This paper, inspired from the entry into force of the European Monetary Union, is a reflection on the issue of Europe, political economy and its history. Are recalled a few highlights of economic history and the history of political economy, which coincide with periods of major transformation of...

This article examines the history of economic thought and cross-border agreements in Europe. The work of early scholars such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo provides an insight into the benefits of trade. Additionally, David Hume’s description of fundamental laws shows the necessity of...

We take a first pass at quantifying the magnitudes of debt relief achieved through default and restructuring in two distinct samples: 1979-2010, focusing on credit events in emerging markets, and 1920-1939, documenting the official debt hangover in advanced economies that was created by World...

Ogilvie's The European Guilds is a major contribution to economic history and institutional economics. This review essay surveys the main contributions of Guilds, locating it in a long-standing debate over whether craft guilds contributed positively or negatively to economic development in...

This paper presents an institution - the Community Responsibility System (CRS) - which has been a missing link in our understanding of market development. The CRS fostered market expansion throughout pre-modern Europe by providing the contract enforcement required for impersonal exchange...

Higher education contributes to economic innovation. This study measures and compares the extent to which national governments' policies foster this contribution across Europe. The study stresses the relevance of policies which are 'empowering' for higher education institutions, or in other...

Higher education is in the position to save Europe by rendering a substantial contribution to sustainable economic growth. For that purpose higher education must strengthen its innovative power in entrepreneurship education and by focusing research more on societal problems, while being better...

Die europäische Integration, die in den 1950er Jahren einsetzte, zielt auch darauf ab, die Wirtschaftskraft der teilnehmenden Volkswirtschaften anzugleichen. In den vergangenen sechs Dekaden zeigte sich insgesamt eine absolute und relative Erhöhung der Pro-Kopf-Einkommen der zuvor ärmeren...

The paper investigates the nexus between inventory investment and the change in aggregate production for 29 European countries over the period 2000-2009. A special interest is taken in the Great Recession of 2008/09. For most countries, a fairly uniform pattern emerges. Inventory investment is...

Small and medium-sized enterprises are a centrepiece of Europe?s economy. Due to their limited size and their generally lower creditworthiness, their access to financial market instruments is more limited than for large enterprises, which benefit from more elaborate Treasury operations,...