The quarterly International Economic Trends is a compilation of data on the G-7 countries and the euro area, including output, inflation, labor markets, interest rates, government budgets, international trade, and more. A brief essay in each issue covers a topic relevant to international economics.

This paper analyzes firms’ choices regarding the geographic scope of patentprotection within the European patent system. We develop an econometric modelat the patent level to quantify the impact of office fees and translation costs onfirms’ decision to validate a patent in a particular...

The mild response of the German labor market to the worst global recession in post-warhistory appears as an economic miracle. In response to the crisis, Germany has shown to bea strong case of internal flexibility. We argue that important factors that have contributed tothis development include...

This paper examines the impact of mass media and information andcommunications technologies (ICT) as knowledge-based infrastructures oneconomic development. The results strongly suggest that both mass me-dia and ICT penetration are negatively associated with corruption. Thisresult holds across...

We examine associations of mass media and information and communicationstechnologies (ICT) as knowledge-based infrastructures on some economicdevelopment outcomes. We .nd that several mass media and ICT penetration variablesare negatively associated with three development outcomes: corruption,...

Unied growth theory predicts that the timing of the fertility transitionis a key determinant of contemporary comparative development, as itmarks the onset of the take-o to sustained growth. Neoclassical growth theorypresupposes a take-o, and explains comparative development by variationsin...

The transition economies have lower rates of entrepreneurship than are observed in mostdeveloped and developing market economies. The difference is even more marked in thecountries of the former Soviet Union than those of Central and Eastern Europe. We link thesedifferences partly with the...

This paper provides unheard direct evidence that comparisons exert a significant effect onsubjective well-being. It also evaluates the relative importance of different types ofbenchmarks...

This note investigates the effects of the education level, product market rigidities andemployment protection legislation on growth. It exploits macro-panel data for OECDcountries...