The project to build up a banking union in Europe was launched in summer 2012. Thereafter the progress has been fast. Single Supervisory Mechanism will embark on November 1, 2014. A decision on the Single Resolution Mechanism was made in Spring 2014. It should be up and running as of the...

We analyse the Sigma convergence (standard deviation divided by average) of purchasing power adjusted GDP per capita and GDP per hour worked in the European Union. We also link the development in income distribution as measured by Gini coefficients to convergence. With short pauses, there has...

We analyse the degree of EU countries’ specialisation in their exports and manufacturing value added using the Herfindahl-Hirschmann index and the degree of structural similarity using the similarity index developed by Finger and Kreinin (1979). We also analyse the convergence of GDP growth...

We propose a new way to measure the extent to which countries compete in their exports. We augment the similarity index proposed by Finger and Kreinin (1979) with product quality. Quality is measured using unit export prices in the tradition of the horizontal/vertical intra-industry trade...

We have defined the Baltic Sea Region as consisting of the following countries and regions : Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, and the regions of St Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast and Kaliningrad in Russia. We have investigated the factors af-fecting FDI in the...

We analyse the implications of free trade between the EU25 and Russia using GTAP, a computable general equilibrium model. We review the sectoral effects by countries and make a tentative assessment of the impact on the regions in Northwest Russia. Free trade on its own would have a negative...

Finnish and Russian energy clusters widely use resources and competences of each other. They can be considered as a good example of broader phenomenon which is internationalisation of clusters. Though these clusters are on very different development stages their internationalisation ambitions,...

This paper investigates trade potential, intra-industry trade and comparative advantage in the Baltic Sea Region. The evaluation of regions comparative advantage and intra-industry trade are based on the Balassa index of revealed comparative advantage and the Grubel-Lloyd index respectively. The...

This study analyses those country characteristics, which lead those regions to become as productive operation and innovation environments for firms and research centres. This study shows that those countries who invest wisely to develop their innovation environment will be successful in high...