Using data from 11 main manufacturing industries in 17 OECD countries, this paper empirically investigates the determinants of cross-country differences in the persistence of productivity differentials Specifically, we focus on the effects of product market structure and technology diffusion. It...

What is a good reduced-form representation of Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans. (RCK) model? Solow's model (despite non-optimizing agents) provides predictions largely consistent with a closed-economy RCK but fundamentally differs regarding open-economy income convergence. Where RCK predicts partial income...

The ultimate object of research concerning the Euro is to answer the following questions: (#1) What is the equilibrium trajectory of the nominal euro, measured as dollars/euro? (#2) To what extent has the equilibrium nominal euro been determined by relative prices (PPP), and to what extent has...

This paper studies the experiences with fiscal adjustments in the EuropeanUnion (EU) countries during the transition period to the Economic andMonetary Union (EMU). Using several approaches suggested in the literatureon fiscal adjustments and their macroeconomic effects and in the literatureon...

This paper explores the role that the imperfect knowledge of the structure of the economy plays in the uncertainty surrounding the effects of rule-based monetary policy on unemployment dynamics in the euro area and the US. We employ a Bayesian model averaging procedure on a wide range of models...

The empirical literature on economic growth and development has moved from the study of proximate determinants to the analysis of ever deeper, more fundamental factors, rooted in long-term history. A growing body of new empirical work focuses on the measurement and estimation of the effects of...

This study analyses the impact of economic catching-up on annual inflation rates in the European Union with a special focus on the new member countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Using an array of estimation methods, we show that the Balassa-Samuelson effect is not an important driver of...

We use Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to evaluate the robustness of determinants of economic growth in a new dataset of 255 European regions in the 1995-2005 period. We use three different specifications based on (1) the cross-section of regions, (2) the cross-section of regions with country...

The forces of the market and systems competition bring about economic and social convergence in Europe. There is no need for social policies at the EU level. Social harmonisation would distort migration flows and slow down the speed of economic convergence. National welfare states will be...