Search

This article compares the growth rates of Web of Science indexed research publications in 11 European countries from 2000 to 2015. The growth of publication output in the Czech Republic was very fast: the annual production increased more than threefold. However, the number of articles increased only 2.6-fold, whereas the number of proceedings papers increased eightfold. During 2013-15 almost one-third of the papers published by researchers based in the Czech Republic were proceedings papers, a much higher share than in any other benchmark country. Such a high share is undesirable, because proceedings papers are generally much less often cited than journal articles. The growth of the number of proceedings papers is fastest in 17 fields belonging to the social sciences which usually do not hold proceedings papers in high regard. Our analysis shows that this undesirable development started after the introduction of national performance-based research funding system (PRFS) in the Czech Republic. Hence, the effort made to publish proceedings papers seems to reflect an optimization strategy in the light of the PRFS. In the Czech PRFS, proceedings papers have been rewarded point values similar to articles in refereed journals and a large portion of the institutional funding is allocated according to the evaluation results. As a consequence of very fast growth of proceedings papers in the social sciences, the university institutional funding in these fields has grown faster than in other fields. In conclusion, the fast growth of proceedings papers represents an adaptive behavior to the context of the PRFS.

Abstract writing is a very important since it is the piece of formal writing which should attract the attention of the reader and make him/her read the rest of the paper. Thus, it must be clear, concise, coherent, and powerful enough to attract the reader and provide him/her with the key information about the content of a research paper. All university students have to write an abstract in English in their qualification papers. However, non-native students of English usually have difficulties in writing an abstract in English. For example, the Czech students lack formal writing skills in English since the skill of formal writing is not developed enough in their native language, i.e. Czech. Therefore, the aim of this article is to discuss the use of an off-line scaffolding tool, which can help students develop an abstract in English, as well as to demonstrate how this tool can be incorporated in the whole Course of Practical English taught at the Faculty of Informatics and Management of the University of Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic. The application was developed for students as support to a face-to-face class instruction, which proved to be insufficient in teaching students how to write an abstract in English. The application reflects the structure and sentence functions of the abstract and provides students with a model abstract, as well as with additional formulations. Overall, the application was designed with the purpose to enhance student's skill of writing an abstract in English, as well as to lead students to successfully complete the task by making the application user-friendly - easy-to-use, accessible and transferrable as far as the knowledge is concerned. The application aims to enhance students' autonomous learning by tailoring the content to their specific needs and making it accessible anytime and from anywhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the role of institutional founding conditions and institutional legacy for universities' self-representation in terms of diversity. Based on 374 universities located in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland, we can differentiate between a more idealistic understanding (logic of inclusion and equality) and a more market-oriented understanding (market logic) of diversity. Our findings show that the founding phase has no significant effect on the likelihood of a university focusing on a market-oriented understanding of diversity--however, we observe an imprinting effect with respect to the adoption of a diversity statement in general and an equity-oriented statement. Moreover, our findings show that there is a socialistic heritage for universities in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries that is at work and still influences universities' understandings of diversity today.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogenous condition affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. COPD is a major health problem associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In this review, the authors present the current concept of care for patients with COPD in the Czech Republic, along with a summary of treatment recommendations formulated by the expert group of the Czech Pneumological and Phthisiological Society. A more detailed version of the position paper was published in 2020. The aim of this work was to transform the most recent scientific knowledge into the context of daily practice in the Czech Republic. Our concept of care for patients with COPD uses a complex approach with special emphasis on individual phenotypic features of the disease. Maximal effort has been put into individualization of treatment according to the presence of certain clinical phenotypes/treatable traits with respect to current scientific knowledge.

