European Cohesion? Globalization,Autonomization, and the Dynamics of EU Integration

Globalization is frequently assumed to be responsible for creating the economic environment in which a much greater degree of European Union (EU) economic integration is deemed necessary. In contrast, this paper argues that globalization, in conjunction with neo-liberal growth, has led to autonomization as well as integration. The term autonomization designates both that economic governance is increasingly delegated to autonomous regions, and that neo-liberal economic policies tend to fragment and divide in their pursuit of growth. The paper investigates the tension between the role in which globalization has cast the region, and the region as a central player in the EU's cohesion strategy. Cohesion policy-measures to combat underdevelopment and backwardness-plays a key role in integration and growth strategies. It is argued that cohesion has become detached from its redistributive origins and incorporated in a discourse of competitiveness and growth. The region has emerged as both the site upon which the global acts upon the EU, and the level at which the EU has determined that the processes of globalization can best be accommodated. It is suggested that the tension between cohesion and autonomization introduced by globalization is a central dynamic at work in the contemporary EU.     

欧盟对中东北非政策调整之我见

法、德两国领导人更替后，欧洲同美国的关系恢复到伊拉克战争之前的状态，但是欧盟主要大国及欧盟本身对中东北非地区的政策仍不同于美国。2003年以来，该地区一系列事件发生后，欧盟及欧洲各大国决策者和学者对以往的政策做出评估或修改：比以往更强调坚持长期的经济发展政策；由下而上改变政权结构；推动中东北非国家进入国际体系；提高治理能力及保障人身安全等，从而达到“以发展促安全、以安全促发展”之目的。     

Regional Trade Clusters in Promoting Eastward Enlargement of European Union

The paper aims to explore international trade flows of the countries that are involved in the EU eastward enlargement process, giving emphasis to exploring regional trade clusters and their possible role in supporting East-West (or new-old) trade integration. The empirical results of the study indicate that additionally to the traditional gravitational forces (the size of economy, level of economic development, and distance), the impact of which is expressed by the baseline gravity equation, the bilateral trade flows of the EU-25 countries are influenced by the cross-border activities, historical linkages and regional cooperation. From three regions (the Baltic Sea region, Central Europe and Mediterranean area) that consist of both earlier and newly associated EU members, the Baltic Sea region as a regional trade cluster can be clearly distinguished. This region has played a significant role in supporting the adjustment of the post-socialist countries with requirements of the EU enlargement and in establishing the relevant institutional base for joining the EU. The Baltic Sea Region is also providing valuable lessons for developing EU regional policies and predicting the possible outcomes of globalization.     

Asian urban sustainability in the era of globalization

The process of achieving urban sustainable development is uncharted. We only know that plans should address the economic, environmental and social health of the city and this task can only be accomplished by approaching each of these issues at different scales. For rapidly developing world cities, “sustainability” is becoming an increasingly elusive objective, in part, because of impacts by forces beyond their borders. Using the Asia-Pacific region as a case study, a framework relates regional transnational flows to the state of the urban environment and the social conditions of linked rapidly developing cities. The “functional city system” within the Asia-Pacific increasingly is both the engine of urban growth and the force behind differentiating urban environmental and social issues. At the same time, while globalization forces have been particularly strong within cities in the Asia-Pacific, local factors also play a crucial role in urban development. Globalization driven growth has not translated into a single path of development, rather localities have demonstrated contextually specific paths.     

The Effect of Remittances on Economic Growth in Kyrgyzstan and Macedonia: Accounting for Financial Development

Kyrgyzstan and Macedonia have experienced a reasonable increase in remittances over the last twenty‐five years. Subsequently, the extent to which remittances can be instrumental for economic development of the two countries has gained serious attention in recent development dialogues. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of remittances versus financial development on the economic growth of the two counties, complementing the burgeoning interest and focus on remittances for policy. The short‐run and the long‐run effects and the causality dynamics of remittances and financial development, are explored. The results show a long‐run positive impact of remittances on the economic growth of these countries. The impact of financial development is negative, significant only for Kyrgyzstan and not statistically significant for Macedonia. The causality results show that remittances support economic growth for Kyrgyzstan, whereas economic growth appears to propel remittances for Macedonia.     

“Female Sports as Non‐Movement Resistance in the Middle East and North Africa”

Open social movements and intentional resistance can be dangerous activities in some parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), particularly for women. In this setting, female activism often takes place as non‐movements – mundane, collective actions taken by individuals rather than cohesive groups. Non‐movements for women in this region consist of commonplace activities such as working, attending college, or participating in sports. This article examines how athletic participation serves as a form of resistance for women in the MENA. To augment and expand upon the concept of non‐movements, we consider five non‐movement resistance strategies used by women in many parts of the MENA to counter barriers to female sports participation. These strategies address cultural and religious concerns over the role of women in the MENA region by merging athletics with longstanding religious customs and cultural traditions. In doing so, these strategies reduce the potential for criticism and enable greater opportunities for female athletic participation. Ultimately, these strategies may engender opportunities for women beyond the realm of sports.     

