There is a well-established literature on border effects covering trade between regions separated by a land border; however that literature has not so far considered the case of regions separated by a sea border. Whilst the former is typically studied as a political border that affects adjacent...

Trade between regions separated by a sea border is affected by specific transport costs that have not been considered by the border effects literature. Among these are the existence of a time barrier, the need to combine different transport modes, or to pay fees and taxes for the use of public...

This study addresses the question of why some countries import more R&D- intensive goods than others. Using a panel data set of 80 countries for the period 1970 to 1995, results indicate that domestic investment, FDI and the quality of intellectual property rights (IPR) systems positively affect...

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...

We empirically analyse the impact of trade on income levels in sub-Saharan African countries. The results indicate that the linkage between these two variables is negative for these countries. This outcome may explain the negative sign of the Africa dummy in income (or growth) regressions.

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...

The economic effects of the migration of skilled workers from developing countries are highly controversial in the theoretical literature. Traditional models on the brain drain phenomenon stress the negative impact on growth, while new models introduce the possibility of a brain gain for labor...

We examine the empirical relationship between the migration rate of skilled workers and human capital formation in developing countries. In particular, we revisit Beine, Docquier and Rapoport (2007), who find evidence of an incentive effect. Our results suggest that an incentive effect is weak...

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...

We empirically analyse the impact of trade on income levels in the sub-Saharan Africa countries. The results indicate that the linkage between both variables is negative for these countries. This outcome may explain the negative sign of the Africa dummy in income (or growth) regressions.