This article aims to identify the impact of a country’s climate risk resilience on its sovereign credit rating, and to answer whether a country’s vulnerability can be mitigated by its readiness. The analysis also examines the robustness of the identified relationships, assessing their relevance to both investment-grade and speculative-grade countries. The study is based on a cross-country sample of 67 countries. It examines the relationship between sovereign credit ratings issued by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s and the ND-GAIN climate risk index, including the effects of its vulnerability and readiness components. To examine the link between sovereign credit ratings and climate resilience, we employ a cluster analysis based on climate vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and sovereign credit ratings, complemented by a linear regression model. The results indicate a positive relationship between climate resilience and sovereign credit rating. Vulnerability to climate risk negatively affects the rating, whereas the positive impact of climate readiness is more pronounced in countries with higher credit ratings than in those with lower ratings. The conclusions offer new insights into the determinants of sovereign credit ratings and the impact of climate risk on a country’s credibility, providing important implications for climate policy and for the methodologies used by credit rating agencies to assess sovereign ratings.
This study examines the determinants of Poland’s bilateral official developmental assistance (ODA) per capita allocation between 2013 and 2023 across 127 recipient countries. Employing panel data and multiple regression models, the analysis evaluates whether Poland, as a European Union post-accession donor with a post-communist transition background, allocates aid primarily based on recipient need or donor interest. The results indicate that Poland allocates significantly higher per capita aid to Eastern Partnership countries, reflecting strong regional solidarity rooted in historical ties. Within this regional context, aid allocation exhibits a non-linear income pattern, with middle-income recipients receiving the most support. Contrastingly, among non-Eastern Partnership recipients, income plays a minimal to negligible role in Poland’s aid allocation decisions. Trade relationships are relevant within the regional context, whereas democracy promotion shows no significant influence on aid allocation. The analysis further reveals that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had a significant impact on Poland’s aid allocation to Eastern Partnership countries. Overall, these findings provide partial support for the dual-track hypothesis identified in the literature on emerging Asian donors. The results suggest that Poland’s ODA follows a regionally focused strategy that combines geopolitical concerns with transition solidarity, rather than being driven by humanitarian or commercial motives.
This study examines whether and how green finance enhances economic resilience in emerging economies and evaluates the moderating role of market integration in this relationship. Using the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) estimation to address issues of endogeneity and lagged dependent variables, the empirical results indicate that green finance exerts a positive and statistically significant influence on economic resilience. Furthermore, a high level of market integration enhances the effectiveness of green finance in strengthening a country’s ability to withstand and recover from economic, social, and environmental shocks. Based on these findings, the study recommends that emerging economies promote the development of green finance by establishing clear policy frameworks, advancing sustainable financial instruments, and encouraging the flow of green capital into the real economy. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to deepen market integration through trade liberalization, regional financial cooperation, and improvements in the investment climate, to fully leverage the spillover benefits of globalization and reinforce the foundation for economic recovery amid increasing global uncertainties.
This paper presents and tests an original state-owned banks advantage hypothesis, according to which the nationalisation of a part of the banking sector may positively influence the financial results and reduce risks associated with banking activity. The hypothesis was tested using a model comparing three groups of banks: state-owned banks, foreign owned banks, and domestic privately owned banks. The estimation of model parameters was carried out using a fixed-effects panel data analysis for banks based in Central and Eastern European countries over the period 2014–2020. Based on the models for ROA and, separately, ROE, a statistically significant negative relation was observed in the returns generated by state-owned banks compared to private domestic and foreign banks. The results also indicate a higher business risk for state-owned banks, measured by the level of non-performing loans, which is likely to be related to involvement in projects that are not always profitable but often involve higher credit risk. Therefore, we argue that elements of a country’s economic or social policies matter when conducting business but negatively affect the performance of state-owned banks. The results of the model also demonstrate that a bank’s market size negatively affects its performance.
The article examines the similarities and differences in how employees across four Central European countries evaluate the consequences of remote work. The primary objective is to cluster these consequences into closely interrelated advantages and disadvantages that form directly unobservable factors. The research was carried out using a diagnostic survey method that comprised 1,022 respondents from four countries: Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The respondents evaluated the positive and negative outcomes of remote work. To achieve the research objective, principal component analysis was used. Six factors common to all the studied countries were identified. Two of these factors are positive, and four are negative, with respondents placing greater weight on the advantages than the disadvantages. Factors such as cost savings and the positive impact on work life, non-work life, and health were indicated as primary advantages. However, perceptions of some advantages varied across the four countries. The issue of exclusion was the most frequently cited disadvantage. The research provides reliable information concerning the comparative assessments of the consequences of remote work. Its significance lies in demonstrating that a broad spectrum of individual outcomes can be distilled into six underlying factors. They contribute to the existing literature on remote work and offer practical insights for both management and remote workers.
