An account of intra-industry trade, 1993-2009： Patterns and determinants in Albanian case

This paper tries to describe Albanian merchandise trade flows through the lens of intra-industry trade （IIT） indices, which quantify the extent to which bilateral imports and exports are matched within sectors. It offers a summarizing view on intra-trade development for the whole post transition period of Albania. Two important stages of analyses are included in the material. Firstly, intra-industry trade share on total trade is explored through the classical measures of Grubel-Lloyd index; secondly, a comparative analysis with other region countries was applied to make possible an estimation of Albania＇s trade potentials as well as their geographical distributions. Grubel-Lloyd index at aggregated value averaged less than 45%, a moderate value that is similar to the regional economies but lower than the European countries.     

Cluster Policy and Smart Specialisation The Case of Bulgaria

Smart specialisation is an innovative policy concept which emphasizes the principle of prioritisation in a vertical logic and has attracted a wide interest in recent years, being implemented in many national technology and innovation strategies. Clusters are considered to be a major driver of innovation and competitiveness and for years, have been assigned a key role in various economic development strategies around the world. The paper looks at the interrelationship between clusters and smart specialisation. While clusters are an important building block of Smart Specialisation Strategies （$3）, cluster policies are also influenced by the concept of smart specialisation as they have increasingly started to target specific industries. The principal objective of the paper is to provide an overview and evaluation of the cluster policy pursued in Bulgaria during the last decade. The extent to which the country has used the principle of smart specialisation in its cluster initiatives is assessed. It has been argued that namely due to the lack of clear focus and prioritisation, Bulgaria＇s cluster policy proved to be highly inefficient. Finally, some policy recommendations for its improvement are put forward.     

The Role of the Cooperatives and the Collective Action for the Fruits and Vegetables Albanian Farmers

Albania is a Mediterranean country where fruits and vegetables occupy an important place in the cropping systems practiced by the Albanian farms but also in the food consumption of the population. Today, the fruits and vegetables growers in Albania have low production capacity and difficulties in selling their products on national and regional market. Consolidation and increased coordination throughout the agri-food sector are rapidly reshaping the role of cooperative organizations in agriculture. Increased concentration, both up and downstream, raises the specter of the traditional cooperative role of counter-balancing market power. However, increasing demands for coordination among players throughout the agri-food system point to a different role in which cooperative organizations may have a unique advantage. The new and emerging food system （dominated by domestic urban market and export markets, regional competitiveness, globalization, etc.） with high demands for compliance with food safety and traceability disfavor the smallholders due to high coordination costs. The problem is exacerbated by geographic dispersion, low education, and poor access to capital and information. This article discusses about the New Institutional Economics （NIE） approach and the role of the cooperatives in ensuring greater participation of fruits and vegetables Albanian farmers in the domestic and regional market.     

Effective Unemployment Counteraction as a Determinant of National Security

Management process, which is an attempt to cater for an infinite number of human needs with a finite number of production factors, takes place in a closed flow of money and goods. Labour market, characterized by a high level of entropy, is one of the elements of this flow. In the view of the disorder which presents in the labour market, it is understandable that the state intervenes in this market. Interventionism usually takes place in such areas of the economic policy as employment policy and labour market policy. When state intervention in this market is characterised by economisation, which means making activities more efficient or more economical, the level of the national security is rising. This is due to the fact that the unemployment rate actually decreases and the amount of funds earmarked for interventionism, which come from non-repayable obligatory public levies is optimized.     

Administrative Innovation and Culture： Pillars of the Competitive Strategies in Horticultural Companies of Sinaloa

In contemporary times, a fundamental aspect for organization has been to achieve innovation through culture and approach to encourage the search and development of new ideas, new products, and new services; this is a key point to fulfill the competitive advantages which a company needs to be successful in the global market. The Sinaloa horticultural company has more than 100 years＇ history in the United States export market, and is presenting new challenges and demands from the market in order for it to achieve its permanence. The objective of this research is to identify and propose different strategies to implement management innovation, which in its essence is the one that coordinates, directs, and controls the human resource considering culture as an integral part, with a capacity to generate the spark and function as a motivating source which drives companies to consolidate and integrate supply chains.     

