Using application-level data on successful and rejected applications for the European Union's Structural and Cohesion Funds between 2004 and 2012 in Hungary, we study which grant types are susceptible to political manipulation and how politicians achieve this goal. Using township fixed-effect...

In this paper, the introduction of direct-democratic decision-making in all EU decisions is considered when it is feasible without prohibitively increasing decision-making costs. We start with the contractarian argument that each constitution is a contract joining the citizens of a state and...

Purpose - Assessing and measuring the extent of organization-level policy implementation has received little scholarly attention, especially in the areas of local governments' procurement and environmental protection. To rectify the paucity of research in this area, this paper adopts...

Who pays for immigration control? According to the Lisbon Treaty the cost of enforcing the European border against illegal immigration shall be shared among the EU members. Nonetheless, the Treaty is vague with respect to the “appropriate measures” to adopt in order to distribute the...

This paper analyzes the relationship between the size of an economic union and the degree of policy centralization. We consider a political economy setting in which elected representatives bargain over the degree of centralization within the union. In our model strategic delegation affects the...

Cohesion policy micro-efficiency is determined by institutional or absorption capacity of recipient regions and Member States which, in turn, co-determines the policy's macro-economic impact. The analysis shows that cohesion policy is not perceived as an quot;EU receipts maximising...

This paper analyzes the relationship between the size of an economic union and the degree of policy centralization. We consider a political economy setting in which elected representatives bargain about the degree of centralization within the union. In our model strategic delegation affects the...

Gino Gancia, Giacomo Ponzetto and Jaume Ventura have written an extremely interesting paper on a topic that is very timely for the global economy. In this article, I will first argue that GPV have succeeded in formalizing their hypothesis, and that while providing very suggestive analytical...

This document examines the successes and failures of the present Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna (CITES) and analyses its defects. Major changes are needed in the structure of the Treaty to overcome its perceived shortcomings. A Vision for a new treaty is...

The paper shows that delivery mechanisms have significant impact on the effectiveness of cohesion policy whatever its structure. In the assessment of the present delivery mechanisms the conclusion is made that there are strong arguments for reform, which however would make sense even if one...