This paper measures the net redistributive impact of the EU budget. It finds that for every € 1,000 difference in income per capita across countries, € 9 is offset by lower contributions to the budget and € 3 is offset by higher expenditures by the budget. The overall equalising effect is...

This paper studies the recent trends in inflation in the euro area and estimates to what extent the current inflationary pressures are driven by demand expansion and by supply side disruptions. First of all, consumer price inflation is particularly pronounced in goods and less so in the case of...

This paper presents an ex-post assessment of the current situation of the EMU in light of the conditions prescribed by the theory of Optimum Currency Areas (OCA). The analysis shows that some of those conditions were satisfied at the inception of the EMU, others were missing at the beginning,...

This paper presents a new index to quantify, measure and monitor the progress towards the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. This index is based on a set of relevant, accepted, credible, easy to monitor and robust indicators presented by the European Commission at the time the strategy was...

This chapter aims at analysing some characteristics of the innovation process, focusing on two factors that may determine the innovative capacity of a country: social capital and culture. The main objective is to explain that social capital can have positive effects on the equality level of an...

This paper aims at analysing the performances of the EU member states in the Europe 2020 Strategy and understanding the main factors of success. It builds on the Europe 2020 Index developed in Pasimeni (2011) to quantify and measure progress achieved by the 27 countries in pursuing the...

This paper presents an ex-post assessment of the current situation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in light of the conditions prescribed by the theory of Optimum Currency Areas (OCA). The analysis shows that those conditions were satisfied at very different degrees. Factors mobility has...

This paper studies the recent trends in inflation in the euro area and estimates to what extent the current inflationary pressures are driven by demand expansion and by supply side disruptions. First of all, consumer price inflation is particularly pronounced in goods and less so in the case of...