This paper analyses the trade balance effects of Europe agreements (EA) between the EU-15 and four new EU members from …

We model EU countries' bank ratings using financial variables and allowing for intercept and slope heterogeneity. Our … aim is to assess whether “old” and “new” EU countries are rated differently and to determine whether “new” ones are … intercepts) are a crucial determinant of ratings. Whilst “new” EU countries typically have lower ratings than “old” ones, after …