Suchergebnisse

In European Union countries most farms are operated by smallholders in extensive agriculture and approximately 30% of agricultural farms are operated by woman. Despite the growing importance of the role of women in the agricultural sector, a more complete picture of the gender gap and the differences between female and male-operated farms is still lacking. The principal aim of this paper is to fill this gap by highlighting the differences between female and male-operated farms. The data used comes from the World Bank Open Data repository and Eurostat. The methodology consists of descriptive statistical analysis, principal component analysis, and multivariate regression models. The analysis is used to investigate how a set of indicators affects the gender gap in the agricultural sector. The research questions test how the socio-economic determinants and traditional agricultural land use influence the historical gender division of labour and the evolution and persistence of farm differences. The results from almost all 27 EU countries suggest that women, the same as men, can be considered "productive resources" and play an important role in the agriculture sector in areas such as crop and livestock production. However, their activities are less remunerative.

Following the financial crisis of 2007 and the sovereign debt crisis in 2010 that affected the soundness and reduced the strength of public finance in European countries, there has been a growing interest in developing methodologies to the help assess and signal the vulnerability of fiscal policy. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a new framework (V-L-D) to assess fiscal vulnerability. V-L-D represents a new methodology on the measurement of fiscal vulnerability that relies on the assumption that vulnerability can occur even during calm times. In comparison with previous methodologies that studied fiscal vulnerability around crisis and fiscal distress times, our framework investigates fiscal vulnerability near fiscal adjustments episodes. Our methodology relies on two distinct indicators: one showing the vulnerabilities indicated by the level of the cyclically adjusted budget balance and distance-to-stability, and one showing the vulnerabilities pointed out through the changes of the cyclically adjusted budget balance and public debt. V-L-D is able to classify fiscal vulnerability into five distinct categories having scores from 0 (no fiscal vulnerability) to 4 (extreme fiscal vulnerability). Using annual data ranging over 1990&ndash ; 2013 for 28 European Union countries, we evidenced 310 episodes of fiscal vulnerability, out of which 128 episodes of low vulnerability, 94 of moderate, 62 of strong, and 26 of extreme fiscal vulnerability. We also found that over 2004&ndash ; 2013, Greece, Portugal, Romania, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, and Slovenia were the most fiscally vulnerable countries in the Union. United Kingdom and Greece went through the longest episodes of fiscal vulnerability, counting 12 and 11 consecutive years, respectively. We tested our framework&rsquo ; s effectiveness against the Excessive Deficit Procedure. We found that the overall performance is good: V-L-D assessed moderate fiscal vulnerability during the procedure, strong fiscal vulnerability in the first year when procedure was initiated, and extreme vulnerability one year before the initiation.

The main purpose of the research is to examine the progress achieved by European countries in the field of implementing the concept of sustainable development and to point the group of countries that can be considered as leaders in that sphere. The research is based on the Eurostat data and it is conducted at macroeconomic level in the years 2004-2013. The sustainable development concept should be considered as a multidimensional phenomenon. Thus, Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used in the research. TOPSIS method allows to evaluate the objects in terms of multidimensional economic phenomena based on the set of detailed economic attributes (variables). The dynamic synthetic index describing the relative level of sustainable development of the countries was created, which enabled to propose a rating of the countries and group them into homogenous subsets. The grouping was conducted with application of natural breaks method. The comparison of the ratings in the period 2004-2013 shows that most of the new member states of European Union have made a significant progress in implementing the concept of sustainable development. The research enabled to point the countries that are the leaders in the field.

