Prof. Dr. Matschke gave an interview to the SWR. The results of the study published by Prof. Dr. Xenia Matschke, together with Prof. Dr. Oliver Rieger, on the topic: "Kisses, Handshakes, COVID-19 - Will the Pandemic Change Us Forever?" was the subject of a television report in the program Landesschau of SWR on January 24, 2021. In the report, the influence of the Corona pandemic on the change in greeting rituals was examined.

You can find the entire video in the SWR media center.

More information on the study "Kisses, Handshakes, COVID-19 - Will the Pandemic Change Us Forever?", November 2020, here.

On Jan. 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden will be inaugurated as U.S. president. The hope, especially in Germany, is that many things will change under the new president. In an essay for the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Prof. Dr. Matschke explores the extent to which changes in transatlantic trade policy can be expected. In her analysis, she concludes that there are reasons for modest optimism, even if not much will change for the time being.

The essay is available online at: https://www.freiheit.org/de/usa-us-handelspolitik-unter-biden-vorsichtiger-optimismus-ist-angebracht

Prof. Matschke was interviewed by the local newspaper "Trierischer Volksfreund" about the current US trade policy, especially the implementation of tariffs.

Please find the interview here. (in German)

Jonas Feld is back from Warsaw/Poland where he spend a year as a student of the double-master-program in economics of the universities Warsaw and Trier. Prof. Matschke talked to him about his experiences. You can find the article here (in German).

The master program Economics of Trier University achieved a top placement in the latest national CHE ranking of master programs. According to the CHE ranking, the Trier Economics master program belongs to the top 3 economics master programs in Germany.

Ranking of economics master programs

The new university journal features a report on the first double master students from Bergamo and Warsaw who have begun their Economics master studies in Trier this winter term.

For more information: pages 30-31 (https://www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/organisation/Presse/Unijournal/Unijournal_2-2016web.pdf)

On November 30, 2016 at 6 p.m., Prof Matschke will take part in a panel discussion on the recent U.S. presidential elections. The title is: Donald Trump 45th President of the United States of America – Einordnung, Rückblick, Folgen (in German). The discussion is organized by the Political Science Department and will take place in HS 6.

Fur further information click here.

On Wednesday, April 6, 2016, Prof. Matschke is giving a seminar talk with the title "Policy and Politics: Trade Adjustment Assistance in the Crossfire" at the University of Bergamo in Italy.

Together with co-author Per Fredriksson from the University of Louisville (USA), Prof. Matschke has published a an article titled "Trade Liberalization and Environmental Taxation in Federal Systems" in the January edition of the renowned "Scandinavian Journal of Economics". The article shows how the effects of trade policy reform on environmental taxation depend on the institutional setting. Trade liberalization leads to a decline in pollution taxes regardless of whether pollution taxes are set at the centralized or decentralized level, and it increases social welfare. The effect under a decentralized system is smaller than if these taxes are set centrally, and pollution emissions therefore decline in this case.

M.Sc. Econ. Daria Suprunenko, employed as research and teaching assistant at the chair for International Economic Policy since October 1, 2015, was awarded the University Prize for International Students in recognition of her outstanding academic performance and social commitment.

A research paper by Prof. Matschke und Prof. Blanchard (Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, USA) titled „U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access“ has been published in the October issue of the Review of Economics and Statistics (vol. 97, pp. 839-854). The Review of Economics and Statistics is considered one of the top general interest journals in economics. It is listed as a category A journal in the Handelsblatt ranking; in Kalaitzidakis et al. (2011), it ranks 7th of 209 compared economics journals.

