East European Countries Research Articles

Paths (not) taken: promoting R&D in Central and Eastern Europe

ABSTRACT Central and East European countries are “dependent market economies,” aiming to escape the “middle income trap.” Developing R&D is one of the potential solutions to this challenge. Although overall the CEE countries are not considered exceptionally innovative, they still exhibit variation in terms of their R&D deliverables. Through fuzzy-set QCA, this paper aims to explain which combination of causal factors accounts for this variation. Innovation promotion in the region is tied to securing financial support, while the lack of R&D development is connected to both the absence of international financial resources as well as weak links between academia and business. Our results offer support to the idea that the hub of innovation within the CEE has remained the automotive sector connected to the German market. The paper stresses the necessity to explore the national coordination mechanisms of R&D promotion as some countries failed to deliver even in the presence of ample financial resources.

Determinants of Sustainable Tourism Efficiency: Evidence from East European Countries

Objective: In the first step, this paper aims to evaluate the tourism efficiency in East European Countries and later to identify factors that can determine the international tourism development in this European Region. Theoretical Framework: This study considers the impact of tourism demand on economic productivity (efficiency), with a particular focus on the role of sustainable tourism in driving economic development. Method: An input-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis model with a constant return to scale was applied for 6 years from 2014 to 2019 focusing on 22 countries in the area (except Kosovo due to lack of data) to estimate efficiency scores for each country. In the second stage, a Tobit Regression Model was used to stress the role of some characteristic factors influencing the efficiency of the international tourism industry. Findings: This study points out the greater attention of public and private institutions toward sustainability tourism (SDG target 8.9) associated with some factors such as environmental pollution (SDG target 3.9), friendly environment urbanization (SDG 11), educational level of the population (SDG 4), and tourism seasonality. Research implications: The study indicates that most East European Countries run inefficiently. Productivity is low, and efficiency needs to be improved in terms of capital- and labor production implementing consistently sustainable development principles.

Circular economy efficiency in the context of waste management in the selected Central and Eastern European countries – evidence from DEA and fractional regression analysis

Sustainability and optimizing waste management efficiency through circular economy principles have become significant trends in recent research. This study aims to compare the circular economy efficiency within the waste management framework in selected Central and East European countries. To achieve this, the research employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Fractional Regression Analysis, specifically using the Slack-Based Measurement model. This model measures efficiency by referencing the inefficient Decision-Making Units (DMUs) rather than the origin of the coordinate system. Key variables such as GDP per capita, GDP growth rate, and circular economy indicators were selected and analyzed using Eurostat data from 2010 to 2022. The findings reveal varying potentials for improving the efficiency of hazardous and non-hazardous waste management in the countries investigated. Additionally, differences in the mutual influence of selected variable indicators on waste efficiency are identified using Fractional Regression Analysis. These insights emphasize the pivotal role of waste management in advancing circular economy policies.

THE FIELD OF ACTIVITY AND INNOVATION – AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS IN EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The current business environment is characterized by high competition between companies as well as global challenges and growing technological progress. Businesses must constantly adapt to changes in the business environment, changes in the market environment and the constantly changing requirements of customers. The purpose of this article is to point out the major gaps across eight former communist East-European countries in what regards the innovation: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. In order to compare the trends in hat regards innovation in Eastern European countries we have first collected data for four innovation indicators for each East European country, separately for each field of activity. We have computed variation coefficients that revealed the fields of activity with the highest and/or lowest gaps across selected countries. Our conclusion is that Eastern Europe is increasingly becoming a hotspot for innovation, with countries in the region making significant progress in various aspects of innovation-driven development. By leveraging their strengths, addressing challenges, and capitalizing on opportunities, Eastern European countries can further enhance their innovation performance, competitiveness, and sustainable growth in the global innovation landscape.

The politics of resentment: what is it and how is it mobilized by populist radical right-wing parties in different contexts?

