Suchergebnisse

The purpose of the article is to analyse factors influencing the behaviour and decision-making of local tourists in choosing Azerbaijan as a destination. The main attributes, elements and types of tourism destinations are analysed. The understanding of consumer behaviour is defined and the peculiarities of decision-making process are presented. The main internal and external factors influencing tourist's behaviour and decision-making are summarised. The current situation of tourism in Azerbaijan is examined. The analysis of social, cultural, personal and psychological factors influencing the decision-making of local Azerbaijani tourists to travel to various types of tourism destinations with different attributes like, attractions, available amenities, accessibility, image, price and human resources is done. The research includes both primary and secondary data. Secondary data is used to give insight to the topic and assess conclusions. Primary data is collected by surveying domestic travellers of Azerbaijan. Survey results are analysed by implying descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and Factor analysis. The research results show that the age, monthly income and marital status of local Azerbaijani travellers affect their travel behaviour especially in the duration of their trip. Destination amenities, tourism infrastructure, environmental features, human resources and price are the important attributes for local tourists in choosing tourism destination. ; This article investigates the theoretical and practical aspects of tax morale among households in European Union countries. The attitude of households on tax payment is assessed quantitatively by employing a dichotomous logit-probit regression analysis. The research is based on household-level data received from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study. Weak tax morale among European Union households is mainly determined by the perception of corruption, disrespect to one's own country and parliament. Additionally, a household's tax morale depends on age, gender, religiousness, level of income and education. Based on the findings of this article, a more precise policy guidance is presented.

Abstract
This paper attempts to test for inflation convergence in a sample of 24 European Union countries. To tackle this issue, first- and second-generation panel unit root and stationarity tests are employed so as to provide evidence of inflation convergence before and after the launch of the single currency, the euro. We also test for and then allow for cross-sectional dependence. In general, the findings reveal that conditional inflation convergence exists for all panels under study. The estimation of half lives shows that the evidence for faster speed of convergence applies for the new member states followed by the core countries and the old member states.
JEL classifications: C33, E3, F33
Keywords: Inflation Convergence, EU, Maastricht Criteria, Panel data

The study aims to determine whether the unexplained gender wage gap varies in the different sectors of the economy and to identify the possible causes of these differences. Firstly, we estimate average treatment effect on the individual sectors to identify the unexplained part of gender pay gap. To identify the possible causes of observed variability in unexplained gender wage differences, we use a linear regression model. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data for 24 European Union (EU) members, we conclude that the unexplained gender pay gap in the individual sectors varies both within the individual EU countries and among the countries. The most important factors in explaining the differences in the gender pay gap among the individual sectors are ownership and the proportion of women in the sector. On the other hand, the proportion of female managers and the proportion of small companies are not statistically significant factors for the explanation of the variation in the sector-specific gender pay gaps. To the best of my knowledge, this study is the first to present fully comparable estimates of the unexplained sector-specific gender pay gap for the 24 EU countries and to identify the causes of the differences in the unexplained gender pay gap at the sectoral level.

This paper reviews important aspects of gender labour market inequalities in four European Union countries. It shows that individual countries differ in many aspects of gender discrimination. It seems that contributing factors to these differences are the national social and economic structures, the level of economic development, the legislative framework and the effectiveness of anti-discriminatory policies. It also shows that there are notable improvements in many gender gap indicators during the recent years and, at least part of the improvement should be attributed to the European commission's legislative and policy initiatives.

Digitalization involves an increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in all areas of the economy and all domains of the functioning of a society. Technologies of this kind affect the level of competitiveness of economies. The aim of the article is to compare the levels of competitiveness of European Union countries in the field of information and communication technologies, on the basis of indices developed by international institutions.The European Commission, World Economic Forum and Eurostat databases were used for comparative analysis of economies. Synthetic indices, such as the 9th pillar of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI Pillar 9), the European Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) were used to compare the levels of digitalization of the economies. The actual individual consumption (AIC) value was adopted as an indicator of the wealth of EU economies. Changes in single indices were analysed as follows: in the NRI in 2014–2016, in the GCI Pillar 9 in 2015–2017 and in the DESI in 2016–2018, while the multi-character classification of countries according to the three variables (the NRI, DESI and GCI Pillar 9) was performed for the year 2016. Ward's hierarchical method and non-hierarchical analysis of k-means clusters were used to this effect. The multiple regression model revealed relationships between the welfare level measured by the AIC and the level of digitalization. The NRI turned out to be the best predictor. The results of the analysis indicate that there are still differences between the 'old' and the 'new' EU countries in terms of the development of the ICT sector.

