Bring Together What Belongs Together. The Case of Divided Cities in Europe

Do spatial concentrations of economic activities have deep historical roots in Europe? This paper explores a unique quasi-natural experiment of opening borders within cities that were historically a single urban entity and were divided due to border shifts following major historical conflicts. After inter-city borders were opened, I find that local economic activities, measured by remotely sensed nightlight, became more concentrated close to the pre-division city centers. This raises an important question, what type of border opening is more important in spurring agglomeration, the free movement of goods or of people?

Who Gains from a Borderless Europe? The Uneven Geography of European Integration

This paper studies the winners and losers of European integration by analyzing its impact on economic performance across sub-regions in Central and Eastern Europe. Using a disaggregated synthetic control method, I estimate the region-specific treatment effects of EU enlargement 2004 and Schengen 2008. The results show a core–periphery dynamic. While interior regions benefited from EU enlargement, border regions experienced losses, leading to an average economic disadvantage of about 2% relative to interior regions.

Europe, we have a problem! The Economic Cost of Border Controls during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges, including the temporary suspension of the principle of free movement of people within the Schengen Area. I evaluate the potential economic cost of controlling European borders during the pandemic. I use unconventional data sources such as NASA’s Black Marble Nighttime Lights (NTL) to provide insights into the economic impact of border restrictions on European municipalities. The results suggest that the impact of travel restrictions vary across cities; economic activities tend to decrease more in cross-border cities than in interior cities, especially in small border cities.