Functional cluster and canonical correlation analysis of EU countries by number of daily deaths and stringency index during Covid-19 pandemic

The introduction of electromobility contributes to an increase in energy efficiency and lower air pollution. European countries have not been among the world’s leading countries in this statistic. In addition, there have been different paces in the implementation of electromobility in individual countries. The main purpose of this paper is to determine the directions of change and the degrees of concentration in electromobility in European Union (EU) countries, especially after the economic closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific objectives are to indicate the degree of concentration of electromobility in the EU and changes in this area, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic; to determine the dynamics of changes in the number of electric cars in individual EU countries, showing the variability in this aspect, while also taking into account the crisis caused by COVID-19; to establish the association between the number of electric cars and the parameters of the economy. All EU countries were selected for study by the use of the purposeful selection procedure, as of December 31, 2020. The analyzed period covered the years 2011–2020. It was found that in the longer term, the development of electromobility in the EU, measured by the number of electric cars, is closely related to the economic situation in this area. The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the economic situation in all EU countries, but has not slowed down the pace of introducing electromobility, and may have even accelerated it. In all EU countries, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dynamics of introducing electric cars into use increased. The growth rate in the entire EU in 2020 was 86%, while in 2019 it was 48%. The reason was a change in social behavior related to mobility under conditions of risk of infection. COVID-19 has become a positive catalyst for change. The prospects for the development of this type of transport are very good because activities related to the development of the electromobility sector perfectly match the needs related to the reduction of pollution to the environment.

Biosimilar filgrastims are primarily indicated for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia prevention. They are less expensive formulations of branded filgrastim, and biosimilar filgrastim was the first biosimilar oncology drug administered in European Union (EU) countries, Japan, and the U.S. Fourteen biosimilar filgrastims have been marketed in EU countries, Japan, the U.S., and Canada since 2008, 2012, 2015, and 2016, respectively. We reviewed experiences and policies for biosimilar filgrastim markets in EU countries and Japan, where uptake has been rapid, and in the U.S. and Canada, where experience is rapidly emerging. U.S. regulations for designating biosimilar interchangeability are under development, and such regulations have not been developed in most other countries. Pharmaceutical substitution is allowed for new filgrastim starts in some EU countries and in Canada, but not Japan and the U.S. In EU countries, biosimilar adoption is facilitated with favorable hospital tender offers. U.S. adoption is reportedly 24%, while the second filgrastim biosimilar is priced 30% lower than branded filgrastim and 20% lower than the first biosimilar filgrastim approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Utilization is about 60% in EU countries, where biosimilar filgrastim is marketed at a 30%-40% discount. In Japan, biosimilar filgrastim utilization is 45%, primarily because of 35% discounts negotiated by Central Insurance and hospital-only markets. Overall, biosimilar filgrastim adoption barriers are small in many EU countries and Japan and are diminishing in Canada in the U.S. Policies facilitating improved U.S. adoption of biosimilar filgrastim, based on positive experiences in EU countries and Japan, including favorable insurance coverage; larger price discount relative to reference filgrastim pricing; closing of the "rebate trap" with transparent pricing information; formal educational efforts of patients, physicians, caregivers, and providers; and allowance of pharmaceutical substitution of biosimilar versus reference filgrastim, should be considered. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: We reviewed experiences and policies for biosimilar filgrastims in Europe, Japan, Canada, and the U.S. Postmarketing harmonization of regulatory policies for biosimilar filgrastims has not occurred. Acceptance of biosimilar filgrastims for branded filgrastim, increasing in the U.S. and in Canada, is commonplace in Japan and Europe. In the U.S., some factors, accepted in Europe or Japan, could improve uptake, including acceptance of biosimilars as safe and effective; larger cost savings, decreasing "rebate traps" where pharmaceutical benefit managers support branded filgrastim, decreased use of patent litigation/challenges, and allowing pharmacists to routinely substitute biosimilar for branded filgrastim.

