European Transition Research Articles

Reform of state regulation of production and transportation of hydrogen on the territory of european states in the context of EU positive practice

Geopolitical transformations produce their impact on the cross-border regulation of hydrogen production and transportation. Russia's military aggression has blown up the global energy system and driven up energy prices. This exacerbated the issue of energy security, highlighting the excessive dependence of the EU on imports from the Russian Federation. These factors have accelerated Europe's transition to clean energy and increased hydrogen production. The object of the research is legal relations in the field of development, transportation and storage of hydrogen in the territory of European states. The results made it possible to propose mechanisms for reforming the legal regulation of the production and transportation of hydrogen across Europe. The vectors of the regulatory policy of European states are revealed, which should coordinate the increase in the potential of Ukraine in the regional leadership in decarbonization. It was stated that the legislative innovations of Ukraine are the basis for adaptation to EU practices. The practical approbation of the changes in production practice declared by the states of Europe in the context of the global energy transition to a carbon-neutral society is substantiated. It has been established that reducing the cost of hydrogen and finding its wide application will become a global priority in the short term. The basis of the hydrogen infrastructure has already been laid by including it in the renewed trans-European energy network. The issue of full-fledged approbation of production procedures in modern geopolitical conditions is debatable. Despite the hostilities, Ukraine continues the course of reforms by coordinating and arranging the purchase of hydrogen from renewable sources, which will allow full accession to the EU Energy Platform. The results of the study can be used in the legislative sphere for a comprehensive reform of the national legislation of Ukraine

FDI forward spillover effects in emerging markets: A comparative meta-analysis of China and Eastern Europe

Using two unique datasets of 530 forward estimates from 19 studies on China and 942 forward estimates from 28 studies on Eastern European transition economies, this study quantitatively analyzes foreign direct investment forward spillover effects, accounting for various biases and firm attributes in existing empirical results using a meta-regression analysis. We find that aggregation bias, misspecification bias, endogeneity bias (including simultaneity bias and omitted-variable bias), and publication bias, as well as firm attributes, contribute to the heterogeneity in forward spillover estimates; and that the preferred forward spillover effects are positive but nonsignificant. Interestingly, the preferred forward spillover effect is likely to be much larger in Eastern European transition economies than in China.

Does Institutional Quality Matter for the IDP Hypothesis? Evidence from Emerging Europe

The study empirically explores the relationship between OFDI and the home country’s institutional quality by employing a panel of 23 European emerging countries between 2000 and 2019. In doing so, the study employs the VECM estimation procedure. The key findings of this research indicate that the rate of adjustment to reach long-run equilibrium in European post-transition countries is lower than in European transition countries. In conclusion, there is evidence, for the period being investigated, of causality between the home country’s institutional quality and OFDI in both regions. Also, most of the transition countries are still in the process of building the institutional environment, with many institutional voids and different starting points of their internalization process. In fact, most of the countries, especially European transition countries, are in stage 2 or stage 3 of their investment development path (IDP) development, where IFDI stock still remains higher than OFDI stock.

Sustainable development, renewable energy transformation and employment impact in the EU

ABSTRACT The renewable energy transformation will impact the entire economy. We investigate the impact and interlinkages in employment and non-renewable energy with the renewable energy transition in Europe. We further assess the potential contributions of renewable energy and non-renewable energy to the variability (changes) of future employment, output, and carbon emissions within the European Union (EU). Analyzing recent data from 28 EU countries and Norway, we employ a panel vector autoregressive regression model to estimate the potential interlinkages. Our results suggest that the transition to renewable energy sources has a positive but small and significant net impact on average employment in EU. We further find that renewable energy consumption contributes substantially to the future changes in employment in the short and the medium term. The potential effect of employment on non-renewable fossil-fuel-based energy consumption is relatively lower. Moreover, future renewable energy consumption contributes significantly to variations in non-renewable energy, per capita carbon emissions and GDP per capita in the short and the medium-term. The contribution of non-renewable energy to the future variability in renewable energy consumption is low, reflecting the diminishing impact of fossil-fuel-based energy on renewable energy consumption.

