The Influence of Attitudes toward Immigrants on International Migration

We investigate whether anti‐immigrant attitudes affect migrant inflows in Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries. Using longitudinal exhaustive data, we find that natives’ hostility, particularly natives’ propensity to discriminate on the labor market, reduces immigration. This effect is comparable to more conventional migration factors. We obtain robust results when we, for example, capture hostility with far‐right parties’ popularity instead and control for tighter immigration policies or multilateral resistance to migration. We find a stronger effect for EU‐to‐EU migrants, migrants from developed countries and linguistically close countries. Our results raise a challenge for policy makers when the demand for foreign workers and anti‐immigrant sentiment are present.     

From Transition to Innovation: Policy Issues in a Knowledge-based Economy

This paper contains a general vision of the main issues on innovation policies in East European new member countries and candidate countries. It is based both on the data taken from the main European benchmarking studies on innovation perspectives, and on the direct experience of advisors who worked in East European pilot countries (Slovenia). This paper focuses on the problems arising from the encounter of European innovation policies and local culture and governance structures in these countries. This situation shows that the innovation phase, following transition, generally calls for a further tuning of EU innovation policies in these countries. In order to develop effective market spin-offs from innovation policies, greater attention should be given to triggering bottom-up policies at regional level by reducing decision-making centralism; lowering the risk of imitative and trend-oriented policies; supporting the birth of new enterprises besides backing the existing ones; developing mostly software rather than hardware policy components. All of this should fit in a general framework recognising the central role of individuals – and thus of culture, starting from entrepreneurial culture – within a knowledge-based innovation process. The recent Slovenian action plan for innovation is included as an example of a strategic plan able to spotlight these main issues.     

A clash of civilizations? Examining liberal‐democratic values in Turkey and the European Union1

Turkey's proposed entry into the European Union (EU) has been undermined by Europeans’ perceptions of Turkish–European cultural differences, particularly regarding the liberal‐democratic values that the EU promotes (democracy, rule of law, and respect for and appreciation of minority/human rights). Yet, cross‐national research on values has not focused on Turkey, the EU, and these liberal‐democratic values, leaving assumptions of cultural differences and their explanations untested. Through analyses of World and European Values Survey data (1999–2002), this article asks whether people in Turkey have the same values regarding democracy, rule of law (versus religious and authoritarian rule), and minority/human rights as people in EU member and candidate states (as of 2000)? What factors explain these values? I find that people in Turkey support democracy to the same extent as people in EU member and candidate states, but people in Turkey are more supportive of religious and authoritarian rule and are less tolerant of minorities. Although the ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis expects liberal values to be ordered according to countries’ religious traditions, with western Christian the most supportive and Islamic the least, only for tolerance of minorities values is this pattern found. Instead, economic development most consistently explains differences between Turkey and EU member and candidate states in support for these values. I conclude with calls for theoretical refinement, particularly of the clash of civilizations thesis, along with suggestions for future research to examine more Muslim and Orthodox countries; I discuss the debate over Turkey's EU entry.     

Measuring the adoption of innovation. A typology of EU countries based on the Innovation Survey

Based on the Community Innovation Survey, this paper suggests new indicators of innovation adoption. The magnitude of innovation adoption is assessed for 22 EU countries and different industries. The most striking feature is the correlation between the innovation activities and the adoption rate. Countries with strong R&D and human resources and high innovation output exhibit the highest adoption rates. This supports the idea that innovation adoption requires an absorption capability. In addition, the specificities of each country regarding the prevailing types of innovation and adoption (product or process, cooperation-based adoption or internal adoption) allow us to draw up a typology of the EU countries, for which a specific geographical pattern is observed.     

Building Social Capability for Economic Catch-up: The Experience and Prospects of the Post-socialist Countries

The post-socialist countries are, by the standards of the EU, poor countries. The major developmental task facing these countries is, therefore, that of catching up with their more prosperous neighbours. The scope for catch-up is defined in terms of the levels of social capability exhibited by these societies and their capacity to establish technological congruence with the leading firms from the advanced industrial economies. S&T systems in the broadest sense are shown to be key factors in relation to both social capability and technological congruence. Detailed analysis of the transition countries indicates that the catch-up process is hampered across the board by specific gaps in social capability and elements of technological incongruence. These can in turn be traced to specific structural trends, in particular in relation to foreign investment, and to specific weaknesses of institutional development, cutting across the public/private dividing line, notably in relation to R&D systems and banking systems. Consideration of all these factors suggests that there can be no assumption that the transition countries will automatically catch up with western Europe, and that some disfavoured transition countries may, indeed, continue to fall behind.     

