  We study gauge threshold corrections for local brane models embedded in a
large compact space. A large bulk volume gives important contributions to the
Konishi and super-Weyl anomalies and the effective field theory analysis
implies the unification scale should be enhanced in a model-independent way
from M_s to R M_s. For local D3/D3 models this result is supported by the
explicit string computations. In this case the scale R M_s comes from the
necessity of global cancellation of RR tadpoles sourced by the local model. We
also study D3/D7 models and discuss discrepancies with the effective field
theory analysis. We comment on phenomenological implications for gauge coupling
unification and for the GUT scale.
