The Effects Of European Economic Integration On The Profitability Of Industries

This paper examines the effects of intensified international competition on industry profits in six European Union (EU) countries. The paper uses two methods to estimate industry profits. The traditional method uses accounting data to obtain a measure of gross price-average cost margins. The second method directly estimates markups of price over marginal cost using new empirical techniques. Import competition is found to have disciplined market power, regardless of the method used to estimate industry profits. From the analysis of the markups, there is evidence that this is due mainly to intra-EU import competition. The evidence for export discipline is much weaker.

The EU Single Market and the opening up of Eastern Europe offer a chance to create a truly pan-European market economy. In this respect, many lessons can be learned from early 20th-century developments in Europe. Bearing this in mind, the authors analyze the fragility of international trade, financial investment and foreign relations in and across Europe, from both a contemporary and historical perspective. In a period of increased migration and higher capital mobility, the major OECD countries are faced with such issues as monetary integration, the role of banks and the requirement for structural adjustment. Even more complex is the integration of Russia. Policymakers and the business community alike are presented simultaneously with unique opportunities and unique challenges - with old and new pitfalls looming.

The book brings together an international panel of experts on economic integration and international business to address the essential link between the two fields, namely the impact of integration processes on the business environment. Focusing on the European Union, it presents numerous examples and case studies to demonstrate how local business is becoming international business, and addresses the opportunities, constraints and overall historical changes. Starting with the regional and global economic integration framework, and subsequently exploring the institutional structure that makes everything possible and how the union came to be, the book reveals how the common policies of the EU impact businesses and entrepreneurship within both the common market and the member states. Readers will learn about the economic and political context that affect businesses in Europe; understand the basic concepts of integration, accompanied by cases and examples; gain a new perspective on important EU sectoral policies and challenges for individuals and businesses; become aware of the main challenges to EU enlargement; and better grasp the advantages and disadvantages of doing business in Europe in the present context.

European integration has come a long way since the fIrst steps in the aftermath of the Second World War. At that time, the neutral European countries chose to stay outside the European Economic Community. Those countries that wanted less ambitious cooperation formed the European Free Trade Association. Increasing trade dependence between the two groupings was institutionalised when they signed free-trade agreements with each other, creating thus a wider European free-trade area in manufactures. The strong push towards deepening integration among EC countries, manifested in the Single European Act in 1985, and the dismantling of non-tariff barriers to trade and factor flows in the EC by 1993, made it necessary for EFTA countries to secure access on equal conditions to their most important export market and thus prevent trade diversion. The ensuing agreement on the European Economic Area responded to these demands, but did not resolve the apparent asymmetry in EEA decision-making. This emanated from the supremacy ofEC legislation over EEA rules, thus making EFTA countries passively adjust to EC norms. Consequently, Finland applied for membership in the EC in March 1992, with effect from 1995. The latest phase in the integration process, the Treaty on European Union, has an aim to further deepening, e. g. the formation of the economic and monetary union by 1999.

Europe's achievements in economic integration have attracted worldwide interest and are seen as an example for other regions to follow. Ten years after the completion of the Single Market Programme, this book is able to utilize empirical data not available to previous studies, also building on research by reputed academic experts and staff at the European Commission. The book reveals that European product market integration has a significant impact on the conditions of competition, the strategies of companies and the structure of industry. It adds a quarter of a percentage to annual GDP growth rates and has not led to an increased exposure of the EU to asymmetric shocks. However, the book argues that further improvements in the functioning of European product markets are needed in order to improve the EU's growth performance over the next decade. Invaluably, the book provides not only current information about Europe's achievements in economic integration but also methodology to assess the outcome of economic integration in other regions of the World, such as NAFTA, MERCOSUR and ASEAN.

Progressive integration has been a significant characteristic of economic development in the last few decades worldwide and in Europe - where it has found expression notably in the European Community (EC), now the European Union (EU). The issue of monetary integration has been central to the discussion on European economic integration. This text aims to select the more relevant aspects and developments, placing them in a robust conceptual structure, and integrate theoretical developments with the results of empirical research and of policy analysis. The authors explain the logic of the dynamic process, describe the structural features of the European economy, and depict the historical developments so as to give a sound basis for the understanding of the present situation and the likely future developments. In addition, it sets the European developments in the light of global developments. This revised edition covers recent developements, such as the setting up of the economic and monetary union, the widening of the EU, updated data, and integrates the results of recent theoretical and empirical work.

A collection of papers on the issues of European economic integration and its consequences for the Nordic countries. It addresses historic and future effects of integration - on trade, specialization and industrial structure, competition and market concentration, and other aspects.

As global corporate rivalry intensifies there is rising concern about the state of industries that have to compete with foreign firms often suspected of being aided by their governments with the aim to dominate world markets. In the European Community, in particular, many industrialists believe that the completion of the single market will make them even more vulnerable to foreign competition. The essays compiled in this book re-examine the arguments for industrial policy. They go beyond the sterile and doctrinaire debate on whether the government should intervene in the economy. Rather, they ask what kind of industrial policy should national governments and the European Community pursue in the light of the increasing openness of their economies, expanding global corporate alliances and faster technological obsolescence. These essays have a distinct policy orientation. They review the latest theoretical developments in order to identify the relevant policy parameters and draw conclusions on what the aim and instruments of industrial policy should be.