L16 - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics: Industrial Structure and Structural Change; Industrial Price IndicesReturn

Too much of a good thing can ultimately become detrimental. Is this the case in the manufacturing industry's carbon governance under the guise of digitization? This study examines the non-linear effect of low-carbon environmental governance at the provincial level in China's manufacturing sector which is the first of its kind. Using the slacks-based measure data envelopment approach (SBM-DEA), this study assesses changes in environmental governance performance over time, accounting for desirable and undesirable outputs. The findings indicate an inverted U-shaped relationship between manufacturing digitization and low-carbon environmental governance performance in China. This suggests that digitization improves environmental outcomes initially, but excessive digitization causes adverse environmental impacts due to increased energy use, resource depletion and waste production. It offers insights into the complicated interplay of benefits and challenges in manufacturing digitization and its implications for achieving sustainable, low-carbon development in China. It highlights the importance of thoughtful digital transition to support low-carbon development goals.

The present study aims to indicate whether structural transformation has provided enhancement for the disadvantaged parts of society in terms of gender or whether it has been implemented at the expense of social inequalities in 10 BEM (Big Emerging Market) economies (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, South Korea and Türkiye) in the period 1998–2019. The study also aims to understand the dynamics behind the connection between structural transformation and unemployment by comparing the results from each country. This paper also focuses on the effects of economic complexity on the breakdown of unemployment rates including female, male, youth female and youth male unemployment divisions. In the study, firstly, cross-sectional dependence is tested for all variables; secondly, the CADF test as a second-generation unit root test is applied; thirdly, the parameter constancy test is applied to each model, and then the models are estimated using the panel regression method with random coefficients. The study reveals a geographical distinction between the ten economies. Economic complexity significantly affects all types of unemployment in Poland, but it does not affect unemployment in Asian and African countries. The other result of the study is that even in Poland, the decreasing effect of ECI (Economic Complexity Index) on unemployment is different for women and men.

The present work is based on a hypothesis that the Czech economy was showing signs of economic deceleration and a potential slump into deeper growth problems way before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., at least in the year 2019. However, the present text does not intend to thoroughly confirm this hypothesis because in order to do so, a longer timeline of key economic indicators needs to be analysed. What it does present is at least a partial argumentation supporting the abovementioned hypothesis and some basic calculations. It proposes two ways towards its confirmation. The first one is a comparative analysis of individual - especially European - economies' response to subsiding external influences, i.e., to the weakening of the effects of the pandemic on the economy. The second way is at least a partial analysis of key macroeconomic indicators from the time before and during the pandemic, with an emphasis on detectable divergences in the development. The conclusion of our research is the finding that as early as in 2019, the Czech economy was showing signs of imminent deceleration of growth, which would probably have turned into stagnation and possibly a certain decrease in economic activity. The conclusions indicate that the reason behind such development was a massive but in fact little effective investment activity in the Czech economic environment, which is historically related to the structure of the economy and to the position of the Czech industrial sector in supplier relationships. Two related phenomena arise from that: firstly, a relatively low labour productivity, with producers domiciled in the Czech Republic reaching quite a low volume of value added, and secondly a massive capital outflow in the form of profits paid to parent companies abroad. The final part of the paper outlines some potentially effective steps which might lead - under favourable circumstances - to restructuring processes in the Czech economy. Due to the date of finishing the research, the paper does not include the consequences of the War in Ukraine.

This paper analyses the geographical concentration of the industry sector according to technology intensity of industries. The analysis of spatial distribution employs a database including information on the number of plants at the 2-digit level of sector aggregation in the period 1997-2016. We estimate parameters for a spatial panel data analysis with random and fixed effects in order to examine two related research questions: (1) to what extent are the effects of internal economies of scale present in the technology-intensive industries; and (2) which types of external economies of scale are used by different industries depending on technology intensity. Our results indicate that the regional industrial structure of Slovakia has become more diverse. As a consequence of the phase of economic integration, some of the regions have been integrated into global production networks and maintain high levels of specialisation.

