Finland is the last one of the non-applicant EFTA countries to conclude a free trade agreement with the EC. The author takes a favourable view of its prospects particularly since it has come into force just as a cyclical down-turn was getting under way.

Die anhaltenden Asyl- und Flüchtlingsströme und der Antritt der neuen Europäischen Kommission am 1. November 2014 bieten Anlass für eine Debatte über ein Umdenken in der deutschen und europäischen Zuwanderungspolitik. Eine Abkehr vom „Festungsdenken“ ist dringend geboten. Die bisherige...

Syriens wirtschaftliche Entwicklung war in den letzten Jahren von abnehmender Ölproduktion, entsprechend rückläufigen Ölexporten und einer Verschlechterung der Leistungsbilanz gekennzeichnet. Dabei ist die Arbeitslosigkeit mit gut 11% der Erwerbstätigen anhaltend hoch. Erschwert wird die...

In this study, we use Okun's Law to examine whether growth has been jobless in seventeen MENA countries. The methods used are the ARDL approach for the individual country and the panel data analysis for the entire sample. The period considered in this study is from 1980 to 2013. To test for...

Jabal al-Hoss is one of the poorest areas in Syria where UNDP has supported the establishment of self-reliant local financial institutions, sanduq (sg.) lit. savings box: a novel concept in centralized banking system. The sanadiq (pl.) are self-managed and autonomous in their decision-making,...

Policymakers in Syria are seriously concerned (a) about social equality and equal opportunities for women and men; and (b) about the effectiveness of financial institutions in providing adequate services to men, women and youth to fight poverty and reduce unemployment. Considerable social...