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This study adopts an innovative, holistic research approach based on fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs‐QCA) to deeply delve into national cultural dimensions' role in affecting banks' sustainability disclosure practices in the Eastern European (EE) region. Accordingly, this study aims to identify whether one or more configurations of cultural dimensions derived from Hofstede's national culture framework are conducive to higher levels of sustainability disclosure, using a sample including the five largest banks in each country of the 'Bucharest Nine' (B9) area over 2018–2022 period. Results evidence that sustainability disclosure patterns are not homogeneous among the banks operating in B9 countries. After the introduction of Directive 95/2014/EU, banks in some countries maintained relatively constant levels of sustainability disclosure, while others experienced steady growth rates. No cultural dimension alone would likely determine higher sustainability disclosure levels among B9 banks, confirming that normative pressures influencing EE banks' sustainability disclosure practices result from a combination of more cultural facets. In particular, fs‐QCA highlights a bundle of cultural dimension configurations that mould stakeholders' expectations in investigated countries, exerting pressures on banks to enhance their transparency on sustainability issues. The presence of power distance recurs in most configurations as a factor enabling higher sustainability disclosure levels. On the other hand, in most cases, the presence of uncertainty avoidance and long‐term orientation is conducive to higher banks' sustainability and transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of previous studies conducted at the European level highlight the low level of Eastern European countries, which are predominantly in the second half of the Digital Competitiveness (DC) ranking, and the situation is similar for Sustainable Competitiveness (SC). On these premises, the purpose of this research was set to analyze the influence of the four dimensions of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) of Eastern European countries from 2014-2022 on the SC index selected on the basis of the same criteria. The achievement of this aim is supported by setting the following objectives: objective 1: identification of the interdependence relationship between the digital economy and the sustainable economy; objective 2: bibliometric analysis of the literature indexed on the Web of Science platform of the most relevant studies dealing with the four dimensions of the DESI: "connectivity", "human capital", "digital technology integration" and "digital public services"; objective 3: determination of the influence of the DESI dimensions on CS through econometric analysis. The results of the research are materialised in the confirmation of the link between digitisation and sustainability based on bibliometric and econometric analysis. The usefulness of the results lies in the fact that this study represents a contribution to the literature in terms of investigating the relationship between DESI dimensions and CS index in Eastern European countries.

