European Economic Integration Research Articles

Quantifying Brexit: from ex post to ex ante using structural gravity

Exploiting changes in the geography of economic integration in Europe, this paper quantifies the effects of Brexit from ex post to ex ante using structural gravity. By isolating the directional treatment effects of EU agreements for the UK, the analysis reveals important heterogeneity across agreements, sectors, and within pairs. We find that these directional effects matter for the size and distribution of the welfare effects of Brexit—the withdrawal of the UK from EU agreements resulting into a return of trade costs to the situation quo ante. We make this point with the help of a modern multi-sector trade model that is able to capture inter- and intranational production networks. In line with other papers, the welfare costs of Brexit are higher in the UK than in most other EU countries. However, heterogeneity tends to attenuate overall costs while giving rise to substantial heterogeneity between EU27 members and sectors. A scenario that could shift bargaining power eliminates asymmetries in the costs of Brexit as soon as the UK fully liberalizes its market.

Regional economic integration via detection of circular flow in international value-added network.

Global value chains are formed through value-added trade, and some regions promote economic integration by concluding regional trade agreements to promote these chains. However, it has not been established to quantitatively assess the scope and extent of economic integration involving various sectors in multiple countries. In this study, we used the World Input–Output Database to create a cross-border sector-wise network of trade in value-added (international value-added network) covering the period of 2000–2014 and evaluated them using network science methods. By applying Infomap to the international value-added network, we confirmed two regional communities: Europe and the Pacific Rim. We applied Helmholtz–Hodge decomposition to the value-added flows within the region into potential and circular flows, and clarified the annual evolution of the potential and circular relationships between countries and sectors. The circular flow component of the decomposition was used to define an economic integration index. Findings confirmed that the degree of economic integration in Europe declined sharply after the economic crisis in 2009 to a level lower than that in the Pacific Rim. The European economic integration index recovered in 2011 but again fell below that of the Pacific Rim in 2013. Moreover, sectoral economic integration indices suggest what Europe depends on Russia in natural resources makes the European economic integration index unstable. On the other hand, the indices of the Pacific Rim suggest the steady economic integration index of the Pacific Rim captures the stable global value chains from natural resources to construction and manufactures of motor vehicles and high-tech products.

EU’s Civilian Power Preference in the International System

The EU, which aims at economic integration in Europe with a neo-functionalist approach and then moves towards political unity, did not focus on the foreign policy dimension. Duchene, who made a conceptual classification of the EU's effectiveness in the international arena in the 1970s, defined the EU as "civilian power". The EU, combined the common foreign and security policies in the Maastricht Treaty’s second column, aimed to be univocal and more effective in the international system. The EU, preferring positive conditionally with diplomatic and economic assistance, aimed to be an effective actor in the international system. Although the EU has recently mentioned its name with military missions, it has preferred positive sanctions with economic aid, incentives and privileged trade agreements. This study concludes that the EU, which reinforces and actively uses civilian power instead of military preferences, is a civilian power.

Uneven Souths: The Mediterranean Dimension of Spain's Southern Regionalism

Abstract This article traces the continuities between the Mediterranean and the Global South while noting the asymmetries between and within these concepts as revealed by the development of Spain's southern regionalism or andalucismo in the 1920s and 1930s and during the post–Franco period (1975–present). Prefiguring post–Cold War South–South relations, early andalucismo promoted a wider Mediterranean community extending from Cordoba to Damascus, but opposed Spain's colonial presence in Morocco. Despite its anticolonial dimension, this modern revival of medieval al-Andalus was not envisioned as a network of comparable material and ethnic locations that could encourage lateral movements of people, capital, and ideas. In contrast to the anticolonial celebrations of Andalusian conviviality found in the work of Arabic and Muslim writers and activists in the 1930s, including Shakib Arslan and Sir Muhammad Iqbal, the andalucista archive—cultural magazines, regionalist manifestos, and literary texts—simultaneously included and excluded the Maghreb and the wider Islamic Mediterranean from articulations of Spanish and Andalusian identity. This ambivalence, which persists in contemporary immigration and cultural policies and European economic and political integration, demands a form of comparative analysis that does not reduce the interaction among the world's “Souths” to unproblematic relations of analogy, mutual recognition, and solidarity.

