Sector In European Countries Research Articles

Analyzing Labor Costs in The Transport and Storage Sector in European Countries Through Trend and Cluster Analysis:2007-2022

Trends in the transport and storage industry's labor markets in Europe have significantly impacted changes in labor costs. Technological advancements, increased privatization and deregulation, and changes in global capital flows are among the key reasons that have resulted in significant changes in labor costs in the logistics sector during the last few decades, especially in Europe. The amount of remuneration for logistics personnel and its pace of change over time are essential aspects influencing not just capital investment choices but also country competitiveness. The clusters of countries with similar wage increases over time are also impacted by their economic, social, and ecological problems to a similar extent. The existence of probable trends in labor costs in transport and storage on a country level, as well as cluster analysis over the countries where the trend is found, will aid in revealing significant similarities and contrasts concerning the sector and the countries involved in the research. The Labor Cost Index (LCI), according to NACE Rev. 2 Activity-nominal value, quarterly data released by Eurostat was utilized for this research. Sixty-four quarterly periods have been covered between the first quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2022. The research was based on data collected from 23 different European countries. The Mann-Kendall trend test and Sen's slope test were used for trend analysis, and the K-means clustering algorithm was used for cluster analysis.

Differentiation in the development of the cultural and creative sector in European countries

Differentiation in the development of the cultural and creative sector in European countries

Do Mergers and Acquisitions Promote R&D? The Case of European Innovation and Technology sector

Innovation efforts and R&D play a foundational role for companies seeking to further develop their products and services and secure a sufficient market share. This is especially relevant for knowledge-intensive fields, particularly for the Innovation and Technology Sector, where players are constantly challenged with adapting to its multi-faceted nature, processing large amounts of data, and rapid innovation transfer. Thus, it is important to study the factors that contribute to R&D intensity and encourage innovations in detail. The study explores the impact of M&A activity on R&D intensity and R&D spending increase of both the acquiring companies and their targets in European Union. The final sample consists of 85 companies that had implemented M&A deals in the Innovation and Technology sector of the EU between 2007 and 2021, acting as acquirers or targets in these deals. The data is collected from Refinitiv Eikon database. Subgroups are determined based on categorization established by the European Commission. These include Business support service activities, Computer programming, Data processing, Manufacturing, and Telecommunications. In addition, financial data was collected on non-merging companies for forming a control group for the analysis. Difference-in-difference and probit model estimation methods are used to analyze the effect of M&A activity on the companies involved. The results show that the R&D intensityof both acquirers and targets decreases in the post-merger period. As for R&D expenditures, they increase for acquiring companies, while the effect is the opposite for their targets. The study contributes to the literature as it, unlike other similar studies that focus mostly on one group of actors, differentiates between the effect on the innovation activity of targets and the effect on the acquirers. The results could be used to increase the knowledge of the M&A effect on innovation efforts in the Innovation and Technology sector in European countries and understanding the possible problems it could lead to.

Would Europe have become wealthy without colonies? A retrospective analysis of the impact of the supply of goods from colonial countries on the economic strength of the EU

The relevance of this topic is growing due to the desire of European states to clarify their place in the formation and development of the global economy. The purpose of this study was to theoretically analyse the impact of raw materials and goods from the colonies on the development of the economic sector in European countries. This study analysed a range of scientific sources and materials, and the following scientific methods were used: structural-functional and dialectical methods, synthesis, logical, and comparative analysis, and generalisation. The findings of this study proved that without colonial possessions, Europe would not have been such an influential continent as it is in the modern world. The study showed how the European Union has done a tremendous job and gained the status of a fairly developed and rich association. It was shown that for a long time Europe exploited dependent territories, which made it the most influential union. These territories include countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America. The study proved that the colonies had a special impact on the socio-economic development of not only European countries, but also other countries of the world. The colonial policy pursued by Europe influenced the development of the world economy. The study of the history of European development is ongoing, and therefore this study is of great practical importance for determining how the European economy was formed and developed