Energy poverty is a critical global issue that affects millions of people worldwide. The lack of access to reliable and affordable energy services has significant economic and social impacts, including limited opportunities for education, personal development, and economic growth. This paper examines the relationship between energy poverty and economic development in selected countries using the panel quantile methodology. The findings emphasize the importance of addressing energy poverty in order to foster economic growth in the selected country group. In addition, CO2 emissions have a positive effect on economic growth, but policies to reduce fossil fuel consumption can both boost economic growth and mitigate negative environmental impacts. Inflation has a negative effect on economic growth, so policymakers should prioritize measures to control it. Employment has a positive effect on economic growth, so job creation policies should be promoted. The study found that improving access to clean energy can increase economic growth and improve the well-being of citizens in Eastern European countries. Therefore, efforts to reduce energy poverty should be a priority to promote economic development and improve the quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization occurs now more rapidly than before, due to the development of compact cities or urban sprawl, threatening quasi-natural areas, especially those protected within/near built-up ones. Europe lacks laws dedicated to natural protected areas within built-up areas, which are subject to the same provisions as natural protected ones, or a legislative vacuum. This research aimed to find the best planning approach for resiliently conserving and developing these areas and establishing grounds for a new tool used for planning the proximity of natural areas within cities. The methodology involved selecting two groups of countries, Nordic and eastern European, and treating these areas differently. The choice was based on specific political history. The study analyzed the legislative and planning framework and compared the approaches of 11 analyzed countries to pinpoint the basic aspects accounted for and applied to other European territories, in order to preserve the characteristics of urban morpho-typology and the particularities of local landscapes. The comparison results suggest solutions such as adopting specific regulations for urban protected areas and their adjacent zones through legal documents, completing/detailing environmental legislation in Nordic countries, adopting laws dedicated to protected natural areas within and/or close to built areas, and changing the approach to protecting natural areas with urban planning or land use tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of research on intra-European Union (EU) food trade conducted by the Eastern EU countries were presented in 1999-2019, including exports and imports. The study applied cluster analysis: Eastern EU countries' share of intra-EU food trade increased from 5% (in 1999) to 15% (in 2019). These countries traded mostly in beverages, cereals, fruit and vegetables. Eastern EU countries traded in food mainly among themselves, including their closest neighbours, regionally and with Germany. To increase their share of exports to other EU countries, these countries could use lower food prices and the benefits of traditional approaches to food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, research on the benefits of physical activity and sport for disabled youth has received scholarly attention. For example, adapted or inclusive youth sport has been put forth as a facilitator of both health-enhancing physical activity and psychosocial development for disabled youth. Disability sport can also be a tool for social change by challenging issues of isolation and inequality (Richardson et al., 2017), particularly in non-westernized cultures. However, research on the benefits of disability sports is limited to North American or western European contexts. In this article, we examined the participation of disabled young athletes, their families and coaches from the country of Latvia in the sport of wheelchair tennis. Qualitative methodology revealed three themes: (1) Making New Friends, (2) Becoming Stronger, (3) and Being Part of a Group. For the athletes, their families, and coaches, wheelchair tennis was not simply about playing the sport, but learning to overcome multiple challenges (e.g., environmental and psychological barriers, social attitudes), enriching their social experiences and improving the quality of lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the causal relationship between wage share and economic growth for 11 Eastern European countries. The methodology used was wavelet coherency for the period between 1995Q1 and 2020Q4. Our results reveal that economic growth acts as the leading role for wage share increase for most Eastern European countries, and only for certain periods, wages can determine economic growth. Furthermore, we find that GDP increases cause wages to increase at different frequencies; there is a positive correlation between GDP growth and wage growth; the effects of wage-led growth policies were weak and only on short periods. Our estimations cast a high degree of uncertainty on the effectiveness of wage increase policies promoted by some national authorities to achieve economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bu çalışmada, Türkiye ile AB üyesi beş Doğu Avrupa ülkesi (Bulgaristan, Çekya, Macaristan, Polonya ve Romanya) tarım sektörü dört temel gösterge (milli gelir içindeki payı, istihdam, üretim ve dış ticaret) çerçevesinde ele alınmış ve Türkiye tarım sektörünün AB Ortak Tarım Politikası (OTP) uyumu incelenmiştir. İncelenen ülkelerde OTP kapsamında sağlanan destek / fonlar sonucunda tarım sektöründe modernizasyon, üretim, ihracat, rekabet, verimlilik ve işletme ölçeğinin yükseldiği, kırsal kalkınma, çiftçi gelirleri ve küçük işletmelerin refahının arttığı tespit edilmiştir. Türkiye’nin OTP fonlarından yararlanmaya yönelik gerekli altyapı ve kurumsal düzenlemeleri sağlaması ile birlikte AB standartlarında çevre dostu, güvenli,sağlıklı bir üretime ulaşması ve yüksek katma değerli üretimin desteklenmesi rekabet gücünü arttıracaktır. Ürün bazlı fiyat desteği yerine doğrudan ödeme yönteminin gerçek üreticiye uygulanması ve kırsal kalkınma politikalarının gerçekleşmesiyle sektörel kalkınma ve refah artışı sağlanabilecektir

Urbanization occurs now more rapidly than before, due to the development of compact cities or urban sprawl, threatening quasi-natural areas, especially those protected within/near built-up ones. Europe lacks laws dedicated to natural protected areas within built-up areas, which are subject to the same provisions as natural protected ones, or a legislative vacuum. This research aimed to find the best planning approach for resiliently conserving and developing these areas and establishing grounds for a new tool used for planning the proximity of natural areas within cities. The methodology involved selecting two groups of countries, Nordic and eastern European, and treating these areas differently. The choice was based on specific political history. The study analyzed the legislative and planning framework and compared the approaches of 11 analyzed countries to pinpoint the basic aspects accounted for and applied to other European territories, in order to preserve the characteristics of urban morpho-typology and the particularities of local landscapes. The comparison results suggest solutions such as adopting specific regulations for urban protected areas and their adjacent zones through legal documents, completing/detailing environmental legislation in Nordic countries, adopting laws dedicated to protected natural areas within and/or close to built areas, and changing the approach to protecting natural areas with urban planning or land use tools.

