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The focus of this research is on assessing the perception of public service quality through a customer-centred approach. Public service quality comprises multiple factors that are prioritised differently by customers. Therefore, the study aims to conduct a literature review to identify the primary quality dimensions of public services and evaluate the heterogeneity of their perception within the context of Lithuania. The research measures the user perceptions of public service quality. The literature review allowed for identifying service quality indicators and grouping them into dimensions based on unifying characteristics. Such identification of service quality dimensions grounded the research methodology. An adapted SERVQUAL model was used to analyse data collected by a survey to interview customers of Lithuanian public service organisations. Logit and probit models were applied to examine the effect of socio-demographic characteristics and the type of service on customer perceptions of different quality aspects of the provided public services. Explored heterogeneity of attitudes and detailed analysis of socio-demographic factors revealed that women with higher education are the most satisfied users of public services, while less educated men usually have a negative attitude towards the quality of public services. The study confirmed that marital status and income level are not related to customer satisfaction with service quality. Although gender, age, family size, education level, and employment status explain heterogeneity in customer satisfaction, they still account for only a small amount of variance compared to the place of residence and type of service. The study is a significant contribution to the field of service engineering as it introduces a systematic approach to the development of service quality, incorporating models and methods that enable the assessment of service quality and efficiency. The literature review has identified several research gaps related to public service quality, including a lack of research on general public services and areas such as tourism, real estate management, fire protection and rescue.

Territorial cohesion and improved accessibility are among the main objectives of the European Union (EU) Cohesion policy. Although there is a wealth of literature on the impact of investment in transport infrastructure on overall accessibility levels, only a few studies have tried to evaluate the possible link between transport infrastructure investment (TII) and economic growth in the EU. Our research aims to evaluate the impact of TII on economic growth in the EU. The methodology is based on nonlinear neoclassical specification, which includes a multiplicative term to evaluate if the absence of corruption mediates the effect of TII on growth. Our unbalanced panel data covers 27 EU countries (Cyprus is excluded due to missing data and the United Kingdom is a part of the sample) from 2000 through 2019. Our research confirms a positive and statistically significant impact of TII on economic growth but with a diminishing return. Estimating the absence of corruption as a possible moderator of the effect that TII has on growth shows that control of corruption plays a significant role in the TII growth nexus. We find that in countries with a low level of control of corruption, TII has a statistically significant negative effect on growth.

Until recently, the output-unemployment relationship (Okun's coefficient) was believed to follow two regimes, implying a uniform effect of expansionary fiscal policy on unemployment during economic booms and declines. However, research by Oh (2018) and Donayre (2022) introduced a three-regime approach, suggesting this relationship varies over different economic phases. Building on this, we propose a multinomial Okun's coefficient model using a gap model and quantile regression to estimate the coefficient at various unemployment levels. Our findings reveal that Okun's coefficient is significantly higher during severe recessions and lower at the onset of economic decline compared to the two-regime model. This indicates that the effectiveness of expansionary fiscal policy in reducing unemployment is limited when implemented at the start of a recession and is more effective during severe recessions, suggesting a need to re-evaluate the timing of such policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: Unemployment is a huge topic for policymakers, scholars, and, in general, society. Historically, there have always been a lot of discussions about this phenomenon. It is already acknowledged that unemployment is closely related to economic activity: when the economy is growing, more people are employed, and when economic activity is low, employment decreases, and unemployment rises. This relation is well-researched in the framework of Okun's law. However, it is far less known how this relationship holds if international economic relations are introduced. Thus, the motivation for the research was to examine the role of international trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) on the growthunemployment nexus. Purpose of the article: To assess how trade and FDI affect growth and gender-, age-, and educational attainment level-specific unemployment relationship and on what scale this effect varies over different business cycle phases. Methods: Scientific literature review, comparative analysis, and panel regression. Findings & value added: Given the lack of research examining what effect FDI and trade have on the growth-unemployment nexus, this paper estimates modified Okun's equation on the European Union (EU) countries (EU-28, by the composition of the EU until 31/01/2020) for the period from 2000 to 2019 while incorporating international aspects that can have an impact on this nexus. Also, this study develops a specification