Search Results (40)

European integration aims to achieve spatially sustainable development across the member states. However, the success of socio-economic integration is conditioned by structural features of the economies, which, hitherto, appear highly diversified across the EU countries. The paper focuses on the structural conditions of the process of income inequality convergence. It aims to identify differences in the convergence regarding the structural conditions of the economies. To fulfil the research tasks the paper classifies the 27 European member states according to their sectional employment structures using the Ward method. It then tests the appearance of beta convergence using FE panel models for the specified clusters of economies. It also considers structural change, measured by the NAV (norm of absolute value), as a determinant of income inequality convergence. The main research period covers 2009–2021. The findings of the paper confirm that income inequality convergence occurs within the groups of economies specified by different structural conditions. Importantly, the clustering according to the similarity of the employment structure overlaps with the division along the lines of the ‘new’ and ‘old’ member states, which proves the importance of historically shaped institutions for development. However, the observed convergence does not lead to improved social cohesion. Social policy, especially in the ‘new’ member states, is not able to offset the growth in market income inequality additionally stimulated by the structural changes. It can be concluded that an urgent need to design new solutions for social policy concerning structural transformation in employment in the EU emerges. Full article

The effects of initial institutions and change in institutions on the growth of ex-socialist countries is unsettled in the literature. This is due to difficulties in modeling the effects of institutions and their change. The objective of this paper is to contribute to this area. Ex-socialist countries faced heterogenous initial conditions at transition. Those that joined the EU experienced institutional integration as well as institutional improvement. Using publicly available data from about ten years before and after EU accession and two-way fixed effects differences-in-differences estimation, this paper finds that these countries experienced growth boosts post-EU accession. Achieving institutional integration cum improvement by accepting and implementing EU’s regulations and norms in all details permitted this boost. The initial conditions mattered—the effect was greater in “new” ex-socialist countries (which had the additional burden of creating new administrative structures and economic relationships) than in the “old.” Using the neo-classical growth model, the paper then examines whether this boost in growth was due to a higher contribution of inputs or due to an increase in the efficiency with which inputs were used. It indicates that it was due to increased contribution of human capital rather than an increase in the amount of human capital or other economic or political confounders. These countries’ skilled labor, already high in skills at transition by OECD standards, needed the right institutions to unlock its potential. Full article

Although food seems abundant in the European Union, challenges related to specific aspects of food security continue to exist and require ongoing attention. A country’s food security depends on various economic, social, environmental, and institutional factors, which are studied using several scientific research methodologies. The role of institutions in determining national success and failure has been increasingly emphasized in recent academic discourse. Our research makes a novel contribution to the literature on institutions and food security by integrating New Institutional Economics with food security metrics. It aims to examine the relationships between food security dimensions and country-specific institutional matrices in the twenty EU member states from 2012 to 2019. How strong were those relationships, and how did they differ between the new and old member states? Food security is proxied by the Global Food Security Index and its three pillars (economic accessibility, physical availability, and quality and safety). The institutional quality of a country is represented by the Worldwide Governance Indicators (regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption). Using the food security indices as the dependent variables, we apply multiple regression models to identify which institutions determined national food security over time. The study revealed that between 2012 and 2019, there was no evidence of sigma convergence or reduction in the dispersion of institutional quality (except for control of corruption) and overall food security within the EU20. The domestic institutions were generally statistically significantly positively related to the GFSI and its elements. The weakest correlations for the EU20 were those linking institutional variables with food quality and safety. The rule of law, incorporating such formal institutions as the quality of contract enforcement and property rights, positively affected food security within the EU20, with the mostgreatest impact on food quality, safety, and availability. The dependence of food security on national institutional factors was stronger in new member states from Central and Eastern Europe. The exploratory results shed some light on the role of institutions in shaping food security. However, further research is required to gain a more detailed understanding of this phenomenon. The research findings suggest that policymakers in the EU countries could enhance national institutions to promote food security and, consequently, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals more effectively. Full article

