Enterprise Behavior and Privatization of the Large Enterprises in the Russian Federation

The Economic Transition and Integration (ETI) Project at IIASA has built on the institute's tradition of promoting collaborative research between East and West. The ETI Project's proven ability in dealing with issues pertaining to the transformation from central planning to market economics has been valuable for policy-makers and scientists alike. As a result, the government of the Russian Federation turned in 1992 to the ETI Project to organize a series of seminars and provide reports on topics of concern to the government. The Ford Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts have generously provided financial support for the seminar series. This report summarizes the contributions of participants at two related seminars held at the request of the Russian government at IIASA in the summer of 1993: Enterprise Behavior under Conditions of Economic Reform and Privatization of Large State Enterprises, both in the Russian Federation. Enterprise behavior, particularly of the large state enterprises that continue to dominate the Russian industrial and service sectors, is a crucial factor determining the success of economic reform. Somewhat surprisingly, the changing economic conditions have as yet to be accompanied by similarly sweeping alterations in firm behavior. The first of the two summer seminars focussed on why and how managerial attitudes and objectives, enterprise relationships, financial issues and taxation, foreign trade, and social welfare were significant in explaining present trends in enterprise behavior. Seminar participants searched out alternatives that would make these factors more conducive to promoting economic recovery and growth, and also compared the behavior of Russian enterprises with experiences in Poland and the Czech Republic. Privatization of large state enterprises is an integral part of the Russian economic transition. Vice Premier Anatoly Chubais opened the second workshop by reviewing the economic and political history of Russian privatization efforts, summarizing recent developments, and outlining future plans. Potential and actual privatization influence managers' and firms' behavior before and after the process is undertaken. Further discussions were devoted to the legal and institutional environment, the restructuring and privatization interface, and a review of privatization techniques and experiences from Central and Eastern Europe. Once again, the seminar revealed an intense willingness of experts from Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, and the West to share their valuable experiences in an effort to find approaches to more optimally encourage the successful transition to a market economy

ASEAN: perspectives on economic integration: ASEAN in Asia economic integration

Asia is one continent which has the most dynamic and the fastest developing economies in the world. But Asia’s economic integration is developing too slowly and stands at the lowest level in the world. Many factors have affected Asia’s economic integration but, in the current global financial and economic crisis, it is necessary to strengthen Asian countries’ cooperation in finance, investment and trade to promote Asia’s economic integration. As the healthiest and most integrated regional organisation in Asia, ASEAN should be the centre and platform to promote Asia’s economic integration. So we should enlarge financial cooperation among ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea. We could firstly discuss creating the Eastern Asia super-sovereign reserve currency so that we create an official currency of East Asian nations, the “Asian Dollar” or “Asi”. The purpose of creating “Asi” is to keep its value stable in the long term, and to improve Asia’s economic integration

EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

International Relations/Trade,

Economic integration and mature portfolios

This paper documents and studies sources of international differences in participation and holdings in stocks, private businesses, and homes among households aged 50+ in the US, England, and eleven continental European countries, using new internationally comparable, household-level data. With greater integration of asset and labor markets and policies, households of given characteristics should be holding more similar portfolios for old age. We decompose observed differences across the Atlantic, within the US, and within Europe into those arising from differences: a) in the distribution of characteristics and b) in the influence of given characteristics. We find that US households are generally more likely to own these assets than their European counterparts. However, European asset owners tend to hold smaller real, PPP-adjusted amounts in stocks and larger in private businesses and primary residence than US owners at comparable points in the distribution of holdings, even controlling for differences in configuration of characteristics. Differences in characteristics often play minimal or no role. Differences in market conditions are much more pronounced among European countries than among US regions, suggesting significant potential for further integration

Institutional aspects of economic integration – economic integration and political integration

Economic integration is defined as the elimination of economic borders between two or more savings. In turn, an economic border demarcation over which any actual or potential mobility of goods, services and factors of production and communication flows, is relatively low. On both sides of a frontier economy, pricing and quality of goods, services and factors are only marginally influenced by flows across borders.economic integration, political integration, effective competition, potential competition, federation

Economic integration, intensity of competition and R&D incentives

A two-country differentiated duopoly model is set out in which economic integration increases firms' incentives to invest in R&D, purely through the effect of increased intensity of competition between firms. The model is extended to incorporate knowledge spillovers, which, if related to the degree of integration, give rise to an inverted u-shaped relationship between R&D incentives and integration. The model is also extended to the n-firm general equilibrium case in which integration stimulates economic growth through intensity of competition. As such, the model suggests a positive growth effect of economic integration that does not rely on the usual scale effects

Regional Integration: Whither Arab Free Trade Area?

My inquiry will assess why, many decades after first attempts of economic integration, Arab countries have not been more successful in emulating the success of the European Union, a paradigm of successful economic integration. Specifically, I will explore obstacles to Arab economic integration and address the political and economic factors that play a role to achieve this goal. The central hypothesis of this paper is that there must be fundamental structural changes in Arab economic integration agreements

Russian Economic and Integration Prospects

This paper provides an overview of Russian economic developments during the period 2000-2007 and analyses key patterns and drivers of the recent economic growth. The growth sustainanbility is addressed as well, in particular with respect to the role played by energy prices and the growing involvement of the state in the economy, including attempts to implement tools of industrial policy and the public-private project financing schemes. Next, the resurgence of Russia as a regional power in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the complicated relations with the European Union (EU) after recent EU enlargements with countries from Central and Eastern Europe are addressed. The paper discusses also prospects for and challenges of the future Russian integration in the European economy and outlines alternative scenarios for a medium-term economic outlook. Finally, the likely policies of the new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are briefly discussed as well.Russia, economic growth, energy, European integration, economic forecast

Migration, Ethnicity and Economic Integration

This chapter deals with the economic and ethnic diversity caused by international labor migration, and their economic integration possibilities. It brings together three strands of literature dealing with the neoclassical economic assimilation, ethnic identities and attitudes towards immigrants and the natives, and provides an analysis in understanding their interactions. The issue of how immigrants fare in the host country especially in terms of their labor force participation and remuneration has been the core of research in the labor migration literature. If immigrants fare as well as the natives, then they are economically assimilated. While some immigrant groups do, most do not, especially in Europe. Of equal importance is how immigrants identify with the culture of their home and receiving countries, and if natives and immigrants have the right attitudes about each other. Ethnic identities and attitudes seem to be less affected by the economic environment but have implications for economic performance.Ethnicity, ethnic identity, acculturation, migrant assimilation, migrant integration, work, cultural economics