This study examines the decision by firm owners to apply, or not, for intermediated debt. Based on a sample of SMEs in 9 European countries over the period 2009-2012, we examine firm characteristics, institutional and cultural factors. We focus our analyses on two distinct groups of firms, those...

Employing 90,000 firm-level observations from 13 countries over a seven year period, and controlling for an extensive set of firm-level characteristics, industry effects and country-level institutional variables, we provide a conceptual framework and empirical analysis of how culture influences...

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) proliferate in the developed and developing world. However, there is wide variation in both the institutional structure of these RTAs and the degree to which they achieve their goals. Particularly in the developing world, RTA dispute-settlement mechanisms are...

Lemass rejected Whitaker’s recommendations that direct taxes be reduced and public investment shifted from social to productive areas. This was arguably done for political reasons and because Lemass believed that it might be possible to establish a social partnership deal of the type that...

There is an increased focus in comparative politics and international relations on how choices of national governments are dependent on choices made by governments in other countries. We argue that while the relationship between policy choices across countries is often labeled as either...

This paper discusses the slow and hesitant integration of two post-colonial economies into the global economy. One is Ireland, whose independence began in 1921, but which only found its place securely at the productive frontier by the 1990s, with many setbacks on the way. The other is Zimbabwe,...

We study the impact of shocks to different types of government spending on the composition of sectoral output for a panel of EMU member countries. We find that fiscal shocks lead to an increase in the relative size of the nontraded sector. There is typically no significant impact on the level of...

Parties value unity, yet, members of parliament face competing demands, giving them incentives to deviate from the party. For members of the European Parliament (MEPs), these competing demands are national party and European party group pressures. Here, we look at how MEPs respond to those...

Zimbabwe has recently experienced record hyperinflation of 80 billion percent a month. This paper uses new data from Zimbabwe to investigate money demand under hyperinflation using an ARDL estimation for the period 1980-2008. The results produce plausible convergence rates and long-run...