A strong private equity market is a cornerstone for commercialization and innovation in modern economies. However, substantial differences exist in the relative amounts raised and invested in private equity across European countries. We investigate the macro-determinants of private equity...

Based on two detailed Balassa-Samuelson (BS) studies, Wagner and Hlouskova (2004) for eight Central Eastern European countries (CEECs) and Wagner and Doytchinov (2004) for ten Western European countries (WECs), this study assesses the differences and similarities of the BS effect between these...

In this paper we provide evidence for the impact of public funding on enrolment of students in college. We use a panel for European countries and apply instrumental variables techniques to find that public funding for schooling - regardless at what level - does increase college enrolment alike...

In continental Europe, the unemployment rate has risen continuously from a low level of below 3 percent in the early 1970s to more than 10 percent in the late 1990s. If those who are in governmental employment schemes and in early retirement are included, the unemployment rate runs as high as 20...

Over the course of the past twenty years, venture capital has fuelled an entrepreneurial revolution - first in the United States and now in Europe's common market -, which has opened new opportunities for technological innovation, capital investment and employment growth. Some of the most...

This paper provides a new attempt to examine the relationship between an economy's exposure to foreign trade and its degree of urban concentration. In contrast to previous work, which is often based on rich cross-country data sets, the analysis is focused exclusively on European countries,...

This paper uses a dataset on the foreign activities by Swedish manufacturing firms to examine the performance of German affiliates compared with affiliates in other locations. It is found that German affiliates, on average, have higher labour productivity, R&D expenditure per employee and...

This paper analyses structural and cyclical determinants of banking profitability in 16 Western European countries. We find that financial structure matters, particularly through the beneficial effect of the capital market orientation in the respective national financial system. Furthermore,...

The flat income tax has become increasingly popular recently, yet its implementation is limited to Eastern Europe. We analyse the distributional and e? ciency effects of flat tax scenarios for Western European countries. Our simulations show that flat tax rates required to attain revenue...