Im November 2007 hat Prof. Dr. Wim Kösters sein 65. Lebensjahr vollendet. Dieses Ereignis ist Anlass, ihm die vorliegende Festschrift zu widmen. Wim Kösters wurde am 26. November 1942 in Greven / Kreis Steinfurt geboren. Er studierte von 1963 bis 1968 Volkswirtschaftslehre an der...

The article analyzes the integration of Central and Eastern European (CEE) trade unions in European policy-making. With reference to transnational cooperation in two fields of European-level decision making (issues concerning freedom of services and a European minimum wage), it investigates the...

The EMU accession countries are obliged to fulfill the Maastricht convergence criteria prior to entering the EMU. This paper uses a DSGE model of a two-sector small open economy, to address the following question: How do the Maastricht convergence criteria modify optimal monetary policy in an...

Although recent research shows that the euro has spurred cross-border financial integration, the exact mechanisms remain unknown. We investigate the underlying channels of the euro’s effect on financial integration using data on bilateral banking linkages among twenty industrial countries in...

This paper analyses the relationship between openness to trade and wages at the industry level (15 manufacturing industries) in 25 EU countries over the period from 1995 to 2005. By applying a cross-country and industry-specific approach, it is possible to control for unobserved heterogeneity at...

Diese IW-Analyse untersucht, welche institutionelle Architektur nötig ist, um den Euroraum dauerhaft zu stabilisieren. In der öffentlichen Debatte wird zunehmend behauptet, die Krise habe gezeigt, dass die Europäische Währungsunion (EWU) ohne mehr fiskalische Integration nicht zukunftsfähig...

The years of transition in Central and Eastern Europe brought with them the unprecedented - in these societies - phenomenon of restructuring with dismissals and growing unemployment. Moreover with the emergence and development of the private sector, new enterprises started to leave former...

The article describes (concentrates on the description of) the employment development and social problems related to labour market situation in Poland during the transition period (before the EU accession). It consists of four parts. The first gives an overview of basic tendencies in labour...

Based on the example of the posting of workers in the construction industry, this paper examines what impact the opening up of the European Single Market for services has had on an industry that was protected in the past against international competition. It is shown how different institutional...

There is no simple answer to the question of the potential impact of migration on the EU economy. EU migration policy is expected to meet the requirements of economic and social policy, in particular of the Lisbon Agenda, as well as national cultural, political, strategic and security...