Unemployment and Enterprise Births in European Countries: A Sectoral Approach

Different types of entrepreneurial activities are more or less conducive to socio-economic development. Among others, opportunity entrepreneurs are found to have a greater impact on economic growth, innovation, and employment compared to necessity entrepreneurs (pushed by the risk of being unemployed). In this context, the main goal of the study is to find the answer to the following research question: Which business sectors in European countries are sensitive to the unemployment push effect and thus more prone to necessity entrepreneurship? The paper provides further insight into the unemployment push hypothesis by investigating this issue in the group of 20 European countries across 11 business sectors (NACE Rev. 2 classification): manufacturing, construction, and services of business economies (nine sectors). The issue is examined by analyzing Eurostat and World Bank data for 2004–2020 using the panel vector autoregression (p-VAR) approach. The results confirm the unemployment push effect only in wholesaling, retailing, and repair services. The effect, however, seems to be triggered by entry behaviors in the Central Eastern European countries, which are more active in creating new businesses and more prone to necessity entrepreneurship. In addition, the interplay between unemployment and new enterprise dynamics in wholesaling, retailing, and repair services seems to be relatively more robust to existing heterogeneity within entrepreneurs, countries, and estimation techniques. The implications of the results could assist policymakers responsible for active labor market instruments promoting entrepreneurial attitudes.

KIBS Role in the Innovation and Internationalization Processes of Firms: a Bibliometric Overview

In recent decades, KIBS have been one of the most dynamic segments of the service sector in European countries and are one of the fastest growing sectors of the European Union economy. KIBS are firms that provide knowledge-intensive inputs to the business processes of other organizations.
 In the regional and national economy, KIBS have played a central role in innovation as carriers, producers and mediators of knowledge. Consequently, this knowledge has a critical impact on the internationalization of firms. New sources of information and knowledge help firms compete and grow in markets of which they possess little or no prior knowledge. Firms face difficulties in foreign markets, so they need to develop a strong knowledge base to successfully compete across borders. The intensity of knowledge and the diversity of knowledge sources positively impact both the internationalization of firms and their innovation. Knowledge-intensive firms represent a link between their customers and the knowledge base available across the economy, and therefore act as a catalyst for innovation and internationalization.
 Recognizing the important role played by KIBS and to provide as overall picture of the research field, a bibliometric approach was performed, based on a mapping of scientific publications, intellectual structure and research trends related to the area under study, highlighting the current approaches of reference on the subject of innovation, internationalization and knowledge. In light of this consideration, the main objective of this study is to identify some of the most relevant research in this field and some of the newest trends, according to the information found in the Web of Science database, thus contributing to the enrichment of the existing literature. The specific objectives of this study are as follows: (1) to identify how the concepts of KIBS, innovation and internationalization are defined in the literature and assess the evolution achieved in the field of research; (2) to identify and measure research productivity, the trend of collaboration between countries, and the main and most relevant journals and authors; and (3) to analyze and map co-citations and research topics to identify the intellectual structure of the literature.

Ecosystem of Social Enterprises - A Comparative Review of the Practice of European Countries and the Republic of Serbia

Abstract Due to the influence of numerous factors that make it difficult to find the innovative solutions to social and environmental problems that social enterprises deal with, there is a need for a joint action of social enterprises, both with each other and with other actors operating in their environment. In order to overcome the challenges more easily, which they face in their business, social enterprises and social entrepreneurs should take advantage of networking. Business networks can bring many benefits to their members, and networks in the social sector are of particular importance. Recently, networking has taken place within the broader framework of so-called ecosystems. With this in mind, the aim of this paper is to shed more light on the specifics of networking of social enterprises, i.e. their connection to ecosystems. The Social Entrepreneurship Network (SEN) has played a key role in the development of this sector in European countries. Also in the Republic of Serbia, networking of social enterprises with civil society organizations has significantly contributed to the creation of public policies and the promotion of social enterprises.

Prerequisites for Building an Innovative Online Platform Supporting BIM Implementation in Higher Education

Abstract The aim of the paper is to present outcomes of the first phase of the ongoing EU-funded Project BIMaHEAD focused on building digital readiness in higher education institutions as well as supporting students in AEC related degrees to adjust to the new online education environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through integrating digital technologies with teaching and learning practices. An in-depth comparative analysis of 132 case studies focused on Building Information Modelling education in a Higher Education sector in Europe was completed and conclusions were drawn. A great amount of data was collected, studied, and analysed. The benchmarking analyses were fundamental for understanding the state of the art in the area, defining gaps and deficiencies, and rethinking teaching and learning methodologies. The findings also revealed evident differences in curricula as well as in the roles and responsibilities of main actors in the AEC sector in European countries. Therefore, they allowed to specify prerequisites and outline a vision of an open-access online platform to be developed within the second and third stages of the BIMaHEAD Project.

