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chapter 1 Introduction -- chapter 2 Initial conditions: Yugoslavia and Albania -- chapter 3 The early reformers: Croatia, Macedonia and Albania -- chapter 4 The late reformers: BiH, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo -- chapter 5 Privatization and foreign direct investment -- chapter 6 Entrepreneurship and SME policies -- chapter 7 Growth, employment and trade -- chapter 8 Social policies and welfare reforms -- chapter 9 International aid and regional cooperation -- chapter 10 European integration -- chapter 11 Conclusion.

Tells the story of Croatia's development since independence, involving rebellion, war and dramatic political, social and economic changes. Addresses developments in economics, politics, international relations and social policy.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Key Challenges for Economic Inclusion in the Western Balkans -- Part I: Labour Market Inclusion -- Chapter 2: A Low-Wage, High-Tax Trap in the Western Balkans -- Chapter 3: Envelope Wages in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Incidence and Distributional Implications -- Chapter 4: Horizontal Job-Education Mismatch in Kosovo: Is There a Gender Gap? -- Chapter 5: Cross-national Comparison of Job Types: Analysis Using the EU LFS and Albanian LFS -- Part II: Vocational Training and Skills -- Chapter 6: The Professional Training Programme in Montenegro: An Active Labour Market Policy or a Way to Fill the Structural Gap? -- Chapter 7: The Quality of Vocational Training and the Position of the Individual in the Labour market in Serbia -- Chapter 8: The Apprenticeship System in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Myth or Reality? -- Part III: Female Entrepreneurship -- Chapter 9: Case Study on Female Entrepreneurship in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- Chapter 10: Female Entrepreneurship in Albania: Financial Incentives and Disincentives -- Chapter 11: Economic Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs During Covid-19 in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina -- Part IV: Integrating Returning Migrants -- Chapter 12: The Relationship between Migration and Pensions Policy: The Case of Albania -- Chapter 13: The Role of Voluntary Return Migration in Supporting Economic Development in Albania -- Chapter 14: Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Croatia -- Part V: Conclusions -- Chapter 15: Towards an Inclusive Model of Development in the Western Balkans.

Intro -- Foreword -- Preface -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Chapter 1: Introduction: Key Challenges for Economic Inclusion in the Western Balkans -- References -- Part I: Labour Market Inclusion -- Chapter 2: A Low-Wage, High-Tax Trap in the Western Balkans -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Labour Market Performance and Low Wages in the Western Balkans -- 3 Labour Taxation -- 3.1 Albania -- 3.2 Bosnia and Herzegovina -- 3.3 Kosovo -- 3.4 Montenegro -- 3.5 North Macedonia -- 3.6 Serbia -- 4 The Size and Structure of Labour Tax Burden in the Western Balkans -- 4.1 Tax Wedges for a Single Worker Without Dependents -- 4.2 Tax Wedges for a One-Earner Couple with Two Children -- 5 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 3: Envelope Wages in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Incidence and Distributional Implications -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Implications of Income Underreporting -- 3 Labour Market and Envelope Wages in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- 4 Empirical Strategy -- 5 Results -- 6 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 4: Horizontal Job-Education Mismatch in Kosovo: Is There a Gender Gap? -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Horizontal Mismatch and Labour Market Performance -- 3 The Context -- 4 Methodology -- 4.1 Econometric Model -- 4.2 Variables -- 5 Empirical Results -- 6 What Local Examples Can Tell Us About the Job-Education Mismatch -- 7 Conclusions and Policy Implications -- References -- Chapter 5: Cross-national Comparison of Job Types: Analysis Using the EU LFS and Albanian LFS -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Institutional Settings and Implications for Unemployment Regimes -- 3 Data and Methodological Approach -- 3.1 Data -- 3.2 Variables -- 3.3 Structure of the Multivariate Micro-Macro Model -- 4 Results -- 4.1 Descriptive Analysis -- 4.2 Ordered Logit Estimation -- 4.3 Ordered Logit Results -- 5 Conclusion.

The countries in the Western Balkans have been severely affected by the wars and conflicts that led to the breakup of former Yugoslavia, by political instability and the effort of creating new states, weak economies and high levels of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, and inequality. As revealed by recent surveys, such as EBRDs Life in Transition Survey and Eurofounds European Quality of Life Survey, life satisfaction in the region is far below that elsewhere in Europe. In recent years they had achieved a strong impetus of economic growth with falling rates of unemployment and increasing optimism for the future. However, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has brought about a sudden reversal of these trends and a renewed deterioration in the economic outlook, and an increase in social hardships that heralds a repeat of past failures in economic inclusion policies. This book identifies the key challenges in the areas of economic inclusion, focusing on the themes of labour markets, vocational education and skills, female entrepreneurship and the integration of migrants. It considers the opportunities for solutions to "build back better" once the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis begins, and offers proposals for more acceptable, equitable and effective economic inclusion policies. William Bartlett is Deputy Director of the LSEE Research Unit of the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. Milica Uvalic is Professor in Political Science at the University of Perugia, Italy.

