In this paper we discuss what needs to be done in a number of key policy areas. Certainly, the EU should focus on fields where benefits for all of Europe can be produced, and should withdraw from policy areas where this is not the case. Furthermore, deeper economic and political integration is...

This paper argues that openness to goods trade in combination with an unequal distribution of political power has been a major determinant of the comparatively slow development of resource- or land-abundant regions like South America and the Caribbean in the nineteenth century. We develop a...

We provide new evidence on the causal effect of higher education on mortality. Our empirical strategy exploits the reduction in college openings introduced by the Pinochet regime after the 1973 coup in Chile, which led to a sharp downward kink in college enrollment among those cohorts reaching...

In diesem Arbeitspapier geht es um die Interessenorganisation des wirtschaftlichen Mittelstands im politischen System der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Die Freien Berufe werden dabei als integraler Bestandteil des wirtschaftlichen Mittelstands angesehen. Ausgehend von der Hypothese, daß die diese...

This paper argues that openness to goods trade in combination with an unequal distribution of political power has been a major determinant of the comparatively slow development of resource- or land-abundant regions like South America and the Caribbean in the nineteenth century. We develop a...

In 2000, the European Council set its sights on becoming the world's top knowledge-based economy. To that end, they aimed to achieve a goal of spending 3% of GDP on research and development by 2010. Their Lisbon Strategy recommended a number of efforts on the European Union and national levels,...

In den letzten drei Jahrzehnten stieg die Arbeitslosigkeit in den Mitgliedstaaten des heutigen Euroraums, nur unterbrochen von relativ kurzen Phasen der wirtschaftlichen Erholung. Der jeweils vorhergehende Anstieg der Arbeitslosigkeit konnte dabei zumeist nicht vollständig kompensiert werden....

This paper reviews the governance framework of the Lisbon Strategy and discusses the specific option of increasing the role of benchmarking as a means of improving the implementation record of structural reforms in the European Union. Against this background, the paper puts forward a possible...