The dual role of R&D expenditures in European Union’s member states: short- and long-term prospects

The objective of this article is to assess a potential dual role of public expenditures in R&D upon economic growth and employment, using these dimensions as partial representations of the socioeconomic state of affairs in European Union’s Member States. First, we look into direct, short-term impacts arising from R&D expenditures, much in the sense of a multiplier effect. Second, we analyse impacts from the stage of development of National Innovation Systems (NIS) upon the macroeconomic conditions of interest, assuming that current stages of development are products of previous commitment to innovation, that is, a structural, long-term outcome of innovation-oriented investments. In order to empirically test our propositions, we have analysed 28 EU Member States (1990–2013) through three sets of econometric (static and dynamic panel data) models. Results highlight that EU countries’ governmental commitment to their respective innovation systems catalyses current and prospective economic growth and employment levels, suggesting a complementarity between Neo-Schumpeterian and Neo-Keynesian perceptions over governmental R&D involvement. This can bring innovation efforts closer to the macroeconomic debate on monetary and fiscal policies and function as a criticism to austerity measures, as this may not only affect the present socioeconomic situation, but also generate the cornerstone for a perennial state of divergence among EU Member States.     

Human capital and innovativeness of the European Union regions

The objective of this article is to analyze and classify European Union (EU) regions according to human capital and innovativeness. Innovativeness of 225 EU NUTS-2 regions within 2008–2010 is analyzed with special attention paid to human capital. Eighteen indicators of innovativeness and human capital were adapted and transformed into four mutually orthogonal components, with use of factor analysis. The use of factor analysis eliminated the portions of information overlapping in indicators proposed in the beginning of the analysis. It is one of the beneficial differences between the approach presented in this article and the Regional Innovation Scoreboard. A second difference is the scope, for in this article the specific meaning of human capital in the innovation process was highlighted. On this basis the EU regions were classified in five homogeneous groups. It enabled the authors to draw conclusions concerning the areas of innovativeness which need specific support and the potential to be exploited. On the basis of our article concerning the issue of relatively poor innovativeness of some EU regions’ economies, it's worth stressing that underinvestment in the field of human capital is one of the basic causes which determine different results obtained in innovation activity.     

Business Perspectives in Southeast Europe

This paper deals with economic development in Southeast Europe and the effect of the European Union and its likely enlargement eastwards on socioeconomic expectations in the entire area. The EU factor introduced in the literature indicates that an EU enlargement could have a positive and significant impact on business and economic expectations of international investors. The acquis communautaire and the process of new candidate countries will be analyzed, as well as EU attention and a regional dimension of stability. The focus should be maintained on common fundamental issues, such as regional cooperation as a means that in effect could produce positive effects for promoting reconciliation and combating organized crime and corruption.     

EU Enlargement: Economic-Cultural Perspective and Cross-Country Comparison

Globalization is constantly changing the appearance of the modern world. The most intense processes of integration are taking place in Europe in the framework of the European Union (EU) enlargement. Though the formal process is more or less concluded, the subtle and informal ones still have a long way to go. Social structures (institutions, organizations, norms, etc.) and actions depend on the cultural environment in the narrowest sense of the word: human perceptions and values. This poses the basic question whether the economic-cultural orientations of the new EU member states are compatible with imported social structures. We have done an empirical research using Hofstede's cultural dimensions and European Values Study database for 26 European countries (23 EU member states, 2 candidate countries, and Northern Ireland as a separate entity). We have also compared the differences and similarities by applying the Ward method (cluster analysis) on our 10 constructed variables.     

Conceptualizing the Space of a Journal’s Pages: Dostoevsky as Editor of Time

This research focuses on the interpretative dimension of European Union (EU) integration and on its role in post-communist democratization. It offers an understanding of the significance of taking part in political life. This significance takes shape under specific circumstances, which are part of the asymmetrical power relations with the EU. My findings are based on field trips in two post-communist countries that are situated at different stages of the EU integration process: Bulgaria, which became an EU member in 2007, and Macedonia, which is a candidate country. Methodologically, I use qualitative methods that triangulate findings into converging cultural trajectories. I conclude that EU integration, as a phenomenon within the world of meaning, acts simultaneously as a boost to and an inhibitor of democratic political culture. People create different subcultures where different interpretations of the EU integration process lead to dissimilar effects. Discursive communities of people representing these different subcultures may also produce dissimilar effects on the national level.     

Seasonalities in Eastern Foreign Exchange Markets: A Barrier to Euro Adoption?

Plans for an early adoption of the euro by some new EU members hang on political will and a set of nominal criteria. The focus, however, should be on the available adjustment mechanisms supporting a permanently fixed exchange rate. Efficient financial markets could provide stabilisation (following a shock), substituting the weakened array of traditional policy instruments. In order to assess the availability of such alternative, this paper presents a particular empirical analysis of efficiency in the foreign exchange markets of three recently acceded countries. The results suggest that some caution is needed in the transition towards full monetary integration, as the level of financial efficiency already attained may be insufficient to ensure an adequate source of stabilisation in economies affected by specific disturbances.      

