Articles

• Elena Spasova — New Bulgarian University

  Eduard Marinov — New Bulgarian University

  Elena Angelova — Докторант в катедра „Икономика”, Русенски университет „А. Кънчев”

  GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS AND THE CHANGING NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL SPECIALIZATION

  Abstract ▾ PDF

  Along with the dynamic transformations associated with the failure of multilateralism,

  changes in global demand patterns, the return to protectionism and the integration

  of emerging economies into global markets, global trade is undergoing dynamic

  changes related to the search for greater economic efficiency through the use

  of global value chains. These trends have an impact on both trade and production

  specialization, and the demand for different types of skills, thus enabling greater

  profits, but also posing new challenges for trade policy. The main trends in trade

  and specialization and the development of global value chains are traced, then

  the changing nature of international specialization and the relationship between

  trade policy, trade and specialization are analyzed. Lastly, an assessment of the

  future development of global trade and global value chains is presented and

  several scenarios for trade and specialization by 2060 are summarized.

• Stoyan Tanchev — South-West University "Neofit Rilski"

  Economic growth and government expenditure – evidence of Wagner’s Law in some EU countries

  Abstract ▾ PDF

  The article provides an empirical assessment of Wagner's Law for Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The relationship between the growth rates of GDP per capita and government expenditures for the period from the first quarter of 1999 to the second quarter of 2017 was modeled using the autoregressive ARDL method and the Bounds test. According to the results obtained, Wagner's law was confirmed for Bulgaria and Spain, while it did not find support for the other countries. This is further confirmed by the attached Granger causality test.

• B. Venkatraja — Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Institute for Management Development, Mysore-INDIA

  DOES CHINA EXHIBIT ANY EVIDENCE OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE? AN ARDL BOUNDS TESTING APPROACH

  Abstract ▾ PDF

  This paper is an attempt at empirically studying the link between environmental deterioration, economic growth and trade openness in China. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is augmented as a theoretical framework for the study and an Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds testing approach is applied to test whether China exhibits similar behaviour. With the objective of documenting the impact of economic growth and international trade on the emission of carbon dioxide in China, the traditional income-emissions model is applied with variables such as the GDP per capita, the squared value of the GDP per capita, and trade openness for annual data for the period 1971-2014. The findings of the study show that CO2 emissions in China are highly elastic in terms of their connection to the income levels, and that the income driven growth beyond a certain level makes society cleaner and less polluted. Furthermore, it is also found that, in the long run, the trade-driven growth causes more environmental degradation. The evidence available from this empirical exercise validates the EKC hypothesis for China in the long run. The results have significant policy implications. The policy makers in China should consider emphasising or continuing to promote those policy measures which will make it possible to reduce the emissions from trade induced economic growth.

• Nikolai Velichkov — University of National and World Economy

  Anika Petkova — University of National and World Economy

  Velichka Nikolova — Университет за национално и световно стопанство

  Economic challenges: crisis, shocks, restructuring, policies

  Abstract ▾ PDF

  Economic challenges: crisis, shocks, restructuring, policies

• Rumen Brusarski — University of National and World Economy

  100 years of personal income tax in Bulgaria

  Abstract ▾ PDF

  In 2020 the total income tax in Bulgaria marked its 100th anniversary. At the beginning of the 20th century, this tax was already in vogue in many countries of the developed world (Western Europe, USA, etc.). Johannes Popitz (1884-1945), professor of tax law and Prussia's finance minister from 1933 to1944, "crowned" the personal income tax as the queen of taxes. The present study is devoted to the genesis and development of the tax of the general income tax in our country (Kingdom of Bulgaria, People's Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Bulgaria).