National versus supranational bank regulation: Gains and losses of joining a banking union

We ask how the structure of international banking affects the decision of a national regulator to join a banking union and to transfer regulatory powers to the supranational level. The focus is on bank supervision and bank resolution. A national regulator ignores possible gains or losses, which accrue to other jurisdictions if banks are internationally active. A supranational regulator takes these regulatory external effects into account. While supranational regulation improves total welfare, this is not necessarily the case for welfare in single countries. By analyzing the size and determinants of spillover effects we show how they constrain a country’s willingness to participate in a banking union. Our results may explain why some member states of the European Union currently hesitate to join the European Banking Union.     

The Economic Impact of International Migration within The UK Economy

There is a vociferous debate regarding the extent, impact and future policy direction of international migration. This has intensified following the expansion of the European Union and the accession of the eight Central and Eastern European countries. This article explores the recent trends in net migration, looking particularly at the impact at the sectoral and regional level. It finds that foreign workers appear to have had a significant economic impact in filling skills gaps and in helping to arrest population decline in those regions where previously this had been a fact of economic life.     

Aggregation across countries in stochastic population forecasts

Stochastic methods of multi-state population modeling are less developed than methods for single states for two reasons. First, the structure of a multi-state population is inherently more complex than that of a single state because of state-to-state transitions. Second, estimates of cross-state correlations of the vital processes are a largely uncharted territory. Unlike multi-state lifetable theory, in forecasting applications the role of directed flows from state to state is often less important than the overall coherence of the assumptions concerning the vital processes. This is the case in the context of the European Union. Thus, a simplified approach is feasible, in which migration is represented by state-specific net numbers of migrants. This allows the use of existing single-state software, when simulations are suitably organized, in a multi-state setting. To address the second problem, we provide empirical estimates of cross-country covariances in the forecast uncertainty of fertility, mortality, and net migration. Together with point forecasts of these parameters that are coherent across countries, this produces coherent forecasts for aggregates of countries. The finding is that models for intermediate correlations are necessary for a proper accounting of forecast uncertainty at the aggregate level, in this case the European Union.     

From Bismarck to Maastricht: The March to European Union and the Labor Compact

This paper considers the likely impact that European Union (EU) will have on the labor compact. It is argued that, despite increased economic integration in Europe, countries will still be able to maintain distinct labor practices if they are willing to bear the cost of those practices. The incidence of many social protections probably already falls on workers. In addition, it is argued that imperfect mobility of capital, labor, goods and services will limit the pressure that integration will place on the labor compact. Evidence is presented suggesting that labor mobility among EU countries has not increased after the elimination of remaining restrictions on intra-EU labor mobility in 1993. Moreover, immigration from non-EU countries, which is much larger than intra-EU migration, has declined since 1993. Evidence is also reviewed suggesting that the demand for social protection rises when countries are more open, and therefore subject to more severe external shocks. This finding suggests that increased economic integration and European Monetary Union (EMU) could lead to greater demand for social protection. The U.S. experience with state workers' compensation insurance programs is offered as an example of enduring differences in labor market protections in highly integrated regional economies with a common currency.     

The politics of Europe 2002: flexibility and adjustment

The European Union entered a new phase of integration in 2002. The single currency, the European Convention, and enlargement signalled progress. The conflict over the Stability and Growth Pact, the tensions between the member states, and the political turmoil in a number of core countries suggested retreat. This paper examines the resulting pattern of integration. It argues that the European Union is becoming more legalistic than leader‐oriented, and that it rests on common principles rather than accepting the imposition of some grand design. Such a European Union cannot challenge the United States for global leadership. But it is likely to prove stable nonetheless.     

Economic geography with tariff competition

A simple two-country model of economic geography is constructed in order to examine the effect of tariff competition on the spatial distribution of manufacturing activities as well as on welfare. We show that when the transport cost is small, tariff competition with firm migration leads to a core-periphery economy, where one of the two countries imposes no tariff in Nash equilibrium. We also show that when the transport cost is sufficiently large, both countries impose a positive tariff, which decreases the welfare of both countries.     

Book Reviews

This article notes some patterns of diversity as well as some moves towards harmonization of industrial relations arrangements and that there are certain parallel trends in European countries. It examines developments affecting unions, employers and the state as well as the changing approaches to collective bargaining. It goes on to discuss the increasing impact of the European Union (formerly European Community) and it concludes that, rather than finding much convergence, there are continuing and significant differences between European countries.     

