This paper focuses on the growth and convergence of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European EU countries (CESEE). We argue that the factors behind the pre-crisis growth model of the region - skilled yet affordable labour force, foreign direct investment, imports of productivity-enhancing...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is generally considered a driving factor to economic growth. Nevertheless, empirical evidence is rather mixed, reporting a positive, neutral, or even negative relationship of FDI with growth. Our investigation concentrates on the impact of FDI inflows on growth...

Promoting investment in energy efficiency has become increasingly important over the past decade. It is heavily discussed in the context of the EU 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, and at the core of the EU 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. While the budget allocation and the energy...

This report looks at employer - provided training in Europe. We start with a brief outline of the economic theory of training. We then look at the recent facts, by combining data from two employer surveys, the European Investment Bank's Investment Survey (EIBIS) and Eurostat's Continuous...

This study sheds light on the effect of restrictive policies, such as screening mechanisms, on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) flows into EU Member States in the period 2011-2018, by implementing an augmented gravity model. The results show that different restrictive measures affect cross-border...

Data and information are fundamental pieces for effective evidence-based policy making and provision of public services. In recent years, some private firms have been collecting large amounts of data, which, were they available to governments, could greatly improve their capacity to take better...

We look at the impact of intermediated funding provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the 28 member countries of the European Union between 2008 and 2014. We use a combination of propensity score matching and...

Using panel data on Egyptian firms to explore cyclical and structural determinants of access to finance, we find that firms with more educated and more experienced managers are more likely to open a checking account, often a prerequisite for obtaining credit. Firms that started operating in the...