Suchergebnisse

The role of low-carbon energy and trade on the environment has drawn several studies that have looked at issues from different perspectives, thus yielding differing conclusions. Considering the current emphasis on the COP25 conference and the commitment to cut down emissions this study is a timely outlook that underpins the case of the European Union (EU) countries. Hence, we investigate the connection between alternative and sustainable energy sources, trade, income, and emissions in 27 selected European Union economies by utilizing data covering the period 1990-2017. We used second-generation panel model estimators to analyze the relationship between the variables in the long run. In specific, the long run results from the MG (Mean Group), AMG (Augmented Mean Group), and CCEMG (Common Correlated Effects Mean Group) estimators reveal that sustainable and alternative energy sources have a negative significant impact on pollutant emissions while trade and income have a positive impact on pollutant emissions except that the impact of trade is insignificant. Although the positive impact of openness in trade on carbon emission is insignificant, the positive impact suggests that the free-trade policy that is currently in place in the EU should further incorporate sustainable development goals (SDGs) to avoid the outsourcing of carbon emissions among the member countries. Causality tests reveal a feedback hypothesis between renewable energy, income, trade, and carbon emanations. The investigation proposes the expanded utilization of sustainable power sources to mitigate carbon emissions in the European Union.

This paper reviews selected aspects of economic relations between the EU and Russia, focusing on the impact that the last two waves of EU enlargement have had on Russia, as well as the role of the euro in Russia. The analysis suggests that if EU enlargement has had any diversion effects on trade between the EU and Russia at all, they have been minimal, while robust growth in both the EU and Russia, as well as high oil and gas prices, has boosted trade. Likewise, FDI to and from Russia has increased, with the direct impact of enlargement again difficult to disentangle from other factors. Use of the euro by Russian residents and authorities in international transactions has increased, albeit at an uneven pace. While, in general, the US dollar remains the major foreign currency used by Russian residents, the euro has gained importance as an anchor and reserve currency in Russian exchange rate policies. This has happened in the context of an overall monetary policy strategy aiming at a gradual shift from an exchange rate-oriented monetary policy to inflation targeting.

This paper presents an analysis framework of the trade dilemma faced by global hegemony. It argues that maintaining global hegemony and addressing domestic conflicts simultaneously is a challenging task. Since the 1980s, the United States has prioritized the expansion of transnational capital, often at the expense of domestic vulnerable industries and the interests of low-skilled workers. This unbalanced development has led to intensified social contradictions within the United States. To resolve these conflicts, the US has shifted from reciprocal globalization deals to self-interested hybrid deals, aiming to uphold the interests of transnational capital while also addressing the concerns of workers. The negotiation experiences of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) demonstrate this mode of the US trade policy. While this strategy may repair the domestic political foundation, it leads to new challenges for the US, such as discontent and resistance from the international community, or encountering difficulties in promoting cooperation with US trading partners. These challenges will pose a threat to the long-term stability of the international economic order.

Specialisation and trade are major sources of productivity increases, and therefore of welfare gains. With reference to the Netherlands this paper discusses how (international) fragmentation of production and outsourcing may enhance productivity. In order to promote further specialisation and trade, innovations which lead to lower transaction costs - trade innovations - are needed. When trading countries, which are likely to have a comparative advantage in reducing transaction costs, focus on the coordination function in the production chain, they are able to internalize part of the welfare gains from increased trade. Infrastructure and knowledge investments that reduce transaction costs, the so called trade capital, partly have the character of a public good. Moreover, trade innovations bring about positive externalities, which is another reason for government intervention and for linking trade and innovation policy. From this perspective the paper gives some policy recommendations.