Ports and shipping have been in the spotlight in 2021 with surging demand, skyrocketing freight rates and week-long queues. This development stands against the background of the current global COVID-19 pandemic. Amid these disruptive waves, the North Range ports (Le Havre to Hamburg) face...

This article uses Aufbau Ost (or reconstruction of the East) of the new German states as a structural model to estimate the possible costs of an Aufbau Ost 2.0 of Ukraine while taking institutional differences into account. Based on three approaches, the model is validated for the new German...

As part of its sanctions regime, the United States recently announced the imposition of punitive import tariffs on 570 product groups from Russia. The European Union may follow suit and enact sanctions on Russia that mirror the US sanctions in scale and scope. Using a sector-specific...

The growing importance of Japan on the world market has brought with it changes in the international division of labour and a shift in the focus of the expansion in world trade away from the EC and the USA. What factors determine the shares of the EC, the USA and Japan in international trade?...

The sudden shock of the fivefold increase of the price of oil in the autumn of 1973 has been reflected since in the world trade by structural changes in its composition by categories of goods and its regional distribution. How has the international trade coped with this shock, and which more...

The Uruguay Round negotiations are currently passing through a critical phase after four years of strenuous bargaining. The ultimate success of the negotiations largely depends on the attitudes of the USA, the EC and Japan. What are the main contentious issues between these three and how are...

The distinct trends towards regionalisation in the world economy that could be observed in recent years should not be interpreted merely as the formation of economic blocs or "fortresses". This would amount to adopting a biased, backward-looking approach that sees only the sombre experiences of...

International trade in services has not been governed by the GATT in the past. Opinion is divided over whether there is a real need for any separate agreement on services. The following article asks to what extent flows of goods and services can be properly separated in the first place, and...