Hydropower, a catalyst for energy transition in Europe

Hydropower, a catalyst for energy transition in Europe

Changing subsistence economies in the course of the Neolithic transition: Isotopic sourcing of collagen isotopic ratios in human skeletons from early Neolithic Anatolia and Greece

The Neolithic Transition in Europe was more complex and flexible as previously suggested. Around 6800 BCE, this new economy had reached Greece where some of the earliest European Neolithic sites are evidenced. To monitor this milestone of human living conditions, previously published conventional bivariate interpretations of collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in archaeological skeletons were subjected to an isotopic sourcing in an attempt to quantify the most important protein sources. This way, the process of changing subsistence economies during the earliest Neolithic in Europe should be assessed. We were capable of approximating the protein biomass contribution by vegetal food and to evaluate the proportion of meat derived from domesticates and game, thereby telling hunting from husbandry. According to the results, the Neolithic Transition in the Mediterranean was not characterized by a conspicuous change in nutritional habits although the Neolithic Package had arrived there in its fully developed form. Rather, slow and gradual adaptations that preserved major components of a hunting and gathering lifestyle are observable. This way, a stable subsistence was guaranteed in the course of the adaptation to a producing economy.

Dividend Policies in Volatile Transitioning Markets

Abstract This paper examines the implicit impact of an individual company financial parameters on dividends payments. The empirical research is conducted within the environment that cross-examines fifteen European transition economies with shared traits of frontier to emerging capital markets development stage and exposure to exogenic global volatility from 2007/8 and Covid-19 economic crises spilling over at magnitude. The purpose of this paper is to test whether companies establish stable dividend policy. Dividends payments are sensitive to earnings and hence adjust imminently. The reason stems from uncertainty on future financial performance and on investor protection. Results yield negative link between solvency and dividends based on the fact that the weaker solvency position decreases the priority of dividends likelihood. Comparably dividends are less desirable if competing with company growth opportunities although investors are less willing to wait for future profits. Altogether transitioning markets are less responsive and structurally feature fewer corporate events.

Opportunities and Risks of UK Medical Device Reform

ObjectivesTo identify the potential opportunities and risks around future UK regulatory reform of medical devices.DesignA mixed methods approach, comprising a rapid literature review, one-to-one, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, a multidisciplinary stakeholder workshop, and a post-workshop survey.SettingUnited Kingdom.Participants32 key stakeholders across the medical device sector were identified both from the public and private sectors.ResultsOpportunities relating to regulatory independence were identified, including the potential to create and implement a regulatory framework that ensures availability of medical devices; innovation and investment potential; and safety to the citizens of the UK. The most significant risks identified included threats to the safety of individual patients and the wider health system arising from the delay in awaiting regulatory approval due to the shortage of approved bodies; and reduced competitiveness of UK market and device manufacturers. Recommendations were identified to mitigate risks, centred on harnessing broader cross-sector collaborations, promoting patient and public partnership, and maximizing international engagement.ConclusionsThe UK’s medical device sector is at a time-critical juncture to construct a regulatory framework to navigate its exit of Europe and respond to Europe's transition to new medical device regulations whilst also addressing the ongoing demand for rapid approval for new devices in response to the global pandemic. Investment, capacity-building, and international engagement will play a central role in mitigating risks and maximizing opportunities for medical device regulation.

VOLATILITY REGIMES OF SELECTED CENTRAL EUROPEAN STOCK RETURNS: A MARKOV SWITCHING GARCH APPROACH

This paper investigates the weekly stock market data of the Hungarian stock index BUX, the Czech stock index PX and the Polish stock index WIG20 spanning from January 7, 2001 to April 18, 2021. The period of more than 20 years enabled to analyse the behaviour of returns and their volatility during both the calm as well as various crises/turmoil periods. Besides the traditional GARCH-type models (GARCH and GJR-GARCH) the two-regime Markov Switching GARCHtype models (MS-GARCH and MS-GJR-GARCH) were estimated in order to examine the volatility switches of the Central European transition stock markets. The t-distribution of error terms was used to capture the dynamics of analysed returns more precisely. The results proved high volatility persistence of individual markets which substantially differed across the both regimes. Furthermore, the GJR-GARCH and MS-GJR-GARCH models clearly confirmed the presence of the leverage effect. Consideration of the MS-GARCH-type models enabled to capture various volatility switches during the analysed period attributable mainly to the global financial crisis 2008–2009, to European debt crisis in 2011 and to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Interesting results were received for the Czech market with the strong leverage effect indicating completely different specification of volatility regimes by the MS-GJR-GARCH model.

