Suchergebnisse

Auf beiden Seiten des Atlantiks entstehen bzw. erweitern sich Handelsblöcke, die jeweils auf ein wirtschaftliches Zentrum ausgerichtet sind: die EU auf der östlichen und die USA auf der westlichen Seite. Handelspolitisch stehen die Blöcke unter dem Dach der Welthandelsorganisation WTO; dies soll Abschottung bzw. Antagonismus verhindern. Welche aktuellen Entwicklungen gibt es auf beiden Seiten? Wo liegen die Querverbindungen und Schnittstellen zwischen den regionalen Handelsblöcken? Welche Konflikte bestehen zur Zeit in den transatlantischen Handelsbeziehungen?

In 2012, 22 EU countries signed the Fiscal Compact, an intergovernmental agreement aimed at backing EU fiscal rules with national arrangements. The main objective of the Compact was to strengthen compliance. Based on a survey of national independent fiscal institutions, we take a closer look at the correction mechanism, the core of the Fiscal Compact. As the name suggests, the correction mechanism is meant to automatically trigger fiscal adjustment in case public finances deviate from 'the path of virtue'. While design choices vary considerably across countries, a cluster analysis reveals distinct patterns. In particular, better compliance tend to be associated with a superior design of the correction mechanism, higher government efficiency and a stronger media presence of independent fiscal institutions. Economic growth can make up for a less sophisticated design. Additional inferential analysis confirms the link between compliance, design and other relevant valiables. Our survey also indicates that many countries have linked the trigger of the correction mechanism to formal decisions at the EU level rather than to independent assessors at the national level. This choice defeats the original purpose of correction mechanisms, namely to decouple key fiscal policy decisions from political considerations and discretion.

SummaryThis paper investigates the impact of Chinese activities in sub‐Saharan African countries with respect to the growth performance of economies in that region. Using a Solow‐type growth model and panel data for the period 1991 to 2010, we find that African economies that export natural resources have benefited from positive terms‐of‐trade effects. In addition, there is evidence for displacement effects of African firms due to competition from China. On the other hand, Chinese foreign investment and aid in Africa does not appear to have a significant impact on African growth.