J. Mazurek, Carlos Fernández García, Cristina Pérez Rico
{"title":"Inequality and Students’ PISA 2018 Performance: a Cross-Country Study","authors":"J. Mazurek, Carlos Fernández García, Cristina Pérez Rico","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.27","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.27","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this paper was to investigate the relationship between countries’ PISA study results from 2018 and a set of indices related to socio-economic inequality, such as the Gini index, human development index, or gender inequality index, along with purely economic variables, such as GDP per capita and government expenditure on education. The study covered 70 countries, consisting of 37 OECD countries and 33 non-OECD countries. Research methods included multivariate linear regression models, k-means clustering, and hierarchical clustering. Our findings revealed that the Gini index was statistically insignificant, indicating income inequality had little effect on students’ PISA performance. On the other hand, the gender inequality index was the single most statistically significant explanatory variable for both OECD and non-OECD countries. Therefore, our recommendation for policymakers is simple: increase students’ PISA performance, thus enhancing countries’ human capital and competitiveness, and focus on decreasing gender disparity and the associated loss of achievement due to gender inequality.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74025137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Mukhlis, M. Majid, S. Syahnur, Musrizal Musrizal, Nova Nova
{"title":"A Comparative Analysis of Dynamic Interactions between European and Indonesian Cocoa Markets during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the 2011 European Debt Crisis","authors":"M. Mukhlis, M. Majid, S. Syahnur, Musrizal Musrizal, Nova Nova","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.26","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.26","url":null,"abstract":"This study empirically explores the dynamic interactions between the European and Indonesian cocoa markets during the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) and the 2011 European debt crisis (EDC) using a battery of time series approaches of cointegration and multivariate Granger causality. The study documented a long-run equilibrium between the European and Indonesian cocoa markets, implying a reciprocal relationship. However, an inefficient adjustment transmission in the Indonesian cocoa prices was recorded throughout the study. The US currency constantly influenced Indonesian cocoa prices, while cocoa markets were independent of fluctuations in world oil prices. Overall, the study recorded a different level of the speed of adjustment of short-run imbalances to long-run equilibrium in the domestic cocoa market across economic crises.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87220517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mining, Poverty, and Income Inequality in Central and Eastern European Countries: What Do the Data Tell Us?","authors":"Kunofiwa Tsaurai","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.19","url":null,"abstract":"The study investigates the effect of mining on both poverty and income inequality in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) using econometric estimation methods with panel data spanning from 2009 to 2019. Another objective of this paper was to determine if the complementarity between mining and infrastructural development reduced poverty and or income inequality in CEECs. What triggered the study is the failure of the existing literature to have a common ground regarding the impact of mining on poverty and or income inequality. The existing literature on the subject matter is contradictory, mixed, and divergent; hence, it paves the way for further empirical tests. The study confirmed that the vicious cycle of poverty is relevant in CEECs. According to the dynamic generalized methods of moments (GMM), mining had a significant poverty reduction influence in CEECs. The dynamic GMM and random effects revealed that the complementarity between mining and infrastructural development also enhanced poverty reduction in CEECs. Random effects and pooled OLS shows that mining significantly reduced income inequality in CEECs. However, random effects and the dynamic GMM results indicate that income inequality was significantly reduced by the complementarity between mining and infrastructural development. The authorities in CEECs are therefore urged to implement mining growth and infrastructural development-oriented policies in order to successfully fight off the twin challenges of poverty and income inequality.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85042889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dilemmas of Sheltered Employment in Poland and Greece and the Concept of Supported Employment","authors":"Dorota Kobus-Ostrowska, Doxa Papakonstantinou","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.25","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.25","url":null,"abstract":"People with severe disabilities, such as severe mental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders, do not participate in the open, competitive labor market to the same extent as people without disabilities or other forms of disability. Sheltered employment is an internationally accepted approach for the vocational integration of people with severe disabilities, which introduces integration in sheltered workplaces mainly with other people with disabilities and ongoing support from the Government or self-government. Therefore, sheltered employment can be defined as the employment of a person with a disability under particular conditions. This paper presents the legislative framework regarding sheltered employment in Poland and Greece and the ways sheltered employment takes place in each of the two countries with the corresponding comparisons and conclusions. The results show a need for a more precise and more comprehensive legislative framework on sheltered employment in Poland and Greece. Alternative options for the vocational integration of people with severe forms of disabilities, such as supported employment programs, need to come to the fore. Supported employment seems to be the only effective and efficient way for people who have particular difficulties in finding and keeping a paid job in the open labor market to take up paid employment on an equal basis with other people. Does the concept of supported employment have a chance to prove itself on Poland and Greece’s open labor markets and become a complementary tool in the vocational activation of people with disabilities? Legislative regulations, system projects, and stable sources of financing are necessary for both countries.