The Tourist Trap: Great Britain, Postwar Recovery, and the Marshall Plan

AbstractAfter World War II, Great Britain faced major economic problems, which the government sought to rectify by reviving export markets and achieving a favorable balance of trade. One overlooked component of reconstruction was a decision to recognize tourism as an “invisible export,” a way to draw currency, especially American dollars, into the country. However, in a period characterized by scarcity, rationing, and austerity measures, the endeavor presented enormous challenges. The situation was exacerbated by the advent of the Marshall Plan in 1948. It required British participation in a European-based tourism scheme that jeopardized the success of Britain's own initiative and, ironically, could potentially undermine the economic benefits that Marshall Plan participation was supposed to provide. In exploring the history of British tourism policy in this era, this article shows the extent to which the Marshall Plan compromised an important aspect of British reconstruction policy. It can thereby better inform our understanding of the complexities of postwar reconstruction and of Britain's guarded response to aspects of the Marshall Plan—particularly the American initiative to promote greater European economic integration in the immediate postwar era.

Market development of the economy of the eu and Ukraine: asymmetry and ways of overcoming it

The goal of this article is to develop practical, scientific and methodological recommendations to improve the market development of Ukraine and reduce the divergence of its economy in relation to the EU economy. Research methodology includes: system-structural and comparative studies (to understand the logic of the functioning of modern market institutions in Ukraine and Europe); monographic analysis (in the study of approaches to improve the market development of the Ukrainian economy); statistical and economic analysis (when carrying out a rating assessment in relation to economic freedoms and competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy). Scientific novelty: it was revealed that the state of market development of the Ukrainian economy is significantly lower not only in comparison with the EU countries, many CIS countries, but also lags behind the overwhelming major- ity of countries in the world. The reason for this is the low efficiency of the ju- dicial and law enforcement system; weakness and archaism of state regulation of the business environment; monopolization and oligarchization of the economy, non-transparent approaches to the privatization of assets in Ukraine; “Black” and “gray” land market; violation of customs procedures and registrations, which sig- nificantly saturate the markets of Ukraine with counterfeit and smuggled goods. In contrast, EU countries are pursuing policies that promote asset and property rights protection, stimulate job creation and economic growth by creating a busi- ness-friendly climate, as well as focusing on innovation and related infrastructure aid funds. Conclusions: a proactive state policy is needed in the formation of ef- fective regulatory institutions in Ukraine, in anti-corruption and economic reforms, in reducing the level of monopolization and oligarchization of markets; also priva- tization stimulating investment and innovation; transition from extensive to in- tensive management methods; embedding of domestic products into external value chains; increasing investment in domestic infrastructure; priority in the develop- ment of small and medium-sized businesses; systemic focus on increasing the productivity of the economy; the emergence of new businesses in a low-carbon and environmentally friendly economy. Key words: economies of the EU and Ukraine, market development, European economic integration, world economy.

Transnational Networks in European Economic Integration in the 1950s

Transnational Networks in European Economic Integration in the 1950s

Economic European Integration: Assessment and Modelling of Superficial and Hidden Factors of Divergence between Ukraine and the EU

Economic European Integration: Assessment and Modelling of Superficial and Hidden Factors of Divergence between Ukraine and the EU

