Gourinchas and Jeanne (2006) explain that the gains from capital market integration are small because the natural convergence of economies would have "done the work" of integration if it had not occurred. We provide a simple illustration of this standard theoretical argument using the simplest...

Trade theories predict and explain the consequences of economic integration. Generally, they show that freer international trade leads to specialisation, technological convergence and faster economic growth. This study compares the conclusions of the trade theories with empirical observations of...

We use the case of EU enlargement in 2004 to investigate the impact of economic integration on regional income growth. Being particularly interested in studying the effects ‘at the margin’, we track the relative performance of regions adjacent to both sides of the integration border...