This paper examines whether the export decision of firms is affected by their ownership structure, specifically it looks at whether family control is an obstacle to entering foreign markets. The underlying assumption is that family firms are risk averse. Risk aversion may be an obstacle to...

Transferring low tech manufacturing jobs to cheap labour countries is often seen by part of the general public and policy makers as a step into the de-industrialisation of the European economies. However, several recent contributions have shown that the effects on home economies are rarely...

In this paper, we explore how tariff and standard-like Non-Tari Measures (NTMs) introduced by the EU are related with market conditions in domestic EU markets. While Tariffs work as a pure tax on import, standard-like NTMs potentially affect costs of both domestic firms and foreign exporters....

Are there benefits to the host country from multinational investments? Does potential value from these investments make active industrial policy worthwhile? We answer the first question affirmatively, having reviewed economic principles and evidence concerning the effects of projects locating in...

We propose and solve a simple model of firm-level decisions to offshore production stages of lower skill intensity than that of activities that remain in the domestic location. In theory, offshoring is optimal only for the more productive among heterogeneous firms if it entails a fixed cost. In...

This paper examines whether multinational banks have a stabilising or a destabilising role during times of financial distress. With a focus on Europe, it looks at how these banks' foreign affiliates have been faring during the recent financial crisis. It finds that retail and corporate lending...

A simple model of offshoring, which depicts offshoring as 'shadow migration,' permits parsimonious derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions for the effects on ages, prices, production and trade. We show that offshoring requires modification of the four classic international trade...