This position paper has been drafted by experts from the Czech national board of diseases with bronchial obstruction, of the Czech Pneumological and Phthisiological Society. The statements and recommendations are based on both the results of randomized controlled trials and data from cross-sectional and prospective real-life studies to ensure they are as close as possible to the context of daily clinical practice and the current health care system of the Czech Republic. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a preventable and treatable heterogeneous syndrome with a number of pulmonary and extrapulmonary clinical features and concomitant chronic diseases. The disease is associated with significant mortality, morbidity and reduced quality of life. The main characteristics include persistent respiratory symptoms and only partially reversible airflow obstruction developing due to an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious particles and gases. Oxidative stress, protease-antiprotease imbalance and increased numbers of pro-inflammatory cells (mainly neutrophils) are the main drivers of primarily non-infectious inflammation in COPD. Besides smoking, household air pollution, occupational exposure, low birth weight, frequent respiratory infections during childhood and also genetic factors are important risk factors of COPD development. Progressive airflow limitation and airway remodelling leads to air trapping, static and dynamic hyperinflation, gas exchange abnormalities and decreased exercise capacity. Various features of the disease are expressed unequally in individual patients, resulting in various types of disease presentation, emerging as the "clinical phenotypes" (for specific clinical characteristics) and "treatable traits" (for treatable characteristics) concept. The estimated prevalence of COPD in Czechia is around 6.7% with 3,200-3,500 deaths reported annually. The elementary requirements for diagnosis of COPD are spirometric confirmation of post-bronchodilator airflow obstruction (post-BD FEV 1 /VCmax <70%) and respiratory symptoms assessement (dyspnoea, exercise limitation, cough and/or sputum production. In order to establish definite COPD diagnosis, a five-step evaluation should be performed, including: 1/ inhalation risk assessment, 2/ symptoms evaluation, 3/ lung function tests, 4/ laboratory tests and 5/ imaging. At the same time, all alternative diagnoses should be excluded. For disease classification, this position paper uses both GOLD stages (1 to 4), GOLD groups (A to D) and evaluation of clinical phenotype(s). Prognosis assessment should be done in each patient. For this purpose, we recommend the use of the BODE or the CADOT index. Six elementary clinical phenotypes are recognized, including chronic bronchitis, frequent exacerbator, emphysematous, asthma/COPD overlap (ACO), bronchiectases with COPD overlap (BCO) and pulmonary cachexia. In our concept, all of these clinical phenotypes are also considered independent treatable traits. For each treatable trait, specific pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies are defined in this document. The coincidence of two or more clinical phenotypes (i.e., treatable traits) may occur in a single individual, giving the opportunity of fully individualized, phenotype-specific treatment. Treatment of COPD should reflect the complexity and heterogeneity of the disease and be tailored to individual patients. Major goals of COPD treatment are symptom reduction and decreased exacerbation risk. Treatment strategy is divided into five strata: risk elimination, basic treatment, phenotype-specific treatment, treatment of respiratory failure and palliative care, and treatment of comorbidities. Risk elimination includes interventions against tobacco smoking and environmental/occupational exposures. Basic treatment is based on bronchodilator therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, vaccination, care for appropriate nutrition, inhalation training, education and psychosocial support. Adequate phenotype-specific treatment varies phenotype by phenotype, including more than ten different pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies. If more than one clinical phenotype is present, treatment strategy should follow the expression of each phenotypic label separately. In such patients, multicomponental therapeutic regimens are needed, resulting in fully individualized care. In the future, stronger measures against smoking, improvements in occupational and environmental health, early diagnosis strategies, as well as biomarker identification for patients responsive to specific treatments are warranted. New classes of treatment (inhaled PDE3/4 inhibitors, single molecule dual bronchodilators, anti-inflammatory drugs, gene editing molecules or new bronchoscopic procedures) are expected to enter the clinical practice in a very few years.

