World trade has grown exponentially during the last 60 years. Admittedly, it is not clear if this development can be assigned to international trade agreements like the World Trade Organization or the Generalized System of Preferences as previous empirical studies found contradicting results. In...

The well-known question whether regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system (MTS) are strangers, friends, or foes (Bhagwati and Panagariya, 1996) has gained new importance with the widespread proliferation of RTAs in recent years. Based on an extensive data set which...

The well-known question whether regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system (MTS) are strangers, friends, or foes (Bhagwati and Panagariya, 1996) has gained new importance with the widespread proliferation of RTAs in recent years. Based on an extensive data set which...

The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) was established to promote the exports of low-income countries to industrialized countries in order to support their economic growth and development. However, the design of these schemes is rather complex and the effects of GSP have been found to be...

Während der Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise 2009 brachen die deutschen Exporte stärker ein als die Importe. Inzwischen hat sich der Welthandel wiederbelebt. Die Autoren berechnen mit Hilfe des Gravitätsmodells die Außenhandelsentwicklung Deutschlands. Demnach dürften sich die Exporte...

Die Weltwirtschaft wächst seit einiger Zeit deutlich langsamer als früher. Die wirtschaftliche Dynamik bleibt hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Holger Zemanek, Bundesministerium der Finanzen, sieht, zumindest für Deutschland, keinen besorg­niserregenden, strukturellen Abwärtstrend bei den...

This paper presents a proposal for a regulatory regime aimed at reducing systemic risk effectively and internationally. Systemic relevance should be internalized with a levy (or tax), the level of which (or tax rate) rises with the systemic relevance of an institution (Pigouvian taxation). The...

The paper discusses the stabilizing potential of fiscal policy in a dynamic general-equilibrium model of monetary union. We consider a small open economy inside the currency area. We analyze the demand and supply effects of direct taxation, indirect taxation and government spending and derive...

In the literature on currency and banking crises it has become the standard procedure to distinguish pure currency crises, pure banking crises and combined ('twin') currency and banking crises. We show theoretically and empirically that a similar differentiation should be chosen with regard to...

We show theoretically and empirically that twin currency and debt crises should be treated as a particular crisis type. Twin currency and debt crises differ from both pure currency and pure debt crises in their determinants, the course of the crises, and their economic consequences. We find that...