Successful policies and programs leading to improvement of quality of human capital in the context of knowledge-based economy are currently considered as the basic condition for keeping global competitiveness of the European economy. It has been pointed as one of the most important aims of Europe 2020 strategy. In the EU all the countries are obliged to implement national strategies that should result in reaching that aims. As a result, it is necessary to compare countries' results, which can be useful for pointing the best practices and effective policy guidelines. Thus, the main aim of the article is to provide a multiple-criteria analysis of the quality of human capital in the EU countries at macroeconomic level. Special attention is given here to the results obtained by new member states of the EU. The research is done for the years 2001-2012. Additionally, it gives some insight on the possible influence of the global financial crisis on the dynamics of the quality of human capital in the EU countries. Data from Eurostat is used. Hellwig's method of taxonomic measure of development with the constant pattern (ideal solution) for the entire period is applied in the research. The Hellwig's method is very close to TOPSIS method, which is based on a concept of similarity to ideal solution and which is currently commonly applied in multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM). After obtaining the relative measure for the quality of human capital, the countries were grouped into homogenous subsets with application of natural breaks method. The main advantages of the applied methods are high elasticity and methodological simplicity, which is crucial in the case of multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).

Climate targets call for novel policy measures to facilitate widespread adoption of low-carbon solutions and innovations. The literature on socio-technical systems argues that experimentation has a prominent role in enabling sustainability transition. Experiments represent ways of testing new ideas and methods across a wide range of policy fields. Governance experiments in particular can support accelerated diffusion of new solutions, because they integrate policy with innovations. Here, types of success factors in the implementation of governance experiments to mitigate climate change are examined. Statistical analysis of sustainability innovations in the 28 European Union countries indicates that the types of success factors in governance experiments differ from those of product and social experiments. Governance experimentation is more positioned within socio-technical regimes than in strategic niches. These results suggest that governance experiments may indeed provide new transition opportunities towards low-carbon societies. ; Peer reviewed

Successful policies and programs leading to improvement of quality of human capital in the context of knowledge-based economy are currently considered as the basic condition for keeping global competitiveness of the European economy. It has been pointed as one of the most important aims of Europe 2020 strategy. In the EU all the countries are obliged to implement national strategies that should result in reaching that aims. As a result, it is necessary to compare countries' results, which can be useful for pointing the best practices and effective policy guidelines. Thus, the main aim of the article is to provide a multiple-criteria analysis of the quality of human capital in the EU countries at macroeconomic level. Special attention is given here to the results obtained by new member states of the EU. The research is done for the years 2001-2012. Additionally, it gives some insight on the possible influence of the global financial crisis on the dynamics of the quality of human capital in the EU countries. Data from Eurostat is used. Hellwig's method of taxonomic measure of development with the constant pattern (ideal solution) for the entire period is applied in the research. The Hellwig's method is very close to TOPSIS method, which is based on a concept of similarity to ideal solution and which is currently commonly applied in multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM). After obtaining the relative measure for the quality of human capital, the countries were grouped into homogenous subsets with application of natural breaks method. The main advantages of the applied methods are high elasticity and methodological simplicity, which is crucial in the case of multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).

The main aim of the research is to investigate whether small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) employment affects total European Union (EU-28) employment using panel data models during the 2005–2016 period. The panel econometric results con- firm the significant association between SMEs employment in ser- vice sectors and overall economy employment, whereas the effect of SMEs industry sectors employment was found insignificant. The results are robust in a spite of the fact that during the studied period the EU-28 countries experienced economic crisis suggest- ing the important role that SMEs can play in job creation and in reduction of unemployment even when macro-economic enabling environment might be less favourable.

The paper has investigated the relationships between financial and economic development in the European Union countries using annual data over the period of 1998–2016. The authors have done this by looking at descriptive statistics and also by applying econometric methods. This study has combined different approaches prevailing in the scientific literature and contributed to understanding the importance of the interrelationship between the variables. The investigation has led to the conclusions as follows: (1) the countries with the middle GDP per capita indicators have demonstrated the highest level of financial development; (2) unidirectional causality running from real GDP to financial development has been detected in Denmark, Portugal and Latvia; (3) unidirectional causality running from financial development to real GDP has been found in Austria; (4) two-way causal relationships between financial and economic development have been detected in Luxembourg, France and United Kingdom; (5) the results of Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria have supported the neutrality approach. The research provides general insights and a better understanding to formulate the directions for sustainable economic development in the countries under consideration.

