Time for Growth

This study investigates the impact of Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) on the economic growth of 27 European countries from 2004 to 2021, amid concerns about China’s increasing economic influence in Europe. This study employs systematic econometric methods, including the LLC and IPS tests for stationarity, Kao and Pedroni cointegration tests, fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) for long-term effects, and the ARDL test for short- and long-term effects. The findings further supported by Panel Granger causality test, one-way and two-way fixed effect models, and dynamic panel models, suggest a significant positive impact of trade openness and fixed capital on longterm European economic development. The study also reveals that while Chinese FDI and trade openness primarily influence economic growth in the long run, fixed capital has both short and long-term effects. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis of rich and poor European nations confirms these patterns, emphasising the role of trade openness and fixed capital in promoting sustainable economic growth. The study suggests a balanced approach to leveraging FDI, highlighting the importance of policy measures that encourage trade openness and fixed capital investment to enhance economic development in Europe.

European economic growth, which accelerated in the second half of the eighteenth century, was accompanied by an expansion in the supply of transportation. Demand for transport services increased when industrialists and farmers purchased their inputs from a resource base which widened in space and as they sold a growing proportion of their output on markets at an ever greater distance from their enterprises. As commodity output went up, the share marketed increased even more rapidly because improvements in transport made it possible to sell further afield and because specialisation (a major impetus to economic growth between 1789 and 1914) led to more trade between firms, farms and industries. In the traditional economy of early modern Europe production tended to occur within integrated forms of enterprise geographically concentrated in well defined regions. But over the nineteenth century the co-ordination of production came to be achieved through organised commodity and input markets serviced by extended and increasingly efficient transport and distribution networks.

Europe’s population decline compared with the demographic explosion in Africa and Asia is a potential threat to sustainable economic growth and global competitiveness in Europe. Europe is currently facing two major problems-lack of population growth and migration pressures. The solution could provide a targeted management of migrations flows. Prerequisite for sustainability of the system is not only a skilled migration, but some form of integration and acceptance of Western values as well. In connection with the deepening of integration of the common EU immigration policy, Czech immigration strategies have to be complementary with the EU strategies. Czech Republic had to already undertaken many reforms of Aliens Act and also tries to launch its own strategies favourising the skilled immigration, to reinforce the main trends in the European immigration policy.

Cultural differences and innovativeness are multi-faceted social phenomenon with innumerable manifestations. Majority of studies have indicated the positive impact of culture. There are some research findings which concluded that culture has a negative impact mainly due to language barriers of diverse cultural workforce which led to low level of communication, in turn led to low level of innovation. Hence the impact of culture on innovation and economic development is debated. Innovation takes place as an art of exercises routed into cultural view points and attitudes. With European Union struggling economies and financial crises, social integration and human capital mobility are key solutions to create innovation and innovative solutions. This study is, therefore aimed at examining the impacts of workplace cultural differences (in a form of human capital mobility) on innovation and economic growth in Europe. Accordingly, Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg were purposively selected based on the higher number of diversified workforce available in companies located in these countries, in order words human capital mobility. Hence, data was collected using a questionnaire random sample of 392 employees (98 from each country) were selected. Consequently, though small portion of the respondents mentioned the negative impact of cultural diversity, the majority of the respondents and the results of the in-depth interview implied that cultural diversity brings people together and enables them to be creative and enhance their innovative performance. Mobility of skilled human capital is an attribute of culturally diverse workforce in a certain company which enable them to share knowledge and skills which in turn improve their innovative capacity. Therefore, this study concluded that cultural diversity has a significant positive impact on innovation and hence on the economic growth. But the barriers that may be seen at workplace due to cultural differences should be properly managed and prior training sessions to newly employed personnel and a platform where all the employees can get an opportunity to introduce themselves and ease their communication should be arranged.

Unveiling the causal relationships among banking competition, stock and insurance market development, and economic growth in Europe

To investigate the effects of the European Union’s (EU) member nations’ shared sovereignty on economic growth. The member nations have lost substantial political and economic independence (sovereignty) and democracy. Therefore, their governments cannot facilitate rapid economic growth in their countries, affecting the EU as a whole. Data from the World Bank, institutional research entities, and the EU were utilized. The dependent variable is economic growth, and the independent and moderating variables are mainly institutions and the European Sovereignty Index. Shared sovereignty and its specific categories and foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows negatively impact economic development in the EU. Shared sovereignty negatively moderates the relationship between political rights and economic development and between FDI outflows and economic development. Democracy in member nations is formal rather than real. The present study focused on the EU’s problems rather than its achievements and empirically investigated the direct and moderating effects of national sovereignty and member-country institutions on member-country economic growth. This focus and the nature of the investigation constitute the originality of the present study and reduce the gap in the literature about the effects of sovereignty, institutions, and capital spillovers (FDI outflows) on economic growth in Europe. The value of the study is in its findings, which should trigger holistic research efforts on the pros and cons of the EU for Europe, democracy, the economy, and the world.

