THE SECOND LANCUT ECONOMIC FORUM
"The Competitiveness of NEW EUROPE"
April 28-29 2006

The first session of the Forum was on Export Performance of New Europe. Prof. Matija Rojec (University of Lubljana) referred to changes in export patterns of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. He showed how the opening up of CEEC economies has been the sine qua non for their improved export importance because it enabled gravity forces to act and to make EU-15 the main market of CEEC. He also pointed out five factors, which deserve special attention in analyzing CEEC's export performance: improved access to EU market, changes in export structure, increased levels of productivity, the role of FDI, and institutional changes.

Next Prof. Anna Wziątek-Kubiak (Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Science) presented material on the Early Transition to E.U. Entry and demonstrates how the changes were differentiated across time, among industries, in terms of the quality of segments and between the three countries overall. She showed that changes in exports shares of the AC-3 industry reflect changes in relative (as compared to foreign) productivity rather than differences in level and changes in productivity among their industries.

The second session, was devoted to FDI and Competitive Performance. The first speakers were: Dr Beata Smarzynska-Javorcik, (World Bank,) and Prof. Bartlomiej Kaminski, (Maryland University, College Park, and World Bank). They discussed how foreign direct investment has been crucial to industrial restructuring and making new Europe's economies competitive in global markets and how FDI inflows reflected the degree of skilled labor intensity availability. They noted that all CEEC-10 appear to have been following almost the same trajectory with respect to export performance.

Day II opened with Session III devoted to "New Europe" in the Midst of Global Relocation Pattern. Dr Judith Hamar, (KOPINT Research Institute, Budapest) presented her paper A Case Study: Hungarian Light Industries' Changing Production and Trade Patterns. She described how this sector has fared in recent years. She showed how this sector at first appeared to adapt and was a leading export-oriented industry during the 90s which however only lasted till about 2000 as a result of its ways of adjustment to the new emerging situation. She discussed how a "new way of thinking" of policy-makers at macro and even at the local level could be useful in alleviating similar downturns in other sectors as well.

The final, fourth session was titled Reflecting on the Competitiveness Issue. The first speaker was Prof. Laszlo Csaba, (Central European University, Budapest) who discussed the importance of geography and foreign direct investment in light of old and new development and mainstream theories. He showed that both play a significant and favorable role, although through different mechanisms than postulated earlier. He showed how the importance of the quality of the institutional framework, as well as conditions for human capital accumulation are added to previous insights on the crucial role of openness and property rights.

The final speaker at the 2006 Forum was Prof. Wojciech Bieńkowski, (Warsaw School of Economics - SGH ) who discussed critical theoretical reflections on the value of studies of competitiveness. He described how country or national competitiveness have an impact on competitiveness of a firm via government policies, such as fiscal and monetary policies, by improving quality and stability of institutions or through various other ways and means which still are in a possession of the national government and emphasized that there is such a thing as competitiveness policy on national level and national competitiveness matters.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

DAY ONE - April 28, 2006 (Friday)

DAY TWO - April 29, 2006 (Saturday)

PHOTOS

The Second Lancut Economic Forum - April 28:

Welcoming Address Prof. Jan Winiecki
Session I: Export Performance of New Europe Prof. Anna Wziatek-Kubiak, Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw
Prof. Matija Rojec, University of Lubljana
Session I: Panel discussion
Session II: Foreign Direct Investment and Competitive Performance Dr Beata Smarzynska-Javorcik, World Bank and Prof. Bartlomiej Kaminski, Maryland University, College Park and World Bank
Tour of the Lancut Castle

The Second Lancut Economic Forum - April 29:

Session III: "New Europe" in the Midst of Global Relocation Pattern Dr Judith Hamar, KOPINT Research Institute, Budapest
Session IV: "Reflecting on the Competitiveness Issue" Prof. Laszlo Csaba, Central European University, Budapest
Prof. Wojciech Bienkowski, Warsaw School of Economics-SGH
Closing discussion