The paper has investigated the relationships between financial and economic development in the European Union countries using annual data over the period of 1998–2016. The authors have done this by looking at descriptive statistics and also by applying econometric methods. This study has combined different approaches prevailing in the scientific literature and contributed to understanding the importance of the interrelationship between the variables. The investigation has led to the conclusions as follows: (1) the countries with the middle GDP per capita indicators have demonstrated the highest level of financial development; (2) unidirectional causality running from real GDP to financial development has been detected in Denmark, Portugal and Latvia; (3) unidirectional causality running from financial development to real GDP has been found in Austria; (4) two-way causal relationships between financial and economic development have been detected in Luxembourg, France and United Kingdom; (5) the results of Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria have supported the neutrality approach. The research provides general insights and a better understanding to formulate the directions for sustainable economic development in the countries under consideration.

The paper has investigated the relationships between financial and economic development in the European Union countries using annual data over the period of 1998–2016. The authors have done this by looking at descriptive statistics and also by applying econometric methods. This study has combined different approaches prevailing in the scientific literature and contributed to understanding the importance of the interrelationship between the variables. The investigation has led to the conclusions as follows: (1) the countries with the middle GDP per capita indicators have demonstrated the highest level of financial development; (2) unidirectional causality running from real GDP to financial development has been detected in Denmark, Portugal and Latvia; (3) unidirectional causality running from financial development to real GDP has been found in Austria; (4) two-way causal relation- ships between financial and economic development have been detected in Luxembourg, France and United Kingdom; (5) the results of Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria have supported the neutrality approach. The research provides general insights and a better understanding to formulate the directions for sustainable economic development in the countries under consideration.

The paper has investigated the relationships between financial and economic development in the European Union countries using annual data over the period of 1998–2016. The authors have done this by looking at descriptive statistics and also by applying econometric methods. This study has combined different approaches prevailing in the scientific literature and contributed to understanding the importance of the interrelationship between the variables. The investigation has led to the conclusions as follows: (1) the countries with the middle GDP per capita indicators have demonstrated the highest level of financial development; (2) unidirectional causality running from real GDP to financial development has been detected in Denmark, Portugal and Latvia; (3) unidirectional causality running from financial development to real GDP has been found in Austria; (4) two-way causal relationships between financial and economic development have been detected in Luxembourg, France and United Kingdom; (5) the results of Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria have supported the neutrality approach. The research provides general insights and a better understanding to formulate the directions for sustainable economic development in the countries under consideration.

The paper has investigated the relationships between financial and economic development in the European Union countries using annual data over the period of 1998–2016. The authors have done this by looking at descriptive statistics and also by applying econometric methods. This study has combined different approaches prevailing in the scientific literature and contributed to understanding the importance of the interrelationship between the variables. The investigation has led to the conclusions as follows: (1) the countries with the middle GDP per capita indicators have demonstrated the highest level of financial development; (2) unidirectional causality running from real GDP to financial development has been detected in Denmark, Portugal and Latvia; (3) unidirectional causality running from financial development to real GDP has been found in Austria; (4) two-way causal relationships between financial and economic development have been detected in Luxembourg, France and United Kingdom; (5) the results of Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria have supported the neutrality approach. The research provides general insights and a better understanding to formulate the directions for sustainable economic development in the countries under consideration.

The study provides the analysis of theoretical approaches to the concept of security in the European Union integration processes. Methodological bases for development of the concept of security of the European Union integration processes based on two paradigms of activity are offered. The first one provides institutional and financial autonomy in defense and peacekeeping; the second one involves the delegation of most security powers and the collective security of the Commonwealth. The main stages of building the European security and defense policy in the context of new threats to regional and global security are analyzed. The following tasks have been identified as the priority areas for further development of the EU: consensus decision making in all areas of the common security and defense policy; development of a new methodology for responding to threats; effective use of opportunities for international cooperation.