scholarly journals Military Expenditures and Shadow Economy in the Central and Eastern Europe: is There a Link?

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (52) ◽  
pp. 142-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Fedotenkov ◽  
Friedrich Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Shadow Economy ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Positive Dependence ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Baltic

Abstract The main goal of our paper is to determine the existence of a link between government (military) expenditures and the shadow economy in the Central and Eastern European countries, which are the members of the European Union. The empirical investigation is conducted for the years 2003–2015. We show that there is a high statistically significant positive dependence between the size of the shadow economy and military expenditures in the Baltic States. Our conclusion is that higher military expenditures indeed lead to a larger shadow economy and this result is robust to different model specifications. In order to demonstrate the importance of our results, we undertook a simulation, where we calculated how much the size of the shadow economy would increase if the size of military expenditure as a percentage of GDP were to double. For example, in the Czech Republic, such an expansion would have led to an increase in the size of the shadow economy from 11.50% to 12.96%, and in Estonia, from 18.34% to 22.72% in 2012.

Military Expenditures and Economic Growth in Central and Eastern EU Countries: Evidence from the Post-Cold War Era

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mert Topcu ◽  
İlhan Aras
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Panel Cointegration ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
New Members ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Although the relationship between military expenditures and economic growth is well documented for the old members of the European Union, empirically little is known for the new members. Thus, the goal of this paper is to investigate the economic impact of military expenditures in Central and Eastern European countries employing panel cointegration and causality methods for the period 1993–2013. Findings indicate that the variables in question do not move together in the long run and the direction of causality in the short run is from economic growth to military expenditures. The implications of the results for international relations are discussed.

The Contest for Central and Eastern Europe

2019 ◽  
pp. 108-128
Author(s):  
Mitchell A. Orenstein
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Energy Politics ◽  
Eastern European Countries

While many thought that the eleven Central and Eastern European countries that exited communism and joined the European Union in the 2000s had made an irrevocable “civilizational choice,” Russia has sought to extend its influence into this unexpected new battleground. Though Russia has fewer tools of influence than in the lands in between, it has used energy politics, disinformation, support for extremist parties, business relations, and a variety of covert methods to cause Central and Eastern European governments and politicians to re-evaluate their allegiances. Central and Eastern European countries have experienced growing extremism, increasing polarization, and the rise of cynical power brokers who wish to accommodate Moscow, while also benefiting from EU ties and funds. Political leaders such as Viktor Orbán of Hungary have blazed this path, making gas and energy deals with Russia while undermining democratic politics at home and challenging the European Union from within.

scholarly journals The Regional Policy in the EUMS from Central and Eastern Europe between Decentralisation and Recentralisation

2015 ◽  
pp. 103-134
Author(s):  
Ioan Horga ◽  
Ana Maria Costea Ghimis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Regional Policy ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Regional Authorities

During the accession process and after they became members of the European Union, the Central and Eastern states went through a process of decentralization that emphasized the local and the regional level. Although the process was not complete, after the financial crisis erupted, these states began to develop a centrifugal behaviour are started a recentralization process that decreased the competences of local and regional authorities. The present article argues that undeniably the European Commission through its regional policy has been an important driving force regarding the process of territorial decentralisation in Central and Eastern European countries. However, this influence has generated different outcomes, given its lack of clear perspective and competences.http://dx.doi.org/10.14195/1647-6336_12_7

EU Accession of Central and Eastern European Countries: Democracy and Integration as Conflicting Logics

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi Raik
Keyword(s):  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
The Eu

Although the European Union (EU) has in many ways supported democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, it has also imposed new constraints on the functioning of democracy. The article explores the indirect impact of EU integration on the Eastern applicant countries by exposing the underlying logic of enlargement and analyzing the implications of that logic for democratic politics. The empirical analysis focuses on the preaccession process of one of the new member states, Estonia, but it also examines the overall EU policy toward Eastern candidates, pointing to the limits of enlargement as a form of democracy promotion. It highlights that the principles and norms that dominated enlargement—most notably inevitability, speed, efficiency, and expertise—constrained democratic politics in the applicant countries and limited their EU accession to a narrow sphere of elites and experts. The author links the findings with the democratic deficit in the EU and draws some conclusions concerning future prospects of democracy in and democracy promotion by the enlarged EU.

scholarly journals Social assistance performance in Central and Eastern Europe: A pre-transfer post-transfer comparison

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 428-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Avram
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Effectiveness And Efficiency ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Eastern European Countries

The anti-poverty impact of national social assistance programmes in eight Central and Eastern European countries is examined using data from the European Union-Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Results indicate that social assistance programmes achieve only limited poverty reduction, while spending a significant amount of their resources on the non-poor. The more extensive and generous programmes achieve higher effectiveness in reducing poverty. Efficiency on the other hand appears to be linked only to programme size and not to benefit levels. Unlike Western Europe, no trade-off between effectiveness and efficiency could be detected.

