Search results for "Economic integration"
showing 10 items of 50 documents
Spatial Convergence Clubs and the European Regional Growth Process,1980–1995
2003
In international cross-country studies, evidence for club convergence has often been found using different methodologies (Baumol 1986; Durlauf and Johnson 1995; Quah 1996a, 1997). In the case of the European regions, Ertur and Le Gallo (see Chap. 2) and Le Gallo et al. (see Chap. 3) have shown that the convergence rate among European regions is slow and that GDP disparities seem to be persistent despite the European economic integration process and higher growth rates of some poorer regions, as highlighted as well in the European Commission reports (1996, 1999). Moreover, over the 1980–1995 period, Ertur and Le Gallo (see Chap. 2) found that the geographical distribution of European regions…
Economic globalization and voter turnout in established democracies
2010
This paper asks whether international economic integration negatively affects electoral turnout. The theoretical model builds on the premise that economic integration constrains the ability of national governments to shape outcomes. Citizens are conscious of such constraints and take them into account when considering the costs and benefits of casting a vote in national elections. The result is a lower inclination to vote under conditions of high economic integration. Consequently, aggregate turnout is lower the more internationally integrated a national economy is. Analysis of aggregate data for parliamentary elections in 23 OECD democracies over the period 1965–2006 robustly supports this…
The effects of competitiveness on trade balance: The case of Southern Europe
2016
AbstractAccording to conventional wisdom, “peripheral” Southern European members of the euro area (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) suffer from a problem of competitiveness. Since their membership of the euro area renders devaluation impossible, adjustment should come through decreasing wages and prices in these countries, which, by improving the trade balance, should lead to a recovery of previous levels of employment and growth. In this paper, the authors estimate trade balance equations for the Southern European countries, both for total trade and for the trade performed with the European Union, taking three alternative measures of the real exchange rate, based on consumption price ind…
Financial Fragility and Distress Propagation in a Network of Regions
2012
Building on previous works on business fluctuations, we model the propagation of financial distress in a network of regions, each populated by heterogeneous interacting firms and banks. In order to diversify risk, firm sell goods outside their own region and borrow from banks located there. However, this results in ties across regions which propagate financial distress across regional borders. We investigate how the average level of economic integration affects the probability of both individual and systemic failures. We find that the benefit of greater diversification is eventually offset by the effect of financial acceleration and contagion. In particular, beyond a certain level of integr…
Older Peruvian Migrants’ Capacity and Desire to Send Remittances from Spain
2016
This article draws on the conceptual framework of capacity and desire to analyze the remitting behavior of older Peruvian migrants in Spain. Cross-sectional survey data are explored using regression analysis to estimate how local and transnational factors relate to the sending of remittances. To reveal the complexities involved in this activity, the findings are discussed in the light of qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews with older Peruvian migrants in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Results show that economic integration and transnational ties and practices are strong predictors for the sending of remittances, with local language skills being of intermediate …
STRATEGIC CHOICES FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA AS EU MEMBER STATE
2012
After joining the EU in 2004, came to an end an important phase of the economic development of Latvian, which opened as new opportunities, as new challenges. Accession to the EU can be viewed on the one hand, the transitional period, on the other hand, it can be characterized as the period when Latvia was standing at the new crossroads and was ready for new, fundamental alternatives. Accession of Latvia in the EU contributed to the deepening of economic integration, radically changing the situation, as in financial, as in labor markets. Since 2004 Latvian experienced both, rapid economic growth, with GDP growth exceeded 12% per annum, and a significant recession, when GDP fell by nearly 18%…
Regional Powers as Leaders or Rambos? The Ambivalent Behaviour of Brazil and South Africa in Regional Economic Integration
2013
The behaviour of regional powers towards their own regions is often volatile in the developing world, which leads to unstable integration processes. This article argues that this volatility is due to limited intra-regional gains from regional integration in developing regions, which implies that the behaviour of regional powers is constrained by extra-regional economic interests. When regional integration is not in conflict with extra-regional interests, regional powers provide regional leadership. However, when extra-regional interests are in conflict with regional integration, regional powers become regional Rambos. This argument is illustrated with the two examples of Brazil's behaviour …
Trade balances and exchange rates in the long run for European Union countries
2000
This paper has found evidence that real effective exchange rates have a positive impact on the trade balance in the long run for major European Union countries. This result sheds more light on the long-run statistical relationship between those two variables, at least in the context of the Community. The existence of that link is sustained by the effects that income variables have on the trade balance. The outcomes of this analysis in support of a long-run equilibrium relationship are consistent with the imperfect substitutes model, confirming the validity of this model for economic policy implementation purposes. Low, long-run elasticities of the trade balance with respect to the real effe…
The economic impact of European financial integration: The importance of the banking union
2015
Abstract The aim of the paper is to analyze the effect of European financial integration on economic growth. We focus on how the international financial crisis that started in 2007 has affected integration and growth. By combining information at country, sector and firm level, we quantify the effect of financial integration on financial development and therefore on economic growth. Our results illustrate that until the outbreak of the crisis, a significant part of financial development is attributable to progress in integration, with a positive contribution of around 0.04 pp to the EU-15 countries’ GDP growth over the period 1999–2007 of advance in integration. However, during the crisis, t…
Measuring Globalization of International Trade: Theory and Evidence
2009
Measuring globalization requires a Standard of Perfect International Integration as a benchmark that a single world space would reach under conditions of geographic neutrality in international trade. We define this standard and present indicators for openness, connectedness and integration, for each specific economy, and for the world economy. We apply our indicators to data on trade flows for 59 countries for the 1967-2004 period. Results show that trade integration is higher than what traditional openness indicators suggest. Several economies find high levels of integration, but the low degree of openness in some large economies jeopardizes the progress of globalization. © 2008 Elsevier L…