There is a growing emphasis on the role of trade in health services (telehealth, health tourism and retirement, investments and deployment of medical professionals) in easing fiscal constraints, generating jobs and income, improving infrastructure and financing, and upgrading the capacities of...

I focus on the independent role of social innovation in economic progress. Modern theory of economic growth and development emphasizes endowments, power, incentives, and physical technology, paying scant attention to knowledge of social systems as a scarce resource. I reverse these procedures by...

Although the socio-economic development of many nations during the last two centuries has been very impressive, there are many issues questioning the sustainability of this development. Questions have been raised whether increased consumption will lead to increased happiness, or whether people...

North Korea is perceived by many as one of the most totalitarian societies of modern time. But in the wake of the economic collapse of the 1990s, North Korean totalitarianism has grappled with new conditions. This paper examines how the country's totalitarian character has been upheld through...

Freiwillige Feuerwehren sind in vielen ländlichen Räumen Europas eine etablierte Einrichtung der Daseinsvorsorge.Trotz dieser Allgegenwärtigkeit sehen sich viele Ortsfeuerwehren bei der Erfüllung ihrer Aufgaben mit existenziellen Herausforderungen konfrontiert. Fragen wie die Durchführung...

Among ENP countries, Azerbaijan is outstanding because it leans on its resource base and sees the EU at the receiving end of bilateral relations. At the other extreme, Ukraine depends on EU cooperation, especially with respect to trade. We develop a comprehensive theoretical concept for...

In existing models of direct democratic institutions, the median voter benefits, but representative politicians are harmed since their policy choices can be overridden. This is a puzzle, since representative politicians were instrumental in creating these institutions. I build a model of direct...

This article examines the role of business in the historical development of job security regulations in Germany from their creation in the inter-war period to the dawn of the crisis of the 'German Model' in the 1980s. It contrasts the varieties of capitalism approach, which sees business as...

This paper quantifies the impact of incentives related to potential membership on institutional change as measured by the World Bank Governance Indicators (WBGI). Based on a panel of 25 transition countries for the period from 1996 to 2008 we show that pre-accession incentives provided by EU and...

This paper quantifies the impact of incentives related to potential membership on institutional change as measured by the World Bank Governance Indicators (WBGI). Based on a panel of 25 transition countries for the period from 1996 to 2008 we show that pre-accession incentives provided by EU and...