(Re)theorising European Integration under Globalisation:A Political Economy Approach

In the last two decades, the European Union has become wider and deeper. In addition, the number of regional integration arrangements has increased dramatically since early 1990s. Against these developments, the focus of regional and European integration studies has shifted away from the motives for and drivers of the integration process towards policy analysis or the comparative politics or regional blocs. This article attempts to bring the regional integration theory back in by proposing a political economy model that explains the dynamics of European integration, the reasons as to why governments agree to delegate authority to regional (EU) institutions, and the relationship between globalisation and integration

Liberalisation in a world of second best: evidence on European network industries

This article reports mixed results about the impacts of liberalisation in European network industries. Telecommunications prices have fallen and converged across EU-15, but electricity and gas prices have either increased or diverged. Productivity has increased, but mainly as a result of falling employment in absolute and relative terms. Liberalised industries are still characterised by high levels of market concentration and low levels of transparency and market integration. These findings are in line with the predictions of the theory of second best and suggest that the case for liberalisation of network industries has been oversold.Liberalisation, network industries, second-best, public policy, European Union

Liberalisation in a world of second best: evidence on European network industries

This article reports mixed results about the impacts of liberalisation in European network industries. Telecommunications prices have fallen and converged across EU-15, but electricity and gas prices have either increased or diverged. Productivity has increased, but mainly as a result of falling employment in absolute and relative terms. Liberalised industries are still characterised by high levels of market concentration and low levels of transparency and market integration. These findings are in line with the predictions of the theory of second best and suggest that the case for liberalisation of network industries has been oversold

Economic implications of Turkish EU membership: the advantages of tying one’s hands

This paper is a stock-taking exercise that brings together existing findings and new insights on the potential costs and benefits of EU membership for both Turkey and the EU. As far as Turkey is concerned, we focus on the costs and benefits of EU membership that are likely to result from compliance with the so-called EU conditionality. As far as EU is concerned, we focus on the costs and benefits associated with budgetary contributions and migration. Overall, we conclude that the impact of membership is likely to be positive for both parties, but the risks and returns are associated. In other words, Turkey stands to gain more than the EU but it is also the party that will be faced with higher adjustment costs.EU enlargement, economic costs and benefits of integration, migration, EU-Turkey relations

Turkish economic policy under AKP government: an assessment for 2002-2007

This article agrees with the received wisdom that the rule of AKP government has been associated with better macroeconomic outcomes in Turkey from 2002-2007. However, it argues that it is necessary to question the received wisdom for several reasons. First, AKP government’s contribution to Turkey’s economic performance from 2002-2007 was largely due to its consent to ‘tie its hands’ under the pre-existing International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) accession conditionality rather than because of AKP-specific policy innovation. Secondly, AKP’s attempt at policy innovation after 2004 have been associated with less impressive economic outcomes. Finally, the AKP has been unsuccessful in addressing the structural constraints and vulnerabilities that threaten the long-run sustainability of Turkey’s economic growth and its macroeconomic stability.Economic policy analysis; economic governance; inflation targeting; structural reforms; Turkish economy

Institutions and economic performance: a review of the theory and evidence

The aim of this article is to take stock of the theoretical debate and empirical findings concerning the impact of institutions on economic performance and the channels through which the institutional impact unfolds. The review is limited to work published until 2004 due to space limitations and the exponential increase in the literature after 2004 – a development that justifies a separate review in itself. We trace the evolution of the institutional approach, identify the channels through which institutional quality might affect economic performance, report the empirical findings, and assess the institutional approach’s contribution to economic analysis and policy design. Our findings suggest that the institutional approach has made both theoretical and empirical contributions to economics research and has inspired policy debate, but the debate is lopsided with its focus on developing countries only.Institutions, governance, growth, investment, technological change

Migration without borders: the ethics, economics and governance of free movement

This article develops and discusses the argument that it is difficult to make an ethical or economic case against free movement of workers. The analysis that leads to this conclusion also enables us to demonstrate that free movement is not only feasible but also more efficient compared to restrictive/protectionist policies. Another implication of the analysis in this paper is that a multilateral framework similar to that of World Trade Organisation (WTO) – e.g., a World Migration Organisation (WMO) - would be an optimal arrangement that could enable member countries to tackle externalities and collective action problems associated with international migration. Although free movement and its multilateral governance are not high on governments’ policy agenda, they remain the most rational solutions to international migration problems in the age of globalisation coupled with persistence in international income inequalities.international migration, free movement of workers, ethics of migration, economics of migration, governance of migration

Is regulatory quality related to industry performance? Evidence on telecommunications, gas and electricity in EU15

This paper provides empirical evidence on ex ante and ex post indicators of regulatory quality and the relationship between those indicators and market performance in liberalised EU-15 network industries. We report a low level of regulatory independence and competence, a high level of cross-country variations in regulatory quality, and a prevalent absence of correlation between ex ante regulatory quality and ex post performance indicators. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that the design of national regulatory agencies (NRAs) in Europe is not optimal and may be conducive to regulatory ineffectiveness or outright regulatory failure. Nevertheless, the existence and strengthening of EU-level regulators could enable EU member states to reduce the risk of regulatory failure by encouraging coordination and adoption of best practice.Economics of Regulation, European Public Policy, Regulatory Quality, European Network Industries.

Can the EU anchor policy reform? The case of the Euro-Med Partnership

The emerging literature on ‘anchoring’ draws attention to non-conventional benefits of regional integration arrangements, which include increased policy credibility. Nevertheless, this literature tends to view the anchoring of policy reform as an exogenously given option for a reforming country. We demonstrate that anchoring is an endogenously determined choice, which may guarantee neither optimal levels of policy reform nor effective anchoring unless the relevant contracts are both complete and incentive compatible. We examine the economic pillar of the Euro-Med Partnership (EMP) to ascertain the extent to which its contractual provisions satisfy these conditions. Our findings suggest that the EMP leaves too much room for discretion and does not internalize the positive externalities associated with policy reform. These findings enable us to elaborate on why the EU cannot be expected to function as an effective anchor for policy reform for its trading partners

On stability of the demand for money in a developing OECD country: the case of Turkey

This paper empirically analyses the stability of the narrow money demand function (M1) in Turkey for the period 1950–2002. As part of the IMF sponsored stabilisation programme, Turkey has been pursuing base money targets. To ascertain whether this policy framework satisfies the necessary condition for effectiveness, we estimate and test for the stability of Turkish M1 by employing a recent single cointegration procedure proposed by Pesaran et al. (2001) along with the CUSUM and CUSUMSQ stability tests. We demonstrate that there is a stable money demand function and it could be used as an intermediate target of monetary policy in Turkey