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121. An assessment of direct and indirect liabilities of Polish banks AD 2015

Author:
Marek Radzikowski and Mieczysław Groszek
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The present document is an attempt at a comprehensive analysis of direct and indirect burdens imposed upon banks in 2015. The idea to present such factors — which are often extremely varied in nature — in a single study was born out of the fact that these factors are often considered separately, on the basis of various criteria, which causes them to be split into different groups. This approach results in a fairly common tendency for fragmentary assessment of their impact and, more importantly, in the adoption of piecemeal regulations which fail to take into account the full impact of the actions taken in different areas. This applies in equal measures to supervisory authorities, regulators, analysts, policymakers and the media, which means that, in a somewhat oversimplified sense, the above statement is applicable to the public at large. This situation can be most succinctly characterised in the manner presented below. In the aftermath of the crisis, banks require a new set of instruments to regulate the functioning thereof. This is because they are to become more stable, safe, less risk-prone and more customer-friendly. Each of these areas requires a separate set of regulatory instruments, along with the respective subgroups thereof. Oftentimes they are not synchronised with each other and are usually aimed at the implementation of a specific, particular goal to an excessive extent. In addition, there are also “special tasks” such as the reform of the Credit and Saving Unions (SKOK).
Topic:
Finance, Economic Growth, Banks, and Trade
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Poland, and European Union

122. Will Belarus fully benefit from the Eurasian Economic Union?

Author:
Sierž Naŭrodski and Uladzimir Valetka
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Eurasian Economic Union, an ambitious project intended to benefit the countries in the post-soviet zone, evokes questions about its future. Is pulling together regional cooperation and tightening its relationship with Russia beneficial to Belarus in the long run? Having analyzed the recent trends in trade, labor and capital flows, Sierž Naūrodski and Uladzimir Valetka shed light on the highly questionable nature of potential benefits the Union could bring to Belarussian economy within its current macroeconomic and institutional framework.
Topic:
Globalization, Economic Growth, Regional Integration, and Trade
Political Geography:
Europe, Eurasia, and Belarus

123. The Cyclically Adjusted Budget: History and Exegesis of a Fateful Estimate

Author:
Orsola Costantini
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
Abstract:
This paper traces the evolution of the concept of the cyclically adjusted budget from the 1930s to the present. The idea of balancing the budget over the cycle was first conceived in Sweden in the 1930s by the economists of the Stockholm School and was soon reinterpreted and incorporated into the fiscal program of the American political coalition supporting the New Deal, especially by the Committee for Economic Development during and after World War II. In the 1960s, Keynesian economists associated with the Kennedy and Johnson administrations reformulated the notion. Despite their claims at the time, their version differed only in degree from the earlier CED approach, the transformation being largely conditioned by changing political circumstances. In the 1980s, however, the concept changed substantially. Methods for calculating it transformed dramatically, as the notion became a device to limit and direct governments’ fiscal policies in a wide sense, that is, including institutional (or “structural”) reforms. The final section of the paper considers the shifting uses of the notion in the European Growth and Stability Pact.
Topic:
Economics, Budget, Economic Growth, and Fiscal Policy
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, and United States of America

124. BRICS As a Transregional Advocacy Coalition

Author:
Roberta Rodrigues Marques de Silva and Eduardo Rodrigues Gomes
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
In this article, we aim to: (i) review the concepts adopted in the literature to explain the nature and behavior of the BRICS in international relations and (ii) present a new BRICS conceptualization proposal. From the first to the last Summit Conference, the BRICS explicitly advocates a multilateral world order through the inclusion of emerging countries in the base institutions of the Western order. For the elaboration of the article, we review the literature on BRICS, as well as the approach on regionalism proposed by Soderbaum to elaborate our conceptualization of the BRICS as an advocacy coalition.
Topic:
Development, Hegemony, Economic Growth, and Regionalism
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and South America

125. The EU’s Economic Policy Architecture after the Ratification of the Fiscal Treaty

Author:
Jørgen Mortensen
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, adopted in March 2012 entered into force in January 2013 was presented as a reinforcement of the Stability and Growth Pact. The present Brief argues that this new Treaty does not seem to offer a definitive solution to the problem of finding the appropriate budgetary-monetary policy mix in the EMU and that it may complicate some aspects of the economic policy governance in the Eurozone. This E-brief is based on Jorgen Mortensen’s presentation at the EUROFRAME Conference 2013 "Towards a better governance in the EU?" held on May 24th, 2013.
Topic:
Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Macroeconomics, and Eurozone
Political Geography:
Europe and European Union

126. What Affects the Main Engine of Growth in the European Economy? Industrial Interconnectedness and Differences in Performance of Business Services Across the EU25

Author:
Grzegorz Poniatowski and Maciej Sobolewski
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The main purpose of this study is to determine what are the main factors which stand behind the diversity in performance of business services measured by their contribution to growth in the EU Member States. We show that in addition to typical growth factors which enhance labour productivity, also the extent of interconnectedness of business services with upstream industries is important to explain service-based economic growth. The analysis yields two interesting results. Firstly, the authors show that patterns of industrial interconnectedness of business services are considerably diversified across the EU Member States indicating large differences in the integration of services as supplier with other sectors on a country level. Secondly they show that the diversified growth performance of business services across the EU25 countries can be explained by differences in labour productivity and differences in forward linkages. The results indicate the fundamental role of business services as the main engine of growth in the European economy. This service-based growth is channelled mainly through increases in labour productivity and forward interconnectedness of services with downstream industries. On the policy making level the results indicate that investment in human and intangible capital are crucial for the service-dominated economy as they not only enhance economic growth inside knowledge intensive services but also facilitate transmission of growth impulses to downstream industries by increasing diffusion and integration of services as suppliers of high value added inputs to the economy.
Topic:
Development, European Union, Economy, Economic Growth, Services, Innovation, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Europe

