The transformation of international financial markets and the future of the eurozone (by John Eatwell; pp. 1-6) Keywords: Financial Markets, euro, Debt Crisis Countries covered: European Union Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy The harmonisation of banking supervision: a chokehold (by Tomasz Chmielewski and Andrzej Slawinski; pp. 7-9) Keywords: Banking Supervision, Harmonisation Countries covered: European Union Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy The impact of offshoring on the skill structure of labour demand (by Neil Foster and Robert Stehrer; pp. ...more

The European Union and the MENA countries: fostering North-South economic integration (by Sándor Richter; pp. 1-5) Keywords: North-South, economic integration Countries covered: European Union, MENA Topics: Labour, Migration and Income Distribution Europe's position in trade in knowledge-intensive business services (by Joseph Francois and Olga Pindyuk; pp. 6-12) Keywords: trade, knowledge-intensive business services Countries covered: European Union, OECD, East Asia Topics: International Trade, Competitiveness and FDI What kind of socio-economic order do we need in Euro...more

Unstable Balkans (by Vladimir Gligorov; pp. 1-4) Keywords: political tensions, unemployment, austerity Countries covered: SEE Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Not a very Greek tragedy (by Jan Toporowski; pp. 5-7) Keywords: public debt, financial market, monetary policy, currency union Countries covered: European Union Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Keynes for the 21st century (by Robert Skidelsky; pp. 8-13) Keywords: Keynes, expectations, economic policy Countries covered: EU, OECD Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Statistical Annex: Selected ...more

Patterns of transition (by K. Poznanski, J. Poznanska and H.Y. Liu; pp. 1-11) Keywords: transition, shock therapy, privatization, market vs. state Countries covered: CEE, CIS, East Asia Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Recent trends in the quality of traded goods: NMS are closing the gaps (by N. Foster, J. Pöschl and R. Stehrer; pp. 12-19) Keywords: quality, unit value ratios, price vs. quality competition Countries covered: EU, CEE, CIS, Asia, East Asia Topics: International Trade, Competitiveness and FDI Animal spirits (by V. Gligorov; pp. 20-22) Keywords: Keynes, unc...more

The literature on international migration has repeatedly emphasized that the extent and structure of migration has an important impact on the competitiveness of regions and countries. This report provides an overview of the extent and the potential effects of high-skill migration to the EU27. It shows how many high-skilled migrants live in the EU, where these migrants come from, and how the European Union is positioned in the international competition for talent. Second, we examine how high-skilled migrants fare in European labour markets. Finally we address the issue of the effects of high-sk...more

This paper presents a number of extensions to the theory of profit- and wage-led growth by integrating selected aspects of asset markets and housing markets. Theoretical results from comparative statics are then presented and discussed, notably with reference to recent housing market bubbles. The exposition incorporates distributional aspects relating to different classes of economic agents and how those differences relate to wage income versus profit income. ...more

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we explore empirically to what extent the determinants of trade in services differ from those of trade in goods. Second, by the use of instrumental variables, we explore potential complementarities between bilateral trade in goods and bilateral trade in services. Using a gravity framework, the main results show that bilateral trust and contract enforcement environment, networks, labour market regulations and variables denoting technology of communication have a higher impact on services trade than on goods trade. Finally, after using instrumental va...more

The Republic of Moldova: short-lived recovery (by G. Hunya, pp. 1-9) Keywords: Moldova, economic policy, economic transition Countries covered: Moldova Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis, Forecasts and Policy Patterns of international trade diversification in the transition economies (by M. Landesmann, pp. 10-16) Keywords: trade diversification, transition economies, competition Countries covered: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan...more

Working with a panel dataset of OECD countries over the decade 1994-2004, we examine linkages between cross-border trade and FDI in the services sectors. We first develop a consistent analytical framework for the application of the gravity model to both services trade and commercial presence (i.e. FDI), using a composite model of delivery that offers testable hypotheses about the roles of different modes of services supply as complements or substitutes. We further link our estimates to policy variables measuring market regulations that may act directly or implicitly as barriers to trade. We fi...more

The rapid growth of China in the last thirty years has had a very strong impact on the world economy. Having gone through a rapid process of structural transformation as well as international integration, China has recently improved quantity and quality of its exports. Its market share has increased dramatically, so that in 2009 China overtook Germany to become the first world exporters of goods. A recent ample literature has been discussing the likelihood of this upgrade resulting in a change in Chinese comparative advantage towards more sophisticated productions and therefore whether there are countries/sectors more subject to increased Chinese competition. ...more