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France’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was initially conciliatory. However, the current French President’ statements, Macron, gradually changed, suggesting a potential shift in France's stance. The French president recently suggested troops could be sent to Ukraine to fight the Russians, a move that could significantly impact the course of the war. Our paper aims to address this possibility. How feasible would this be from a military perspective? Second, are there any other relevant political actors that will support it? Third, why has Paris changed its position to such a radical stance? We start from the theoretical design of realist constructivism. Postcolonial theories and the concept of locked-in path dependence supported this research. The methods follow the path of historical synthesis, discourse analysis of key political actors, and text analysis of defense white papers. Quantitative military variables are used to understand France’s and the EU’s military-industrial complex capabilities and assess its potential. The collapse of France’s neocolonial empire in Africa and Russia’s growing influence in the region partially explains Macron’s discourse change. This is correlated with the need to follow a more independent European security policy and the worsening military situation in Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practical implementation of a circular economy in the European Union poses significant challenges, notably for the EU-11 (Central and Eastern Europe) countries. The aim of this paper is to analyze the transition of the EU-11 countries toward a CE by examining existing circular strategies, national-level policies, as well as bottom-up initiatives, and on the other hand to explore the prevalent circularity discourses within the EU-11 countries. The study employs a discourse analysis method to comprehensively examine documents related to the CE aspects. This methodology integrates both quantitative categorization (codes and categories) and qualitative interpretation (reading and explanation) to support the understanding of circularity discourses. The results of this paper indicate that the countries within the EU-11 are actively advancing their efforts towards a CE. These countries are seen to be proactively developing a circular vision and setting ambitious objectives to facilitate a transition to a circular economic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the potential impacts of the recently published Network and Information Security Directive 2 (NIS2) and Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) on EU cybersecurity resilience and cloud adoption. Employing a mixed method of descriptive literature review, narrative review, and thematic synthesis, we explore challenges for implementation, drawing from past data privacy regulations, notably the GDPR, which served as a basis for our analysis and has already significantly affected many organizations. We emphasize the need for efficient software solutions to assist organizations in complying with the new regulations, building upon lessons learned from the GDPR. Cloud service providers and enterprise software vendors are identified as key players to address these challenges. This paper discusses the paradox of organizations' historical reluctance to migrate to the cloud due to data privacy concerns, and how the motivation to comply with recent regulations may now drive increased modern cloud adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way firms and marketers promote their products is being shaped by consumer needs and trends alongside the evolution of the marketplace. As web technologies and consumers’ online behavior improve, influencers are becoming increasingly significant in social media marketing strategies. This research intends to investigate a particular digital phenomenon observed in the field of books, namely, marketing books on Instagram. Therefore, the study aims to highlight the key aspects of book influencers' Instagram activity, namely by examining the literature, but also the evolution of the bookstagram phenomenon in a dual perspective in both Romania and the United States. Furthermore, the purpose of this research is to draw attention to the similarities and differences among the existing communities in the two countries pointed out by a quantitative research. On that account, the data analyzed was collected in two different ways, first we retrieved information from Statista online database about the phenomenon in the United States of America and then, we conducted a questionnaire to bookstagram community members in Romania. Accordingly, the paper will contribute to the expansion of the literature on #bookstagram communities in various cultures around the world by providing useful information and a more diverse view of this market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the main features of digital repression in Russia, especially in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The repression of digital activism is not a new phenomenon in Russia; however, it gained fresh momentum during the Russian-Ukrainian war. Security has been used as a pretext to expand the state's authority at the cost of individuals' rights and freedoms. To control political narratives, suppress online dissent and surveil regime critics, the government has significantly tightened the national legislation through its media regulator, Roskomnadzor. The aftermath of the war, harsh sanctions and increased anti-regime movements have also deepened Russia's aspirations toward 'digital sovereignty'. Meanwhile, regardless of a number of important initiatives in this direction, domestic digital space still remains an ambitious goal to be fulfilled. This paper concludes that, along with other devastating consequences, the war in Ukraine will provoke further digital repression in Russia aimed at achieving the Kremlin's goal of "digital sovereignty". