We re-address the tradeoff between centralized and decentralized decision making of local policies when policymakers are subject to capture by special interest groups. In particular, we consider the case where lobbies have private information about their ability to exert influence. We find a new...

This paper evaluates the robustness of trade liberalization in Central Europe and the role of the Europe Agreements (EAs) in institutionalizing this process. It finds a) that institutions are still fragile in Central Europe; b) that the EAs are not a great force for liberalism (on either side);...

This paper discusses the Europe Agreements, implicit trade preferences given to the Central and East European countries (CEECs) and their impact on European Community (EC) members. As expected, South European countries compete in the same range of products and in a more similar quality market...

This paper constructs a simulation model of the EC footwear market with which to consider the effects of EC trade policies. It examines the Southern enlargement of the EC, the quotas imposed on Korean and Taiwanese sales - initially in France and Italy and subsequently, in line with the `1992'...

This paper analyses the political economy of trade liberalization by the European Community towards Eastern nations. We identify the sectors that are both sensitive and politically effective. We find that Eastern nations may have a comparative advantage in industries that use capital and...

The theoretical literature follows two different approaches to explain the endogenous formation of a Customs Union (CU). The first one explains CU formation through the willingness of integrating partners to exploit terms-of-trade effects. Indeed, as the union forms, the 'domestic market' gets...

This Paper considers the spatial distribution of economic activities in the European Union. It has three main aims: (i) to describe the data that is available in the EU and give some idea of the rich spatial data sets that are fast becoming available at the national level; (ii) to present...

East Asia has rapidly become the third centre of gravity for global economic activity. North America is relatively well integrated with East Asia, but Europe is not. This paper explores the extent to which economic growth and trade policy developments over the next decade or so will strengthen...

The recent theoretical literature on the determinants of trade agreements has stressed the importance of political gains, such as credibility, as a rationale for trade agreements. The empirical literature, however, has lagged behind in the estimation of the economic gains or losses associated...