Everything All Right at the Internal EU Borders? The Ambivalent Effects of Cross-Border Integration and the Rise of Euroscepticism

ABSTRACT

The policy of the European Union, which promotes a vision of Europe without borders and has fostered the development of cooperation across borders over 25 years, has led, in some parts of Europe, to the emergence of so-called integrated cross-border regions. Thus far, the increase of cross-border flows and interactions has always been a normative and almost unquestioned policy paradigm. However, tendencies of re-bordering and signs of growing Euroscepticism can also be observed nowadays in these border regions, which show the importance of investigating the negative externalities that can be generated by cross-border integration. This article attempts to do this by focusing on three case studies usually considered as among the most integrated ones in Europe because of cross-border flows related to work: the cross-border metropolitan regions of Basel, Geneva and Luxembourg. Our findings show that if several decades of cross-border integration have led to the reinforcement of the functional linkages between the border regions, some effects of the cross-border integration process have also created a functional specialisation of space that relies on social and economic inequalities. Such a situation contradicts the ideal of cross-border territorial cohesion and helps to better understand the rise of Euroscepticism in some of the border areas.     

A dynamic theory of the declining aggregated labor income share: Intangible capital vs. tangible capital

Reports of the literature documenting the declining labor share of income have increased greatly in the past few years, which is opposed to one of the famous “Kaldor's stylized facts” of growth. The declining labor income share has been observed since the 1980s in a number of countries, and especially in the United States. Recent studies have revealed the following five major driving forces of the declining labor share: (i) supercycles and boom-busts, (ii) rising and faster depreciation, (iii) superstar effects and consolidation, (iv) capital substitution and automation, and (v) globalization and labor bargaining power. We set up a two-sector optimal growth model with the R&D intermediate sectors producing intangible capital. By integrating driving factors (ii) through (iv) above into the model, we demonstrate the long-run decline of the aggregated labor income share.     

THE ROLE OF THE SERVICE SECTOR IN THE ECONOMY OF METROPOLITAN GENEVA, 1975–1985

Modern production systems are characterized by the growth of service industries and the increasing interdependence between services and the production of goods. Further, current research is becoming increasingly concerned with the strategic role of certain service functions in the process of economic growth. In this paper we examine these phenomena in the specific context of the economic structure and evolution of metropolitan Geneva. We begin by presenting an alternative typology of economic activity, and then employ this typology to examine three aspects of Geneva's economic structure: its configuration in 1985; its evolution over the period 1975–1985; and intrametropolitan shifts of economic activity. Finally, we compare Geneva to other metropolitan areas and cities in Switzerland, France, and Canada, in order to demonstrate the universality of the processes taking place.     

Around Europe: Business Ethics in France: Framework for Future Developments

What are the economic, cultural and philosophical conditions in which French business ethics can develop and flourish? After a career in business, the author is now a Jesuit priest working in the social analysis programme PROJET in Paris.     

An index formula for production economies with externalities

We prove that the degree of the equilibrium correspondence of an economy with increasing returns and external effects is equal to (−1)^L−1${(-1)}^{L-1}$ where L is the dimension of the space of goods. This allows us to infer existence, finiteness and uniqueness results.     

Functions and actors of inland ports: European and North American dynamics

The emergence of inland ports took place in several regions around the world, notably where the growth of inland freight distribution required a massification of flows. Yet, there is no definitive consensus about how such inland facilities should be labeled, with terms such as dry ports being advocated. It is suggested in the paper that the term inland port is a more appropriate construct since it considers terminal activities as well as the crucial logistics activities taking place in co-location or in proximity of inland terminals. This perspective requires the investigation of how transport and supply chain functions and the various actors involved in their setting and operations are taking shape in inland ports. Case studies pertaining to European and North American inland ports are presented. Although inland ports are planned, set and operated by a wide variety of actors, ranging from public to private interests, transport and supply chain functions tend to label them as satellite terminals, load centers or transmodal centers.     

Liquidity-saving mechanisms in collateral-based RTGS payment systems

This paper studies banks’ incentives regarding the timing of payment submissions in a collateral-based RTGS payment system and how these incentives change with the introduction of a liquidity-saving mechanism (LSM). We show that an LSM allows banks to economise on collateral while also providing incentives to submit payments earlier. This is because in our model an LSM allows payments to be matched and offset in real time without any or very minimal funds. Under a collateral-based RTGS payment system, introduction of the LSM always improves welfare. The result contrasts with earlier work, which shows that under a fee-based RTGS system, the introduction of an LSM in some circumstances may reduce welfare.