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Abstract
Measurement of the performances of inflation targeting (IT) frameworks has been of interest to researchers ever since IT began to be implemented as a monetary policy strategy. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of domestic and international determinants on success in achieving inflation targets of the selected European economies. Our methodological framework is based on the application of a non-stationary discrete choice model. For this research, four European economies are considered: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Serbia. Their results regarding IT policy can provide a useful benchmark for similar economies that are either planning to adopt the same monetary policy framework or have begun to apply it recently. Our findings indicate that IT success is primarily under the control of monetary policymakers by key policy rate mechanism, but that the impact of additional domestic and international factors that are not easily managed by the central bank like budget balance, exchange rate, growth rate, current account balance, labor cost growth, loans, Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, inflation, and GDP gap of the Eurozone, can be also significant. Consequently, monetary policymakers need to take into account a wide range of inflation factors, including foreign spillover effects, so that tools for their neutralization can be helpful in achieving the targeted goals.
Abstract
Synthesizing multidimensional phenomena such as well-being in the form of composite indicators has been gaining popularity in recent years. The Mazziotta-Pareto Index is one of the methods of constructing non-compensatory composite indices. The paper proposes a modification of this method, which (unlike the original) enables periodical measurements and can be used to compare countries in research on East European transition. The essence of this modification is the use of anti-pattern normalization, during which only current data is used, and yet after normalization, the indicators are in a certain way comparable over time. The Anti-Pattern Normalized Mazziotta-Pareto Index (APMPI), unlike the original, does not change the previously determined values after the inclusion of new data. Both the imperfection of the original approach and the new proposal are illustrated by an empirical example. Indices of well-being for the OECD countries are constructed. The example shows that although AMPI and APMPI values are not comparable, the rankings based on them are not very different.
Abstract
A set of simple and complex indicators is used to measure the economic condition of economies, and the analysis can be conducted in a static or dynamic approach. This article proposes the author's macroeconomic condition index (MCI), which is based on the popular misery index, supplementing the unemployment and inflation rates with two variables: GDP growth rate and budget deficit. The aim of the study is to assess the macroeconomic situation of Poland against the average for the EU, using the above-mentioned measure. The time scope of the study covers the years 2011–2020, with particular emphasis on the effects of the first year of the Covid crisis. The results indicate that throughout the period the economic situation in Poland in terms of the four variables combined was relatively favourable, although less stable. A sharp downturn occurred in 2020, both domestically and on average in the EU. The main determinants of the worse condition were a decline in the GDP growth rate and an increase in the budget deficit, with relatively steady unemployment and inflation.
Abstract
The main goal of this paper is to analyse the impact of pension funds on capital market development in 11 new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe using annual data for the period between 2000 and 2019. Given the geographical, institutional, political and economic differences across these countries, we split them into three homogenous groups: Balkan, Baltic and Visegrad countries. We use three different variables as a proxy for capital markets growth: stock market capitalization, the value of stock traded, and private bond market capitalization. We apply dynamic and fully-modified ordinary least squares to examine the relationship between the variables. The empirical results indicate that pension funds have a positive effect on the bond markets growth in all sub-groups but they do not impact the stock market growth in the Balkan and Baltic countries.
Abstract
It has been known for decades that in a given year and in a given country, with the rise in lifetime income, life expectancy also rises. The difference between the richest and the poorest stratas' life expectancies is called the longevity gap. Recently, as the gap has generally been growing, it has received more and more attention. The issue is important in itself, but it has also an obvious impact on redistribution in the pension system: the greater the longevity gap, the greater is the redistribution from the low benefit pensioners to the high benefit ones in a given pension system. Econometrically estimating the life expectancy-income function may help the analysis. In our short study, first we give a simple estimation, and then we show the influence of the estimate on the redistribution.
