Using a gravity model for 35 countries and the years 1995-2006 we estimate the impact of regional trade agreements in Africa (in particular ECOWAS and SADC) and compare this to the a benchmark of North South trade integration (Europe's preferential trade agreement). We find that - ECOWAS and...

The authors investigate the influence of case selection and (re)coding for two vintages of a key resource for research on economic sanctions: the Peterson Institute data base reported in Hufbauer et al. (Economic Sanctions Reconsidered, 2nd edition in 1990 and 3rd edition in 2007). The Peterson...

The focus of this paper is on the use of the yield curve in monetary policy making. Theoretical arguments and a multi-country empirical analysis with an explicit focus on the euro area suggest the need for caution in case the Eurosystem uses the yield curve as an information variable for...

This paper introduces the Werden-Froeb Index (WFI) to assist in evaluating merger-specific efficiencies in horizontal mergers. The index measures the weighted average reduction in marginal costs required to restore pre-merger equilibrium prices and quantities after the (full or partial) merger...

Über den Informationsgehalt der Zinsertragskurve: Lektionen für das Eurowährungssystem? Der Schwerpunkt dieses Beitrags liegt auf der Nutzung der Zinsertragskurve für Zwecke der geldpolitischen Gestaltung. Theoretische Argumente und eine mehrere Länder umfassende, explizit auf das...

Countries are heterogeneous both internally and externally in many ways, as is widely accepted in the policy arena. The booming literature on firm heterogeneity remains under-developed regarding the degree of firm heterogeneity in developing countries and the relationship between firm...