This paper reviews three models of foreign trade, including the Heckscher-Ohlin model, the new trade theory based on increasing returns to scale, and the model of economic geography and trade with agglomeration effects. It demonstrates that gravity models perform relatively well for...

The paper analyses the relations between foreign policy and export performance. The paper deals with exports of selected European countries and the USA to Middle Eastern countries including Israel. Cointegration analysis is used to identify common stochastic trends in export series. A long-term...

The aim of the paper is to analyse the factors behind the rapid trade integration of the Central and Eastern European countries with the euro area in the past ten years and to gauge the potential for further integration. We use as benchmark an enhanced gravity model estimated with a large sample...

The gravity model of trade is utilized to assess the impact of disintegration on trade. The analysis is based on three recent disintegration episodes involving the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. The results point to a very strong home bias around the time of disintegration,...

This article discusses the degree of trade restructuring between the EU and the new member states during the accession process. Intra-industry trade is selected as a composite indicator of trade structure. Factor endowments, market size and distance are the most important determinants of...

We review the literature on business cycle correlation between the euro area and the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), a topic that has gained attention as the newest EU members approach monetary union. Our meta-analysis of 35 identified publications suggests some CEECs already...

We assess the correlation of supply and demand shocks between current countries in the euro area and EU accession candidates from 1993/1995 to 2002. Supply and demand shocks are recovered from estimated structural VAR models of output growth and inflation. Notably, the economic slowdown between...

This series of enterprise case studies grew out from a 1995-1996 research project at IIASA. It acknowledged the importance of export development for the recovery of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe following their deep transformational recession in 1990-1994. The main goal was a...

We analyze the relationship between firm-specific shocks and aggregate fluctuations. In particular, profitability of firms affected by a negative shock worsens. To the extent that the banks cannot distinguish between aggregate and firm-specific profitability shocks, they will adjust interest...