Comparative demographics of the European cystic fibrosis population: a cross-sectional database analysis

Before the full-scale кussian invasion in 2022, Ukraine was actively working to improve the investment climate and integrate into European economic structures. However, the war significantly changed the situation, posing new challenges for foreign investors. The purpose of the study is to analyze foreign investment and financial assistance to Ukraine by European Union (EU) countries under martial law, identify the main trends and challenges, and explore opportunities for attracting investment in strategic sectors of the Ukrainian economy. The study analyzed the dynamics of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ukraine by countries around the world and the EU in 2015–2024. It was determined that the peaks of investment fell on 2019 and 2021, the outflow of capital investments – on 2015, 2020 (in general and from the EU) and 2022 (from the EU). In 2023–2024 there was a gradual recovery of foreign investment. The dynamics of FDI from EU countries had almost identical dynamics to their total volume, except for 2017. The share of FDI from EU countries in the total amount of FDI is extremely large – 76.91% in 2024. The largest total volume of FDI for 2022–2024 to Ukraine was observed from eight EU countries: Cyprus, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Denmark. At the same time, the total volume of FDI from four EU countries for the same period was negative: Finland, Portugal, Slovakia, Germany. Taking into account the financial assistance to Ukraine in war conditions, the program of financial support to Ukraine from the EU for 2024–2027 in the amount of 50 billion euros – Ukraine Facility, which is aimed at supporting macro-financial stability, economic recovery, and reforming key sectors, was noted. Significant military assistance to Ukraine was provided by Germany, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Spain, and Finland.

Further positive social and economic development (SED) requires modelling and analysis for evaluating its results to ground directions for future development. The purpose of the paper is to study the problem of estimating of SED, to form the methodology for modelling its results and to create an aggregated econometric indicator within the framework of unified conceptual approach for the European Union (EU) countries. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following objectives: to determine the essence of the concept of SED, to study traditional approaches to measure SED, to give an overview of the DP2 modelling method, to discover and structure the elements of SED in the EU countries and to argue a conceptual approach to modelling its outcomes. The study is based on the method of mathematical modelling in economics based on Distance P2 method. Econometric modelling, as well as regression analyze, was used to develop a synthetic indicator DP2 for evaluating SED of the EU countries. Also, the research process was based on analysis, synthesis and the system approach for information processing, as well as on the method of comparative and statistical analysis, quality and quantity analysis. The results of the deep research showed that there is no unified approach to modelling SED. The Distance P2 method was first proposed to measure SED at the national level exactly for the EU. The methodology for measuring SED specifically for the EU countries based on the conceptual approach was developed and substantiated. Based on the proposed methodology and taking into account the special characteristics of the region studied - the social and economic DP2 indicator for the EU countries was created. This study proposes to build a synthetic indicator DP2 to model results of progress in SED, especially in the EU. The practical implications of the synthetic indicator DP2 for modelling and analysis of SED of the EU countries can be a prospect for further research. Applied aspect of these studies is advising the EU's public policy with the aim of advancing. Using the DP2 synthetic indicator of SED for the EU countries will identify and substantiate the main directions for developing the country's domestic policy to improve the quality of life of the populations. Also, the results of the study can be used for advisory purposes to develop and optimize the EU development strategy 2020-2030. The value and originality of the paper lie in further application of the methodology of modelling the SED of the EU countries through synthetic indicator DP2. This will expand opportunities for increasing the national economy’s efficiency, that is highly important in terms of increased international competition.

Social expenditure plays an important role in European Union (EU) countries. It improves the lives of citizens whose welfare is endangered due to poverty or illness. However, social expenditure represents a considerable share of the budgets of EU member states. Despite evident similarities in their levels of development, EU countries show apparent differences in social expenditure levels. Therefore, this work aims to determine the similarities and differences between EU countries in this regard. The analysis uses clustering methods, such as hierarchical cluster analysis and the k-means, to divide countries into homogeneous groups. The research demonstrates significant differences between EU countries in the years 2008–2018, which resulted in a low number of objects (countries) in the identified groups. In the case of 6 out of 28 countries, it was not possible to assign them to any group. The research proves that EU countries should take more care when organising their social policy, taking into consideration cultural and social factors.

Inclusive growth and health outcomes improvement constitute main drivers of sustainable economic growth and development. This study examines the location of Turkey among the member of European Union (EU) countries in terms of inclusive growth and health outcome indicators. For this aim, inclusive economic growth indicators, that are consist of six dimensions of World Governance Indicators, belongs to the World Bank and two different health outcome indicators are used, for 28 EU countries and Turkey. Study variables are examined for two different periods, and the location of Turkey among EU countries analyzed by using hierarchical cluster analysis, for the periods of 2002-2007 and 2008-2016, which are called “high-quality” and “low-quality” economic growth, respectively. Clustering results shows that, the position of Turkey is next to the EU countries, which are good in terms of inclusive growth and health outcome indicators and representing root and old members of the EU for the period of 2002-2007; however it is far away from these countries for the period of 2008-2016. Study results emphasize that, it is incontrovertible that Turkey should internalize a policy and implementation culture of giving priority to transparency and accountability, pro-poor growing, improving employment and productivity, encouraging technology and innovation, prioritizing improvement of health status of the population, to achieve similar location with EU countries which have developed economies and have high welfare status.