The role of emotions in politics is drawing increasing scholarly attention. Yet, despite this heightened interest, the ways in which politicians concretely appeal to emotions of their target audience are still blurry. Let aside how they do so in different contexts. This article focuses on an affect that is frequently mentioned as the key driver explaining the electoral appeal of populist radical right-wing parties (PRRPs): resentment. In that respect, several authors have used the term “the politics of resentment,” even though the exact definition of resentment often remains unclear. In this article, we theorize what resentment precisely is and how it is used politically, and hypothesize how it is mobilized in different ways by PRR parties in different contexts. Empirically, then, we employ content analysis to study a corpus of party documents of PRRPs in three West and two East European countries from 2004 onwards and identify three types of resentment mobilized by the radical right: (1) redistributive resentment; (2) recognitory resentment; and (3) retributive resentment. Despite being expressed in a more heterogeneous way than we theoretically expected, these forms of resentment share important commonalities that, we argue, can help to better understand the electoral appeal of radical right-wing parties.

The analysis of premature mortality in selected Central and East European countries

The analysis of premature mortality in selected Central and East European countries

Consistency of Aerosol Optical Properties between MODIS Satellite Retrievals and AERONET over a 14-Year Period in Central–East Europe

Aerosols influence Earth’s climate by interacting with radiation and clouds. Remote sensing techniques aim to enhance our understanding of aerosol forcing using ground-based and satellite retrievals. Despite technological advancements, challenges persist in reducing uncertainties in satellite remote sensing. Our study examines retrieval biases in MODIS sensors on Terra and Aqua satellites compared to AERONET ground-based measurements. We assess their performance and the correlation with the AERONET aerosol optical depth (AOD) using 14 years of data (2010–2023) from 29 AERONET stations across 10 Central–East European countries. The results indicate discrepancies between MODIS Terra and Aqua retrievals: Terra overestimates the AOD at 16 AERONET stations, while Aqua underestimates the AOD at 21 stations. The examination of temporal biases in the AOD using the calculated estimated error (ER) between AERONET and MODIS retrievals reveals a notable seasonality in coincident retrievals. Both sensors show higher positive AOD biases against AERONET in spring and summer compared to fall and winter, with few ER values for Aqua indicating poor agreement with AERONET. Seasonal variations in correlation strength were noted, with significant improvements from winter to summer (from R2 of 0.58 in winter to R2 of 0.76 in summer for MODIS Terra and from R2 of 0.53 in winter to R2 of 0.74 in summer for MODIS Aqua). Over the fourteen-year period, monthly mean aerosol AOD trends indicate a decrease of −0.00027 from AERONET retrievals and negative monthly mean trends of the AOD from collocated MODIS Terra and Aqua retrievals of −0.00023 and −0.00025, respectively. An aerosol classification analysis showed that mixed aerosols comprised over 30% of the total aerosol composition, while polluted aerosols accounted for more than 22%, and continental aerosols contributed between 22% and 24%. The remaining 20% consists of biomass-burning, dust, and marine aerosols. Based on the aerosol classification method, we computed the bias between the AERONET AE and MODIS AE, which showed higher AE values for AERONET retrievals for a mixture of aerosols and biomass burning, while for marine aerosols, the MODIS AE was larger and for dust the results were inconclusive.

From New to Indispensable: How the 2004 Enlargement Reshaped the EU’s Transformative Powers

This editorial introduces a thematic issue that examines the consequences of the accession of the Central and East European countries to the EU 20 years onward. The socioeconomic transformation of these countries in the pre-accession period was considered a remarkable success, that was attributed to the EU’s conditionality policy. However, in the post-accession period, when these countries gained full membership rights and began playing a more active political role, they started deviating from some EU norms and rules, against a backdrop of EU crises. This shift has been, notably, reflected in concerns about democratic backsliding and rule of law violations. Nonetheless, the contributions in this issue also underscore that these countries have internalized (both top-down and bottom-up) EU norms and rules to a much greater extent than the focus on conditionality would suggest. Moreover, since Russia invaded Ukraine, Central and East European countries have become entrepreneurs of EU policy and bolstered its transformative power. These findings indicate a need to focus not only on the fundamental shortcomings in these countries—as the attention conferred to the (lack of post-accession) conditionality suggests—but also to consider other factors, such as the quality of the EU’s governance and political system, policy learning, geopolitics, and member states’ domestic politics.

Spatial Analysis of High-Tech Export Performance of the Eastern European Member States of the EU

Some Central and East European countries have integrated into the European Union after 2004 and followed free market economy principles. This paper studies the spatial spillovers effects of high-tech export, Gross Domestic Product per capita, research and development expenditure, number of research and development full time equivalent, and technology accumulation among European Union member Central and East European countries over the period 2007-2020 by using spatial panel estimation models. The main purpose of the paper is to investigate whether high-tech export of European Union member Central and East European countries has a dependency and interaction with each other after EU membership. The estimation results of spatial panel model results reveal that an increment in high-tech exports of adjacent countries increases the high-tech exports of other regional countries. Our results also provide evidence on Gross Domestic Product per capita, and research and development expenditure of European Union member transition economies have positive and significant impacts on high-tech exports of those countries.

EXPLORING THE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES FOR LESS-SKILLED, SEMI-SKILLED AND SKILLED MIGRANT WORKERS OF BANGLADESH: PROSPECTS, CHALLENGES & WAY FORWARD

The purpose of this paper intends to explore the employment opportunities in East European countries (EECs) for less-skilled, semi-skilled and skilled migrant workers of Bangladesh through prospects, challenges & way forward. This study, using qualitative approach, has utilized the purposive and snowball sampling technique for executing thirty in-depth interviews along with two FGDs. Data has been analyzed by content analysis and thematic analysis. The findings reveal some lucrative job sectors in the labor market of East European countries, along with a few financial and nonfinancial prospects for Bangladeshi migrants. Some of these prospects include attractive compensation packages, medical allowances, public health facilities, and prompt remittance-sending facilities. Nevertheless, some highly weighted challenges, such as high migration costs, limited knowledge about government services, lack of access to finance, language barriers, cultural differences, and legal support, pose hindrances also. To overcome these challenges, policies and actions such as increasing tax incentives, affordability, easy access to loans, ensuring financial transaction protection, education and awareness campaigns, economic incentives, community building initiatives, easy access to services, and anti-discrimination laws and policies can assist a lot. The government of Bangladesh is providing some support, but most current and prospective workers are not well aware of these services. However, the result of this paper has found EEC to be a prominent source of overseas employment for the less-skilled, semi-skilled, and skilled labor force of Bangladesh.

Borders, states, and armed conflicts in Europe and Northeast Asia since 1945: The moral hazard of great-power encroachments

This article discusses the significance of international borders in Europe and Northeast Asia during the Cold War (1945–1989) and after. Using the concept of ‘moral hazard’, the article examines what happens when great powers frequently violate the borders of neighboring countries without suffering adverse repercussions. Norms of sovereignty and territorial integrity are viable only if large countries are willing to uphold them most of the time. The Soviet Union used or threatened to use military force against East European countries on numerous occasions (1953, 1956, 1968, and 1980–1981) with impunity. The Russian Federation adopted a broadly similar policy toward neighboring countries that had been republics of the Soviet Union until 1991. Russian forces in Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Belarus, and Ukraine served as instruments of Russian hegemony in those countries. Until 2014, Western governments made little or no effort to deter or counter Russian military encroachments in neighboring republics. By the principle of moral hazard, leaders in the Kremlin came to believe that they could act with a free hand in the former USSR.

The current state of oral health and dental care system efficiency in twelve selected East European countries

Objective: This investigation aims to highlight the often-overlooked landscape of oral care in East European countries by evaluating the dental status of their populations and the efficiency of their dental care systems. Method: The study employs the Dental Health Index (DHI), which measures the dental state of entire populations, allowing for quantifiable comparisons between differing countries and dental systems. The survey relies solely on existing epidemiological and various scientific data. Results: The findings reveal a wide range of results among the countries studied. On average, the oral health of the younger generation is satisfactory and has improved over the past two decades, with more significant progress observed in permanent teeth compared to deciduous teeth. However, the dental status of adults remains poor, with only a few signs of positive developments in the past decade. The most favourable DHIs are seen among Romanian and Serbian individuals, while Lithuanian and Bulgarian citizens exhibit a less favourable oral health status. Notably, the latter two countries have the highest dental density of those studied. In terms of benefit-cost reflections, Romania, Serbia and Poland perform best. Estonia and Lithuania appear to have untapped productivity resources. Conclusion: To enhance the overall oral health status of the population, the author advocates for a broader focus that extends the current prioritization of the young generation to include adults up to 35 years of age, as the period between 18 and 35 years significantly influences the future development of natural teeth. To implement effective measures for this reform, oral health policies must prioritize prevention and tooth retention. Suggestions are provided on how this could be achieved. An active, goal-oriented oral health policy is essential, for improving the currently unsatisfactory oral health status of adults. Without such efforts, the dental health of the elderly population is likely to deteriorate further.

Exploring the Employment Opportunities in East European Countries For Less-Skilled, Semi-Skilled and Skilled Migrant Workers of Bangladesh: Prospects, Challenges & Way Forward

Exploring the Employment Opportunities in East European Countries For Less-Skilled, Semi-Skilled and Skilled Migrant Workers of Bangladesh: Prospects, Challenges & Way Forward

Public service motivation and job satisfaction: The role of social support during crisis

Research background: Different crises (COVID-19 pandemic, war, natural disasters etc.) usually require new ways for providing public services to the citizens and, from this, to reinterpret and adjust the role of the public servant as the strategic key for assuring the continuity of the governance at all levels. Purpose of the article: The article establishes a relationship between the public service motivation dimension and job satisfaction aimed to analyze the mediating role of social support in a crisis. Methods: The standardized questionnaires, i.e. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, Work Design Questionnaire, and Perry’s PSM scale, were used to observe variables in the research model. An exploratory factor analysis was used before hypothesis testing. We deployed a structural equation modelling (SEM), as a multivariate technique, to test and evaluate multivariate causal relationships between constructs. Findings & value added: Based on a sample of selected Central and East European countries (namely Poland, Romania, and Serbia), the study confirms the significant impact of social support on the relationship between self-sacrifice and compassion, as a public service motivation dimension, and extrinsic job satisfaction and intrinsic job satisfaction. Social support received from colleagues and supervisor is identified as a powerful non-monetary means of neutralizing negative effects during crises and increasing job satisfaction.

Modern-Day Contributors to Sleep Disturbances in Generation Z: A Look at Chronotherapy and Other Solutions

Sleep is an important biological process that affects both physical and mental health. Modern-day stressors and technology have led to certain behavior patterns that have become an active threat to sleep. The 2021 Philips Global Sleep Survey conducted among 13,000 individuals of ages 18 and above, across 13 countries (South East Asian and European countries, US and Australia), reported that 76% of adults reported having one or more sleep issues; with stress being the most reported hurdle. These sleep challenges were further exacerbated by the pandemic. The survey also pointed out that, 37% of adults experienced insomnia and 62% of adults felt they don’t sleep well.

Judicial Interpretation and Competition Law Enforcement: Authoritarian Legal Culture, Semantic Dissonance and Skewed Agencification in Post-Socialist Croatia

Abstract This article argues that more than thirty years after democratic and economic transition, the legacy of authoritarian legal culture in post-socialist EU Member States limits the effectiveness of competition law enforcement. Concentrating on Croatia but mindful of the experience of other Central and East European countries that acceded to the EU in 2004 and 2007, we show examples of post-accession case law illustrative of excessive judicial formalism and disassociation between the legal norm and its socio-economic context in judicial interpretation. Also, we explain how the excessively stringent legal standard of proof for cartel agreements, established by Croatian courts post-accession, indicates an incomplete semantic alignment with EU competition rules. Furthermore, we discuss the difference in legal cultures between the judiciary and the competition authority by using the notion of “skewed agencification” and show how slow reception of EU competition law standards by the judiciary adversely impacts the enforcement of competition rules.

