Political independence is usually associated with an attempt to reduce economic dependency on the dominant or former colonial power. For most of the early period since Irish independence the attempt to reduce exposure to the UK was implemented through tariff protection and restrictions on...

Using a simple two-period model of the economy, we demonstrate the potential effects of natural disasters on economic growth over the medium to long-term. In particular, we focus on the effect of such shocks on investment. We examine two polar cases; an economy in which agents have unconstrained...

This article compares the economic performance of the EU cohesion countries-Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland - from 1960 to the present, in order to identify the processes that have promoted or inhibited real convergence prospects at various points in time. The likely impacts of EMU in...

The processes that will drive the next stage of the Czech transition are likely to be similar to those promoting real convergence in the EU cohesion countries. We draw on previous modelling research on the cohesion economies to construct and calibrate a small macrosectoral model of the Czech...

A model of a small open economy with open capital and labour markets is presented. Labour demand is based on capital mobility and increasing returns in production. Migration decisions are based on the relative attractiveness of regions in terms of the stock of infrastructure, including its tax...