We test the hypothesis of the circular causality between trade costs and degree of economic development using data on Italian provinces. Using different methods to control for multilateral resistance, we apply a gravity equation to estimate sectoral exports to 188 countries over the period...

This volume was prepared by Sebastian Benz while he was working at the Ifo Institute. It was completed in December 2013 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes five self-contained chapters. All chapters discuss different...

The development of pre-industrial Europe was driven by the expansion of trade. This paper describes the patterns of trade and shows how they can be understood in terms of differences in trading costs. It discusses how the different levels of trade?from local to transoceanic-contributed, both...

This volume was prepared by Sebastian Benz while he was working at the Ifo Institute. It was completed in December 2013 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes five self-contained chapters. All chapters discuss different...

We propose in this article a general time series model, whose components are modelled in terms of fractionally integrated processes. This specification allows us to consider the trend, the seasonal and the cyclical components as stochastic processes, including the unit root models as particular...

Successful stabilization policy not only needs effective instruments and reliable indicators but also an usable theoretical framework. This paper looks for an as-simple-as-possible presentation that combines useful concepts for stabilization policy in a graphical presentation. As all variables...

Central and Eastern European countries with the liberalisation process and the recent accession to the EU are, nowadays, well engaged in trade with partner countries and at the same time receive significant and increasing interest from foreign investors. Trade and Foreign Direct Investment can...

Most theorists maintain that social exclusion is a process, not only the condition reflecting the outcome of that process. Yet few, if any people ever reach the ultimate end of the imagined trajectory. There are no formal exclusion thresholds to cross, as exist for poverty. Rather, at any one...

This paper investigates the impact of knowledge capital stocks on total factor productivity through the lens of the knowledge capital model proposed by Griliches (1979), augmented with a spatially discounted cross-region knowledge spillover pool variable. The objective is to shift attention from...

The paper evaluates the impact of a phased-in introduction of capital requirements on equity, risk-taking, and probability of default for a sample of European systemically important banks. Contrary to the case of a one-off introduction of capital requirements, this study does not fi nd evidence...