The "Political" Geography of Research Networks

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario A. Maggioni ◽  
Teodora Erika Uberti ◽  
Mario Nosvelli
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Diffusion ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Knowledge Flows ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Research Networks ◽  
The West ◽  
Joint Research ◽  
Eastern European Countries

The production of scientific and technical knowledge is mostly concentrated in specific locations. Knowledge flows very easily within regions; however, scientific and technical knowledge does flow also between different regions. The aim of this article is to analyze knowledge flows between agglomerations of innovative inputs, and their effects on the innovative performance of regions. We estimate a regional knowledge production function and we test, through appropriate spatial econometric estimation techniques, the effect of both geographical and relational autocorrelation (as measured by participation to joint research networks in the European Union [EU] Sixth Framework Programme [FP6]). We adopt two selection criteria in order to define different relational “geographies” (hence spatial weights matrices), and we model the unobservable structure and link value of knowledge flows within these joint research networks. Our results confirm established evidence that knowledge flows within interregional research networks along a top-down nonsymmetrical and hierarchical structure. However, the EU enlargement - and a modified structure of incentive for collaboration activity of European institutions- changed the direction of knowledge flows toward a top-down dynamics of knowledge diffusion from coordinator to participants for “EASTWARD” research networks (whose coordinator is in the west and most participants in the east); while the contrary (a hierarchical bottom-up dynamic of knowledge transfer) is true for WESTWARD networks (whose coordinator is in the east and most participants in the west). FP6 is therefore a platform for knowledge barter exchange for EU15, while works as a mere one-way channel for knowledge diffusion from EU15 toward Central and Eastern European countries.

scholarly journals EU Enlargement to the Balkans: Membership Perspective to the Balkan Countries

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Rıdvan Karluk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Balkan States ◽  
The Eu

After the dispersion of the Soviet Union, the European Union embarked upon an intense relationship with the Central and Eastern European Countries. The transition into capital market and democratization of these countries had been supported by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of 1989 before the collapse of the Soviet Union System. The European Agreements were signed between the EU and Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia on December 16th, 1991. 10 Central and Eastern Europe Countries became the members of the EU on May 1st, 2004. With the accession of Bulgaria and Romania into the EU on January 1st, 2007, the number of the EU member countries reached up to 27, and finally extending to 28 with the membership of Croatia to the EU on July 1st, 2013. Removing the Western Balkan States, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina from the scope of external relations, the EU included these countries in the enlargement process in 2005.The European Commission has determined 2014 enlargement policy priorities as dealing with the fundamentals on preferential basis. In this context, the developments in the Balkans will be closely monitored within the scope of a new approach giving priority to the superiority of law. The enlargement process of the EU towards the Balkans and whether or not the Western Balkan States will join the Union will be analyzed.

Euroskepticism, Income Inequality and Financial Expectations

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Ritzen ◽  
Caroline Wehner ◽  
Klaus F. Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Driving Factor ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The West ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Abstract Before the Great Recession, the rising income inequality within the “old” European Union has been suggested as an important driver of the increase in Euroskepticism. We revisit this finding for the 27 EU member states from 2006 to 2011, introducing individual negative financial expectations as a further driving factor. We also distinguish between Western and Eastern European countries. In the period of Eastern EU enlargement after 2005, Euroskepticism increased by one third while income inequality on average remained stable. Negative financial expectations are positively related to Euroskepticism in the West and non-significantly negatively related in the East. This suggests that Westerners interpret European integration as a threat, while Easterners view it as a chance. In addition, income inequality lost its role in “old” Europe. An increase of one Gini point decreases the probability of Euroskepticism by half a percentage point in the West, while it has no impact in the East.

Legal Aspects of the EU Enlargement Negotiations

1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
Albert Oosterhof
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Uruguay Round ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
European Economic Area ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Area ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Eu

The recently concluded enlargement negotiations between the European Union and four applicant countries -Austria, Sweden, Finland and Norway-have so far been the last in a series of intensive negotiating efforts since the conclusion of the Treaty on the European Union (EU), the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), the European Agreements with the Central and Eastern European countries and the conclusion of the Uruguay Round.

scholarly journals   Agro-food exports variety from the Central and Eastern European countries

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Š. Bojnec ◽  
I. Fertő
Keyword(s):  
Value Added ◽  
Food Product ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This paper analyses the agro-food exports variety from twelve Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to the European Union (EU) during the years 1995–2007. The panel regression models explain the agro-food exports by its previous year, income in the importing EU countries, and measure of agro-food export product variety, while the real exchange rate appreciation of the CEEC currencies has negatively influenced agro-food exports. The EU enlargement with the reduction in agricultural protection and the borderless single market has induced agro-food export increases in primary agricultural produce and intermediate food-processed products, but less in higher value-added food-processed differentiated products. The impact of increased number of CEECs agro-food product varieties on agro-food export to the EU is positive.  

