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Studying the interplay between energy imports and employment is paramount for attaining sustainable development in Germany. The research employs the time-varying parameters-vector autoregression-stochastic volatility (TVP-VAR-SV) methodology to capture the dynamic correlation between energy import price (EIP) and unemployment rate (UR) under the control of consumer price index (CPI), which is constantly evolving. In quantitative analyses, it is clear that EIP significantly and positively impacts UR, indicating that a surge in imported energy costs has adverse consequences for the German labour market, possibly leading to job cuts and a spike in unemployment. Conversely, UR has a notable negative impact on EIP, particularly in the short period, signifying that an elevated unemployment rate reduces demand for imported energy. Further, the favourable impact of EIP on CPI, coupled with CPI's detrimental effect on UR, underscores the pivotal importance of CPI as a critical control variable. Additionally, we reinforce the robustness of these conclusions through stringent testing that encompassed the introduction of a business cycle-related control variable, variations in the number of iterations and replacement of energy import price. Amidst the severe energy crisis, this study aims to offer crucial recommendations to Germany for securing its energy imports and stabilising the labour market.

Copyright of Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian & Latin American Economic History is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Energy security and international competitiveness are two of the most fiercely discussed topics – especially in the light of the European Union (EU)’s dependence on Russia’s gas, oil, and coal. Both mentioned concepts are of special importance for the so-called EU new member states (EU NMS), which are undergoing the energy diversification process. The main goal of this paper is to analyze how energy security influences the international competitiveness of these countries. The study uses trade theories related to productivity differentials (Ricardian hypothesis) and differences in factor endowments (Heckscher–Ohlin hypothesis) as a basis for our econometric modeling. The results show that relative energy supply as well as physical and human capital relative endowments have a statistically significant impact on international competitiveness of the studied economies.

The European countries are highly dependent on energy imports, making them vulnerable to international geopolitical threats. In this context, improving energy efficiency emerges as a cost-effective solution. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of geopolitical risk (GPR) on energy efficiency for 18 European countries during 1991–2020 using the Dumitrescu Hurlin Panel Causality test, instrumental variable quantile regression (IVQR) model, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The study found that GPR has a positive impact on energy efficiency in higher quantities. This trend might be due to the fact that countries with high energy efficiency are better equipped to face GPR, thanks to their investments in infrastructure, particularly renewable energy technology.

This paper investigates the transport policy development and characteristics of the Austrian passenger transport sector from the 1950s onwards. The analysed performance indicators deal with the three most prevalent modes of transport (cars, trains and airplanes) and are linked to independent decision-making units (passengers) and their motives (price, quality and time to destination) as well as to goals and decisions involved in government policies. In this theoretical framework, we identified three developmental phases, using an interdisciplinary approach to assess the development of three variables of interest (number of car, air and train passengers). In the long term, transport policy aimed to solve the rigidity and lack of vision in train transport and the extensive use of cars. Air transport was a steadily growing segment in a close and positive relationship with trains, which is in line with the transport political orientation towards Vienna Airport and train connections to the capital city. The post-war phase (1945–1970) was characterised by enormous growth in the number of cars, an upswing in air transport and stagnant train transport. The second phase (1970–1994) was defined by a progressive liberalisation of rail transport and a plan to balance the growth rates of car, train and airplane performance variables. Finally, in the 1995–2019 phase, the growth in train transport increased; however, this growth remained far below the growth rates of air and car performance variables. Transport policy achievements and shortcomings for future research are suggested.

Today, in modern business, all organizations and farms, are required to maximize organizational performance in order to achieve appropriate market success. In order to raise organizational performance to the maximum level, continuous monitoring of business activities and their results is necessary. They are monitored by internal control, ie internal audit. Within their sales channels, farms often set up their holdings without a predefined sales plan with well-defined costs. A constant obstacle to the marketing of agricultural products, in addition to the low price, is the high cost of realization. For this reason, the state tries to support the development of farms and promote the sale of agricultural products through various incentive measures. In order to evaluate how much these measures really contribute to its development, it is necessary to conduct a research on this topic and, based on the results of the research, to devise a model of the performance audit of incentive measures for sales channels of agricultural products which are produced on agricultural households of the Republic of Serbia.The abstract should contain a maximum of 150 words. The abstracts should avoid any abbreviations and mathematical formulas.

