Emerging Markets: Preferences,R isks,Performance...

The paper surveys the most important literature on emerging markets and their performance. Emerging market countries are defined here as the countries with low intuitional capacity in general, rather than the countries with particular economic characteristics and per capita income; although the latter is the predominant view in the current literature. The paper places particular importance on the legal system and legal order (compliance) in the transitional economies, stressing the importance of adequate regulation where even more advanced regulatory models, like market regulation, should not be totally excluded. Despite many common characteristics, emerging markets differ significantly one from another and it is very difficult, if really not impossible, to create one ‘general theory of emerging markets’ and its financial behaviour. Finally, the practice in the last decade or so, has proven that emerging markets are somewhat unpredictable and difficult to model.     

Analysis of Factors of Overpricing in Public Procurement: A Study for Low-performing EU Countries

ABSTRACT

The paper deals with the issue of overpricing of public procurement in low-performing EU countries. It examines a uniquely large sample of public procurement in 11 Central and Eastern European countries. Hierarchical regression is used to analyze the factors that influence public contract. Our results indicate that institutional factors have a greater impact on overpricing than individual decisions by the contracting authority. Our analysis for low-performing EU countries provides interesting results and also draws attention to behavior that is not typical of the better established and more advanced EU countries. Our results are particularly important for public policy in each country, as they show the direction of regulatory action in the field of public procurement. The results introduce a debate on the appropriateness of “one size fits all” regulations within the EU.     

A novel chitosan/tripolyphosphate/L‐lysine conjugates for latent fingerprints detection and enhancement

Most chemical and physical methods employed in visualizing latent marks have shown detrimental effects on human health and, therefore, some research groups have directed their attention to the utilization of various (bio)polymers with the aforementioned purpose. Although chitosan is widely used in medicine, pharmacy, food, and drug delivery systems, there are very few studies that address this biopolymer utilization in forensic applications, such as the detection of latent fingerprints. We used chitosan crosslinked with sodium tripolyphosphate and conjugated with L‐lysine to enhance the visualization of latent fingerprints, due to its ability to interact with fingerprint sweat residues. These conjugates were prepared using different (w/w) amounts of chitosan and tripolyphosphate (6/1; 4/1; 1/1; 1/4; and 1/6), and those with the most promising results (i.e., 6/1 formulation) were investigated in detail. Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy confirmed interactions between components of the systems. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis showed that prepared powder formulations were uniform in size and confirmed that chitosan/tripolyphosphate/lysine conjugates bind easily to the sweat and lipid residues present in the latent fingerprints. The testing of prepared conjugates demonstrated the potential of these systems as bio‐based powder substitution for commercially available powders.     

The Balkan Entente in Turkish–Yugoslav relations (1934–41): the Yugoslav perspective

By discussing the role of the Balkan Entente within Turkish–Yugoslav relations, this article endeavours to reflect the extent to which the Entente guaranteed security to Turkey and Yugoslavia. It deals with the 1934–41 period, which starts with the formation of the Balkan Entente and ends with the German invasion of Yugoslavia. The article is written mainly based on Yugoslav archival documents and aims to provide an alternative narrative that contests the conventional Turkish view. It also demonstrates that although the political leaders in Turkey and Yugoslavia became more optimistic about the future of the region after having signed the Balkan Entente, their perception of threat changed over time during the period of increasing instability in Europe.     

Assessing “Global Lithuania”: the strengths and weaknesses of Lithuanian diaspora engagement strategy

Diasporas participate in the home country’s development through remittances, philanthropy, knowledge transfer, investment, and political engagement. Based on the theoretical perspective of network governance, this paper argues that governments can enhance diaspora contributions by offering incentives to engage with the homeland. The paper then applies this perspective to assess the effectiveness of Lithuania’s diaspora engagement policy. Based on successful strategies adopted by other countries, the paper makes recommendations on how to strengthen the incentives for the diaspora to participate in Lithuania’s political, social, economic, and cultural life, and on how to create a better environment for the diaspora’s contributions.     

National Parliaments and EU Fiscal Integration

This article analyses the impact of the euro crisis on national parliaments and examines their response to the deepening of EU fiscal integration and the correspondent limitation of their budgetary autonomy. It argues that the sovereign debt crisis has provoked the emergence of new channels of parliamentary involvement in EU economic governance. National parliaments have acquired various rights of approval in the European Semester, strengthened the accountability of national governments, reinforced their scrutiny over budgeting, improved their access to information, and created domestic and supranational avenues for deliberation and political contestation of European integration. In these respects, they have undergone further Europeanisation. While these reforms do not outweigh the centralisation of EU powers, they represent an embryonic step in the parliamentary adaptation to the nascent EU fiscal regime. Yet they are unlikely substantially to influence EMU policy‐making processes, because of the democratic disconnect inherent in the EU's multilevel constitution.     

Reconciling Independence and accountability at the European Central Bank: The false promise of Proceduralism

This article revisits the balancing act between independence and accountability at the European Central Bank (ECB). It contrasts procedural and substantive concepts of accountability, and challenges the mainstream idea that independence and accountability can be reconciled through narrow mandates, the indiscriminate increase of transparency, the creation of multiple channels of accountability, and the active use of judicial review. These assumptions form the pillars of a procedural type of accountability that promises to resolve the independence/accountability dilemma but fails to do so in practice. The article brings evidence to show how ECB accountability has become a complex administrative exercise that focuses on the procedural steps leading up to monetary and supervisory decisions while simultaneously limiting substantive accountability. The failure to acknowledge the trade‐off between independence and accountability (said to be ‘two sides of the same coin’) has resulted in a tendency to privilege the former over the latter.