Policy
Problems with the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism "The Week that was in Europe" Podcast, March 10, 2023
I discuss the problems of the EU carbon border adjustment and propose an alternative design in this podcast hosted by Klaus Adam and Dirk Schumacher
A proposal to refocus the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism on preventing carbon leakage. (with Alessia Campolmi, Chiara Forlati, Sabine Stillger and Ulrich Wagner) VoxEU, March 3, 2024
Negotiations over phasing out fossil fuels at the COP28 climate summit highlighted how difficult it is for the international community to coordinate climate policies. This column argues that the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism constitutes an important step forward from current anti-leakage policies, but only if it can prevent evasion and impose no unnecessary economic harm on Europe’s trading partners. The authors propose a Leakage Border Adjustment Mechanism – a non-discriminatory, product-specific tariff on imports designed to exactly offset leakage while keeping administrative burdens to a minimum.
Debt, guilt and Swabian housewives: debate on German borrowing rule heats up. Financial Times, December 31, 2023
Quote on reform proposals for German fiscal rules.
Deutschland reformieren, die EU stärken . (with Jan Schymik) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, October 10, 2023
Article on spillover effects of German structural reforms and industrial-policy coordination within the EU
Lessons from the Germany shock: Consequences of uncoordinated economic policies within a currency union (with Philipp Herkenhoff and Jan Schymik). VoxEU, 10 September, 2023
As the world emerges from the Covid crisis, it is witnessing a resurgence of industrial policy in affluent countries, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act in the US. These developments are putting pressure on EU members to also engage in industrial policy measures. This column evaluates the impact of Germany's early-2000s labour market reforms on the broader euro area. The findings underscore the importance of coordinated EU-wide policies.
I discuss the future of the world trading system with Klaus Adam and Dirk Schumacher.
So sollte Europa mit russischen Energieimporten umgehen. (with Jan Schymik) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 25, 2022
Article on the design of an optimal tax policy regarding the EU's energy imports from Russia.
Article on public-sector-management in Austria.
Interview on the post-Covid recovery in International Finance.
Interview on the EU's industrial strategy in German newspaper FAZ.
Article on the labor market impact of robots in Oekonomenstimme (in German).
Media coverage of my research on Covid-19 and working from home
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (1), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (2), DER SPIEGEL (1) , DER SPIEGEL (2) , BILD , Tagesschau, ZDF heute, RTL, Hamburger Morgenpost, t-online, Deutschlandfunk, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, heise online, WirtschaftsWoche, DIE ZEIT, Münchner Merkur, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Pforzheimer Zeitung, Heilbronner Stimme, HR Hessenschau, MDR aktuell, SWR aktuell, Rhein Main TV, Quarks Ökonomenstimme,
Gravity with Granularity (with Holger Breinlich, Volker Nocke and Nicolas Schutz). VoxEU, 21 November, 2020.
Much of world trade is dominated by a small number of large firms. Market power becomes problematic for the estimation of gravity equations because many policy interventions also influence market shares and hence prices and the value of trade flows. This column proposes a method to correct the resulting inaccuracies in gravity equation estimation by adjusting trade flows for market power effects by subtracting a correction term that depends on the market share a firm or country has in the market in question. It finds membership in the euro area increases bilateral trade flows by around 48% before correcting for market power, and 58% after correction.
Homeoffice ein Allheilmittel in der Coronakrise und auch danach? (with Jean-Victor Alipour and Jan Schymik). Oekonomenstimme.org , July 9, 2020
Article on the effects of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic in Oekonomenstimme.
Ab ins Homeoffice! (with Jean-Victor Alipour and Jan Schymik). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , June 22, 2020
Article about my research on telework, labor relations and infections during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In welchen Regionen und Branchen der Shutdown zuerst gelockert werden sollte. Der Spiegel , April 15, 2020
Article about the sectoral and regional economic impact of the COVID-19 lockdown based on my research in German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
Article on the European dimension of the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and Corona bonds in Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
Superstar Firms Bloomberg , June 17, 2019.
Article about my work on agglomeration of economic activity around superstar firms presented at the ECB Sintra Forum on Central Banking.
Das Gesicht der Verlierer Die Zeit , April 11, 2019.
Article on globalization and populism in German newspaper Die Zeit (in German).
Der Westen - (noch) Gemeinschaft der Weltmarktführer? Hambacher Gespräche, November 2018 (in German).
Public lecture on the impact of trade with low-income countries on labor markets and inequality, voting for populist parties in industrialized economies and the globalization backlash (in German).
Ownership and power structure: Together at last (with Laura Alfaro, Nicholas Bloom, Paola Conconi, Patrick Legros, Andrew Newman, Raffaella Sadun, John Van Reenen). VoxEU, 01 October 2018.
Economists have largely ignored the deep interdependency between integration and delegation. This column describes a new theory of integration and delegation choices aimed at shedding light on how these distinct elements of organisational design interact. Contrary to what is suggested by a naive one-dimensional approach, the model predicts that delegation and outsourcing should be negatively correlated, a prediction that holds up well when the model is applied to data for thousands of firms across many industries and countries.
