Outward FDI from Central and Eastern European Countries

In Central and Eastern Europe, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) has not yet become as a prominent factor in the region’s reintegration into the world economy as trade liberalisation used to be in the early 1990s or inward foreign direct investment is currently. In the terminology of the investment–development path, with the notable exception of the Russian Federation, the region is in stage 2, whereby inward flows are still growing faster than outward flows. This article argues that a combination of the latecomer status of the region’s transnational corporations and the transition shock can explain most of that laggard situation. It hypothesises that the enlargement of the European Union (EU) would give a major push to the outward foreign direct investment flows of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), on condition that adequate government policies to promote those investments are put in place. The impact on the investment–development path, however, is uncertain, because accession to the EU is often accompanied by a surge in foreign direct investment inflows, too. Finally, the article also looks at the options available to deal with the specific problems of the Russian Federation in relation to capital flight, including ways of regularisation and potential return to the home economy.     

The Economic Convergence Performance of Central and Eastern European Countries

A critical discussion of a comparative growth analysis about Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries is performed. The main conclusion is that there was economic convergence for most CEE accession candidates, but not between them and Western Europe. Results do justify a separation into first and second-wave accession countries, but also undermine differences in Central and Eastern Europe between accession and non-accession countries. This paper critically examines theories and empirical studies for three types of convergence, namely β,σ and club convergence. Each can be in absolute terms or conditional to the long-term equilibrium (steady state) for each country. Empirical results are provided for all types of convergence from 1996 to 2000, both with population-weighted and non-weighted data. The analysis is performed for differently framed country subgroups considering even Western Europe for better comparability. Once absolute convergence is found through a unit root test about a standard deviation time series of cross-sectional income per capita, the regression coefficient for initial income per capita with the average growth over the sample period as dependent variable (β convergence) establishes the speed of this process. The same method applies to the conditional version by using the distance of the income from the corresponding steady state instead of the level of GDP. Then Markov chain probability matrixes (club convergence) provide information about the past behaviour of the whole cross-sectional income distribution over time, but also about intra-mobility of single countries.     

Crime in Central and Eastern European Countries in the Enlarged Europe

An enlarged European Union not only means more territory and a greater population, but also more crimes and perpetrators of crimes. The European integration brings a new challenge to criminology. Comparison of crime statistics across countries is still one of the most difficult methodological problems in criminological analyses. Countries differ in respect of their penal systems and penal policies. Reporting and statistical systems are also different. How, then, can one compare crime between European countries? Can one say where it is safer or where the police work better? Can one determine what the manner of data collection should be so that it reflects reality accurately? This article concentrates on a representation of some trends of crime in Central and Eastern European countries. A main source of information about crime are official crime statistics collected according to the methodological rules worked out by the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics. In the case of homicide, police data are confronted with vital statistics gathered by the World Heath Organization (WHO). The statistics on assault and robbery were compared, as much as possible, with the victimization data from the International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS). The socio-economic context of the crime, the main circumstances of the crime statistics, which affected the interpretation of the crime trends for Central and Eastern European Countries, is presented.     

Should the Central and Eastern European Accession Countries Adopt the EURO Before or After Accession?

I analyse the option of unilateral euroisation for Central and Eastern Europe. The thorny questions of losing seigniorage and losing the lender of last resort are explicitly addressed. It is found that the option of unilateral euroisation might be quite inviting for some countries. This is certainly the case if one takes into account the difficulties thrown up by the Maastricht–criteria. It is argued that unilateral euroisation provides an elegant way out of the catch of the official EMU-accession path. The EU has, however, expressed explicitly its enmity against euroisation. I think this is a policy error. It should be at least a genuine policy option for all countries concerned. At best the EU should stimulate euroisation by embedding it in a broader and more embracing framework that would support integration and ultimately accession to the EU of the whole of Central and Eastern Europe.     

