Along time the European Union (EU) has been pointed as the most succeeded example of regional integration. Now, this example has been cruelly shaken by the EZ (Euro Zone) crisis, originating increasing doubts about the integration process. It is evident that the proposed solutions for attacking...

Evidence on the effectiveness of FX interventions in the prevailing higher frequency approaches leaves a gap at horizons going beyond a few days. This is addressed by identifying a structural vector autoregressive model for the daily frequency with an external instrument. Using Japanese data, we...

The idea of a Europe of regions has appeared in Western Europe in the 60s. Also in the 60s the first cooperation between neighboring regions created on the borders of France, Switzerland and Germany. The opportunities of the economic development with future EU Member States should not be...

It is widely acknowledged that young ventures and fast growing firms have a strong impact on economic growth and employment creation. It is not only entrepreneurial dynamics associated to entry and exit of new ventures, but also the ability of firms to survive and grow, that is important for...

This paper claims that distance alone is a poor proxy for international transport costs in gravity equations. We develop a theoretical framework with a manufacturing and a transport sector, where the level of manufacturing exports determines the demand for transport. Above a certain threshold,...

This study considers endogenous determination of domestic standards on products that cause negative consumption externalities in the presence of a preferential trade agreement (PTA) in a three-country world. In particular, we examine how a PTA affects the optimal levels of external tariffs and...

This article deals with the domestic location of German multinational firms which have affiliates in the Czech Republic. Due to the common border the Czech Republic represents an attractive target country for both vertical and horizontal direct investments. In the year 2009 the sum of direct and...

Comparing the economic development and current situation of the internal markets of the U.S. and the EU, two things are noticeable. On the one hand, the EU is conducting massive regional policy programmes (notably the Structural Funds) to foster economic cohesion among the 27 nations belonging...

Over the last decades there has been a sizeable increase in trade and financial openness, triggered by current and capital account liberalization as well as improvements in transport and communication technologies. As a consequence, the importance of spillover effects is likely to have increased...

The last decades have witnessed the rise of a new wave of economic regionalism, the most remarkable example of which is the European Union. Regional economic integration is generally interpreted either as an attempt to resist the centrifugal forces of globalisation by strenghtening economic ties...