This paper examines the relationship between U.S. multinational firms' offshoring activity and the structure of U.S trade preferences. It combines firm level panel data on U.S. foreign affiliate activity from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) with detailed measures of U.S. trade preferences from the U.S. International Trade

Commission (USITC) to create a three-way panel that spans 80 industries, 184 countries, and ten years (1997-2006). Consistent with existing theory, Blanchard and Matschke find that offshoring and preferential market access are positively and consistently correlated, both in the pooled sample and within countries, industries, and years. Using instrumental variables to address the endogeneity of export-oriented foreign investment, they find that a 10% increase in U.S. foreign affiliate exports to the U.S. from a particular industry and country is associated with a 4 percentage point increase in the rate of preferential duty-free access. Restricting attention to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) among potentially eligible developing countries, the influence of multinational affiliate sales on preferential market access more than triples relative to the baseline, full sample results.

Prof. Matschke will give an invited talk on „U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access“ at the Workshop “Political Economy of Trade Policy” in Vienna on September 22, 2015, which is being organized by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science, Research, and Economy (BMWFW). The workshop will also feature a discussion on the implications of the planned EU-US free trade agreement TTIP.

Prof. Matschke publishes summary article on the influence of U.S. multinationals on preferential market access to the U.S.

On April 30, a short article coauthored by Emily Blanchard and Xenia Matschke appeared on Vox EU, the CEPR’s (Center for Economic Policy Research) policy portal designed to disseminate economic research results of practical policy relevance to a broader public. The column presents empirical evidence that U.S. imports from countries and industries with greater offshoring activity by U.S. multinationals face distinctly lower trade barriers. Reasons may be changes in the optimal tariff structure induced by export-oriented U.S. foreign direct investment and lobbying activity. The column is based on Blanchard’s and Matschke’s research paper titled „U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access“ which has been accepted for publication in the Review of Economics and Statistics. The column is available for download at

http://www.voxeu.org/article/tilting-playing-field-multinational-firms-and-preferential-market-access

Prof. Matschke will be the discussant for a paper by Egger et al. on the exporter wage premium during the International Economics Committee Meeting of the German Economic Association which takes place in Tübingen from May 7 to May 9, 2015.

A research paper by Prof. Matschke und Prof. Blanchard (Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, USA) titled „U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access“ has been accepted for publication in the Review of Economics and Statistics conditional on providing the journal with the underlying data and statistical code. The Review of Economics and Statistics is considered one of the top general interest journals in economics. It is listed as a category A journal in the Handelsblatt ranking; in Kalaitzidakis et al. (2011), it ranks 7th of 209 compared economics journals.

This paper examines the relationship between U.S. multinational firms' offshoring activity and the structure of U.S trade preferences. It combines firm level panel data on U.S. foreign affiliate activity from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) with detailed measures of U.S. trade preferences from the U.S. International Trade

Commission (USITC) to create a three-way panel that spans 80 industries, 184 countries, and ten years (1997-2006). Consistent with existing theory, Blanchard and Matschke find that offshoring and preferential market access are positively and consistently correlated, both in the pooled sample and within countries, industries, and years. Using instrumental variables to address the endogeneity of export-oriented foreign investment, they find that a 10% increase in U.S. foreign affiliate exports to the U.S. from a particular industry and country is associated with a 4 percentage point increase in the rate of preferential duty-free access. Restricting attention to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) among potentially eligible developing countries, the influence of multinational affiliate sales on preferential market access more than triples relative to the baseline, full sample results.

The research paper „Trade Liberalization and Environmental Taxation in Federal Systems“, coauthored by Prof. Matschke and Prof. Fredriksson (University of Louisville, USA), has been accepted for publication in the renowned Scandinavian Journal of Economics.

This paper shows how the design of environmental policy in a federal system has implications for the effects of trade reform. Trade liberalization leads to a decline in pollution taxes regardless of whether pollution taxes are set at the federal (centralized) or local (decentralized) level, and it increases social welfare. The effect under a decentralized system is smaller than if these taxes are set by the federal government, and pollution emissions therefore decline in this case. Moreover, majority bias interacts with trade liberalization if federal taxes are used.