Financial ratios play an important role in revealing corporate financial soundness, a role which helps to maintain the competitive position of an enterprise, with the achievement of stable development contributing to the elimination of potential financial risks. This paper aims to analyse and compare financial ratios used in the models of transition countries. The analysis focuses on the prediction of the future financial development of a particular enterprise as well as the determination of potential dependencies among the nation in consideration of financial ratios and country of origin. More than 400 prediction models of the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were analysed. The crucial significance of financial ratios in divergent conditions is revealed using a cluster analysis, categorical data and a correspondence analysis. The cluster analysis identified similarities among three groups of countries: i) Belarus, Estonia, Croatia and Latvia; ii) Lithuania, Russia, Hungary and Ukraine, and iii) Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Poland. The results of the correspondence analysis indicate that the individual groups of countries prefer different financial ratios in developing models of prediction of financial distress, differences which arose as a consequence of common changing political, market and economic conditions within each group of nations. In contrary to results suggested by our findings, the most frequently used financial ratios in the prediction models throughout the countries remain current ratio, total-liabilities-to-total-assets ratio, and total-sales-to-total-assets ratio.

Many studies have shown that the services sector has grown rapidly recently and has contributed positively to the current productivity and growth rates in today's economies. However, these findings are insufficient to explain the contributions of services sector developments to the dynamics of the economy. Firstly, it would be more appropriate to associate developments in the services sector with the increase in innovation activities, which is an important feature of the economy, instead of associating them with current productivity and growth rates. Secondly, instead of considering the developments in the services sector as a whole, it would be a more accurate approach to divide them into subgroups and examine their effects on the economy. Accordingly, we aimed to examine the effects of services sub-sectors on the innovation performance of 13 Eastern European countries using panel data analysis for the period of 2000-2017. Our empirical findings revealed that the impact of services sub-sectors on the innovation performance of Eastern European countries varies. Only the knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) sub-sector has contributed to the innovation performance of the Eastern European area. Thus, these empirical results indicated important implications for innovation-oriented economic growth policies based on the promotion of the KIBS sub-sector in Eastern European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiscal policy plays an important role in stimulating economic activity, but it also has a significant influence in securing monetary stability in an economy. Our study aims to analyse the asymmetric effects of fiscal policy on inflation and economic activity on twelve post-communist European countries that are associated with the European Union (EU) by either membership or by being members of the Eastern European Partnership (EaP). We explore the asymmetric effects on inflation and economic activity by using a Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimator. The results show that in the long run, the fiscal policy instrument negatively influences both inflation and economic activity; in the short run, the effects are not significant. A Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model was estimated individually for each country. Our main findings are that the cumulative impact of fiscal policy generates an inflationary growth effect for the EU countries in our sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates energy productivity convergence across Eastern European Countries. The analysis is performed by using two different models of β-convergence and panel data methods. Analysis reveals that a 1% decrease in energy productivity of the initial year and the previous year associates with a 1.4059% increase in the average annual growth rate of energy productivity calculated relative to the initial year and a 1.4830% increase in the growth rate of energy productivity calculated relative to the previous year. These findings support energy productivity convergence among sample countries; however, β-coefficients indicate to the weakness of this convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of demographic factors on savings need to be investigated in order to accurately analyse the saving differences between the countries. The propensity of countries for saving is determined by their demographic structures besides the decision-makers’ preferences related to the economy. Eastern European Countries generally have a common historical background; they have been exposed to many changes both politically and economically over time. In this study, the Eastern European Countries’ national savings were analysed for the 1996-2017 period by using panel data analysis methods. According to the findings, in Eastern European countries there was a positive relationship between female labour force participation rate, urbanization rate, population growth rate, and savings, while the old and young dependency rates have a negative impact on savings. A negative and statistically insignificant relationship was found between life expectancy rate and savings. This paper is the first research which could provide an explanation for these countries’ savings behaviour in relation to demographic factors and may thus provide policymakers with some ideas.

