Free 'Entry' and free 'Exit' are fundamental mechanisms of the competitive market economy operation. Free entry ensures that potential entrepreneurs will take advantage of profitable opportunities and enter profitable segments of the market, increasing competitive pressure on the incumbent...

The paper assesses differences in productivity and its determinants among enterprises manufacturing cosmetics and detergents (NACE 245) and located in Germany and in three EU new member states. The database collected through conducting an identical survey in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and...

This paper aims at comparing the uneven process of changes in competitiveness among three accession countries' manufacturing industries, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, during the period prior to their EU membership (1996-2003). It demonstrates that the three countries improved...

In this paper we present a general assessment of the labour market situation of older workers in the Czech Republic, starting with a more general overview of the demographic situation and emphasizing the generational differences among the young-old and older cohorts, underlying a number of...

This paper focuses on knowledge-based entrepreneurship, or new firm creation in industries which are considered to be science-based or to use research and development intensively, in the East Central European (ECE) context. On the basis of case studies of thirteen knowledge-based firms in six...

The paper analyses the relationship between labour costs and employment development in manufacturing industry in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. It indicates the need for thorough labour cost analysis in Europe in the context low employment rates among New Member States. The steps taken...

The paper provides an analyses of the economic changes which occurred in the Czech Republic under transition. After providing an economic history of the transition period, the paper describes first the developments in the public finance sector (e.g.: public budget operations developments, public...

The paper is an attempt at a comparative overview of banking sector systemic risk in six Central European countries as of the end of 1997 concluding with some policy recommendations. The countries covered by the paper (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) are specific...

The Czech social-security system is hampered by the ageing population, similarly as all European systems. The discussion of remedies is still very rudimentary. Pro-reform arguments concentrate on the non-sustainability of the current system in the long term and on the miserable returns the...

The reform of the Czech public health system started in 1991. The main goals were the liquidation of the state's monopoly on health services, the creation of non-state health care that would include private facilities, and the introduction of multi-resource financing for health care that...