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76523433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ways to Overcome Poverty and Income Inequality in the Context of New Global Challenges: the Most Important Conclusions for Ukraine","authors":"A. Ramskyi","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.21","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.21","url":null,"abstract":"The article examines the risks of deepening poverty and income inequality that arise from global challenges of population aging, job losses due to shrinking sales markets, trade wars, long-term quarantine and compliance with the safe distancing of people as part of restrictive measures against the spread of COVID–19, the nature of employment (remote work, temporary reduction of labor migration), and other norms in the fight against the dangerous contagious disease. Given the facts that the prevention of spreading and localization of dangerous diseases, their treatment, and the rehabilitation of patients affect all segments of the population, have negative effects on all areas of people’s lives and also add to the increase of socio-economic risks, including poverty and inequality, the study of this issue is extremely relevant. The financial implications of these challenges for many households lead to falling real incomes, and an increase in costs and debts, and their non-repayment, which generally cause sudden poverty and increasing inequality of income and property. \u0000Purpose of the article: To investigate the risks of poverty, including sudden poverty, the inequality of household incomes amid the fight against the COVID–19 pandemic, and it identifies ways to overcome them. Methods: A review of the scientific literature, a presentation of statistical data, and statistical research. \u0000Findings & Value added: As a result of research, a list of new risks of poverty and income inequality is outlined, and preliminary assessments of the consequences of the COVID–19 for households are summarized; signs of short-term loss are generalized; the solvency of households as a possible precondition for sudden poverty is evaluated; cross‑country comparisons of poverty risk are made; the scheme of state aid to improve living standards of people during the outbreak of new dangerous diseases in the EU and Ukraine is generalized; ways to overcome poverty and income inequality are substantiated to restore the resilience of financially vulnerable households and ensuring the development of human capital.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80575725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Accountability on Sustainability in Central and Eastern Europe: An Empirical Assessment of Sustainability-Related Assurance","authors":"O. Pasko, I. Balla, I. Levytska, N. Semenyshena","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.20","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.20","url":null,"abstract":"The paper explores how companies from Central and Eastern Europe adopt assurance practices to provide accountability for sustainability. Drawing on modified coding rules from prior research, a conventional content analysis of 36 assurance statements companies from nine countries was conducted. The results imply differences in the content of reports, processes, and implementation of the standards. \u0000Exclusively large and multinational enterprises from the energy sectors domiciled in Poland and Hungary are a typical portrait of a company from the study’s sample, striving to issue and assure sustainability reporting. Of the nine countries represented in the study, sustainability assurance statements of companies from Poland, Hungary, and Romania tend to excel in terms of quality. The vast majority of assurance providers belong to the Big Four, who use ISAE3000 as opposed to AA1100AS. Yet, irrespective of the assurance provider type, stakeholders are neglected. It is argued that just transferring the experience of financial auditing to the field of sustainability, which, by and large, has taken place, is not an option. Authors state that following this route, we are heading in the wrong direction, and in technical terms, the wider proliferation of AA1100AS and its principles, with greater emphasis on reasonable assurance as opposed to the limited and enhanced role of stakeholders, are vital to get back on track. \u0000The paper contributes to the emerging literature on accountability standards and stresses the need to enhance sustainability-related assurance.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82580212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Burkynskyi, V. Goryachuk, O. Laiko, Volodymyr Mytrofanovych Lisyuk, N. Shlafman, O. Bondarenko
{"title":"Analyzing and Strategizing the Development of Entrepreneurial Activity Based on the Principles of Increasing Productivity (Illustrated by the Example of Developed Countries and Ukraine)","authors":"B. Burkynskyi, V. Goryachuk, O. Laiko, Volodymyr Mytrofanovych Lisyuk, N. Shlafman, O. Bondarenko","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.24","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.24","url":null,"abstract":"The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of productivity in developed countries, including EU countries and Ukraine. Hypotheses about the identity of the deindustrialization factor as the main cause for productivity decrease for both the Ukrainian economy and the economic systems of developed countries are verified. \u0000Purpose of the article: To develop a comprehensive methodological approach to strategizing and state regulation of the business environment based on guidelines developed according to the results of a comparative analysis of the productivity of entrepreneurial activities and focused on maximizing the creation of added value, which is a criterion for increasing the productivity of entrepreneurial activities. \u0000Methods used: A review of the scientific literature, a comparative analysis of the productivity of entrepreneurial activity in developed countries and Ukraine, including time series analysis, calculating growth rates of per