Using a gravity model, we estimate the magnitude of potential trade flows between Ireland and the five CEEC countries currently negotiating accession to the EU. We find that Irish exports were already close to their “normal” level in 1994, but that imports from the CEECs were still only half of their “normal” size. The value of estimated “normal” trade corresponds to 0.8 percent of Irish GNP. T...

This paper aims at providing new insights into dynaraic spatial interaction and I-O analysis by linking a multiple objective programming approach to stochastic dynaraic spatial allocation models. In this context, a multiple objective optimal control model is designed, which appears to lead to a generalized solution for conventional spatial interaction problems. Next, by using a Wiener (or Brown...

Since the late 1970s, China’s government has gradually eased restrictions on internal migration. The easing of restrictions, along with rapid growth of the Chinese economy, the forces of globalization, and substantial increases in foreign direct investment and local construction spending, have greatly stimulated internal migration. The recent availability of Chinese migration data for three dif...

The misspecification of gravity spatial interaction models has recently been described by the author. The bias in parameter estimates that results from such misspecification appears to produce the 'map pattern effect' or 'spatial structure bias' in estimated distance-decay parameters. A further aspect of the misspecification bias in gravity parameter estimates is explored here. The severity of ...

In 2004 the EU faced its most extensive enlargement ever when ten new countries joined. One can speculate about the reasons for these countries to join the EU and one suggestion that is often found is the access to a larger market and the trade possibilities that would entail; the customs union effect. Therefore this thesis sets out to investigate whether this is plausible; do countries trade m...

This paper examines the effect of immigration on the US trade flows. The model hypothesizes that immigration facilitates international trade with home countries by lowering transaction costs. Immigrants also demand products from their country of origin, and thus stimulate trade. Using a panel data set I estimate a dynamic, fixed-effect model. The immigrant stock, a proxy for transaction costs, ...

Brainy Africans to Fortress Europe: For Money or Colonial Vestiges? Economic reasons along with cultural affinities and the existence of networks have been the main determinants explaining migration flows between home and host countries. This paper reconsiders these approaches combined with the gravity model and empirically tests the hypothesis that ex-colonial links can still play an important...

M ERCHANDISE trade is by far the best documented aspect of international economic relations. Trade data therefore offer a rich source of information on patterns and shifts in the allocation of economic activity around the globe. In this paper I describe global merchandise trade flows through the lens of intra-industry trade (IIT) indices, which quantify the extent to which bilateral imports and...

While a mega-event is scheduled at least once every year somewhere in the world, these events are rare occurrences for the host cities and countries. The benefits of such events seem lucrative; the very fact that many countries bid to host these events suggests that the benefits — be they tangible or intangible — more often than not outweigh the costs. Using a standard gravity model of bilatera...

Recent work by Anderson and van Wincoop (2003) establishes an empirical modeling strategy which takes full account of the structural, non-(log-)linear impact of trade barriers on trade in new trade theory models. Structural new trade theory models have never been used to evaluate and quantify the role of endogenous preferential trade agreement (PTA) membership for trade in a way which is consis...