The share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the global energy system is systematically increasing, making them the most important element of the energy transformation. Their use enables rational management of limited resources, reduction of environmental pollution, and has a significant inhibitory effect on energy poverty by improving energy efficiency. The aim of this article is to assess the impact of the use of renewable energy on the level of energy poverty in the European Union countries in 2010, 2015, and 2022. A taxonomic measure of development based on the Weber median was used to examine the relationship between the results achieved by individual EU member states in terms of the impact of the use of renewable energy on the level of energy poverty. The research results clearly indicate the existence of disproportions between the countries of the “old” EU and the countries that joined it in 2004 and later. These disproportions concern both the use of energy obtained from renewable sources and energy poverty. In the countries of the “old” Union, a positive moderate relationship was identified between the use of renewable energy and energy poverty, which means that a higher share of the use of energy from renewable sources in these countries reduces energy poverty. In the countries of the “new” Union, however, this relationship was very weak (2010) or non-existent. Since the renewable energy sector is subject to government policy and regulations, the results presented in this paper should be of interest to decision-makers. A stable, long-term policy should provide an appropriate investment climate that provides support for renewable energy projects and reduces the level of energy poverty. Full article

The aim of the paper was to identify which European capitals are sustainable and smart, why, and what influences the ranking. The main research hypothesis was to indicate that cities in the ‘old’ E.U. countries (richer and with higher levels of economic development) are more sustainable and smart. Furthermore, sustainable smart cities, by definition, through the use of advanced and modern management tools and technological support, should contribute to community resilience. Sustainable energy plays a significant role in the measurement system. The study’s results showed the differences that exist across countries, as well as the leaders in each smart category and area. This is interesting and new; from a research point of view, there has been no study based on OECD research and data confronting and correlating the range of data with indicators found in the literature. The study results show that the concept of a smart city is comprehensive and that it is necessary to analyze in depth the various sub-categories included in the measurement and assessment of smartness offered by different indicators. This is because it turns out that an overall score and ranking do not always mean that a city is smart in every area and every element included in smart. Statistical methods and literature analysis are used for the study. The results represent a novel development and contribution to the science discipline and can be the basis for further scientific exploration in this area. The research gap and challenge indicate whether there is a link and correlation between the use of sustainable energy in E.U. countries and the implementation of smart concepts in European capitals in the context of the division into ‘new’ and ‘old’ E.U. capitals. An important element is the verification of the thesis that ‘old’ capitals are more advanced in the implementation of smart cities and make greater use of sustainable energy to meet social and economic needs. The thesis has been partly falsified and confirmed negatively; the results are not obvious. It means that the ‘new’ E.U. countries are very skillful in using financial, organizational, and common development policy opportunities to make their cities modern, intelligent, and friendly to their inhabitants. Full article

Softwater ponds with Lobelia dortmanna (EU habitat type 3110) represent the rarest aquatic habitat in Belgium. As in many other European countries, its unfavourable conservation status necessitates restoration according to the EU Habitats Directive, which is compromised by a range of pressures and faces increasing social–economic opposition. To explore appropriate goals and remaining obstacles for its ecological rehabilitation, we investigated the environmental history of a pond, formerly renowned for the occurrence of this habitat. We complemented monitoring data with information inferred from diatoms analysed from old samples, herbarium specimens and surface sediments, vegetation records, physical–chemical analyses and additional observations. This indicated almost circumneutral, slightly buffered and nutrient-poor conditions for the first decades of the 20th century. Deposition of atmospheric pollutants caused gradual acidification from the early 1940s, intensifying into mineral-acidic conditions by the 1970s. More recently, a period of alkalinisation and eutrophication followed despite some restoration efforts. We discuss these changes in the contexts of general setting, external pressures and internal processes. Reflecting upon the prospects for restoring the pond’s emblematic biodiversity, management implications for this and other softwater sites dealing with similar problems are discussed. A new combination in the diatom genus Iconella is proposed. Full article

Research has shown that mental disorders in working-age individuals are associated with a significant burden of disability, sickness absence, and presenteeism, resulting in lost productivity. This study aims to assess the impact of depressive disorders on the labour markets in the European Union countries, with a particular focus on the disparities between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ EU countries. The study analysed the process of convergence of the burden of depressive disorders among people aged 20–54 in the group of EU-27 countries in the years 1990–2019, using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The initial hypothesis of persistent inequalities in the system studied was verified. The study measured years lived with disability (YLD) due to depressive disorders in the working-age population. The analysis revealed that depressive disorders have a significant impact on the highly developed economies of the EU-14 countries. The convergence assessment did not confirm the effect of catching up with more favourable economies over time, and the inequalities observed at the beginning of the analysis period worsened. This study’s results expand upon the existing literature on the consequences of depressive disorders by introducing the perspective of inequalities in the studied area. These inequalities were observed between EU-27 economies with varying levels of socio-economic development. Full article

