Against the background of the hotly‐debated issue of Germany’s attractiveness as a manufacturing location, the article assesses whether, and to what extent, the extraordinary growth of German direct foreign investment (DFI) into Eastern and Central Europe (ECE) can be connected to a...

Restructuring activities in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe present enticing opportunities for firms to consider foreign investment in these emerging areas. Geographically, the population of the entire region is relatively conveniently concentrated, rendering delivery and servicing of...

Recent moves to democratisation of Eastern Europe, and aspirations to western lifestyles, do not guarantee easy penetration of western branded consumer goods. There is demand mainly for conspicuous tokens of capitalism (Levi′s, BMWs, Adidas). Barriers to developing markets for faster‐moving...

Quantitative economics has advanced dramatically in the past eighty years and much of this took place in the three decades following World War II. Many contributions were initiated and sponsored by the defense community. For the resolution of major military management and planning problems it...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of access to credit and safety nets on fertilizer adoption in rural Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach – A panel data set collected in 2005 and 2007 on 278 households and over 5,700 plots from the Southern Highlands of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to analyze the role of exchange rate appreciation expectation in trade invoicing from the perspective of importers, then empirically analyze it using Japanese export data. Design/methodology/approach – Constructing a theoretical model...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine if the knowledge spillover effect from foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow exists as well as its possible channels in China, and makes some policy suggestions. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the literature review, the paper sets a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the way in which the knowledge competitiveness of regions is measured and further introduces the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index (WKCI) benchmarking tool. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology consists of an econometric analysis...

The aim of this paper is to estimate the (in)efficiency of European railways, through an econometric estimation of frontier functions. The methodology used is the panel data method. The statistical source covers 19 companies observed over the period from 1965 to 1998. Two different...