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This publication examines the importance of trade in services for the integration of non-EU members into the European Single Market. Further liberalisation is found to be a critical factor to deeper integration with the enlarged EU, which accounts for a quarter of global GDP and foreign direct investment. The planned Euro-Mediterranean free trade area for goods is judged as a positive first step, but additional measures are needed for deeper integration, including liberalisation of services trade. The study gives a detailed assessment of individual sectors, including core services relating to transport, telecommunication, financial markets and electricity, as well other markets such as tourism, IT and distribution services.

Renowned political scientist Daniel W. Drezner argues that the Great Recession is in fact a global economic governance success story.

For almost as long as economics has been a profession, the role of natural resources in the promotion of economic growth has been among the core issues of development theory. Some newer theories suggest that natural riches produce institutional weaknesses as various social groups attempt to capture the economic rents derived from the exploitation of natural resources. Since the 1960s, some analysts have argued that resource-rich developing countries have grown more slowly than other developing countries. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in a time when conventional wisdom again postulates that natural resources are indeed riches. This book brings together a variety of analytical perspectives, ranging from econometric analyses of economic growth to historical studies of successful development experiences in countries with abundant natural resources. The evidence suggests that natural resources are neither a curse nor destiny. Natural resources can actually spur economic development when combined with the accumulation of knowledge for economic innovation. Furthermore, natural resource abundance need not be the only determinant of the structure of trade in developing countries. In fact, the accumulation of knowledge, infrastructure, and the quality of governance all seem to determine not only what countries produce and export, but how firms and workers produce any good.

This book provides a practice-oriented overview of the necessary prerequisites, the mode of operation, and the individual steps for the successful introduction of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). In addition to theoretical basics, practical examples from controlling and accounting illustrate the enormous potential of this technology....

Abstraction is a fundamental mechanism underlying both human and artificial perception, representation of knowledge, reasoning and learning. This mechanism plays a crucial role in many disciplines, notably Computer Programming, Natural and Artificial Vision, Complex Systems, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Art, and Cognitive Sciences. This book first provides the reader with an overview of the notions of abstraction proposed in various disciplines by comparing both commonalities and differences. After discussing the characterizing properties of abstraction, a formal model, the KRA model, is presented to capture them. This model makes the notion of abstraction easily applicable by means of the introduction of a set of abstraction operators and abstraction patterns, reusable across different domains and applications. It is the impact of abstraction in Artificial Intelligence, Complex Systems and Machine Learning which creates the core of the book. A general framework, based on the KRA model, is presented, and its pragmatic power is illustrated with three case studies: Model-based diagnosis, Cartographic Generalization, and learning Hierarchical Hidden Markov Models.

Among communist states, Romania is, in several respects, a unique case. Romania has been the only Warsaw Pact member to deviate consistently from Soviet foreign policy norms and, alone within Eastern Europe, to avoid oil imports from the USSR. The leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu since 1965 has, meanwhile, governed through a studious commitment to socio-economic centralization and control often reminiscent of' Stalinist orthodoxy. Intellectual freedom, artistic liberty and workers' rights have changed little relative to Poland, Hungary or the transient Prague Spring. Such international and domestic policy distinctions, as well as a record of impressive industrial growth, necessitate an effort to understand the dynamics of Romania's socio-economic and political life. This volume is meant to delineate trends in political, social and economic life which will constitute dynamic elements for the Romanian system during the 1980s and beyond. Contributors, all scholars with lengthy research experience in Romania, the Balkans and communist states generally, have sought to identify factors likely to be influential during this and ensuing decades. In that sense, this is a "predictive" volume containing not "crystal-ball gazing" but the careful identification and assessment of trends influencing Romanian foreign and domestic policies, economic and political performance, and societal transformations. By suggesting elements crucial to socio-economic and political change in Romania, we hope to make observing this intriguing communist state somewhat less haphazard and more systematic.

Does economic size matter for economic development outcomes? If so are current policies adequately addressing the role of size in the development process? Using working age population as a proxy for country size, Open and Nimble, systematically analyzes what makes small economies unique. Small economies are not necessarily prone to underdevelopment and in fact can achieve very high income levels. Small economies, however, do tend to be highly open to both international trade and foreign direct investment, have highly specialized export structures, and have large government expenditures relative to their Gross Domestic Product. The export structures of small economies are concentrated in a few products or services and in a small number of export destinations. In turn, this export concentration is associated with terms of trade volatility, which combined with high exposure to international trade, implies that small economies tend to face more volatility on average as external volatility permeates national economic life. Yet small economies tend to compensate for their export concentration by being nimble in the sense of being able to change their production and export structure relatively quickly over time. Moreover, limited territory plays a role in shaping how economies are affected by natural disasters, even when the probability of facing such disasters is not necessarily higher among small than among large economies. The combination of large governments with macroeconomic volatility seems to be associated with low national savings rates in small economies. This combination could be a challenge for long-term growth if productivity growth and foreign investment do not compensate for low domestic savings. The book finishes with some thoughts on how policy makers can respond to these issues through coordinated investments and regional integration efforts, as well as fiscal policy reforms aimed at both increasing public savings and conducting countercyclical fiscal policies.

As a political model for the young democracy in interwar Romania, as a protector against threats to the sovereignty and integrity of the state, as a cultural model, and as a daily life, America represented for Romania a reference point, a factor of stability and progress. America was a model and ally of the civilized world! Unfortunately, isolated in the interwar period from the political realities on the continent, America saw how, at the end of the ‘30s, the political creation of the Paris Peace Conference collapsed, the US being invited to “abandon jazz” to enter a new war on the European continent, extended to Asia and Africa, to save civilization, alongside the UK. At the war’s end, Eastern Europe fell victim to communist totalitarianism imposed by the USSR, and its peoples were forced to abandon the Western model of civilization in favor of the communist model. However, after 45 years of communism, the American model became negotiable again as a cultural, economic, and political model for Romanians, allowing us to reconstruct essential pages in the history of interwar Romania in the context of Romanian- American relations. This volume was supported by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding-UEFISCDI, the National Research Council - CNCS, the Ministry of Education (Romania), Project PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0688, Contract 29 from 27 May 2022, title The Ethos of Dialogue and Education: Romanian - American Cultural Negotiations (1920-1940). / Acest volum a fost finanțat de către Unitatea Executivă pentru Finanțarea Învățământului Superior, a Cercetării, Dezvoltării și Inovării – UEFISCDI, Consiliul Național al Cercetării Științifice (CNCS), Ministerul Educației, Proiect PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-0688, Contract numărul 29 din 27 mai 2022, cu titlul Etosul educației și dialogului: Negocieri culturale româno-americane (1920-1940).