The need to monitor changes in the level of agricultural competitiveness of EU member states necessitates the development of an appropriate set of indicators to answer the question of whether a country is improving its competitive position. This paper proposes a synthetic measure for assessing the agricultural competitiveness in the member states of the European Union (EU) from 2012 to 2021. Statistics on the respective indicators were derived from the Eurostat database and Agri-Food Data Portal. The survey was based on linear ordering using a standardised sums approach. This implies that member states vary in competitiveness in the agricultural sector. From 2012 to 2021, the most competitive countries were Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Simultaneously, the rankings of agricultural competitiveness changed over the 10 years under review. The highest improvement rates were recorded in Finland, Slovakia, and Ireland. However, the differences between the old and new member states are still explicit. None of the new member states of the EU were in the top ten with regard to their agricultural competitiveness. Many areas associated with agriculture in these countries require considerable improvement. We also carried out a principal component analysis (PCA), which allowed us to identify the parameters conveying relevant information on the analysed phenomenon and unveil the hidden structures in the primary data set. We discovered that the share of the EU’s agricultural output in the EU exports of agricultural products explained variations in the agricultural competitiveness within member states. Full article

The present study examines how policy makers should consider the quality of institutional framework to reduce the productivity gap and increase a country’s ability to absorb superior technologies developed elsewhere. This paper analyzes the impact of components of economic freedom, such as the size of government, regulation, and freedom to trade internationally, and world government indicators, such as political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, regulatory quality, and control of corruption on the productivity gap between the “Old” and “New” Europe countries. This is among the first studies to investigate, in a sample of former socialistic countries, the impact of institutions on a country’s ability to adopt superior technology developed elsewhere. A static panel analysis was applied on cross-sectional data from the eleven EU countries. The results strongly support the productivity convergence between the “Old” and “New” Europe countries, with a positive impact of the institutions on the productivity growth. However, the impact of the institutions fades the further the country is from the frontier. Full article

Saltmarshes have the ability to not only promote biodiversity, but to put nations on the path towards climate recovery and net-zero emissions through saltmarshes’ capability to take up carbon. As the European Union’s (EU) Green Deal sets out to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, innovative solutions will need to be identified, possibly even through better preserving century-old habitats such as saltmarshes. Based on the upcoming needs from the EU, in the Spring of 2021, a workshop was held with leading Nordic saltmarsh and blue carbon scientists using the transdisciplinary methods of Systems Thinking and Bayesian Belief Networks to identify solutions that can include saltmarshes in future policy. These joint methods elicited multiple future scenarios in which data were collected on perceived notions of the value of saltmarshes and how to better govern them to ensure their longevity. The models developed in this study include human perceptions and comprehensive quantitative scenarios through their ability to define paths forward in the form of comprehensive policy recommendations. We found through scenario analysis that a major belief among the stakeholders was numerous events of change such as ‘outreach, getting salt marshes on the political agenda and forming new narratives would help to increase saltmarsh area via conservation and restoration prioritization’ would have a positive impact of saltmarshes in Nordic countries. Full article

This paper looks at the distribution of disposable income by deciles to indicate how specific mitigating measures have influenced income groups and considers the effectiveness of different combinations of containment measures in the European Union. Simulations using the EUROMOD tax-benefit microsimulation model imply that the mitigating effects of the simulated measures are regressive, with a bigger influence on the bottom part of the income distribution. It is also observed that old democracies benefit from these measures more than new democracies. Surprisingly, our results further reveal that for the two highest decile income groups, the COVID-19 containment measures are stronger in new democracies. Finally, a qualitative comparative analysis of 19 EU countries suggests that each country should apply mixes of containment measures that fit its own context. Although there is no one-size-fits-all policy, old democracies seem more successful at handling the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis than new democracies. This study complements the literature as it shows how COVID-19 measures have influenced household income groups, and second, it adds to earlier studies by clarifying that only specific context-dependent combinations of containment measures are successful at preventing the loss of people’s living standards, thereby giving policymakers the necessary leeway to formulate effective policies. Full article

