Search results

This study aims to explore the role of rebel group legitimacy and ideology in durable peace (DP) following peace agreements to end civil wars. It builds on earlier research showing that justice and civil society involvement are critical in achieving DP. This study adds the impacts of rebel group activities and support on DP. Activities include service delivery and mobilization. Support is gauged with outcomes of presidential and parliamentary elections held following peace agreements.

Five data sets were used to measure the key variables: DP, inclusive commissions (IC), legitimacy symmetry (electoral outcomes), service delivery and ideological mobilization. A measure of rebel group integration in the political system was also constructed. Impacts of the integration, legitimacy and ideology variables were assessed with a hierarchical regression model (HRM). This study begins with a base model drawn from earlier research showing the key predictors were procedural justice (PJ) and IC. The authors ask about the extent to which the rebel group variables contribute additional variance to the prediction of DP.

The main contributors to the prediction of DP were PJ, IC and integration in the political system. None of the legitimacy or mobilization variables added significant variance to the prediction. Only one of the mobilization variables, forced recruitment, was significant. The decision to integrate into the political system following the agreement did not mediate the relationship between PJ in the negotiation process and DP. Results of a factor analysis showed that DP, PJ, IC and integration formed a cluster with strong loadings on the first factor.

The negative results for the legitimacy and mobilization variables may not be the last word on rebel group influences. Lack of support for the key hypotheses spurs attempts to discover other sources that contribute to the survival of rebel group actors in the political system and, in turn, to DP.

The issues raised by this study contribute to debates about ways to attain peaceful relations among competing groups following a civil war. It appears that attention to factors inside and around the negotiation process (PJ, ICs and conversion) may be more important than rebel group activities outside of these processes. The results call attention, in particular, to the important role played by political integration. From a policy perspective, it would be useful to develop levers for encouraging rebel groups to emerge as political actors in the post-agreement environment.

Developing measures of the symmetry of rebel group legitimacy and integration in the context of a comparative case study are the primary original contributions of this study. Furthermore, the mode of analysis (HRM) is novel in this literature. This approach builds on and extends the earlier research on factors influencing DP.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically uncover the relationship between economic integration and levels of entrepreneurial activity across 24 EU countries between 2004 and 2012. The deepening of EU integration corresponds to increases in the size and competitiveness of domestic markets as member states reorient economic activity toward the larger, competitive single market. Spillovers of both economic and political dimensions of integration in the common market on micro firm and self-employment are considered. The paper contributes to the understanding of the hypothesized relationship between globalization and the rise of entrepreneurial economy.

The paper uses fixed effects linear regression models to estimate the marginal effects of economic integration on entrepreneurial activity. Several dependent variables and controls for social, economics, and institutional context are used to confirm the robustness of the results.

The paper finds that increased economic activity of member countries within the EU common market, as well as institutional compliance and integration in the European Monetary Union and Schengen Agreement are positively and significantly associated with the rise of entrepreneurship. Notably, it is found that a standard deviation increase in economic and political integration is associated with, respectively, 16 and 7.2 percent increase in micro firm density. Some preliminary evidence on the quality of the arising entrepreneurial activity are also given.

The paper takes stock of existing descriptive and theoretical literature on global economic integration and entrepreneurship to uncover, for the first time, the empirical relationship between entrepreneurship and levels of economic and political integration within the EU bloc.

Vertical integration across three different types of economies and selected industries is studied to trace historical, political, and economic influences on the evolution of vertically integrated structures. Specifically, the focus in this article is on the industrial development that took place in Germany, the UK, Japan and the USA. The role of a domestic market, colony markets, and attempts to become a dominant colonizer all play a significant role in the development of various industries, and the efficiency levels that they attained. The role of government, the level of international competition, and other integration drivers salient in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are also discussed. A broad view of structural and contextual forces provides a better understanding of why certain industries chose to integrate the way they did.

This study aims to research the effects of unemployment wages current account and consumer price index (CPI) on the real gross domestic product (RGDP), which, in the optimum currency area (OCA) theory, supposes that countries with higher factor mobility can significantly profit from the currency area. However, in this study, it is shown that the considered optimum currency crisis (OCC) model is affected by mobility factors, as the defined theory has not been perfectly realised in the Eurozone.

In this study, Breusch–Pagan–Godfrey and Lagrange multiplier (LM) tests are used for supporting the survey for better estimation of the panel cointegration tests, where Pedroni's (1995, 1997) technique is used. The unit root tests are employed, of which the Phillip–Perron and augmented Dickey–Fuller tests (unit root test, Dickey, D. and W. Fuller, 1979) are considered.

It can be concluded that demand shocks will tend to be more asymmetric instead of being symmetric, even though they are in the customs union (CU). However, Polish workers in a given scenario may move to Germany, but because of the rigidity of the labour market and qualification differences between workers, the interregional integration of member countries is reduced, and this reduces the absorption of asymmetric shocks. In Germany, where strong employment protection and rigidity are observed in comparison to Poland, although there has been historical migration and economical collaboration, unfortunately, the integration of the two countries’ economies has not been realised.

Quantitative research on fiscal union and the estimation of its effects is not possible because there is no practical experience of fiscal union throughout the European Union (EU). However, quantitative research is used for estimating the effects of OCA in the Eurozone. Quantitative investigation is particularly focused on the monetary union and single currency and its impact on growth rate. In this study, the ordinary least squares (OLS) method and panel cointegration test are employed for estimating the effects of the considered variables.