WAYS TO RESTORE NATIONAL TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS ACTIVITIES IN THE POSTWAR PERIOD

The article is devoted to the issue of finding effective ways to restore the sector of transport and logistics activities of the country in the postwar period, which is currently relevant for Ukraine. The state of international transportation during the war is analyzed. It is established that the process of restoration of the transport and logistics sector in the country is already underway and consists of a number of measures in the field of customs, logistics and transports. The experience of restoring the transport sector in European countries as part of the national critical infrastructure is considered. It is determined that one of the main conditions for effective economic recovery is international support. The key programs, diplomatic and legal documents that formed the basis for the creation of international support for Ukraine in economic recovery in general and the transport sector in particular are considered. The basic directions in which the action of the specified support for transport and logistics activity is directed are established.

Review of public–private partnerships across building sectors in nine European countries: Key adaptations for PPP in housing

PurposeThis paper aims to review the existing practices of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the building sectors in European countries, to be able to assess its suitability for housing provision while focussing on the social impact.Design/methodology/approachBased on the sectoral spread of PPP, nine European countries were included in this study. Formative evaluation is used to structure the review based on four key attributes of PPPs to develop a comprehensive understanding of the existing PPP procedures and guidelines amongst these countries. Data were gathered through public and governmental reports, consultant reports, country guidelines, standards and procedures, and cases, in order to identify the prevalent practices and trends in these countries.FindingsThe review identified the need to calibrate the PPP approach towards other stakeholders, particularly the end-users. It further highlighted the need to focus on social integration and social sustainability and establish set procedures for PPPs in housing to create a credible and trustworthy environment for the investors. Joint support from private and public partners and community participation has a diverse impact on the success of PPP in housing.Practical implicationsThis review shall enable governments, industry and stakeholders to make provisions and policies for overcoming the challenges identified with regard to PPPs and pave the way for its application in the housing sector ensuring a positive social impact.Social implicationsThis review shall facilitate greater involvement of end-users and enhancing social integration in housing through PPP, and pave the way towards creating cohesive communities by focussing on the concept of togetherness and social sustainability.Originality/valueThis study provides a holistic summation of the prevalent PPP practices and broadens the adaptations for the housing sector. The novelty of this paper specifically lies in learning from PPP practices across other building sectors for adapting its utilisation for housing and thereby extending the state of art for PPP housing.

Healthcare sector in European countries: Assessment of economic capacity under the COVID-19 pandemic

The year 2020 showed certain unpreparedness of the world’s countries for the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the unpopular measures of closed borders and total quarantine. The leading social component that opposes a pandemic is the healthcare system. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to assess the ability of European countries to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cluster modeling was performed using the STATISTICA 7.0 package. As a result of modeling, the studied countries were divided into 4 clusters. The first cluster included nine countries. According to the smallest distance, the core countries in this cluster are Ireland and Bulgaria. The second cluster included seven European countries. The core country in this cluster is Sweden. Five of the studied countries were part of the third cluster. The core country in this cluster is Estonia. The fourth cluster included economically developed European countries with a Scandinavian social economy model and countries with a transitive social economy model. The core country in the fourth cluster is Germany. The recommendations for European countries can be introducing educational activities at the state level among the population on the importance of vaccination against COVID-19, increasing the staffing of the healthcare system, conducting the audit on the effectiveness of using public funds, and developing the medical infrastructure.

Fiscal Decentralisation of Services: The Case of the Local Public Sector in European Countries

Services are a dynamically developing economic sector in all countries. The paper focuses on public services, evaluated from the perspective of fiscal decentralization. It aims to evaluate the level of fiscal decentralization of expenditures in selected categories of public services in European countries. For this purpose, government expenditures by the local government sector are analyzed in the set of the selected 28 European countries in the period 2010-2018. Cluster analysis has been carried out in order to determine four clusters of countries based on their level of decentralization of expenditures on services. The results show differences in the extent of decentralization between the European countries in the provision of specific public services and reflect the form of financing of local public needs. A low level of fiscal decentralization of expenditures on services (public order and safety; housing and community amenities; recreation, culture, and religion) was observed in the majority of the countries. However, the majority of the countries failed to prove a high level of fiscal decentralization of expenditures on services (social protection, health, education) and a medium level of decentralization of expenditures in terms of general public services and services of economic affairs. These findings demonstrate that the degree of decentralization of public services is determined, to a certain degree, determined by country history and its geographical location, as well as by the different roles of sector-specific public policies. The findings can be helpful for creators of local public policies, strategic plans, and financial concepts.