Abstract
The relationship between economic growth and transport sector is an important and popular topic for researchers, but it also has several untapped areas. To ensure continuous economic growth, it is necessary to answer how and to what extent economic sectors contribute to sustainability; what factors or sets of factors can determine freight performance in a country or region; and how it affects the global economy. This study aims to test the presence of spatial dependence. In this research, the authors looked for the spatial relationships between economic activity (GDP) and freight transport performance using spatial econometric models. The results showed that the spatial impact of freight transport performance and GDP significantly influence each other. The intensity calculation shows that the Baltic States have a high intensity in road freight transport, followed by the Central European region. Eastern Europe, including Russia and the Baltics, are prominent players in rail freight. Furthermore, the spatial econometric models have highlighted that a country with high GDP has some sort of "suction" effect on neighbouring countries with lower GDP along with the freight performance. This is especially true for rail freight. In the long run, the outlined results may even support strategic decision-makers in managing the economic impacts of both road and rail freight transport at the regional level.
Abstract
This paper examines the geographical distribution of regional state aid in Slovakia between 2004 and 2021, while focusing on projects realized in the least developed districts. The purpose is to answer the following research question: how much investment support is provided to areas with high rates of long-term unemployment to promote local economic activity? The investigation was conducted using a spatial distribution analysis and descriptive statistical methods. The findings demonstrate that the level of support in less developed districts is below the level of aid directed into more developed regions not only in terms of the number of supported projects, but also regarding the total amount of aid and the number of created jobs. Out of the 20 least developed districts we monitored, only the results for Košice-okolie significantly outperformed the results of the other districts. This article provides possible explanations for these findings and contributes to the literature by providing insights into the practical application of state aid in Slovakia.
Abstract
While decarbonization and hydrogen energy are at the top of European policymakers' agenda, research and innovation (R&I) management of energy companies must focus on clean technologies (cleantech) which could decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the sector. The Central European energy sector, however, might face a decarbonization challenge because of the specific geopolitical situation, so aligning R&I directions with regional policy and conditions seem to be crucial to accelerate sectoral and corporate adaptation. This study focuses on the decarbonization progress and strategies of the Visegrád 4 (V4) countries, concerning some of the most promising hydrogen-driven cleantech R&I directions which might induce strategic changes in Central European energy companies. Besides promoting renewable energy sources, results show that V4 strategies usually include the development of nuclear energy capacities to reduce GHG emissions and using the extended natural gas infrastructure for renewable energy storage. The analysed cleantech innovations are included but usually not central in these strategies. Strategic changes in energy companies, however, could be driven by these promising R&I directions, e.g., the hydrogen economy development by power-to-X (P2X) technologies, industrial decarbonization by carbon capture, utilization or storage (CCUS) technologies in the mid-term, and cross-sectoral integration and optimization by smart energy system (SES) development in the long-term.
Abstract
The development of the hydrogen economy (HE) has become the main direction of climate-focused economic progress. Although the gap between the potential impact of energy companies and their actual willingness or ability needs to be bridged by corporate governance and economic policy, these dynamics are underrepresented in the literature. As environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations could foster adaptation and developing hydrogen technologies, the goal of this systematic literature review is to explore the specific environmental and energy aspects of ESG and the adaptation opportunities which could contribute to HE development. Findings suggest that ESG as a new institution in the economy might be in line with national and international policies, but corporate efforts at improving environmental performance could be further oriented directly or indirectly toward hydrogen technologies, for example, through cost reduction initiatives, favourable taxation, or specific requirements for sustainability reporting. On the corporate level, external and internal change drivers could lead to strategic and governance adaptation measures in line with HE development policy. The study contributes to the literature through the intersection analysis of the global ESG trend and the development policy of the HE, which has been overlooked to date, especially from a corporate governance perspective.
Abstract
While international value chains have been present in planned economies for several decades, their integration into global value chains (GVCs) began in the 1990s. In this study, we investigated the evolution of downstream value chains in Eastern Europe (including the Balkan countries, Moldova, and Ukraine) from 1995, by applying Wang's UIBE methodology and the Eora database. The results of this study suggest that European Union (EU) membership indisputably has a positive impact on GVC embeddedness, whereas non-EU economies are still integrated in their own local downstream value chains. We further investigated the automotive sector in the Central and Eastern European countries and demonstrate how deeper integration into GVCs prompted the emergence of assembly activities.
