Although it is agreed that the dual development of monetary integration and territorial enlargement are likely to generate profound effects on European spatial structure, in both West and East, much uncertainty centres around the question of what changes will be brought about. This book furthers our economic understanding of the opportunities and challenges offered by these developments. The emphasis is primarily on the economic agenda associated with European integration. Part A reviews the debate on European monetary unification. Economic integration raises many issues, one which is dealt in depth is the issue of convergence versus divergence. Part B centres around the dynamics of cohesion in the EU and the associated regional policies, reflecting on experience from the past and challenges for the future. Part C sheds some light on the complexities of transition and integration of Central and Eastern European countries, the second major challenge being faced by the EU at the turn of the century.

Addresses important policy and research questions concerning the European Monetary Union and the enlargement of the EU towards Central and Eastern Europe Emphasizes the regional and industrial consequences of European dynamics Covers macroeconomic and regional distributional aspects of European integration Provides important new departures for a better understanding of spatial-economic developments in Europe

Autorentext
Peter Nijkamp is Professor in Regional and Urban Economics and in Economic Geography at the VU University, Amsterdam. His main research interests cover quantitative plan evaluation, regional and urban modelling, multicriteria analysis, transport systems analysis, mathematical systems modelling, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, environmental and resource management, and sustainable development. In the past years he has focussed his research in particular on new quantitative methods for policy analysis, as well as on spatial-behavioural analysis of economic agents. He has a broad expertise in the area of public policy, services planning, infrastructure management and environmental protection. In all these fields he has published many books and numerous articles.
In 1996, he was awarded the most prestigious scientific prize in the Netherlands, the Spinoza award. Manfred M. Fischer (born in 1947, Nuremberg, Germany) graduated in geography and mathematics from the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen (Germany). He holds a Ph.D. (summa cum laude) on urban modelling from the same university (1975), and a habilitation degree in human geography from the University of Vienna (1982). Since 1988 he is professor in economic geography and GIScience at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
For more than thirty years he has consistently made significant contributions to regional science and GIScience in general, and spatial analysis, GeoComputation and spatial econometrics in particular. He has published widely, both books and articles in more than 30 distinct academic journals.

Inhalt
1 Spatial Dynamics of European Economic Integration: Prologue.- A: European Monetary Unification and Implications.- 2 Winners and Losers in the European Monetary Union: A Neural Network Analysis of Industrial Spatial Shifts.- 3 Costs of European Monetary Union: Evidence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy Effectiveness.- 4 Specialisation in Europe and Asymmetric Shocks: Potential Risks of EMU.- 5 The Regional Impact of the Single Currency.- 6 Trade and Investments in the EMU Regions.- 7 Convergence of European Financial Systems: Banks or Equity Markets?.- B: Economic Integration, Cohesion and Regional Policy.- 8 The Dynamics of Economic Integration and Cohesion in the EU: Experiences from the Past and Challenges for the Future.- 9 The Control of Regional State Aid under EU Competition Policy and Its Effects on Economic and Social Cohesion.- 10 On-Going European Integration and the Position of the Regions: An Analysis of the Process and Some Possible Future Scenarios.- 11 Convergence, Dualism and Regional Disparities: The Italian Case.- 12 Capital and Labour Productivity Convergence of Manufacturing Industry in the Regions of Greece.- 13 Prospects of the Finnish Regional Development under EMU and Deepening Integration.- C: Community Enlargement Towards Central and Eastern Europe: Problems and Prospects.- 14 The Problem of Transition and Reintegration of East and Central Europe: Conceptual Remarks and Empirical Problems.- 15 The Central and Eastern European Union Enlargement and the EMU: Nominal Convergence and the Optimum Currency Areas Approach.- 16 The Dutch Golden Age and the Rise of Capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe: A Neo-Institutional Comparative Analysis.- 17 Economic Impacts of the EU Enlargement on Austrian Regions.- Author Index.- List of Contributors.