Zdenek Drabek Comments on Impacts of Lockdown Policies on International Trade*

May 15 2021 Zdenek Drabek Comments on Impacts of Lockdown Policies on International Trade* Author and Article Information * I have benefited from useful comments from professors P. Mavroidis and V. Benacek and from P. Rashish with the usual disclaimer. Funding of this research by Czech Government Grant Agency under GACR 18-04630S is gratefully acknowledged. Online Issn: 1536-0083 Print Issn: 1535-3516 © 2021 by the Asian Economic Panel and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology2021American Society of Health Economists and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Asian Economic Papers (2021) 20 (2): 142–149. https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00824 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Zdenek Drabek Comments on Impacts of Lockdown Policies on International Trade*. Asian Economic Papers 2021; 20 (2): 142–149. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/asep_a_00824 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsAsian Economic Papers Search Advanced Search Zdenek Drabek, CERGE-EI, Charles University: The effects of COVID-19 on global trade are undoubtedly a matter of major interest to all of us. The rise of China and Southeast Asia have been greatly enabled by globalization and the rapid growth of global trade and foreign direct investment. The spectacular transition of post-Communist countries from central planning to market-oriented economies has been driven by the success of economic integration in Europe. Even the United States, which has been recently attacking multilateral institutions, has been a beneficiary of improved market access around the globe. Open markets and capital mobility have been a major source of a spectacular growth of profits of big U.S. tech companies and financial institutions. So far, the effect of COVID-19 on global trade and investment has not been widely covered and studied. The traditional multilateral institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, OECD, and the World Trade... You do not currently have access to this content.

Zur Bedeutung des Freihandels und globaler Wertschöpfungsketten für Deutschland und Österreich

Vielerorts wurde aufgrund der COVID-19 Pandemie hinterfragt, ob die derzeitige globale wirtschaftliche Vernetzung weiterhin wünschenswert sei, und ob nicht eine Re-Regionalisierung der Produktion angestrebt werden sollte. Im Rahmen dieses Beitrags erörtern wir deshalb die Bedeutung des Freihandels, im Speziellen der ausländischen Endnachfrage, für die Wertschöpfung in Deutschland und Österreich. Es zeigt sich, dass sowohl Deutschland als auch Österreich eng in globale Wertschöpfungsketten integriert sind und eine vergleichsweise zentrale Position einnehmen. Darüber hinaus wird deutlich, dass rund ein Drittel der Wertschöpfung in Deutschland und Österreich schließlich im Ausland konsumiert oder investiert wird. In Industriebranchen ist der Anteil der im Ausland der Endnachfrage zugeführten Wertschöpfung deutlich höher und beträgt in einzelnen Branchen über 80 %. Auch für einzelne im Außenhandel wichtige Dienstleistungsbranchen wie dem Großhandel oder Finanzdienstleistungen ist die globale Verflechtung zentral. Aufgrund der hohen volkswirtschaftlichen Kosten, die mit einer Re-Regionalisierung aufgrund von möglichen Vergeltungsmaßnahmen sowie möglichen mittelfristigen Verlusten von Spezialisierungsvorteilen einhergehen, sollte die COVID-19 Pandemie nicht als Anlass für eine Rückkehr zu einer protektionistischeren Handelspolitik herangezogen werden. Vielmehr soll das Ziel der Wirtschaftspolitik sein, die Rolle deutscher und österreichischer Unternehmen im Außenhandel und globalen Wertschöpfungsketten durch eine Steigerung der Produktivität zu stärken und eine Weiterentwicklung der europäischen und weltweiten Integration voranzutreiben.

Commentary

Commentary

Guest Editors’ Remarks] Special Theme 2: Asian and European Economic Integration at a Crossroads

Guest Editors’ Remarks] Special Theme 2: Asian and European Economic Integration at a Crossroads

On the issue of harmonization of national tax legislation in integration associations

