The European Union 50 Years On: Modelling Economics and Politics of European Integration Institute of Economic Studies, in Prague, 2007, 5–6 October Lenka Gregorova´∗

The Sixth Economic Work- tonomous University of Barcelona, the In- shop “The European Union 50 Years On: stitute of Industrial Research in Vienna, Modelling Economics and Politics of Eu- and the Czech National Bank) presented ropean Integration” took place in Prague, 18 research papers. The contributions October 5–6, 2007. The workshop was were grouped into six thematic sections. organised at Charles University in Prague The following papers were presented in by the Institute of Economic Studies of the section “The Labour Market and So- the Faculty of Social Sciences, and was cial Security”: Labour Market Policies co-funded by the Czech Science Founda- and Outcomes in the EU-27, by Ricardo tion, the CEZ Group and the Europaeum, Rovelli from the University of Bologna; a consortium of leading European uni- Immigration Policy and Social Security versities. The Prague workshop contin- Reform: An Optimal Combination, by ued in the same vein as the previous five Gurgen Aslanyan from Charles University Europaeum workshops, held at the Uni- in Prague (CERGE-EI); and the Political versity Paris I (2002), Oxford Univer- Risk of Social Security: Evidence from sity (2002), Charles University in Prague Reforms in Hungary and the Czech Re- (2004), Bologna University (2005), and ∗ public, by Juraj Kopecsni from Charles (2006). University in Prague. The main aim of the event was to fos- The section “Cooperation and Conflict” ter further joint research between the Eu- included papers on game theoretical mod- ropaeum and other leading universities, elling: The Inefficient Centralisation of for both PhD candidates and senior staff, Imperfect Complements, by Martin Gre- and bring them into the discussion on top- gor from Charles University in Prague; ics concerning economics and politics in Fish Wars: From Competition to Coope- the European Union. ration, by Andrey Garnaev from St. Pe- The director of the Institute of Economic tersburg State University; and Partial Co- Studies, Michal Mejstrˇ´ık, and the sec- operation and Non-Signatories Multiple retary general of the Europaeum con- Decision, by Lina Mallozzi from the Uni- sortium, Paul Flather of Oxford Uni- versity of Naples. versity, opened the workshop. Parti- Three papers presented in the “EU De- cipants from 10 European universities cision Making” section were focused on and other institutions (Charles Univer- voting behaviour in EU institutions: Ex- sity in Prague, Bologna University, Uni- plaining Voting Behaviour in the Coun- versity of Helsinki, University of Turku, cil of the European Union, by Madeleine St Petersburg State University, Univer- O. Hosli from ; Na- sity of Naples, Leiden University, the Au- tional, Political and Institutional Influence

∗ Institute of Economic Studies, Charles University, Prague.

AUCO Czech Economic Review, vol. 2, no. 1 97 in European Union Decision Making, by Fields, by Wolfgang Koller from the Insti- Frantisekˇ Turnovec from Charles Univer- tute of Industrial Research, Vienna; For- sity in Prague; and Budget Allocation in eign Direct Investment and Productivity an Expanding EU by Mika Widgren,´ from Spillovers in Central and Eastern Euro- the Turku School of Economics. pean Countries, by Adam Gerl from the Papers on monetary policy rules, interna- Czech National Bank and Charles Univer- tional trade flows, foreign direct invest- sity in Prague; and Financial Integration ments and industrial policies were pre- of Stock Markets among New EU Mem- sented in the sections “Monetary Pol- ber States and Euro Area, by Ian Babetskii icy and International Trade” and “Growth from the Czech National Bank. and Employment” with titles such as: Two papers presented in the “Miscella- Time-Varying Policy Neutral Rate in Real neous” section discussed topics of social Time: Predictor of Future Inflation?, choice and the empirical results of opinion by Roman Horvath´ from the Czech Na- surveys: More Borda Count Variations tional Bank and Charles University in for Project Assessment, by Hannu Nurmi Prague; The Monetary Policy Rules in from the University of Turku and Home EU-25: Heterogeneity and Common Pat- Bias among European Students, by Gian- terns, by Borekˇ Vasˇ´ıcekˇ from the Au- paolo Rossini, University of Bologna. tonomous University of Barcelona; Deter- The full texts of the contributions of some mining Factors of Exports and Imports: A of the above-mentioned authors are pub- Synthesis of Explanatory Paradigms, by lished in this special issue of the AUCO Vladim´ır Bena´cekˇ from Charles Univer- Czech Economic Review. sity in Prague; Emission Policy in an Eco- nomic Union with Poison Technological The creative spirit of the meeting faci- Change, by Tapio Palokangas from Uni- litated extensive discussions and encou- versity of Helsinki; Growth and Employ- raged the development of further inter- ment Potentials of Selected Technology institutional research cooperation.

98 AUCO Czech Economic Review, vol. 2, no. 1