In this article the relationship between shadow economy and its’ determinants has been examined. Ten Eastern countries from European Union were chosen due to specific particularities, which may cause higher shadow economy levels in the investigated countries compared with the EU average. Time span of 2003-2016 was selected, as 2017 data has yet to be released at the time of the analysis. Article consists of examination of the current situation and shadow economy trends in Eastern European countries; overview of shadow economy scientific literature followed by hypothesis, which are examined by constructing regression models. Models aim to distinguish the relationship between selected determinants and shadow economy size. Scientific literature analysis revealed that increase of tax burden on labor is seen as a primary reason for the increase of shadow economy, however, such relation has not been identified. Furthermore, results show that unemployment and self-employed people ratio affect shadow economy insignificantly. This suggests that further analysis is needed. Nonetheless, regression model has not rejected the hypotheses of corruption level, income inequality, business freedom and GDP per capita effect on shadow economy. Thus, it can be stated that these variables are determinants of shadow economy in Eastern European countries.

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of the functioning of the United Nations Development Program in Eastern Europe. Particular attention was focused on researching and deepening knowledge about the peculiarities of the formation and the historical basis of the United Nations Development Program. The whole historical period of the development process of UNDP is divided into stages or decades, each of which was marked by a certain event. After analyzing the structure and responsibilities of UNDP, we determined that the system of organs is quite well-formed and successfully functioning. The main body is the Executive Board, which implements and coordinates UNDP policy, makes decisions and decisions. A separate accountable body is the Bureau of the Executive Council, which advocates organizational and formal issues. In the hierarchy of organs, there is such a concept as “regional groups” – a certain number of countries that represent the region of the world. The regional group of Eastern European countries includes 4 countries: Albania, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine. Thus, to study the functioning of the UN Development Program in Eastern Europe, Moldova, Belarus, and Ukraine were selected. Each of the countries studied, have its own programs, especially their implementation procedure, the budget and the areas they are targeting. The mobility and flexibility of UNDP make it possible to adapt the peculiar and sometimes even very specific character of the country’s activities.

A review of the specialist literature and analysis of the authors' own study results reveal that the scale of the phenomena of undeclared work is both globally and locally significant and differentiated. Comparative research for the entire geographical area is difficult, as these are countries with very diverse economies due to historical conditions, socio-political changes and ties with other political alliances, membership in organizations and economic partnerships. This study aimed to identify the financial aspects of undertaking work in the grey zone from the worker's perspective. The study target group was selected from unemployed workers registered at the Municipal Employment Office in Płock, Mazovia. The results show that the unemployed turn to undeclared work for financial reasons, such as higher reimbursement, unsatisfactory income or excessively high social insurance contributions. Respondents assessed their financial situation most often as bad and indicated difficulties in finding work through registered employment. People who undertake work in a grey zone are predominantly low-income groups, the socially excluded, migrants and the long-time unemployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Industria Textila is the property of Institutul National de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Textile si Pielarie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

After a major downturn of the global economy in 2020 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and despite renewed lockdowns in some parts of the world there are optimistic projections about global economy to rebound in 2021. The authors consider the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the economies of Eastern Europe and Ukraine. Purpose of the article is to analyze the latest tendencies of economic growth perspectives in Eastern Europe countries due to COVID-19 pandemic and define the main risks, challenges and strong positions of Ukraine in post-pandemic period. The relevance of this topic lies, first of all, in the importance of determining the prospects for economic development of countries in different scenarios of the pandemic. Based on an in-depth analysis of data from international and Ukrainian agencies and individual experts, forecast data on the future economic development during 2021-2022 of Ukraine and some Eastern Europe countries are summarized. Ukraine, comparing to many countries around the world, has a relatively smaller reduction of economic indexes in 2020, due to the transformational nature of our economy, weak participation in global value chains, a significant share of shadow business and income, underdeveloped tourism, a significant share of agriculture and a large share of large-scale production, which did not stop even during peak quarantine periods.. Attention was paid to the specific risks of a pandemic for the economic development at global level, in Europe and Central Asia region and in Ukraine. The most significant challenges for national economic development were defined as such: strengthening hybrid threats to Ukraine's national security, lack of external financing and narrowing of access to international capital markets, failure to receive planned funding from the IMF, low intensity of reforms. Due to such serious risk factors, there is a need to develop a balanced regulatory to counter growing threats and restore economic growth to pre-pandemia level.

