Convergence in human capital is a key precondition to achieve income convergence in the European Union; however, so far research on this topic has nearly been absent. Our paper contributes to the literature by investigating the human capital convergence dynamics within the EU over the period...

It is argued that the European Union and the Eurozone in particular are only able to survive if they succeed in avoiding and/or overcoming real divergence and excessive macroeconomic disequilibria. The mainstream view in economics is that a monetary union is only efficient or rather sustainable...

This paper focuses on the challenges China is confronted with in the context of structural change. It first shows that the service sector in China is ‘relatively small’ compared with other developed and developing countries in their historical context of structural change. Then it discusses...

There is nowadays a wide consensus among economists that central banks should be independent. The substantiation of this claim was derived from the modern theory of monetary policy and from empirical experiences with central bank independence, both concentrated on developed industrial countries....