The sovereign debt crisis inside the European Monetary Union (EMU) as well as competitiveness problems of some EMU members made the members and non-members of the club address one question: Is a monetary union advantageous? This paper deals with the issue whether or not the Maastricht criteria are good indicators for deciding to join the eurozone, namely for a small open economy, as the Czech Republic. In particular, this analysis addresses the issue of price competition, which can be measured by the real effective exchange rate. In fact, the Maastricht criteria do not reflect the competitiveness of a country. Thus the arguments concerning the advantages/disadvantages of the adoption of a common currency should not be based only on the Maastricht criteria, but at first on the philosophy of the real effective exchange rate. We define a basis for setting new criteria to decideing on joining the monetary union. To sum up, if depreciation/devaluation of the real exchange rate is not a competitive advantage for both Czech exports and the Czech economy (especially in the long term), then the main economic argument against joining the EMU disappears.

This paper aims to contribute to the theoretical discussion of free trade and protectionism in international trade within the context of International political economy. Presented approach broadens the standard political economy view of trade policy and goes beyond the redistribution consequences and the political consideration of policy makers. Our interpretation of trade policy works with broader economic values and preferences of individual actors and understands the nation state and its policies as institutions. Social, cultural and historical context is taken into consideration, when interpreting the trade policy. More complex understanding of these determinants helps to explain contemporary trade policies and also their dynamic change. Paper also discuss the links between the trade policy and other economic (structural and industrial) policies and attract attention to possible misunderstandings in contemporary free trade discourse.

The article solves the incentives to the different exchange rate arrangement choice during the transformation and integration period in the Central and East European countries. It follows with the analysis of the industry structure in these economies. It is discussed the existence of its direct and indirect channel of influencing the exchange rate politics. Article solves the hypothesis of interest group formation in regard to the exchange rate policy (the euro adoption) and the intergovernmental bargaining and the bargaining within the economy. The industry analysis results confirm the set hypothesis, in which the heterogeneity of industry structure explains the heterogeneous approach to the exchange rate politics during the transformation process in monitored economies. Finally, the redistributive change of Hungarian exchange rate policy is discussed in connection with the change of subsidies flow within the political cycle.

This article explores development of the industrial structure of the Czech economy in the last ten years from the point of view of the gross value added and employment. It goes from the macroeconomic view at the level of the basic sectors to more detailed view focused on the individual branches. Increased attention is paid to manufacturing, which is analysed in more detailed structure. The accent is put on the labour productivity development and its main factors. The comparison is carried out in the time series, as well as within the EU member states. Besides the analysis on the level of individual sectors and industries the attention is paid to the groups of activities by technological and knowledge intensity in the manufacturing and services. In addition to industrial view the product view is applied for imports and exports of high-tech products.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of current account adjustment on the tradable and nontradable sector in member countries of currency union - Euro zone. The current account adjustment associated with the adjustment of the net export's deficit caused by the drop in the domestic absorption evokes the increase in the relative price of the nontradable sector. The paper discusses this hypothesis within framework of the Portuguese current account adjustment, which is the result of European financial integration in catching-up countries. The common monetary policy and common currency cannot offset the negative impact of nontradable price increase within the internal expenditure switching effect and also can not support exporters within the external expenditure effect.. The Portuguese current account adjustment was not followed by the currency depreciation and the tradable price increase. The cost of the currency asymmetric response were born by the tradable mark-up decrease, the falling decrease in nontradable wages and employment and finally by the nontradable mark-up and employment decrease.

The Czech economy was characterized by a high nominal and real appreciation which was caused by great foreign direct investment inflow in 2002. The paper analyzes the effect of the Czech currency appreciation on industrial branches and the industry as a whole using a simple model based on a corporate accounting. The outcome of the model is then compared with actual y-o-y data of non-financial corporations in 2002. There is significant difference between industrial branches in sensitivity to appreciation. Foreign owned branches are able to limit the negative impact of appreciation, whereas the worst situation is in branches owed only by residents and public. The property structure and in addition the labor intensity of production have had a great effect on corporate finance after the rapid crown appreciation.