Between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, the changes in the political regimes in the Eastern European countries have enabled millions of people to have access to new political, economic and civil liberties. According to several economists, political and social sciences, the transition from a dictatorship to a democratic political regime has positive effects on Human Development (HD). However, recent studies do not provide strong empirical evidence in favour of this hypothesis. Therefore, the debate about the relationship between democracy and HD is still open. Considering the case of former Socialist countries, the aim of this paper is to empirically analyse whether and to what extent democracy affected the level of HD in these countries during the transition period. Using data on Polity IV and Human development index for 18 former Socialist countries from 1990 to 2014, we find evidence of a positive relationship between democracy and HD. Also, the results were robust when we checked for a set of control variables as growth rate, the degree of trade openness and log population.

Copyright of Knowledge: International Journal is the property of Institute for Knowledge Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Financial ratios play an important role in revealing corporate financial soundness, a role which helps to maintain the competitive position of an enterprise, with the achievement of stable development contributing to the elimination of potential financial risks. This paper aims to analyse and compare financial ratios used in the models of transition countries. The analysis focuses on the prediction of the future financial development of a particular enterprise as well as the determination of potential dependencies among the nation in consideration of financial ratios and country of origin. More than 400 prediction models of the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were analysed. The crucial significance of financial ratios in divergent conditions is revealed using a cluster analysis, categorical data and a correspondence analysis. The cluster analysis identified similarities among three groups of countries: i) Belarus, Estonia, Croatia and Latvia; ii) Lithuania, Russia, Hungary and Ukraine, and iii) Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Poland. The results of the correspondence analysis indicate that the individual groups of countries prefer different financial ratios in developing models of prediction of financial distress, differences which arose as a consequence of common changing political, market and economic conditions within each group of nations. In contrary to results suggested by our findings, the most frequently used financial ratios in the prediction models throughout the countries remain current ratio, total-liabilities-to-total-assets ratio, and total-sales-to-total-assets ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a novel way to construct an index for economic policy uncertainty that does not depend on language proficiency. We use two specific features of search volume extraction on Google Trends, combine policy-relevant search queries, and construct our Google economic policy uncertainty index for nine Eastern European countries—a region in which the construction of other economic policy uncertainty indices would require good language proficiency. We illustratively show that major policy-related events are captured and find that shocks on economic policy uncertainty yield a sizable impact on macroeconomic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gazi Journal of Economics & Business is the property of Gazi Journal of Economics & Business and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses the importance of the Budapest-Belgrade-Skopje-Piraeus (BBSP) corridor in the context of the 'One Belt, One Road,' Initiative (B&RI), standing as the connecting piece, to serve as a fast transit route, between three major economic corridors. Indeed, the BBSP appears to be the platform that magnifies the true potential of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Western and central Europe. Therefore, the BBSP is particularly decisive for landlocked economies, such as Hungary and Serbia. The BBSP is a brick on a larger wall when we refer to the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries. But it is certainly an important one, especially because it delivers flexibility to the network of economic agents. Finally, this paper adopts a geopolitical perspective, grounded in geo-economics concepts.

Euroscepticism is a comparatively new political phenomenon. It consists of many aspects, such as critics of Europeism as a political ideology of the EU. This ideology is syncretical and includes different elements of famous political thoughts by Hobbes, Locke, French Enlightenment and German classic philosophy. The core principles of europeism are principles of progressism, universalism (which is known as ground for the ideas of liberal democracy). Today europeism has replaced traditional ideologies of conservatism and socialism and created new types of quasi-religions. The main principles of this ideology are formed and implemented on the level of supranational European institutions. On contrary, euroscepticism restores principles of traditional ideologies, being a significant oppositional actor in relation to europeism. During the last years, euroscepticism has been taking strong positions on both national and supranational levels. Especially, this can be seen referring to the experience of Central Eastern Europe, which, nontheless, has a successful story of European integration. The case of Central Eastern European countries shows a nationalistic character of euroscepticism (in its economic and political senses) and illustrates the people’s reaction on practices of the transfer of values and political practices. In Bulgaria euroscepticism remains weak – its membership is still seen as the only alternative, keeping in mind the destroying effect of the country’s shift toward democracy and market. Bulgarian euroscepticism connects with the people’s hopelessness in relation the EU as an actor, which is to deal with national problems.