The purpose of the study is a legal analysis of the current supranational tax legislation of the Eurasian Economic Union and European Union integration associations. Special methods of cognition were used in the furtherance of this goal: historical and legal analysis, formal legal method, comparative legal method, the method of legal modeling, the method of interpreting legal norms, which made it possible to identify the existing problems and determine the ways and means of their elimination as well as to determine the differences in approaches in the construction of the European and Eurasian economic integration. Moreover, the methodological basis of the study was formed by general scientific methods of cognition: the dialectical method, which made it possible to reveal the integrity and consistency of legal phenomena; the method of generalization, allowing to draw conclusions as a result of generalization of the data obtained; the comprehensive research method, allowing to consider the theoretical and practical foundations of the process of harmonizing national tax legislation in conjunction. The result of the study was the identification of similar and different concepts for the implementation of supranational policy in the tax systems of the Eurasian Economic Union and European Union countries, aimed at deepening Eurasian and European economic integration, as well as the identification of the trends in the development of harmonization of the national tax legislation of the European Union member states for their subsequent implementation into the tax legislation of the Eurasian Economic Union integration association member countries. The novelty of the study lies in the very formulation of the problem, as well as in the fact that these legal relations incite the states to take actual measures and find new solutions aimed at increasing the country’s economic indicators and potential.

Problem evrozone u procesu evropske integracije sa aspekta planiranja preduzetništva u Republici Srbiji

The situation in eurozone, which encompasses some of the most developed countries, inevitably impacts the planning of individual entrepreneurship in Serbia, as the candidate for EU membership. In this article, we analyze how much the eurozone is part of economic integration in Europe or the result of that process in the context of the political process of EU enlargement. In this context, we look into the motives for integration and enlargement, the institutional framework for the functioning of the monetary union, and the implications on the concept of European integration. The findings indicate that entrepreneurship planning, today, cannot rely on the monetary stability provided by the institutions of the eurozone and that there are indications of divisions within the EU itself. Moreover, some of the observed problems indicate that monetary policy is one of the key sources of disagreement within the European Union and that for now, it is unlikely that real monetary stability will be ensured outside the accounting operations of the European and national central banks. The conclusion that follows is that, while the Republic of Serbia still has monetary sovereignty, entrepreneurship, primarily small and medium-sized, must focus primarily on internal resources and find internal models that will provide a market orientation of capital, in which the leading role could be played. has a chamber connection.

BELARUSIAN FORK: RESULTS OF POST-SOVIET SOCIO-ECONOMIC EVOLUTION AND SCENARIO OPTIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

The current socio-political upheavals, which are fraught with undermining the Belarusian statehood, may also torpedo the planned transition to the implementation of the strategy of advanced development of the Republic of Belarus based on increasing cooperation between Belarusian economic entities and Russian ones on the legal basis of the Union state of Russia and Belarus (USRB) and the Eurasian economic Union (EAEU). Summing up the socio-economic evolution of post-Soviet Belarus, which is impressive against the background of the corresponding results of other ex-Soviet republics, the author of the article connects these successes with the capacity of the Belarusian management system, which has already mastered a number of institutions of a new (integral) world economic structure, including strategic indicative macroeconomic planning. However, this in itself does not save from socio-political upheavals of various forms, strength and scale. The Republic of Belarus, like other members of the EAEU, needs to harmonize the interests of various social groups and consolidate society based on the state policy of increasing public welfare. Based on these principles, developed in numerous previous publications of the author, he makes recommendations for coping with the growing socio-political and socio-economic crises, as well as builds options for future economic development, depending primarily on the vector of the upcoming integration construction — Eurasian or European — that the Belarusian people will choose. Keywords: the Republic of Belarus (RB), Belarus, the Union State of Russia and Belarus (USRB), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Eurasian Economic Commission, Eurasian economic integration, European economic integration, European Union (EU), cooperative interaction of economic entities, technological structure, new (sixth) technological structure, world economic structure, new (integrated) economic structure, strategy of advancing economic development, economic growth, convergent technology, the Republic of Ukraine (RU).

