The trade collapse of 2008-09 was characterized by a substantial overreaction of the trade in intermediate goods when compared to the trade in final goods. However, this overreaction was not the same for all intermediates and the initial drop and subsequent rebound was larger for more upstream inputs, that is, products further away from final demand.… Read more
Category: Working paper
November 20 / 2012
Employment concentration and resource allocation: one-company towns in Russia
One-company towns, towns where a single company accounts for a significant share of total employment and shapes the livelihoods of the people, are often associated with centrally planned economies.
But in fact they were common elsewhere. One-company towns had grown up in the USA towards the end of the 19th century, particularly in the industrial areas of the Mid-West, and at their peak were over 2,500 in number, accounting for up to 3% of the US population.
In the UK, the Cadbury company town of Bourneville and Lord Lever’s Port Sunlight were the best known examples.
A recent EBRD working paper takes a closer look at the phenomenon of one-company towns in Russia and comparative performance of enterprises located there by matching data on performance of Russian firms with the latest Census data on distribution of population.
September 06 / 2011
Running for the Exit: International Banks and Crisis Transmission
In the wake of the 2007–2009 economic crisis, the virtues and vices of financial globalization are being re-evaluated. Financial links between countries, particularly bank lending, have been singled out as a key channel of international crisis transmission. The International Monetary Fund and the G-20 have identified the volatility of cross-border capital flows as a priority related to the reform of the global financial system.
February 07 / 2011