Documents Central Europe 376 results

"A growing literature has identified a coherent economic model associated with populist governments in Central and Eastern Europe. This model runs counter to some aspects of the former neoliberal consensus in the region and to established theories of good governance. Considering three cases which are representative of these developments – Poland (since 2015), Hungary (since 2010), and Romania (2016–19) – we argue that a major unexplained puzzle is the relatively good economic performance of such governments. We develop three interrelated explanations for this apparent puzzle and test them using quantitative data. First, macroeconomic data show that the populist rhetoric of these parties is not associated with classical macroeconomic populism. Second, government accounting data show that public spending has been targeted towards specific groups and has not led to increasing tax burdens. Third, firm-level data on business confidence and institutional perceptions show no obvious negative effects associated with these governments."

"In many European democracies, political parties and trade unions have developed a long-standing relationship. This relationship has certainly evolved over the last few decades as both actors have had to adapt to changes in their constituencies. This study examines the evolving dynamics between political parties and trade unions across Europe, with a focus on both Western and Central-Eastern European contexts. By utilising data from the Comparative Interest Group survey, we investigate how factors such as political power, resources, and ideological alignments influence these interactions. Our findings reveal that unions prioritise contacts with ruling parties, underscoring the importance of political access. Despite assumptions, financial resources alone do not determine engagement frequency, as well as ideological alliances. We also highlight differing contact levels influenced by political systems, showing that pluralist environments foster more interaction compared to corporatist settings. This research contributes valuable insights into the adaptive strategies of trade unions in contemporary democracies, reflecting on historical ties and varying institutional landscapes."

"The 2021–2022 inflation crisis in the EU offers an opportunity to examine how diverse industrial relations systems respond to similar macroeconomic shocks. This article compares Romania and Slovenia, two post-communist countries whose industrial relations systems are poles apart. The expectation was that, in contrast to the enfeebled Romanian system, Slovenia would not only resort to social dialogue but also adopt comprehensive measures to shield workers from the dual energy- and food-related shock. Yet, there was less divergence than anticipated. In particular, while unilateralism took place in Romania because of the weakness of its unions post-2011, the interruption of tripartite negotiations in Slovenia was the result of the social partners' actions and not a deliberate government strategy. Hence, while confirming that governments play the main role in supporting social dialogue, this article suggests that the social partners also carefully ponder the costs and benefits of their involvement in tripartite policy-making."

"Two decades after the biggest ever enlargement of the European Union, post-transition countries face a series of challenges, posed primarily by de-globalization and growing illiberalism. Declining European competitiveness, as highlighted by the Draghi Report (2024), calls for major restructuring both regionally and community-wide. This invited survey article attempts to solve a puzzle: if Europeanization has not been very successful, how could it promote globalization? Furthermore, Central Europe counts as a success story, both in terms of convergence and in terms of stabilizing west Europe's previously restive neighborhood. Sustaining this success is not automatic. We posit the two main conditions. These are: more focus on Ordnungspolitik (single market, competition policy, and capital markets union) and de-emphasis of re-distrubution (CAP and Cohesion). We also show why and how Central Europe will decide the future of the EU and the ways it can cope with globalization."

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"This book provides a detailed account of the innovative practices pursued by trade unions in Central and Eastern Europe since 2008. The book covers eleven post-socialist states that joined the EU in 2004, 2007 and 2013: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

It looks at these innovations and the drivers behind it paying attention to the characteristics of the national/sectoral industrial relations institutions, the resources remaining at unions' disposal and the role of union agency.

The book also assesses the sustainability and impact of innovative union initiatives on unions' established roles and on their countries' industrial relations systems."

"From East to West, the economies of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are not taking full advantage of the internet to foster economic growth and job creation. The residents of Central Asia and the South Caucasus pay some of the highest prices in the world for internet connections that are slow and unreliable. In contrast, Europe enjoys some of the world's fastest and affordable internet services. However, its firms and individuals are not fully exploiting the internet to achieve higher productivity growth as well as more and better jobs. Reaping Digital Dividends investigates the barriers that are holding back the broader adoption of the internet in ECA. The report identifies the main bottlenecks and provides policy recommendations tailored to economies at varying levels of digital development. It concludes that policies to increase internet access are necessary but not sufficient. Policies to foster competition, international trade and skills supply, as well as adapting regulations to the changing business environment and labor markets, will also be necessary. In other words, Reaping Digital Dividends not only requires better connectivity, but also complementary factors that allow governments, firms and individuals to make the most out of it."

"This working paper looks at wage developments in central and eastern Europe (CEE) over the past twenty years and shows that wages are not only low compared to western Europe but, as demonstrated by a number of variables, also tend to be lower than what the economic potential of these countries would allow for. It demonstrates that from the mid-90s until the crisis in 2008, wages in these countries caught up with wages in western Europe, but then came to a halt or even slowed down substantially."

"Over the last two decades, trade union membership in Central and Eastern Europe has been in continuous decline, and unions in the region are generally considered weak. However, little is known about the actual relevance of trade unions for individual workers in the post-socialist world. We explore the role that unions played in protecting their members from the negative effects of the global economic crisis. Using data for 21 post-socialist countries from the Life in Transition-2 survey, we find that union members were less likely than comparable non-members to lose their jobs during the crisis. This beneficial effect of union membership was particularly pronounced in countries which were hardest hit by the crisis. At the same time, union members were more likely to experience wage reductions, suggesting that unions were engaged in concession bargaining. Overall, our results challenge the common view that unions in the post-socialist countries are irrelevant."