This paper provides a survey of the effects of market competition in the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The pivotal element of the transition was inter-firm competition, which replaced economic planning as the method to identify demand. Pro-competitive policies that...

This paper argues that the accession to the European Union improves the quality of competition policy via the implementation of pro-competitive policies, especially antitrust and competition policies, embedded in the Community Acquis. We assess this conjecture empirically for the (former)...

In 2013, the cash-flow-to-sales ratio of the Austrian manufacturing sector reached an estimated 9.0 percent, a value significantly below the long-run average of 9.6 percent. The persistently muted performance of the manufacturing sector has affected the cash-flow-to-sales ratio, which declined...

In 2013, the cash-flow-to-sales ratio of the Austrian manufacturing sector reached an estimated 9.0 percent, a value significantly below the long-run average of 9.6 percent. The persistently muted performance of the manufacturing sector has affected the cash-flow-to-sales ratio, which declined...

Aiming at both low prices and innovation, policy makers and economists have long argued about the optimal intensity of competition. While the current discussion in telecommunication regulation points out that competition can be detrimental to innovation due to the low appropriability of rents...

The cash earnings of Austrian manufacturing, estimated by WIFO at 10.3 percent of the turnover in 2008, were close to their long-term average. During the last years, i.a., due to rising cash flows, the equity ratio rose to 38.5 percent in 2007, exceeding for the first time the European average...

Austria's economy is in transition from implementing existing technologies to the creation of innovative products and processes. Its research intensity has been enhanced, as have the skills requirements to be met by its workforce. In order to complete this transition it is necessary to adjust...

Based on a small panel of NACE 2-digit industries, econometric estimates indicate a cash flow to sales ratio of Austrian manufacturing firms of approximately 10.3 percent in 2008. This marks a significant drop from the extraordinarily high 13.7 percent in 2007, and can be explained by the...

Based on a small panel of NACE 2-digit industries, econometric estimates indicate a cash flow to sales ratio for Austrian manufacturers of approximately 10.6 percent in 2007, which is only 0.1 percentage point above the level of 2006. This is the result of an increase in industrial output and...

In an attempt to reproduce the skyrocketing growth of the GSM standard, "standardisation" turned into a buzzword of many innovation and industrial policy documents. This paper critically discusses the potential for using standards as a policy tool by providing an overview of the complexity of...