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This chapter interrogates the practice of gender-based asylum as a window to the problem of gender-based violence (GBV) as a driver of migration, with a focus on Southeast Europe, reporting on one instance of the intersection between the more private matter of gender and the realms of “high politics.”

The research is based on qualitative methods, primarily drawn from existing (written) sources, including legal cases, government and NGO reports, and other documents, supplemented by information gathered through in-depth interviews.

This research found that the region is a source of migrants escaping GBV, and that migrants from this region have been agents in moving the practice of gender-based asylum forward in recent years. That migration is increasingly multidirectional. Further, the “West” offers gender-based asylum inconsistently.

Political and policy change on these matters across this region were transitioning rapidly when this chapter was written; there will be a need, therefore, for updates based on any new developments.

Policy progress should be based on recognition of Southeast Europe’s varied roles as receiving, transit, and destination countries as the region’s viability and visibility increase.

The chapter analyzes a legal terrain that is rarely done outside of the field of law. It offers the most recent analysis of current developments in gender-based asylum with a Southeast Europe focus. Finally, it contributes empirical research to the evolving theoretical discussions of the privatization of the public sphere, particularly for emerging democracies.

“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.

A number of studies have examined the convergence in European real estate markets and find that convergence is time‐varying. Additionally, the returns of some countries, notably the UK, are as equally, if not more, influenced by the real estate returns in the USA than those in Europe. This paper aims to study the time‐varying convergence of the UK securitised real estate market shows with countries within Europe relative to that with the USA.

This paper utilizes a model estimated using a Kalman filter.

Using monthly data over the period 1990‐2007 we show that from 1990 to 1998 the returns of the UK securitised real estate were more influenced by the US market than the other countries in Europe. However, from autumn 1998 to 2004 the short‐run movements in the return of the UK securitised real estate market became increasingly associated with movements in the other countries in Europe market rather than the USA. But since 2004 the returns in the UK real estate have once again started to diverge from those of most countries in Europe.

This is the first paper to examine the time‐varying convergence of the securitised real estate markets using time‐varying parameter modelling techniques estimated by the Kalman filter. The results showing that the UK has not converged with the other markets in Europe, which implies that real estate diversification is still a viable investment strategy for UK investors in most countries in Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the role of innovations in provision of competitiveness and innovational development of economy and overcoming of “underdevelopment whirlpools” in Russia and countries of Eastern Europe with the help of a special proprietary methodology.

The authors substantiate the concept and methodology of calculation of “underdevelopment whirlpools”, perform the analysis of development of “underdevelopment whirlpools” in Russia and countries of Eastern Europe and evaluate the influence of “underdevelopment whirlpools” on competitiveness of these countries’ economy.

The authors determine the perspectives of overcoming the “underdevelopment whirlpools” in Russia and countries of Eastern Europe and increasing their competitiveness with the help of innovation and develops practical recommendations for creation of innovational economy for the purpose of provision of high competitiveness and overcoming of “underdevelopment whirlpools” in Russia and countries of Eastern Europe and overcoming of strong and growing differentiation of the level of socio-economic development of their sub-systems.

Creation of innovational economy in Russia and countries of Eastern Europe is hindered by multiple obstacles (socio-economic and institutional), the success of overcoming of which determines the realization of a certain scenario of development of events.

The main conclusion is that creation of innovational economy can and should become a new vector of economic growth in Russia and countries of Eastern Europe and overcoming of strong and growing differentiation of the level of socio-economic development of their sub-systems.

The aim of this paper is to estimate the dynamic of international migration between the different regions of the world for 2030 and to measure the impact of different kind of migration policies on the economic and social evolution.

The change and migration forecasting are estimated for regions of the world using macroeconomic Cambridge Alphametrics Model.

The crisis and its aggravation thus clearly favour scenarios of immigration policy along the “zero migration” or “constant migration”. These choices of migration policies reinforce the deflationary process resulting in reduced opportunities for renewed growth in industrial areas and are not offset by the dynamism of growth in emerging countries. Paradoxically, the developed countries which are most durably affected by the crisis are also those that have ageing population and are in high need of skilled and unskilled labor.

