Suchergebnisse

Why do borders still matter for economic activity? The reunification of Germany in 1990 provides a unique natural experiment for examining the effect of political borders on trade both in the cross-section and over time. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rapid formation of a political and economic union, strong and strictly enforced administrative barriers to trade between East Germany and West Germany were eliminated completely within a very short period of time. The evolution of intra-German trade flows after reunification then provides new insights for both the globalization and border effects literatures. Our estimation results show a remarkable persistence in intra-German trade patterns along the former East-West border; political integration is not rapidly followed by economic integration. Instead, we estimate that it takes at least one generation (between 33 and 40 years or more) to remove the impact of political borders on trade. This finding strongly suggests that border effects are neither statistical artefacts nor mainly driven by administrative or "red tapeʺ barriers to trade, but arise from economic fundamentals.

International trade patterns at the product level are surprisingly dynamic. The majority of trade relationships exist for just a few, often only one to three, years. In this paper, I examine empirically the duration in German import trade at the 8-digit product level from 1995 to 2005. I find that survival probabilities are affected by exporter characteristics, product type and market structure. Specifically, I show that the duration of exporting a product to Germany is longer for products obtained from countries that are economically large and geographically close to Germany; for products with large trade value and a low elasticity of substitution; and for trade pairs that command a large share of the German import market and are characterized by two-way trade. -- Survival ; product ; relationship ; pattern

The Group of Eight (G8) is an unofficial forum of the heads of state of the eight leading industrialized countries. In this paper, I examine the effect of the G8 (and its predecessor, the G7) on international trade. I use a gravity model of trade; the panel data set covers bilateral trade between 175 countries from 1948 through 1999. I find that membership in the G7/G8 is consistently associated with a strong positive effect on trade. -- institution ; organization ; agreement ; international ; multilateral ; summit

Politicians travel extensively abroad, for various reasons. One purpose of external visits is to improve bilateral economic relations. In this paper, I examine the effect of state visits on international trade. I use a large data set covering the travel activities of the heads of state of France, Germany and the United States between 1948 and 2003. My results indicate that state and official visits are indeed positively correlated with exports. A typical visit is associated with higher bilateral exports by about 8 to 10 percent, holding other things constant.

Politicians travel a lot, for various reasons. The types of trips to foreign countries range, for instance, from a formal, highly-orchestrated, multi-day visit to brief logistical stop-overs, from the regular exchange of information during official talks in a working environment to ceremonial visits. This chapter reviews selected issues in the analysis of the economic effects of foreign travels by politicians. It starts by highlighting possible differences in the effects dependent on the visitor's official position. Next, it is emphasized that only few travels, dependent on their purpose, may be economically relevant. Finally, issues related to the choice of the travel destination are discussed.

Politicians travel a lot, for various reasons. The types of trips to foreign countries range, for instance, from a formal, highly‐orchestrated, multi‐day visit to brief logistical stop‐overs, from the regular exchange of information during official talks in a working environment to ceremonial visits. This chapter reviews selected issues in the analysis of the economic effects of foreign travels by politicians. It starts by highlighting possible differences in the effects dependent on the visitor's official position. Next, it is emphasized that only few travels, dependent on their purpose, may be economically relevant. Finally, issues related to the choice of the travel destination are discussed.

En el presente ensayo se estudia la asignación de funciones y responsabilidades de supervisión prudencial en autoridades públicas, entre las que se incluye el banco central. En concreto se aduce que existen interdependencias en el diseño de las instituciones; las decisiones políticas acerca de la estructura de supervisión no se toman de manera aislada. Mediante el análisis de un panel de datos sobre regímenes de supervisión prudencial en 98 países durante período entre 1999 y 2010 se encuentra que los bancos centrales desempeñan un papel menor en la supervisión y que las tareas se descentralizan más si el banco central es independiente y transparente. Las medidas de descentralización corporativa y fiscal se asocian típicamente con una mayor centralización de las funciones de supervisión fuera del banco central. ; This paper studies the allocation of the functions and responsibilities of prudential supervision on public authorities, including the central bank. In particular, it is argued that there are interdependencies in the design of institutions; political decisions on the supervisory structure are not taken in isolation. Analyzing a panel data set of prudential supervision regimes in 98 countries over the period from 1999 to 2010, I find that central banks play a smaller role in supervision and tasks are more decentralized if the central bank is independent and transparent. Measures of firm and fiscal decentralization are typically associated with a greater centralization of supervisory functions outside of the central bank.

This paper studies the allocation of the functions and responsibilities of prudential supervision on public authorities, including the central bank. In particular, it is argued that there are interdependencies in the design of institutions; political decisions on the supervisory structure are not taken in isolation. Analyzing a panel data set of prudential supervision regimes in 98 countries over the period from 1999 to 2010, I find that central banks play a smaller role in supervision and tasks are more decentralized if the central bank is independent and transparent. Measures of firm and fiscal decentralization are typically associated with a greater centralization of supervisory functions outside of the central bank.

This paper studies the allocation of the functions and responsibilities of prudential supervision on public authorities, including the central bank. In particular, it is argued that there are interdependencies in the design of institutions; political decisions on the supervisory structure are not taken in isolation. Analyzing a panel data set of prudential supervision regimes in 98 countries over the period from 1999 to 2010, I find that central banks play a smaller role in supervision and tasks are more decentralized if the central bank is independent and transparent. Measures of firm and fiscal decentralization are typically associated with a greater centralization of supervisory functions outside of the central bank.

In diesem kurzen Aufsatz werden die Kosten des Terrors für den internationalen Handel diskutiert. Unstrittig ist, dass Unsicherheit und Gewalt die wirtschaftliche Aktivität lähmen können. Ob auch terroristische Aktionen, die häufig isolierte Ereignisse darstellen, selten auf direkte Zerstörung zielen, und sich einer Vielzahl von unterschiedlichen Methoden bedienen, die Wirtschaftsaktivität spürbar beeinflussen, ist zuletzt zum Gegenstand zahlreicher Untersuchungen geworden. Bei der Identifikation (und insbesondere der Quantifizierung) der Auswirkungen von Terrorismus auf den Handel treten allerdings eine Reihe methodischer Probleme auf; die Bandbreite der Schwierigkeiten reicht von der Erfassung und Kodifizierung terroristischer Aktivitäten bis hin zu möglichen Endogenitätsproblemen. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser ökonometrischen Schätzprobleme scheint es bemerkenswert, dass eine Reihe von Studien mit unterschiedlichem Untersuchungsdesign einen signifikanten negativen Zusammenhang zwischen Terrorismus und Handel dokumentieren.

Politicians travel extensively abroad, for various reasons. One purpose of external visits is to improve bilateral economic relations. In this paper, I examine the effect of state visits on international trade. I use a large data set covering the travel activities of the heads of state of France, Germany and the United States between 1948 and 2003. My results indicate that state and official visits are indeed positively correlated with exports. A typical visit is associated with higher bilateral exports by about 8 to 10 per cent, holding other things constant.