This paper provides evidence of how national and linguistic borders affect the structure of policy networks. Our analysis of the Basel metropolitan region located across Switzerland, France and Germany considers the case of cross-border public transportation. Using a social network approach...

The Recovery Fund recently proposed by the EU Commission marks a sea-change in European integration. Yet it will not be enough to meet the challenges Europe faces. There has been much public debate about financing, but little about the sort of concrete projects that the EU should be putting...

In a study published in 2018 the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) proposed the construction of a 'European Silk Road' encompassing a high-speed railway (HSR) network for Europe. To compliment the economic feasibility analysis by wiiw, this report aims to determine the...

I study how and why economic activity varies around regional borders. Spatial quasi-experimental variation around French departmental borders reveals discontinuous commuting and residential patterns. To tackle the endogenous border placement problem, I exploit a geometric border design proposed...

This report estimates the CO2 emissions of freight transport on a hypothetical high-speed rail (HSR) line along the northern route, from Lyon to Warsaw, of a 'European Silk Road' (ESR). Using a methodology consisting of predictions regarding the freight-carrying capacity of the future HSR, and...

Along time the European Union (EU) has been pointed as the most succeeded example of regional integration. Now, this example has been cruelly shaken by the EZ (Euro Zone) crisis, originating increasing doubts about the integration process. It is evident that the proposed solutions for attacking...

Die internationale Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise beeinflusste das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Solidarität und Wettbewerb in der Europäischen Union in zweierlei Hinsicht. Zum einen drängten die Regierungen der europäischen Mitgliedstaaten darauf, ihre notleidenden Banken (aber auch...

The development of the European Monetary Union is related to Milton Friedman's critique of the Bretton Woods System that started a vigorous debate about “fixed versus flexible exchange rates.” This paper contrasts briefly the arguments pro and con flexible exchange rates at this time. After...

This paper examines the impact of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on trade within the euro area. Using panel data for 22 industrial countries, the analysis estimates the effect of the euro`s arrival on area-wide trade compared to bilateral trade flows between other industrial...

For several years prior to 2010, countries in the euro area periphery engaged in heavy borrowing from foreign private investors, allowing domestic spending to outpace incomes. Now these countries face debt crises reflecting a loss of investor confidence in the sustainability of their finances....