In the early 1990s, leading economists have predicted huge unexhausted trade potentials associated with the political restraints under the COMECON regime. Besides the low Eastern per capita GDP figures associated with limited access to frontier technologies, the political regulation of West-East...

This paper analyzes empirically the determinants of the EU countries' attitude towards enlargement during the pre-enlargement phase. The empirical specification is motivated from the perspectives of old and new trade theory. A variety of spatial econometric estimators is employed to assess the...

We argue that the proper specification of a panel gravity model should include main (exporter, importer, and time) as well as time invariant exporter-by-importer (bilateral) interaction effects. In a panel of 11 APEC countries, the latter are highly significant and account for the largest part...