Since their implementation at the Uruguay Round, tariff rate quotas (TRQs) have become a widely used instrument of trade policy in agricultural trade. With almost 1300 TRQs scheduled at the WTO, it seems worthwhile to examine their economic effects more closely. This is what this paper does....

We analyse whether there is a relationship between EU Commissioners’ national origin and political outcomes. For this purpose, we argue that examining the Commissioner for Agriculture allows the most precise empirical identification: there is a specific budget for agriculture which accounts...

To date, government procurement has been effectively carved out of the main multilateral rules of the WTO system. This paper examines the systemic and other ramifications of this exclusion, from both an economic and a legal point of view. In addition to relevant elements of the WTO Agreements,...

Mit diesem Buch appelliert Europas bekanntester Whistleblower an alle Bürger, ihn bei seinem Kampf gegen Betrug und Unregelmäßigkeiten innerhalb der Europäischen Kommission zu unterstützen. Fünf Jahre lang hielt sich der Beamte zurück und beobachte die Kommission von Romano Prodi und Neil...

This paper argues that institutionalized party patronage -- the focus of recent studies by Barbara Geddes, Jason Brownlee, and Beatriz Magaloni -- is an ineffective source of elite cohesion. Patronage may preserve elite unity during normal times, but it is often insufficient to ensure elite...

We demonstrate that the nationalities of EU Commissioners influence budget allocation decisions in favor of their country of origin. Our focus is on the Commissioners for Agriculture, who are exclusive responsible for a specific fund that accounts for the largest share of the overall EU budget....

We analyze whether there is a relationship between EU Commissioners' national origin and political outcomes. For this purpose, we argue that examining the Commissioner for Agriculture allows the most precise empirical identification: there is a specific budget for agriculture which accounts for...