Does Trade Facilitation Promote Export Technological Sophistication? Evidence From the European Transition Countries

In this paper, we examine the impact of trade facilitation on the export technological sophistication from the European transition economies over 2004 to 2020. It is found that, in terms of trend, the export technological sophistication of labor-intensive and traditional resource-intensive industries is primarily concentrated in a lower range. In contrast, the export technological sophistication of capital and technology-intensive industries is generally low. Trade facilitation in each country shows a slow upward trend. The regression results show that trade facilitation significantly impacts the export technological sophistication of transition economies in general. In terms of heterogeneity, the impact is significant only in the Baltics economies, upper-middle-income and above countries, and to varying degrees in all types of light and heavy industries, differentiated industries, and technology-type industries. The mechanism analysis shows that the “reconfiguration” effect, “pushback” effect, and “spillover” effect are virtual channels through which trade facilitation affects the export technological sophistication.

Fostering Offshore Wind Integration in Europe through Grid Connection Impact Assessment

Floating offshore wind energy is one of the solutions that can foster the ongoing climate transition in Europe. The ARCWIND project aims to contribute to this topic by considering multiple research activities designed to contribute to the development of multiple floating technologies, identifying high-potential deployment areas while considering their economic viability and the impact that these would have in existing power systems. Regarding the latter activity, a two-step methodology was implemented to first calculate the nodal capacity that existing electricity networks have to absorb energy from these potential new wind farms and secondly to assess the impact at the point of connection. This assessment is performed by identifying grid reinforcement needs, verifying the impact on short circuit current levels and measuring the impact on the existing energy mix at countrywide level. This article includes the description of this methodology as well as its application to six different use cases covering five European countries: Portugal, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Results obtained seem to indicate that, in most cases, the current power systems have enough capacity for the possible connection of new floating offshore wind farms without major reinforcement needs and that these wind farms can have a major contribution to the countries’ energy mix and to the achievement of established climate targets.

Integrating Young People into the Workforce: England’s Twenty-First Century Solutions

This paper uses the transition regime concept in a case study of how the regime in England has been reconstructed since the 1980s. It explains how the former transition regime evolved gradually up to the 1970s. Thereafter the regime proved unable to cope with an acceleration of de-industrialisation and the government’s switch to neo-liberal social and economic policies. These changes destroyed many working-class routes into employment. The resultant push onto academic routes, which had the attraction of continuing to lead to jobs, meant that the enlarged numbers exiting the routes could no longer rely on employment that offered secure middle-class futures. The paper explains how the next 30 years became a period of radical regime reconstruction. Government education, training and welfare policies and changes in the economy and occupational structure, were the context in which schools, colleges and higher education institutions, employers and other training providers, together with young people, ‘negotiated’ new routes from points to entry to exits into different classes of employment. At the beginning of the 2020s, the reconstructed regime was delivering the fastest education-to-work transitions in Europe, with lower than average rates of youth unemployment and NEET. Then came the challenges of COVID-19, lockdowns and Brexit.

Inflation Developments in the Euro Area Since the Onset of the Pandemic

There is hope that the Russian war on Ukraine could expedite the energy transition in Europe leading to a new and more environmentally sustainable steady state.

The Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain in True Cost Accounting for Energy Transition in Europe

The current energy prices do not include the environmental, social, and economic short and long-term external effects. There is a gap in the literature on the decision-making model for the energy transition. True Cost Accounting (TCA) is an accounting management model supporting the decision-making process. This study investigates the challenges and explores how big data, AI, or blockchain could ease the TCA calculation and indirectly contribute to the transition towards more sustainable energy production. The research question addressed is: How can IT help TCA applications in the energy sector in Europe? The study uses qualitative interpretive methodology and is performed in the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. The findings indicate the technical feasibilities of a big data infrastructure to cope with TCA challenges. The study contributes to the literature by identifying the challenges in TCA application for energy production, showing the readiness potential for big data, AI, and blockchain to tackle them, revealing the need for cooperation between accounting and technical disciplines to enable the energy transition.