The relationship between export and economic growth is still a topic of discussion by researchers. Some studies have confirmed that export leads to economic growth, while others see economic growth leads to export. Many countries are still in a dilemma of whether to open up their economies to promote export or whether they should concentrate on economic activities, which will promote export. This paper has aimed to examine export – growth nexus in the European Union (EU) countries during the period of 1995 – 2015. Descriptive statistics analysis and econometric methods have been applied for this purpose. On the basis of correlation analysis, twenty-two countries have had significant relationships between export and economic growth. Granger causality test has been applied to detect the direction of causality. The research has found unidirectional causality running from export to GDP in Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. In contrast, unidirectional effects from GDP to export have been detected in eleven the EU countries, such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania and Slovenia. Moreover, the research also has noticed bidirectional causality in Denmark. That is, GDP causes export and vice versa. Finally, in six countries, such as Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Malta Granger causality has not been found. It means that export does not cause economic growth and vice versa. The presence of a causal link between export and economic growth has implications of great importance on development strategies for the EU countries.

The relationship between export and economic growth is still a topic of discussion by researchers. Some studies have confirmed that export leads to economic growth, while others see economic growth leads to export. Many countries are still in a dilemma of whether to open up their economies to promote export or whether they should concentrate on economic activities, which will promote export. This paper has aimed to examine export – growth nexus in the European Union (EU) countries during the period of 1995 – 2015. Descriptive statistics analysis and econometric methods have been applied for this purpose. On the basis of correlation analysis, twenty-two countries have had significant relationships between export and economic growth. Granger causality test has been applied to detect the direction of causality. The research has found unidirectional causality running from export to GDP in Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden. In contrast, unidirectional effects from GDP to export have been detected in eleven the EU countries, such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania and Slovenia. Moreover, the research also has noticed bidirectional causality in Denmark. That is, GDP causes export and vice versa. Finally, in six countries, such as Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Malta Granger causality has not been found. It means that export does not cause economic growth and vice versa. The presence of a causal link between export and economic growth has implications of great importance on development strategies for the EU countries.

The study aims to determine whether the unexplained gender wage gap varies in the different sectors of the economy and to identify the possible causes of these differences. Firstly, we estimate average treatment effect on the individual sectors to identify the unexplained part of gender pay gap. To identify the possible causes of observed variability in unexplained gender wage differences, we use a linear regression model. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data for 24 European Union (EU) members, we conclude that the unexplained gender pay gap in the individual sectors varies both within the individual EU countries and among the countries. The most important factors in explaining the differences in the gender pay gap among the individual sectors are ownership and the proportion of women in the sector. On the other hand, the proportion of female managers and the proportion of small companies are not statistically significant factors for the explanation of the variation in the sector-specific gender pay gaps. To the best of my knowledge, this study is the first to present fully comparable estimates of the unexplained sector-specific gender pay gap for the 24 EU countries and to identify the causes of the differences in the unexplained gender pay gap at the sectoral level.

The electricity production sector has a significant share of final energy consumption and has a huge potential to use more renewable energy sources. Over the last two decades, the European Union (EU) reform of electricity markets has had positive results, and market liberalization acts as a stimulus for energy efficiency, lower prices, and technological progress. Today's EU policy for the development of electricity and the entire energy sector seeks to provide system modernization, stability, reinforcement of the single market, and implementation of climate change policy with an emphasis on the decarbonization of energy sources and the increase of energy efficiency. After all of the EU efforts to form an electricity sector in member states, it is necessary to assess the efficiency of the policy implemented and to identify the results achieved in shaping a sustainable electricity sector. The purpose of this article is to carry out a sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in the EU countries. A set of eight indicators designed to assess the sustainability of the electricity sector of different EU countries in 2017 has been drawn up. The assessment is made using the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) Technique for Order Preference (TOPSIS). The assessment shows that the electricity market of Slovenia is the most sustainable, with Luxembourg in the second position in the EU.

The electricity production sector has a significant share of final energy consumption and has a huge potential to use more renewable energy sources. Over the last two decades, the European Union (EU) reform of electricity markets has had positive results, and market liberalization acts as a stimulus for energy efficiency, lower prices, and technological progress. Today's EU policy for the development of electricity and the entire energy sector seeks to provide system modernization, stability, reinforcement of the single market, and implementation of climate change policy with an emphasis on the decarbonization of energy sources and the increase of energy efficiency. After all of the EU efforts to form an electricity sector in member states, it is necessary to assess the efficiency of the policy implemented and to identify the results achieved in shaping a sustainable electricity sector. The purpose of this article is to carry out a sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in the EU countries. A set of eight indicators designed to assess the sustainability of the electricity sector of different EU countries in 2017 has been drawn up. The assessment is made using the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) Technique for Order Preference (TOPSIS). The assessment shows that the electricity market of Slovenia is the most sustainable, with Luxembourg in the second position in the EU.

The electricity production sector has a significant share of final energy consumption and has a huge potential to use more renewable energy sources. Over the last two decades, the European Union (EU) reform of electricity markets has had positive results, and market liberalization acts as a stimulus for energy efficiency, lower prices, and technological progress. Today's EU policy for the development of electricity and the entire energy sector seeks to provide system modernization, stability, reinforcement of the single market, and implementation of climate change policy with an emphasis on the decarbonization of energy sources and the increase of energy efficiency. After all of the EU efforts to form an electricity sector in member states, it is necessary to assess the efficiency of the policy implemented and to identify the results achieved in shaping a sustainable electricity sector. The purpose of this article is to carry out a sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in the EU countries. A set of eight indicators designed to assess the sustainability of the electricity sector of different EU countries in 2017 has been drawn up. The assessment is made using the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) Technique for Order Preference (TOPSIS). The assessment shows that the electricity market of Slovenia is the most sustainable, with Luxembourg in the second position in the EU.