This study examines the relationship between mobility (a proxy for transport) and the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on Turkey as an example of an emerging country. In this context, eight types of mobility and two indicators of COVID-19 were analyzed using daily data from March 11, 2020 to December 7, 2020 by applying Toda-Yamamoto causality test. The findings revealed that (i) there is cointegration between the variables in the long term; (ii) there is an econometric causality between mobility indicators (mobility of grocery, park, residential, retail, and workplace) and pandemic indicators; (iii) various mobility indicators have an econometric causality with different pandemic indicators; (iv) neither driving mobility nor walking mobility has an econometric causality with the pandemic indicators whereas some of the other types of mobility, such as grocery, park, and retail do. These results generally show the effects of mobility and highlight the importance of appropriate mobility restrictions in terms of the pandemic.

In September 1939, Portugal made a realist strategic choice to preserve the Portuguese Empire maintaining by its neutrality and also remaining an ally of Great Britain. While the Portuguese could rely largely on their colonies for raw materials to sustain the mainland, the country had long depended on British transportation for these goods and the Portuguese military. With the British priority now given to war transportation, Portugal's economy and Empire were particularly vulnerable. The Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar sought to mitigate this damage by maintaining particularly friendly financial relations with the British government, including increased exports of Portuguese merchandise and services and permission to accumulate credits in Sterling to cover deficits in the balance of payments. This paper gives an improved set of comprehensive statistics for the Anglo-Portuguese and German–Portuguese relationships, reported in Pounds and according to international standards. The reported statistics include the trade in merchandise, services, capital flows, loans and third-party transfers of funds in favour of the British account. When compared with the German statistics, the Anglo-Portuguese figures show the Portuguese government favoured the British in financial relations, an active choice by Salazar to maintain the Portuguese Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the new series of services GDP for Italy (1861–1951), which have been incorporated in the Italian historical accounts. Three main results emerge. First, the new historical estimates of services appear to be more reliable than the previous ones, published by Istat (Indagine statistica sullo sviluppo del reddito nazionale dell'Italia dal 1861 al 1956. Annali di Statistica, Istat, Rome, 1957). Second, the differences between the estimates of services make up for most of the differences observed between the old GDP series and the new one, and they have a significant impact on the performance of the Italian economy, also in international comparisons. Third, cointegration analysis suggests the presence of a significant break at the end of the nineteenth century, in line with industry: since then, the traditional services lagged behind, while the innovative ones (and since the Great War also social/collective services) shared the same rising trend as industry. This result confirms the idea of a «great transformation» of the Italian economy, first pioneered by Gerschenkron, which began at the end of the nineteenth century arguably as a consequence of institutional and political changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct a new database relying on various primary historical sources containing information on the value of French sectoral trade between 1880 and 1913 in order to assess the contemporaneous effects of colonial European settlements on French trade patterns. Our empirical results show that French colonies with more European settlements traded more with France. The impact is stronger with respect to the imports of raw materials and exports of manufactured goods from France to their colonies, suggesting that those territories were a source of resources for France and a market for its products. European settlements in colonies other than the French ones did not impact the trade of those colonies with France. We also explore to what extent the impact of European settlements on trade was exerted through the channel of the institutions brought by the settlers. Separating the part of European settlements associated with institutions, we find that the settlements associated with stronger institutions in French colonies had a positive impact on trade with those colonies. No significant impact was found for non-French colonies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although both Germany and Spain were pioneers in the support and adoption of photovoltaics (PV) through Feed-In Tariffs (FiTs), Germany is the world's leading country in terms of installed PV capacity per capita and remains on a path of PV growth while the Spanish PV market is virtually paralysed. We analyse the divergent performance in both countries by reviewing the evolution of FiTs and by analysing the profitability of different types of installations for the period 2004–2014. While in Germany the policies, profitability and diffusion of PV were relatively stable over time, in Spain, erratic policy changes and the distortionary effect of the solar orchard ownership structure caused a diffusion bubble (June 2007-September 2008) and a subsequent profitability bubble (2009–2011). These bubbles led to the collapse of the support system in 2012, revealing the difficulty inherent in designing innovation and diffusion policies in the context of high uncertainty and rapid technological change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to identify factors which determine energy policy in the EU countries in the middle of 1990s. This objective is achieved in three stages. First, the changes in the distribution of RES in 26 EU countries in the period between 1995 and 2014 are investigated. The