This book explores the economic and social development of the Western Balkan region, a group of six countries that are potential candidates for EU membership. It focuses on the key economic issues facing these countries, including the challenge of promoting economic growth, limiting public deficits and debt, and fostering international trade relations. Given the severe impact of the recent economic crisis on social welfare in the region, it also investigates the nature and extent of social exclusion, a factor likely to produce future political instabilities if not effectively addressed by a return to sustainable economic growth. The contributions explore these issues in light of the major influence of EU policy instruments and advice, which are currently guiding the economies along an accession trajectory to future EU membership.--

America has a tradition of voluntary associations developed to pro vide constructive informal educational and recreation opportunities for youth in leisure time. A common goal of these organizations has been the person- centered programs to develop independent, self-directed, self-reliant, self- controlled, and socially responsible citizens. Recent decades have seen a growth in the number of organizations and of young participants and changes in prac tices. At a time when the nation's population outlook swells the number of potential members and decreases the age group from which leaders are drawn, circumstances require a reconsideration of goals and programs.

This edited collection provides a comprehensive geographic and chronological overview of the decentralisation processes in the successor states of former Yugoslavia and Albania during their transition and EU integration years, from 1990 until 2016. These countries present a unique laboratory for the analysis of economic, social and political change, having traversed armed conflicts, dramatic economic and political changes, and EU pre-accession processes involving deep institutional reform. They have also endured the Eurozone crisis, which has led to high levels of unemployment, wide fiscal gaps and dangerously high levels of indebtedness. Observing the quarter century-long transition from socialism to capitalism through the prism of decentralisation sheds new light on studying the political economy of the region and the current status of the individual countries in terms of economic development and their EU integration progress. The contributors enrich the wider literature on fiscal decentralisation in transition countries by exploring several broad questions on democratisation, the political economy of post-communist transition, the role of external actors in policy transfer and the issue of financial stability in the post-crisis period. William Bartlett is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He is coordinator of the LSEE Research Network on Social Cohesion in South East Europe and has carried out numerous research and consultancy projects, including those for the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the European Training Foundation, UNDP and UNICEF. Sanja Kmezić is Lecturer at the Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria. Kmezić is a co-founder of the non-profit think tank European Research Academy Belgrade (EURAK), Serbia and has worked as an advisor on various international development programmes aimed at local government and public administration reform. Katarina Đulić is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also a co-founder of EURAK and has carried out numerous consultancy projects for the International Finance Corporation, USAID and SECO aimed at governance and public financial management reform.--

PART I: INTRODUCTION Decentralisation Paradigms in South East Europe: an Introduction-- W.Bartlett, S.Malekovic & V.Monastiriotis PART II: DECENTRALISATION AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT Explaining Puzzles in Local Development and Transformation-- B.Dallago Less is More: Decentralisation in Croatia and its Impact on Regional Development-- D.Alibegovic Local Economic Development in Montenegro-- W.Bartlett & B.Sisevic PART III: DECENTRALISATION IN ETHNICALLY DIVIDED SOCIETIES Decentralisation and Regionalisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina-- V.Bojicic-Dzelilovic Decentralsation in Kosovo: Furthering National Unity of Ethnic Isolation? L.Burema Decentralisation as an Effective Tool of State-Building? The Cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo-- L.Srzic PART IV: IMPLEMENTATION DEFICITS - CASE STUDIES Decentralisation and Regional Policy in Eastern Europe: Considerations on Romania and Bulgaria-- C.Matiuta The Integration of Administrative and Fiscal Decentralisation: The Case of Albania: E.Gjini The Role of the Third Sector in Providing Social Services at the Local Level in Transitional Serbia-- M.Kolin Does Strategic Planning of Local Economic Development in Vojvodina Municipalities Improve Cooperation between Public and Private Sectors? D.Mijacic Towards Policy Entrepreneurship at Community Level: The Impact of Decentralisation on Local Public Services in Macedonia-- M.Risteska PART V: SPATIAL INEQUALITIES The Nature of Spatial Inequalities in SEE and the Scope for Decentralised Regional Policy: an Analysis of Bulgaria and Serbia-- V.Monastiriotis The Long-run Evolution of Regional Inequalities: Evidence from Croatia-- I.Bicanic & V.Pribicevic

Over the last two decades the countries of South East Europe have engaged in far-reaching reforms of their health systems. However, overviews of reform efforts in this part of Europe have been sorely lacking. This book addresses this shortage through the analysis of key aspects of health reforms and health workforce mobility in South East Europe