Enterprises seek for possibilities to limit the costs and for areas that stimulate the level of innovation. Both of these aspects can be effectively supported by application of cloud computing, without a simultaneous need to make a choice of a trade-off type. The aim of the article is to prove that cloud computing provides entrepreneurs with the possibility to limit the costs and at the same time to support their activities related to the selected direction of innovation development. It has both a direct influence on the level and structure of costs in the enterprise, as well as an indirect influence, e.g. related to shortening the time for introduction of new solutions to the market, making decisions or limiting the costs of projects.

The purpose of the work is to study the issue of domestic exports of agricultural products to the European Union (EU). Methodology. General scientific economic and mathematical methods as analysis, synthesis, abstraction, concretization and special methods as comparison, tabular were used. Results. It is noted that an important step in terms of deepening trade relations between Ukraine and the EU was the conclusion of the Association Agreement and the establishment of a free trade area in the framework of this Agreement. For Ukraine, this is both one of the greatest achievements (in terms of shaping the worldview and social development) and a challenge (in terms of ensuring economic growth of the country, search for internal sources and incentives). It is noted that European guidelines provide the agricultural sector with an effective direction of development and reveal modern opportunities for its recovery, create additional preferences in the agri-food market. It is investigated that since the beginning of 2014 there have been dramatic changes in the geographical structure of domestic exports. Before that, about a quarter of goods were sent to the EU countries, about a third – to the markets of the CIS countries, the rest – to other countries. During 2014-2020, this distribution changed towards a significant decrease in the share of the CIS countries and a gradual increase in the share of the EU and other countries of the world. The article provides an analytical assessment of the geographical structure of Ukraine's merchandise exports by three main blocks of countries – the EU, the CIS and the rest of the world. The role and importance of the free trade area between Ukraine and the EU, which is a powerful milestone in bilateral trade relations and opens new economic opportunities for both the EU and Ukraine, is determined. The main trading partners of Ukraine in the export of goods are characterized. The geographical structure of exports with the EU countries is investigated and it is noted that Ukraine supplies goods to almost all EU countries. The total value of exports in 2020 decreased by 1552103 thousand US dollars compared to 2018. The largest share of exports falls on Poland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The commodity structure of agricultural exports with the EU countries during 2018-2020 was studied, a significant share of agricultural products was noted, which ranges from 34%. Practical implications. The factors that influenced the formation of exports in 2020 are identified. The problems that affect the development of exports and the prospects for its increase are identified.

Aim/purpose – Global value chains (GVCs), along with their specific forms of forward and backward linkages, remain the predominant mode of global production. However, their consequences for national economies are not universally clear. Our study aims to assess the impact of forward (FWD) and backward (BWD) GVC participation on busi- ness innovation in the European Union (EU) countries. We analyze this influence using a dual approach: examining all member states as well as four subgroups of EU countries, categorized by their level of innovation and length of EU membership. Design/methodology/approach – Macro-panel regressions based on data for 27 EU countries were used to achieve these aims. Followed by the variance inflation factors (VIFs) tests, the Breusch–Pagan tests, and the Hausman tests, we estimated panel regres- sions with fixed effects, controlled for heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross- sectional dependence. Findings – Results confirm that backward GVC linkages have a positive impact on the innovativeness of European businesses. When considering subgroups of EU countries, the impact of backward GVC participation on innovation is stronger in countries with a lower level of innovativeness compared to those with higher innovativeness, and in countries with shorter EU membership compared to those with longer membership. The impact of forward GVC participation is mostly statistically insignificant, with the only effect being a reduction in innovation among companies in the “new” EU countries. Thus, we confirm the differences in the impact of GVC linkages on the innovativeness of businesses at the EU macro level. Research implications/limitations – Practical implications of the study include recom- mendations for increasing the innovation capabilities and absorptive capacity of Euro- pean businesses through backward participation in GVCs, with nuances related to the characteristics of the EU countries. The innovation policies should reflect differences between “old” and “new” EU members to bridge the EU’s innovation gap. Originality/value/contribution – Our paper contributes to the discussion on innovation and its connection with the GVC. We delve deeper into the impact of GVC linkages on the innovativeness of European businesses by decomposing them into the forward and backward GVC participation and by categorizing EU countries into groups with relative- ly high or low levels of business innovation, as well as into “old” and “new” member states. Our findings confirm the complexity of these relationships depending on the nu- ances of countries’ characteristics, which have not yet been clearly highlighted in the existing literature on the GVC-innovation nexus within the EU. Keywords: global value chains (GVCs), backward GVC participation, forward GVC participation, innovation, European Union. JEL Classification: F10, F20.

