Now showing 1 - 10 of 43
  • Publication
    Enlargement and the European geography of the Information Technology sector
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2004-03) ;
    The information technology sector in Europe, comprising the production of computer hardware and software, is disproportionately located on the continent’s western periphery. The vast bulk of computers sold in Europe in the 1990s were assembled either in Ireland or Scotland, while Ireland also accounted for over 40 percent of all packaged software and 60 percent of all business software sold in Europe. As the sector in both these locations is largely foreign owned, the question arises as to whether EU enlargement might impact on the geography of the sector by diverting information technology FDI from the western to the new eastern periphery. This issue is explored in the present paper by analysis of five individual sub-segments: computer assembly and electronic components, R&D, mass market packaged software and the remainder of the software sector.
      669
  • 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.
      582
  • 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.
      83
  • Publication
    Aggregate-supply, aggregate-demand, and structural factors in recent Irish unemployment
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1990-07)
    This paper aims, firstly, to present an overview of the causes of Ireland's poor employment performance in recent decades by drawing together the results of existing empirical research and secondly, to pinpoint some deficienceis in the empirical approaches adopted to date.
      177
  • Publication
    Product characteristics and the growth of FDI
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2003-02) ;
    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.
      229
  • Publication
    Optimal factor and production subsidies under classical unemployment
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1991-01)
    This paper appraises and compares the macroeconomic effects of three supply-side policies - namely employment, investment and production subsidies - within the context of a multisectoral two-period model of a small open economy with classical unemployment. Optimal subsidy levels are studied, a hierarchy of policies is derived, and policy rankings are shown to survive the introduction of common alternative specifications of the social welfare function.
      48
  • Publication
    Competitiveness implications for Ireland of EU enlargement
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 2002-09) ; ; ;
    Ten states, primarily from Central and Eastern Europe, are likely to be admitted to the EU within the next few years. The present paper assesses the competitiveness implications of this enlargement for Ireland. Four specific topics are considered: the trade effects, the implications for Ireland's ability to attract FDI, the likely levels of immigration from Central and Eastern Europe and its consequences, and the budgetary implications for the Irish Exchequer.
      500
  • Publication
    Government consumption and private investment in closed and open economies
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1992-01)
      287
  • Publication
    Market liberalisation, monetary stabilisation and foreign debt : did Australia get it wrong in the 1980s?
    (University College Dublin. School of Economics, 1992-06)
    This paper argues that the Australian government made three errors when implementing the liberalisation and stabilisation programmes of the 1980's. International capital movements were liberalised at too high an Australian inflation rate; this deepened the later monetary-induced recession. The monetary contraction itself was supposedly aimed at reducing growth in foreign debt: theory and evidence, however, suggest that counter-inflationary policies increase foreign debt if the contraction occurs under free international capital mobility. By liberising international capital flows in advance of the major tariff cuts of the 1980's, finally, the negative effects of protectionism and the burden of adjustment to freer trade made have been increased. the policy errors led to an unnecessarily severe recession which may threaten further trade reform.
      73