The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) was established to promote the exports of low-income countries to industrialized countries in order to support their economic growth and development. However, the design of these schemes is rather complex and the effects of GSP have been found to be...

Im folgenden soll die währungspolitischen Konsequenzen alternativer Wege zur EWU untersucht werden. Der Übergang vom EWS zur EWU wird modelliert als eine Abfolge von Wechselkursregimen, die sich in den Merkmalen Symmetrie, Flexibilität der Wechselkurse und Bindewirkung des Devisenkonstraints...

Competition in the US banking industry as measured by the Lerner Index has on average increased substantially during the last decade. At the same time, regional differences in competition on the state level have decreased considerably. Based on a dynamic panel framework we find that these...

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is the permanent crisis resolution mechanism for euro area countries. We analyze the costs of the current (suboptimal) refinancing design of the ESM and evaluate an alternative asset-backed securities (ABS) structure under different scenarios. Our...

The well-known question whether regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system (MTS) are "strangers, friends, or foes" (Bhagwati and Panagariya, 1996) has gained new importance with the widespread proliferation of RTAs in recent years. Based on an extensive data set which...