Free movement of workers in the EU. Legal aspects of the transitional arrangements. ZEI Discussion Paper No. 217, 2013

From the Introduction. There are four fundamental freedoms which lay the foundation of the European Union. Those are the free movement of goods, free movement of capital, free movement of services and free movement of persons. They guarantee the existence and effective functioning of an area without internal borders within which goods, capital, services and people move freely. Despite the pivotal importance of these freedoms, there are cases where some freedoms can be partially or fully restricted within the territory of some member states or the Union as a whole. This thesis is going to analyze the restrictions of one of these freedoms: the free movement of persons, resulting from the arrangements applying to new member states. The focus will be the free movement of workers from new to old member states for a transitional period following the date of accession

Achievements, challenges and perspectives of financial decentralization in Bulgaria

The process of gradual administrative and political decentralization in Bulgaria started in 1991, but the real financial decentralization process started in the beginning of 2003 with the adoption of a comparatively clear expenditure assignment and introduction of a transparent and predictable intergovernmental transfer system. Step by step, local governments have been given full control over some of the own-source revenues (local fees, service prices and revenues from municipal asset management) and limited control over the local tax levy. This study is intended to examine and critically analyze the financial decentralization reform in Bulgaria, outlining the key achievements and basic weaknesses of expenditure assignment, local taxation and intergovernmental fiscal relations. The results indicate that local governments gradually became powerful component of the public sector. Although reducing financial resources of the public sector, worldwide economic and financial crisis can turn into an opportunity for some of the local governments in the country to gain financial independence and concentrate the efforts on strengthening local tax capacity.Financial decentralization, local finance, intergovernmental fiscal relations., Public Economics, H71, H77,

Managerial satisfaction with subsidiary performance; the influence of the parent MNE's capabilities and the subsidiary's environment

Multinational enterprise performance is one of the most researched topics in the strategic management literature over the last thirty years. Despite the proliferation of studies, the dispute over the relation between firms’ international investment activities and corporate performance has not yet reached a consensus. This paper’s contribution is threefold. First, we focus on entry by West European multinational enterprises into Central and East European countries. Second, we develop a multi-theory argument, combining insights from transaction cost, new institutional, behavioral, resource-based and international strategy theories. Third, we estimate the determinants of managerial satisfaction with subsidiary performance with questionnaire data for a sample of 198 subsidiaries.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FEMALE AND MALE ENTREPRENEURS IN A TRANSITION CONTEXT: EVIDENCE FROM BULGARIA

The aim of this paper is to examine similarities and differences between Bulgarian female and male entrepreneurs with regard to a number of personal characteristics, characteristics of their ventures, and characteristics of the environmental context, in which they operate. A sample of 501 companies (282 maleowned and 219 female-owned) with a single owner is used in the present study. Data have been analyzed using a binary logistic regression. The differences in entrepreneurship identified in this paper are strikingly similar to those reported in the literature in Western countries. This could be explained with the presence of similar gender inequalities and deeply structured processes of female subordination in capitalist, command and transition economies.gender, entrepreneurship, women, Bulgaria

Towards entrepreneurial universities : barriers, facilitators, and best practices in Bulgarian and Portuguese universities

Purpose: Тhe main objective of this research is to investigate barriers, facilitators and best practices in the transformation of Bulgarian and Portuguese universities into entrepreneurial universities. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study relies on a survey among experts in the field to identify barriers, facilitators and best practices in the transformation of Bulgarian and Portuguese universities into entrepreneurial universities. Findings: The research findings demonstrate that there are both internal and external barriers and facilitators of the entrepreneurial transformation of universities in Bulgaria and Portugal and reveals the relative importance of the various internal and external factors. The study describes several best practices in the transformation towards an entrepreneurial university adopted at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and ISCTE-IUL. Practical Implications: This research raises awareness of the internal challenges to making Bulgarian and Portuguese universities more entrepreneurial as well as of factors that may facilitate the process of transformation and the need to strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystem at these universities. Policy makers should devote special attention to external barriers to the transformation and especially to the need for more appropriate legal framework and more state funding. Originality/Value: The study highlights that the relative importance of the various internal and external factors is context specific.peer-reviewe

KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND TRANSITION ECONOMIES.THE BULGARIAN CHALLENGE

This paper evaluates the Bulgarian positioning in the European knowledge-based economy. The analysis is mainly based on the Knowledge Assessment Methodology of the World Bank (2005). After an analytical framework, the analysis reveals an alarming situation for Bulgaria resulting from several negative factors, which reinforce one another in a cumulative process. Finally, the conclusion underlines that a necessary condition for the Bulgarian economy to become knowledge-based, is to set up good rules of governance but also to be able to mobilize human capital and to coordinate the interactions within citizens and organizations.knowledge economy, knowledge triangle, Central and East European countries

Managerial satisfaction with subsidiary performance; the influence of the parent MNE's capabilities and the subsidiary's environment

Multinational enterprise performance is one of the most researched topics in the strategic management literature over the last thirty years. Despite the proliferation of studies, the dispute over the relation between firms? international investment activities and corporate performance has not yet reached a consensus. This paper?s contribution is threefold. First, we focus on entry by West European multinational enterprises into Central and East European countries. Second, we develop a multi-theory argument, combining insights from transaction cost, new institutional, behavioral, resource-based and international strategy theories. Third, we estimate the determinants of managerial satisfaction with subsidiary performance with questionnaire data for a sample of 198 subsidiaries.

How flexible are real wages in EU countries? A panel investigation

In this paper we estimate the degree of real wage flexibility in 19 EU countries in a wage Phillips curve panel framework. We find evidence for a reaction of wage growth to unemployment and productivity growth. However, due to unemployment persistence, over time the real wage response weakens substantially. Our results suggest that the degree of real wage flexibility tends to be larger in the central and eastern European (CEE) countries than in the euro area; weaker in downturns than during upswings. Moreover, there exists an inflation threshold, below which real wage flexibility seems to decrease. Finally, we find that part of the heterogeneity in real wage flexibility and unemployment might be related to differences in the wage bargaining institutions and more specifically the extent of labour market regulation in different country groups within the EU. JEL Classification: J31, J38, P5bargaining institutions, central and eastern Europe, euro area, panel heterogeneity, real wage flexibility

Acquisition versus greenfield foreign entry : diversification mode choice in Central and Eastern Europe

Departing from the traditional transaction cost approach in diversification mode literature, this study investigates the influence of experimental organizational learning on the choice between acquisition and a greenfield investment. We provide empirical support that prior experience with acquisitions and/or greenfield investments, firm?s predominant international strategy (global or multidomestic) and the technological intensity of the parent play a crucial role in subsequent diversifications. Furthermore, contrary to extant arguments that foreign ownership decision is independent of a diversification mode choice we demonstrate that the type of ownership (joint venture vs. wholly owned subsidiary) is a significant predictor of firms? preference for acquisition or a greenfield. Unlike Caves and Mehra (1986) and Larimo (2002) who found a positive relationship between acquisitions and full ownership, we show that acquisitions in Central and Eastern European (CEE) transition economies are unlikely to be wholly owned subsidiaries. In addition, we contribute to extant diversification literature by introducing another neglected predictor of firms? diversification strategy: We demonstrate the incremental power of hostcountries? institutional structure on investors? diversification choice.