The economic effects Croatia's accession to the EU

We explore the economic implications of the possible accession of Croatia to the European Union. We focus on two main changes associated with the EU-membership: accession to the internal European Market and institutional reforms in Croatia triggered by the EU-membership. Consumption per capita in Croatia is estimated to rise by about 2.5% as a result of accession to the internal market. In particular the textile and wearing apparel sectors expand. If Croatia succeeds in reforming its domestic institutions in response to the EU-membership, income levels in Croatia could increase even more. In particular, tentative estimates suggest that GDP per capita in Croatia could even rise by additional 8%. Overall, the macroeconomic implications for the existing EU countries are negligible.

Turkish Delight – Does Turkey’s accession to the EU bring economic benefits?

We explore the economic implications of the possible Turkish accession to the European Union. We focus on three main changes associated with Turkish membership: (i) accession to the internal European Market; (ii) institutional reforms in Turkey triggered by EU-membership; and (iii) migration in response to the free movement of workers. Overall, the macroeconomic implications for EU countries are small but positive. European exports increase by around 20 percent. Turkey experiences larger economic gains than the EU: consumption per capita is estimated to rise by about 4 percent as a result of accession to the internal market and free movement of labour. If Turkey would succeed in reforming its domestic institutions in response to EU-membership, consumption per capita in Turkey could raise by an additional 9 percent. These benefits would spill over to the EU.Turkey, regional economic integration, general equilibrium model, gravity equations, institutional reform, migration

Neo-Atlantis: The Netherlands under a 5-m sea level rise

What could happen to the Netherlands if, in 2030, the sea level starts to rise and eventually, after 100 years, a sea level of 5 m above current level would be reached? This question is addressed by studying literature, by interviewing experts in widely differing fields, and by holding an expert workshop on this question. Although most experts believe that geomorphology and current engineering skills would enable the country to largely maintain its territorial integrity, there are reasons to assume that this is not likely to happen. Social processes that precede important political decisions - such as the growth of the belief in the reality of sea level rise and the framing of such decisions in a proper political context (policy window) - evolve slowly. A flood disaster would speed up the decision-making process. The shared opinion of the experts surveyed is that eventually part of the Netherlands would be abandoned. © 2008 The Author(s)

Progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases: current practice in diagnosis and management

Objective: Some patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) other than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) develop a progressive fibrosing phenotype. We investigated the diagnosis and management of non-IPF ILDs using data from a survey of physicians and from US insurance claims. Methods: Pulmonologists, rheumatologists and internists in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, UK and US who had managed ≥10 patients with non-IPF ILDs in the past year, including those with progressive fibrosing ILDs, completed an online survey. Data on US insurance and prescription claims were obtained from a repository that aggregates data on claims routed from providers or pharmacies to payers. Results: In May–June 2017, 243 pulmonologists, 203 rheumatologists and 40 internists completed an online survey. Respondents estimated that 18–32% of patients diagnosed with non-IPF ILDs develop progressive fibrosis and that time from symptom onset to death in these patients was 61–80 months. Drug treatment was given to 50–75% of patients with non-IPF progressive fibrosing ILDs. Reasons for patients not being treated included that physicians considered patients to have mild or slowly progressing disease, or did not believe that available treatments are effective or well tolerated. Corticosteroids were the preferred first-line treatment for all types of non-IPF ILD. There was considerable heterogeneity in preferences for second- and third-line treatments. US insurance claims data from 3823 patients indicated that, in 2016, 50–75% of patients with ILDs received drug treatment (mostly corticosteroids) for their ILD. Conclusions: Physicians estimate that 18–32% of patients diagnosed with non-IPF ILDs develop a progressive fibrosing phenotype and that these patients experience significant delays in the diagnosis of ILD and the detection of progressive fibrosis. Between 25% and 50% of patients with progressive fibrosing ILDs do not receive drug therapy. There is an unmet need for effective and well tolerated treatments for progressive fibrosing ILDs

Implications of globalization for CO2 emissions from transport

Transport accounts for about 25% of global C