Unemployment in transition countries： Albanian case

In this paper, the topic how the unemployment rate is changing year after year in Albania will be treated. Nearly 20 years of transition is a long period and seeing changes in the affect of the flow of foreign direct investment （FDI） on the unemployment rate. As a result of numerous changes, people migrate from other districts of the capital, investment concentrates in some areas that cause different development from one area to another. Other which highlights problems is the fact that a part of the unemployed are unregistered. Most of the data are presented only to unemployed individuals living in Tirana. However, the number of the unemployed has increased uniformly, while the number of the unemployed treated with economic assistance and payment of unemployment has reduced, because the state through the Office of the Employment Promotion employed persons in this category Although we say that year after year employed individuals who are able to work should not forget that every year new graduates are added to the labor market and again unemployment remains a problem in our society, causing a series of problems. The unacceptable reality is directly affecting people＇s physical, psychological, moral and spiritual health, not only the unemployed but also every citizen in Albania. This social pathology is named unemployment, and we wish that their values are going to change soon.     

Flexible Industrial Land Policies on Exit Strategies in the Rapid Transition Period： A Case Study of Hongkou District,Shanghai

Currently, the maximum tenure of industrial land use in China is 50 years, which far exceeds the manufacturing life cycle. In the absence of an effective exit mechanism, a large number of manufactories are waiting for land value-added income or illegal sublease for commercial use rather than returning the land-use rights for urban redevelopment. As one of the urban central areas in Shanghai, Hongkou District is facing a serious challenge on land scarcity and impending speculative inflows during the critical period of rapid transition. The objective of this research is to explore flexible industrial land policies on exit strategies in Hongkou District, where local government plays a major role in the urban land transfer, eventually to strengthen the initiative of land-use cycling of the governments for a better adaption to the changing demand in the future. So the research mainly consists of two parts： （1） finding bottlenecks： after deep investigation and analysis on the causes which restrict land users＇ access to land transfer, the findings reveal that profit mechanism, no alternative policy for land-use change, low compensation, low costs of illegal behavior and high rate of planned non-profitable land on these industrial land blocks are the main bottlenecks; and （2） breaking bottlenecks： regarding the importance of comprehensive arrangement and government intervention, this research is about to discuss flexible industrial land policies on exit strategies in Hongkou District during the transition period, such as profit distribution mechanism, flexible exit mode, priority compensation, trans-regional land supply and combination of regular review and public supervision, as well as their application value and feasibilities.     

E-Documentation as Medical Services Quality Determinant on the Private Dentist＇s Surgery Example

The paper presents the modem management of health care institutions in the electronic medical document （EMD） context. Electronic medical document is in the form of software that provides a comprehensive system for the whole dentist＇s surgery management. The program allows for complete service of the patient in the private dentist by keeping records, archival photographs, the settlement of visits, and patient registration. It has been shown that technological innovation can fundamentally change the quality of the medical services in Poland, making a revolution in the management of budgetary expenditure. Electronic medical document is a system for the citizens of the 21st century. This is a new quality in healthcare administration, reimbursement systems, and most importantly patient care. Created based on specified standards and national standards, information databases ensure the reliability and comparability of data, and can be an analytical tool for health policy planning at various levels of the administration.     

Planning and Control System With a Network Approach： Evidence From the Italian Regional Governments

The focus on networks in public administration has grown rapidly in recent years and prompts modifications of traditional planning and control systems of public entities. Public networks have been defined as a response to the criticalities of New Public Management and they represent a recurring approach for policy implementation and service provision in the theoretical framework known as New Public Governance. This article addresses the question whether public entities are aware of being part of a network and whether they have actually changed, as such, their planning and control system. Focus is made on the case of Italian regional governments which are particularly significant for different reasons. First of all, the recent process of administrative devolution and federalism in Italy has reinforced regional governments＇ powers and responsibilities as well as their importance as actors in the political and economic scenario, where they can influence the behaviours of many public and private organizations. Furthermore, Italian regional governments have extensive autonomy and so they can actually modify and integrate traditional documents of their planning and control system. The article proposes a framework for mapping different approaches toward being part of a public network. This framework can support the interpretation of the behaviour of public entities involved in networks and take the initiatives to develop them.     

An investigation on information management issues in Albanian public administration

Political changes in the early 1990s created an opportunity for the Albanians to increase communication with the rest of the world. For the first time Albanians were exposed to technology and tools that had been used so frequently in the neighbor countries decades in advance. Despite the great promise of technological advancement, public sector innovation has tended to be small-scale and gradual. Factors such as institutional arrangements, budget scarcity, group conflict, cultural norms and prevailing patterns of social and political behavior have restricted government actions. This study examines issues caused by a poor information management and looks for some ways to turn into an efficient information system in Albanian public administration. It uses primary data from sample surveys of public administration organizations in local and central level during these transitions.     

