Western Balkan Economies In Transition

This book explores the economic and social development of the Western Balkan region, a group of six countries that are potential candidates for EU membership. It focuses on the key economic issues facing these countries, including the challenge of promoting economic growth, limiting public deficits and debt, and fostering international trade relations. Given the severe impact of the recent economic crisis on social welfare in the region, it also investigates the nature and extent of social exclusion, a factor likely to produce future political instabilities if not effectively addressed by a return to sustainable economic growth. The contributions explore these issues in light of the major influence of EU policy instruments and advice, which are currently guiding the economies along an accession trajectory to future EU membership.

The main purpose of this publication is to give an overview of recent macroeconomic and structural developments in the countries of the Western Balkan region. The first two chapters of the issue include contributions on topics that represent a common challenge for all the economies, while the third one features a brief country-by-country economic assessment. This Paper intends also to facilitate the work of scholars, researchers and analysts of the enlargement process, which are mainly interested in the economic aspects.

Developing and ‘transition’ economies face myriad challenges in their attempts to achieve and maintain political stability and foster the economic growth essential for national security, the social well-being of current citizens and sustainable environments for future generations. Governments in the Western Balkans have striven to achieve all of the above, and this volume assesses the nature of their experiences as well as the level of their success in doing so. Featuring detailed case studies of public policy reforms in the region as well as comparative analysis on a range of indicators, the book analyzes the role of key players in setting the political agenda as well as implementing policy reforms. It also distils the lessons that can be learned from the Western Balkan experience, recommending strategies for enhancing the policy making process. In addition, it examines the developmental role played by the full spectrum of policy actors, including the private sector, NGOs, special interest groupings, international financial institutions, donor nations and the EU. Each case study has been prepared by academics with deep knowledge and experience of the western Balkans and addresses a core set of questions: identifying the policy issue and its broader context, defining the roles of specific individuals in formulating policy and reform and assessing the influence of networks and coalitions in the policy making process. With so little detailed literature on public policy making in a group of nations strategically positioned between Europe, Russia and the near East, the detailed insights provided by this volume will be widely welcomed. Our book provides case studies of specific public policy reform episodes in selected Western Balkan post-conflict and transition countries. The focus of these case studies extends beyond the technical aspects and entails substantive examination of the policy actors, constituencies and politics that ultimately shape the policy that emerges from the policy making process. This analysis draws lessons for strengthening the quality of policies, the transparency, consistency, and governance of the policy making process and ultimately for contributing to economic and social development of the region.

This report analyses the main economic developments and achievements in the Western Balkan countries, and lays out the key macroeconomic policy challenges for the future.

In this paper we analyze how Western Balkans public finances adapted to the boom-bust cycle. Large capital inflows into emerging European economies during the mid-2000s resulted in rapid economic growth and convergence to EU income levels. This also resulted in improved fiscal positions of most countries, on the back of strong revenue performance. Yet, since the onset of the global economic crisis, many countries have struggled to adjust to the new situation of lower external financing and lower growth.

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 1,7, Berlin School of Economics, language: English, abstract: Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) represent 99,8% of all businesses in the European Union (EU), provide two-thirds of the non-financial sector employment and account for 85% of the new jobs created in the past five years. Looking at the other side of the Atlantic, the situation is not very different: in the United Stated of America (USA) SMEs account for 99,7% of all firms and 48% of total private-sector employment. It is fair to say that SMEs are the backbone of the two largest economic areas of the world. Considering the enormous share that SMEs have in these economies, it becomes clear that the success of an economy largely depends on the development of its SMEs. This paper aims at examining the impact of SMEs on the development of economies in transition. Specifically, the transition countries of the Western Balkan (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM)) will be subject of this paper. Due to the limited word count, Serbia will be used as example since it is the largest economy in the region. The question to be answered is: "Can transition countries on the Western Balkan utilise the economic momentum of SMEs to facilitate economic growth? Evidence from Serbia."

This Brief provides a survey of key political, social, and economic issues affecting the Western Balkans region. Taking a two-pronged conceptual approach focusing on fragmentation and integration, the volume highlights commonalities and differences in a number of simultaneous dynamics currently characterizing the region: Europeanization and EU access, market integration, and migration and socio-demographic transformations. Stressing the interconnectedness of these issues, the volume synthesizes key questions for the future of the region, such as the relationship between socio-demographic trends and economic development, the effects of depopulation on further EU integration, and the economic and political repercussions of enhanced intra-regional trade. Explicitly interdisciplinary, this Brief will be useful for researchers and students specializing in the Balkans and Western Balkans, post-socialist countries, European affairs, enlargement, foreign policy, international relations, regional studies, economics, economic transition, and socio-demographics.