The paper assesses the heterogeneity of an enlarged European Union and discusses the role and contribution of CEECs on the development of this heterogeneity over time. The two central research questions are: What are the factors that distinguish between successful and less successful CEE...

The CENTROPE region covers eight regions in four countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Considering the situation on the labour market in CENTROPE, it is necessary to emphasize a high level of heterogeneity. Theoretically, it provides a potential for cross-border...

The paper examines the effects of asymmetries in fiscal policy conduct upon the correlation of business cycles in the European Union. In particular the paper estimates the effects of fiscal indiscipline and dissimilarity on business cycle correlation in the period 1996-2012 using a panel of 27...

According to difference-in-difference estimates business cycle synchronisation and similarity in sector structures between acceding and pre-existing regions reduced after Eastern Enlargement. Results for Northern enlargement are more ambiguous. In both enlargements, however, region pairs...

The adoption of the Euro by Slovakia from January 2009 and the current world economic crises revived a debate on the timing of the adoption of the Euro in the Czech Republic and other CEECs. The purpose of the paper is to contribute to a discussion on the process of joining the Eurozone by the...

The European integration process is ongoing. Europe is still heterogeneous. Within this context, the paper addresses the question of whether policies in the EU should head towards autonomy, coordination or harmonization. Taking the path dependence effect into account, in the papers’ opinion,...

This paper provides direct empirical evidence on the nature of the relationship between effective exchange rates and selected macroeconomic fundamentals in nine central and Eastern European countries. Therefore, the paper addresses a key precondition of numerous exchange rate determination...

This paper discusses the possible determinants of liquidity flows in the Slovak banking sector. By these flows it is meant the outflow, the net changes and the total value of the liquidity. The flows are obtained according to a specific method of measuring liquidity risk – method of gross...

The purpose of this paper is to propose a general informal institution determining human ways of thinking and codes of behaviour, thus, in our case, individual support for the Welfare State. For that reason, we recommend employing the two closely related and complementary psychological concepts...

Can corruption improve economic efficiency? Classical political economists argue that corruption undermines the rule of law (Smith 2001, chap 5). The modern Public Choice proponents argue that corruption and lobbying might influence the efficiency of the rule of law. While Chicago Public Choice...