IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecb/ecbops/2017184.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Benchmarking institutional and structural indicators in EU candidate and potential candidate countries

Author

Listed:
  • Savelin, Li
  • Alvarez Orviz, Roberto

Abstract

This paper reviews institutional and structural challenges in countries preparing for EU membership, i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Sound institutions and solid economic structures are not only the cornerstones of EU accession (as defined by the Copenhagen political and economic criteria), but are also crucial for achieving higher income levels and sustainable long-term growth. This paper finds that the EU candidate and potential candidate countries (EU CC/PCC) fare worse than the majority of EU Member States in a number of institutional and structural metrics, such as business environment, access to finance, judicial system, trade and competitiveness, labour market and education and institutional governance. When comparing EU CC/PCC among themselves, large intra-group disparities emerge. Countries such as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and, to a certain extent, Serbia and Turkey, tend to score on average higher than Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. While many EU CC/PCC have improved the quality of their institutions and economic governance over the past decade, it is crucial that they preserve the reform momentum to enable a sustainable convergence with the EU. / / * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence. JEL Classification: F13, F15, G21, O11, O43

Suggested Citation

  • Savelin, Li & Alvarez Orviz, Roberto, 2017. "Benchmarking institutional and structural indicators in EU candidate and potential candidate countries," Occasional Paper Series 184, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbops:2017184
    Note: 1998795
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpops/ecbop184.en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rainer Schweickert & Inna Melnykovska & Ansgar Belke & Ingo Bordon, 2011. "Prospective NATO or EU membership and institutional change in transition countries," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 19(4), pages 667-692, October.
    2. N. Nergiz Dincer & Barry Eichengreen, 2014. "Central Bank Transparency and Independence: Updates and New Measures," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 10(1), pages 189-259, March.
    3. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    4. Oecd, 2003. "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," Sigma Public Management Profiles 11, OECD Publishing.
    5. Cukierman, Alex & Webb, Steven B & Neyapti, Bilin, 1992. "Measuring the Independence of Central Banks and Its Effect on Policy Outcomes," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 6(3), pages 353-398, September.
    6. Friedrich Schneider & Andreas Buehn & Claudio Montenegro, 2010. "New Estimates for the Shadow Economies all over the World," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 443-461.
    7. Friedrich Schneider & Andreas Buehn & Claudio E. Montenegro, 2011. "Shadow Economies All Over the World: New Estimates for 162 Countries from 1999 to 2007," Chapters, in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Oecd, 2003. "Serbia and Montenegro - Republic of Montenegro," Sigma Public Management Profiles 6, OECD Publishing.
    9. Sumanjeet, 2015. "Institutions, Transparency, and Economic Growth," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 188-210, November.
    10. Jesus Crespo Cuaresma & Doris Ritzberger-Grunwald & Maria Antoinette Silgoner, 2008. "Growth, convergence and EU membership," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 643-656.
    11. Philippe Aghion, 2005. "Growth and Institutions," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 3-18, March.
    12. repec:zbw:rwirep:0131 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Moder, Isabella & Bonifai, Niccolò, 2017. "Access to finance in the Western Balkans," Occasional Paper Series 197, European Central Bank.
    2. Amat Adarov & Richard Grieveson & Mario Holzner & Olga Pindyuk & Hermine Vidovic, 2019. "Unsecured Lending in Central and Southeast Europe," wiiw Market Report 1, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    3. Gächter, Martin & Macki, Piotr & Moder, Isabella & Polgár, Éva Katalin & Savelin, Li & Żuk, Piotr, 2017. "Financial stability assessment of EU candidate and potential candidate countries," Occasional Paper Series 190, European Central Bank.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arvin, Mak B. & Pradhan, Rudra P. & Nair, Mahendhiran S., 2021. "Are there links between institutional quality, government expenditure, tax revenue and economic growth? Evidence from low-income and lower middle-income countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 468-489.
    2. Uwe Böwer & Alessandro Turrini, 2009. "EU accession: A road to fast-track convergence?," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 393, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    3. Daniel Oto-Peralías & Diego Romero-Ávila, 2013. "Tracing the Link between Government Size and Growth: The Role of Public Sector Quality," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 229-255, May.
    4. Massomeh Hajilee & Farhang Niroomand, 2018. "The impact of interest rate volatility on financial market inclusion: evidence from emerging markets," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 42(2), pages 352-368, April.
    5. Eydam, Ulrich & Gabriadze, Irakli, 2018. "Institutional development in Transition Economies - The role of institutional experience," MPRA Paper 87395, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Mijiyawa, Abdoul, 2008. "Inflation and Democracy in Former Extractive Colonies Analysis with a New Instrumental Variable," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Zurich 2008 28, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    7. Goel, Rajeev K. & Herrala, Risto & Mazhar, Ummad, 2013. "Institutional quality and environmental pollution: MENA countries versus the rest of the world," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 508-521.
    8. Oto-Peralías, Daniel & Romero-Ávila, Diego & Usabiaga, Carlos, 2013. "Does fiscal decentralization mitigate the adverse effects of corruption on public deficits?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 205-231.
    9. Hartwell, Christopher A., 2018. "The “Hierarchy of Institutions” reconsidered: Monetary policy and its effect on the rule of law in interwar Poland," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 37-70.
    10. Hajilee, Massomeh & Stringer, Donna Y. & Metghalchi, Massoud, 2017. "Financial market inclusion, shadow economy and economic growth: New evidence from emerging economies," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 149-158.
    11. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Czarnitzki, Dirk, 2014. "How important is industry-specific managerial experience for innovative firm performance?," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-011, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Hagemejer Jan & Michałek Jan J. & Svatko Pavel, 2021. "Economic impact of the EU Eastern enlargement on New Member States revisited: The role of economic institutions," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 8(55), pages 126-143, January.
    13. Akosah, Nana Kwame & Alagidede, Imhotep Paul & Schaling, Eric, 2020. "Testing for asymmetry in monetary policy rule for small-open developing economies: Multiscale Bayesian quantile evidence from Ghana," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    14. Eicher, Theo S. & Schreiber, Till, 2010. "Structural policies and growth: Time series evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 169-179, January.
    15. Emna Trabelsi, 2016. "Transparency on inflation of OECD countries? An Application of LSDVC Estimator on a dynamic Panel Model," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(2), pages 1095-1126.
    16. Marattin, Luigi & Marzo, Massimiliano & Zagaglia, Paolo, 2013. "Distortionary tax instruments and implementable monetary policy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 219-243.
    17. Petra Koudelkova & Wadim Strielkowski & Denisa Hejlova, 2015. "Corruption and System Change in the Czech Republic: Firm-level Evidence," DANUBE: Law and Economics Review, European Association Comenius - EACO, issue 1, pages 25-46, March.
    18. Gani, Azmat & Scrimgeour, Frank, 2014. "Modeling governance and water pollution using the institutional ecological economic framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 363-372.
    19. MARTÍNEZ-RUIZ, Elena & NOGUES-MARCO, Pilar, 2018. "The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Stability During the Gold Standard. Spain 1874—1914," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-75, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    20. De Geest, Lawrence R. & Kingsley, David C., 2021. "Norm enforcement with incomplete information," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 403-430.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    access to finance; business environment; economic growth; EU accession; governance; institutions; trade integration; Western Balkans;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbops:2017184. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Official Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emieude.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.