The Ambivalent Character of Reconstruction： Winners and Losers of the Lobito Transport Development Corridor

In Angola where poor and scattered communities extend over great distances, an efficient transport system is very important. Nevertheless, in the post-war context its reconstruction has an ambivalent character. On the one hand, it is an indispensable part of the process of economic reconstruction and development where it is possible to identify complementary linkages influencing the dynamics of road and railway reconstruction that can reduce poverty. On the other hand, the post-war transport economy, like the war transport economy, is a site of private accumulation and change where social stratification goes in parallel with increased socio-economic inequality and unfavourable conditions in the labour transport market. The infrastructural reconstruction process is not fulfilling its potential for generating domestic linkages or multiplier effects through wage employment of Angolans. The creation of employment and other income earning opportunities have been limited, meaning that communities might lack the financial capacity to make use of the transport network. The ambivalent character of the modernisation of the transport system was already a feature in the first half of the 20th century as the transport network＇s creation of regional and national spaces with new centres and peripheries established a new hierarchy of social groups and gave rise to significant cultural changes. The effects of roads, railways, and other new means of transport were experienced in very different ways by different actors （means of wealth as well as poverty; inroads of repression as well as paths to personal liberation; and as tools of fragmentation as well as of unification）.     

The Reforms in the Institutional Structure of the European Union in Compliance With the Lisbon Treaty

The necessary adjustment to the political architecture in Europe is considered to happen with the Treaty of Lisbon. The treaty is an attempt to make adjustments to the decision-making process, ensuring democratic legitimacy, strengthening of the institutions, and enabling political action worldwide. With the Lisbon Treaty, a change has been made in the institutional structure of the European Union （EU）. The Treaty of Lisbon brings together more than a half-century history of integration, which began with the decision for establishing the European Coal and Steel Community （ECSC） on April 18, 1951. The view on the whole, more than 50 years of integration, shows that the European unification process all the time is not out of the spirit of all issues related to the details of common goals and values, but goes in the direction of one political vision of： peace and prosperity, freedom and mobility, knowledge of democracy, populism and tolerant coexistence. The Treaty of Lisbon is in the way to improve the capabilities for action of the democracy in Europe.     

SME law and policy analysis

Since the reform and opening-up, especially in the new century, China＇s SMEs are rapidly springing up; they have become an important force of pushing China＇s national economic and social development. The rapid development of SMEs is playing an increasingly important role in stimulating the economy, increasing the state tax revenue, promoting the employment, pushing technological innovation and improving the people＇s lives. It is full of meaning for Chinese Government to provide a sound law and policy environment for SMEs, including mediating and regulating the behavior of domestic SMEs, promoting and protecting the prosperity of SMEs, if we want to pursue the economic prosperity. This article will analyze the status of the development of China＇s SMEs, and research on the related policies and laws.     

The Effectiveness of Citizen Participation in Public Hearing of Current China

Public hearing system is regarded as the soul and core of modem administrative procedure; it plays a more and more important part in modem administrative affairs. Public hearing is an important way to listen to the voice of the public, and the main method to gauge public opinion before making public policies, laws, and regulations. In recent years, with the growing awareness of civic participation, public hearing system has played a big role in public policy-making process in contemporary China, but there is also a phenomenon that citizen participation is largely symbolic in most of the hearing, citizen participation cannot play its due role, and the effectiveness of citizen participation in public hearing is limited. Based on this background, the analyses about how to strengthen public hearing system construction, improve the representativeness of the representative and information disclosure system, are all very important to improve the validity of citizen participation in public hearings now to China.     

Democratic Transition and Economic Transition： The Case of Tunisia

This paper develops the issue of economic transition linked to a democratic transition that a developing country, Tunisia, is living following the revolution of 2011. Tunisia has made a profound change, it is currently developing new institutions, however, it is not an annuitant country, its activities and economic performances depend on political stability and the choice of the implemented politico-economic system. The question is whether the operating political forces will affect the direction of structural changes, thus toward a transition of breakage or the direction of adaptive transition. Neo-liberalism, practiced for 30 years, has developed an entrepreneurship structured as small and medium enterprises, whose performances are variable according to the sector and the state role. With the revolution, the country entered in a phase of political, social, and economic instability. A new constitution is passed, the political system installs the multiparty system, the country has a tradition of openness to the rest of the world, the challenges are numerous and the question of the role of the state in the economic sphere is very acute. The analysis is based on the observation of facts and the review and analysis of data relating to politics and economy, observed in the period before the revolution and after the revolution.     

