Suchergebnisse

New evidence is presented on the degree of aggregate and sectoral labour productivity convergence among 11 EU countries between 1970 and 1990. As with studies for other groups of countries, it is found that there is a greater degree of aggregate than sectoral convergence. Aggregate productivity converged at 0.9 percent per annum, with agriculture and manufacturing both diverging and only services converging (0.6 percent p.a.). We contend that structural change provides one explanation for this finding. When measured as changes in sectoral employment shares, structural change accounted for between 50 percent and 66 percent of the overall rate of aggregate productivity convergence among the EU countries over the period. Countries with relatively low levels of aggregate productivity benefited most from structural change.

In this paper we test whether GDP series in 12 European Union countries are integrated or are stationary around a deterministic component that may change gradually and smoothly between two regimes over time. We find that in two‐thirds of cases there appears to be a role for modelling with deterministic functions that allow smooth transitions, in some cases standing alone, in others in conjunction with additional integrated regressors. These findings constitute a challenge to traditional approaches to modelling breaking‐trend behaviour in GDP, which typically impose the condition that breaks, when present, must occur instantaneously.

With trade in industrial products between the EU and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) now essentially free of tariff and non-tariff restrictions, the principal impact of accession to the EU on trade flows will be through access to the single market of the EU. A key element of this will be the removal of technical barriers to trade. In this article we try to highlight the potential importance of technical barriers to trade between the EU and the various CEECs, distinguishing between sectors according to the different approaches to the removal of these barriers in the EU: mutual recognition, detailed harmonization (old approach) and minimum requirements (new approach). We use two sources of information on technical regulations: a sectoral classification from a previous study of the impact of the single market and our own detailed translation of EU product-related directives into the relevant tariff codes. The analysis suggests that the importance of technical barriers varies considerably across the CEECs. The adjustment implications of access to the single market are likely to be greatest for those most advanced in their accession negotiations. (Journal of Common Market Studies / FUB)