The Eurozone and the application of a single currency throughout the EU was a considerably difficult task. In addition, the adoption of a single currency was not easy for those member countries that fulfilled the “convergence criteria” (or “Maastricht criteria”) and who joined the Eurozone, because only adoption is not enough; maintenance of those criteria is also required. This study analysed the application of the Eurozone in the light of the OCA of Mundel's theory.

The OCA is important for member countries’ economic relations. However, the application of a single currency is not easy and needs to be controlled and regulated to ensure best practises throughout the Eurozone. Monetary integration is not a simple process, and Eurozone countries’ financial difficulties affect each other’s markets’ indifferent aspects. Particularly in any market recession, demand shocks tend to have different effects. Furthermore, in comparison to the monetary union, the CU has a considerable impact on trade enlargement.

In this study, the effects of the independent variables “wages, unemployment, CPI and capital flow” on the dependent variable “RGDP” is considered, which, in the OCA theory, supposes that countries with higher factor mobility can significantly profit from the currency area. In application, it was turned into crisis because of inadequate monetary and fiscal application. In this paper OCA is questioned in the light of the Eurozone for bringing better understanding to these difficulties. The considered model and estimations are used for evaluating to create sustainable monetary integration for economic growth.

Even though the promise of globalization has faded and it is no longer the fashionable topic it once was, national policy‐makers must still deal with its widespread economic, political and social effects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between, on the one hand, differing levels of human development between countries, and, on the other, the extent to which countries pursue national policy objectives disciplined by what has been described as the “universal values” underlying the globalization process.

The concepts of globalization and world society values are first defined and discussed in a policy‐related context. The relationship between globalization values, national policy settings and human welfare and freedom is explored by means of a simple SEM model.

The results of the SEM model indicate that there is a clear link between higher levels of human development where countries' normative policy settings concord with world society values. A more important outcome is greater insight into the critical role that social connectedness plays in explaining differences in levels of human development.

The paper presents an exploratory analysis of globalization and national policy formation.

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the e-government stage models that have been developed in last one decade give a true indication of e-government growth in a developing country like India.

This exploratory study was conducted through a survey questionnaire from 300 portals of government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) in India.

Results show that on e-government stage model; only 28 per cent of the surveyed government department have achieved the transactional stage whereas 58 per cent have reached at least a minimum level of vertical integration. On the other hand, 74 per cent PSUs are at transactional level and 69 per cent have achieved at least a minimum level of vertical integration.

For achieving a one-stop government portal, integration stage can be achieved before the transaction level. Reason behind this being nature and requirement of the portal. There are fundamental differences in social and political factors of various countries that demand more customized local models.

This study is the first to examine the evolution of government portals in India. The results lead to a number of insights such as there are few government portals that do not follow the proposed stage models and achieve the integration level before attaining the transaction level.

After Ma Yingjeou's re‐election in 2012, Mainland China and Taiwan will continue cooperation in economic fields. The purpose of this paper is to undertake research on a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) between Mainland China and Taiwan.

The paper uses statistics to demonstrate the growing cross‐strait investment and incompetent contemporary investment protection mechanisms in Mainland China and Taiwan. The paper also compares laws in Mainland China and Taiwan and the investment protection agreements concluded by Mainland and Taiwan with other countries, respectively.

Based on the similarities of current laws and the investment protection agreements concluded by Mainland China and Taiwan with other countries, respectively, Mainland China and Taiwan can possibility agree upon major provisions of a BIA. Solutions are provided to both macro and micro challenges against a successful BIA.

It is hard to predict whether the BIA will promote political integration between Mainland China and Taiwan in the near future.

A BIA can boost investors' confidence.

This paper may serve as a humble reference for both the Mainland China and Taiwan government when negotiating the BIA.

Cross‐strait investment is an important and prosperous field in practice, but has not been fully explored in literature thus far. This Article aims to fill this gap.

Introduction During the last decade, political risk assessment has gained significance as a decision‐making variable in multinational firms as the political under‐currents shaping the global environment have impacted international business strategy. Political discontinuities in Chile and Iran, rising waves of instability in Central America and the Middle East, the crises in Poland and North Africa, and the explosive external debt of developing countries have underscored the impact of political events on international business.

One of today’s realities is that, as a consequence of the consolidation of the European economic integration process, the economies of the different member countries of the European Union are becoming more inter‐dependent and the physical, technical and tax obstacles to cross‐border trade are being diluted. At the same time, European policies and regulations have affected all areas of economic activity. The tourism sector is no exception due to the economic, social and cultural importance that this sector assumes for countries like Portugal. The overall purpose of this article is to analyse the implications of European economic integration in the tourism sector. In this context, the article builds on earlier research on European economic integration and identifies its effects in the tourism sector, focusing on the following tourism economic indicators: employment, income, investments, and balance of payments. The relationship between European financial support and the Portuguese tourism sector will be analysed with some related trends identified.

Regional economic integration has been a major area of research in the field of international economics and international trade, with little attention being paid to the impact of these economic collaborations on the organizational strategies of firms within the economically integrated regions. By building on the organization‐environment relationship paradigm, this paper aims to address the impact of environmental changes associated with economic integration, market commonality and currency commonality, on the patterns and structures of strategic alliances within members of the economic community.

Using mixed linear models, the study looks at changes associated with the integration of the European Union and their effects on international alliances within the integrated area and among the various member countries.

The findings suggest that the emergence and the adoption of economic integration policies at the country level do impact the patterns and structures of strategic alliances practiced between member countries. Specifically, the adoption of common market policies among members of an economic community has implications on the pattern and structure of strategic collaborative relationships of firms within these member countries.

While regional economic integrations have accelerated, theoretical and empirical research addressing their impact on multinational strategies has yet to catch up.