Real exchange and interest rates may still fluctuate inside the EMU and give rise to changes in competitiveness. We find, in contrast to what is generally expected, no convergence in these variables after the introduction of the euro. On the contrary, a divergence is found that is extraordinary...

Investment in human capital is a central issue in the literature on economic growth. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the economic incentives for investment in university education across countries. An empirical investigation of earnings for private-sector engineers and business...

We study the effects of parallel trade in the pharmaceutical industry. We develop a model in which an original manufacturer competes in its home market with parallel-importing firms. The theoretical analysis results in two key hypotheses. First, if the potential for parallel imports is...

This study investigates changes in the number and the size distribution of firms in Sweden in the period 1968-1993. The number and the size distribution of Swedish firms are compared to the number and the size distribution of firms in eleven European countries. A decrease in the number of...

In a world with multinational companies (MNC's) changes such as those implied by the realization of EC's internal market will affect the locational choice made by geographically mobile MNC's. The reason is that the reduction of trade barriers within the EC puts non-EC members at a competitive...

The purpose of this report is to contribute to the analysis of two questions. Should a merger control system take into account efficiency gains from horizontal mergers, and balance these gains against the anti-competitive effects of mergers? If so, how should a system be designed to account for...

Die für 2019 geplante europäische Kapitalmarktunion zielt auf eine vertiefte Integration der Kapitalmärkte der EU-Mitgliedsländer ab. Sie knüpft sowohl am Binnenmarkt als auch an der im Zuge der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise geschaffene Bankenunion an. Als Argumente für die...

We analyze motivations for, and possible alternatives to, the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). With regard to the former, we identify domestic policy failures and various cross-country spillover effects; with regard to the latter, we contrast an economic-theory perspective on optimal corrective...

Developing countries, in particular the least developed ones, probably have more to learn from social policies in Europe during the early 20th century than from the elaborate welfare-state arrangements after World War II. In addition to macro­economic growth and stability, the main ambitions...