Prague Economic Papers, 2006 (vol. 15), issue 2
Original contributions, Original article, Research article
Long-Term Unemployment in the Czech Republic: Motivation, Obstacles and the Social Assistance System
Magdalena Kotýnková
Prague Economic Papers 2006, 15(2):99-112 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.279
Economic transition in the Czech Republic has created a group of long-term unemployed people, many of whom do not actively seek out employment opportunities and instead rely on social assistance. A number of subjective and objective factors contribute to this problem, including the shifting demands of the labour market, regional variation, workers' attitudes and skill level, and the relationship between social assistance benefits and the minimum wage. This article assesses the issue of workers' motivation. Although there are combinations of factors that result in low motivation to search for jobs, the social assistance system is especially at fault...
Institutional Conditions of Monetary Policy Conduct in the Czech Republic
Petr Sedláček
Prague Economic Papers 2006, 15(2):113-134 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.280 
This paper tries to assess the conditions under which the CNB operates. Using a basic framework suggested by Mishkin (2000), the aim is to find out whether the central bank is able to conduct high-quality monetary policy. First, general principles that central banks should follow to succeed in their pursuit of monetary goals are theoretically introduced. Then, these theoretical principles are looked at in the Czech context. Issues of the strictness and suitability of concrete monetary policy of the CNB will not be dealt with, rather institutional circumstances that potentially allow successful policy are at the centre of this paper. It is concluded...
National Accounts Data and Macroeconomic Analysis: A Comparative Study of the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Slovenia
Maks Tajnikar, Nina Ponikvar
Prague Economic Papers 2006, 15(2):135-155 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.281
In this paper there are analysed the characteristics of various important macroeconomic variables in the Slovenian economy and compared with the macroeconomic development in the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Ireland in two periods of 1997-1999 and 2000-2002. The main objectives of the paper are to observe changes in the macroeconomic variables of the analysed countries during the observed periods, to determine the sources of any differences in macroeconomic characteristics between Slovenia and the other analysed countries and, finally, to suggest some steps and measures to improve the macroeconomic situation of these countries. Data from national...
Montenegrin Quarterly Macroeconomic Econometric Model
Štiblar Franjo, Oplotnik Žan, Vukotić Veselin
Prague Economic Papers 2006, 15(2):156-171 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.282
Specific features of quarterly econometric model for Montenegro are dealing with the euroization of the economy, de facto separation of Montenegrin economy from Serbian economy. The model is specified with final demand as driving force of the economic growth, but, in addition, with some specific detail of supply side economics regarding negative role of government expenditures and taxation on some forms of activity. Key features of the model are: inclusion of relevant real and financial sectors of the economy, estimation of labour and capital market, division of labour market on tradable and non-tradable part, creation of activity variable in addition...
An Investigation of the German Dominance Hypothesis in the Context of Eastern Enlargement of the EU
Mete Feridun
Prague Economic Papers 2006, 15(2):172-182 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.283
This paper is aimed at testing the German Dominance Hypothesis (GDH) in the context of Eastern enlargement of the EU based on the hitherto unexamined former Eastern Bloc countries of Slovakia and Czech Republic using macroeconomic data spanning the period between 1991 and 2004. Cointegration analysis and a vector error correction mechanism validate the GDH. This finding raises the question of what drives these linkages and causes them to register these characteristics. While one could make the case that the Treaty of Maastricht may have caused some form of macroeconomic convergence and thus cointegration, it could also well be argued that, given our...