Now showing 1 - 10 of 43
  • Publication
    Peripherality in economic geography and modern growth theory : evidence from Ireland's adjustment to free trade
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1994-08)
    In light of the ambiguous convergence experience of peripheral regions in the EU and in the post-war world economy, this paper studies the implications of some recent trend models that do not predict convergence as a necessary outcome of market integration. These models are then confronted with data on the Irish experience under free trade. The Irish case is arguably of general interest because it has served as one of the longest-running examples of the type of outward-oriented strategies recommended for developing countries by international institutions such as World Bank and the IMF. The purpose of the paper is twofold: to identify lacunae in the recent theoretical analyses and to develop further insights into the structural transformation of a peripheral economy.
      684
  • Publication
    The Single Market and the geographical diversification of leading firms in the EU
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2003-02) ;
    Geographical diversification describes the degree to which a firm’s operations in a particular industry are dispersed across countries. This paper presents evidence on the geographical diversification within the EU of the 290-odd largest manufacturing firms in Europe. We also explore how geographical diversification changed with the introduction of the Single Market. We highlight differences between firms’ home and foreign operations and study the variation across sectors and across EU countries. Ireland, which began its rapid FDI-fuelled convergence on average EU living standards over our data period, emerges as a special case and receives particular attention.
      381
  • Publication
    Regional characteristics, monetary union and regional income volatility
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2001-05)
    Relatively little attention has been paid to the issue of how individual regions will fare as a consequence of the national decision on whether or not to adopt the single European currency. Regional welfare is influenced by both mean income and volatility. The present paper focuses on volatility. We develop a model of a regionally-integrated macroeconomy to explore how the income variance implied by the national decision on EMU is distributed across a country's regions. The model suggests that weaker regions are likely to do better than stronger regions with respect to volatility if the national economy participates in EMU.
      128
  • Publication
    On the causes of Ireland's unemployment
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1991-01) ;
    This paper attempts to account for the rise in Irish unemployment between 1970 and 1987. To this end a fully articulated medium-term model of the economy is employed, in contrast to the four equation model of the labour market adopted by Newell and Symons (1990) in their recent study on the topic. The proximate causes identified in both cases include the swings in domestic fiscal policy, demographic factors and the shocks which buffeted the world economy. Our conclusions differ quite sharply form their, however, and the reasons for these differences are explored.
      517
  • Publication
    Team Aer Lingus and Irish Steel: An Application of the Declining High-Wage Industries Literature
    (University College Dublin. Department of Business Administration ; University of Ulster. Ulster Business School ; University of Limerick. Department of Business Studies, 1996) ;
      193
  • Publication
    The evolution of Zambia's macroeconomic crisis, 1970-90
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1990-07)
      124
  • Publication
    Product characteristics and the growth of FDI
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2002-07) ; ;
    FDI and the activities of foreign affiliate firms have grown dramatically in recent decades, both in absolute terms and as a share of world GDP. Most explanations of this phenomenon focus on the impact of the macroeconomic environment on the choices facing individual firms over whether or not to engage in FDI. We focus instead on the characteristics of demand for the products produced in sectors known to be conducive to FDI. These characteristics are shown to help explain the recent growth in the FDI-to-GDP ratio.
      255
  • Publication
    Multinationals and indigenous employment : an "Irish disease"?
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1995-10) ;
    In trade studies Ireland emerges as having a revealed comparative disadvantage in labour-intensive industries. Can the country's unusual industrial structure contribute to our understanding of its high unemployment? The Dutch-disease models we explore suggest that the inflow of multinationals would have stimulated employment when the exchange rate was linked to sterling, but could have had less benevolent consequences when the exchange rate became more flexible. We also discuss a number of alternative hypotheses on the relationship between multinational and aggregate employment.
      300
  • Publication
    A portfolio analysis of industrial structure
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2003-03) ;
    Industrial sectors producing income-elastic products can grow rapidly but are highly vulnerable to fluctuations in the world economy. Policymakers need to take into account this trade-off between output and employment growth over the longer term and volatility in the short to medium term. We bring the principles of portfolio theory to bear on the issue. Our analysis is applied to Irish manufacturing employment where growth has been concentrated in foreign-owned sectors such as Office and Data Processing Equipment, Pharmaceuticals and Professional Instruments. We show that, increased volatility notwithstanding, the country’s hightech FDI-driven strategy has brought the economy’s industrial portfolio closer to the mean-variance efficiency frontier.
      297