The paper evaluates the impact of the EU Eastern enlargement 2004 on the economic performance of border regions located at the frontier to the new member states in the East. These regions were assumed to be particularly affected by the enlargement because of their geographic proximity to the new...

This paper evaluates the effect of the EU Eastern enlargement in May 2004 on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of border regions in the old member states. The effect is identified with the Synthetic Control Method (SCM) that allows the evaluation of the enlargement effect in a causal way. Results...

By looking at imports of Eastern European countries we provide novel insights on the importance and magnitude of border effects and on how they are linked with technical barriers to trade. All CEECs traded with themselves more than with other countries. We grouped products into three categories;...