Book Description:
This new book focuses on economic and political issues is Europe. The economy of Europe comprises more than 710 million people in 48 different states. Like other continents, the wealth of Europe's states varies, although the poorest are well above the poorest states of other continents in terms of GDP and living standards. The difference in wealth across Europe can be seen in a rough East-West divide. While Western European states all have high GDPs and living standards, many of Eastern Europe's economies are still emerging from the collapse of the USSR and former Yugoslavia. Throughout this article "Europe" and derivatives of the word are taken to include selected states that are geographically in Asia, bordering Europe - such as Azerbaijan and Cyprus.

As a continent, Europe has the third largest economy in the world. Europe's largest national economy is that of Germany, which ranks third globally in nominal GDP, and fifth in purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP; and its second is that of the United Kingdom, which ranks fifth globally in nominal GDP and sixth in PPP GDP. The European Union is the world's largest (as determined by the IMF and the World Bank - 2005) or second largest economy if counted as a single unit

Table of Contents:
Preface

Chapter 1. The Non-market Sector in Europe and in the United States: Underground Activities and Home Production, pp. 1-24
(Francesco Busato and Bruno Chiarini)

Chapter 2. How European Financial Institutions Affect Their R&D and Economic Development, pp. 25-41
(Jian Tong and Chenggang Xu)

Chapter 3. An Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS)of Canadian Tourism to Europe, pp. 43-81
(Panagiotis Panagopoulos and Thanasis Stengos)

Chapter 4. Single Mothers in Europe: A Decomposition Approach, pp. 83-99
(Libertad Gonzalez)

Chapter 5. Overreaction in Venture Capital and Private Equity Markets: Evidence from European Markets before the Burst of the Bubble, pp. 101-120
(Marina Balboa-Ramon and Jose Marti-Pellon)

Chapter 6. The Role of Public Benefits: A Case Study for Seven European Countries, pp. 121-152
(Hans Hansen)

Chapter 7. Secondary Market Behavior of European Securitization, pp. 153-225
(Andreas A. Jobst)

Chapter 8. An Attempt to Measure the Influence of the Maastricht Criteria and the Stability Pact on Growth and Unemployment in the European Union, pp. 227-251
(Vitor Castro and Elias Soukiazis)

Chapter 9. The Orientation of the Financial System: Alternative Approaches and the Case of the European Monetary Union, pp. 253-270
(Bert Scholtens)

Chapter 10. Comparison of Cultural Profiles of Young Managers from the Countries of South-Eastern Europe and Russia, pp. 271-285
(Janez Prasnikar, Marko Pahor and Hugo Zagorsek)

Index