Prof. Matschke will present her research on „The Political Economy of Trade Adjustment Assistance“ during the CES-ifo Workshop on Political Economy, which will take place in Dresden from November 28 to 29, 2014.

At the meeting of the International Economics Committee of the German Economic Association in Augsburg, which took place from May 29 to May 31, 2014, Prof. Matschke presented her research on  „U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access“. On the last day of the conference, Prof. Matschke was officially accepted as new committee member.

For the exams written in the winter term 2013/2014, we offer the following reviews:

Political Economics:

23.04.2014 in Room C 536 from 10-11 a.m.

Industrial Organization:

23.04.2014 in Room C 536 from 11-12 a.m.

Advanced Macroeconomics:

23.04.2014 in Room C 401 from 15-16 p.m.

European and World Trade:

28.04.2014 in Room C 536 from 9-10 a.m.

Reale Außenhandels- und Integrationstheorie:

29.04.2014 in Room C 536 from 9-10 a.m.

European Economic Policy (Wirtschaftspolitik der EU)

29.04.2014 in Room C 536 from 10-11 a.m.

Note: Please register early enough on the list at the notice board between room C 529 and C 530!

Dear participants,

please be aware that we changed the rooms and the time of the friday lecture in the german version of the course "Advanced Macroeconomics". The up to date informations are available under the link "teaching" on our homepage.

On Tuesday, December 17, 2013, Prof. Dr. Volker Nitsch from Technische Universität Darmstadt presents a current research paper on ,, Live or Let Die: Trade Integration and the Fragility of Trade Relationships". The talk forms part of the Economics Research Seminar Series. It starts at 6 pm in room C339.

On Monday, November 18, 2013, Prof. Matschke presents her current research paper on ,,U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access" in the GEP (Research Centre on Globalisation and Economic Policy ) Lunch Seminar Series at the University of Nottingham.

On Tuesday, November 12, 2013, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schneider from Universität Wuppertal presents a current research paper on ,,Tax incentives and investment: Empirical Evidence from Germany". The talk forms part of the Economics and IAAEU Economic Research Seminar Series. It starts at 6 pm in room H714 (Campus II, 7th floor, Max Weber Room of the IAAEU).

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013, Prof. Dr. Anja Schöttner from Universität Konstanz presents a current research paper on „Hidden Benefits of Reward: A Field Experiment on Motivation and Monetary Incentives“. The talk forms part of the Economics and IAAEU Economic Research Seminar Series. It starts at 6 pm in room H714 (Campus II, 7^th floor, Max Weber Room of the IAAEU).

On Thursday, October 24th,  Prof. Roberto Bonfatti, Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham will give a research presentation from 16.00-17.30 as part of the Economics Research Seminar. The topic of the presentation will be "From mine to coast: transport infrastructure and the direction of trade in developing countries". The presentation will take place in room C 339.

Prof. Matschke and M.A. Int. Ec. Martin Breßlein of the Chair for International Economic Policy both presented research papers at this year’s annual meeting of Verein für Socialpolitik held at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. The Verein für Socialpolitik is internationally known as German Economic Association.  On Sept. 5, 2013, Prof. Matschke presented a new version of her discussion paper „U.S. Multinationals and Preferential Market Access“; a day later, M.A. Int. Ec. Breßlein presented „Surrender Your Market! Do the G5 Countries Use World Bank Trade Conditionality to Promote Trade?“

An article on “Antidumping as Strategic Trade Policy und Asymmetric Information”, written by Prof. Matschke and Prof. Schöttner (Universität Konstanz), has recently appeared in the Southern Economic Journal, 2013, vol. 80, pp. 81-105.

It was previously thought that strategic trade policy may be unattractive for national governments because the information necessary to design the optimal trade policy is hard to obtain. In this article, the authors show that in theory, the antidumping framework within GATT/WTO can help overcome informational problems with regard to correctly determining the optimal strategic trade policy. Hence strategic trade policy may actually be alive and well right under the auspices of the world trading system.