The change from a centrally planned economy into a market economy is likely to have created a unique situation in economic history. Consequently, no existing economy theory is able to depict the ...process of transformation. It is argued in this paper that a Kaleckian theoretical approach may provide a starting point for the analysis of the formerly centrally planned economies of Central and Eastern Europe. This approach is applied to Hungary, within the framework of a computable general equilibrium model. A number of policy measures, such as wage constraint, devaluation and mark-up reduction, are considered and their effects on production, inflation and income distribution assessed.
► We report on concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in ambient air. ► Samples were analyzed from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands. ► POPs are ubiquitous ...atmospheric pollutants, despite the existing regulations. ► We discuss our data set in a global context through an extensive literature review.
This article provides an overview of concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in ambient air on a global scale, including recent measurements and an extensive compilation of literature data. In this study, passive air samplers (PASs) were successfully employed to assess concentrations of POPs in ambient air from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. The project aimed to extend the knowledge on environmental contamination by POPs in these regions, where the currently available data are still limited to a few monitoring studies.
The ambient air concentrations of PCB in Africa were relatively high when compared to other regions. Waste, in particular electronic waste, exported to Africa from industrialized countries may be a possible source of PCB in Africa, where PCB have never been extensively used or produced. For DDTs, the wide range of concentrations and particularly high levels in some countries of Africa and the Pacific Islands reflect the use of DDT for malaria control in these regions. For PCDD/PCDF, concentrations in Africa and Latin America are similar to or even higher than in Europe, probably due to unfavorable combustion practices of chlorine-containing materials.
The data support the needs for further monitoring in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and action to reduce environmental contamination by, and human exposure to, hazardous chemicals.
Over 40 studies that analyse future GHG emissions allowances or reduction targets for different regions based on a wide range of effort-sharing approaches and long-term concentration stabilization ...levels are compared. This updates previous work undertaken for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Regional reduction targets differ significantly for each effort-sharing approach. For example, in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 1990 region, new proposals that emphasize the equity principles of responsibility, capability, and need, and those based on equal cumulative per capita emissions (carbon budgets), lead to relatively stringent emissions reduction targets. In order to reach a low concentration stabilization level of 450 ppm CO ₂e, the allowances under all effort sharing approaches in OECD1990 for 2030 would be approximately half of the emissions of 2010 with a large range, roughly two-thirds in the Economies in Transition (EIT), roughly at the 2010 emissions level or slightly below in Asia, slightly above the 2010 level in the Middle East and Africa and well below the 2010 level in Latin America. For 2050, allowances in OECD1990 and EIT would be a fraction of today's emissions, approximately half of 2010 emission levels in Asia, and possibly less than half of the 2010 level in Latin America. Policy relevance The concept of equity and the stringency of future national GHG reduction targets are at the heart of the current debate on the new international climate change agreement to be adopted in 2015. Policy insights gained from an analysis of over 40 studies, which have quantitatively analysed the proposed GHG reduction targets, are presented. It is found that the outcome of effort-sharing approaches is often largely determined by the way the equity principle is implemented and that the distributional impacts of such approaches can be significantly different depending on the criteria used, the stabilization level and shape of the global emissions pathway. However, the current literature only covers a small proportion of the possible allocation approaches. There should thus be an in-depth modelling comparison to ensure consistency and comparability of results and inform decision making regarding the reduction of GHG emissions.
This study examines the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and learning orientation (LO) in the financial success of forest contracting firms. Both EO and LO have previously been understood to ...positively affect a firm's financial performance, but extant literature has not considered those links in a transition economy. Partially addressing this gap, we execute this study in a Polish context. Using data obtained through a mail survey of 101 owners of forest contracting firms (34% response rate), we found that both EO and LO have a positive and significant effect on financial performance.
For forestry sector in transition economies organizational or corporate culture can be a key link in restructuring processes and business improvements of forest companies. A considerable amount of ...research about corporate culture influence on firm’s efficiency in various sectors has been conducted, but no one has explored the impact of cultural and managerial components on the development of organizational structure of forest company and improvement of its organizational efficiency. This paper addresses this dearth of research by examining forestry employee’s attitudes, using Competing Value Framework and associated models. The goal is to evaluate forestry firm’s organizational culture, investigate the relationship between culture characteristics and diverse measures of company units’ efficiency (a separate structural and production units). The findings should be used as a potential mediator for the firms restructuring process and business improvement. Results of research, conducted in Croatian forestry sector context, provide evidence that developed approach, i.e. examining and identifying corporate culture, can be used for performance improvements. Results suggest that unbalanced focus of the existing firm culture, with formally directive management style and the lack of reward system, results with a strong resistance to essential improvements in forest company performance. In the discussion this is displayed and argued through a holistic approach to develop (upgrade) forest company (structural, business, and cultural) efficiency.
