EU Enlargement


Book Description

Twenty researchers and scientists from 13 different European countries join forces to offer their insights into the development of the Information Society in their respective countries. These experts provide analyses regarding issues of technological absorption, economic growth, and cohesion across the enlarged European Union. This volume shows that the history of Information Society in these countries has mainly been about catching up under harsh economic constraints. The ongoing monitoring of these innovative challenges--and how they are addressed at a regional and national level--is an essential contribution to these countries' efforts to become world-class economies.




From Eastern Bloc to European Union


Book Description

More than 25 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, European integration remains a work in progress, especially in those Eastern European nations most dramatically reshaped by democratization and economic liberalization. This volume assembles detailed, empirically grounded studies of eleven states—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and the former East Germany—that went on to join the European Union. Each chapter analyzes the political, economic, and social transformations that have taken place in these nations, using a comparative approach to identify structural similarities and assess outcomes relative to one another as well as the rest of the EU.




Towards a Normal Stratification Order


Book Description

From a historical perspective, the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) until the Wall Street crash of 2008 was brief, but the social changes were far-reaching and resulted in the profound alteration of institutional frameworks of post-socialist societies in Central and East European countries, e.g. Estonia. This book examines the transformation of Estonian society, concentrating on changes in the stratification order. The (re)distribution of the risks and opportunities between different groups in Estonian society, the 'most neoliberal' in the European Union, and the perceptions about fairness of the most radical changes in post-socialist world are the main issues of this volume.




Managing Human Resources in Central and Eastern Europe


Book Description

Until now, no book has documented well the contemporary nature of HRM in Central and Eastern Europe. Authored by leading names in the field, this long-awaited volume charts the landscape of HRM in this region.




Estonia's Transition to the EU


Book Description

Two decades on from the start of the ‘Singing Revolution’, and five years on from the Baltic States’ entry to the European Union, the time is ripe to take stock of Estonia’s remarkable transition from Soviet Republic to EU member state and address the challenges - some new, some ongoing - and uncertainties that have arisen following the country’s entry to the EU. This book locates the post-accession period within the broader sweep of post-communist transition and diagnoses the problems facing Estonia as the global economic downturn takes hold and a new mood of pessimism reigns in Central and Eastern Europe. Until recently, Estonia enjoyed an international reputation as an emerging high-growth ‘tiger economy’ and reform pioneer, not least in the sphere of IT. This economic success story, however, masked the continued problematic political and social legacies of the Soviet period, including the issue of ethnic integration, which again hit the headlines following riots in Tallinn in April 2007. This fully up-to-date appraisal - the first in English - covers all of the key issues, and will appeal to specialists in Baltic and Central and Eastern European politics and society, as well as to anyone with an interest in European integration more generally. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Baltic Studies.




International Bibliography Of Economics 2003


Book Description

First published in 1952, the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology) is well established as a major bibliographic reference for students, researchers and librarians in the social sciences worldwide. Key features * Authority: Rigorous standards are applied to make the IBSS the most authoritative selective bibliography ever produced. Articles and books are selected on merit by some of the world's most expert librarians and academics. * Breadth: today the IBSS covers over 2000 journals - more than any other comparable resource. The latest monograph publications are also included. * International Coverage: the IBSS reviews scholarship published in over 30 languages, including publications from Eastern Europe and the developing world. * User friendly organization: all non-English titles are word sections. Extensive author, subject and place name indexes are provided in both English and French.




