This is a discussion of Ratfai (2007), presented at the 2007 Macroeconomics Workshop of the Rimini Center for Economic Analysis on "The Macroeconomics of Price Setting," May 10-11, 2007, University of Bologna, Rimini, Italy.

This study empirically evaluates the impact of consolidation activity in the credit union system on the rate of business formation. Drawing on Canadian provincial-level data over the period 1992-2009, it provides evidence which suggests that consolidation activity is unlikely to hurt business...

This paper suggests a holistic framework for assessing farm competitiveness, and analyses competitiveness of different type of Bulgarian farms during EU CAP implementation. First, it presents a new approach for assessing farm competitiveness defining farm competitiveness and its three criteria...

In this paper, we construct a simplified general oligopolistic equilibrium (GOLE) model, in which Smith's (1776) famous theory of division of labor is embedded. In the absence of labor market integration with trading countries, we show that trade liberalization promotes a reduction of the number...

The paper analyzes the experience of the Central and East European candidate countries with respect to major macro-level changes in the structure of their economy relevant for their catching up. More precisely, the production and utilization sides of the GDP, as well as the structure of...

The work addresses the issue of Italian medium-sized enterprises of the fourth capitalism. The question is whether this business model is going to last and actually represent a new model for global competition. This contribution examines the features of the model of the medium industrial...

This article shows the relationship between market and firms through the theory of transactional cost and the relations that determine the structure and boundaries of the firm. Using the assumptions from the transactional cost approach, this article proposes some variables that determine optimal...

In this paper we investigate wholesale electricity prices integration process in the main European markets. After reforms introduced in the last decades in Europe, wholesale electricity prices are now determined in regulated markets. However, while market institutional frameworks show several...

Structural change indicates essentially a qualitative transformation and evolution of the economic systems, usually marked by technological progress and organizational changes. Technological factors, knowledge, institutions are all elements that contribute to the process of structural change....

An article about the institutional problems of interaction between government and market actors in the economy of the Russian Federation. The author analyzes the problems associated with an increase in the effectiveness of economic policy of State through the unconditional observance of the...