This volume was prepared by Sebastian Benz while he was working at the Ifo Institute. It was completed in December 2013 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes five self-contained chapters. All chapters discuss different...

This Policy Brief introduces the Gini Trade Index (GTI) as a new trade synthetic key performance indicator capable of capturing the different distribution of trade values across firm characteristics and across countries. The new indicator replicates the well-known features of the traditional...

The Brussels Effect, once emblematic of the EU's alleged influence in shaping global regulations, has now become a factor contributing to global regulatory fragmentation. The EU must recalibrate its trajectory towards a liberal and rules-based trading order, prioritizing widespread regulatory...

In this report we outline how a formulating normative measure of macroprudential policy stance requires a framework containing objectives, tools and transmission mechanisms. To complement the currently prevailing narrative approach, we apply lessons from the monetary policy to macroprudential...

The contribution of financial and non-financial risks to the overall level of risk in the system depends on the current state of the EU banking system (which, in the aggregate and compared with banking sectors in other major advanced economies, cannot be characterised as strong) and how...

This report presents a long-term view of the evolution of financing of EU non-financial corporations (NFCs) in recent decades. It finds a decline in NFC leverage since at least 2008, and across countries, size categories and industries. It also documents a growing role of non-bank financial...

Wenig ist für Regierungen moderner Demokratien von grösserer Bedeutung, als gegenüber ihren Bürgern Rechenschaft über die von ihnen erbrachten Leistungen abzulegen. Die Nützlichkeit des sogenannten Performance Management ist daher unumstritten. Doch während in einigen Politikbereichen die...