The opportunity cost approach suggesting a countervailing cyclical effect between R&D and short-term investments is the subject of theoretical and empirical debate. We extend the discussion by investigating the impact of demand fluctuations and credit constraints on firms' R&D in ten new EU...

The full implications of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 are yet to be revealed. The crucial question is whether a crisis of such severe magnitude will set \"cleansing mechanisms\" into motion as suggested by the opportunity cost argument of R&D, or rather destroy the long-term...

This paper contributes to the literature by investigating whether the cyclicality of R&D differs across countries with different levels of development. The paper uses micro-data from the World Bank/EBRD Business Environment and Enterprise Performance survey from 2001- 2007 and estimates...

This paper attempts to explain the link between corporate investments in different phases of the economic cycle and company financial distress. The data were derived from the Estonian Centre of Registers and Information Systems and contained the population of Estonian businesses from four...

<title>Abstract</title>This paper investigates the impact of leverage on labour productivity of companies operating in the Baltic countries, with a focus on differences between local and multinational companies. We employ a fixed effects regression model on company level data, covering the period from 2001 to...

This book highlights the achievements and challenges of the ongoing process of financial integration in Europe.   This unique collection will be of great interest to economists and experts in the fields of financial markets and European integration from central, commercial and investment...

Banking reform has proved to be one of the most problematic elements of economic transition in central and eastern Europe. Therefore the paper considers the development of the Estonian banking sector and derives individual banks´ fragility scores during transition. To this end we use...

Banking reform has proved to be one of the most problematic elements of economic transition in central and Eastern Europe. Therefore the paper considers the development of the Estonian banking sector and derives individual banks´ fragility scores during transition. To this end we use...

This paper examines patterns of firm survival in Estonia using a discrete time estimation approach with a complementary log-log hazard function. A firm is defined as sound if it meets the minimum capital requirement set by the law and distressed otherwise. Firms in default not only fall short of...