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One of the strongest stylized facts of the transition is also one of the most unexpected: after 1989 Central and Eastern European and Former Soviet Union countries diverged massively. Institutions are a main reason. The EU anchor thesis posits that the prospect of membership in the European Union (EU) played a key role in filling in the institutional vacuum that followed the collapse of socialism. This chapter examines this thesis and assesses the relevant bodies of evidence, focusing on whether the prospect of EU membership accelerated institutional development and, if so, whether this was indeed associated with improved economic outcomes.

This paper surveys the economics academic literature on Brexit. It is organised in: pillars, channels, and consequences. The two building blocks to understand Brexit are the economic history of the UK-EU relationship and the literature on the political economy of globalisation and populism. The paper then reviews the evidence on the standard mechanisms through which the UK benefited from EU integration (trade, migration and FDI). Next it surveys the short-run effects of the vote and discuss expected long-term consequences of "Brexit proper." It concludes by identifying some main gaps in the economics literature on Brexit.

Given the severity and length of the Great Recession, whether or not Europe needs more or less integration is a much less consequential discussion than that Europe needs better and more effective integration. In this policy brief, we argue that taking stock of the integration experience may be the key to support the search for novel and more effective policy initiatives, resume growth and leave the current crisis behind. The brief presents three historical examples that illustrate the power deep integration has had in propelling the European project. The first demonstrates how deep integration contributed significantly to stop the relative economic decline of the United Kingdom (UK) vis-à-vis the EU founding members. We suggest EU membership played a greater role in this respect than Thatcher's reforms. The second example displays how deep integration drove increases in labor productivity in Sweden, Austria and Finland (which gained unrestricted access to the Single Market by joining the European Economic Area, EEA, in 1994 and later the EU in 1995) compared to similar developments in Norway (which joined only the EEA in 1994). The third example draws from the experience of the Central European new member members to illustrate that a crucial (yet less appreciated than trade openness, foreign investment and migration) mechanism to these advancements has been the ability of deep integration to increase State capacity and hence to shore up positive institutional change.

This note argues that one should lay the focus of future European growth policy on integration and technology. This focus should be on maximising the growth effects of their interaction, with an emphasis on the importance of deep integration. The note provides three examples that show how deep integration has contributed to stop the relative economic decline in the UK vis-à-vis the EU founding members; how deep integration increased productivity in Sweden, Austria, and Finland compared to that in Norway; and how a key mechanism to advancements in the new EU member states has been the capacity of deep integration to generate institutional change.

The author presents measures with which to map institution building during the transition from centrally planned to market economies. Data collection and indicators are measured in terms of five institutional dimensions of governance: a) accountability; b) quality of the bureaucracy; c) rule of law; d) character of policy-making process; and e) strength of civil society. The author highlights the differences over time and between Central and Eastern European countries and those of the former Soviet Union. In terms of effects of per capita income and school enrollment, he finds the rule of law to be the most important institutional dimension, both for the sample as a whole and for differences between the two regions. In terms of life expectancy, however, the quality of the bureaucracy plays the most crucial role. One important message the author draws from the results is that institutions do change over time and are by no means as immutable as the literature has suggested. The range of feasible policy choices (for changing institutions) may be much wider than is often assumed.

Intro -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1 Introduction -- 2 UK Economic Growth Performance in a European Context: Has EU Membership Made Much Difference? -- 1 Introduction -- 2 European Economic Integration, Trade and Growth: An Overview -- 3 The Golden Age of European Growth, 1950-1973 -- 4 After the Golden Age, Before the Crisis -- 5 Implications of Brexit -- 6 Conclusions -- References -- 3 How Does European Integration Work? Lessons from Revisiting the British Relative Economic Decline -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Why Did Britain Join the EU? -- 3 How and Why Did Britain Benefit from EU Integration? -- 4 A Political Economy Explanation -- 5 Conclusions -- References -- 4 European Monetary Integration and the EU-UK Relationship -- 1 Introduction -- 2 European Economic Integration -- 2.1 Lessons from the Inter-war Period -- 2.2 From the Treaty of Rome to the Vote for Brexit -- 3 Understanding Integration -- 3.1 Theory Behind Economic Integration -- 3.1.1 Openness -- 3.1.2 Flexibility -- 3.1.3 Symmetry -- 3.2 The EMU Convergence Criteria: A Second Look -- 4 Towards a GEMU -- 4.1 Is "Completing" the EMU Compatible with Dropping the "Ever Closer Union" Clause? -- 5 Looking forward -- 6 Conclusion -- References -- 5 The UK Financial Sector and EU Integration After Brexit: The Issue of Passporting -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Development of London's Position -- 3 The Passport -- 4 Banking Versus Insurance -- 5 Wholesale Banking -- 6 Infrastructure -- 7 Trading -- 8 Concluding Remarks and Future Relationship with the EU -- Acknowledgement -- References -- 6 Foreign Direct Investment and the Relationship Between the United Kingdom and the European Union -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Background on FDI, Trade and the European Union: Recent Developments -- 2.1 The Impact of FDI -- 2.2 Methodological Developments in the FDI Literature