Sustainability performance assessment of the transport sector in European countries

The transport sector plays a fundamental role in the European Union economy and its efficiency is fundamental to strengthen the region's environmental and economic performance. Unfortunately, the sector still remains heavily dependent on oil resources and is responsible for a large part of the air pollution. The European Union has been promoting various initiatives towards sustainable transport development by setting targets in the sector such as the ones proposed in the 2011 White Paper on transport. Under this context, this study aims at evaluating the environmental performance of the transport sector in 28 European Union countries, from 2015 to 2018, towards the policy agenda established in the strategic documents. The assessment of the transport environmental performance is made through the aggregation of seven sub-indicators into a composite indicator using a Data Envelopment Analysis technique. A variant of the Benefit of the Doubt model is used to determine the weights to aggregate the sub-indicators. The results obtained indicate that the European Union countries have been improving their transport environmental performance in the last two years of the time span under analysis, i.e., 2017 and 2018. Regarding the inefficient countries, results suggest they should improve the transport sustainability mainly by drastically reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-based propulsion, increasing the share of freight transport using rail and inland waterways and also the share of transport energy from renewable sources.

Economies of Scale and Perceived Corruption in Natural Resource Management: A Comparative Study between Ukraine, Romania, and Iceland

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of factors that undermine sustainable management of renewable resources by identifying and analyzing the main drivers and dynamics involved, with a focus on the role of corruption perceptions and its implications. To shed light on the research question, we chose to perform a comparative study of three different resource sectors in European countries that are ranked differently on the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, namely fisheries in Iceland, forestry in Romania, and arable soils in Ukraine. We conducted 40 in-depth semi-structured interviews with various stakeholders to explore assumptions on individual actions and behavior in the sectors. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative coding procedure based on causal loop diagrams, a method from system dynamics. The results indicate that even though the cases are different, they share a similar outcome, in that privatization of the resource and consolidation of companies took place, along with perceived risk of both unsustainable resource management practices and corruption. Our findings suggest that the underlying similarities of the cases are that privatization occurred around the same time in early 1990s, when neoliberal economic ideology influentially held up the idea that private ownership meant better management. What followed was a transition to economies of scale that ultimately resulted in dominance of large vertically integrated companies in the sectors. The resulting inequalities between large and small actors in the renewable resource management systems serve to increase the risk for unsustainable management decisions as well as increase perceptions of corruption risks, especially amongst smaller actors in the sectors.

Огляд нової нормативної бази 2019–2020 років щодо декарбонізації економіки та аналіз її впливу на умови функціонування газової галузі України

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of the new Ukrainian and European regulatory framework for 2019-2020 concerning the decarburization of economy of the functioning of Ukrainian gas industry. The paper provides an overview of the Ukrainian regulatory framework of 2019–2020 on the implementation of the system of monitoring, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas emissions in our country. We also provide an overview of new European documents on the decarbonisation of economy, in particular, the European Green Deal, the EU Strategy for Reducing Methane Emissions, and the Hydrogen Strategy for Climate-Neutral Europe. We showed that these EU documents will exert a significant influence on the functioning of both the energy sector of our country as a whole and its part – gas industry. The paper shows that, under the existing plans of the development of energy sector in European countries in order to reach the state where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and under conditions of fierce competition for sources and routes of gas supply to the European market, the most pressing problem confronting the gas transportation system of Ukraine is to optimize its structure with simultaneous replacement of outdated compressor equipment by modern one with lower carbon dioxide emissions, which will require a significant amount of investment. Under such conditions, it is necessary to study carefully the feasibility of introducing activities for the main transportation of gas under the action of Greenhouse Gas Trading System. We also showed that the reduction of methane emissions along the natural gas chain supply in accordance with the EU Strategy for the reduction of methane emissions is extremely important for Ukraine. In addition to the implementation of measures for reducing these emissions, it is necessary to attract attention to the development of national methods for estimating methane emissions and the use of national coefficients in the formation of the National Greenhouse gas emissions inventory for estimating volatile emissions from natural gas activities. Keywords: monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions, Greenhouse Gas Trading System, decarbonisation, European Green Deal, gas transportation system

Assessing the Impact of Human Capital's Structure on High Value-Added Economic Sectors in European Countries: Illustration of Mining Industry

