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This is a macroeconomic comparison amongst Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The German studies demonstrate a rapid transition to the market economy in East Gemany, with inflows of capital from West Germany; Hungary proves a case of lower adjustment; and the Czech Republic is somewhere in between.

This text evaluates the past performance and future prospects for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It explains the disappointing historical performance (employment and living standards) of the two Irish economies through examining the competitiveness at the sectoral level. The Irish economies have failed to catch up with average UK and European levels; the authors trace this to the productivity and size of major economic sectors.

This study focuses in detail on the environmental compliance/competitiveness relationship with respect to the regulation of packaging waste. It emphasizes backward and forward linkages. An entire supply chain is considered: packaging manufacturers and suppliers, food processors and the food retail sector, to study the competitiveness effects of environmental standards on manufacturing companies and the vertical links and supply responses. A variety of regulatory regimes is represented by including within the study companies from Germany, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Analyses consider the response of individual firms to different levels of regulation; the cost of compliance; impact on employment; the influence of the supply chain on environmental and competitive performance; the importance of firm size and ownership; and the impact of regulation on competitiveness, and firm competitiveness on the efficiency of adjustment to regulation.