Working Paper
A new approach, which estimates 'unexplained economic growth', provides insights into the types of European Union cohesion projects that produce better economic results for regions.
Blog Post
Our calculations reveal that places where EU regional development projects bind together participants from different countries experience higher economic growth. Purely national interregional projects, on the other hand, are not associated with such benefits. The results hold across regions of different levels of income and consider the effects of other growth-determinants. Cross-border projects might bring efficiency gains, unlock synergies and provide knowledge transfers, boosting activity, with gains going beyond the projects’ scope. Cross-border projects could provide perhaps the only rationale for the continued cohesion/regional funding of more developed regions.
Blog Post
An empirical assessment of concentration in global collective action
Blog Post
Facebook’s new cryptocurrency has the potential to be both widely accessible and attractive to those countries that do not have strong sovereign currencies. So far regulators have treated such currencies as a minor risk to national economics, but the Libra could change everything.
Blog Post
The authors assess whether the European Commission's actions towards Italy since September 2018 have had a visible impact on the spread between Italian sovereign-bond yields and those of Germany, and particularly whether the Commission’s warnings have acted as a ‘signalling device’ for bond-market participants that it might be difficult for Italy to obtain the support of the ESM or the ECB’s OMT programme if needed.
External Publication
This study by Zsolt Darvas, Antoine Mathieu Collin, Jan Mazza, and Catarina Midões analyses the characteristics of cohesion policy projects that can contribute to successful outcomes. Their analysis is based on a literature survey, an econometric analysis and interviews with stakeholders. About two dozen project characteristics are considered, and their association with economic growth is studied using a novel methodology. Based on the findings, the study concludes with recommendations for cohesion policy reform.
Blog Post
Economic growth was diverse across EU regions, yet it is crucial to control for region-specific factors in assessing growth performance. We find that there are rather successful regions in many EU countries, suggesting that the EU can provide a good framework for growth. Yet the worst performers are more concentrated in some countries, suggesting that country-specific factors can play a major role in regional development.
Policy Contribution
This policy contribution investigates the performance of the design, implementation and effectiveness of cohesion policy, the most evaluated EU tool for promoting economic convergence. By analysing the effects of cohesion policy on economic growth through reviewing literature, conducting empirical research by comparing regions, as well as considering attitudes and expectations collected through interviewing stakeholders, the authors provide reform recommendations.
Blog Post
The authors here review the latest EU migration figures. Southern, eastern, and central Europe have broadly experienced net losses in cumulative intra-EU migration, while western and northern Europe have experienced gains. Spain and Italy, however, have still experienced gains in net migration inflows.
Parliamentary Testimony
Testimony at the Committee on Budgetary Control of the European Parliament.
Blog Post
The future of Sino-American relations after the incoming end of trade talks between Beijing and Washington. We review opinions in the English-speaking blogosphere on the likely content of the deal and the message this agreement sends to the world.
Blog Post
The fiscal and welfare costs of public debt, following Olivier Blanchard's presidential lecture at the American Economic Association, in which he suggested both might be lower than expected. We review his paper, along with several scholars' comments, and provide a quick comparison with the European context.