Piedrafita, S. & Lauenroth, A. (2014) “Between Apathy and Anger: Challenges to the Union from the 2014 Elections to the European Parliament“, Politics and Institutions, EPIN Papers, 20 May.   This EPIN study brings together contributions from a ​broad selection of member states ​and ​provid​es ​insightful analysis ​into the 2014 elections to the European Parliament on the ground. The report reveals the different factors that impede the development of genuine …Read More

Ignatowski, M. & Korte, J. (2014) “Resolution threats and bank discipline“, VoxEU Organisation, 20 May.   Can a tightening in the bank resolution regime introduce more prudent bank behaviour? This column reviews some arguments for why this could be the case. It presents evidence linking changes in bank resolution regimes with bank behaviour. Tightening of US bank resolution significantly decreased the overall risk-taking of the most affected banks. This effect, …Read More

Saurugger, S. (2014) “Europeanisation in Times of Crisis“, Political Studies Review, 12: 181–192.   The aim of this article is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of Europeanisation studies when used to study periods of crisis. The conceptual consensus surrounding the definition of ‘Europeanisation’, understood as the impact of European integration at the domestic level (the so-called ‘top-down approach’), is put under pressure in a crisis situation, where the salience of …Read More

Acemoglu, D., Naidu, S., Robinson, A. J. & Restrepo, P. (2014) “Democracy causes economic development?“, VoxEU Organisation, 19 May.   Many analysts view democracy as a neutral or negative factor for growth. This column discusses new evidence showing that democracy has a robust and sizable pro-growth effect. The central estimates suggest that a country that switches from non-democracy to democracy achieves about 20% higher GDP per capita over the subsequent …Read More

Véron, N. (2014) “How unequal is the European Parliament’s representation?“, Bruegel Think Tank, 16 May.   The European Parliament election of May 22-25, 2014 has several unprecedented features. It is the first election under the Lisbon Treaty. As a consequence, and for the first time, the main pan-European parties – including the center-right European Peoples’ Party (EPP) and the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) – are fielding lead candidates for …Read More