The contribution of the reemergence of local identities to the achievement of the European socio-economic cohesion

The present paper attempts to approach the recent phenomenon of the reemergence of the local identities in Europe, applying it, as a case-study, on the European-border Greek-Thracian region in relationship with its Bulgarian neighbors. Globalization provoked fears in local communities for instability, dissolution and loss of identity, urging reactions, targeting to consistency, tranquility and security, traced particularly in the reappearance of local identification procedures. Nevertheless, the new approach, opposite to introversive, often connected to heterophobe behaviors, is actively positive and creative, functioning in the frames set by the EU. The identity-building capacities are now built from the inside, enriched by their interdependent character and visualized through sustainable synergies on a horizontal, cross-border, trans-regional, or trans-national level and a vertical one, functioning on various fields, such as culture, tourism, education, social inclusion, youth and training. The new procedures play a crucial role in the planning and implementation of the European policies, which now embrace communities, since it has been realized that local identities beyond a desirable, constitute an indispensable actor for the overall longevity, so that local diversity potentially contributes substantially to the European economic, social and territorial cohesion and integration.

Trading rule of law for recovery? The new EU strategy in the post‐Covid era

AbstractThe ambition of this article is twofold. First, it argues that, in order to enhance respect for the rule of law by its Member States, the EU has launched a new strategy albeit essentially based on mechanisms which were not specifically designed to protect the rule of law. Second, the article aims to clarify the notion of rule of law resulting from this strategy and to subsequently analyse its consequences. In doing so, this article will thereby demonstrate that the instruments used by the new strategy promote a notion of the EU rule of law which implies a constant arbitrage between the rule of law and the economic objectives pursued by the EU. The risk may be, however, that it would subjugate fundamental values (as defined in Article 2 TEU) to the logic of European economic integration, thus inverting the hierarchy between protection for the rule of law and economic values.

Sociocultural and Linguistic Diversity in the Mid-European (Slovak) Economic and Technological Space

Introduction. Social cultural aspect and linguistic diversity of educational background play an important role in teaching a foreign language. Although there are a lot of publications on this theme, it is hardly possible to find surveys which study the impact of globalization accompanied by the English language expansion, on transformation of cultural identity. The aim of this article is to analyse changes of social cultural phenomena and linguistic diversity in common life and foreign languages education in a Mid-European (mostly Slovak) economic and technological spheres. Materials and Methods. Within this research the content analysis method was employed together with critical comparison of relative scientific papers and other materials in the respect of the problem investigated. Questionnaires were developed and educators who run practice oriented professional programmes were interviewed. After the results of the interview being analysed and synthetized, some crucial points of the discussed problem were revealed. Results. The research revealed the main factors which determine diversity of linguistic communication in a Mid-European former socialist country (Slovakia as an example); reasons and types of social cultural transformations in the society under research were analysed; economic and technological conditions of the transformations discussed were defined; recommendations for educators who run practice oriented professional programmes were developed. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the research done are considered to be some contribution to the development of bilingual practice oriented education under the condition of European economic and technological integration. However, the task of reserving peculiar cultural values of the nation which is subject to unavoidable social cultural transformations is the major one in this respect.

European Monetary Union and Inequality: A Synthetic Control Approach

The promise of greater material prosperity and economic convergence has underpinned the process of European economic integration. Its consequences for income inequalities within countries, however, have so far been little discussed. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature by investigating the effects of European economic integration on intra-country income inequality using the synthetic control method. We find that EMU, out of our sample of eight euro countries, has significant effects on inequality in Germany and Spain. From the several theories outlined in the literature, our results lend most support to the growth regime mechanism.

Breaking the link? How European integration shapes social policy demand and supply

ABSTRACT How does European integration affect the welfare state? This paper argues that European integration has non-complementary consequences for the political economy of welfare spending: European economic integration increases popular demand for social spending, whereas European political integration decreases the supply of social spending. Thus, the conflicting implications of European integration essentially break the link between social policy preferences and social policy. Using statistical models that deal with the multilevel structure of the theoretical argument, we find a positive relationship between economic integration and support for social policy. In the second part of the empirical analysis, dynamic model specifications at the country level show that higher levels of political integration are associated with lower levels of social spending. Furthermore, we provide evidence that social policy responsiveness declines as political integration increases.