This paper proposes a new approach to EMU governance and integration consisting of the following elements: (i) an optimal use of the existing EU institutional framework for economic, fiscal and financial policies is necessary and possible at each level of EMU integration that is politically...

This paper, drawing on the lessons from the sovereign debt crisis, tries to give answers to some key questions: Was the strategy and specific actions to cope with the crisis appropriate? Was the priority given to preserving financial stability justified? Are stability and growth objectives...

The Greek Shipping Estimation Model aims to provide a coherent statistical framework for the estimation of Balance of Payments (BoP) items related to shipping activity, based on administrative sources and commercial databases. Given the multi-territorial nature of the shipping sector and its...

This paper examines the role of ERM II in the convergence effort of the new Member States, against the background of past convergence experience and in the light of EU rules for economic and monetary policy. Key aspects of the mechanism are analysed, including the appropriate timing and duration...

This paper, after reviewing briefly the early steps of European monetary integration and key elements of the EMU project as reflected in the Treaty of Maastricht, analyses the monetary integration strategy and convergence experience of member states, in particular that of Greece, in the 1990s...

The paper analyses initiatives undertaken to contain the impact of the sovereign debt crisis and improve economic governance in emu and examines further some fundamental questions about emu’s sustainability looking at emu’s performance for far and at its main strengths and weaknesses. A...

Purpose: Unrealistic optimism is all around us, and it is a well-documented psychological phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to take a critical approach of the main research done in the area and to analyze the important impact that it has in many economic and managerial contexts. We also...

Subjects who overestimate their performance in experimental tasks unrelated to travel are less willing to insure against failing in the task and also less inclined to buy travel insurance. This suggests intrinsic optimism influences insurance demand and diminishes adverse selection

This article analyzes the political origins of differences in adherence to the fiscal framework of the European Union (EU). It shows how incentives to use fiscal policy for electoral purposes and limited budget transparency at the national level, combined with the need to respond to fiscal rules...

Between 1993 and April 1999 there was no minimum wage in the United Kingdom (except in agriculture). In this paper we study the effects of the introduction of a National Minimum Wage (NMW) in April 1999 on one heavily affected sector, the residential care homes industry. This sector contains a...