Okun’s law in the Visegrad Group countries: its regional disaggregation and determinants

For the Visegrad Group (VG) countries, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has become a particularly relevant feature of each member’s foreign policy. Today, it has become obvious that the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war that began on February 24, 2022, will have a significant impact not only on the warring parties, but its consequences will be felt by a number of countries. The VG countries, as elements of the regional subsystem, are forced to respond to security challenges. All VG countries, with the exception of Hungary, understand the risks of further Russian expansion in the event of Ukraine’s defeat and are trying to avoid this, paying special attention not only to helping our state, but also to its own defense. Budapest has chosen a position that differs from the VG partner countries and the EU as a whole. The article analyzes the position of official Budapest after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The focus is on factors that influence the position of Viktor Orban's government (different from other members of the VG), in particular, the issue of support for sanctions against Russia, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the role of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Ukraine, economic cooperation between Hungary and Russia, and the domestic political situation in the country, which directly affects the foreign policy of official Budapest, is considered.

This presented study discusses problems related to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 1: No Poverty, aimed at eliminating poverty, based on the example of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. The introduction addresses the general characteristics of the V4 and attempts to define the concept of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on its complex nature and importance for future generations. The purpose of the research was to assess the diversity within the Visegrad Group countries in the years 2005–2018 in terms of poverty and sustainable development level in the No Poverty area and also to identify the impact of the socioeconomic development level in the studied countries on sustainable development in the No Poverty area. Taking into account the analysis of poverty indicators in the Visegrad Group countries, the best results were recorded for Czechia. The second part of the conducted analyzed allowed us to conclude that Czechia definitely presents the highest level of sustainable development, followed by Slovakia. The highest average dynamics of changes occur in Poland and Hungary, which result in the gradual elimination of the existing disproportions. Among other research results, it is worth highlighting that the V4 countries show significant, however, decreasing differences regarding the indicators describing poverty in relation to sustainable development.

Credit Risk Contagion before and during the Euro Area Sovereign Debt Crisis: Evidence from Central Europe

This study deals with one of the current and relatively often discussed phenomenon, which accompanies economic and social development in both developed and economically struggling countries; the countries of Central and Eastern Europe being no exception from this pattern. The analysis of unemployment as an economic and social phenomenon and of the trends unemployment shows is conducted in relation to the period of stabilization and relative economic growth, which followed after the transformation of economic systems in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The main objects of this analysis are primarily trends in the economic development, trends in the job creation, and the impact of direct foreign investments on the unemployments development. The economic development of Slovakia serves as a basis for an analysis of the main trends in economic development, the indicators of unemployment rate and their connection to migration of labour force abroad. We presume that the conditions of historical, economic and social development and the process of the integration of Slovak republic into European Union do not significantly differ from similar processes occurring in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe (or in regional integrations such as the Visegrad group or Baltic countries). This presumption allows us to extrapolate gained knowledge and apply it to the conditions present in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Index Terms - employment, economic development

The aim of this study is to identify the correlation between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, added value from agriculture and economic growth in the Visegrad Group countries. Four countries of Central Europe were studied the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia in 2008–2019. Due to the objectives of the article, it was decided to use the panel model. The temporal scope of the research covers the years 2008–2019, i.e., two economic periods: 2008–2014 (a downward trend, including agriculture), and 2015–2019 (an upward trend). Greenhouse gas emissions are positively correlated with value added from agriculture and economic growth. The increase in the level of these variables stimulates of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the countries of the Visegrad Group. The analysis of the eco-efficiency of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, in relation to the gross added value produced, shows that the country with the least pollution of this value was Hungary, followed by Slovakia. The Czech Republic was third, and Poland was the last. The results of the research can be treated as a premise for a strategy for the development of agriculture, limiting the negative effects of its industrial development for more sustainable development.

Research background: Effective monitoring of financial health is essential in the financial management of enterprises. Early studies to predict corporate bankruptcy were published at the beginning of the last century. The prediction models were developed with a significant delay even among the Visegrad group countries. Purpose of the article: The primary aim of this study is to create a model for predicting bankruptcy based on the financial information of 20,693 enterprises of all sectors that operated in the Visegrad group countries during the post-pandemic period (2020?2021) and identify significant predictors of bankruptcy. To reduce potential losses to shareholders, investors, and business partners brought on by the financial distress of enterprises, it is possible to use multiple discriminant analysis to build individual prediction models for each Visegrad group country and a complex model for the entire Visegrad group. Methods: A bankruptcy prediction model is developed using multiple discriminant analysis. Based on this model, prosperity is assessed using selected corporate financial indicators, which are assigned weights such that the difference between the average value calculated in the group of prosperous and non-prosperous enterprises is as large as possible. Findings & value added: The created models based on 6?14 financial indicators were developed using different predictor combinations and coefficients. For all Visegrad group countries, the best variable with the best discriminating power was the total indebtedness ratio, which was included in each developed model. These findings can be used also in other Central European countries where the economic development is similar to the analyzed countries. However, sufficient discriminant ability is required for the model to be used in practice, especially in the post-pandemic period, when the financial health and stability of enterprises is threatened by macroeconomic development and the performance and prediction ability of current bankruptcy prediction models may have decreased. Based on the results, the developed models have an overall discriminant ability greater than 88%, which may be relevant for academicians to conduct further empirical studies in this field.

Purpose: The aim of the article was to analyse the qualitative approach to product improvement by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from the Visegrad Group (V4) countries (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary). Design/methodology/approach: The analysed results included a research sample of 379 companies in the electromechanical industry (machinery processing industry). The sample was obtained between March and September 2023 by means of a guided survey. Analyses of the results of quantitative research were carried out to verify the approaches of SMEs from V4 countries to pro-quality product, including comparative analyzes of the results obtained. Analyses were performed using the ANOVA test (repeated measure designs). The Mann Whitney U test was used to identify statistically significant differences in entrepreneurs' responses. The significance level adopted was α = 0.05. Findings: It has been shown that SMEs from V4 countries have different approaches to improving product quality. Additionally, it was shown that both in the case of pro-quality activities of SMEs from the V4 countries, the lowest consistency of assessments occurs in the following countries: Poland and Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, Slovakia and Hungary. Practical implications: Research results may contribute to more effective and coherent development activities of SMEs in the V4 countries as part of their sustainable development. Social implications: Based on the research conducted, it is possible to provide SMEs in V4 countries with a more adequate approach to undertake consistent and effective quality activities as part of the improvement of the product. Originality/value: Determining the current pro-quality approach to product improvement in SMEs in the V4 countries. The novelty is also the identification of the importance (level of importance) of these approaches in each V4 country, as well as the determination of the similarities and differences between these approaches in SMEs from countries in the Visegrad Group. Keywords: Visegrad Group (V4), SMEs, quality product improvement, production engineering. Category of the paper: Research paper.

This manuscript analyses the role and importance of cooperation between the Visegrad Group (V4) countries and the most globally active member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is the United Arab Emirates. In view of the V4+ concept implemented with partners from the Middle East, Israel or Egypt, the presented analysis is important and meets the lack of this element in the scientific debate. This study is based on empirical research and its findings are the result of not only observation but also 10 years of direct participation of the author in many activities related to the cooperation of the Visegrad Group countries and the UAE, including as ambassador, senior advisor to Dubai Expo 2020, especially responsible for strategies and dynamisation relations between Central and Eastern Europe (except Poland) and the United Arab Emirates. According to the author’s opinion, presented in the conclusion, there is now a huge opportunity to present V4 projects, including as a part of the broader strategy of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) during World Expo Dubai, which will take place from October 2021 to March 2022, and make this initiative a globally recognizable project. However, coordinating and accelerating joint actions is required.

The main aim of analysisis to determine the innovation potential and the level in the Visegrad Group regions, 25 years after the start of economic transformation. The reference point in the analysis is the European Union and its average values in terms of selected innovation indicators. Two methods were used in the analysis. The theoretical part uses a method of literature studies. In the empirical part - a comparative method, which used the comparison of the Visegrad Group states and the average for the entire EU, in the scope of selected indicators of innovation potential. Results of a research. Innovation and innovativeness are no longer exclusively associated with economic activity. They also refer to public management and human attitudes. Innovativeness of the region is a component of innovation of all units operating in a given territory and determines the achievement of competitive advantage. The Visegrad Group was formed in the early 1990s. It clusters neighboring countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which began economic transformation at the same time. The innovative potential of the Visegrad Group regions is low, comparing to the EU average. What is worse, in recent years the distance in many elements of this potential has deepened. As an example are such indicators as: expenditures of enterprises on research and development, participation in lifelong learning, or employment in the high-tech sector. One of the few potentials that can determine the economics competitiveness of V4 group, in the future, is human capital and a high level of education in society. As a result of the analysis, it also turned out that among the Visegrad Group countries, the most innovative potential lies in the Czech and Hungarian regions. This was also reflected in the summary ranking of innovativeness. What is also important, relatively high level of innovation potential of the capital regions, which are characterized by high entrepreneurship, higher level of education and higher research and development activity of enterprises. Range of application of results: government agencies supporting innovation, local government units responsible for regional innovation, entrepreneurs. Conclusions. Innovativeness is considered today as a key determinant of the countries and regions competitiveness. The low innovation potential of the Visegrad Group regions affects their weak economic position in relation to more developed countries. Therefore, it is crucial that the authorities should support individual elements of this potential, especially university education.

The problems related to the process of industrialisation such as biodiversity depletion, climate change and a worsening of health and living conditions, especially but not only in developing countries, intensify. Therefore, there is an increasing need to search for integrated solutions to make development more sustainable. The United Nations has acknowledged the problem and approved the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. On 1st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda officially came into force. These goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection(Salvia, Azul, Brandli, Wall, Filho, 2021). Energy is at the forefront of the development agenda. Recognizing energy's vital role in development and prosperity, the world has committed to Sustainable Development Goal 7 to Affordable and Clean Energy (Banerjee, Moreno, Primiani, Seong, Sinton, 2017). This presented study discusses problems related to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, based on the example of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. The introduction addresses the general characteristics of the V4 and attempts to define the concept of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on its complex nature and importance for future generations. The purpose of the research is to assess the diversity within the Visegrad Group countries in terms of affordable and Clean Energy. The study conducted in the article shows in that between 2009 and 2020, the Visegrad Group countries differed significantly due to all aspects of sustainable energy adopted by the European Union for monitoring sustainable development in the area of Affordable and Clean Energy.

Purpose: The aim of the article was to analyse the pro-environmental approach to products improvement by SMEs from the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. Design/methodology/approach: The research was survey. The survey research was carried out in traditional (paper) and electronic form (MS FORMS). The survey was directed at electronic industries (machinery processing) belonging to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from V4 countries. The results presented in the article refer to sample size of 379 SMEs, obtained between March and September 2023. Results were analysed in statistical way, i.e.: ANOVA test and Mann Whitney U test by significance level equal to α = 0.05. Findings: SMEs in V4 countries have a similar approach to pro-environmental improving of products. It was shown that pro-environmental activities of SMEs from the V4 countries, the lowest consistency of assessments occurs in the following countries: Poland and Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, Slovakia and Hungary. Practical implications: The research results may contribute to more effective and coherent development activities of SMEs in the V4 countries as part of their sustainable development, and also to take appropriate actions that will be supporting qualitative and environmental products. Social implications: The results can help SME entrepreneurs improve their products to protect the natural environment. In addition, they can be the basis for the development of SMEs from the V4 countries and their unidirectional development, which includes not only improving the quality of products, but also caring for the environment. Originality/value: The originality of the research is the determination of the current pro-environmental approach to product improvement in SMEs in the V4 countries. The novelty is the provision of current data on the importance of improving pro-environmental products in SMEs from the V4 countries and their comparison between companies in the electrical machinery industry. Keywords: Visegrad Group (V4), SMEs, environment, quality, product improvement, production engineering. Category of the paper: Research paper.