The Economic Security of Business Transactions


Book Description

Summary ‘The Economic Security of Business Transactions’ covers such aspects as: management in the economic system; commercial risk in domestic and international transactions; an assessment of partners; unofficial economy and the state budget; economic security business; the role and importance of law in business. The book looks at the threats and risks arising from international trade and operating leading businesses, plus the role of the State. It examines the required new forms, methods and approaches for management. This has significant implications for the businesses concerned and the State’s role. ‘The Economic Security of Business Transactions’ includes coverage of internal company factors, tax evasion and tax avoidance; the book also looks at the level of involvement of the State (especially the EU’s Common Market). This leads to abuses and distortions in the area of the competitiveness of enterprises and countries’ competitiveness; it also changes the perception of contemporary economic security. This book is an attempt to point to the example of single countries, the European Community, and on a global scale – what is the efficiency of national economic systems and how the associated risks impact upon economic trade disorders. Key Features Contains contributions from some of the world’s leading researchers. Has an interdisciplinary character – based on economics, management and law. Shows and defines real threats and risks which occur in economic trade. The Authors Konrad Raczkowski is Professor of Management, who specializes in the unofficial economy, public finances and management in the economic system. He is a Director of Economic Institute in University of Social Sciences in Warsaw; he was Head of the Department of the Economic Security Management. Between 2003 and 2013 he worked in the finance department. He was also the advisor and consultant to governmental institutions, entrepreneurs and the European Anti-Fraud Office in Brussels (OLAF). He has qualifications as an internal auditor of integrated management systems. Professor Raczkowski is a member of British Academy of Management and since 2008 he has been an associate of the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. Friedrich Schneider is Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz in Austria. He is recognized as a leading authority in the field of studies on the shadow world economy. He has conducted research and lectures, among institutions such as the Universities of Yale, Princeton, Virginia, Stockholm, Zurich, Carnegie Mellon and Aarhus. In the years 1997-1999 he was the President of the Austrian Economic Association and in 2005-2008 the President of the German Economic Association. He has advised many governments, entrepreneurs and the European Commission. He is the author or co-author of hundreds of publications, including 62 books published in many languages. Professor Schneider’s research interests focus on the theory of economic policy, finance and the analysis of economic consequences of government intervention. Readership Scientists and researchers of national economy and unofficial economy; people experienced in the management (public and business); entrepreneurs; and students Contents PART I. SHADOW ECONOMY AND TAX EVASION CHAPTER 1 Size and development of the shadow economy and of tax evasion within Poland and of its neighbouring countries from 2003 to 2013: some new facts (Friedrich Schneider and Konrad Raczkowski) CHAPTER 2 How to curtail Poland’s shadow economy: the viewpoints of business and tax authorities (Bogdan Mróz and Mariusz Sokolek) CHAPTER 3 Shadow banking versus the shadow economy in Poland (Jan K. Solarz) CHAPTER 4 Why VAT carousel crime schemes are almost impossible to prosecute in Poland? (Czeslaw J_drzejek, Jacek Wi_ckowski, Maciej Nowak and Jaroslaw Bak) CHAPTER 5 The latest changes in the French tax evasion policy and its influence on economic and financial security (Urszula Zawadzka-Pak) PART II. ECONOMY AND BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS CHAPTER 6 The idea of homo oeconomicus and the role of culture in the economy (Marian Noga) CHAPTER 7 The implications of tax competition and "race to the bottom" for economic growth (Jolanta Szolno-Koguc and Malgorzata Twarowska) CHAPTER 8 Correct planning of budget revenue as an essential condition for secure business transactions (Eugeniusz Ruskowski) CHAPTER 9 The effects of public transfers on an economic system (Marta Postula) CHAPTER 10 The role of marketing information in the assessment of a contractor’s credibility in business negotiations (Bogdan Gregor and Magdalena Kalinska-Kula) CHAPTER 11 Implementation of the business counterintelligence branch in enterprise structure (Miroslaw Kwieci_ski and Krzysztof Passella) CHAPTER 12 Systematization of risk in internal and international markets (Katarzyna Zukrowska) CHAPTER 13 The role of the supreme audit office in tackling corruption and other types of organisational pathologies (Zbyslaw Dobrowolski) CHAPTER 14 Analysis of state bank guarantees offered to enterprises by national bank holdings and system solutions in selected countries (Dorota Ostrowska) CHAPTER 15 Common banking supervision within the financial safety net (Beata Domanska-Szaruga) CHAPTER 16 Crisis management in the global economy (Robert Dygas) PART III. MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC SECURITY CHAPTER 17 Business Process Management as a way to achieve national economic security (Piotr Senkus) CHAPTER 18 Collaborative networks as a basis for internal economic security in sustainable local governance. The case of Poland (Barbara Kozuch and Katarzyna Sienkiewicz-Malyjurek) CHAPTER 19 Changes in European foreign trade in the context of economic security (Agnieszka Glodowska) CHAPTER 20 The impact of non-military threats to economic security (Andrzej Limanski, Zbigniew Grzywna and Ireneusz Drabik)




Europe at the Crossroads


Book Description

As a continent, the economy of Europe is currently the largest on Earth. The European Union, or EU, an intergovernmental body composed of most of the European states, is one of the two largest in the world. Of the member states in the EU, Germany has the largest national economy. Thirteen EU countries share a common unit of currency, the Euro. Major economic sectors in Europe include agriculture, manufacturing, and investment. The majority of the EU's trade is with the United States, China, India, Russia and non-member European states. This book focuses on the latest economic and political issues in Europe.




The Politics of Memory in Post-Authoritarian Transitions, Volume One


Book Description

History is a powerful tool in the hands of politicians, and can be a destructive weapon since power over the past is the power to decide who is a hero and who is a traitor. Tradition, the memory of ancestors, and the experience of previous generations are the keys that unlock the door to citizens’ minds, and allow certain ideas, visions and political programs to flourish. However, can history be a proper political weapon during democratisation processes when the past is clearly separated from the present? Are the new order and society founded on the basis of some interpretation of the past, or, rather, are they founded only with reference to the imagined future of the nation? This book explores such questions through a detailed description of the use of remembrance policies during political transformations. It discusses how interpretations of the past served the accomplishment of transitional objectives in countries as varied as Chile, Estonia, Georgia, Poland, South Africa and Spain. The book is a unique journey through different parts of the world, different cultures and different political systems, investigating how history was remembered and forgotten by certain democratic leaders. Individual chapters discuss how governments’ remembrance policies were used to create a new citizen, to change a political culture, and to justify the vision of the society promoted by the new elites. They explain why some difficult topics were avoided by politicians, and why sometimes there was no transitional justice or punishment of the leaders of the authoritarian state. The book will be of interest to anyone wishing to explore policies of remembrance, democratisation, and the role of memory in contemporary societies.