European Integration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann P. Arnason
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Totalitarian Regimes ◽  
The Eu

Different understandings of European integration, its background and present problems are represented in this book, but they share an emphasis on historical processes, geopolitical dynamics and regional diversity. The introduction surveys approaches to the question of European continuities and discontinuities, before going on to an overview of chapters. The following three contributions deal with long-term perspectives, including the question of Europe as a civilisational entity, the civilisational crisis of the twentieth century, marked by wars and totalitarian regimes, and a comparison of the European Union with the Habsburg Empire, with particular emphasis on similar crisis symptoms. The next three chapters discuss various aspects and contexts of the present crisis. Reflections on the Brexit controversy throw light on a longer history of intra-Union rivalry, enduring disputes and changing external conditions. An analysis of efforts to strengthen the EU’s legal and constitutional framework, and of resistances to them, highlights the unfinished agenda of integration. A closer look at the much-disputed Islamic presence in Europe suggests that an interdependent radicalization of Islamism and the European extreme right is a major factor in current political developments. Three concluding chapters adopt specific regional perspectives. Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland, are following a path that leads to conflicts with dominant orientations of the EU, but this also raises questions about Europe’s future. The record of Scandinavian policies in relation to Europe exemplifies more general problems faced by peripheral regions. Finally, growing dissonances and divergences within the EU may strengthen the case for Eurasian perspectives.

Integracja w dezintegracji i dezintegracja w integracji: determinanty mechanizmów integracyjnych w Unii Europejskiej

2018 ◽  
pp. 10-37
Author(s):  
Barbara Curyło
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
Integration Mechanisms ◽  
Strategic Issue ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Eu

In the discussion on the future of the EU, the topic of differentiated integration has become a strategic issue, with different variants beginning to appear as modus operandi of the European Union, which has become a subject of controversy among Member States. Significantly, the debate on differentiated integration began to be accompanied by reflections on disintegration. This article attempts to define disintegration on the assumption that it should be defined through the prism of integration, and that such a defining process can not be limited to concluding a one-way contrast between disintegration versus integration and vice versa. This is due to the assumption that the European Union is a dichotomous construct in which integration and disintegration mutually exclude and complement each other. This dichotomy is most evident in the definition of integration and disintegration through the prism of Europeanisation top-down and bottom-up processes that generate, reveal, visualize, stimulate integration mechanisms what allows to diagnose their determinants.

The Berlin Process. Bringing the Western Balkan Region Closer to the European Union

Südosteuropa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Christina Griessler
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
New Energy ◽  
Western Balkan Region ◽  
Slow Progress ◽  
Proactive Measures

AbstractFor the countries of the Western Balkans, the path to membership in the European Union (EU) has been particularly tortuous. Its slow progress has created frustration among applicant countries. In 2014 Germany, stepping into the political void that had formed, inaugurated what has come to be known as the Berlin Process, an initiative aimed at injecting new energy into the dormant EU enlargement process. The author examines the political activities initiated between 2014 and 2019, analysing the official documentation of the Berlin Process along with publications such as policy papers and media commentaries. She concludes that although meaningful and proactive measures have been taken, such efforts have not been successful in persuading or enabling the Western Balkan states to implement the political and economic reforms required for EU accession.

Income convergence in Europe: Catching up or falling behind?

2012 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Czasonis ◽  
Michael Quinn
Keyword(s):  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Income Convergence ◽  
Euro Zone ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Time Frames ◽  
The Eu

One of the motivations for a country to join the European Union is the belief that this will boost short- and long-run incomes. Researchers have tested the hypothesis of income convergence in different settings using either regression or unit root analysis, with mixed results. In this paper, we use both methods on the same samples over a significant time period. This allows us to judge differences in results across varied time-frames and methodologies. The focus of these tests is on convergence to German and EMU average incomes by Eastern European countries and those within the Euro-zone from 1971–2007. The evidence for convergence is mixed. Among the Euro-zone countries, there is more evidence of convergence in the 1970s and 1980s than recently. There is significant evidence that Eastern Europe experienced convergence and that capital formation was one of the root causes. While the results do not support the hypothesis that joining the EU increases convergence, reforms undertaken in the 1990s by Eastern European countries in preparation for joining may have helped them to “catch up”, even if the act of joining the EU did not directly impact convergence.

The impact of EU-funded research networks on knowledge diffusion at the regional level

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Cassi ◽  
Nicoletta Corrocher ◽  
Franco Malerba ◽  
Nicholas Vonortas
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Diffusion ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Research Networks ◽  
Funded Research ◽  
The Impact

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksander Lust
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Reform ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The West ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Economic Expectations ◽  
The Eu

In referenda held in 2003, over 90% of Lithuanians supported joining the European Union (EU), while only two-thirds of Estonians did. Why? This article shows that Lithuanians and Estonians had different economic expectations about the EU. Most Lithuanians hoped that EU membership would help Lithuania overcome its economic backwardness and isolation. By contrast, many Estonians worried that the accession would reinforce Estonia's underdevelopment and dependency on the West. I argue that these expectations reflected the two countries' strategies of economic reform. Lithuania sold state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to their managers and continued to trade heavily with Russia, which slowed down the modernization of its economy. Estonia sold SOEs to foreigners and reoriented its trade rapidly from Russia to the West, which hurt its traditional sectors (particularly agriculture) and infrastructure.

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