The electricity production sector has a significant share of final energy consumption and has a huge potential to use more renewable energy sources. Over the last two decades, the European Union (EU) reform of electricity markets has had positive results, and market liberalization acts as a stimulus for energy efficiency, lower prices, and technological progress. Today's EU policy for the development of electricity and the entire energy sector seeks to provide system modernization, stability, reinforcement of the single market, and implementation of climate change policy with an emphasis on the decarbonization of energy sources and the increase of energy efficiency. After all of the EU efforts to form an electricity sector in member states, it is necessary to assess the efficiency of the policy implemented and to identify the results achieved in shaping a sustainable electricity sector. The purpose of this article is to carry out a sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in the EU countries. A set of eight indicators designed to assess the sustainability of the electricity sector of different EU countries in 2017 has been drawn up. The assessment is made using the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) Technique for Order Preference (TOPSIS). The assessment shows that the electricity market of Slovenia is the most sustainable, with Luxembourg in the second position in the EU.

The present research performs the GDP per capita convergence analyses of Western Balkan (WB) countries to European Union (EU) countries. There are few testing convergence methods based on theoretical insights on the neoclassical model, however pairwise convergence method doesn't seem usually applied in the case of WB and EU countries. The test of convergence hypothesis in this research is based on the GDP per capita's data, constant 2017 international $ in PPP terms, made available by the World Bank. The pairwise convergence test suggested here can be considered as an extension of Webber and While (2003, 2004, 2009) methodology. The outcomes have been compared to Bernard, Durlauf (1995) and Pesaran (2006) methodology of the pairwise convergence, by adapting ADF time series tests of the stationarity. In conclusion, despite to the controversy of one pair case, the comparative process of both methods seems to be aligned. However, further investigation needs to be performed to confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of this suggestion.
Keywords: GDP per capita, pairwise convergence, Western Ballkan countries, methodology

The study analyses the impact of country's governance factors on the financial behaviour and performance of financial intermediaries operating in European Union countries, by covering the period 2000–2017. Empirical evidence provided by the paper relies on a set of financial and political factors that has not been previously studied. Four indicators are jointly used as proxies for capturing the various dimensions of a country's good governance, while 21 financial indicators represent the alternative dependent variables meant to comprehensively depict the banking sector and capital market development. Each panel regression has been controlled for country's degree of economic development and its membership to OECD and euro-zone. The findings indicated that various dimensions of political factor caused different effects on financial sector features. Control of corruption, solid political and economic stability determine significant effects on most financial variables considered (almost two-thirds of the financial indicators considered). Even after controlling for the lagged effect of governance factors the main results hold, in that monitoring corruption, maintaining political stability and designing sound economic policies still have an impact on most financial indicators considered. Another interesting conclusion supported by the results is that not all political instability indicators are detrimental for banking and stock market functioning.

Economic growth can be influenced by positive and negative externalities. In this study is analysed the relationship between gender inequality in the labour market and economic growth, using the European Union countries with annual data for the time span from 2000 to 2012. This research enriches the current literature by using. In the econometric approach, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model. Such methodology allows the appraising of short and long-run relationships separately. To measure the influence of the labour force of men and women in the economic growth, two regressions are performed, the first model analyses the height of Labour Force of men in the economy, the second model analyses the women. To analyse the gender inequality a third model is estimated, using the difference of the labour force and education of both genders confronted with economic growth. In short, the main findings indicate that gender gap constricts the economic growth. ; O crescimento económico pode ser influenciado por várias externalidades positivas e negativas. Neste estudo é analisada a relação entre a desigualdade de género no mercado de trabalho e crescimento económico, utilizando um conjunto de países da União Europeia, recorrendo ao uso de dados anuais para o período de 2000 a 2012. Esta pesquisa enriquece a literatura atual pela análise econométrica aplicada, o modelo ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag). Esta metodologia permite a avaliação das relações de curto e longo prazo entre as variáveis. Para medir a influência da força de trabalho de homens e mulheres no crescimento económico, realizaram-se duas regressões, um primeiro modelo que analisa o peso da Força de trabalho dos homens na economia, o segundo por sua vez analisa as mulheres. Por último, é realizado um terceiro modelo que estuda a desigualdade de género no mercado de trabalho e na educação. Usando a diferença da força de trabalho entre homens e mulheres e os índices de paridade para as taxas de matricular escolar dos três níveis de educação, confrontando esses diferenciais com o crescimento económico. Em suma, com esta investigação concluímos que a disparidade de género restringe o crescimento económico.