Closing The Eu East West Productivity Gap

A product of the Framework V research project, this book addresses one of the key problems facing the EU today: Why is the ‘new’ EU so much poorer than the ‘old’, and how will EU enlargement help to solve the problem? Focusing on the productivity problems underlying the East-West gap, it looks in particular at the role that foreign investment and R&D can play in closing it. Against that background, the book assesses what role proactive development policy might play in attacking the roots of low social productivity. Concluding that there will be a clear-cut process of convergence between East and West, albeit an incomplete one, it finishes with an assessment of the patterns of competitiveness, East and West, that are likely to emerge from this process of incomplete convergence. The material is based on a rich archive of empirical material which no competing title can match, and combines in-depth interviews with standard quantitative approaches and critical policy analysis. Contents:Introduction: Productivity and Social Capability — A Historical and Analytical Framework (D A Dyker & L Iacovone)Identifying the Channels and Mechanics of FDI-Induced Technology Transfer (D A Dyker et al.)Analyzing FDI in Central-East Europe on the Basis of Sample Surveys (B Majcen et al.)Analyzing FDI in Central-East Europe Through Case Studies (D A Dyker et al.)Checking the Results of the Case Study Interviews — An Essay in Triangulation (L Iacovone & N Kofoed)Domestic Innovation Capacity — Can CEE Governments Correct FDI-Driven Trends Through R&D Policy? (S Radošević)Can EU Policy Intervention Help Productivity Catch-Up? (P Holmes et al.)Summing-Up: Productivity Catch-Up and International Competitiveness (D A Dyker) Readership: Academics, civil servants and business managers. Keywords:Central-East Europe;Foreign Direct Investment;Competitiveness;EU;East-West Productivity GapKey Features:Addresses a key policy issue facing EU, national governments and private sector managers alikeBased on a rich archive of empirical material not available in any other published sourceCombines in-depth interviews with standard quantitative approaches and critical policy analysisWritten by a team of eminent senior academics (Dyker, Holmes, Radošević, Majcen) and brilliant young researchers

An authoritative study that covers the social and economic history of Central and Eastern Europe since 1973.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) assumed a prominent role in Central East Europe (CEE) early on in the transition process. Foreign investors were assigned the task of restructuring markets, providing capital and knowledge for investment in technologically outdated and financially ailing firms.

This important book focuses on post-Lisbon Agenda issues of alignment and misalignment on different dimensions of European society and the European economy, including industrial systems, R&D systems, educational systems and job markets. It also looks in particular at the peripheral regions of Europe — the less developed parts of ‘old’ Europe, the parts of old Europe that are outside or only half-inside the EU, the new member-states of the EU, and Turkey as the most important EU candidate country. It takes as its methodological starting point the theory of network alignment as developed in SPRU, notably by Nick von Tunzelmann, and builds on this to produce an incisive assessment of the institutions, individual actors and markets that drive the knowledge economy. In all of this, it sets the European picture firmly in the context of global developments in investment, labour and intellectual property flows. Key authors include the editor himself, von Tunzelmann, Andrea Salavetz of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Matija Rojec of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Contents:Alignment, Misalignment and Dynamic Network-Based Capabilities (N von Tunzelmann)Innovation Networks:The UK Innovation System, from a Misalignment Perspective (N von Tunzelmann)Still Divided by Transformation? Characteristic Features of the German Innovation System and the Barriers to Extending It to East Germany (P Franz)The Governance and Management of Technical Change in Transition Countries (D A Dyker)Manual Perception of Science and Industry in Innovation Networks — Evidence from East Germany (J Günther & Cornelia Lang)The Slovakian Innovation System — Why Does It Not Work? (S Salis)Labour Markets, Job Matching and Social Networking:Job Matching, Human Capital Accumulation and Economic Development (D A Dyker)Human Capital and Skills in Hungary — Matching Demand and Supply (A Szalavetz)Labour Market Constraints in Romania: The Challenge of Skill Mismatch in a Transforming Economy (D Pislaru)Horizontal and Vertical Mismatch in the Labour Market Among Graduate Students with Generic or Vocational Higher Education (P Børing)Human Resources and Skills Gap in a Regional Context: The Case of Campania (M Del Sorbo)Urbanisation and Network Alignment Issues in Istanbul: Informal Networks in Housing and Labour Markets (O Aktas)Industrial Networks and International Spillovers:Knowledge Spillovers, Innovation and Firm-Level Productivity Growth in Slovenia (J P Damijan et al.)The Impact of Technology on Skills in Estonian Wood-Based Industries (K Ukrainski)FDI and the National Innovation System — Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe (J Günther et al)The Impact of Outward FDI on Home-Country Employment in a Low-Coat Transition Economy (J Masso et al.)Network Alignment in the Automotive Clusters of Turkey and Poland (G Ozatagan) Readership: Researchers, undergraduates, graduate students and policy-makers in global economics and international business. Keywords:Knowledge Economy;Innovation;Training;EU;New Member States;Emerging Economies;Education;EntrepreneurshipKey Features:Includes contributions by leading specialists on network alignment issuesBridges over from European to global perspectivesInterdisciplinary, covering Economics, Sociology, Geography and EducationMaintains a special focus on all the peripheral regions of Europe — not just the post-communist ones

This book examines a rapidly emerging new topic in urban settlement patterns: the role of shrinking cities. Much coverage is given to declining fertility rates, ageing populations and economic restructuring as the factors behind shrinking cities, but there is also reference to resource depletion, the demise of single-company towns and the micro-location of environmental hazards. The contributions show that shrinkage can occur at any scale – from neighbourhood to macro-region - and they consider whether shrinkage of metropolitan areas as a whole may be a future trend. Also addressed in this volume is the question of whether urban shrinkage policies are necessary or effective. The book comprises four parts: world or regional issues (with reference to the European Union and Latin America); national case studies (the United States, India, China, Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Romania and Estonia); city case studies (Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, Naples, Belfast and Halle); and broad issues such as the environmental consequences of shrinking cities. This book will be of interest to scholars and practitioners working in the fields of urban studies, economic geography and public policy.

This book explores the drivers of technological upgrading and catch-up in the emerging economies, paying specific attention to technology and innovation policies, national innovation systems, the role of foreign direct investment and small and medium enterprises. It provides practical implications for other developing countries.

Managing Innovation is a three-part series covering contemporary technology and innovation management research areas. Each volume comprises key articles from both the International Journal of Innovation Management and the International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, published by World Scientific, and provides an international, disciplinary approach across its broad coverage of topics.Relevant for both academics and practitioners, this volume looks at the international aspects of innovation with case studies from China, Germany, India and Russia.