You can't always get what you want: The real exchange rate and manufacturing performance in a world of global value chains (with Laura Alfaro, Alejandro Cunat and Yanping Liu). VoxEU, 26 September 2018.
Real exchange rate devaluations are typically seen as a viable development strategy, but the effectiveness of the approach may vary over time and across countries. This column explores this issue by focusing on the microeconomics of firm-level responses to exchange rate fluctuations. Results show varying patterns of responses to fluctuations by region and by import/export orientation. These results highlight the crucial role of a firm's integration in global value chains.
Article based on my research "Offshoring and Skill-Upgrading in French Manufacturing" in French newspaper Le Figaro (in French).
Les gagnants et les perdants de la mondialisation : la délocalisation profite aux travailleurs qualifiés et nuit aux travailleurs moins qualifiés. (Winners and losers from globalization: offshoring benefits skilled workers and hurts unskilled workers) (with Juan Carluccio, Alejandro Cunat and Christian Fons-Rosen). Rue de la Banque 51, Banque de France, November 2017.
Ce Rue de la Banque, fondé sur l'exploitation de données détaillées relatives à l'industrie manufacturière francaise, démontre que la délocalisation vers des pays à bas salaires a largement déterminé la situation des travailleurs peu qualifiés sur le marché du travail en France au cours de la période allant de 1995 à 2007. Les résultats confirment la vision largement répandue selon laquelle le commerce international engendre des gains de productivité, en permettant notamment d'obtenir des biens intermédiaires moins chers, ces gains n'étant toutefois pas répartis de facon égale entre les différents acteurs économiques. Pour tirer le meilleur parti de la mondialisation, il est par conséquent nécessaire de mettre en oeuvre des politiques publiques, en matière notamment de formation professionnelle afin d'accompagner la transition vers des emplois plus qualifiés.
Interview on the potential impact of the planned U.S. border adjustment tax on German exporters with German magazine KALKÜL (in German).
Input-output linkages and income differences across countries: New evidence (with Christian Ghiglino and Mariya Teteryatnikova). VoxEU, 24 December 2016.
Economists are just starting to understand how observed input-output linkages and productivity differences are connected. This column investigates how differences in the distribution of sectoral input-output multipliers interact with sectoral productivities to determine cross-country differences in aggregate income. It finds that the impact of the linkages on productivity are substantial, which in turn has significant implications for policy.
Macht, Kontrolle und die Optionen der ÖVP der Standard, 24 November 2016.
Commentary on the Austrian presidential election in the Austrian newspaper der Standard (in German).
Britisches Rosinenpicken kann die EU nicht zulassen die Presse, 30 June 2016.
Commentary on Brexit in the Austrian newspaper die Presse (in German).
Offshoring and unskilled labour demand: new evidence (with Juan Carluccio, Alejandro Cunat and Christian Fons-Rosen). VoxEU, 14 December 2015.
The increase in the skill premium - wages of skilled workers relative to unskilled workers - has prompted research on its causes and potential remedies. This column presents new evidence suggesting that the impact of globalisation on the income distribution in industrialised countries is much stronger than initially thought. The productivity gains from having access to cheaper inputs through offshoring are not being distributed equally between the different economic actors in our rich societies.
Die Troika muss Griechenland mehr anbieten derStandard, 9 July 2015.
Commentary on the economic crisis in Greece in the Austrian newspaper derStandard (in German).
Public Lecture on the Eurozone crisis
University of Mannheim, March 2015 (in German).
TTIP - eine Analyse aus europäischer Perspektive OeGfE Policy Brief, 2015.08, 26 February 2015.
Policy article on the economic effects of TTIP for the Austrian Society for European Politics (in German). Also featured on euractiv.de
Der vorliegene Policy Brief argumentiert, dass die direkten ökonomischen Effekte von TTIP unsicher sind und diese sich erst über einen Zeitraum von 10 bis 20 Jahren einstellen würden. Trotzdem handelt es sich um ein wichtiges strategisches Projekt, da TTIP gleichzeitig die bilateralen Beziehungen zu den USA stärken und neue internationale Standards für Freihandelsabkommen schaffen würde. Damit könnten potentiell Produkt-, Umwelt-, und Investitionsstandards in vielen Teilen der Welt positiv beeinflußt werden.
Nicht blind der EU-Kommission vertrauen derStandard.at, 27 March 2014.
Interview on the consequences of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with Austrian newspaper derStandard.at (in German).
Firm organisation: What we know and why we should care (with Laura Alfaro, Paola Conconi, Patrick Legros and Andrew Newman). VoxEU, 02 December 2012.
Increasingly, people are pointing the finger of blame for economic woe at large firms. This column argues that organisation design is often affected by government trade policy. If firm organisation design has implications for consumer welfare (in terms of prices and quality of product), evidence suggests that governments should make sure that in future, trade policy and corporate governance policy are more complementary.