The main goal of this paper is an analysis of the causal links between quarterly coal consumption in the Polish economy and GDP. For the sake of accurate computation an additional variable – ...employment – was also taken into account. Computations conducted for the period Q1 2000 to Q4 2009 by means of recent causality techniques confirmed the neutrality of hard coal usage with respect to economic growth. On the other hand, calculations for the pairs lignite-GDP and total coal consumption-GDP showed the existence of a significant nonlinear causality from coal usage to economic growth. This is clear evidence for claiming that lignite plays an important role in the economic growth of the Polish economy. Furthermore, each coal-related variable was found to have a nonlinear causal impact on employment. Because of the relatively short length of available time series we additionally applied bootstrap critical values. The empirical results computed by both methods did not exhibit significant differences.
These results have important policy implications. In general, our findings support the hypothesis that closing hard coal mines in Poland should have no significant repercussions on economic growth. However, this does not seem to be true for lignite mines.
► The reduction of hard coal consumption should not hamper economic growth in Poland. ► Lignite consumption is an important factor determining economic growth in Poland. ► The usage of lignite and hard coal has a causal impact on employment in Poland.
► We compare the direct farm household transactions in two contrasting EU study areas. ► The nature and pattern of farm household transactions are shown to be context-specific. ► Farm-related ...transactions become more distant as the agriculture sector develops. ► Farm-related transactions become spatially concentrated as the agriculture sector develops. ► Farmer attachment to the local community influences agricultural transactions.
Despite the emphasis given in the EU's Common Agricultural Policy to the local economic benefits of a maintaining a strong agricultural sector, relatively little research has focused on the interactions between farm households and their local economies. The paper presents findings from an analysis of the direct economic transactions of farm households drawn from two EU case study areas, one a transition economy with an underdeveloped agricultural sector (Podlaskie, Poland), the other a mature economy with a highly developed agricultural sector (North East Scotland, UK). The results confirm that the contribution of farm households to their immediate surrounding locality is highly context-specific and depends upon both demand and supply-side factors. With the exception of off-farm work, farm households within North East Scotland study have more distant and spatially concentrated agricultural transactions due to the consolidation of upstream and downstream agri-businesses in the region. In contrast, transactions in Podlaskie take place far closer to the farm holding and are more spatially dispersed. The rural development and policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Irrigation management transfer (IMT) reforms in most transition economies of Central Asia have largely relied on the funding and expertise of multiple international aid providers. Such reforms are ...aimed at the establishment of water users associations; however, progress has remained slow and patchy due to poor aid coordination and poor knowledge regarding what works and what does not. This paper argues that a sector-wide impact study is needed to better inform and consolidate local IMT reform. Placing the discourse within the larger domain of evaluation research, this article looks into the approaches, tools, and practical implications of such an impact study.
► Transparency is an innovative approach to reduce uncertainty in data and processes when implementing land privatisation processes. From a theoretical perspective, a study of ‘transparency’ reveals ...that two elements are crucial for process design: access to information, participation. The existence of corruption can be considered as a negative consequence of a lack of transparency. A case study of Mongolia provides practical evidence.
Land privatisation has been initiated in many transition countries to provide land ownership rights to citizens in order to facilitate the socio-economic development of the country through enhanced access to land. However, the implementation of land privatisation laws is still problematic in many transition countries because of the uncertainty involved.
Mongolia is an example.
The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework for understanding uncertainty as it exists in land privatisation and to determine the best way to respond to this uncertainty.
An extensive literature survey and a pilot study in Mongolia have shown that “transparency” is the key to understanding uncertainty and that increased transparency might be the solution required for successful implementation of land privatisation in transitional economies.
The pilot study demonstrates that the current land privatisation process is incomplete and slow due to a lack of access to information, weak coordination between the organisations involved and considerable duplication in procedures.
This paper concludes that access to information, participation and corruption are key elements to describe transparency with respect to uncertainty in data and processes and those elements are critical to test the following research proposition: “More transparent land allocation procedures will result in more efficient and effective implementation of land privatisation law in uncertain circumstances”.
This article investigates the contribution of the Croatian wood industry to the overall Croatian economy. The contribution is analyzed in terms of production, employment, and value added, using the ...input–output method for analysis. The objective of this article is to calculate multipliers for the wood industry in Croatia and benchmark them to the economies of similar European new member states. The model uses the so-called open model calculation, from which households are excluded. It comprises direct and indirect effects only, without induced effects, which is one of the distinguishing features of the so-called closed model. Results are benchmarked to other national economy sectors and similar transition economies. The wood industry output multiplier is the highest in Croatia and Poland. Domestic producers use various domestic and imported inputs in the production process. Input–output multipliers are calculated for both domestic and foreign demand (exports). Exports are profoundly important for Croatia as a small, open economy. Results of this research are useful to a wide range of policymakers and academics.
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