The present paper applies a gravity model with fixed country effects to M&A flows on a sample of 1215 pairs of countries over the 1998-2001 period, to test the impact of European integration. That model, which had to our knowledge not been applied to M&A flows so far, allows us to observe that...

Protection of the Single Market, monetary integration, institutional and pol - icy reform, as well as enlargement are hot topics in the European Union. This article considers only the economic dimension of the enlargement. Five coun - tries with economies in transition (the Czech Republic,...

This study identifies income convergence in Europe over 1960 to 2012. The Great Recession since 2008 reversed the GDP per capita convergence in the EU-15, but the extransition countries have mostly continued to catch up. We found this by analysing the Sigma convergence of GDP per capita in the...

The paper applies fuzzy clustering techniques to the member countries of the European Union in order to arrive at an identification of preferred monetary union groupings. The statistical criteria employed are those suggested, alternatively, by the traditional Optimal Currency Area theory or the...

The paper examines Greek external trade following accession to the EU, placing emphasis on the 1990s. Using original disaggregated data we find: (i) Mutually offsetting, stable trade creation/trade diversion in imports from EU and third countries respectively. (ii) No EU effect on exports. These...

This paper examines the endogenous nature of business cycle synchronization. Using the residual cross-correlation approach, we explore output correlation between European EMU member countries. Our findings can be summarized as follows: (i) contemporaneous correlation estimates become more...

Increasingly, developing countries embrace foreign direct investment (FDI) and simultaneously pursue economic integration with developed countries. Foreign investment is subject to sovereign risk and free trade agreements may serve as a commitment mechanism in order to achieve higher sustainable...

Since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, there has been an intensive discussion whether the convergence criteria incorporated into the contract were appropriate to prepare the EU-member-countries for European Monetary Union. We argue that at least inflationary convergence was not a necessary...

Eastward enlargement of the Eurozone will result in transition economies sharing a currency with well-established market economies. We compare the suitability of the candidates relative to current members at a similar time before joining, as well as their readiness to comply with Maastricht...

Currently, the European Union is negotiating an free trade agreement, called Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), with Caribbean countries as part of the Cotonou Agreement between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The paper empirically assesses the impact of the...