Quod vadis? The effect of youth unemployment and demographic pressure on migration in the MENA region

Recent trends in international migration reveal increasing migration outflows from Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries. This development is accompanied by a massive rise in youth unemployment and a major increase in the young population in this region. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of migration patterns and analyses the interacting effect of the unfavourable combination of youth unemployment and demographic pressure on migration decisions. Based on an assessment of bilateral migration flows from 19 MENA to 34 OECD countries between 1995 and 2020, we find that youth unemployment plays a significant role in explaining emigration flows from MENA countries. We also find that the migration-generating effect of youth unemployment is contingent upon demographic pressure in the youth cohorts and increases with an increasing number of youths.     

HOW THE LEGACY OF FRENCH COLONIZATION HAS SHAPED DIVERGENT LEVELS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN EAST ASIA: A Time‐Series Cross‐National Analysis

Although many countries in East Asia have achieved high growth rates since the middle of the 20th century, former French colonies in the region have struggled to attain comparable levels of economic development. This article is an attempt to explain this variation in development through a cross‐national analysis of economic growth in East Asia for the period from 1970 to 2007. Results suggest that the underperformance of former French colonies is attributable to their inheritance of colonial institutions that have been unfavorable for domestic investment, international trade, and educational attainment. Overall, conclusions lend support for the idea that long‐term economic development should be understood in terms of path dependence, and that sustained economic growth requires a concerted effort to restructure growth‐adverse institutional arrangements.     

新型城市化下广州推进产业融合发展研究

产业融合代表着当代世界科技经济发展的重要趋势,是国际企业界和经济界开出的重要战略管理菜单。在经济全球化形势下,推进产业融合发展能够促进广州集聚全球高端资源、促进经济发展方式转型,从而有利于升华广州低碳、智慧、幸福三位一体的新型城市化发展水平。在新型城市化进程中,广州必须重视三次产业的宏观融合、产业内部的微观融合和产业之间的空间融合。为此需要针对产业融合过程中存在的制度性障碍和非制度性障碍,强化战略统筹,形成符合新型城市化方向的产业融合发展思路,优化产业融合制度环境,鼓励企业制定商业战略,使产业融合成为广州新型城市化发展的经济竞争基础。     

伊斯兰信用经济思想探析

基于公正与平等理念的伊斯兰信用思想作为伊斯兰教经济思想的重要内涵,彰显了丰富的伦理内涵,但在全球化、金融一体化的浪潮中亦呈现出其阻滞伊斯兰社会金融发展、滞缓其全球化进程的因子,凸显了宗教伦理与经济发展的二元张力。伊斯兰教在留存其信用经济思想丰富伦理内涵的同时,也应依据创制精神对其加以阐释,以更好地应对全球化金融浪潮。     

The hydropolitical challenges of domestic water conservation. Palestine and Tunisia case studies

Southern Mediterranean area, particularly the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has been facing social, economic, environmental and political challenges related to the water scarcity and quality. Within the European SWMED project, a socio-economic survey was conducted in Palestine and Tunisia, in order to explore the water conditions, and the social and economic situations of local families. The article illustrates the research design and implementation, as well as the main results that were used to select the appropriate sustainable water management solutions to respond to the hydropolitical issues. Due to the huge use of water in agriculture and the difficulty of reducing the water consumption in this sector, fostering tools for domestic water saving may be a winning strategy for facing water scarcity in MENA region.     

Labour Force Participation among MENA Women in the United States: Exploring the Role of Ethnically Homogamous Relationships

This study uncovers variations in female labour force participation (FLFP) among women in the US originating from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with a focus on differences by nativity status, and investigates the role of ethnically homogamous relationships in explaining these variations. Lower levels of US labour force participation among women from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is puzzling, given that these women have higher educational attainments than most women in the US. Recent work has suggested that looking more closely at the influence of homogamy on immigrant women’s economic activity may help to explain this puzzle. Drawing from prior research on FLFP and immigrant integration, we hypothesized that foreign-born women from MENA will report lower labour force participation rates relative to their US-born counterparts, and ethnically homogamous marriage will explain differences in FLFP across nativity status. Data come from the Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) from 2012–2016 American Community Surveys (ACS). The analytic sample consists of 33,133 women in the United states of MENA origin who are in the prime working ages of 25 to 59. As hypothesized, we found that foreign-born MENA women reported significantly lower labour force participation rates than their US-born counterparts. We also found that after controlling for all relevant characteristics, MENA women (both US-born and foreign-born) with MENA husbands remained dramatically less likely to be in the labour force than women with non-MENA husbands. Our findings suggest the disadvantage in FLFP experienced by foreign-born MENA women is due mostly to high rates of ethnically homogamous relationships among this population relative to their US-born counterparts. Thus, our study highlights ethnic homogamy as a structural-cultural barrier for MENA women’s labour force activity in the US and suggests that empirical research on FLFP and immigrant integration should consider partner characteristics as a key determinant of women’s labour force participation.     

