Intra Industry Trade Foreign Direct Investment And The Reorientation Of Eastern European Exports

September 1996 To what extent does growth in exports in Central and Eastern Europe reflect economic restructuring and changes in the composition of trade as opposed to redirection of traditional CMEA exports to the West? In the first half of the 1990s, after the demise of central planning, exports to OECD countries from many Central and Eastern European countries grew rapidly. Hoekman and Djankov explore what trade data suggest about the extent to which growth in exports reflect economic restructuring and changes in the composition of trade as opposed to redirection of traditional CMEA exports to the West. They also investigate the role of vertical intra-industry exchange in the expansion of trade with Western Europe - that is, getting inputs from European Union (EU) suppliers that are then used in the production of goods exported to the EU. They find a strong relationship between export performance and growth in vertical intra-industry trade with the EU. The Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia all rely heavily on the EU for inputs - more so than Austria, Portugal, and Spain, for example. As their per capita exports to the EU have also grown the fastest, this appears to be a characteristic of successful transition. The Czech and Slovak Republics registered the highest growth in exports and the greatest reorientation in the pattern of trade. They have the highest level and rate of growth in intra-industry trade with the EU, but have undergone the least change in composition of exports. But substantial changes have occurred in the composition of exports within traditional export categories. This suggests that Czech and Slovak firms pursued a strategy of upgrading and differentiating traditional exports, relying on EU firms for new machinery, components, and know-how. Simple redirection of goods that were traditionally exported to CMEA markets does not appear to have played an important role in the growth of exports to Western Europe. Export growth is in products that were not exported to the CMEA or in traditional export items that have been substantially upgraded or differentiated. Inflows of foreign direct investment - limited before 1994 - correlate highly with levels of intra-industry trade. But if large investments in the automobile sector are excluded, foreign direct investment seems unlikely to have been a major force driving the growth of intra-industry trade. These exchanges and the underlying integration into the world economy (Western Europe) mostly reflect arm's-length transactions between Central and Eastern European firms and their European counterparts. This paper - a product of the Private Sector and Finance Team, Europe and Central Asia, and Middle East and North Africa Technical Department - is part of a larger effort in the department to monitor economic developments in Central and Eastern Europe.

This title was first published in 2000. This text tackles a wide range of issues relating to rights, citizenship and sovereignty in a European context. Such issues are of concern elsewhere with regeads to shifting conceptions and practices in international human rights. This book looks at the question of how much European rights and human rights interact and how much they must do so if Europe as a whole is to be an arena of "belonging" and effective participation for all its residents. This book reflects the focus on rights in Europe, looking at debates concerning immigration and minority rights, concerns about social exclusion, social protection, war crimes, human rights, women's rights and other topics.

This book assesses how EU economies have fared in their project of economic and monetary union. Drawing on an entirely new data bank for all fifteen member countries, it takes the Spanish economy as a point of departure to compare their gains and losses. It also considers the implications for the welfare state, enlargement towards Eastern Europe and the political integration of Europe. Combining rigorous analysis and clarity of style, the book is of value to both specialists and the general reader.