The goal of this thesis is the empirical investigation of the behavior of innovation, eco-innovation and labor productivity for the industrial sectors of Brazil and European Union (EU) countries through three essays. Essay I sets out a comparative scenario of aggregate innovation data for Brazilian firms in relation to European Union (EU) countries based on the concept of absorptive capacity (AC); it develops an AC index and establishes a ranking between the countries under study. It uses descriptive statistics, using Pintec 2017 and CIS 2016. Compared to the EU countries, Brazil proved to be one of the most innovative countries when considering all types of innovation together. However, analyzing only product or process innovation, the country is among the least innovative, reflecting the relative low investment of Brazilian firms in innovative activities. Essay II investigates at the micro-data level the innovative determinants of Labor Productivity (LP) and other performance variables of firms in the manufacturing sectors of Brazil and six other EU countries, divided into Western and Eastern Europe. Here we use econometric estimations along the lines of the CDM structural econometric model for cross-sectional data, Pintec 2017 and CIS 2018. Higher R&D spending increased the likelihood of product innovation for firms in Brazil as well as in European countries. The hypothesis of the impact of innovation on TP is confirmed for Brazilian firms, especially when productivity is measured by the ratio between net sales revenue (NSR) and employed personnel and the estimates are without the effects of the 'absorptive capacity index at the firm level' (ica). Essay III draws a parallel between the main drivers of eco-innovation for Brazilian industrial firms and those of available EU countries, based on Pintec 2017 and CIS 2014, respectively. It discusses the main eco-innovative determinants in relation to traditional innovations and the impact of decision factors on environmental benefits. In addition to descriptive analyses, the research uses probit models based on cross-sectional microdata and addresses the problem of endogeneity with instrumental variables. The descriptive results showed that firms in Western European countries were more eco-innovative in terms of product or process compared to those in Eastern Europe and Brazil. The hypothesis that government support, involvement in R&D and cooperation increase the likelihood of eco-innovation compared to traditional innovations has been confirmed for both Eastern and Western European countries. The hypothesis that each of the main decision factors is more correlated with certain environmental benefits could be partially confirmed, since both 'eco-subsidies' and 'high costs' for Brazilian and EU firms especially determined 'substitution of fossil energy with renewable energy' and 'reductions in material and energy consumption', respectively. However, 'regulations', 'reputation' and 'voluntary actions' more broadly drove various environmental benefits, especially for firms in Western European countries. The impact of demand for Brazilian and Eastern European firms showed similar demands among consumers in these countries. The overall results suggest that the process of product or process innovation in Brazilian industrial firms still lags behind that of EU firms, especially in Western European countries. Furthermore, various aspects of the relationship between R&D, innovation and performance could be verified for the countries and clusters involved. Similarly, we observed the role of key factors that determine eco-innovation while highlighting differences and similarities among samples from various countries.

Sustainable development has become a major problem in European Union (EU) countries. This has prompted many researchers to examine a broad range of interactions among sustainable development indicators. This study uses the variance decomposition and cointegration approach to assess the causal relationship among energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and economic development (gross domestic product [GDP], foreign direct investment [FDI], net exports, and employment in industry) in the eight new and 15 old EU countries. The results confirm the existence of at least long‐run equilibrium relationships among economic growth and energy consumption, CO2, FDI, and net exports. In addition, short‐run bidirectional causality among GDP, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions is found for the old EU countries, whereas unidirectional causalities run from GDP to energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the new EU countries. Evidence from the variance decomposition analysis shows that 22% of the future shock in GDP is due to fluctuations in energy consumption, CO2, and employment in the old EU countries, whereas 53.1% emanates from CO2, employment, and FDI in the new EU countries. These findings have potentially important implications for sustainable development and environmental policy in both old and new EU countries.