This study examines the primary determinants of energy efficiency improvements within the European Union’s (EU) industrial sector from 2004 to 2023. The analysis is situated within the strategic framework of the European Green Deal and the “Fit for 55” package, which addresses the challenge of accelerating the industrial energy transition while maintaining global competitiveness. Utilizing a Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model, this research accounts for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneous short-run dynamics across Member States. Empirical results reveal that economic growth and rising energy prices act as significant drivers of industrial energy efficiency in both the short and long run. Conversely, higher CO₂ emissions are associated with lower efficiency, reflecting persistent reliance on carbon-intensive production. These findings underscore the need to align economic modernization with price-based incentives to meet EU climate goals.
This study examines the international research and development (R&D) collaboration related to global crises or disruptions, focusing on its role in addressing challenges arising from diverse crises. Bibliometric analysis of 160 peer-reviewed articles identified patterns of collaboration and mapped global research networks. We adopted a comparative analytical framework to examine differences in research collaboration focus and forms across multiple types of disruption or crisis. The results show that R&D collaboration related to disruptive events was concentrated in research centers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, with the strongest links between the United States and China and between China and the United Kingdom. Other countries occupy more peripheral positions in global collaboration networks, reflecting lower overall engagement in research on the topic. In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Czechia stands out as one of the few countries whose research activities on collaboration during turbulence are internationally visible. Existing networks of connections between research centers are mostly bilateral, with researchers from CEE and the Global South being underrepresented. Furthermore, six thematic areas related to crises emerged as focal points for R&D collaborations: environmental crises, health emergencies, technological change, economic shocks, institutional instability, and humanitarian challenges. By identifying patterns of international R&D collaboration related to destabilizing events, the results of the analyses may inspire more effective responses to global challenges and support the development of more resilient and crisis-responsive R&D strategies.
This article explores how a group of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, including Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Baltic States, are navigating the challenge of adapting to climate change. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all account, it looks at what adaptation really means in practice: how institutions are stepping up (or falling short), how EU funds are being put to use, and how different sectors, particularly agriculture, are responding on the ground. The analysis focuses on the structures, tools, and behavioral patterns that shape climate resilience, paying close attention to micro-level decisions by farmers, households, and small businesses. Drawing on institutional and policy analysis, as well as insights from behavioral economics, the paper highlights both the momentum and the stumbling blocks facing adaptation across the region.
Understanding the determinants of trade flows between countries is of particular interest to policymakers, central bankers, business owners and investors. The study examines the long-run impact of the real exchange rate, exchange-rate volatility, and output on the trade balances of 10 SITC (Standard International Trade Classification) sectors between three Visegrad countries and Germany. Because the linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach shows little effect across countries and sectors, we decompose the impacts into positive and negative changes via the Nonlinear ARDL approach. The paper adds value in the following respects. The first is that while the overall macroeconomic determinants have a relatively weak connection to these trade balances, the strongest connections are in the primary-product-producing sectors. The second finding is that while most of these trade flows often depend on the country, the sector analyzed, and the method used, there are interesting, stylized results, including the region’s chemical sector and manufacturing in Hungary, for example. The third finding is that nonlinear models show cointegration between the real exchange rate and the trade balance in Visegrad-Germany trade for a higher number of industries, even though the long-run coefficients continue to be insignificant in many cases.
This study examines how fiscal and monetary policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis influenced banks’ income smoothing through loan-loss provisions (LLPs) in the European Economic Area (EEA). Using a panel of 1,122 commercial banks from 29 countries between 2011 and 2020, we investigate whether the intensity of income smoothing varied with the scale of public support. Fiscal liquidity measures and the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) serve as proxies for government and monetary interventions. The results show that both fiscal and monetary support reduced average LLP levels but simultaneously strengthened the link between earnings and provisioning, indicating increased income-smoothing behavior during the pandemic. This pattern reflects two complementary mechanisms: the crisis-severity channel, where larger policy interventions corresponded to deeper economic stress, and the moral-hazard channel, where public backstops expanded managerial discretion in provisioning. Overall, the findings suggest that large-scale stabilization policies mitigated credit risk and preserved financial stability but also encouraged more discretionary accounting behavior, underscoring a potential trade-off between crisis management and the transparency of banks’ financial reporting.