that can be useful to monitor the potentially different effects of FDI and trade on the growth-unemployment nexus during different business cycle phases. The estimations of the panel regression for unemployment disaggregated by age, gender and education level has showed that import, export, inward FDI, and outward FDI have a negative effect on the growth-unemployment nexus. It means that with an increase in the intensity of international economic relations, the influence of gross domestic product (GDP) growth on unemployment becomes less significant. Thus, the effectiveness of expansionary fiscal policy to reduce unemployment becomes less effective in more open economies, which in the case of the EU are the smallest member states with relatively small domestic markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the impact of output changes on gender-, age- and educational attainment level-specific employment considering two business cycle phases. It also aims to answer whether education is essential in reducing the risk of losing a job during an economic downturn. Methodology: We employ the first differences approach to evaluate the asymmetric response of different employment types to output changes in 27 EU countries from 2000 to 2020. The Eurostat database provides the data for this analysis, and we use the Pooled OLS estimation technique for our calculations, ensuring the robustness of our findings. Findings: The results of this study are significant, indicating that during periods of economic upturn, the reaction of employment to output changes is weaker than during economic downturn. This is a crucial insight, as it suggests that the negative impact on employment is more severe, particularly for young and less educated individuals, with men generally facing sharper declines in employment compared to women. However, older and more educated workers exhibit greater job stability during economic downturns, highlighting the protective role of higher education and experience. These findings underscore the importance of education in reducing the risk of job loss during economic downturns, a key point of this research. Originality: This research stands out for its comprehensive examination of how employment reacts to output changes in the EU, considering the asymmetric output-employment relationship and the various employment types segmented by age, gender, and educational attainment levels. The findings underscore the necessity for targeted measures to uphold employment stability across diverse economic circumstances and demographic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of previous research suggest that the elasticity of employment with respect to output is not constant within each phase of the business cycle and might depend on the maturity of that phase. Nevertheless, empirical evidence is almost non-existent. Using the unemployment gap as the proxy for the maturity of the business cycle phase, this paper seeks to determine heterogeneous elasticity across different business cycle phases. Furthermore, we aim to evaluate specific elasticities for separate demographic groups, considering gender, age, and educational attainment level, to identify the most vulnerable to jobless growth. Our specification is based on the employment version of Okun's law, and estimates are provided for the whole EU-27 panel covering the period from 2000 to 2022. Our results suggest that elasticity is higher when the unemployment gap is positive and increasing and lower when the gap decreases, regardless of the business cycle phase. Thus, it can be argued that the possibility of growth increasing employment is very limited when the economy operates at its potential level (full employment) for all demographic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to model organizational resilience structure. Based on the central insights of the scientific literature, organizational resilience is modelled as the result of an organizational capacity to bounce-back and bounce-forward. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a quantitative empirical study to support the structural perspective of organizational resilience and investigate the relationships among the dimensions to test the above hypothesis by applying confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) methods. Findings: The results confirmed three models that could be adopted to assess organizational resilience. The first model endorsed endogenous positive interrelationship among all three dimensions. The second model indicated that bounce-back dimensions, i.e. network and leadership and culture, have endogenous effects. Only the leadership and culture dimension is positively associated with a bounce-forward, i.e. change-ready and learning dimension. And the third model demonstrated that the network dimension is linked to leadership and culture, which is linked to the change ready and learning dimension. Originality/value: This study attempts to provide empirical evidence identifying the links between the bounce-back and bounce-forward stages of organizational resilience. These results contribute to the development of organizational resilience theory, confirming the conceptual statements that resilience is the ability to return to the routine and to adapt to the changing environment by overcoming dynamic events, stressing the idea of the importance of enhanced learning capacity, which allows for growth by constantly learning from oneself by gaining unique experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This research aims to revisit the relationship between globalization and income inequality while improving on previous research. It also considers how technological advancements and human capital can alter this relationship in countries with different income levels worldwide. Methodology. This research is based on panel data regression models with multiplicative