Recent evidence on the respective contributions of institutions and trade to income levels across countries has demonstrated that - once endogeneity is considered - institutional quality clearly dominates the effect of trade. We argue that overall trade is not the most appropriate measure for...

The paper explores the linkage between income growth rates and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. So far the evidence is rather mixed, as no robust relationship between FDI and income growth has been established. We argue that countries need a sound business environment in the form of good...

This paper uses a gravity model to forecast the potential impact on trade balances and trade patterns of the 2004 EU enlargement. The results suggest that gross trade creation for the accession economies is about 25 per cent of their 2003 trade. Although membership of the EU creates trade it...