Trade reforms in transition economies are analyzed in a model of trade and vertical product differentiation. We first show that trade liberalization in transition economies reduces the local firm s output and raises the prices of all variants. Second, we find that neither free trade nor the...

The question whether international openness causes higher domestic growth has been subject to intense discussions in the empirical growth literature. This paper addresses this issue using the fall of the Berlin wall in 1990 as a natural experiment. We analyze whether the slow-down in convergence...

Die EU-Osterweiterung ermöglicht eine stärkere Arbeitsteilung zwischen den relativ kapitalreichen Staaten der EU und den relativ arbeitsreichen Zutrittsländern Mittel- und Osteuropas, von der insbesondere die ostdeutschen Kreise in Nähe der Grenze profitieren können. Diese Studie widmet...

This paper analyses the effects of the creation or removal of borders on firms' profits and their optimal location in an autarkic region. A firm chooses a position close to a border if a crucial degree of openness is achieved. Furthermore, the positive effect of removal of borders decreases in...