The paper focuses on electronic record of sales, a tool enabling continuous monitoring and control of declared sales of business entities. Such systems have been recently gaining popularity in European countries. The objective of the paper is to analyse the possible use of electronic record of sales for a fairer redistribution of shared taxes according to the place where the taxable income was earned. We do not consider the current situation to be entirely fair, as sales may be realized in the whole territory of the country. However municipalities that help businesses achieve their income are not fairly rewarded for doing so. This usually gives larger municipalities an advantage at the expense of smaller ones. Currently, the tax administration has sufficient technical equipment to be able to identify the place where the revenue was received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the growth rates of Web of Science indexed research publications in 11 European countries from 2000 to 2015. The growth of publication output in the Czech Republic was very fast: the annual production increased more than threefold. However, the number of articles increased only 2.6-fold, whereas the number of proceedings papers increased eightfold. During 2013–15 almost one-third of the papers published by researchers based in the Czech Republic were proceedings papers, a much higher share than in any other benchmark country. Such a high share is undesirable, because proceedings papers are generally much less often cited than journal articles. The growth of the number of proceedings papers is fastest in 17 fields belonging to the social sciences which usually do not hold proceedings papers in high regard. Our analysis shows that this undesirable development started after the introduction of national performance-based research funding system (PRFS) in the Czech Republic. Hence, the effort made to publish proceedings papers seems to reflect an optimization strategy in the light of the PRFS. In the Czech PRFS, proceedings papers have been rewarded point values similar to articles in refereed journals and a large portion of the institutional funding is allocated according to the evaluation results. As a consequence of very fast growth of proceedings papers in the social sciences, the university institutional funding in these fields has grown faster than in other fields. In conclusion, the fast growth of proceedings papers represents an adaptive behavior to the context of the PRFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiologic studies consistently report a U-shaped curve relationship between the amount of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease, with consumption of ≥ three alcoholic drinks being associated with an increased risk. However, the cardioprotective effect of light and moderate alcohol consumption has been recently questioned. In the absence of a randomized trial confirming the cardioprotective effect of light or moderate alcohol consumption, an alternative method to prove the causality is Mendelian randomization using a genetic variant serving as a proxy for alcohol consumption. A Mendelian randomization analysis by Holmes et al. suggests that a reduction in alcohol intake is beneficial for cardiovascular health also in light to moderate drinkers. In a recent analysis of 83 prospective studies, alcohol consumption was roughly linearly associated with a higher risk of stroke, coronary heart disease excluding myocardial infarction, heart failure and risk of death from aortic aneurysm dissection. By contrast, increased alcohol consumption was associated with a lower risk of myocardial infarction. "Low-risk" alcohol consumption recommended by the National Institute of Public Health, Czech Republic, should not exceed 16 g of 100% ethanol/day for women and 24 g/day for men; at least two days a week should be alcohol free, and the dose of ethanol during binge drinking should not exceed 40 g. In practice, this means one standard drink daily for five days at most and two standard drinks at most when binge drinking. These amounts should be considered the highest acceptable limits, but alcohol consumption in general should be discouraged.

Entomophagy as an alternative way of eating in the Czech Republic is gaining more and more supporters. For this reason, we have focused on the microbial quality of the insect dry powder made from Tenebrio molitor during storage. In the samples were determined the major groups of microorganisms by standard procedures. It is the total number of microorganisms, aerobic microorganisms thermoresistant, E. coli and other coliform bacteria, micromycetes and bacteria of the genus Enterococcus. The highest increase of total microorganisms occurred after five months storage in the sample stored in a paper bag and cold, where their number reached a value of 2.870 log CFU/g. For the same sample, coliform bacteria at the rate of 1.839 log CFU/g were also detected. The other monitored groups of microorganisms were in the samples at most in the order of tens of CFU/g. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our reply deals with the investigations of Kropáč et al. (2012) concerning the evolution of Mn-rich garnetites (=coticules) in the Silesian Desná Unit which are closely associated with Fe-rich rocks. Pouba (1970) who described these mineralizations in greater detail, postulated an origin identical with banded iron-formations of the Algoma type. However, Mücke and Losos (2007) excluded a banded iron-formation origin for the magnetite mineralizations and came to the conclusion that these are connected with the Devonian amphibolite of the Sobotín Massif. The older garnetites were inferred to be identical with coticules and, therefore, are comparable with Mn-rich iron-formations of the Algoma type. Concerning the coticules, Kropáč et al. (2012) confirmed the same origin as proposed by us. For the magnetite-rich rocks, on the other hand, Kropáč et al. (2012) strictly followed Pouba (1970) , but did neither present new results or data, nor considered the arguments of Mücke and Losos (2007) . In this reply, the most important results of Mücke and Losos (2007) are discussed in comparison with banded iron-formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are highly important for producing highvalue-added innovative and intermediary goods and play a crucial role in being suppliers of large enterprises, their financial restraints cause them to encounter problems regarding