scholarly journals Disclosure of Evidence in Central and Eastern European Countries in Light of the Implementation of the Damages Directive

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 197-221
Author(s):  
Inese Druviete ◽  
Jūlija Jerņeva ◽  
Aravamudhan Ulaganathan Ravindran
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Evidence Disclosure ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Eu

The article looks primarily at the material comprised in the volume edited by A. Piszcz, Implementation of the EU Damages Directive in Central and Eastern European Countries published in 2017 and based on that compares aspects of the disclosure of evidence issue in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The purpose of this article is to look into how the process for the disclosure of evidence has evolved in eleven countries of the European Union in light of Directive 2014/104/EU. The article looks at six key issues with regard to disclosure of evidence in light of Directive 2014/104/EU: general procedural issues; procedure for the submission of evidence; criteria for the disclosure of evidence; restrictions on the disclosure of evidence; disclosure of evidence by parties other than the defendant; and consequences of the failure to comply with a request to submit evidence. The article relies on primary data from eleven EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

Cultural Perspectives on Knowledge Management in Central and Eastern Europe: The SECI Model of Knowledge Conversion and 'Ba'

2010 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 161-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Jelavic ◽  
Kristie Ogilvie
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Knowledge Conversion ◽  
Cultural Perspectives ◽  
Seci Model ◽  
Eastern European Countries

This research discusses the SECI Model of Knowledge Conversion as it relates to the 10 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) that are now part of the European Union (EU). The socio-economic conversion from socialism to capitalism of these societies is unique in historical precedence, whereby utilising the contextual models in knowledge conversion are applicable for understanding the implications of such a phenomenon. The results indicate that there is a unique set of variables that need to be considered within this context and for future similar situations.

The integration of central European countries into the western European economy from 1988 to 1998

2002 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
F. Festoc-Louis
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Central European ◽  
The Third ◽  
Western European ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Eu

In 1998, the European Union (EU) entered into negotiations with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia concerning the enlargement of the Union. At the end of 1999, the European Commission decided that six other countries could join the negotiations in 2000 (Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Malta and Romania), and it was suggested that a decision concerning the date of membership would be taken in 2002 for these applicants fulfilling all the criteria. Many questions still remain on both sides, in particular regarding institutional reform of the EU (Festoc, 1998), and the ability of the Central and Eastern European countries to adopt the “acquis”. In this article, we shall evaluate the ways in which the Central European countries (Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic — the CECs) have already integrated to the Western European economy, using trade data over the last ten years. First, we show that since the beginning of the transition, a feature of the foreign trade of the CECs has been a strong reorientation from East to West, in particular to Germany, together with a rapid growth in trade between the EU and the CECs. Second, we describe the trade structure, focussed on foreign direct investment as a mean of developing new exports. The third and fourth sections study the development of the specialisations of the CECs and the nature of trade between the CECs and the EU respectively.

The Instrumental Use of European Union Conditionality: Regionalization in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Brusis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Eu

Numerous Central and Eastern European countries have restructured their regional level of public administration in the context of their accession to the European Union. Focusing on the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the article studies how the EU has influenced the institutionalization of regions and regional self-government. Regionalization may have been driven mainly by EU conditionality or, as a competing explanation suggests, more by domestic factors. The article argues that the EU altered the opportunity structure faced by domestic actors but that its role was more complementary than decisive. Czech and Slovak governments instrumentalized a perceived EU conditionality to promote their own political objectives. These findings demonstrate that a top-down concept of conditionality lends itself to fallacies and should be substantiated by reconstructing the domestic politics of Europeanization.

scholarly journals POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INTERESTS OF GERMANY IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-106
Author(s):  
Leonid GUSEV
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Visegrad Group ◽  
The Eu

It is necessary to specify that as a result of the (unification?) of Germany in 1990, its eastern frontier directly bordered with a number of former communist states. Since the beginning of the 90 years of cooperation with these states one of Germany’s main tasks became rendering aid to them in carrying out reforms. Germany, being one of leaders of the EU was interested in involvement of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the European market and in receiving benefits from this cooperation, besides; in the political sphere it was important to create a common and stable Europe. One can add that stability and safety in Europe was connected with EU expansion to the East. This article also analyzes how in recent years Germany has been influencing the countries of Central and Eastern Europe; demonstrating that Germany cooperated with countries of Eastern Europe not only within the European Union, but also in a bilateral format since for Germany, entry of the countries of the Central and Eastern European countries into the EU into EU was communicated with the realization of a complex of social, economic and political interests with the Visegrád group.

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