We are now in the era of the G8, although the G7 still exists as a grouping for Finance Ministers. Why do G7 finance ministries and central banks co-operate? What are the implications of this co-operation for US power and the abilities of the other six states to exercise leadership? What role do...

This Policy Brief proposes the establishment of an agreement on conformity assessment between the EU and the US that covers machinery and electrical equipment. The initiative aims to increase the number of European and US conformity assessment bodies authorized to test and certify EU and US...

These days, plenty of cognoscenti in academia and politics share the common concern that the build-up of global macroeconomic imbalances threatens the international economy. While there is broad disagreement on the essence of what an imbalance exactly is, the term is generally associated with...

An important evaluation problem in developing countries is assessing the value and optimal use of environmental resources as inputs into production. This is a key methodology required for many general evaluation approaches, e.g. ensuring the most efficient use of a resource requires...

By means of a descriptive survey of theoretical literature the paper first works out the potential determinants that may drive international migration from developing to developed countries. Furthermore, we look on the relationship between trade, development and migration. Empirical studies...

Empirical research on the determinants of international migration including the LDCs has so far neglected one important issue: the complex relationship of development and migration. Since the beginning of the 1990s several arguments have been discussed which hint at the possibility that progress...

This paper analyzes the impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions in developing countries, taking into account the presence of heterogeneity in the sample of countries and testing for the stability of the estimated elasticities over time. The sample covers the period from 1975 through 2003 for...

The role patents play for innovation is not clear, but patenting activity has increased in the last decades. This article reviews the empirical evidence on traditional and novel roles of patents to assess their impacts on innovation in developing countries. It shows that patents are not likely...

Diese Studie diskutiert mögliche Strategien der Entwicklungsländer bei den Verhandlungen über den internationalen Dienstleistungshandel im Rahmen der WTO-Doha- Entwicklungs-Runde. Die Liberalisierung von Dienstleistungsimporten (u.a. durch ausländische Direktinvestitionen) führt tendenziell...

Developing countries are constrained in financing current account deficits as real capital mobility is still far from perfect. At the same time, capital flows to these countries proved to be extremely volatile. The paper argues that the long-term problem of "too little" should not be confused...