We discuss past performance and future challenges for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). We highlight the successful convergence process of those countries, not least thanks to their integration into European and global value chains. As the external environment changes, so...

This volume was prepared by Sebastian Benz while he was working at the Ifo Institute. It was completed in December 2013 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes five self-contained chapters. All chapters discuss different...

Die vorliegende Studie untersucht erstmalig für die Ukraine und Polen, wie der Wechsel der vertretenen Regierungspartei in der Region und die Absorptionsfähigkeit von FDI das regionale Wirtschaftswachstum beeinflussen. Die empirische Analyse erfolgt auf regionaler Ebene für den Zeitraum...

Theoretical models of growth reveal that either exogenous or endogenous, technology is the main driving force behind the long-run economic growth. Furthermore, in the endogenous growth framework, diffusion of technology is the basic mechanism of per capita income convergence among countries....

China is well-placed to avoid the so-called “middle-income trap” and to continue to converge towards the more advanced economies, even though growth is likely to slow from near double-digit rates in the first decade of this millennium to around 7% at the 2020 horizon. However, in order to...

Global value chains offer countries unique opportunities to participate in and benefit from international trade by specializing in specific production stages and tasks. The objective of this study is twofold: (i) to investigate the evolution of African countries participation in global value...

This paper elaborates the economic impacts of the foreign direct investments (FDI) on the case of Macedonian economy. Most developing countries consider FDI a vital source for their development. Anyway, it is quite difficult to measure the economic effects of FDI over the host country, having in...

Before the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, discussions were already taking place on how to complete Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and increase its resilience, inter alia, by speeding up economic convergence. The impact of the current unprecedented crisis on the euro area...

Trade in intermediate goods as one possible link between rising trade and foreign direct investment is examined. To explain growing intermediate goods trade, three hypotheses are brought forward: outsourcing, global sourcing and the increasing importance of MNE networks. These hypotheses are...

Three features of China's trade patterns suggest that elements beyond factor abundance explain its export performance. The high penetration in world markets of labourintensive products has been accompanied by: (i) a high share in exports of productivityadvanced foreign-owned enterprises (FIEs),...