their internationalization process and financial performance. As a dynamic capability of Resourcebased View theory (RBV), the usage of marketing communication tools (MCTs) by SMEs, such as social media (SM), websites, telemarketing, direct mail, SMS campaigns, and Google Adwords, increases the competitiveness of SMEs and might enable them to reduce their financial performance and export concerns. However, the usage of these tools can differ depending on the firm's country of origin since countries have various socio-economic and cultural conditions that affect the competitiveness of firms and their marketing communication approaches to their export and financial performance. In this regard, this paper aims to find international differences in the impact of the usage of MCTs on export and financial performance. This paper examines 1221 SMEs from Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary for this aim. The researchers created an online questionnaire to collect data from randomly selected respondents in the research sample. The researchers also ran Binary Logistic Regression analyses for analysis purposes. Although this paper confirms international differences in the impact of MCTs on the export of SMEs, the effect of SM usage on the financial performance of SMEs does not differ depending on the SMEs' country of origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set of 132 packaging materials based on paper, commonly used in the Czech Republic for food products packaging, was tested as regards the occurrence of contaminants. A number of 101 extractible substances were identified and the levels of 68 compounds, including residues from paper pulp processing (e.g. processing aids), substances originating from printing inks or adhesives (photoinitiators, plasticizers, solvents), impregnation and coating (solvents, hydrocarbons) in all the tested materials were quantified using gas and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry techniques. The results indicated that phthalate plasticizers, anthraquinone, aromatic hydrocarbons and photoinitiators formed the most frequent group of xenobiotics in paper. The highest content in tested papers was determined for dibutyl phthalate (628 mg·kg-1), benzophenone (369 mg·kg-1) and diisobutyl phthalate (108 mg·kg-1). Most of the contaminants in paper packaging materials originated from materials used for modification of functional properties (water-proof or fat-proof adjustment, coating, lamination with polymer films, etc.) and/or residues from recycled pulp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article proposes and analyses the potential use of IoT solutions for detecting water consumption not only from technical, but also from the business and financial points of view. This topic is important because by solving this problem, companies may save a lot of money and this paper provides financial analysis, which answers question, if the implementation is or is not meaningful. Methodology/Approach: Source data used in this paper come from an extensive survey among fifty experts from the energy supply industry in the Czech Republic during two-round workshops. One of the most attractive application has been appointed "monitoring of utility consumption" - for this article the water metering. Findings: We have reached the conclusion that an isolated implementation of IoT technologies is much more expensive than the current solution that are based on human labour, periodical inspections of meters by people. This is caused mainly by high prices of the sonic/mechanical metering devices supporting IoT functionality. Research Limitation/implication: Workshops and research work were realised in conditions in the Czech Republic. Principles of application opportunities and of its implementation are general, but the final decisions about their importance can be influenced by the specifics and situation in the Czech Republic. Originality/Value of paper: The value of the paper comes from the workshops where were defined important application opportunities for definition of the priority for each of defined application opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of modern technology is becoming part of both industry and agriculture. These technologies can also be used in beekeeping, where they can help to monitor the operation of the hive remotely. Beekeepers can remotely monitor the weight of their hives, their temperature, humidity, and other parameters. The aim of this paper is to map the beekeepers in the use of products with monitoring system for remote bee detection in beekeeping in Czechia. To map the issue, qualitative research using semi-structured interviews was conducted with beekeepers, manufacturers/providers of smart devices in beekeeping, and other entities involved in beekeeping. The findings showed that the interest of manufacturers and sellers to offer these smart devices is significant, but the interest of beekeepers is rather less, due to e.g., the purchase price, weaker IT knowledge, traditional beekeeping practices, higher age of beekeepers and the joy of being personally with bees. The novelty of the paper is not to look at the provision of ICT in beekeeping from a technical perspective, but from the perspective of users (beekeepers) and manufacturers of these technologies. Through interviews with beekeepers as well as others in the apiculture sphere, a comprehensive view of the issue is developed. Moreover, this is the first piece of research on this area in Czechia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the smart city concept implementation in the Czech Republic during 2007-2013. The aim is to deliver a closer look at the implementation of the concept in the conditions of the selected Czech municipalities by means of decoding the investments from the EU Cohesion policy. The municipalities represent small sized cities that have so far been on the periphery of interest in smart city debate as they are neither metropolises nor do they fit the newer concept of smart village. The analysed projects are divided into six smart city dimensions, the authors then explore investment intensity in relation to city size and its future commitment to become a smart city by means of having a formalized strategy. The results show that Czech municipalities invested into all smart city dimensions and infrastructure related projects prevailed. The larger the city the more intensive investment activity confirming the relation between