Economics and the Practice of Human Action： The Legacy of the Austrian School

Economics is the youngest of all sciences. Its task is to identify the secondary consequences, but it requires a perception of general consequences, including effects which are brought by an implemented or proposed economic policy not only to a certain special interests in short periods of time but also to a general interest for long periods, which somewhat contradicts the assumptions of many economic doctrines. Thus, the current state of economics or management science is difficult to be called autonomic. Economists ＂have opened＂ the domain previously reserved for ＂hard indicators＂ on the human aspects of the assessment of effectiveness. What is more, the discovery of regularity in the sequence and independence of market phenomena, in particular, a markdown role of the ＂invisible hand of the market＂ and ＂government interventionism＂ put into question the validity of the dogmas of traditional British or American schools, as a consequence of the operation of schools with the teaching of economics. This paper is the attempt to show the failure of the most popular scientific economical schools, including neoclassical ones in the area of human performance, comparing with Austrian School principles.     

Recent Development in the South China Sea and Vietnam＇ s Approaches

This paper examines the new developments in the South China Sea （SCS） disputes between Vietnam and China and their causes. A substantial part investigates the approaches Hanoi has adopted to deal with China＇s potential aggression in the SCS. The first is the ＂multilateral＂ approach, which aims to make full use of Association of Southeast Asian Nations （ASEAN） and ASEAN-centric multilateral security dialogues as useful leverage for the creation of a regional Code of Conduct （COC）. The second approach involves the strengthening of ＂self-help＂ option by forging new developments in defense capabilities, especially naval power, to deter its northern giant from using force in the SCS. The third approach is the combination of two methods--pursuing engagement alongside a stronger defense and using what might therefore be called ＂defense diplomacy＂. These three approaches are not exclusive, but mutually reinforcing, and any shift in priority in each of the three options depends on China＇s revised policy in the SCS.     

Development of E-Governance and Electronic Services in Ministry of Finance

Over the last two decades, government has made essential changes in order to improve public administration functioning. These changes were driven by a new government philosophy. The key concept in this new public policy is to connect information society, and public administration. In this context, the purpose of this study is through analyzing the process of computerization of public administration to determine the specific services provided electronically to the National Revenue Agency （NRA） in Ministry of Finance. Ministry of Finance and NRA are the administrative bodies that are reformed significantly in this field. E-governance is a political concept and philosophy which includes principles and the public administration working mechanism. E-government is electronic services provision platform that uses information and communication technology. The extensive monitoring and analysis lead to conclusions in two key areas--legal and technical organization. The lack of consistency between governments and the total reorganization of some areas of the state causes difficulties in implementing cyber plan in administrative services. There are other essential weaknesses that corrupt the system electronic reforms. It is important to be created a digital broadband market in Bulgaria. This will integrate the network systems of Bulgarian official institutions in a common electronic network.     

Investigating the Implementation of New Public Management in Lebanon Ideas and Realities

This paper is an exploratory study that investigates the status of new public management （NPM） and the obstacles to its implementation within the Republic of Lebanon. The study employs a qualitative approach that examines two complementary data sources. The first data source is obtained from an extensive review of documents related to NPM that are available in the public domain such as policy initiatives and governmental projects. The second data source is obtained from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 40 stakeholders. Data is analyzed, using an iterative thematic content analysis. The findings suggest that the main obstacles that have inhibited the implementation of NPM in most public agencies in Lebanon include： the politicization of administration in the public sector, the lack of stability in the country, the non-targeted inconsistent and insufficient training, several institutional dysfunctions and organizational challenges, the absence of a country-specific applicable model of public management and the unsystematic and non-institutionalized link between concerned international organizations and the Lebanese public agencies. This research is significant as it provides a foundation for institutional practices to improve the design and implementation of NPM in the country. It also contributes to the relevant academic literature and fills a gap in the research on NPM in Lebanon. The paper provides policy recommendations needed to respond to the recurrent calls for administrative reforms in the Arab world especially in the aftermath of the popular uprisings in many of its countries.     

The understanding of the laws and bylaws and the methodology for drafting in the socialist regime

The methodology for drafting is one of the most important concepts in drafting of a policy paper and translating this policy into legislation. Regarding this, it is necessary to know how the legislative drafting developed in the past during the socialist regime, and how it has changed with time after the beginning of the democratic processes of the country. Due to the correct methodology of drafting, we enable a good correct legislation as an important element of good governance, where the concept of law lays on its foundations and the democratic system is the major goal.