terms where, after controlling for other important inequality factors, different types of globalization are regressed using two alternative measures of income inequality. Multiplicative terms allowed us to analyze the heterogeneity of the globalization-inequality nexus, i.e., how it changed over the distribution of the moderating factors: technological advancements and human capital. Findings. The results show that different types of globalization impact income inequality differently: trade globalization reduces income inequality in some cases, while financial globalization can increase it. Education proved to moderate the effect of globalization on reducing income inequality; technological advancement, on the other hand, stimulates the impact of globalization in terms of increasing income inequality. Originality. This paper differs from previous research by focusing on multiple aspects of globalization, using additional TOP20/BOT20 estimates to measure income inequality and to explore the differences between the income inequality/globalization relationship based on the effects of education and technological advancement on countries with different income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention to the harmonised economic growth by promoting regional economic convergence was paid in the 1960s, at the commencement of European economic integration. It served as a basis for initiation of programs intended to reduce disparities among regions. For the current programming period (2014-2020) over 350 billion euro was allocated to promote cohesion (more than 340 billion for 2007-2013 and about 213 billion for 2000-2006) and a considerable part of that funding went specially to promote regional convergence; therefore, the analysis of regional convergence in the EU countries is essential due to both economic and financial reasons. Regional policy can be considered successful if regional disparities are found to be decreasing; however, research on convergence/divergence issue has not provided any unambiguous conclusions. We aim to enrich this field of analysis by incorporating cultural dimension while analysing the factors influencing regional convergence. In order to identify a causal link between culture and economic outcomes, we define culture as the customary beliefs and values that ethnic, religious and social groups transmit almost unchanged from generation to generation. Our research hypothesis is that regional policy impact on regional convergence differs between groups of countries characterised by historically diverse cultural experience. Using panel data approach like FD and covering the two last programming periods along with a set of variables to control country-specific economic environment, we investigate whether the success of Cohesion policy has depended on cultural differences in the north, south, west and central-east groups of European countries.

This study aims to examine the perspective of public sector resilience development, which is explored as a three-stage construct: Planning, Adaptation, and Enhanced Learning. We analyzed whether these three stages are equally important in developing organizational resilience in the public sector. To assess the developmental importance of the three stages of organizational resilience, this study adopted a quantitative methodology. First, expert research was conducted to analyze whether all three stages were equally important in developing organizational resilience. Second, the level of resilience of public sector organizations in Lithuania was assessed by analyzing the survey results of 401 organizations. The results revealed that according to experts, the Adaptation stage is the most important in developing resilience, while Enhanced Learning is the least important. Meanwhile, resilience assessment in the Lithuanian public sector showed that Planning and Adaptation were equally developed, while Enhanced Learning demonstrated a significantly higher score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the priority areas of the EU is infrastructure development. Over 2021–2027, it is planned to allocate more than 116 billion EUR of support from EU structural funds to transport and ICT infrastructure. For investments to promote the growth of lagging regions and reduce regional disparities, investments must be efficiently allocated. Considering limitations of previous studies, this study aims to provide recommendations for policymakers regarding infrastructure investment allocation after assessing the non-linear relationships between transport and ICT infrastructure development and convergence of EU MS NUTS2 regions. The general specification for estimations is based on the neoclassical conditional beta-convergence model. Additionally, a non-linear specification with interactions is developed to estimate the effect of infrastructure development on convergence. We used Generalized Methods of Movement estimator for the robustness check to reduce possible endogeneity bias. Estimations indicated that a non-linear relationship between infrastructure development and convergence is present. We have found strong evidence of the diminishing marginal effect of infrastructure development on convergence and have identified a tipping point after which infrastructure development slows down convergence, i.e., convergence is still present but at a slower rate. The study results made it possible to present several essential recommendations to policymakers that would increase the effectiveness of investments in infrastructure. Investments should be distributed according to smaller regional units, i.e., NUTS 2 level. The optimal level of infrastructure development that ensures convergence of regions for each type of infrastructure has to be established to ensure that the investments are not too intense and to generate the maximum potential outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]