size and absorption capacity. The divisive dimension that sets apart future smart cities is the investment into smart economy measures which were implemented in cities that later officially undertake the commitment of smartness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Czech Republic has been a promising destination for foreign investors due to its locational advantages and tax-incentive policy. However, the profit-repatriation rate in the country is extremely high, which results in less capital being available for development. This paper studies the differences in profit-repatriation rates among FDI (foreign direct investment) firms in the Czech Republic after the appearance of tax-holiday incentives from 2008 to 2019. The precondition is to find the determinants of the repatriation rate of FDI firms, and the results show that the profit repatriation rate of FDI firms is positively affected by firm size and the liquidity of firms and negatively affected by investment opportunities and leverage. The paper divides FDI firms into several groups and examines the differences in repatriation rates between them before revealing the determinants of these differences. Firstly, there is no difference in profit repatriation between FDI firms with tax incentives and those without tax incentives. Next, we divide the FDI firms with tax incentives into two groups: those who still enjoy the tax incentives and those who no longer enjoy the tax incentives. The FDI firms with tax incentives that are in the tax-incentive period repatriate less than FDI firms with tax incentives that are not in the tax period any longer. The difference stems from the endowment effect, and three determinants that can reduce the repatriation rate of FDI firms that are no longer in the tax period are investment opportunities, leverage, and firm size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because there is a lack of wood resources in many countries, this work focused on pulp and paper production from the waste and agricultural residues of non-wood plants. The work aimed to pulp the nitrate-alkaline of black mustard (Brassica Nigra L.) and camelina (Camelina Sativa L.). The black mustard and the camelina were selected due to the expanding planted areas of these crops in the Czech Republic. To characterize the chemical composition of black mustard and camelina, cellulose, lignin, ash, and extractives were determined. Raw alpha-cellulose, beta-cellulose, and gamma-cellulose were also measured. The results showed that the content of lignin in non-wood plants is lower than that in softwoods. The cooked pulp was characterized by the delignification degree–Kappa number. Additionally, handsheet papers were made for selected samples of pulp. The handsheet papers were characterized by tensile index, breaking length, and smoothness and compared with commonly available papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we compare the development and possibilities for improvement of waste management in three countries: Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Waste management is part of the circular economy. The circular economy is the basis for waste management today. This applies to municipal waste management, too. In this paper, we work with data available in the Eurostat database. We mainly deal with municipal waste in the three chosen countries. The output of this paper is an assessment of indicators such as recycling rates and waste production. The outputs are documented graphically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: SMEs' concern for the digital literacy of their workforce, their interest in increasing digital literacy among employees, and securing their digital platforms, have been major issues in their digital transformation process. To reduce those obstacles, the dynamic capabilities of SMEs included in the Resource-based View (RBV) might be an effective solution since they help companies be more competitive and proactive against the threats they face in the digitalization process. Purpose of the article: This research aims to investigate whether SMEs' dynamic capabilities positively contribute to their digital transformation process. Methods: In line with the proposed relationships, this paper analyzes SMEs from Czechia by running Ordinal Logistic Regression analyses. The research sample is created by stratified random sampling and purposive sampling methods. The research data is collected via telephone surveys. Findings & value added: This research does not find a positive relationship between the dynamic capabilities of SMEs and the digital transformation process. While the results related to digital literacy are negatively associated with digital transformation, no significant relationship exists between security actions and the digital transformation of SMEs. This paper extends the scope of RBV on the digital transformation of SMEs by analyzing various dynamic capabilities of SMEs that have not been included in a sole study. Moreover, the perceptions of SME executives are considered by this research to provide effective solutions for the problems they face in digital transformation. Having a joint venture agreement with well-experienced IT companies, having a network with partner firms, looking for funding opportunities in the EU, participating in some practical training, and providing internships for bachelor students might enable SMEs to hit their targets in digital transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: The lack of financial resources of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make them face high financial risk. Their entrepreneurial abilities that belong to Resource-based View (RBV), such as innovativeness and competitiveness, might reduce SMEs’ financial risk because those entrepreneurial abilities increase the financial performance of businesses. Purpose of the article: This paper aims to investigate the effects of the innovativeness and competitiveness of SMEs on their financial concerns based on financial risk, including bankruptcy, financial performance, and financial risk management. Methods: The authors use a method of data analysis and synthesis, including advanced knowledge and digital processing of background studies. This paper examines 1221 SMEs from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Those firms are chosen by random sampling method from Cribis and the Budapest Chamber of Commerce databases. Then the researchers directed an online