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: We investigate the association between parent-child contact frequency and changes in older parents' depressive symptoms in Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia. These are countries in which societal transformations may mean that psychological feelings of security engendered by having children in close contact may have particularly important implications for the mental health of older parents. Methods: We analysed data from two waves of the Generation and Gender Surveys conducted three years apart and took account of relationships with more than one child. Analyses were performed using OLS regression models, adjusted for depressive symptoms at baseline. Results: Among mothers increases in depressive symptoms were greater for those who lacked at least weekly contact with any child than for those with frequent contact with at least one child (b = 0.64; p<0.01). Increases in depressive symptoms were associated with infrequent contacts with children, even after controlling for relationship quality (b = 0.55; p<0.05). Among unpartnered fathers, less than weekly meetings with children were associated with increases in depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Among mothers and unpartnered fathers changes in depressive symptoms varied by parent-child contact. The adverse effect of not having a partner on fathers' mental health was reduced, but not eliminated, by having frequent contacts with adult children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing is the property of Institute of Sociology NAS of Ukraine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Inclusive education is key to the development of civic democracy. Its role is to transform schools into platforms of excellence and equality for all students. This literature review aims to summarize the current state of inclusive education in Eastern European countries and former Soviet states and to identify conditions necessary for their educational systems to become more inclusive. The review: (a) discusses the concept of inclusive education as a platform for civic democracy; (b) conceptualizes how historical contexts affect societal attitudes and values towards difference and disability; (c) explores the extent to which available research captures the current state of inclusive education in Eastern Europe, and (d) describes the barriers to inclusive education implementation in these countries. The results of the review show the majority of studies examined attitudes toward inclusive education and people with disabilities. In this regard, although most of participants surveyed accept inclusive education initiatives in principle, they identify a range of barriers that need to be addressed to secure its meaningful implementation in the region. The review situates the possibility of inclusive education in the region's historical context, identifies the structural and cultural barriers to its meaningful implementation, and suggests directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current world is not moving as all specialists predicted. Brexit, Trump, everyone was wrong. This paper will have two targets: describing the French policy toward Russia, making a perspective on the future policy, whatever the new French presidency in 2017, Francois Hollande will transmit the key to his successor with new election. He refused to compete for a second mandate. It is good to remind that Hollande was involving in the Ukrainian affairs and had managed with Germany the Minsk I and II agreements. He also had suspended Mistral ships selling and approving sanctions against Russia. How will be the future with François Fillon, Marine Le Pen or other? The analysis will be focusing on the future relationships toward Russia and Eastern European Countries.