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing role of digital payments, demand for commercial bank money and nonbank money is expanding, while that for physical cash is sharply diminishing. The retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) is considered the only safe alternative to compensate for this decrease, as a public good complementary to cash that can be used by the general public. It is seen also as a response to the surge of private digital currencies, which could threaten national monetary sovereignty. Complementarily, in parallel to the retail public digital currency, wholesale CBDC targets large-value interbank transactions, limited to selected financial institutions, focused on efficiency, security and lowering transactions costs for cross-border transactions. Based on the extensive literature review and a qualitative synthesis, the present paper has as a key objective the interpretation of the main approaches to the retail CBDC adoption, justified by specific motivations. The research question is "in which circumstances should a retail CBDC be adopted?". The historical perspective of failed projects, combined with current experiences, offers a clear overview of the CBDC as a potential dominant currency of the digital economy, but in the presence of a cautious approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present paper is to analyze changes in the compositional structures of Georgia's economy, explore the related qualitative transformations and explain implications for trade and development. By comparing the evidence of several European countries, we put Georgia’s structural changes within a broader regional-level context. We rely on two key measures of structural transformation: sector employment shares in total employment and sector value-added shares disaggregated at the industry level. To explain trade implications, structural transformation indicators across exporting sectors are evaluated. The existing divides between structural transformation of Georgia and that of the Eastern European economies reveal those structural risks that can negatively affect regional positions of Georgia and its long-term economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant changes of national and global events require adequate responses not just from governments, but as well from the educational areas. The end of the Cold War in 1990, followed by the Economic Crisis of 2007-2008, and the Pandemic Crisis of 2020 were global challenges that increased the importance of geoeconomic field and the need to study Geoeconomics nowadays as an interdisciplinary subject, as a discipline that exercises crucial roles internationally, requiring learners to study it in a meaningful context. In the future, present learners of Geoeconomics will work for countries that will use their strategic positions to access resources and promote their economic interests. They will analyze different interconnections between geography and economics that are transforming the world and promoting a global demand for labour force flexibility. They will be workers that will migrate and study to find their place and role in this evolving geoconomic system. In the present dynamic geoeconomic context, the field of education remains the key to prepare future generations to use a critical thinking approach when deciding how to apply internationally geoeconomic knowledge and skills. This research paper presents different aspects of Geoeconomics as a discipline and shows several steps that can be followed in order to teach and learn an interdisciplinary subject in a meaningful context, using an inclusive education and a cooperative learning approach. In fact, this research paper contains several authentic activities that can be used in the process of teaching and learning Geoeconomics, online or offline, and, more broadly, evaluates the needs of students and the role of lecturers in the process of international education, showing as well different techniques that can be used to prevent plagiarism. This research paper also includes an analysis of the process of meaningful teaching, its features, and the challenges that students can have with studying interdisciplinary subjects within the Social Sciences area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to put forward some ideas on what factors significantly affect entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector, in order to help strengthen them as well as outline practical strategies that can be used by future researchers. The paper is a viewpoint contribution based on the author's research on "entrepreneurship" and "entrepreneurship education" engagement with the development of management in the agricultural field. The research carried out in Western Greece among farmers entrepreneurs. A number of ideas are outlined under the following headings: creating mutually interesting content; demonstrating practical implications; motivating academics. The viewpoint summarizes the key challenges of agricultural entrepreneurship stakeholders and will be of interest to policy makers for the creation of well-targeted development programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are some issues and concerns about the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system, it remains an effective tool for countries to find reasonable solutions for their trading problems. This paper aims to identify the mechanisms of the settlement process between WTO members and to provide a relevant review of the European Union's trade disputes, in particular for energy sector cases. For this purpose, the paper implies a conceptual and descriptive framework and a qualitative approach regarding the EU's trade disputes, especially for energy sector. The results show that the EU is one of the most frequent members in trade disputes, but most of them are concluded. At the same time, most of the cases in the energy sector remain in the consultation phase, the EU being complained by Argentina, Indonesia, Russia, China and Malaysia for sectors related to biodiesel, renewable energy generation and oil palm-based biofuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation of the human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is frequently reported in the Western media and it has gained a central place in the Euro-Atlantic political discourse which condemns Beijing's attitude towards human rights at home. However, the sanctions adopted by both the US and the EU in relation to the treatment applied by the Chinese government to