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"This paper analyzes the process of institutional transformation in Bulgaria and assesses the extent to which it has established institutions and policies fostering domestic economic activity and integration into global markets. After a brief review of characteristics and achieved progress in first-generation reforms, that is, removal of central control over prices, liberalization of foreign trade and exchange rate regimes, the paper first assesses in the comparative perspective the progress made in the quality of governance and structural reforms. It then takes a look at the extent to which this has impacted foreign direct investment inflows and was translated into improved business environment in its domestic and external dimensions. The external dimension relates to backbone services facilitating trade and Bulgaria's trade policies. As far as the latter are concerned, the discussion highlights tensions that emerge from duality-regional versus multilateral-in Bulgaria's trade policy. Despite significant progress in implementation of structural reforms and converging to the EU acquis communautaire that has led to a significant enhancement in the quality of governance and market supporting institutions, "macro" institutional improvements are yet to be fully transplanted to a micro-level, as three areas appear to remain a binding constraint: First and foremost is the low quality of the judicial system and, by the same token, weaknesses in the enforcement of property rights and contracts. Second, backbone services facilitating trade remain a barrier. Bulgaria ranks low relative to the levels of efficiency achieved on average by both EU-8 and the EU-15 countries in management of ports, information technology infrastructure, and customs. Third, there are recurrent complaints among businesses of government bureaucracy, poor infrastructure, and frequent changes in the legal framework including taxation. As a result, the regulatory burden remains huge. There are still redundant and excessive sector-specific regulatory regimes. Bulgaria's markets for industrial goods are fully contestable for pan-Europe (EU-25, European Free Trade Association, Romania, and Turkey), exposing local producers to duty-free competition from imports. With relatively high most favored-nation tariff rates, the level of reverse discrimination significantly increased over the past couple of years. While this has not resulted in perceptible trade diversion, organizational arrangements preventing that to happen unnecessarily increase administrative intervention in the economy. "--World Bank web site.

Finance, Public --- Bulgaria --- European Union countries --- Commerce --- Economic policy --- Foreign economic relations.

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Integration into the production and marketing arrangements of multinational corporations may offer many benefits to transition economies that, after a long period of isolation, have liberalized trade and investment. The fragmentation of production offers a unique opportunity for producers in developing countries to move from servicing small local markets to supplying large firms abroad and, indirectly, their customers all over the world.

Exports --- Imports --- Investments, Foreign --- European Union countries --- Poland --- Commerce. --- Economic integration.

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"This paper looks at Bulgaria's industrial restructuring through the lenses of its evolving specialization in international division of labor and integration into international markets with a special emphasis on EU markets. Its major findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Developments in Bulgaria's exports, its major drivers and factor content, during the "second transition" following the 1996 crisis have become reminiscent of developments in the early 1990s in European transition economies that have stayed the reform course. (2) The evolution of Bulgaria's total exports in terms of factor intensities before the "second transformational" recession was a testimony to aborted economic reforms. It not only defied expectations derived from the experience of CEEC-10 economies and its production factor endowments but also dramatically increased the cost of adjustment to market conditions for the economy as a whole. (3) Exports of unskilled labor-intensive products continue towering over other exports even during the current expansionary phase. The composition of top performers in EU markets indicates the shift toward natural resource and capital-intensive products. Bulgaria's export offer in EU markets has begun shifting toward more processed goods, mostly products of electro-engineering sectors. Bulgarian producers have made significant strides in information communication technology products and automotive parts. Trade in parts and engineering products has displayed strong growth. The returns usually associated with liberal reforms, that is, gains in competitiveness combined with a shift toward products in line with the country's endowments in production factors began to surface only recently. In contrast to the period preceding the second transformational recession in 1996-97, gains in competitiveness derive from corporate and industrial restructuring and not from subsidies. "--World Bank web site.

Industries --- International division of labor. --- Bulgaria --- European Union countries --- Commerce