questionnaire to collect the research data from the randomly selected firms. The researchers use Ordinal Logistic Regression Test for analysis purposes. Findings & value added: This paper's results indicate that SMEs' competitiveness does not impact SMEs’ bankruptcy prediction, financial performance, or financial risk management. On the other hand, while more innovative SMEs are less likely to face bankruptcy issues than less innovative SMEs, less innovative SMEs indicate better financial performance than their more innovative counterparts. Since this paper focuses on the influences of intangible assets of SMEs (such as characteristics based on RBV and Entrepreneurial Orientation) on their tangible assets (financial performance etc.) and puts emphasis on this fact from an International perspective, this paper makes a significant contribution to the literature. Furthermore, analyzing multiple relationships between SMEs’ different entrepreneurial characteristics and various financial risk concerns is another important fact that might draw prospective readers’ attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to seek the perceptions of potential future corporate managers and directors on the issues raised in the literature, especially recent articles in the corporate communications literature, concerning corporate board gender quotas. It focusses on the Czech Republic, where research on board gender diversity is sparse. Design/methodology/approach: The study is part of much more comprehensive research into board gender diversity. It adopts a questionnaire approach, with this paper focussing on 13 research statements. A Likert Scale of 1–4 (Strongly Agree; Agree; Disagree; Strongly Disagree) was applied to the perceived views expressed. The questionnaires were completed by university students at a public university in the Czech Republic during March–April 2023. A pilot questionnaire was conducted in February 2023, resulting in minor changes being made. The data is analysed using SPSS and MedCalc® statistical software. Findings: There is overwhelming opposition to quotas, even from women. The opinions expressed by the respondents to this research, in many respects, support the literature, but there is unmistakable evidence of gender bias. Regarding the positive female benefits of quotas, male respondents disagreed; regarding the negative issues of quotas, male respondents agreed more than their female counterparts. Practical implications: The research findings have important implications for how women recruited through quotas may be received onto corporate boards – what challenges will they likely face? Some current female candidates for directorship, who would have been selected on merit and perceived as such by their male counterparts, may now be hesitant to apply for such positions if they are seen as being appointed due to quotas. Therefore, the selection procedure must continue to be based on merit and seen as such. Originality/value: One of the important aspects of the paper is that it focusses on a country that has, until recently, resisted pressures to implement mandatory corporate board gender quotas; in this respect, it has a corpus of originality and value. The Czech Republic and other European countries will also be affected by the recent EU law on gender balance or corporate boards. The paper also highlights the perceptions of potential future directors on various issues of board gender quotas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigration became an especially thorny and publicly discussed issue with the so-called Refugee Crisis beginning in 2015. The stance of the Czech and Polish governments was dominated by strong anti-Muslim and anti-immigration rhetoric. Still, both countries have witnessed a steady increase in mainly short-term immigration from various Asian countries such as Bangladesh or Pakistan ever since. This paper analyses Czech and Polish migration policies against the backdrop of a historically constructed notion of anti-illegal immigration policy, and category of temporary migration, coupled with the problematic nature of debt-financed migration in Asia. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Czechia and Poland (2018-2021), in-depth and semi-structured interviews with migration experts, academic and grey literature, official documents, and the method of Accidental ethnography, this paper argues that silencing of actual labor immigration in political communication while employing anti-migration rhetoric represents a discursive gap typical for liberal democracies. It further concludes that rendering migrant labor as a temporary commodity and turning a blind eye on recruitment of international migrants represents a continuity practice of migrant labor subordination within the nation-state, originating during colonialism and the advent of capitalism in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the drivers of public sector wage setting (PSWS) within the broader political and economic conditions in Central and Eastern Europe are scarce. To fill this gap, the paper questions to what extent the export-led growth model, based on foreign direct investment as driver of economic growth, influenced PSWS in Czechia and Slovakia after the 2008–2009 crisis. The paper provides new evidence of the appropriateness of the growth model literature, integrated by consideration of global production chains integration, for understanding PSWS in CEE conditions. The analysis shows that PSWS followed institutional traditions and established practices that only indirectly related to the countries' export orientation and integration into global production chains. The indirect growth model impact on PSWS in CEE conditions is channeled through a strong role of the statutory minimum wage, which serves as a wage benchmark both for the export sector and PSWS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses operations research (OR) history and achievements in Czechia and Slovakia in 2010–2021 including the most significant OR professional events in the region. The history of Central European Journal of Operations Research from its beginnings to the present is shortly mentioned. The paper presents and analyzes main bibliometric and publishing trends in academic OR research relevant for the region. The final part of this paper contains an introduction to the current issue that contains results of the latest OR research in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]