127. Economic Policy Coordination in the EMU: From Maastricht via SGP to the Fiscal Pact

Author:
Jørgen Mortensen
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
The present paper first takes a step backwards with an attempt to situate the adoption of this Treaty in discussion of the SGP and the “Maastricht criteria” (the criteria for EMU membership fixed in the Maastricht Treaty) in a longer perspective of the sharing of competences for macroeconomic policy making within the EU from the initial Treaty to the Maastricht Treaty and the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). It then presents the main features of the Fiscal Treaty and its relation to the SGP and draws some conclusions as regards the importance and relevance of this new step in the process of economic policy coordination. It concludes that the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union does not seem to offer a definitive solution to the problem of finding the appropriate budgetary-monetary policy mix in the EMU already well identified in the Delors report in 1989 and regularly emphasised ever since and now seriously aggravated due to the Crisis. Furthermore, the implementation of this Treaty may under certain circumstances contribute to an increase in the uncertainties as regards the distribution of the competences between the European Parliament.
Topic:
Globalization, Treaties and Agreements, Economic Growth, Macroeconomics, Eurozone, Trade, Economic Integration, and Economic Stability
Political Geography:
Europe

128. Study to quantify and analyse the VAT Gap in the EU-27 Member States

Author:
Leon Bettendorf, Luca Barbone, Michael Smart, Mikhail Bonch-Osmolovsky, Misha V. Belkindas, and Richard M. Bird
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
This report presents and discusses the findings of the “Study to quantify and analyse the VAT Gap in the EU-27 Member States”, conducted by CASE and CPB. The main aim of the study was to help better understand the recent trends in the field of VAT fraud and analyse determinants of VAT Gaps using a number of econometric techniques. The authors discuss the structure of the VAT systems in the EU, the broad trends in the EU economy over the period 2000-2011, and review the behaviour of VAT revenues, as well as the changes in VAT rates and exemptions that have occurred as a response to economic events or policy decisions. They pay particular attention to the events following the onset of the economic crisis in 2008. Moreover, they discuss the definition of VAT Gaps that has been used in this study, as well as other alternatives existing in the literature. They review possible shortcomings associated with different concepts. Subsequently, they present the results of the estimations for EU-26 countries for the period 2000-2011. The estimates are first discussed for the EU-26 as a whole, and then for each country individually. Finally, an econometric analysis of the determinants of VAT Gaps for the period under consideration is provided.
Topic:
European Union, Economic Growth, Fiscal Policy, VAT, and Financial Sector
Political Geography:
Europe

129. A Half-Century of Development

Author:
Richard N. Cooper
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Development as a global policy objective dates from the 1940s. Relative to expectations then, the world economy performed outstandingly well during the second half of the 20th century. Worldwide growth in average per capita income exceeded two percent a year (historically unprecedented), many poor countries became rich, infant mortality declined, diets improved, longevity increased, diseases were contained if not vanquished. Poverty on the World Bank definition of $1 a day (in 1985$) declined dramatically, and the number of persons in poverty was halved despite a more than doubling of the world population. Variations occurred over time and space, with rapid growth being concentrated in Europe and Japan early in the period, then moving to east Asia, southeast Asia, and south Asia. Growth in the 1950s and especially the 1960s exceeded that in later decades. Examples of high growth could be found in every continent, but on average sub-Saharan Africa fared much less well than other regions. Declines in national per capita income were rare, and concentrated in Africa. Civil disorder was a common but not the universal cause of low growth. Median world income gained relative to the well-off, but both spurted ahead of the poorest. World exports grew more rapidly than output, often leading the way. Many countries gradually shifted their exports from primary products to labor-intensive manufactured goods, and as development proceeded to more sophisticated manufactures and services. The fraction of the labor force devoted to agriculture declined significantly. One country after another achieved social stability, created the right incentives for effort and risk-taking, and engaged constructively with the world economy, which facilitated economic growth. Those that lagged failed to meet one or more of these conditions. Civil and political liberties also spread during this period, although less certainly and less securely. On the whole, it was a good half century for mankind. The substantial poverty and misery that still exists should not lead to neglect or even denial of these achievements.
Topic:
Development, Inequality, Economy, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Africa, Japan, Europe, and Asia

130. German Capitalism: Does It Exist? Can It Survive?

Author:
Wolfgang Streeck
Publication Date:
03-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In the roughly four decades between the end of the Second World War and German unification, West German society gave rise to a distinctive kind of capitalist economy, governed by nationally specific social institutions that made for high international competitiveness at high wages and, at the same time, low inequality of incomes and living standards. Already by the late 1980s, when the differences in performance and social organization between the West German economy and its main competitors came to be widely noticed, the continued economic viability of the 'German model' began to appear doubtful to many. Shortly thereafter, the survival of the German version of advanced capitalism became tied to its successful extension to the former East Germany. With the 1992 completion of the European Internal Market, it became in addition dependent on the compatibility of German economic institutions with the emerging regime of the integrated European economy.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Governance, Capitalism, Economic Growth, Social Justice, and Public Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany