Textbook accounts of the Anglo-French trade agreement of 1860 argue that it heralded the beginning of a liberal trading order. This alleged success has much interest from a policy point of view: unlike modern GATT/WTO multilateral agreements, it rested on bilateral negotiations. But, in reality,...

In this paper we adopt both a nonparametric and a semi- parametric IV estimator to show that the relationship between inflation and output growth is non-linear and that there exists a threshold level below which ination has no e¤ects on growth.

The supposed undervaluation of the renminbi has been the subject of intensive academic research over the past few years. Using equilibrium exchange rate models (Purchasing Power Parity, BEER and FEER), many authors have concluded that the renminbi is undervalued by 15 to 30% against the dollar....

This paper addresses the issue of whether and by how much public investment or public capital can enhance economic performance. In comparison with the literature on the subject, we apply many different methodologies to answer these questions. A VAR model (for France, Italy, Germany, the UK and...

Réunifiée en droit mais profondément divisée en fait, parcourue de fractures nouvelles du fait même de son unité retrouvée, l’Union européenne ressemble en cette fin d’année 2006 à la ville de Berlin. Mais un élément décisif distingue la capitale fédérale allemande...

We argue that the efficiency of the Danish flexicurity Model, which combines high unemployment benefits with low job protection and high participation rate, relies on strong public-spiritedness. We also argue that Continental and Mediterranean European countries are unlikely to be able to...

This article reviews the literature on lobbying in the European Union. After initial surveys of the landscape of non-governmental actor participation, theoretical investigations have focused on the modes of network governance and later on the phenomenon of Europeanization. Yet studies have...

This paper tries to understand the adoption of different organisational forms by trade intermediaries. It does that by exploring their options in a coherent economic framework emphasizing the importance of paying transaction costs. It is based both on my knowledge of 18th century French traders...

The opening up of the UK residential electricity sector in 1999 prompted several studies of the impact this had on both the level and structuring of retail charges, and on incumbent players’ market power. Drawing on observations of regional tariffs for the month of January 2004, this paper...

On assiste entre 1982 et 2002 a une polarisation des emplois entre les ménages : l’emploi est de plus en plus inégalement réparti entre les ménages avec d’une part des ménages où tous les adultes travaillent et d’autre part des ménages où personne ne travaille. Ceci reste vrai...