The aim of this paper is to analyse, through a theoretical model, the effects that the trade integration of two countries may have on industrial location, growth and welfare. The conclusions reached finally depend both on whether the import or the export costs are affected by the trade policies...

As economic performance has deteriorated in most European countries, EU public opinion and leaders have begun to stress with increased urgency the need for far greater emphasis on growth. Meaningful actions on a sufficient scale have however not yet been taken, although the recent approval by...

Contributing to the contentious debate on the relationship between sovereign debt and economic growth, I examine the role of theory-driven (non-)sustainable debt-ratios in combination with debt-ratio thresholds on economic growth. Based on both dynamic and non-dynamic panel data analyses in the...

In the wake of the Greek debt crisis, concerns about the sustainability of public debt have intensified. As a result, from the summer of 2010 several euro area member states announced fiscal austerity measures. These adjustments have a significant impact on the economic outlook of the euro area...

The classical argument for free trade stressed the possibilities of economic growth by exploiting the gains from trade. A trade surplus per se was not the main objective; presumably the argument was that trade would be balanced at the new higher growth rate. Moreover, the arguments for free trade...

In this paper we assess to what extent in the existence of a financial crisis, government spending can contribute to mitigate economic downturns in the short run and whether such impact differs in crisis and non crisis times. We use panel analysis for a set of OECD and non-OECD countries for the...

In this study we argue for a 'Big Push' in infrastructure investments in greater Europe. We propose the building of a European Silk Road, which connects the industrial centres in the west with the populous, but less developed regions in the east of the continent and thereby is meant to generate...

In dieser Studie argumentieren wir für einen "Big Push" bei den Infrastrukturinvestitionen im größeren Europa. Wir schlagen den Bau einer "Europäischen Seidenstraße" vor, welche die industriellen Zentren im Westen mit den bevölkerungsreichen, aber weniger entwickelten Gebieten im Osten des...

The paper deals with the relationship between public spending and growth as well as the dynamics of the ratio of public debt to GDP. The authors show that a composition of public spending that favors productive expenditures, that is, those with a direct positive effect on the economy's long-run...