analysis demonstrates that over the last 20 years the EU countries diversify the RES they use, which results in substantial changes in their distribution. Second, the distribution of energy sources in 1995 is described, as it is assumed that the distribution might be a crucial factor influencing energy policy in each country. Third, several other factors related to energy security, environmental concerns, economy and politics are considered as potential determinants of renewable energy development. Two statistical methods of variable selection, namely, the best subset regression and the LARS method, reveal that the present (in 2014) share of RES in the energy mix significantly depends on the condition of the EU countries in the middle of 1990s. The distribution of energy sources in 1995 is the crucial determinant of renewable energy development. Countries without their own fossil fuel sources are the ones which develop renewable energy to the greatest extent. Other important factors boosting RE development include: GDP per capita, concentration of energy supply (SWI), and the costs of consumption of energy obtained from fossil fuels in relation to GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coal sector in Poland, especially mining, is a showcase of how a mix of technical, economic and political initiatives aimed at healing a decaying sector has worked or perhaps not worked. Coal mining was one of the sectors most affected by economic transformation in early 1990s. It was formerly privileged as provided primary energy for the economy and convertible currencies from export, but at the beggining of economy transformation turned into a number of overemployed and unprofitable companies. The result was a nearly continuous deficit but many governmental efforts to improve the situation were not leading to long term viability. This paper aims to discuss the history and prospects for the coal industry in Poland. Firstly, the past of coal mining in Poland is analysed to identify possible reasons for the lack of efficacy of the restructuring programs. Secondly, the present situation and future prospects are described. Conclusions point to the issues which are important in restructuring processes and factors determining the prospects of coal mining in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a comprehensive and robust analysis of the role of renewable energy consumption and institutions on economic growth and in combating CO 2 emissions across the regions and income groups. For our empirical model, we use annual data from 85 developed and developing economies across the world over the period from 1991 to 2012. We employ various econometric techniques from panel estimations to obtain the robust results. Our findings confirm that there is significant heterogeneity across the sub-samples. Overall, results from the system-GMM and fully modified OLS indicate that the growth of renewable energy consumption has a significant positive and negative impact on economic output and CO 2 emissions, respectively. Institutions have a positive influence on economic growth and a reducing effect on CO 2 emissions. Our findings suggest that both renewable energy deployment and institutions are significant in promoting economic growth and reducing CO 2 emissions. Finally, we suggest that institutional alignment is necessary to promote the use of renewable energy across economic activities to ensure sustainable economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1973 oil crises, especially, small open economies have considered sudden and highly volatile movements in currencies and current account deficits. Oil prices have been breaking new historical price records since second quarter of 2014, especially from last quarter of 2015 to first quarter of 2016, which have gradually put pressure on political, geographical, and currencies risks in the Middle East and Eastern European countries. Similarly, because Turkish economy has been experienced serious current account deficit problems especially since 2002, the effect of decline in oil prices and increased volatility has been worth of investigating. For 2003M1-2015M7 period, export-import ratio, real exchange rate index, realized volatility in oil prices calculated based on monthly OPEC basket price, industrial production index, and consumer price index were collected to analyze these effects and causality relationship among these variables. Test results of unit root test with and without structural break, ARDL bound test and co-integration test were sorted out among variables. Initial result is that price volatility increases and total import decreases more sharply than total export after the decline in oil prices; thus, export-import ratio increases. Another is that there is a negative relationship between real exchange rate index and export-import ratio for real economy because of low oil substituents. As expected, inflation has an adverse effect on foreign trade ratio. Consequently, because of lower pressure of energy-induced inflation, economy policy makers will have some ability to change their priorities from inflation issue to other structural problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article scrutinises the significance of the most-favoured-nation (MFN) treaty in promoting the development of commercial activity and its results in transnational trade. As cardinal agents of trade policy, governments act as ‘umpires’ in formulating and guarding the rules of international trade, while the ‘players’ are private corporations which conduct commercial operations in the playing field of international trade. Within the framework of Finno-Japanese trade relations, the players established and developed their trade networks (corporate interconnections) regardless of the umpires and their official rules, meaning the commercial treaties. Through a close examination of the early trade policy relations between Finland and Japan along with the formation and development of the Finnish forest industry’s sales networks into the Japanese market in the early twentieth century, this study demonstrates that there was no explicit causal connection between MFN