This edited collection provides a comprehensive geographic and chronological overview of the decentralisation processes in the successor states of former Yugoslavia and Albania during their transition and EU integration years, from 1990 until 2016. These countries present a unique laboratory for...

This paper assesses labor market segmentation across formal and informal salaried jobs and self-employment in three Latin American and three transition countries. It looks separately at the markets for skilled and unskilled labor, inquiring if segmentation is an exclusive feature of the latter....

Past efforts to build policy buffers and a broadly appropriate macroeconomic policy mix during 2020-21 have helped Albania withstand the impact of consecutive shocks since 2019. Growth is expected to remain solid in 2022 before decelerating in 2023, and inflation is projected to return to the...

Albania's economy has shown considerable resilience in the face of the 2019 earthquake and the pandemic. After the hardship endured in 2020, real GDP is rebounding strongly by a projected 7.8 percent in 2021. Policies have played a critical role in preserving lives and livelihoods and thereby...

After trailing Euro Area inflation closely in the recent past, inflation in the Western Balkans has accelerated faster since early 2022 on the back of the shocks to global commodity prices, strong recovery from the pandemic, and lingering supply bottlenecks. This paper employs two complementary...

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly an important vehicle for several Western Balkan countries to increase investment to reduce their infrastructure gaps. While there are benefits to well-designed and implemented PPPs, they also carry a potential for large fiscal risks and...

Trade is considered one of the main drivers of a country's economic growth and development. Therefore, a successful analysis that identifies the bilateral trade flows, their determinants, and the regional integration costs and benefits opens new horizons for international trade perspectives....