The notion that politicians’ identity, including their gender, can influence policy outcomes is supported by a growing body of empirical research. This column reports a study exploring the extent to which the share of women members in national governments during the Covid-19 pandemic shaped the policy responses. Higher female representation was associated with a lower […]
A large proportion of the financing needs for Europe’s digital, energy, and demographic transitions, as well as defence, will have to be covered by public funding. This column argues that these can all be seen as European public goods, and that a first step towards achieving them should to maximise the capacity of existing instruments, […]
The Middle Ages are widely understood as an era of economic immobility. This column uncovers a more nuanced picture. Wealth transmission in late medieval Florence was characterised by both mobility and persistence. While there was a notable degree of social mobility across adjacent generations, privilege tended to persist over longer horizons. Social and political networks […]
A large share of EU firms experienced supply chain disruptions in recent years. This column shares highlights from the 2024 European Investment Bank report on how to enhance the security and resilience of EU supply chains without sacrificing the benefits of the global production model. The EU internal market appears to work as a buffer […]
As governments increasingly resort to industrial policy to achieve economic and non-economic objectives, the number of subsidies has more than tripled in the last decade. This column investigates the effects of domestic subsidies on trade flows. It shows how these measures can alter comparative advantage patterns and hence affect export dynamics, especially in large emerging […]
While much of the world has benefited from international trade, some regions and individual citizens have been left conspicuously behind. This column summarises analysis from the WTO’s 2024 World Trade Report on the relationship between international trade and inclusiveness. The diverse impact of international trade across economies points more to the inadequacy of domestic policies […]
One of the narratives being pushed by Russia is that its economy is doing better than the West, and that sanctions are not working. This column looks at how the Russian economy worked before the invasion in 2022 and some of key statistics currently coming out from Russian authorities. The findings suggest that the Russian […]
Many antitrust theories of harm relate to price effects. Governments regulate retail prices, for example, to protect smaller shops from more cost-efficient rivals. But for online shopping, shipping costs must also be taken into account. Looking at Amazon, this column quantifies the role of shipping costs in the effective prices for consumers when shopping online. […]
A recent European Court of Justice ruling will force FIFA to rewrite its rules on the transfer of football players between clubs. In particular, it may have to eliminate the Article that makes any football club that hires a player in breach of his or her contract jointly and severally liable for any fines levied […]
Governments in advanced economies face growing pressure to increase public spending. This column finds that debt issuance in euro area countries whose bonds are considered relatively safe drives up interest rates in both the issuing country and in other ‘safe’ countries. This new type of spillover, which differs from contagion effects and default risk spillovers, […]