the Uyghurs in the XUAR are strongly discouraged and limited by the economic dependencies of the two Western giants on China. The goal of this paper is to discuss the effectiveness of the economic sanctions in supporting the human rights international regime in the context of current economic interdependence between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), on one side, and China, on the other side. The hypothesis of the paper is that the asymmetrical economic interdependence is undermining the effectiveness of the economic sanctions in supporting the human rights international regime. When there is an increased interdependence between a supporter and promoter of human rights, in this case the US and the EU, and a great economic power that does not regard the human rights as having a universal value in the current international order, the effects of the economic sanctions are inefficient in addressing this problem due to the high economic and political costs for both their issuers and their targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the relevance of eco-industrial clusters in promoting Ukraine's post-war reconstruction and sustainable development. To this aim, the paper carries out a comprehensive literature review of academic articles, reports, and case studies on eco-industrial clusters and sustainable development, collect data on Ukraine's post-war reconstruction efforts and the current state of its industrial sector, and analyze relevant legislation and policies. The results show that the success of eco-industrial clusters can be attributed to several critical factors, including robust collaboration between companies, a supportive regulatory framework, and a long-term vision for sustainable development. In the context of Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, an eco-industrial cluster offers an opportunity to build back better by creating new jobs, promoting sustainable economic growth, and enhancing environmental protection. This suggests that an effective ecoindustrial cluster in Ukraine should align with the country's long-term vision for sustainable development, identify industries and companies that can benefit from collaboration and resource sharing, and prioritize stakeholder engagement and public awareness. The involvement of research institutions, a supportive regulatory framework, and financial resources from international donors and investors are also critical for the success of an eco-industrial cluster in Ukraine. By adopting a collaborative, innovative, and sustainable approach to economic development, Ukraine can build a more resilient, inclusive, and prosperous future for its people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the business environment, economic entities are aware of the importance of reporting transparency for them and their stakeholders. This study provides a comprehensive review of the topic of transparency, with the aim of identifying current research trends. PRISMA method ("Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses") is used to analyze literature published since 1990 on "Scopus", "Web of Science" and "Google Scholar" platform. The study is based on a corpus of 125 articles. Our research found that very few literature review articles capture all aspects of transparency in reporting, leading us to believe that transparency in reporting is still a major challenge in accounting research. Transparency was studied at the level of the country, sector of activity or economic entity. It has also been strongly associated with the quality of reporting and influenced by the application of national or international standards of accounting, corporate governance and auditing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main rationale for wage subsidies is giving job opportunities to workers who would otherwise remain unemployed or take jobs that do not exploit their potential productivity. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the wage subsidy programme in North Macedonia for the period 2018-2019 in order to provide a sound basis for its redesign in the times of Covid-19 crisis. The Propensity score matching is used as a principal estimation method. Moreover, we further explore the impact of the wage subsidies on the outcome variables for particular disadvantaged segments by disaggregation of the average treatment effect on treated individuals. The evaluation reveals improvement of the wage subsidy program in 2019 relative to 2018. However, having in mind the impact of the Covid-19 pandemics, there is a room for redesign of this measure by improving its targeting and conditions for retaining the subsidised jobs in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates board characteristics and committees' structure in the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX) using unique data culled from the database of the Hellenic Observatory of Corporate Governance. The current corporate governance framework applying in Greece is also analysed while comparisons with the international experience are offered. In Greece, while the Law calls for the need to have a Committee comprising of non-executive Board of Directors (BoD) members, it permits the participation of non-BoD members that collectively fulfill the independence criteria as laid out by Law 4706. L.4449 introduced the current Audit Committee composition and operation framework and the accompanying tighter monitoring role on the part of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) and the Hellenic Accounting and Auditing Oversight Board (HAASOB), has undoubtedly overhauled all the audit framework. The average number of committees per listed firm in the Greek stock exchange almost reached the two-committee threshold only in 2018. Average board size is 7.85 members slightly smaller than the average size for major markets around the globe. This shows the potential for an increase in Board size given also recent regulatory changes necessitating the gender representation of at least 25% in the Board of public firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the construction industry is widely viewed as the engine that drives economies around the world, understanding how companies achieve their competitive advantages through