Essays in European integration and economic inequalities

Kadow, Alexander (2012) Essays in European integration and economic inequalities. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Full text available as:
[thumbnail of 2012KadowPhD.pdf] PDF
Download (1MB)
Printed Thesis Information: https://eleanor.lib.gla.ac.uk/record=b2935602

Abstract

The ongoing process of economic integration in Europe and beyond has already led to profound changes that are likely to manifest themselves further. Within Europe, formerly centrally planned economies have joined the European Union (EU) with the intention to ultimately introduce the common currency. On a more global scale, marginalised farmers in developing countries seek to become integrated in the world trading system to lift themselves out of poverty. However, issues surrounding economic inequalities are no longer exclusively confined to emerging economies. Indeed, awareness of income inequalities and their impact on the domestic economy is increasing among industrialised nations. This dissertation seeks to contribute to these topical debates in the form of three self-contained essays. The first essay is concerned with monetary integration in Europe. More specifically, we consider the EU member countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) that seek to adopt the euro in the foreseeable future. Our analysis
is based on a global VAR (GVAR) model to investigate to what extent central banks in CEE follow the European Central Bank’s lead. We look in another core chapter at the economic implications of the Fair Trade (FT) movement. This is a fairly novel topic to the economics profession and we thus aim to provide intuitive insights. One of the key elements of our trade model is that FT generates and hinges upon economic inequalities. We combine these two aspects in the third core chapter. In particular, we analyse how monetary policy operates in an environment which is characterised by wage inequalities using a New Keynesian model that features heterogeneous labour. The third essay is motivated by the case of the United States, where, similar to many European countries, there is strong empirical evidence for rising internal economic divergence. Overall, the thesis not only combines and investigates topical issues, it moreover does so employing various techniques with the intention to also make contributions on the methodological level. We conclude the monograph by highlighting policy implications and by providing directions for future research.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Qualification Level: Doctoral
Keywords: Macroeconomics, European integration, economic inequalities, German Dominance Hypothesis, Fair Trade, monetary policy
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
Supervisor's Name: MacDonald, Professor Ronald and Leith, Professor Campbell
Date of Award: 2012
Depositing User: Mr Alexander Kadow
Unique ID: glathesis:2012-3403
Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
Date Deposited: 29 May 2012
Last Modified: 10 Dec 2012 14:06
URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/3403

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year