Background: In 2020, in 27 European Union (EU) Member States, melanoma accounted for 4% of all new cancer cases and 1.3% of all cancer deaths, making melanoma the fifth most common malignancy and placing it in the 15 most frequent causes of cancer deaths in the EU-27. The main aim of our study was to investigate melanoma mortality trends in 25 EU Member States and three non-EU countries (Norway, Russia, and Switzerland) in a broad time perspective (1960–2020) in a younger (45–74 years old) vs. older age group (75+). Methods: We identified melanoma deaths defined by ICD-10 codes C-43 for individuals aged 45–74 and 75+ years old between 1960–2020 in 25 EU Member States (excluding Iceland, Luxembourg, and Malta) and in 3 non-EU countries—Norway, Russia, and Switzerland. Age-standardized melanoma mortality rates (ASR) were computed using the direct age-standardization for Segi’s World Standard Population. To determine melanoma-mortality trends with 95% confidence intervals (CI), Joinpoint regression was applied. Our analysis used the Join-point Regression Program, version 4.3.1.0 (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA). Results: Regardless of the considered age groups, in all investigated countries, in general, melanoma standardized mortality rates were higher for men than women. Considering the age group 45–74, the highest number of countries was characterized by decreasing melanoma-mortality trends in both sexes—14 countries. Contrarily, the highest representation of countries in the age group 75+ was connected with increasing melanoma-mortality trends in both sexes—26 countries. Moreover, considering the older age group—75+—there was no country with a decreasing melanoma mortality in both sexes. Conclusions: Investigated melanoma-mortality trends vary in individual countries and age groups; however, a highly concerning phenomenon—increasing melanoma-mortality rates in both sexes—was observed in 7 countries for the younger age group and in as many as 26 countries for the older age group. There is a need for coordinated public-health actions to address this issue. Full article

The 2004, 2007, and 2013 enlargement of the EU opened up free trade opportunities, increasing trade flows and demand for products of agriculture. On the one hand, the integration processes have intensified competition between countries, and on the other hand, they have created new opportunities for them. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of European integration on the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in countries that acceded to the EU in or after 2004. The assessment of the competitiveness of the agricultural sector was made using the following indicators: land and labour productivity in agriculture, importance of the agricultural sector in the economy of the EU countries, agricultural trade balance, importance of agricultural export in total export of the EU countries, trade coverage ratio, Grubel–Lloyd intra-industry specialization indicator, and Balassa comparative advantage indicator. The analysis was carried out from 2004 to 2020 with the Eurostat statistical database. The outcome of surveys implies that a gap still exists between the old and the new member states of the European Union (EU) in the efficient utilisation of their production factors, despite an increased dynamics of growth in labour productivity compared with the old member states, the so-called EU-15. The overall competitive position of all EU-13 countries in agricultural trade on the common EU market has improved; however, individual analysis reveals disparities between respective member states. In 2020, net exporters with comparative advantage were Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Croatia, and net importers with comparative disadvantage included Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Estonia, and Malta. Latvia and Romania improved their competitive position in agricultural trade. Full article

The aim of the present research is to assess the scale of the impact of air pollution on the level of burdening EU economies with the consequences of chronic diseases (non-communicable diseases—NCDs) in the context of limiting the potential productivity of human resources. This study attempts to identify inequalities in this area that occur in the territory of the European Union. The scale of the impact of environmental factors, and air pollution in particular, on the level of health limitations in the labor resources of EU countries was measured by the number of the years of healthy life lost (YLL and YLD) as a result of chronic diseases. The verification of the assumption of a persistently high level of dispersion was based on an analysis of the convergence process (β and σ) in the group of EU countries in 1990–2019. The results demonstrate that the level of health restrictions caused by air pollution is diverse in the group of EU-27 countries. The inequalities observed concern, in particular, the relationship between the old and the new EU, indicating a high burden of health consequences for the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Europe (EU-CEE). Full article

Balancing of different dimensions of development—economic, environmental, social, is an imperative of policies and strategies of sustainable growth, which are practiced today in the EU and globally. The main aim of our paper is to investigate the relationship between renewable (REC) and non-renewable energy consumption (NREC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and share of ICT in total exports, on one hand, and GDP p.c. on the other. We created a model for EU countries divided in two groups—old and new EU members, by using PMG and ARDL models. Considering the size and structure of the sample of countries, the selected variables in the model and the relevant period (2000–2020), to a certain extent, we filled the research gap in the existing literature. Our results indicate that a 1% increase in the share of REC and ICT in total exports leads to GDP p.c. growth in the long run by 0.151% and 0.168% in old EU countries, i.e., 0.067% and 0.039% in new EU countries, respectively. Contrary, an increase of NREC by 1% has a significant and negative impact on GDP p.c. in the long run, in both groups, leading to a decrease of economic growth by 0.512% in the old and 1.306% in the new EU group. We find a 1% increase of GHG emissions was accompanied by an increase of GDP p.c. in new EU countries by 0.939%, while that impact is insignificant in old EU countries in the long run. We conclude our paper with final remarks and policy implications. Full article