By exploring the export performances and specialization patterns of China and India, we assess their trade competitiveness and complementarity vis-à-vis each other as well as with the rest of the world. Our analysis indicates that (i) India faces tough competition from China in the third...

We provide evidence indicating that countries with well-developed social security systems do not necessarily face a trade-off between social spending and competitiveness. On average, countries that spend a lot on social needs score well in the competitiveness league. We investigate the...

Many regions on the EU Eastern borders have developed favourably after the opening up of the border and the implementation of association agreements with the CEECs. This was often seen as a positive sign for the further perspectives of these regions after EU enlargement. In this paper we take a...

The enlargement of the European Union will bring many political, economical and structural changes on the Continent, which require careful and deep analysis to be made. This paper will grasp the enlargement of the European Union from the aspect of the trade pattern and trade specialization of...

The ongoing process of globalization, which is boosted by technological and political catalysts as well, increasingly raises public concerns. It is feared that international integration will be accompanied by national disintegration, since the income distribution in rich countries will become...

In recent years wages in China have been rising and the yuan has appreciated, potentially eroding China's cost advantage in manufactures. This paper explores the evolution of China's relative unit labor costs in manufacturing over 1998-2009. Between 1998 and 2003 China's unit labor costs fell,...

Actualmente casi todos los envíos internacionales necesitan emplear más de un tipo de transporte desde su punto de origen hasta su destino final. Cada uno de los tipos mundiales de transporte de carga y pasajeros ha desempeñado un papel esencial en la facilitación de la diversificación...

The International Competition Network (ICN) celebrates its 20th birthday in 2020. It governs global competition by providing a cooperative forum for (mostly national) competition authorities from all around the world. In the absence of binding global competition rules and antitrust laws, it...

The aim of this paper is to investigate the process of politicization of the highest levels of the global commercial connectivity network, during its formative decades. The paper highlights the role played by the differences among the national approaches, along with some of the key mechanisms...