Economie and commercial relations between the countries of the southern Mediterranean and the European Union (EU) have been profoundly affected by the recent EU Initiative for the Mediterranean’ and conditioned by the creation of European Monetary Union (EMU). The paper discusses the costs,...

Sweden represents an archetypal welfare state economy, with extensive government safety nets. Some scholars have attributed a decline in its per capita income ranking since 1970 to “eurosclerosis” or sluggish growth caused by distortionary policies. This paper argues rather, that the...

After nearly fifteen years of transition, the countries of Central Europe have entered the European Union on 1 May 2004. For the four countries that are members of the OECD (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovak Republic), accession follows multiyear efforts of economic stabilisation and...

This paper examines whether the different macroeconomic performances of the German economy in two post-war decades provide evidence for the theory (first advanced by Mancur Olson) that sharp institutional breaks are conducive to economic growth because they destroy the existing network of...

This paper contributes to the literature on the differences in the transmission processes within Euroland. We start from the proposition that there are 'deep' differences in the nature of social conflicts and in the way countries deal with these conflicts. We empirically test this effect for the...

If, during the communism, Romania had an unusual position at the European level, after 1989 it had a different path, in comparison with other former communist states: the country had the harshest difficulties finding its European path, then it had the most important economic growth rate; in the...

This paper presents new estimates of the economic benefits from economic and political integration. Using the synthetic counterfactuals method, we estimate how GDP per capita and labour productivity would have behaved for the countries that joined the European Union (EU) in the 1973, 1980s, 1995...

Ukraine is now in deep crisis - on the verge of default, not having enough internal resources for development. Based on analysis of reform history for more than 20 years the author emphasizes the main causes of current situation: inherited structural disbalances in the national economy, absence...

Summary This paper analyses the speed and patterns of economic convergence in the new EU Member States of Central and Eastern Europe during transition and the first years of EU membership. After a brief discussion of measurement and data issues, the paper provides stylised facts on growth and...

The objective of this article is to provide an analysis of the relationship existing between cereal prices and several variables such as population, income, exports, the exchange rate, and speculation, by using a linear regression analysis. Specific emphasis is placed on the speculative...