Willingness to Cooperate with the Police in Four Central European Countries

Social order and security depend on mutual cooperation between the police and the public. Since the majority of crime is not detected by the police itself, informal control is needed to ensure order in society. This article aims to describe the circumstances under which people´s willingness to cooperate with the police is enhanced. Recent studies show that public compliance and cooperation with authorities who carry out criminal proceedings are linked with the extent to which people perceive these authorities as trustworthy and legitimate. Importantly, trust in police procedural fairness leads to the perception that institutions of justice are legitimate, which in turn enhances people´s willingness to cooperate with them in order to fight crime and disorder. This normative perspective is supported in many European countries. However, evidence exists that instrumental judgements, which focus on one´s self-interest and on outcomes of the justice system, could also be important in some countries. Drawing on procedural justice theory, we examine the importance of normative and instrumental factors in eliciting people´s readiness to help the police fight crime in four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Poland. While the procedural justice pattern, i.e. the normative perspective, holds well in the Czech Republic and Hungary, in other analysed countries trust in police effectiveness or fear of crime, i.e. instrumental judgements, are relevant too.     

Legal Consequences of EU Accession for Central and Eastern European Health Care Systems

Since the ratification of the Europe agreements, Eastern European accession countries are transposing community law into their national legal framework. The law approximation process in the field of health concerns three themes, viz public health, health–related issues, and the internal market. Although the health acquis has been largely focused on public–health issues, it is increasingly becoming clear that internal market treaty provisions may also affect health–related rights. For candidate member states this means that the common market has important consequences for health and their health–care systems. Therefore, this paper will examine the impact of relevant treaty provisions on acceding countries' (public) health legal framework.     

中东欧仲裁制度比较研究——以波兰、捷克为例

中东欧国家近来都在大力推进友好型纠纷解决方式的发展,鼓励当事人采用仲裁与调解等方式解决纠纷。研究中东欧地区仲裁制度的发展可以为我国一带一路战略的实施提供有力政策参考。波兰及捷克等中东欧国家仲裁制度的最新立法趋势呈现:扩大可仲裁事项的范围、强化仲裁员的中立性与独立性、明确仲裁员的保密义务、注重保护弱势一方当事人的程序利益。这对进一步完善我国仲裁制度具有重要的参考价值。     

Legislative Term Limits and Fiscal Policy Performance

Do term limits impede the ability of legislators to effectively set fiscal policy? To address this question, I examine state bond ratings from 1996 to 2009. Bond ratings serve as a valuable indicator of a state's fiscal performance, gauging the risk and uncertainty that investors face when buying these bonds. In addition, bond ratings are important policy ends in themselves. High bond ratings make it easier for states to borrow and raise revenue, while lowering interest rates. Results from analyses of “Term‐Limitedness” and legislator experience suggest that term limits negatively impact a state's fiscal performance, leading to lower bond ratings.     

The International Crime Business Survey: Findings from Nine Central–Eastern European Cities

The important findings of the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) have led the organisers to attempt to expand the scope of research to address the problem of victimisation of businesses through a specific international survey. Further to a first international survey in eight countries in 1994, the questionnaire was revised to focus in particular on the issues of corruption, fraud and extortion. The International Crime Business Survey (ICBS) was conducted in nine central–eastern European capital cities in 2000. The article presents a comparative analysis of experiences and attitudes of businesses in central–eastern Europe, where possible with reference to comparable information collected through the international households survey (ICVS) in the same cities and at the same time. Although there is great potential in this type of international research, too few resources are involved in analysing the results and looking at possible policy implications.The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarly reflect the views of the United Nations     

美元霸权对货币主权的冲击

现行的国际货币制度实质上是美元本位制.该制度存在诸多弊端,其中之一就是美元霸权对货币主权的冲击,包括对货币垄断发行权的冲击,对取得国际铸币税权利的冲击及对金融调控权的冲击.对货币主权的冲击也是引发本次金融危机的根源.     

Crime and Delinquency Prevention in Some European Countries

As part of a larger study on crime and delinquency prevention programs in North America, the authors visited four European countries, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland in order to compare prevention programs and their evaluation.

The authors found that the systematic study of the programmatic effectiveness and efficiency of crime and delinquency prevention is unknown to European practitioners and researchers.

The authors describe in this article six European crime and delinquency prevention programs: family case-work, leisure activities, community organization, crisis intervention centers, information for victims and prevention police activities.     