The study examines how the sub-indices of the Global Innovation Index (GII) affect the total value of fintech (financial technology) start-up fundraising in thirty-five European countries, including an eleven-country subsample from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Using annual panel data for 2013–2022. Fixed-effects models were estimated for the full sample, while random-effects models were used for the CEE countries. In these models, total fintech fundraising is the dependent variable, and the five GII subindices are the independent variables. The coefficients for Knowledge Workers, Knowledge Impact, and Business Environment are negative and statistically significant, and their effect sizes are even larger in the CEE subsample. The results suggest that improvements in the analysed factors do not necessarily lead to increased market funding for start-ups. The findings indicate that strengthening these dimensions of innovation does not automatically boost market funding for fintech start-ups. The study enriches the fintech fundraising literature by showing that improvements in the analysed factors do not translate into greater market funding for start-ups. As the study is limited to European data from 2013 to 2022, future research could extend the geographic scope or incorporate additional variables.
This study investigates the nonlinear impact of financial inclusion on environmental pollution across 61 developing countries from 2005 to 2022. Using a threshold regression model, the findings reveal a critical threshold at which the impact of financial inclusion changes direction. Below this threshold, financial inclusion tends to increase carbon emissions; however, beyond this point, the relationship reverses, with financial inclusion contributing to pollution reduction. To gain deeper insights, the study further applies the Difference-in-Differences (DID) method. The DID results indicate that the effect of financial inclusion is heterogeneous and depends on the level of financial development, national income, and the timing of each country’s participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change. These findings underscore the multidimensional nature of the relationship between financial inclusion and the environment, which is significantly influenced by country-specific economic and policy factors. In addition, the study finds that national income and urbanization levels are associated with increased pollution, while credit to the private sector plays a mitigating role in reducing emissions. These results have important implications that policymakers should consider when designing strategies that promote financial inclusion while aligning with Sustainable Development Goals.
A sustainable energy sector is crucial for a country’s stable and environmentally friendly socioeconomic development. Economic security (ES), the basis for the functioning of the state, is one of the major factors affecting the development. The objective of this article is to examine how ES influenced the sustainable development of the energy sector in the Visegrad Group countries, i.e., Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Czechia, over the period spanning from 2008 to 2020. To evaluate a meaningful relationship between the indicators (p < 0.05), we used correlation coefficients, the ordinary least squares method, and the seemingly unrelated regression model. The findings indicate that ES impacts the sustainable development of the energy sector, where positive results can be achieved by implementing coordinated macroeconomic policies. Green energy sources and renewable energy are crucial in this process.
Cryptoassets, as a novel manifestation of financial technology, pose a challenge to traditional legal frameworks, especially in their decentralised nature and the unique way they are held and transferred. Their emergence requires a re-examination of regulatory principles and mechanisms of rights protection in an environment where decentralisation signifies the absence of centralised control. This article examines cryptoassets as a potential threat to state sovereignty within the domains of foreclosure, enforcement, and insolvency. It analyses the legislative challenges arising from the increasing prevalence of cryptoassets and evaluates the applicability of traditional enforcement law instruments to these new technological contexts. This article also integrates empirical findings from the Czech legal environment into the broader theoretical discourse on financial crime and the erosion of state authority caused by decentralised financial systems operating across national jurisdictions Particular attention is devoted to the technical characteristics of cryptoassets, their legal classification, and the practical obstacles encountered in enforcement and insolvency proceedings, especially in situations where debtors refuse or are unable to provide access to their digital assets. The analysis also incorporates available statistics on enforcement proceedings and evaluates the Czech legal framework governing cryptoassets, focusing on its implications for the effectiveness of enforcement and insolvency processes. The research employs both primary and secondary methods, including legal and technical analysis, modelling of real scenarios, and an examination of the relevant legislative instruments.
This article investigates the empirical validity of Okun's law regarding youth unemployment in 11 Central and Eastern European countries between 2000 and 2023. Using panel data disaggregated by age cohorts and gender, the study employs robust linear regression models (RLM) with Huber loss functions and two-way fixed effects models (TWFE). Focusing primarily on the 15-24 age cohort, the results confirm a statistically significant, negative relationship between economic growth and youth unemployment, with considerable heterogeneity across countries and gender groups. While Okun's law holds strongly in the Baltic states and Poland, the relationship is notably weaker in Hungary and Romania. The study also shows that higher shares of temporary employment and higher Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) indices for regular employment reduce the sensitivity of youth unemployment to changes in GDP, whereas higher youth enrolment rates and higher EPL indices for temporary employment increase this sensitivity.