capita value-added, and factor analysis of key obstacles that hinder the growth of the productivity of innovative entrepreneurial activity. \u0000The contribution made to the theory and methodology of productivity includes the proposed definition of the economic category “productivity of entrepreneurial activity”; general methodological principles of forming a strategy for improving the productivity of entrepreneurial activities are established; taking into account the best international experience, the main principles of state regulation of the entrepreneurial environment are laid down; it is established that the purpose of the strategy for improving the productivity of entrepreneurial activity is to provide the state with favorable business conditions, i.e., to create a favorable entrepreneurial environment and make it possible to identify and use hidden assets of entrepreneurial structures to develop value-added chains, the growth of which is a criterion for increasing productivity.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80131252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Review of the Impact of the Digital Transformation on the Global and European Economy","authors":"Z. Wysokińska","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.22","url":null,"abstract":"The paper aims to present digital transformation as a process that has been taking place in the digital economy and the European Union’s economy in recent years and its impact on changes in the economic and social sphere. As a starting point, this paper considers the importance of advanced technology products in the global production and trade in the global and European economy, including information and communication technologies, which constitute the primary basis for the development of the digital economy. \u0000The paper shows that leading technologies can allow sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be achieved faster and more effectively. It is necessary to eliminate the persistent, significant income differences between developing and highly developed countries and disparities in access to the use of innovative solutions (including social innovation).","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81429504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Piasecki, Miron Wolnicki, Erico Wulf Betancourt
{"title":"Artificial Intelligence in the Context of Global Resource Mobility. What Can Be Expected from It?","authors":"R. Piasecki, Miron Wolnicki, Erico Wulf Betancourt","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.23","url":null,"abstract":"The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on business, government, and society is getting more attention. The leading AI sectors have higher productivity but a lower share of GDP than those lagging in digitization and AI. There is a technological gap, with still unknown consequences concerning the social contract, the expected new digital welfare profile, as well as the business strategy about globalization. The hypothesis is that while digitization was already in motion (2000–2005), capital outflow from the US to MHGEs (market high-growth economies) in Asia negatively affected its productivity outcome. Additionally, it is expected that AI will give more market power to multinationals, reshaping the social contract. Thus, the current western social contract will no longer be able to cope with the consequences of the weakness of the nation-state, its policymakers, or the powerful profit-driven multinationals to deal with the overall effect of AI. We aim to look at the impact of this new state of technology on the social contract, focusing on the proper actions of government and business to deal with it. We used a descriptive approach based on desk research concerning productivity data, European government policies, trade model analysis, and business approach to AI. We expect to demonstrate the dynamic interaction of the K/L ratio within the prevailing status of global resources mobility, and the dangers unregulated AI represents to labor. Policy actions are needed concerning the legal status of AI and how to avert the collapse of the social contract and the rise of oligarchic cyber‑autocracies. \u0000Our general conclusion is as follows: While capital investments, which would have contributed to improved total factor productivity (TFP) in the USA, went to MHGEs, increasing their GDP growth in less than a decade, the broad use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will reverse massive offshoring, and new types of manufacturing processes will emerge in developed countries.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82538125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does Social Trust Influence Charitable Giving for NGOs?","authors":"Halina Waniak‑Michalak, I. Perica","doi":"10.18778/1508-2008.24.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1508-2008.24.18","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of the paper is to find a link between the level of NGOs’ revenues and the trust in non‑governmental organisations (NGOs). We investigate if social trust, as measured by the Charities Aid Foundation, influences their charitable revenues. We analyse the revenues of NGOs in three countries: Poland, Croatia and the United Kingdom. We analyse the change in social trust in these countries and revenues in the years 2013–2017. The design and methodology approach includes a literature review and panel regression analysis. The main results of the panel regression analysis indicate that the amount of donations depends not only on the level of public trust but also on certain external and independent factors. We find that NGOs revenues vary from country to country due to different levels of economic development and wealth of countries. The results also show that apart from demographics, NGOs’ revenues and the donations they receive are also influenced by the philanthropic goal, the numer of years since it was established (the age of the organization) and the financing model. The research limitations include the selection of only a few countries for the analysis. This paper’s originality and value lie in the fact that the problem of low social trust in NGOs is analysed by linking it with the NGOs’ revenues.","PeriodicalId":44249,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Economic Research-Central and Eastern Europe","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81247239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}