Public Conceptions and Images of the European Union: The Case of Slovenia

The intention of this article is to show the way the conceptions and perceptions of (Western) Europe and the European Union (EU) are constructed and articulated by general public opinion as well as by political parties and intellectual circles in Slovenia as a candidate country for the accession into the EU. It is also discussed how the images concerning reference countries and the future position in the integration process are connected with the process of formation of national selfunderstanding and identity. Some elements of so-called Euro-realism which is the common denominator of prevailing European orientation are outlined and explained.     

Innovation Policy Challenges in Transition Countries: Foreign Business R&D in the Czech Republic and Hungary

R&D expenditures of national firms decreased considerably and structural changes of R&D financing followed the fall of planned economy in the transition period of Central Eastern European economies. In the middle of the 1990s, business R&D started to grow in the Czech Republic and Hungary due to investments of foreign affiliates and restructuring of domestic companies. Nowadays multinational companies have a decisive share in business R&D in these countries, which entails special challenges for national innovation policy. In this paper, we look through the development of the Czech and Hungarian innovation policy considering MNEs R&D. We use case studies of the Czech automobile industry, the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry, and the new MNE-related university units and private universities to show how these companies influence innovation systems in transition economies.      

EU-Mediterranean youths in the crisis: substitution vs. income effect

The economic crisis that erupted in 2008 has had particularly adverse effects on the youth labour market outcomes in the European Union Mediterranean economies. So far little evidence is available on the reaction of the young to the adverse conditions their household members faced due to the crisis. Youths could have decided to prolong or stay in education instead of participating on the labour market (substitution effect) or they could have decided to increase their participation (income effect). By using the EU Labour Force Survey data, we explore the probability of young adults changing their labour market status from (i) inactivity to employment, (ii) inactivity to unemployment, (iii) employment to education, and (iv) unemployment to education in response to labour market outcome changes in their households: (i) both parents losing the job; (ii) one of the parents losing the job, (iii) both parents becoming inactive, (iv) one of the parents becoming inactive, and (v) both parents remaining unemployed. Estimated probit models include seven EU Mediterranean countries during the 2006–2015 period. Results support both income and substitution effect, without clear identification of the dominance of one effect over the other.     

Should “open innovation” change innovation policy thinking in catching-up economies? Considerations for policy analyses

This paper provides a review of the current state of academic and policy-level debates on “open innovation” by elaborating on the relevance of the concept of open innovation for innovation policy-making in catching-up economies. The paper shows that paradoxes and contradictions exist between the “mainstream” innovation discourse and the development challenges of the catching-up countries that have lead to “de-contextualization” of the innovation policy discourse. The paper argues that applying the concept of open innovation in its ideal-type form to the catching-up context is likely to reinforce these de-contextualization tendencies. This problem can be remedied by more conscious attention to the basic contradictions and paradoxes, which requires a more comprehensive and systemic analytical focus on innovation and technological development at the levels of firm, industry and policy.     

Why Transition Countries May Specialize in Low-Quality Production

Politicians and economists of transition countries fear a low-quality trap for their economies. We present a model of international trade with two countries and two qualities of goods model where high-quality production exhibits economies of scale and low-quality production does not. Depending on transaction costs, the low-quality good will be produced either in the low-wage economy (i.e., the transition country) only or it will not be traded at all. Regarding the high-quality good, we discuss three potential reasons why transition countries may be trapped in the production of low quality when economies of scale in production prevail: (a) international trade policy (i.e., GATT / WTO); (b) external economies due to quality uncertainty; (c) external economies due to demand effects (big push). All reasons favor incumbents over entrants and thus lead to a low-quality trap for transition economies due to the existence of incumbents located in industrialized countries.     

Economic Transition and Regional Growth: The Case of Albania and Comparator SEECs

The focus of this paper is to investigate the growth performance of Albania and other South Eastern European Countries in the period 1990–2006 by examining traditional growth sources as emerge from standard theoretical models. It focuses on macroeconomic performances and GDP per capita growth rates to examine why countries in the SEE region are lagging behind with respect to other transition economies. The analysis is conducted through stylised growth regressions to estimate convergence rates and coefficients of key factors of growth. Results indicate that real GDP growth in all the eight countries is mainly driven by physical capital accumulation, whereas the contribution of human capital is insignificant or even negative.     

European integration and external sustainability of the European Union: an application of the thesis of Feldstein and Horioka

The Feldstein–Horioka thesis was considered one of the greatest puzzles in economics. Formulated to measure international capital mobility, it has known a process of immunization to be conformed to empirical evidence and respect econometric knowledge. We apply to EU countries a formulation of this thesis which is adequate to test external sustainability and measure international capital mobility. Applying appropriate econometric methods we can accept the hypothesis of external unsustainability for the EU before the enlargement. The enlargement allows the external sustainability of the new EU. The lesser mobility of capital in the countries of the enlargement must be considered as a positive shock on EU industry of financial services.