The Visegrad Group countries' political stance was not well received by most European Union member states when the migration crisis began. The discourse of the heads of state or other official representatives of Visegrad group countries had an unfavourable view of migration and recognised it as a security rather than a humanitarian one. The article explores the Visegrad group discourse during the European migration crisis. This study stands out because it examines the collective discourse of the Visegrad Group during the migration crisis rather than analysing each country separately. Three significant terror attacks in recent EU history have been incorporated into the analysis to see if they have increased the prominence of securitisation in the discourse of the Visegrad group. As the result of the Qualitative/Quantitative Content Analysis, we find out that after the Charlie Hebdo Attack, the Visegrad Group discourse on the migration crisis began incorporating the security dimension. Following the terror attacks in Paris, the securitisation dimensions of the migration crisis intensified and remained through the end of 2016. Our findings show that the communication style in the Visegrad group countries' declaration statements supports the security and terrorism linkage with migration.

Research background: Research and development (R&D) spending and innovation initiatives play a crucial role in promoting growth. However, economic policy uncertainty (EPU) is a reality that cannot be avoided when making business decisions. The Visegrad Group (V4), consisting of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, is considered a regional alliance of four Central European countries with significant potential for innovation and economic development because these nations’ economies are encountering the so-called ‘middle-income trap’. Purpose of the article: The paper’s main objective is to examine the impact of economic policy uncertainty on innovation performance and R&D expenditures in the Visegrad Group countries. Methods: The study used comparative panel models analysis (fixed effect, random effect, and system generalized method of moments [GMM]) between 2012 and 2021. The models include the lag periods for EPU to provide a better perspective on the short-term impact and even long-term consequences of EPU. Findings & value added: The directions of innovation output and R&D expenditures are directly related to EPU. In V4 economies, businesses may reduce their spending on R&D and innovation activities when confronted with high EPU; however, over time, the volatility of economic uncertainties is adjusted for. Additionally, the political and economic control variables increase the number of dimensions used in the models, which will motivate additional EPU studies in the field. Although EPU studies are widely accepted, our investigation shows that the topic is still not properly developed for Visegrad Group countries in relation to how EPU affects innovation activity. Another unique feature of the current study is the diversity of variables used, including the EPU lag variables, variables representing essential economic and political issues, as well as control variables, thus incorporating complex panel models.

This study investigates the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries, focusing on the changing relevance of cost-, market-, and institutional-related factors. The analysis employs a panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (P-ARDL) model and panel Granger causality tests to examine both the long-run and short-run relationships between FDI and a set of macroeconomic, and institutionalrelated variables. The dataset covers the V4 countries over a time span between 1996 and 2023 and captures both permanent and transitory changes in determinants of FDI. The results show that in the long-run, average wage levels and government effectiveness are significant structural determinants, highlighting the importance of institutional quality and labour costs in FDI location decisions. In the short term, FDI inwards are mainly influenced by GDP growth, R&D expenditure, trade openness, and inflation dynamics. The results indicating the significance of factors determining FDI in the Visegrad Group countries may be of particular importance for policymakers seeking to enhance investment attractiveness in a globally unstable economic environment.

This article aims to assess the conditions and prospects for biomass utilization in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. Additionally, the relationship between biomass energy production and greenhouse gas emissions was examined. A key component of the analysis involved identifying potential directions for the development of biomass utilization in the pursuit of the sustainable development of agricultural enterprises. In relation to these research objectives, a hypothesis was formulated regarding the causal relationship between biomass energy consumption and economic growth, the abundance of natural resources, and income in reference to the European Union economies. Both static and dynamic panel studies were applied. The conducted research revealed the complex nature of the conditions influencing biomass utilization. The study period covered the years 2004–2022. A negative correlation was found between the use of biomass and greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, factors favoring biomass utilization included economic growth, the level of natural resource consumption per capita, and government policies aimed at increasing the share of renewable resources in the economy.