The principles of budgetary completeness and transparency are indispensable elements of fiscal surveillance in the European Union. Within this context, this study deals with the leading question to which extent budgetary policy in the ten new EU member states (NMS) can be regarded as transparent...

This paper aims to devise a monetary policy instrument rule that is suitable for open economies undergoing monetary convergence to a common currency area. The open-economy convergence-consistent Taylor rule is forward-looking, consistent with monetary framework based on inflation targeting,...

The paper discusses the salience of the Finno-Ugric links in substantiating intra-EU cooperation among Finland, Estonia and Hungary. The focus is on investigating evidence of such cooperation in the EU's human rights and minority rights related policies towards the Russian Federation and other...

This paper investigates the differences in innovation behaviour, i.e. differences in innovation sources and innovation effects, among manufacturing firms in three NMS: the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. It is based on a survey of firms operating in four manufacturing industries: food and...

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (CEEC-3) have undertaken substantial efforts to build a new financial system under the constraints of their legacies from central planning. In this study, first we look at the banking sector. Then we give a description of bond and stock markets. These...

The recent process of political and economic transformation in eastern European countries has not only contributed to the decentralisation of political structure but also significantly enhanced the fiscal autonomy of municipalities belonging to these countries. Although the degree of...

This EU supported Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) had been conducted by a European Consortium composed of eight research institutions. Ifo's part within this larger programme was (a) to analyse the fiscal effects of privatization and (b) to assess the valuation of privatization...

In this research project we investigate how the design of school assignment rules affects social segregation and its implications for social inequality. The context of our study is the Hungarian school system, which is characterized by early ability tracking combined with a centralized...