Frontier-free Europe: a study of female migrants in the banking sector

Legislation on 'freedom of movement' guarantees the recognition of qualifications between countries of the European Union (EU), and is meant to provide migrants with access to employment in all member states. This paper reports on a study undertaken of EU migrant women in the banking sector in Britain, Germany and Spain. The discusses the experiences of migrants with regard to access to employment and positions abroad comparable to those held prior to migration. Migrants in this case experienced obstacles in the access to such employment. Although their experiences influenced by labour-market needs, findings suggest that the determining factors for barriers encountered were differences in the education and training cultures of countries pre- and post-migration, and the values and attitudes attached to these in of expectations by employers and migrants themselves.     

Social Capital Across European Countries: Individual and Aggregate Determinants of Group Membership

Social capital refers to norms and networks of reciprocity, trust, and cooperation that facilitate coordinated action for a mutual benefit. Theoretical and empirical studies have documented the positive contribution of social capital in social welfare and development. This study empirically explores the determinants of social capital, in the form of group membership, across European countries. Data is derived from the European Community Household Panel, which covers a large sample of individuals from a set of European countries. Binary logistic regression models are applied to regress an index of individuals' group membership on a set of individual characteristics (income, education, gender, age, marital status, employment), as well as aggregate characteristics of countries (GDP per capita, income inequality, social trust, trust in public institutions, corruption, unemployment, and violation of political and civil rights). Results provide evidence of the impact of both individual and aggregate factors on group membership. These factors constitute a possible means to rebuilding patterns of social capital, especially in Southern European countries, where special‐interest groups and patron‐client relations prevail over generalized norms and networks of reciprocity, trust, and cooperation that promote wider social welfare and development objectives.     

From European Union to European Monetary Union: the new member states and accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 2004

The 10 new member states and candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe have made the institutional reforms embodied in the acquis communautaire, including developing institutions of social dialogue which are supposed to ease the path to entry into the European Monetary Union (EMU). This review assesses the challenges facing the Central and Eastern European countries in achieving the targets set for EMU entry and questions whether the existing institutions of social dialogue will be able to bear the strain of achieving those targets.     

Unemployment and the Independent European System of Central Banks

A bstract .This paper scrutinizes the case for an Independent European System of Central Banks (IESCB) Proposals for IESCB are based on some specific interrelated theoretical propositions upon which we cast some doubt The case for an IESCB is rejected on the grounds that it would worsen the performance of the real economy We propose different arrangements, which are focused on high levels of employment throughout the European Union as the prime objective Such a scenario, which emphasizes full employment and requires coordination among member countries in terms of economic policy, will avoid most, if not all, of the problems of the IESCB proposals. The alternative would thus be better able to tackle the unemployment problems of the European Union     

A New Index of Independence of 12 European National Central Banks

Abstract

Many countries have recently strengthened the autonomy of their central banks in the effort to protect central bankers from government influences. This article reviews and extends the relevant literature to propose a new ranking of central bank independence in contrast to those originated by Bade and Parking, and Cukierman. The analysis shows a bivariate relationship between independence and inflation rates in 12 European Union countries in the EMS era. However, neither inflation nor its standard deviation had any statistical significance effect on real GDP growth. The procedure reveals that findings are, sometimes, index-specific.     

国外食品标签要求概况

文章就国外食品标签要求进行了研究,包括美国、日本、欧盟食品标签管理方面的法规、食品标签以及营养标签的具体要求,并就食品标签营养成分的表述方法进行了分析。     

Introduction: Transitional economies and changing notions of accounting and accountability

This paper explores the issue of the true and fair view (TFV) and the overriding principle within the European Union (EU), via a legally based analysis of the relationship between EU and national laws. We apply the supremacy of European law to methods of incorporating the TFV into national legislation, using Austria as a detailed case study, showing that all countries – maybe against their original intention – either have an override (as does Austria, contrary to the prevailing local opinion) or have failed to honour their EU commitments. As part of our argument, we explain the importance of the Roman law teleological principle in legal application and interpretation, as is well known in Continental countries. We show that the effect of the UK TFV override is in principle exactly analogous, only arguably even more powerful, which is not at all well known in Anglo-Saxon countries. We suggest reasons why the status quo ante in particular countries may be adhered to, and generalise the implications of our arguments.     