This research is an attempt to assess the impact of trust, helpfulness, and fairness on economic growth in Europe. The first part of the paper highlights the concept of social capital and the related concept of trust, while the second part gives an overview of selected research hitherto conducted on the subject. The third part presents an econometric growth model based on a modified Cobb‑Douglas production function. The model we propose includes three interrelated variables: generalized trust, helpfulness, and fairness, which can be combined into an aggregated variable, called ‘cooperation capital’. The pooled sample covers the years 2006–2018 and includes 22 European countries. European Social Survey data provides a chance to examine the previously inaccessible measurement of the impact of bridging social capital increase on economic growth. The results suggest that approximately 1/8 of economic growth (measured by the GDP growth rate) may be ascribed to the effect of an increase in cooperation capital. In addition, 86% of this effect occurs with a 1–4 year lag. The three‑component cooperation capital explains economic growth better than generalized trust exclusively. The estimated model suggests that an increase in helpfulness among people has the largest impact on economic growth. As the outcomes of this research also clearly show, fairness and trust are key factors for economic growth in Europe.

This research is devoted to studying the impact of international financial aid on economic growth in Europe after the Second World War. The aim of the investigation is the identification of regularities of post-war recovery of European economies in the second half of the twentieth century and the assessment of international financial aid’s role in the economic growth stimulation.The author summarizes domestic and foreign researchers’ achievements of studying the issue of the Marshall Plan and its importance for modern Ukraine, and differentiates the classic, capitalistic and modern stages of post-conflict reconstruction of the national economies.The relation between the amount of financial assistance from US government to 14 European countries and the growth of GDP in 1947–1952 is studied with the help of correlation and regression analysis and their significant linear dependence is determined. The issue of institutional support of international financing program of economic recovery of Europe has not been left without attention.

This study seeks to answer the following research question: How do defense spending and conflict impact economic growth in Europe, and what role does NATO membership play in shaping these dynamics? Using a panel dataset of 40 European countries from 1999 to 2023, the analysis investigates a change in security dynamics in Europe post-2014, determinants of military expenditure, whether NATO’s influence is more pronounced for countries closer to Russia, and how military expenditure and conflict impact economic performance. Employing panel econometric techniques, the analysis reveals that while military expenditure is not directly correlated with GDP per capita growth, conflict exerts a profoundly negative effect, with battle-related deaths significantly reducing economic performance. NATO membership is associated with increased defense spending, where geographical distance to Russia implies weakening of NATO countries’ military budgets. For NATO members, higher US military expenditure correlates with reduced European spending, highlighting reliance on American security provisions. The findings underscore the complex dynamics between defense allocations, alliance structures, and economic conditions, emphasizing the need for balanced policy approaches that address security imperatives without compromising long-term economic growth.

Sustainable economic growth in the European Union: The role of<scp>ICT</scp>, venture capital, and innovation

Institutions vs. 'first‐nature’ geography: What drives economic growth in Europe's regions?

Advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are rapidly transforming the world, promoting social and economic development. At the same time, tourism is one of the fastest growing economic sectors and can play and important role in boosting a country’s economy. This paper aims to analyse the impact of ICT and tourism on economic growth in European and Central Asian countries. The analysis is based on a sample of 42 countries over the period 1995–2018. Using panel data estimation techniques, the results suggest that ICT (a composed index of internet users, fixed broadband and mobile cellular subscriptions) and tourism are important determinants of economic growth. The results also reveal that and increase in the burden caused by non-working people on a nation’s working-age population has adverse effects on economic growth, while urbanization and inflation are insignificant. Promoting technology advancements, ICT diffusion and tourism expansion can foster economic growth.

This study examines the relationship between the circular economy and economic development in 14 EU countries for the period 2000–2020.Compared to previous work, we emphasize the importance of taking into account cross‑dependencies and heterogeneity between the countries making up the Panel. Furthermore, the cointegration relationship employed in this work considers structural shocks and cross‑dependencies using the test of Westerlund and Edgerton. This last test made it possible to validate the long‑term relationship in the model. This study used the augmentedmean group technique to overcome some economic problems. Using Kónya’s bootstrap panel causality test, we found that the causal relationship is only found in a few countries.According to the empirical analysis conducted in this work, our findings indicate that economic growth, research and development and the generation of municipal waste favor the recycling and composting of municipal waste. In the same way, the recycling of municipal waste, research and development expenditure and the Generation of municipal waste increase positively the economic growth rate.Our empirical results provide important policy implications for 14 EU countries that need to take adequate measures to improve the recycling rate through environmentally friendly technology to achieve a level of sustainable growth and development. Compared to previous studies, this work attempts to fill a gap in current research and enrich the existing literature between the circular economy and economic development in Europe.

This compelling volume re-examines the topic of economic growth in Europe after the Second World War. The contributors approach the subject armed not only with new theoretical ideas, but also with the experience of the 1980s on which to draw. The analysis is based on both applied economics and on economic history. Thus, while the volume is greatly informed by insights from growth theory, emphasis is given to the presentation of chronological and institutional detail. The case study approach and the adoption of a longer-run perspective than is normal for economists allow new insights to be obtained. As well as including chapters that consider the experience of individual European countries, the book explores general European institutional arrangements and historical circumstances. The result is a genuinely comparative picture of post-war growth, with insights that do not emerge from standard cross-section regressions based on the post-1960 period.

Urban Economic Growth in Europe between 2001 and 2008 – Gravitation or Dispersion?