treaties and the evolution of the Finnish forest industry’s export efforts – and their results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study examines the evolution of skill premium and share at industry level in shipping during the age of sail. We argue that the period from the 1750s to the 1910s represented deskilling for the seamen working in sailing ships. The growth of international trade and shipping during the first era of globalization increased the overall demand for sailors but decreased the relative demand for skilled labor in favor of less skilled ones. This deskilling was associated with a decline in wage inequality, as the premium for high skilled seamen fell relative to mean wages in the shipping industry. The decline in skill premium may have facilitated the growth of trade and shipping, as the relative costs of transport declined. This in turn might have hastened the first era of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the relationship between trade and technological specialisation in Italy, during the long time span ranging from Unification to the eve of the Second World War. To do this, new series of Italy’s indices of specialisation in trade and technology are calculated based on official data. Empirical analysis, based on Spearman rank correlation coefficients and fixed-effects regression, shows the emergence of a positive relationship between specialisation in technology and specialisation in trade after the start of the country’s modern economic growth, around the turn of the twentieth century. This, however, was uniquely driven by a negative relationship between technological specialisation and import shares, while no significant relationship between the former and export shares emerges. Furthermore, this finding excludes the most important sector, leading Italian industrialisation, that is, textiles, the outstanding performance of which can be seen as largely determined by its being particularly suited to the country’s factor endowment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What was the contribution of intercontinental trade to the development of the European early modern economies? Previous attempts to answer this question have focused on static measures of the weight of trade in the aggregate economy at a given point in time, or on the comparison of the income of specific imperial nations just before and after the loss of their overseas empire. These static accounting approaches are inappropriate if dynamic and spillover effects are at work, as seems likely. In this paper, I use a panel dataset of 10 countries in a dynamic model that allows for spillover effects, multiple channels of causality, persistence, and country-specific fixed effects. Using this dynamic model, simulations suggest that in the counterfactual absence of intercontinental trade, rates of early modern economic growth and urbanization would have been moderately to substantially lower. For the four main long-distance traders, by 1800, the real wage was, depending on the country, 6.1-22.7 % higher, and urbanization was 4.0-11.7 percentage points higher, than they would have otherwise been. For some countries, the effect was quite pronounced: in The Netherlands between 1600 and 1750, for instance, intercontinental trade was responsible for most of the observed increase in real wages and for a large share of the observed increase in urbanization. At the same time, countries which did not engage in long-distance trade would have had real wage increases in the order of 5.4-17.8 % and urbanization increases of 2.2-3.2 percentage points, should they have done so at the same level as the four main traders. Intercontinental trade appears to have played an important role for all nations that engaged in it, with the exception of France. These conclusions stand in contrast to the earlier literature that uses a partial equilibrium and static accounting approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper contributes to the debate on globalization and the great divergence with a comprehensive analysis of the integration of Asia in the world market from 1800 to the eve of World War II. We examine the patterns of convergence in prices for a wide range of commodities between Europe and the main Asian countries (India, Indonesia, Japan and China) and we compare them with convergence between Europe and the East Coast of the United States, hitherto the yardstick for the 19th century. Most price convergence occurred before 1870, mainly as a consequence of the abolition of the European trading monopolies with Asia, and, to a lesser extent, the repeal of duties on Atlantic trade. After 1870, price differentials continued to decline thanks to falling freights and to better communication after the lay-out of telegraph cables. There was only little disintegration in the inter-war years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Estonian trade policy in the 1930s on the example of application of non-tariff measures (NTMs). In order to position the trade policy, the article compares the measures implemented in Estonia with the ones implemented in the Nordic countries and in other Baltic countries. Export in these countries mainly depended on the UK and Germany and consisted in a large part of agricultural products. Historiography does contain references to the fact that the implementation of NTMs intensified in the 1930s, but so far no studies with that kind of emphasis and historic perspective have been conducted. The article also provides an overview of the dynamics of Estonian trade volumes and the most significant foreign trade articles. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Denmark applied exchange control and were considered as more protectionist than Norway, Sweden and Finland, which belonged to the sterling bloc. At first, the objective of the implementation of the exchange control and licenses in Estonia was to protect the national currency. Later, trade-related justifications became more and more important in NTM application. Estonian trade had similarities to Danish trade. Both countries were clearly orientated on the export of agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Great Britain, a basic inter-urban network of motorways was completed in a very short period between the end of 1959 and 1972. We calculate that this substantial investment had the potential to reduce most inter-urban journey times by about one third. In spite of this, a recent OECD study suggested that the investment had no discernible positive impact on the trend rate of economic growth. We attribute this outcome to a serious misalignment of the early investments with the then predominant flows of industrial and commercial traffics and a significant, and probably endogenous, increase in real wages in a road transport industry in which labour productivity was slow to improve. We conclude with a number of policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use book translations as a new measure of international idea flows and study the effects of Communism's collapse in Eastern Europe on these flows. Using novel data on 800,000 translations and difference-in-differences approaches, we show that while translations between Communist languages decreased by two thirds with the collapse, Western-to-Communist translations increased by a factor of 4 and quickly converged to Western levels. Convergence was more pronounced in the fields of applied and social sciences, and was more complete in Satellite and Baltic than in Soviet countries. We discuss how these patterns help us understand how repressive institutions and preferences towards Western European ideas shaped the international diffusion of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian & Latin American Economic History is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Safety and security have always been two key objectives behind policies and innovation within the air transport industry, at international, European and individual government levels. The management of risk is important in aviation and has always been a challenge to the industry. The events of 9/11 revealed that new policy measures and initiatives were needed, both to deal with the short-term market effects and also for the long-term development inline with the European Union Treaty. A key objective behind the establishment of the European Union has always been the objective to create an internal market, where barriers are removed and existing rules simplified, yet the air transport industry in Europe lacked the mechanisms to protect it from exposure to the events and effects of 9/11. This paper provides a unique view and understanding of the EU framework concerning safety and security in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. The paper considers commercial air operations and the insurance requirements for air carriers and aircraft operators, focusing on the development of the respective aviation liability and compensation framework. It analyses the insurance requirements for air carriers operating in the EU, as a result of Regulation 785/2004. An outline of the International dimension is also undertaken so as to contextualise the position of the European Union and the aspect of EU competence. The research is based upon a mixed method/interdisciplinary approach, predominately with the focus on a legal qualitative review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the embeddedness of European regions in different types of inter-regional knowledge networks, namely project-based R&D collaborations within the European framework programmes (FPs), co-patent networks and co-publication networks. Embeddedness refers to the network positioning of regions captured in terms of social network analytic (SNA) centrality measures. The objective is to estimate how region-internal and region-external factors influence network embeddedness in the distinct network types, in order to identify differences in their driving factors at the regional level. In our modelling approach, we apply advanced spatial econometric techniques by means of a mixed effects panel version of the spatial Durbin model (SDM) and introduce a set of variables accounting for a capacity specific, a relational as well as a spatial dimension in regional knowledge production activities. The results reveal conspicuous differences between the knowledge networks. Internal capacity- and technology-related aspects but also spatial spillover impacts from surrounding regions prove to be particularly important for centrality in the co-patent network. We also find significant-region-internal and region-external-impacts of general economic conditions on a region's centrality in the FP network. However, we cannot observe substantial spillover effects of region-external factors on centrality in the co-publication network. Thus, the distinctive knowledge creation foci in each network seem to find expression in the network structure as well as its regional determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we reflect on how patents of introduction or importation, which compose an institutional policy related to weak IPR systems, could influence long-term international technology transfer. Both theoretically and empirically, the consequences of strengthening IPRs in lagging economies for technology transfer and innovation remain unclear. Although the mainstream literature tends to link stronger patent enforcement with better invention and innovation markets now and in the past, new theoretical and historical evidence supports extreme complexity in the relationship between IPR extension and scope and technological diffusion. For the first time, in this study, we analyze a large series of patents of introduction, which were a common feature of the early stages of almost all patent systems designed to favor technology transfer and innovation above original inventor property rights. Though typically used by pioneers, followers, and latecomers, we know little of how they functioned and their consequences. In this study, we analyze the use of patents of introduction throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Spain, which was a lagging country on the European periphery. The results demonstrate that this institutional policy could facilitate technology transfer, innovation, and