Fertility and nuptiality changes in Central and Eastern Europe: 1982-1993

Central and east European countries are in the midst of a major demographic change, that for the most part appears to have been brought about by the on-going political, economic and social transformation of these countries. The strength of the change varies considerably across the counties, quite likely as a consequence of the variations in the depth and breadth of the transformation and the attitude of the people towards it. It appears that, at least, a few years will elapse before the demographers studying these countries will be able to draw a relatively comprehensive picture of the demographic developments in these countries since the turn of the 1980s. This paper seeks to contribute to this picture by documenting changes over time in fertility and first marriage in more than half of the transition countries, which appear to have been associated with the transformation under way. The analysis focuses on the time patterns in the levels and timing of overall fertility and first marriage among women during 1982-1993. It does not seek to explain how the various aspects of the transformation might have influenced those patterns; this would require a separate analysis. Having included in the analysis several years prior to the onset of the transformation, we seek to answer the following questions: What were the nature, timing and magnitude of the changes in overall fertility and first marriage, which are respectively measured by the period total fertility rate and the period total first marriage rate? Were the changes in first marriage accompanied by those in non-marital cohabitation? Although interesting in its own right, this question is addressed as a side issue due to data limitations, by looking at the proportions of extramarital births. And lastly, were the shifts in overall fertility and first marriage accompanied by those in their timing, as measured by the mean age of childbearing and the mean age at entry into first marriage, respectively? The analysis is cast within a broader European context by making comparisons between the countries with economies in transition and selected European countries with market economies.

The USSR’s Foreign Policy and “The Conflict with Finland” in Documents (1939–1940)

The fate of East-European countries was decided on 23 August 1939, in the wake of the Soviet-German agreement, on 1st September 1939 Germany triggering its assault on Poland. The documents presented here refer to ‘the international situation which worsened in Eastern Europe after the fall of Poland.’ The Soviet Union invades Finland and, following difficult and exhausting battle, on 5 March 1940, the Finnish government sent a delegation to negotiate peace.

Can We Rely on Projections of the Immigrant Population? The Case of Norway

Demographic forecasters must be realistic about how well they can predict future populations, and it is important that they include estimates of uncertainty in their forecasts. Here we focus on the future development of the immigrant population of Norway and their Norwegian-born children (“second generation”), grouped by three categories of country background: 1. West European countries plus the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; 2. Central and East European countries that are members of the European Union; 3. other countries. We show how to use a probabilistic forecast to assess the reliability of projections of the immigrant population and their children. We employ the method of random shares using data for immigrants and their children for 2000–2021. We model their age- and sex-specific shares relative to the whole population. Relational models are used for the age patterns in these shares, and time series models to extrapolate the parameters of the age patterns. We compute a probabilistic forecast for six population sub-groups with immigration background, and one for non-immigrants. The probabilistic forecast is calibrated against Statistics Norway’s official population projection. We find that a few population trends are quite certain: strong increases to 2060 in the size of the immigrant population (more specifically those who belong to country group 3) and of Norwegian-born children of immigrants. However, prediction intervals around the forecasts of immigrants and their children by one-year age groups are so wide that these forecasts are not reliable.

The Determining Factors of the Delocalization of Italian Companies to East European Countries

Reflections on the factors that influence the delocalization of Italian companies to other countries, arising from a rapidly changing world economy, offer invaluable insight into companies facing similar tough choices. Usually, this decision is attributed to economic, fiscal, and institutional factors. This article examines the process of delocalization of Italian enterprises and empirically verifies the main factors which influence the delocalization of Italian enterprises to East European Countries. The results suggest that “labor market regulation”, “business regulation”, and “size of government” or better said, the labor cost the host country, is the main incentive of Italian enterprises to delocalize their production. Empirical results also show that institutional factors such as “rule of law”, “control of corruption”, “political stability”, and “broadband infrastructure” have a positive and significant correlation with the delocalization of Italian enterprises to the East European Countries. The results in this case suggest that Italian companies are looking for an environment in which the state knows how to enforce their own rules, but also a state that is somewhat “corruptible”.