城市户外广告监管的多元互动

基于城市户外广告媒体监管机制的文献梳理和现实回顾,分析了城市户外广告的监管主体和监管机制,阐述了城市户外广告媒体监管的不确定性风险,即政府俘获造成寻租风险,资源开发造成产权风险,特许经营造成市场风险,并结合监管过程中的治理冲突,尝试构建城市户外广告监管的协作性公共管理系统。该系统以政府、行业与公众三方互动为输入,通过协作性管理的转换机制输出良好的广告秩序和经济效益,实现治理模式从单一垄断向多元互动模式的转变。     

Structural current accounts in the European Union countries: cross-sectional exploration

This paper investigates structural determinants of the current account balance and assesses whether the current accounts in the European Union countries were consistent with the calculated structural current accounts between 1995 and 2017. We estimate current account regressions using cross-sectional data for 94 countries in 2008–2016 and confirm the main findings with panel data estimates. We document that the current account depends on the real exchange rate in a nonlinear way. The real exchange rate affects the current account at low income levels, but it ceases to be important at high income levels. Based on structural current account estimates for the European Union countries, we document that after the 2008 crisis current accounts adjusted towards structural current accounts in deficit countries, but persisted above structural current accounts in surplus countries.     

Regional wages and market potential in the enlarged EU: an empirical investigation

This article empirically analyses the link between market potential and regional wages in the enlarged EU. We contribute to the existing literature in several ways: (1) we analyse the link between market potential and wages for the EU27 and (2) deconstruct total market potential into several geographical components and analyse their respective contributions to explaining the geographical wage structure. We correct for existing spatial autocorrelation and endogeneity by using an instrumental variable generalized spatial two-stage least squares (IV GS2SLS).     

Synchronization and diversity in business cycles: a network analysis of the European Union

In this article, we use a correlation matrix and its internal networks to analyse business cycle synchronization across Europe since 2000. This methodology allows us to summarize individual country interactions and co-movements while also capturing the existing heterogeneity of connectivity within the European economic system. Our results indicate that synchronization of the euro zone countries remained stable from 1999 until the current financial crisis, after which co-movements increased sharply and synchronization rose to the highest in the time sample. By endogenously identifying clusters of countries with close connections in their business cycle, we also refute the commonly accepted notion of identifiable core and peripheral euro zone countries.     

Are EU trade preferences really effective? An impact evaluation assessment of the Southern Mediterranean Countries’ case

This work assesses the causal impact of the EU trade preferences granted to the Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs) in agriculture and fishery products over the period 2004–2014. It overcomes some of the weaknesses of previous assessments and presents several methodological improvements. Firstly, it relies on a continuous treatment – i.e. preferential margins – to capture the ‘average treatment effect’ of trade preferences, rather than on a binary treatment based on dummy variables. Secondly, it uses highly disaggregated data at sectoral level in order to evaluate properly the preferential treatment. Thirdly, it applies a non-parametric matching technique for continuous treatment – specifically, a generalized propensity score matching. The results show, on the one hand, that the impact of the EU preferences is positive and significant on SMCs trade and is better evaluated using impact evaluation techniques. On the other hand, they demonstrate that the relationship between preferences and trade flows is asymmetric and warn against the risk of providing too much of a good thing. These results raise important issues for policy-making. First, they demonstrate that raising the level of preferences is not the solution to foster the SMCs trade towards EU. Second, that the policy-makers should put more emphasis on complementary factors other than trade barriers.     

Financialisation and Real Investment in the European Union: Beneficial or Prejudicial Effects?

This article presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between financialisation and real investment for non-financial corporations using panel data composed of 27 European Union countries over 19 years (1995 to 2013). On the one hand, financialisation leads to a rise in financial investments, diverting funds from real investments (‘crowding out’ effect); on the other, pressures from shareholders to intensify financial payments restrict the funds available for new real investments. We estimate an aggregate investment equation with the traditional variables (lagged investment, profitability, debt, cost of capital, corporate savings and output growth) and two further measures of financialisation (financial receipts and financial payments). The findings demonstrate that financialisation has damaged real investment in European Union countries, mainly through the channel of financial payments, either by interest or dividend payments. It is also found that the prejudicial effects of financialisation on investment were more severe in the pre-2007 crisis period. It is concluded that financialisation contributed to a slowdown of real investment by 1 to 8 per cent in the full and pre-crisis period, respectively. During the pre-crisis period, financialisation was the main driver of the slowdown of investment in the European Union.     

The nonobserved economy in the European Union

To better understand the share of the nonobserved economy (NOE) in the European Union, especially on the PIIGS, we estimate, through the multiple indicators multiple causes model, the path between 1980 and 2013. The model includes (i) the tax burden (disaggregated into direct and indirect taxes), a proxy of regulation burden, the unemployment rate and self-employment as causes of the NOE economy; (ii) the GDP and the labour force participation ratio as indicators of the NOE economy. In particular, the estimated weight of NOE as a percentage of official GDP was always higher in the PIIGS group.     

The role of global financial conditions for credit supply in EMU periphery countries

The article analyses the role of global financial conditions for credit supply and growth performance in individual member states of the European Monetary Union (EMU). In line with the risk-taking channel of monetary policy, we find that in the short run, the Fed and European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate policy compensate for changes in global risk assessment thereby supporting net private credit flows to the European periphery. However, in later periods, a worsened risk sentiment weighs on credit flows to these countries. In contrast, EMU core countries are generally less affected by global financial shocks. This asymmetric influence of global conditions on EMU member states are smoothed by the uniform access of commercial banks to the Eurosystem’s open market operations in conjunction with the redistribution of liquidity via the TARGET mechanism.     

欧盟在巴以和平进程中的作用分析

欧盟积极参与巴以谈判和巴以冲突危机处理,以经济和财政支持为主要手段、构建区域合作机制,为缓和巴以关系创造条件,提供多层次平台,积极帮助解决巴以冲突问题。然而,由于巴以矛盾的复杂性、欧盟成员国缺乏采取共同行动的政治意愿、加之美国对巴以和平进程的掌控,欧盟的影响力受到限制。在中东变局下,欧盟有必要联合中国和俄罗斯组成平衡美以关系的国际力量,提出新的巴以和平计划,为推动巴以和平进程发挥独特作用。     

欧盟碳税政策的经验与启示

随着全球气候变化带来的恶劣影响进一步加剧,减缓和适应气候变化已成为世界各国所关心的重要议题。越来越多的国家采取了各种温室气体减排措施,征收碳税就是其中之一。目前欧盟一些国家已实行碳税,并取得了一定的效果。以芬兰、丹麦、瑞典和英国为例,对这四个国家的碳税情况进行比较分析,以期对中国有所启示。