advancement at earlier stages of industrialization. As additional research has demonstrated, such evidence may have serious implications for IPR treatment in both developing and underdeveloped economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There were substantial fluctuations in the number of American overseas travelers, especially before World War Two. These fluctuations in travel around the long-term upward trend are the focus of this paper. We first identify those fluctuations in the data and then try to explain the patterns. We show that, despite the impact of a myriad of episodic events, fluctuations in travel can be explained to a large extent by changes in the direct price of travel, changes in per capita GDP and wealth in the United States, and by periods of armed conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Estonian electricity market will be fully opened in 2013. Given ever-stricter environmental standards limiting the use of domestically available oil shale as main fuel for electricity generation and expansion of regional power pools, it is widely believed that Estonia's currently low electricity prices are set to increase. Authors argue that cost differentiation and regional competition will be based on transmission charges and add-on fees. Measuring exporting industry's total electricity costs as a share of total production costs shows that for the majority of Estonian producers electricity costs make up only around 1-2 % of production costs, but noteworthy exceptions exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian & Latin American Economic History is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the Swedish ball bearings industry during the Second World War, including subsidiary operations in Germany and the United Kingdom. It determines that these ball bearings were very important to the war effort in both countries, comprising in total about 58% of German supplies and 31% of British. Despite favouring Germany with more exports, the Swedish government allowed the British access to Swedish territory to ensure the delivery of the bearings through the German blockade. In relation to price increases for other exports, prices for ball bearings were time-dependent on the position of the acquiring country. From an overall perspective, the United Kingdom received a discount which Germany did not share. However, with the exception of direct exports, representing respectively about 10% and 15% of total German and British supplies, it would have been difficult for the Swedish industry to successfully withhold all supplies of ball bearings to either belligerent. Ultimately, any shortage of Swedish ball bearings in either belligerent could have been overcome only by long-term industrial changes and import substitution programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses the impact of several factors on the use of renewable energy sources in a set of European Union countries, by applying a quantile regression approach. We find that different factors are effective for different levels of renewable energy commitment and the magnitudes of some effects evolve in accordance with the level of renewable energy sources used. Consequently, some policies that do not take into account the different stages could carry different effects. The results suggest that the lobbying effect of the established industries hampers the development of renewable sources, and that this effect is greater for lower initial level of renewable energy use. The results reveal that environmental concerns have not yet achieved enough pressure to stimulate major developments on renewables. We include two new drivers, geographic area and European Union Directive 2001/77/EC. That Directive was effective in signaling the commitment to renewables, namely for countries with lower renewables use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many papers have been written about the effect of firm size on innovativeness, revealing a positive, a negative or a mixed impact. To this day, the so-called Schumpeterian hypothesis of the above-average innovativeness of large firms has neither been confirmed nor rejected, often because of insufficient data or a too-short observation period. Many studies concentrate only on a specific region or sector, or they analyze a very short time period. Windows of technological opportunities, providing technological booms for both firms and sectors, have not yet been investigated. An analysis of Germany's chemical, metal and electrical-engineering sectors between 1877 and 1932 reveals that the sector-specific long-term relationship between firm size and innovativeness is negative, except during times of specific technological booms. In combination with firm-specific characteristics, this new aspect can contribute to a better understanding of the long-term relationship between firm size and innovativeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on micro-level data of German companies from 1873 to 1927, we identified horizontal and vertical FDI applying a Knowledge-Capital model and analyzed individual FDI decisions. Our KC model revealed that market-driven FDI predominated; however, wage gaps and differences in human capital stimulated cost-driven FDI flows, which accounted for up to 10% of total FDI. On an individual level, large companies with high profitability conducted more FDI. Higher tariffs after WWI enhanced FDI, as companies could circumvent trade barriers-but declining openness reduced FDI. In spite of disintegration after WWI, the propensity to invest increased due to higher market concentration and firm specific investment patterns-albeit industry agglomeration effects were of minor importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper outlines EU policy on bioenergy, including biofuels, in the context of its policy initiatives to promote renewable energy to combat greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The EU’s Member States are responsible for implementing EU policy: thus, the UK’s Renewables Obligation on electricity suppliers and its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation and road-fuel tax rebates