Three options are possible: one going along the depressive process by espousing restrictive immigration policies that remain expensive. The second involves a highly selective immigration policy. Under these conditions the demographic revival already appearing would be reinforced by a rejuvenation of the population brought about by a more open immigration policy. Political and institutional factors play a fundamental role in the emergence of this optimistic assumption and the rise of isolationism in Europe and the ghettoization of suburban areas can hinder the application of such a policy of openness to migration. The third scenario, the mass migration scenario, allows letting go of the growth related constraints and getting out of the deflationist spiral. This pro-active approach could cause public opinions to change in line with public interest. This scenario of mass migration has more of a chance to see the light under a growth hypothesis. However, restrictive policies weaken the prospects of sustainable recovery causing a vicious cycle that can only be broken by pro-active policies or by irresistible shocks.

From specific estimations, four immigration regimes have been built that cut across the major regions of the model: the “core skill replacement migration regime” based on selective policies using migration to fill high-skilled labor needs (United Kingdom, West and Northern Europe, Canada, Australia, and USA), “mass immigration and replacement” applies to South Europe, East Asia High Income, and part of West Asia (Gulf countries), “big fast-growing emerging regions of future mass immigration,” notably China, India and “South-South migration” based on forced migration much of it by climate change, which may likely occur in South Asia, part of West Asia, and, most of Africa (without South Africa). Migrations in transit countries (Central America to USA, and East Europe to UK and West Europe) are based on low skilled migrants in labor-intensive sectors.

This monograph is devoted to the countries of Eastern Europe, which are experiencing the dramatic changes following on from the fundamental developments of the last few years. These countries, Albania, Bulgaria, Czecho‐slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Yugoslavia, are likely to become members of a greater Europe in the future. Their economic and educational systems are examined and the structures of their management training systems are described.

Many retailers are expanding throughout Europe, while it is well‐known that large differences still exist between the European countries. This paper aims to explore to what extent the historical expansion sequence patterns of retailers operating across Europe are driven by cultural factors.

The paper derives a cultural map of Western Europe based on data of Hofstede and Hall. Three important cultural clusters are identified. Next, this study investigates the expansion sequences of nine big EU‐ and US‐based fashion‐clothing retailers across those three cultural clusters.

The results show that initial expansion typically takes place in a neighbor country belonging to the same cultural cluster. Subsequent expansion tends to follow a stepwise cluster‐by‐cluster pattern, where retailers make cluster jumps, first expanding in the same cluster, but already move to another before the first is completed.

For US/Canada‐based retailers as well as for European‐based retailers it is crucial to fully recognize the differences between European countries, but it is very useful to consider their similarities too. Dividing the European market into clusters of countries seems to be a pragmatic way of handling differences and similarities. This information can help managers to make better decisions on entry sequences in foreign markets.

To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first study analyzing the complete international entry sequences, i.e. both the initial and subsequent entries of retailers in Western Europe, from a national cultural perspective.

Data on shift‐working, annual hours and employment are used to derive alternative measures of capital utilisation in seven countries. There is a positive relationship between utilisation and capital intensity, and utilisation levels in developing countries are significantly higher than in industrialised countries. Inter‐country comparisons of capital productivity are made by comparing industries with similar levels of capital per production worker. It is shown that output per input of capital services in some developing countries is half that of comparable industries in industrialised countries. However, the higher levels of utilisation in developing countries partially offset these low values for the productivity of capital services. Data on labour productivity and earnings are combined to measure labour costs per unit of output and thus throw light on the overall competitive position of industry in the different countries.

The recent European crisis has raised a number of concerns among economists about the persistence of significant productive and competitiveness differences across national economies within the European Union (EU). Such differences can be seen as both a major root cause underlying the crisis and as an important factor explaining the current political difficulties within the EU.

The big divide between core and periphery is taken into account in this chapter, which focuses on the processes of structural transformation in the European periphery. We intend to contribute to a better understanding of structural changes in Europe and of their potential impact on future growth prospects and overall convergence/divergence dynamics.

A comparison of the experiences of two groups of peripheral countries is undertaken, based on a sample of old member states of Southwestern Europe and of new member states of Eastern Europe. A descriptive analysis is made of the trends occurred in the structure of production, employment and trade, examining this evidence in the light of technology and skill-based industrial classifications. Comparisons are made for both the pre and post-crisis periods.

Changes in the economic structure towards more skill- and technology-intensive sectors were relatively modest in Southwest Europe, whereas they increased rapidly in Eastern Europe. Notwithstanding, both groups of countries have experienced a strong deterioration of the growth dynamics after 2008, which seems to reflect the strong emphasis of economic policy on financial market stabilisation and a relative neglect of policies targeted to the recovery of investment and to the reinforcement of exporting capacities.

The solution to overcome economic retardation requires inevitably export-led growth and the building up of a more competitive economy. This, in turn, requires the design of an adequate industrial policy.