O14 - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of TechnologyReturn

Czechia is one of the most export-oriented countries, reaching high levels of economic complexity. However, its innovative capabilities remain limited. Taking these factors into consideration, we determined the country's optimal diversification path by identifying prospective export sectors which would enhance the country's competitiveness. We combine the product space and proximity methodologies on predicted export data together with a company-level analysis. We identified machinery for specialized industries and parts thereof (SITC 7284), machine-tools for specialized industries parts or accessories (SITC 7281) and power hand tools, pneumatic or non-electric, and parts thereof (SITC 7541) as the most prospective categories in terms of high complexity, expected trade volume growth, proximity to Czechia's existing production capabilities and manufacturing base operated by large, highly innovative Czech-owned firms.

The paper analyses some aspects of EU-China trade relations. Correlation analysis was applied to quantify the extent of the influence of the foreign trade with China on the overall foreign trade of the five members of the EU that have the largest foreign trade with China. Given the ongoing trade deficits of the EU with China, we decided to apply the Trade Complementarity Index (TCI) to determine the extent of their trade complementarity. Our initial hypothesis that the economies are highly complementary was rejected. We thus decided to apply the TCI to the EU's trade relations with the US. For the US, the TCI confirmed the existence of high trade complementarity. This implies that the EU can strengthen its negotiating power with China by increasing its trade diversification. These conclusions were also supported by our econometric model. A thorough analysis of EU-China trade relations also revealed the growth potential of the trade in services, which is gaining its momentum given the turbulences in global trade. The paper suggests that the EU needs to strengthen its trade relations with its "natural trade partners" instead of concentrating on China. The paper's focus on trade in services is a major contribution as it has so far been neglected in the economic literature.

The main objective of this paper is to find the determinants of the international competitiveness of the manufacturing sectors of the Czech economy, using the database of 13 manufacturing sub-sectors in 1995-2011, with the aid of ECM model. The authors research the question of how much foreign and domestic demand, the level of labour costs, the level of sector innovation intensity, the level of sector openness to foreign markets as well as sectoral labour productivity influence the changes in their trade balance. The results of the analysis conducted show substantial differences in the roles particular variables play in explaining the net exports in individual sectors. The results of the analysis indicate mostly a greater impact of the researched factors on net exports in long rather than short term.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of labour market dynamics in EU-27 in the recent period and to assess their impact on the process of economic development. The degree of originality is given by our choice to focus on the comparative analysis of two periods of time: 2000-2007, when the European Union as a whole, but especially Central and Eastern European countries as well as Mediterranean ones experienced significant improvements in labour market performances and overall competitiveness and 2008-2010, a recession period characterized by a massive loss of jobs and an equally large increase in unemployment, with anticipated consequences on economic growth. The main interest is to look for the key factors that determine the lasting performances of the leading European economies and possible solutions for ensuring the sustainable growth of the others.

This article aims at investigating the nature of the causal relationship between immigration and economic development measured by GDP per capita in Norway using Granger causality test. The results on the unit root test indicate that all the series are non-stationary and are in I(1) process. The Johansen cointegration test reveals that there is no cointegration among the data sets. The Granger causality test shows that when the level of immigration increases, GDP per capita also increases. It has also been found that immigration has no impact on unemployment, and vice versa.