiky způsobil nárůst objemu zahraničního obchodu. Čínští vůdcové začali podporovat rozvoj nové hedvábné stezky. Tato obchodní cesta má, kromě námořních tras, dvě dopravní cesty - severní a jižní. Od roku 2008 došlo k významnému rozvoji realizovaných přeprav a k růstu přepravních výkonů na těchto trasách. Tento článek se zabývá analýzou rozvoje železniční dopravy na železničních tratích na nové hedvábné stezce.

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT:

Purpose – The paper aims to clarify the relationship between the rise of the sovereign debt in the G20 and the relative underpayment of labor versus capital.

Design/methodology/approach – The historic analysis of successes and failures of demand management in the leading market economies. Provide data to support and illustrate the claims made in the paper.

Findings – The argument presented in the paper is that the root cause of the rapidly rising sovereign debt lies in the demand deficiency originating in the cumulative effect of lagging labor compensation relative to productivity gains. Developed market democracies desperately need policies to mend the failing social contract between labor and capital. The real solution of the debt is to address demand deficiency, increase labor participation and wages, or basically, introduce a new social contract between labor and capital.

Research limitations/implications – The detailed analysis of demand management policies would have to be country specific which goes beyond the scope of the paper.

Practical implications – The paper implies that G20 policies go into a wrong direction and increase the risk of chain debt defaults in the leading market economies.

Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified need to study the root cause of the demand deficiency syndrome and the need to introduce long term policies needed to restore growth in the market economies.