The aim of this study is to analyse the state of the competitiveness of seven Western Balkan economies and to suggest policy recommendations in order to increase their capacity to compete. Most countries from the Western Balkans have a persistent current account deficit of about 10% of GDP which...

Die meisten Westbalkanländer haben ein hohes und in der Regel persistentes Leistungsbilanzdefizit von annähernd 10% des BIP. Reduktionen des Leistungsbilanzdefizits der letzten Jahre sind vor allem auf krisenhafte Importzurückhaltung zurückzuführen. Das durchschnittliche Westbalkanland (im...

Georgia has long been one of the most trade-open economies in the world. It joined WTO in 2000 and currently has a free trade agreement with the EU and EFTA, as well as with Turkey, the CIS and China. Georgia has been also one of the most business-friendly countries. The basic objectives of...

While popular opinion often pictures FDI flowing in search of lowest-wage, lowest-skilled activities in emerging markets, actual FDI to such countries increasingly addresses medium to high-skilled manufacturing sectors. Such FDI might be called 'Quality FDI' that contributes to the creation of...

This paper uses a newly constructed dataset on bilateral de-jure exchange rate regimes to estimate the effect of expected exchange rate volatility on foreign direct investment (FDI). The new dataset accounts for the fact that officially pegging to one currency is uninformative about the exchange...

The paper uses a comprehensive data set with bilateral direct investment flows and establishes the influence of the de-facto exchange rate regime for FDI flows. We find a strong and significant effect from fixed rates on bilateral FDI flows in developed economies, but no significant effect for...

The aim of the study is to explore the short-run and long-run dynamic relationships between exchange rate fluctuations and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in China. The justification is that the undertaken topic is preeminent for devising strategies to promote economic development, thus,...

This paper examines the trade participation of Bangladesh's manufacturing firms using a three-year panel. It distinguishes between extensive and intensive margin effects using a Heckman sample selection model. Particular attention is paid to the role of imported intermediates and inward foreign...

African countries have sought to replicate the success of East Asia by implementing special economic zones. Despite decades of international experience, there remains no blueprint for successful special economic zone policies, and the majority of special economic zones fall well below...

While popular opinion often pictures FDI flowing in search of lowest-wage, lowest- skilled activities in emerging markets, actual FDI to such countries increasingly addresses medium to high-skilled manufacturing sectors. Such FDI might be called "Quality FDI" that contributes to the creation of...