Ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe have applied for EU membership and five of them (Estonia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia) have already begun negotiation for accession . All ten countries have Association agreements with the EU, which have liberalised most trade in...

We construct new series for common native language and common spoken language for 195 countries, which we use together with series for common official language and linguistic proximity in order to draw inferences about (1) the aggregate impact of all linguistic factors on bilateral trade, (2)...

The Japanese yen in 2012 remains 25 percent above its value in 2007. Exports, industrial production, and stock prices crashed after 2007 and have yet to regain their pre-crash values. This paper investigates the contribution of the yen appreciation to this economic disaster. Evidence from...