Identification of Gaps and Barriers in Regulations, Standards, and Network Codes to Energy Citizen Participation in the Energy Transition

The success of the energy transition in Europe depends on the engagement of citizens and the sustainable replacement of conventional generation with renewable production. Highlights of the PAN European Technology Energy Research Approach (PANTERA) project, a H2020 coordination and support action, are presented in this paper. In broad terms, PANTERA offers a forum for actors in the smart grid to support the expansion of activities in smart grid research, demonstration, and innovation, especially in the below-average spending member states in the European Union (EU). The focus of this paper is on those activities of the project consortium related to the identification of gaps and barriers in regulations, standards, and network codes that hinder the sustainable engagement of energy citizens in the energy transition. The paper summarises the challenges to citizen engagement in the energy transit and considers the enablers that make the engagement of citizens viable, e.g., demand response (DR), renewable energy resources (RESs), and modern designs for local energy markets (LEMs). We focus on the barriers to the enablers that are explicitly and implicitly related to regulations, standards, and network codes and explore aspects of the relevant regulations and standards of the sample below-average spending member states. A specific case study of a research and demonstration project in Ireland for updating the network codes is also presented to demonstrate the ways in which member states are attempting to remove the barriers and enable citizen participation in the smart energy transition. Finally, the opportunities to foster smart grid research and innovation through shared knowledge and insights offered by the PANTERA European Interconnection for Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship (EIRIE) platform are highlighted.

Energy Transitions in Europe – Role of Natural Gas in Electricity Prices

Energy Transitions in Europe – Role of Natural Gas in Electricity Prices

The Post-Pandemic, The Post-War, the City In Transition – Sarajevo Case Study. Future Scenarios For Post-Pandemic City

Global pandemic is a special challenge for Sarajevo, the post-war and the city in transition in Europe. Like stranded Noah’s ark, the city with still visible war wounds and with no foundations for sustainable spatial planning system yet constructed, will probably have zero resilience for future catastrophes and pandemics. Unsatisfactory outcomes of the spatial planning system analysis for Sarajevo directs us to understand seriousness of our present situation and to think to make a turning point towards re-evaluation of our creation, in order to renew and prepare our city to survive future catastrophes. It should not be only a matter of disaster resilience, but a path towards sustainable European 21 century city. Our symbiosis with other species is one of the future scenarios for a city in transition, because uncontrolled urban sprawl is threatening not only human made systems. Our consciousness of planning in the Western Balkans will have to change dramatically towards nature preservation and controlled urban development to enable our cities to become healthy, fertile, and functional environments again. In absence of spatial planning strategies, land use plans, and bylaws in accordance with TA2030, post-pandemic period might become the critical moment for Sarajevo to begin procedures of creating sustainable spatial planning system.

The Impact of Robots on Labour Market Transitions in Europe

The Impact of Robots on Labour Market Transitions in Europe

Mapping Eco-Social Policy Mixes for a Just Transition in Europe

Mapping Eco-Social Policy Mixes for a Just Transition in Europe

Implikacije pandemije Covid-19 na strane direktne investicije u evropskim tranzicionim ekonomijama

In early 2020, the world faced a serious crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the application of restrictive measures to prevent and slow down the spread of the virus had a negative impact on economic flows, including foreign direct investment (FDI). The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on global FDI flows have been devastating, resulting in a large drop in FDI. Flows to European transition countries have also been affected, but less than the world average. It is expected that the recovery of FDI from the shock of 2020 would be long and that it would be impossible to return to structural and geographical patterns before the pandemic. Having in mind the above, the aim of this paper was to analyze the dynamics of FDI before and during the pandemic in European transition countries in order to examine the effect of Covid-19 pandemic on FDI. The results of the research confirm the negative impact of the pandemic on the flows of FDI in European transition economies, except for Montenegro, Bulgaria, Hungary and Estonia, where an increase in the inflow of FDI was determined.