This study explores the relationship between leadership, organizational flexibility, and strategic planning, and the power of these elements to promote successful digital transformation in the context of the United Arab Emirates. This quantitative study involves the use of surveys and questionnaires that were distributed to 1000 mid-to-senior-level managers. Data on 600 valid answers (representing a response rate of 60%) were analyzed with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using AMOS software. The research examines three primary concepts: Leadership, Organizational Flexibility, and Strategic Planning, and how they influence the achievement of Successful Digital Transformation. The findings reveal that 82% of participants said that visionary leadership is essential for digital transformation, 78% stressed the need to effectively communicate goals, and 81% emphasized motivating employees. Furthermore, 75% of the participants said that their businesses had the capacity to adjust to changes, while 73% acknowledged the presence of flexible work practices, and 80% emphasized the need for cross-functional cooperation. Of the 77% of respondents who stated that their firms have a clearly defined digital strategy, 79% had aligned their digital strategy with their company goals, and 74% had included quantifiable targets and key performance indicators (KPIs). These results emphasize the significance of integrating artificial intelligence and data analytics with effective human leadership and strategic planning. It is suggested that organizations enhance their leadership capabilities, foster a flexible culture, and develop comprehensive digital strategies to reap the benefits of digital transformation to the maximum.
The objective of this article is to analyse selected topics included in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of companies from three Visegrad Group countries: Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia. The study focuses on the emphasis that these companies place on the topics discussed and the extent to which they include them in their CSR reports to stakeholders. The study adopts a quantitative design, using an online questionnaire to explore CSR reporting in the Visegrad countries, with a sample size of 375 companies. It employs statistical tools like the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Bonferroni post hoc test to analyse data on CSR reporting across different company sizes and sectors. Despite potential methodological limitations and bias, the survey identifies differences in CSR reporting practices among companies in the three countries. The leader in CSR reporting in the region is Slovakia, which can serve as an example of good CSR reporting practices. Czechia shows moderate commitment to CSR reporting activities, while companies in Poland are the least engaged. The discrepancies are due to differences in regulations, levels of public awareness, and business priorities. The results of the study will be valuable to researchers, managers and policymakers in developing tools to support companies in introducing new reporting standards and providing information on actions taken during a crisis. The novelty of this article is the analysis, at the enterprise level, of the type of CSR activities of selected companies from Visegrad Group countries from the perspective of the anti-crisis measures they have taken. This research fills a gap in the literature and provides a basis for discussing the legitimacy of socially responsible activities in contexts extending beyond a single crisis.
The main purpose of this article is to determine the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors on corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The study was conducted on companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), which plays a significant role in European capital markets, particularly in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. It is the largest stock exchange in the region by both market capitalisation and the number of listed companies. Data for the study were collected in 2024 using CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing) and CAWI (Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing) methods from companies that had conducted M&A in the previous five years. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and several tests, including ANOVA, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro–Wilk, Levene, Welch and Kruskal-Wallis. The study investigated the motives for companies to consider ESG factors when conducting M&A transactions. The results show that WSE companies consider managerial awareness to have the greatest influence on the inclusion of these factors in M&A. Detailed information was obtained on the different motivations of listed companies to include ESG factors in M&A transactions and the subsequent impact of these transactions on their financial performance. Additionally, the study investigated the impact of company size and capital ownership on decisions to include ESG factors in M&A. The results offer an important contribution to existing research on M&A in the CEE region.
In this study, we examine the impact of overeducation on wages and wage penalties among 19,000 young men and women aged 18–35 in ten European countries. Using data from the Cultural Pathways to Economic Self-sufficiency and Entrepreneurship (CUPESSE) project and controlling for some endogeneity from omitted ability variables and employment selection, we find that women’s wages and wage penalties align with job search theory, while men’s observed wage offers are consistent with job competition theory. However, once selection is accounted for, wage penalties incurred by young men do not follow the predictions from this theory. Despite lower baseline wages, women in many countries face larger overeducation penalties than men, a pattern shaped by institutional regime type and gender norms. We offer possible explanations for this disparity and conclude with policy recommendations to address overeducation penalties.
This research presents a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the startup ecosystems in Latvia, Ukraine, and Georgia. It identifies the key factors that foster their development and growth, and highlights the primary obstacles and challenges that confront startups in these countries. The authors used the following methods to achieve these objectives: correlation and regression analysis to examine funding trends and success factors, comparative analysis of key ecosystem parameters, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis. The novelty of the study lies in its identification of the most important factors that influence startup development in the three countries, the construction of a correlation and regression model of startup financing, and the comparative analysis of startup ecosystems. Comparing the startup ecosystems of the three countries revealed both common and unique features of each country, emphasizing how differences in political, economic, and cultural conditions shape startup development.
