This paper is an extension of the debate on the nexus between the strength of IPRs and prospects for knowledge economy. It assesses the relationships between software piracy and scientific publications in African countries for which data is available. The findings which reveal a positive nexus are broadly consistent with the school of thought postulating that, the East Asian miracle has been la...

We develop a horizontal R&D growth model that allows us to investigate the different channels through which financial reforms affect investment and patent activity. First, “micro” reform abolishes barriers entry in banking sector produces straightforward result: decrease lending rates stimulates economic growth. Second, “macro” removes restrictions on banks’ reserves credit controls. While this...

Although initially originated as a totally empirical relationship to explain the volume of trade between two partners, gravity equation has been the focus of several theoretic models that try to explain it. Specialization models are of great importance in providing a solid theoretic ground for gravity equation in bilateral trade. Some research papers try to improve specialization models by addi...

This paper uses a gravity model to assess ex-post regional trade agreements. The model includes 130 countries and is estimated with panel data over the period 1962–1996. The introduction of the correct number of dummy variables allows for identification of Vinerian trade creation and trade diversion effects, while the estimation method takes into account the unobservable characteristics of each...

Family and Politics: Does Parental Unemployment Cause Right-Wing Extremism? Recent years have witnessed a rise in right-wing extremism among German youth and young adults. This paper investigates the extent to which the experience of parental unemployment during childhood affects young people’s far right-wing attitudes and xenophobia. Estimates from three different German data sets show a posit...

The paper advocates and implements a new panel structure model to investigate the club convergence hypothesis. The model consists of a set of linear dynamic models that characterize the behavior of growth rates within each convergence club and a logistic regression that classifies these linear models. An EM algorithm is used to estimate the system by maximum likelihood and inference is conducte...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) brings host countries capital, productive facilities, and technology transfers, as well as new jobs and management expertise. Thus, it is important to understand the basic reasons for FDI inflow and make clear what gains from FDI are. In the present paper, based on theoretical findings we formulate clear message stating that inflow of FDI does not need to be expl...

Ambition and Jealousy: Income Interactions in the “Old” Europe versus the “New” Europe and the United States This paper asks how income distribution affects individual well-being and tries to explore the idea that this relation depends on the degree of mobility and uncertainty in the economy. It mostly concentrates on the relation between satisfaction and reference income (defined as the income...

Following the present atmosphere of budgetary cuts in the OECD countries we analyze the effects of fiscal consolidation in the composition of government expenditures by functions. We modify a standard median voter demand model to incorporate a form of fiscal illusion based on the idea that voters-taxpayers may not be fully aware of the true composition of government expenditures because all typ...

This paper analyzes price elasticities in the Austrian market for mobile telecommunications services using data on firm specific tariffs. Both static and a dynamic panel data approaches lead to consistent results which provide evidence for a relatively elastic demand. Furthermore, some basic facts on the Austrian mobile telephone sector are presented. JEL-Classification: C23, L13, L96.