We explore the role of the transfers that UK regions received from the European structural and cohesion funds, as well as other economic and social factors, in determining the support for the Remain vote in the Brexit referendum. We find that past European transfers have played virtually no role...

Im Zuge der europäischen Integration haben die nationalen Regierungen Kompetenzen an europäische Institutionen abgegeben. Die Folge ist, daß die ökonomische Entwicklung in der EU mehr und mehr von wirtschaftsräumlichen Faktoren anstatt von administrativen nationalen Unterschieden bestimmt...

A major characteristic of the European Union is its transitional or evolving nature, in particular with regard to the assignment of powers between the two main levels of government. More precisely, under current constitutional arrangements, this evolving nature takes the form of an integration...

This paper examines the transition process within Eastern Europe and the integration process with the EU and shows that the requirements for the transition towards a market economy overlap with the requirements for EU accession. Furthermore, the economic situation of the candidate countries is...

Why do some countries join the EU earlier than others, why do others wait? In order to answer this question we apply the theory of investment under uncertainty (Dixit and Pindyck, 1994) to the decision on EU-membership. We develop a simplified model of two periods to study how the value of...

Feedback mechanisms are the key to sequencing when it comes to regional integration; can mean that today's policy or institution alters the political-economy landscape in a way that makes it politically optimal for future governments to take further steps toward integration - even when these...

This paper develops a 'structural political economy' approach to two fundamental tensions that emerged as the eurozone crisis unfolded: real exchange rate misalignments and external debt build-up. The approach builds on a classical legacy going back to Francois Quesnay, who conceptualised...

A new macroeconomic evaluation of EU enlargement is undertaken with a world macroeconomic model taking into account all possible integration effects: trade effects, Single Market effects, factor movements (FDI, migration) and the costs of enlargement. Due to the differences in size of the...

Die EU hat sich mit der Lissabon-Strategie bis 2010 ehrgeizige Ziele gesetzt. Die Union soll zum wettbewerbsfähigsten Wirtschaftsraum der Welt, der am schnellsten wächst und auch die hohen Sozialstandards beibehält, werden. Zusätzlich sollte die Wirtschaftsentwicklung auch umweltschonend,...

The paper applies standard public choice reasoning to the negotiations on EU enlargement and the Treaty of Nice. The starting point is the assumption that accession can only be successfully completed if the interests of decisive actors in present EU countries are respected. Decisive actors in...