The role of financial development on the underground economy in regards to Europe’s 2020 strategy

This paper attempts to investigate the relationships between development in the financial sector and the size of the underground economy in European Union countries. Our aim is to investigate the role of financial sector development when it comes to the size of the underground economy, as well as how financial development aids in meeting the growth objectives of the ‘Europe 2020 Strategy’. Panel data analysis will be conducted for the period 2004–2017 in order to examine the effects of financial sector development on the size of the underground economy. The main findings of this paper suggest that financial development has a significantly reducing effect on the size of the underground economy. In conclusion, development within the financial sector significantly lessens underground economic activity in the European Union. With further development of the financial sector, underground economies will not be an obstacle for the fulfilment of the cohesion and growth objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.     

The effect of benefits on single motherhood in Europe

This paper uses data from the eight waves of the European Community Household Panel (1994–2001) to estimate the impact of welfare benefits on the incidence of single motherhood and headship among young women across European countries. The regressions include country fixed effects as well as time trends that are allowed to vary by country, to account for fixed and trending unmeasured factors that could influence both benefit levels and family formation. The analysis also accounts for individual characteristics and labor market conditions. The results suggest that benefit levels have a small but significant positive effect on the prevalence of single mothers. An increase in yearly benefits of 1000 euros is estimated to increase the incidence of single mother families by about 2 percent.     

发展中的欧盟高等教育国际化

伴随着欧洲经济一体化的不断深入,日益激烈的国际教育市场的驱使以及信息技术和互联网学习的发展,高等教育国际化越来越成为欧盟继经济联盟和统一货币之后的另一重要行动。欧盟的高等教育国际化进程从欧共体产生之日就开始了其进程,直至今日依然在发展。本文探求了从经济和文化因素分析欧盟国家高等教育的动因,接着从欧盟教育的一体化及其国际发展两个方面讲述了欧盟高等教育国际化的主要举措,企盼为我国高等教育国际化提供启示及借鉴。     

Benchmarking institutional variety in the eurozone: An empirical investigation

The European debt crisis has shown that the future of the European Union (EU) depends on the willingness of each member country to implement responsible policies, avoid moral hazard and uncooperative attitudes, and ensure stability and soundness. However, the European institutional variety means that each member country reacts differently to shocks and policies, follows a different path of recovery, and adapts to common institutions, including the common currency, in different ways. Helping countries to converge toward a situation that guarantees well-being, stability, and development at the national and community level is the goal of the European benchmark. This benchmark is a framework inspired by European treaties that, through the distance-to-frontier score methodology, aims to measure member countries’ performance and identify inefficiencies and negative externalities within the economic, social, and political institutions of each member country. The paper presents an empirical investigation of the European benchmark. Based on the results obtained, all countries can improve their performance, and none of them can be considered a model for the others. However, the Mediterranean and post-communist countries have more challenges to face and therefore need to make greater efforts.     

Comparative study of FDI in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean

The European Union (EU) is currently being exposed to strong integration dynamics. However, the full implications of such dynamics for the location of foreign direct investment (FDI) for both the European Union and the bordering countries are not understood. We construct a panel of more than 3500 European multinationals that have invested in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Mediterranean (MED) over the 1990–1997 period in 48 NACE 3 industries. After controlling for industry and time-specific effects, it is found that Central and Eastern Europe displays a greater potential in the attraction of FDI flows when compared to the Mediterranean region.     

Trust and corruption: The influence of positive and negative social capital on the economic development in the European Union

Why are the Scandinavian countries in the European Union significantly richer than Southern/Eastern European countries? We try to answer this question from an empirical social capital perspective. In particular, we are interested in the interplay of social trust as a positive and corruption as a negative manifestation of social capital. The opportunities to provide answers by multivariate modelling are, however, limited by several problems related to small sample size and low degrees of freedom. Regarding these problems, we test the interrelating influences between positive and negative social capital by applying a path model that accounts for Granger-like causal effects. Our empirical results, referring to a sample of up to 25 EU countries, show that corruption might harm poor European countries but is not able to affect social trust. However, corruption in itself means that resources end up in the wrong places and not in socioeconomically optimal investments. There is, therefore, a direct damaging effect of corruption on wealth. This implies that economic actors have to invest higher transaction and control costs which will bind resources to non-productive purposes and thus destroy economic wealth. Most remarkable is that the augmentation of positive social capital could work as an effective counterforce to corruption, even if it does not compensate for the economic loss caused by corruption. Thus, adding the social capital perspective may contribute to understanding present day variation in the wealth of European nations by the damaging effect of corrupt activities and/or the positive force of social trust.