After Lithuanian’s accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004, the citizens of Lithuania gained one of the four freedoms of the EU: it is a freedom to move, work and live in another EU and European economic area (EEE) country. Now workers can live in one country and work in another, they can even work in more than one country. While Lithuanian business can look for specialist in another EU country if there are no any in Lithuania. Consequently the free movement of workers did effect on the Lithuanian business development and employment itself. During the economic crisis the unemployment rate started to grow in many EU countries. Especially youth unemployment appeared as one of major issues. For Lithuanian economy high unemployment rate was and still is a serious problem. The free movement of workers is a challenge not only for the Lithuanian citizens but for employers as well. According to the strategy Europe 2020, the mobility could be as a solution in reducing high unemployment, which was reached during the economic crisis. With reference to the above, it could be stated that balanced labour movement could play a significant role in boosting business development and employment in the EU and the EEE. The dissemination of information about legal regulations of free movement of workers takes an important place in this regard. Accordingly a network of consultants, the European Employment Services (EURES), initiated by the European Commission (EC) is highly focused to this issue. EURES is acting in all the members of the EU as well as EEE. EURES is responsible for information, advice and placement services for jobseekers and employers wishing to benefit from the principle of the free movement of persons. The network has its consultants in ten cities of Lithuania as well and it covers all main regions of the state. Considering the above mentioned, the article solves the scientific problem: how EURES network’s activities could impact employment and business development in the EU and Lithuania? The aim of this paper is to study peculiarities of legal regulations of free movement of workers in the EU and importance of EURES network’s activities as well as its relevance to employment and business development in the EU and Lithuania. To achieve this aim three tasks were solved: to present the main topicalities of employment and its relevance to business development in the EU and Lithuania; to analyse the legal aspects of free movement of workers in the EU; to highlight the main EURES network’s activities reducing unemployment in the EU and Lithuania. The paper presents a combination of several research methods: comparative analysis of Lithuanian and international scientific works; comparative analysis and interpretation of the EU legal documents, strategies and practical papers; comparative and explanatory analysis of secondary statistic data; the paper includes the case study of EURES network activities in Lithuania. The results of the article: there were presented the main topicalities of employment and its relevance to business development in the EU and Lithuania; there were highlighted the main legal aspects of free movement of workers in the EU; there were highlighted the main EURES network’s activities, reducing unemployment, balancing labour market and boosting business development in the EU and Lithuania by disseminating information about free movement of workers. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.8.6972

This study examines the strength of the consensus on the expected prices across the European Union (EU) countries with respect to various factors: seniority in the EU (‘old’ vs. ‘new’ EU Member States, i.e. those that joined the community in 2004), the size of the economy (small vs. large) and currency cohesion (eurozone vs. local-currency countries). The results show that the lowest consensus on expected prices and relatively little variation in such a consensus occur in the ‘old’ EU countries. Opinions on the direction of the expected price changes vary substantially, but this variation remains stable in time. For almost every EU country, the consensus on the expected prices is higher in the ‘regular times’ subsample than in the ‘pandemic and war’ subsample, and for many countries, the differences in the strength of the consensus are larger for the ‘pandemic and war’ subsample. As far as the correlation with the observed price changes is concerned, the highest correlation coefficients are noted for small economies. Analysing correlation coefficients across subsamples shows that during difficult times of the pandemic and war, seniority in the EU helps the respondents to predict the direction of the expected price changes more in line with the actual price developments.

The COVID-19 pandemic, a new type of coronavirus that the world faced, broke out at the end of 2019 causing numerous impacts on all countries. Particularly the European Union (EU) countries were notably affected by COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and stringency policies. Furthermore, although Turkey was successful in combating many areas of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the EU countries, its international trade was affected. This paper empirically investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on selected EU countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czechia) and Turkey’s exports with monthly panel data analyses over the March 2020–December 2021 period. The findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impacts on exports in the EU and Turkey. For example, a 1% increase in COVID-19 stringency reduced exports by 0.102%, and a 1% increase in total COVID-19 cases caused a decline in exports of 1.620%. Furthermore, the Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test results show a two-way causality relationship between COVID-19 cases and export levels. In addition, unidirectional causality linkage exists from the COVID-19 stringency index. Therefore, causality test results confirm an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on exports during the stringency measures and lockdowns.