Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Kamil Janáček Author-Name: Martin Čihák Author-Name: Marie Frýdmanová Author-Name: Tomáš Holub Author-Name: Eva Zamrazilová Title: Czech economy at the beginning of 1997 Abstract: Czech GDP growth in 1996 failed to reach the rates expected by most domestic and foreign experts and institutions. Compared to initial forecasts which ranged between 5.0 and 5.5 %, the actual growth of real GDP fell short by roughly 1 percentage point: we expect the final GDP growth figure to be within 4.1 - 4.4 %. Private consumption and fixed investment were the main factors of GDP growth in 1996. A gap persisted between domestic supply and domestic demand; the gap tended to be relatively stable and was covered by a fast increase of imports of goods and services.

The slowdown of GDP growth was caused by several factors, prominent among them are: a sizeable slowdown of export; lack of ability to launch a more dynamic export effort; nominal appreciation of the Czech currency against both the DEM and the USD; a decelerating effect of the measures taken by the Czech National Bank in mid 1996, when monetary policy turned from neutral to restrictive. Volume: 1997 Issue: 2 Year: 1997 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/123 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:1997:y:1997:i:2:id:123 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Vladimír Benáček Author-Name: Alena Zemplinerová Title: Foreign direct investment in the czech manufacturing sector Abstract: In the period of 1991-96 there were large volumes of foreign direct investment directed to various Czech manufacturing industries and services. Our empirical analysis has shown that enterprises of the manufacturing sector, into which the foreign capital was invested, were generally physical capital intensive and labor saving. At the same time, both capital and labor efficiencies in firms with FDI have been significantly above the domestic average. Another salient feature of the FDI enterprises is that they are very export intensive and, on the input side, they have a higher proportion of material inputs and thus relatively lower proportion of value added. Volume: 1997 Issue: 2 Year: 1997 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/124 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:1997:y:1997:i:2:id:124 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marie Bohatá Title: Ethical infrastructure of emerging markets Abstract: The emerging negative phenomena in Central and Eastern Europe underlines the importance of the need for an ethical infrastructure of emerging markets to be built. Logically, the first step must be a formal, e.g. legal infrastructure, which is also, for obvious reasons, under principal reconstruction. The challenge here is not only that the new law must be passed but also correctly interpreted and fully implemented. For some people compliance with law is sufficient; for others this represents only the minimal ethical requirement. The role of individuals and institutions, especially governments, in the process of building the ethical infrastructure is understood differently in the CEE countries. There might be even bigger differences in the future, as market experience grows and markets mature, however, at different speeds in individual countries. It may be assumed that introducing a market system and cultivating the culture of the market necessitate different accents. Volume: 1997 Issue: 2 Year: 1997 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/125 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:1997:y:1997:i:2:id:125 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Eva Tošovská Title: Environmental impairment liability in the czech republic Abstract: The subject treated in this article is environmental impairment liability, which becomes a still more important legal and economic instrument of environmental policy complying with claim of denationalization. It is a market-conforming instrument not requiring that the public authorities will focus their activities on direct management of microeconomic agents. The article reflects: brief description of the functions and position of environmental impairment liability among the other tools of environmental policy; evaluation of the extent to which the initiatives aimed at European harmonisation have been successful; analysis of the present state of works on environmental impairment liability legislation in the Czech Republic. Volume: 1997 Issue: 2 Year: 1997 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/126 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:1997:y:1997:i:2:id:126