Tag: European Union

DOES EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP RESULT IN QUALITY-OF-LIFE CONVERGENCE?

Joel I. DEICHMANN*¹

Professor of Global Studies

jdeichmann@bentley.edu

Dominique HAUGHTON¹

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

dhaughton@bentley.edu

Mingfei LI¹

Professor of Mathematical Sciences

mli@bentley.edu

Heyao WANG¹

Graduate Research Assistant

wang_heya@bentley.edu

*Corresponding Author

¹Members of the Data Analytic Research Team (DART)

Bentley University Waltham, MA 02452 USA

Abstract

This paper employs European Quality-of-life Survey (EQLS) responses from 2003, 2008, 2012, and 2016 to examine whether European Union (EU) enlargement helps meet the objectives of improved living standards and overall quality-of-life across the continent. The data set includes responses to forty questions across nine dimensions for all twenty-eight pre-Brexit EU member states, along with eight non-member states. Insights are captured through the systematic comparison of self-reported perceptions pooled at the country level before and after accession, as well as between member states and non-member states. Special attention is paid to the eleven post-communist countries that joined the EU in 2004, 2007, and 2013, which together represent the addition of one hundred million EU citizens. These include Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia. Based upon these findings, the paper concludes with speculation upon popular support for further enlargement in the wake of the 2007-08 Global Financial Crisis, the 2016-2020 Brexit process, and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: European Union, Central and Eastern Europe, economic integration, European convergence

JEL classification: O10, O47, P20, P48, R11

 pp. 31-46

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SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: HOW WOULD IT AFFECT THE COUNTRY’S FOREIGN TRADE?

Lucie COUFALOVÁ

Specialist, Faculty of Business and Administration, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

174064@mail.muni.cz

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the main determinants of Scotland’s foreign trade and, above all, the EU’s role in the volume of the country’s exports, as its EU membership is one of the key arguments in the political discourse about independence. The article highlights the results of opinion polls in the country, as well as the relationship between economic integration and political disintegration. The methodological approach adopted is the gravity model of international trade. Given the large number of zero flows present in the data sample, the Tobit model proved to be a more suitable technique for the estimation. The Random effects model estimates are also provided in order to prove the robustness of the estimates. The results of the study allow for more substantiated conclusions about the main determinants of Scotland’s foreign trade, as well as they provide arguments for discussing the implications of Scottish independence.

Keywords: Scotland, independence, European Union, international trade, gravity model

JEL classification: F13, F47, F15, R15

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EFFECTS OF FISCAL CONSOLIDATION ON REGIONAL ECONOMICS RESILIENCE: INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN METTERS?

Christophe FEDER

Professor, University of Aosta Valley, Str. Cappuccini, 2, Aosta, Italy

c.feder1@univda.it

Vinko MUŠTRA

Assistant professor, Faculty of economics, business and tourism, University of Split, Cvite Fiskovića 5, Split, Croatia

vmustra@efst.hr

Abstract

After the Great Recession, in the European Union (EU) emerges an heterogenous level of both national fiscal consolidation and regional economics resilience. The paper uses the EUROSTAT database of EU-27 at NUTS 2 level over the period 2000-2009 to test how fiscal consolidation affects the regional economics resilience. We find that the fiscal consolidation and regional economic resilience are negatively correlated. Moreover, we show that the negative effect of taxation is higher than the positive effect of public spending.

Keywords: Regional economic resilience, Fiscal consolidation, Institutions, European Union

JEL classification: R12, E62, H23, H72
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