This paper empirically investigates the effect of the EU-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) on manufacturing trade flows. By applying a state-of-the-art structural gravity model with intranational (i.e., domestic) trade and using disaggregated data, we quantify both the trade impact and the...

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the empirical relevance of real convergence on the process of nominal convergence for the new EU Member States. We discuss two of the main channels through which real convergence could affect relative prices with respect to the euro area: productivity...

Audiovisual services such as music and movies in digital formats have gained substantial importance over the last decade. This paper analyses audiovisual services in a gravity model framework. In particular, we explore the role of virtual proximity -- a new proxy for cultural proximity based on...

We show that the composition of imports has important implications for the optimal volatility of the exchange rate. Using input-output data for 25 countries we document substantial differences in the import and non-tradable content of final demand components, and in the role played by imported...

Media coverage of monetary policy actions is a central channel of a central bank's communication with the wider public, and thus an important factor for its credibility and policy effectiveness. This paper analyses the coverage which ECB monetary policy decisions receive in the print media, and...

Does the general public know what central banks do? Is this kind of knowledge relevant? Using a survey of Dutch households, we investigate these questions for the case of the European Central Bank (ECB). Our findings suggest that knowledge on the ECB's objectives is far from perfect. Both a weak...

The production of most goods and services is nowadays vertically fragmented across different countries, as global value chains (GVCs) emerged as the current paradigm for the international organisation of production. This paper surveys part of the growing empirical literature on GVCs, starting by...

Quantifying the effects of trade policy in the age of "global value chains" (GVCs) requires an enhanced analytical framework that takes the observed international input-output relations in due account. However, existing quantitative general equilibrium models generally assume that industry-level...

Quantifying the effects of trade policy in the age of 'global value chains' (GVCs) requires an enhanced analytical framework that takes the observed international input-output relations in due account. However, existing quantitative general equilibrium models generally assume that industry-level...

The production of most goods and services is nowadays vertically fragmented across different countries, as global value chains (GVCs) emerged as the current paradigm for the international organisation of production. This paper surveys part of the growing empirical literature on GVCs, starting by...