Do central banks in Eastern European countries react asymmetrically and in a nonlinear fashion to changes in inflation and output? We address this question by expanding the standard Taylor reaction function for the four inflation-targeting countries Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. We do so by taking explicitly inflation rates below or above target and output below or above potential, the so-called state of the economy, into account. The results reveal that there are indeed substantial asymmetries in the reaction function of the Czech, Polish, and Romanian central banks, which are only evident when the combination of inflation and output thresholds is explicitly modeled in one estimation equation. For these three central banks, nonlinearities in the inflation and output response also could be verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, the changes in the political regimes in the Eastern European countries have enabled millions of people to have access to new political, economic and civil liberties. According to several economists, political and social sciences, the transition from a dictatorship to a democratic political regime has positive effects on Human Development (HD). However, recent studies do not provide strong empirical evidence in favour of this hypothesis. Therefore, the debate about the relationship between democracy and HD is still open. Considering the case of former Socialist countries, the aim of this paper is to empirically analyse whether and to what extent democracy affected the level of HD in these countries during the transition period. Using data on Polity IV and Human development index for 18 former Socialist countries from 1990 to 2014, we find evidence of a positive relationship between democracy and HD. Also, the results were robust when we checked for a set of control variables as growth rate, the degree of trade openness and log population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the adoption of the European Neighbourhood Policy, criticism has been directed to the lack of policy instruments correlated with the objectives of the countries concerned. Following the evolution of relations between the EU and the six Eastern Partnership countries, three of the latter are proposing an EU accession project in the future. The EU has configured the evolution of these partnerships through Summits dedicated to the Eastern Partnership. At the request of Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldavia, the EU is owed with clarifications and options on the prospects for European accession for the three. The summit this year could offer such an opportunity if the EU were not caught up in so many dilemmas about its own future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The privatization has as purpose to reestablish the functionality of a type of property under the public agreement. The privatization of banks brings both positive and beneficial aspects, but also some notions with a negative impact that influence the capital markets and banking system. Among the benefits we can include: the increase of the effectiveness and performance of the banking operations, the implementation of some effective structures that lead to the gradual integration of the banking system into the greatly developed economies, the improvement and perfecting of the bank services. In Romania, the privatization of banks started rather late and in some cases it turned up to be very difficult. Romanian banking system is dominated by the Austrian and Greek investors. The Romanian banking system is very concentrated, but the intermediation level is still lower than in other European or Eastern European countries.

The recent financial crisis has highlighted the lack of analytical frameworks to help predict the global financial imbalances. The recent financial crisis has determined an increasing number of countries to use macroprudential instruments, in order to avoid systemic risks. According to the policy objective that wants to be achieved, country’s authorities have to choose among several instruments. Work on selecting and applying macroprudential instruments is a priority in the European Union, both at a national and at entire Union. In the case of Eastern Europe countries, the authorities adopted several measures to curb bank lending in foreign currency, subject that will be treated in the present paper.

The concepts of economic growth and unemployment are at the beginning of the most important variables in the sense that all economies are choosing and implementing economic policies. The purpose of this study to investigate the relation between economic growth and unemployment in Eastern European Countries for the period of 1992-2014 within panel data framework. In this paper this relationship has been examined in the context of Okun's Law. Panel Unit Root, Pooled Panel OLS and Panel Johansen Co-integration tests are applied respectively. The results show that the economic growth and unemployment series are stationary at first level, unemployment affected positively by economic growth, in other words 1% rise in GDP will fall the unemployment rate by 0.08% because of Okun's coefficient for Eastern European Countries and there is a co-integration between these important macroeconomic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main motivation behind this study is to evaluate the relationships among ICT, management practices, innovation and human capital in a sample of manufacturing enterprises in Eastern European countries. Using data from the Management, Organisation and Innovation Survey 2009 for a representative sample of 444 companies in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine and using structural equation modelling and ordinary least squares, we examined direct and indirect determinants of labour productivity. The principal finding that emerged from the study is that wage was the main direct determinant of labour productivity. Moreover, the relationship between ICT and its complementarities and productivity has been established indirectly, mainly by enterprise workers' use of the ICT. The results of the investigation bridge the gap in insufficient academic research about Eastern European countries, extend existing research on the company-level labour productivity determinants and enable comparison of the results at the international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to Romania’s joining the European Union in 2007, the Romanian government assumed the responsibility to fully implement Community legislation in the field of nature conservation. This led to a rapid increase of protected surface areas (from 7% in 2005 to 20% in 2009) and a significant overlapping of EU and national protected areas. Due to a lack of resources, the governance of protected area transformed from state management exclusitory to a participatory one. Currently, the Romanian government is still a key actor in conservation and governance of protected area, organizing the decision-making process but delegating the responsibility for the implementation of the conservation policies to other organizations (e.g., local public bodies, enterprises, NGOs). We outline the changes in protected areas governance and highlight the emerging key non-governmental participants. Furthermore, we compare Romania’s case to other governance models and discuss opportunities for a more decentralized system. A transparent decision-making approach is required for a better interconnection between all the institutions involved in the administration and also for improving governance of Natura 2000 protected areas in Romania.