are examined. It is unlikely that EU policy is in conflict with the WTO Agreement on Agriculture or that on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, but its provisions on environmental sustainability criteria could be problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the characteristics of regions that contribute to their positioning within the emerging innovative networks supported by the European Union’s Framework Program using a spatial-network approach. Although the importance of research collaborations in network formation has been generally recognized, relatively little research has investigated why some regions are able to attain prominent network positions, while others do not. We analyze a spatially detailed data base of EU Framework Program-supported research ventures in Austria to understand how specific geographical nodes come to occupy important positions within key research networks. The paper deploys what is termed here a network positioning function to investigate the question of network centrality and at the same time to illustrate the possibilities of combining network and spatial analysis to examine this or other research questions where similar approaches might be applicable. Findings reveal the factors important for understanding advantageous positions enjoyed by regional districts as measured by alternative centrality concepts. Concepts that distinguish innovation exploitation from exploration were used to interpret network positions, which further clarify positioning in highly localized versus distant member networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1955 and 1987, Austrian trade with Eastern Europe was characterized by specific factors. On the one hand, trade flows were influenced by the central planning system in Eastern Europe. On the other hand, Austria applied non-standard policy tools to manage Eastern trade. Furthermore, Austrian trade with Eastern Europe was affected by the implementation of the free trade agreement with the European Communities (EC) and the change in the institutional framework for Eastern trade in the early 1970s. Austrian Eastern exports were fostered by increased export subsidies and barter trade. We assess the net effects of these contradictory measures of trade policy by estimating aggregate import and export equations and testing for a structural break in 1973. Our results are consistent with the view that Austria subsidized Eastern exports to pursue a countercyclical policy after 1973. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of changes in national border demarcation on economic integration. It treats the national breakups in Central Europe due to WWI as a natural experiment. The set-up allows to control for selection bias when estimating the impact of national borders on trade. A gravity model of trade is used to analyze goods-specific trade among Central European regions. The main results are, first, that systematic deviations of the observations under “border treatment” are found. Regions pairs that became separated by a new national border after WWI, tended to have below average levels of economic integration already before the war. A comparison of actual and biased result for goods-specific trade yields a difference of between 21 and 86% ad-valorem tariff equivalent, and might well be higher for certain goods. Second, the analysis indicates that cross-border integration was indeed lower after WWI but that this change was economically significant only for certain sectors. Third, in the interwar period, international trade was less diverted by borders first established after the war than by borders existing already before WWI. The results stress the importance of relative barriers to trade in attenuating the adverse effects of WWI on economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing consensus among economists that the most procompetitive strategy for restructuring public utility enterprises includes complete vertical separation of the network or grid portion of a sector from other parts of the sector where competition is to be created. Although exceptions to this rule are readily granted, it is generally considered that any alternative strategy may pay a high cost in terms of discriminatory access to the grid by non-integrated entrants into the new competitive sector. This consensus is somewhat surprising in light of the simultaneous growth of transactions cost economics, with its emphasis on the benefits of close vertical relationships—including vertical integration—in the face of complexity, unforeseeable contingencies, and problems with contract law enforcement. These issues are considered in the context of a Russian railways restructuring plan which may, or may not, involve complete vertical separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the problems and challenges which confronted the Australian government in its response to Britain’s second attempt to join the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1967. While an adequate body of literature exists on Australia’s policy towards Britain’s first application to the EEC (1961–63), the Australian government’s response to the 1967 bid has been completely ignored by historians. This article, therefore, aims to make a historical contribution to the understanding of Australia’s policy towards Britain’s ‘turn to Europe’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper explores the persistence of former borders in an integrating economic area, the reborn Polish nation state after World War I. It uses a gravity model of trade for the years 1926–1934 in order to assess the impact of former partition borders that Poland inherited from its period of partition between Germany, Russia, and the Habsburg monarchy (1795–1918). The findings point to a persistent but decreasing impact of former borders over time, interrupted during the Great Depression. Compared to recent findings on border effects between Canada and the US or home bias effects across member states of the contemporary European Union or even between US states the Polish domestic market was quite well integrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]