欧洲发达国家公民环境权的发展趋势

<正> 20世纪70年代以来,“环境权”这一概念频繁出现在法律文献和学者著作中。在欧洲发达国家,逐渐显露出这样一种发展趋势:在环境权领域,注重和强调道德和精神取向的环境共享权,越来越严格地限制财产和物质取向的个人权利,并通过创制一系列新的程序工具来保障环境共享权的实现。在这一发展趋势中,出现了“未来人环境权”、“公民环境权”、“人民(环境)权”、“良好环境权”、“洁净空气和洁净水权”、“环境问题上公众获得信息、参与决策与获得司法救济权”、“土著人环境权”、“儿童环境权”、“妇女环境     

Administrative and Court Reform in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract:   The pre-accession programmes of the European Union and the candidate countries have focused heavily on law reform. Only relatively recently, it was recognised that successful administrative and court reform would be just as necessary in order to achieve the desired goals, namely that the candidates would eventually be able to take on their obligations as new members of the Union. Unfortunately, it has now become evident that it is easier to write new laws than to get them properly applied in every day practice. This article describes a number of cases to illustrate the problem. It shows that administrators and judges in Central and Eastern Europe have significant difficulties with Western working methods, specifically the application of international norms in the national legal order, due process and procedural safeguards, treatment of precedents, resolution of ambiguities and lacunae in the law, etc., which may in turn result in unjust and sometimes absurd application of laws. These difficulties cannot be resolved merely by organising ever more training courses and other theoretical programmes. The author claims that the majority of efforts promoting administrative and court reform applied so far have rendered only meager results. Therefore, additional and more creative measures have to be designed and implemented and have to be continued for years beyond accession of most of these countries to the EU in 2004. Otherwise, rule of law deserving its name will not materialise in the new Member States. The author concludes by offering some ideas based on many years of experience in the region.     

域外财税法学发展及其对中国的启示

在市场经济和法治较为发达的国家,财税法往往相对完善,这不仅表现在财税立法、执法和司法上,也表现在财税法的教育和研究上。质言之,财税活动自国家产生之日就已存在,并在现代受到民主、法治等理念的深刻影响,在理财治国中发挥着系统性的作用。域外财税法学一直遵循独立的发展轨迹,尤其以税法为核心建构起了成熟的法律框架和教学体系。而财税法学在中国作为一门交叉学科、新兴学科,亟需厘清自身的性质和定位,围绕公共财产的收入、支出、监管展开制度构建,才能有效地推动财税改革和法治建设。同时,与欧美、日本等国相比,中国财税法学人地提出了"财税一体"的广阔视野,从而为财税立法和财税法学的后续发展奠定了良好基础。     

财税改革的政策演进及其内含之财税法理论——基于党的十八大以来中央重要政策文件的分析

本文以党的十八大以来有关财税改革与财税法治的八个重要政策文件为样本,展现在“全面深化改革”和“全面推进依法治国”的大背景下中央高层是如何高度重视财税改革和财税法治.通过梳理近10年我国财税法学界所提出的“理财治国观”“公共财产法理论”“财政控权理论”“分配正义理论”“税收法定理论”“领域法学理论”等理论主张与中央这些重要政策文件的契合点,进而分析我国新一轮财税体制改革的政策演进及其内含的这些财税法理论的关联性,强调坚持问题导向,理论联系实际,着力发挥财税法理论对财税改革实践的引领、推动和保障作用.     

国际法在欧洲国家的适用问题研究

欧洲是国际法的发源地,关于国际法与国内法关系的学说最早于英国出现。国际习惯法与国际条约是国际法的主要渊源,考察欧洲国家适用国际习惯法与国际条约的法律规定与实践,国际法在欧洲国家有不同的适用问题。     

Vocational education and training legislation in Central and Eastern European countries, the New Independent States and Mongolia (the partner countries). Experience of the European Training Foundation

The aim of this article is to give readers a brief insight into the legislative reforms underway in education and training (VET) in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the New Independent States and Mongolia (the partner countries). It is also hoped that through this, readers will have a flavour of the process of reform in general. Legislative reform is an ongoing process. Since 1989, all countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the New Independent states and Mongolia have addressed the issue of VET reform to meet the needs of their new environment. Some have amended existing education laws, some have adopted specific new VET laws. Others still have undertaken a complete reform of their education and vocational education and training system. The important underlying message is the importance of VET and its reform to the overall democratic and economic processes of countries in transition. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.