In this paper we extend the agglomeration model of Ciccone (2002) to the level of industry. We then test this model using panel data for six sectors on regional level data for 27 EU member states. Our results for the aggregate economy confirm the estimates of Ciccone (2002). For our full sample...

This paper employs smooth transition models to investigate the GDP series of ten CEECs. Allowing for a transition in both trend and intercept we examine the response of GDP to reforms in CEECs. Our results indicate that in only a small of number of countries is there evidence to suggest that the...

In this paper we test the hypothesis that the sector bias of skill-biased technical change is important in explaining the rising relative wage of skilled workers in the manufacturing sector in three Central and Eastern European transition countries. The evidence for Hungary and Poland is...

There is evidence that the skilled to unskilled wage rates were rising in the 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s. This can potentially be explained by a Heckscher-Ohlin framework where economic integration implies that the advanced countries specialize in skilled-labour-intensive industries...

This paper develops a Schumpeterian model of international specialization and catching-up. In a previous version of the model we looked at the impact on international trade specialization when different patterns of technological catching-up are followed. One of these is a Gerschenkron pattern at...

Although there exists a vast literature on convergence and divergence of income levels across countries or regions at the aggregate level, there is only little work on convergence and / or divergence processes of productivity and wage levels at the more disaggregated industrial level. These are...

This paper uses data on consumption expenditure and price levels from the European Comparison Project (ECP) 1996 for the analysis of demand structures in a cross-section of 52 countries. The paper describes the patterns of consumption expenditures, price levels and relative prices for four...

This study looks at the relationship between trade integration and labour markets for a group of OECD economies (USA, Japan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom). We examine particularly trade relationships between these OECD economies and different groups of 'Southern'...

We study firm heterogeneity in a specific factors model to address the effect of factor mobility on reallocation gains from trade. A model is proposed with Melitz-type firm heterogeneity with two sectors, two countries and two fixed factors and one factor mobile across sectors. Equilibrium in...

The impact of the Central and Eastern European economies' trade integration with European markets on CEE trade structures has been studied extensively. These studies frequently observe a quality upgrading of CEE exports. In this paper we consider three dimensions of quality upgrading upgrading...