The aim of the research was to assess the impact of a new structure of human capital on high value-added economic sectors in European countries. The conducted theoretical and empirical research has shown that the proposed new concept of human capital has a place to be. Three dimensions of human capital, such as quality, quantity and value, have different impacts on different sectors of European economies. Based on empirical data, the multiple linear regression model was chosen as a method that the best-fit structure of the data collected. The proposed econometric model revealed that the value of human capital is the most important component among three having very close statistical interconnections with qualitative dimensions. It was researched that Scandinavian countries scored the highest level of value dimension of human capital as well as high value-added in the economy. Open, trusted, tolerant, culturally diverse societies create preconditions for a rise for creative culture, which is a source for the formation of technological innovations and adaptation in high value-added economic sectors. Moreover, because of this value-added chain, technological innovations penetrate traditional industries as mining brings the reduction of cost, the increase in productivity and value-added, safety, and shared value in society through environmental issues.

Analyzing UK’s Biogas from Waste Scheme Through the Lens of Circular Economy

The biogas from waste has emerged as a realistic and reliable renewable energy proposition and can deliver social-economic benefits when integrated with local communities. In the last decade, the biogas sector in European countries has seen unprecedented growth due to favorable policy supports and perceived social-economic benefits. Among different biogas producing schemes, waste to biogas using anaerobic digestion is considered most environment friendly due to minimum carbon leakage and positive waste resource recycling impact. Many countries, including the UK, envision creating a circular economy utilizing Biogas from Waste (BfW) recycling potential. This paper aims to analyze the state of the UK’s BfW scheme through the lens of circular economy and discern areas that need attention to usher BfW potential in supporting a circular economy. The paper also discussed key challenges and barriers to create a local circular economy using the BfW scheme. Based on the analysis, it is observed that the BfW scheme in the UK is currently impeded due to lack cross-sectoral policy coherence, and far from contributing to a circular economy. Additionally, the UK's waste to energy concept is concentrated around incinerator-based systems without much attention on improving resource efficiency and waste recycling. This paper makes three recommendations to improve prospects of the BfW scheme in the UK (1) decentralized approach in the BfW scheme development, (2) considering bio-waste and digestate as value streams, and (3) creating a policy cohesiveness across multiple departments.

The Subprime Crisis and Its Influence on Public, Private and Financial Sectors in European Countries

The subprime crisis was a global financial crisis that affected a large number of countries and, in particular, the European economies. In this paper we considered fourteen variables associated to the public, private and financial sectors, in order to analyze the main vulnerabilities, differences and similarities observed in twenty-seven European countries. The statistical analysis was performed with the STATIS methodology, with data collected in the period 2002–2011, including some years before and some after the historical crisis of 2007–2008. The study led us to conclude that European countries are different in which concerns to investment, savings, sustainability of public accounts and public investment.

CHANGES IN PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION: THE EUROPEAN AND LITHUANIAN CONTEXT

Reviewing the significant changes that have taken place in the pre-school education sector in European countries and Lithuania in recent years, we notice that a lot has been achieved in implementing the goals and objectives set in the strategic education documents for the development of this sector. Of all levels of education, investment in education from birth to 5 years has been shown to provide the highest economic return. Pre-school education can also be defined as a professional institutional education and care service for a family raising a pre-school child. Pre-school education provides a basis for a child's early physical, social, cultural, emotional and cognitive abilities, increases social integration, and creates conditions for a child's successful education now and in the future. Pre-school education services are especially important for children growing up in conditions of social risk and social exclusion. European countries, including Lithuania, are intensively and purposefully striving to improve the quality of pre-school education. In Lithuania, pre-school education has been and is considered a priority area of education, and quality assurance of pre-school education is the most important strategic direction. There is also a need to place more emphasis on the role of parents as key partners in the context of quality pre-school education. Recently, the nature of the pre-school institution's relationship with the family has changed significantly. These two institutions become active participants in the pursuit of quality child education from an early age. Keywords: education policy, education quality, pre-school education.

How do financial globalization, institutions and economic growth impact financial sector development in European countries?

This paper examines the role of financial globalization, institutions and economic growth on the development of financial sector in European countries. We use panel data covering the period of 1989−2016. Using the composite index of financial development covers various dimensions of financial market, that is, depth, access and efficiency and four-way classification of institutions as suggested by Rodrik (2005) and Law et al. (2018), the empirical results indicate that economic growth and institutional quality are positively associated with financial development. Contrarily, financial globalization hinders the process of financial sector development. The results are robust to using alternative proxies of economic growth, institutional indicators and capturing the period of financial crisis. These empirical findings suggest policy guidelines to develop financial sector by using globalization, institutional quality and economic growth as economic tools.