中国城市化与金融

推进城市化是中国经济可持续发展的希望所在,但是,地方政府负债投资的形式是否为最佳方式?这种方式是否能持续?从更深层次观察,地方政府负债是财政问题,这势必涉及财税体制安排、中央与地方事权分割等基础性的政治与经济制度的安排。显然,这是中国走向现代化、建立现代化国家治理结构中不可回避的重大课题。     

THE LONG RUN BEHAVIOR OF THE INCOME VELOCITY OF MONEY IN FIVE ADVANCED COUNTRIES, 1870–1975: AN INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH

The income velocity of money in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden displays a U-shaped pattern over the last one hundred years. This paper presents and tests empirically an explanation for this secular pattern emphasizing the influence on velocity of institutional changes. The inclusion into a simple velocity function of institutional developments such as the process of monetization, the spread of commercial banking, financial development and the growth of economic stability improves the explanation of long-run movements in velocity provided by a regression of velocity on real permanent income per head and the interest rate.     

The Impact of European Monetary Union on Finance-Growth Nexus

This study examines the relationship between financial development and economic growth in 15 developed European countries before and after the formation of the euro. The results of the panel data analysis show that financial development is significant in promoting economic growth for both periods. The impact of the banking sector development on growth, however, is greater in the post-euro period, whereas the impact of stock market development on growth is reducing in the period investigated. The study concludes that the formation of European Monetary Union does not weaken the relationship between financial development and economic growth in developed European countries.     

Catching up,forging ahead or falling behind? Central and Eastern European development in 1990–2005

This paper aims to assess the economic development and development policies in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in 1990–2005, from the collapse of the USSR to the enlargement of the European Union. A great number of authors have generally seen the transition as a very positive process. They have concluded that the reform policies focusing on macroeconomic and price stability have been the key to success for CEE economies. A reliable economic environment is, of course, instrumental for longer-term economic success, as exemplified by the prolonged crisis in most of the former Soviet Union. Our analysis of the economic development and competitive advantages in the region, however, leads to the conclusion that the specific approach to transition that the Central and Eastern European countries followed came at a rather high cost. Comparative neglect and weakness of a set of policies crucial for longer-term development, such as science, technology and innovation policies, has led to deterioration in the last decade rather than the strengthening of the competitive advantages of Central and Eastern European economies. Furthermore, we argue that, in most cases, CEE countries have unfortunately overlooked or misjudged a number of development challenges, and have thus implemented policies that have generated growth at the cost of rapidly increasing risks. This is how the financial fragility of several Central and Eastern European countries has recently increased drastically, and the region seems to have virtually arrived at the brink of economic collapse. Since the CEE countries joined the European Union, the CEE governments have gradually moved towards acquiring a more active role in economic development. These policies need, however, to be strengthened considerably and reinforced by macroeconomic policies that curb current excessive dependence on foreign-financed growth.     

Hochtechnologische Unternehmen im Spiegel des „Varieties-of-Capitalism“-Ansatzes

What role do national institutions of labor regulation as well as work and employment systems at the company level play for the development of “new economy” industries? The article is based on eleven company case studies in the Swedish, Polish and German video game industry as well as on an analysis of industry-related expert interviews and data. Power relations between hardware, publishing and development companies play a significant role in the industry. Independent development firms are the weakest link in the value chain; they have to carry the greatest risks. The results show that the lack of a financial system for the high risky software development is a decisive factor for the low international competitiveness of the industry in all three countries. They demonstrate as well that, especially in the field of labor regulation, the “Varieties of Capitalism”-approach underestimates the divergence of industries in national economies and a leeway for flexibility in institutional systems. For instance, employment flexibility of video game development firms is very high. The comparison of the “coordinated market economies” of Germany and Sweden reveals differences regarding the integration of the industry into nation-specific institutional systems, such as the establishment of adequate vocational education and interest representation by unions.     

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE GROWTH ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE

A positive relationship between FDI and economic growth under two economic conditions has been estimated: a sufficient level of human capital and well-developed financial markets, respectively. However, these two conditions can be fundamentally different catalysts for FDI to promote economic growth in the perspective of growth accounting. Using data from 69 countries over 1970–1989, we find that FDI promotes productivity growth only when the host country reaches a threshold level of human capital; and FDI promotes capital growth only when a certain level of financial development is achieved. ( JEL F21)     

Implications of behavioural economics for financial literacy and public policy

This paper summarizes and highlights different methodological approaches to behavioural economics in the context of the conventional economic wisdom and the implications of these different methodological approaches for financial literacy, related institutional change, and public policy. Conventional economics predicts no substantive improvement from improvements to financial literacy. The errors and biases approach to behavioural economics suggests limited improvements to decision making from financial education as errors and biases are largely hardwired in the brain. Government and expert intervention affecting individual choice behaviour is recommended. The evidence suggests that the bounded rationality approach to behavioural economics, with its focus on smart decision makers and the importance institutional and environment constraints on decision making, is the most promising lense through which to analyse financial decision making. From this perspective, financial decision making can be improved by providing decision makers with better quality information presented in a non-complex fashion, an institutional environment conducive to good decisions, an incentive structure that internalize externalities involved in financial decision making, and financial education that will facilitate making the best use of the information at hand within a specific decision-making environment.