"The UK-EU economic relationship has never been more important but also more uncertain. For anyone seeking perspective, this book is the essential guide." Barry Eichengreen, George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley "Brexit is an earthquake for the UK and EU. This timely book helps us understand how the economic plates will shift" John Van Reenen, Professor at MIT Economics Department and Sloan Management School "UK-EU relations were never calm but even so Brexit is a big shock. The authors of this splendid book explain how the relationship has evolved and how Brexit will change it, potentially radically." André Sapir, University Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and former Economic Advisor to the President of the European Commission. This book brings together contributions from leading scholars around the world on the most relevant and pressing economic themes surrounding the UK-EU relationship. With contributions spanning from the UK's accession to the bloc to the aftermath of its decision to leave, the book explores key themes in UK economic growth and EU membership, international trade, foreign direct investment, financial markets and migration. Chapters interrogate the history of the relationship, the depth of foreign direct investment, and responses to the financial crisis. Considering both the history and future of UK and EU relations, the book is a relevant and timely volume that gives welcome context to a fast-changing relationship.--

This paper investigates the role of structural reforms -financial reforms, trade liberalization, and privatization- as determinants of FDI inflows based on newly constructed dataset on structural reforms for 19 Latin American and 25 Eastern European countries between 1989 and 2004. Our main finding is a strong empirical relationship from reforms to FDI, in particular, from financial liberalization and privatization. These results are robust to different measures of reforms, split samples, and potential endogeneity and omitted variables biases

Despite numerous studies about core-periphery in monetary unions, few focus on their dynamics. This paper (i) presents new theory-based, continuous and dynamic measures of the probability of a country being classified as core or periphery; (ii) estimates the determinants of the changes in this probability over time and across countries; and (iii) uses the Phillips-Sul convergence panel framework to investigate the behaviour of core and periphery groups over time. Our main results indicate that the post-EMU decrease of the core-periphery gap that we document was mainly driven by the adoption of the euro and by increasing competition (lower mark-ups).

We investigate whether and how economic integration increases state capacity. This important relationship has not been studied in detail so far. We put together a conceptual framework that highlights what we call the Montesquieu, Weber and Smith channels to guide our analysis. Each of these corresponds to a series of mechanisms in three distinct institutional arenas: judiciary, bureaucracy and competition policy. To test our framework, we introduce a new panel of institutional reform measures that allow us to investigate how changes in these three arenas interact with each other and what sequence of changes yields increases in state capacity. The yearly data set covers all the 17 candidate countries to join the European Union (EU) after the 1995 enlargement. Deep integration, we find, can induce broad institutional change by providing incentives for simultaneous change in core state institutions. Bureaucratic independence and judicial capacity seem to be the key engine of the process engendered by the prospect of EU membership. Yet early and abrupt removal of external anchors might generate significant backsliding, or reversals, in domestic institutional change.

Published online 10 October 2018 ; We investigate whether and how economic integration increases state capacity. This important relationship has not been studied in detail so far. We put together a conceptual framework that highlights what we call the Montesquieu, Weber and Smith channels to guide our analysis. Each of these corresponds to a series of mechanisms in three distinct institutional arenas: judiciary, bureaucracy and competition policy. To test our framework, we introduce a new panel of institutional reform measures that allow us to investigate how changes in these three arenas interact with each other and what sequence of changes yields increases in state capacity. The yearly data set covers all the 17 candidate countries to join the European Union (EU) after the 1995 enlargement. Deep integration, we find, can induce broad institutional change by providing incentives for simultaneous change in core state institutions. Bureaucratic independence and judicial capacity seem to be the key engine of the process engendered by the prospect of EU membership. Yet early and abrupt removal of external anchors might generate significant backsliding, or reversals, in domestic institutional change. ; EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and DemonstrationEuropean Union (EU)