This paper discusses the channels between openness and productivity and trade hampering factors. The stylized facts from the heterogeneous firms literature suggests that firms face market entry costs for each new product they export and to each new export market. Transport costs, border costs...

To date, there has been little investigation of the impact of seasonal adjustment on the detection of business cycle expansion and recession regimes. We study this question both analytically and through Monte Carlo simulations. Analytically, we view the occurrence of a single business cycle...

The EU has experienced different options to support the emergence of champions: (i) targeted support for strategic sectors and large technology initiatives (e.g. Airbus, Ariane, HDTV and ESPRIT); (ii) a support of declining sectors with the ECSC Treaty; and (iii) an emphasis on horizontal...

The present study was conducted as part of a wider evidence gathering by the Commission on geo-blocking as a barrier to online cross-border trade in the European Digital Single Market. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of geo-blocking...

The paper, produced by the wildlife trade monitoring network, Traffic, on the eve of EU enlargement urges the old and new member states to increase their efforts to stem the illegal trade in wildlife. Experts fear that traders will exploit the enlargement of the European Union to launder...

On 1 May 2004, ten countries became members of the European Union. The addition of Cyprus, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovenia brings the total number of Member States to 25. Although the EU has successfully integrated new countries on...

The biggest ever enlargement of the European Union both in terms of scope and diversity is scheduled to take place on the 1 of May 2004 when 10 of the 13 candidate countries are expected to join the Union. This constitutes a challenge both for the current member states and for candidate...

This guide is to be used as a ‘beginners guide’ or first reference material by anyone who wants to gain a quick overview of CITES and the EU wildlife trade regulations and their main provisions. It is by no means exhaustive; it is intended to provide people who are new to the subject of...