This paper examines the role of policy for creating an attractive atmosphere for venture capital investments in online start-ups and entrepreneurship. It is based on in-depth interviews with venture capitalists in the United States.The main takeaway points are: The policy atmosphere is important...

The European Central Bank has been a source of monetary disorder in the Eurozone. It was complicit in creating a huge asset bubble and growing current account imbalances in the Eurozone in the pre-crisis years. And it has been complicit in creating the drawn-out recession in the Eurozone in the...

The two major forces shaping the global economy are globalisation and urbanisation. Both these forces have both contributed to a much greater role of global cities for the way an economy is structured. A global city is a large city but not necessarily a mega city - a city defined by the size of...

Investor-State Dispute Settlement, a legal provision in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) or other International Investment Agreements that gives investors a right to call for arbitration with a state, has recently become the centre of controversy in a debate over the Transatlantic Trade and...

Obesity rates in Europe have been growing at an accelerated speed in the past two decades. In the European Union, between 36.9% and 56.7% of all women - and between 51% and 69.3% of all men - are overweight or obese, according to data from 2008-09. Estimates on the growth of obesity suggest that...

This paper takes stock of the proposals by the European Commission and members of the European Parliament to amend the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and how the proposed revisions integrate with the obligations of the European Union in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The European...

International trade is a powerful force of societal transformation. Trade agreements not only stimulated trade; they have improved the quality and integrity of domestic economic and political institutions. This view on trade as a force of institutional development and societal transformation has...

Taiwan is not part of the group of countries with whom the European Union is negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), or equivalent accords to free up bilateral trade. This paper, which builds on a 2010 study by ECIPE scholars on the potential gains from a EU-Taiwan free trade accord, argues...

This paper surveys and discusses the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) in the European Union and its compatibility with EU obligations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). More particularly, it intends to shed light on the evolvement of policies in Europe to protect biofuels producers from...

Online censorship is about to take centre stage in the campaign to improve conditions for human rights, cyber security and commercial freedom of exchange on the Internet. Online censorship may be a recent phenomenon, but censorship is not. Yet the extent and impact of censorship has taken new...