The Internet greatly increases firms' potential to produce new goods and service for new markets. The Internet is also having a dramatic impact on services, especially in the retail, trade and finance sectors, by enabling firms to digitize their products and deliver them over long distances....

This paper offers a review, analysis and assessment of the status of services liberalization in North and Central Asia. Following a brief introduction about the region and its economic context, this study provides an overview of the binding commitments undertaken by transition economies under...

We investigate the drivers of firm level productivity in catching-up economies by jointly estimating its relationship to innovation and competition using data from the EBRD-WB Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The findings confirm...

This evaluation of blending as an EU aid delivery mechanism aims to: provide an overall and independent assessment of blending. identify key lessons and recommendations to improve and inform future choices on blending. The scope includes EuropeAid support through seven investment facilities over...

The evaluation covered EU regional-level support to Central Asia (CA) in the period 2007-2014. Based on the Terms of Reference, the following were assessed: Relevance and coherence of EU’s co-operation strategy and programmes; Impact, sustainability, effectiveness and efficiency of EU...

The collapse of the Soviet Union initiated an unprecedented social and economic transformation of the successor countries and altered the gender balance in a region that counted gender equality as one of the key legacies of its socialist past. The transition experience of the region has amply...

Introduction -- Theoretical framework: interdependence theory -- Energy interdependence as a challenge -- Growing global energy demand -- EU-debates on reducing gas dependency and EU-Russia relations -- Turkey's energy dependency and role in the southern gas corridor -- Energy as a factor in the...

The Kyrgyz Republic is a country with transition economy. Its growth performance is constantly one of the lowest compared to other CIS countries. Growth rates reduce due to strong political instability and high corruption level in the country. Despite being leading reformer in the region, the...

During the 1990s, Emerging Europe and Central Asia (ECA) opted for a model of rapid financial development focused on bank credit expansion often funded by foreign capital. This model helped boost the financial inclusion of firms and households, but was also accompanied by lower financial...