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Europe > Iceland

You are looking at 1 - 3 of 3 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations x
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Cover IMF Working Papers
The Euro’s Effecton Trade Imbalances
Mr. Helge Berger
and
Volker Nitsch
When does trade become a one-way relationship? We study bilateral trade balances for a sample of 18 European countries over the period from 1948 through 2008. We find that, with the introduction of the euro, trade imbalances among euro area members widened considerably, even after allowing for permanent asymmetries in trade competitiveness within pairs of countries or in the overall trade competitiveness of individual countries. This is consistent with indications that pair-wise trade tends to be more balanced when nominal exchange rates are flexible. Intra-euro area imbalances also seem to have become more persistent with the introduction of the euro, some of which is linked to labor market inflexibility. Reviewing the direction of imbalances, we find that bilateral trade surpluses are decreasing in the real exchange rate, decreasing in growth differentials, and increasing in the relative volatility of national business cycles. Finally, countries with relatively higher fiscal deficits and less flexible labor and product markets exhibit systematically lower trade surpluses than others.
Keywords:
WP; trade imbalance; member country; dependent variable; imbalances; trade balance; trade surplus; trade deficit; euro; EMU; European integration; product market; × EMU; exchange rate variability; area trade; exchange rate volatility; euro area member; Plurilateral trade; Trade surpluses; Exchange rates; Trade deficits
Cover IMF Working Papers
Trade Openness and Growth: Pursuing Empirical Glasnost
Mr. Andreas Billmeier
and
Tommaso Nannicini
Studies of the impact of trade openness on growth are based either on cross-country analysis-which lacks transparency-or case studies-which lack statistical rigor. We apply transparent econometric methods drawn from the treatment evaluation literature to make the comparison between treated (i.e., open) and control (i.e., closed) countries explicit while remaining within a unified statistical framework. First, matching estimators highlight the rather far-fetched country comparisons underlying common cross-country results. When appropriately restricting the sample, we confirm a positive and significant effect of openness on growth. Second, we apply synthetic control methods-which account for endogeneity due to unobservable heterogeneity-to countries that liberalized their trade regime and we show that trade liberalization has often had a positive effect on growth.
Keywords:
WP; control country; area dummy; country comparison; trade policy; trade openness; growth; matching estimators; synthetic control; country match; standard error; a lot of country; state monopoly; unobservable country heterogeneity; economic growth; MCD country; Latin American country; unobservable characteristic; Population growth; Trade liberalization; Public expenditure review; Middle East; Africa
Cover The Impact of the European Community's internal Market on the EFTA
The Impact of the European Community's internal Market on the EFTA
Occa Paper No.74
International Monetary Fund

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the likely impact of the creation of the European Community (EC) internal market on the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members. The focus is on the four freedoms and the institutional and legal changes required for increased economic cooperation between the EC and EFTA. Although not formally part of the negotiations, certain tax issues are also raised. The paper is in ten parts and includes a summary and glossary. The paper also discusses the institutional and legal changes that may prove necessary for greater EC-EFTA cooperation and the implications of the internal market for trade, production, and resource allocation in the EFTA countries. It examines issues related to trade in goods-mainly industrial goods-and transport services and considers issues of labor mobility and trade in financial services. Changes would also appear desirable in the areas of industrial and intellectual property rights-notably counterfeiting, trademarks, copyrights, and patents.

Keywords:
OP; EFTA country; country; EFTA member; EC country; firm; EC-EFTA cooperation; EC-EFTA relation; Transportation; Monetary unions; Value-added tax; Exchange rates; Western Europe; Europe; Southern Europe; Global