We explore the impact of multilateral liberalization, with emphasison distributional effects across countries. We first develop a realistic "base1ine" that takes into account events such as the entry of China into the WTO and the enlargement of the EU, allowing us to focus on those effects that...

This discussion paper led to a forthcoming publication in </I>Journal of Regional Science</I> entitled 'Are EU Countries less Integrated than US States? Theory and Evidence'.<P>European economic integration is commonly believed to be incomplete, and that further reforms are needed. In this context, the...</p>

We analyze the economic forces underlying cross-border Mergers and Acquistions (M&As) using a large bilateral panel data set. The frequent occurrence of "zero" observations provides essential information on the structure of M&A flows, which we model empirically using a two-stage procedure. At...

The paper studies risk mitigation associated with capital regulation, in a context when banks may choose tail risk assets. We show that this undermines the traditional result that higher capital reduces excess risk-taking driven by limited liability. When capital raising is costly, poorly...

This paper studies an intermediated market operated by middlemen with high inventory holdings. I present a directed search model in which middlemen are less likely to experience a stockout because they have the advantage of inventory capacity, relative to other sellers. The model explains why...

Using a comprehensive international trade data set we investigate empirical regularities (known as Zipf’s Law or the rank-size rule) for the distribution of the interaction between countries as measured by revealed comparative advantage. Using the recently developed estimator by Gabaix and...

Most of the large tariff reductions achieved in multilateral tradenegotiations have involved tariff-cutting formulas such as the "Swiss"formula. However, wide variations in initial tariff rates between activeparticipants call for new approaches under the Doha Development Agenda.This paper...

Today’s global world is characterized not only by a high volume ofinternational trade and foreign investment relativeto national income, but also by a changed composition of that tradetowards a greater fraction of trade in inputs andcapital goods and outsourcing of production.. Emphasized is...

We develop a Heckscher-Ohlin-Ramsey model, combining dual techniqueswith classic geometric techniques fromtrade theory. This framework is used to explore the long-run generalequilibrium effects of regional integration(preferential trade agreements). Emphasis is placed on positivemechanics...

This discussion paper led to an article in <I>Applied Economics</I> (2013). Vol. 45, pages 3024-3034.<P> The basic structural time series model has been designed for the modelling and forecasting of seasonal economic time series. In this paper we explore a generalisation of the basic structural time...</p></i>