innovation, the use of information technologies, strategies, business models, or human resources is vital. The current paper aims to identify and categorize the types of competitive advantages that exist, ranging from pure technological advantages such as information storage, coordination, and electronic communication to organizational and management advantages. In terms of methodological approach, performing a quality analysis of the existent literature regarding competitive advantages consists the best tool due to its wide spectrum of gathering the data. The research will be structured in 3 steps, respectively problem formulation, gathering of the data and title, abstract and full-text review. A complex perspective of the competitive advantages can be therefore obtained which can be a valuable asset in helping a construction enterprise in selecting its long-time strategy for becoming more competitive, efficient and sustainable. Through the main findings, innovation, usage of the informational technologies, initial conditions, environment understanding, safety culture or management practices of the human resources can be counted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the policies of the United Nations and specialized institutions concerning the coordination of international community efforts to combat terrorist threats. Terrorism remains a significant threat to international security, despite the war in Ukraine taking priority in terms of insecurity. In this regard, international cooperation aimed at countering terrorism remains relevant, and the actions taken between 2015 and 2018 must be expanded and intensified. Such cooperation requires the participation of a broad spectrum of actors in international relations, including states, governmental international organizations, and civil society. Terrorism continues to be a global problem, and multilateral cooperation is both timely and necessary to counter it. Terrorist movements have not taken a break, despite their lack of large-scale actions, as they continue to express themselves through the activities of crisis cells or lone wolves. Consequently, prophylaxis methods must be supplemented, considering the new forms of terrorism expression. The United Nations organization continues to prove itself as the institution authorized to develop the legal framework and coordinate international efforts to counter this scourge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to offer an overview of the specific situation of culture as an investment priority of cross-border cooperation, part of the European territorial integration process, in the Eastern Neighbourhood Policy. The research is focused on the cross-border programmes involving Romania and its neighbours during the last two multiannual financial frameworks. Two financial instruments are of interest: the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, for the period 2007-2013 and the European Neighbourhood Instrument for 2014-2020. The analysis is based on the European Union's INTERREG database (keep.eu), filtered for seven CBC programmes, highlighting the role of culture for CBC, the intensity of CBC and the leading territories (cities and countries) in cultural projects involving cross-border partners in the Eastern Neighbourhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term internationalization has been mainly used to show the expansion of economic activities of firms outside of their home country where they aim at capturing a bigger market. The Central and Eastern Europe region has gone through a process of market transition over the past few decades, yet the business internationalization process has played an important role in the states' economies. The aim of this paper is to analyze the firm internationalization process in the new member states and the Western Balkans countries and gain a better understanding of the process and its course over time. Due to different geopolitical circumstances, the Western Balkan countries did not attract as many investors as much as the EU member states in CEE did that have had a constant flow of investments once they were members of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes us on a methodological journey, analysing the efficiency of implementing information technologies in the business environment. In the context of digital transformation of the SMEs in the EU, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova emerges the necessity to focus on implementing information technologies in the business area, as the primary factor of boosting organisational performance. The aim of this research is to shed light on the possibilities of implementing information technologies in the business environment of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The methodology of this scientific endeavour has been geared towards using multiple methods of research, among which stands out the quantitative research, the inquiry used as a research tool, namely a questionnaire. The results of the research show a direct interconnection between implementing information technologies and customer satisfaction, particularly organisational performance. Thus, organisations aspiring to grow their performance should remodel their management system in terms of implementing new information technologies which will increase customer trust, improve client satisfaction, and gain customer loyalty to the products/services provided by the company concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the major challenges for the present European Commission, starting with Brexit and ending with issues such as EU Eastern Enlargement from today's perspectives, trying to explain why it is difficult to talk about enlargement in a fragmented European Union. How will the European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations evolve in the actual mandate of the European Commission? Did the European Commission succeed in offering Eastern states the opportunity to join the European Union by developing instruments encouraging states to meet the accession criteria? A qualitative analysis will be used to highlight the novelty elements analyzed by the proposed theme; the author uses a study case using as research instruments discourse and content analysis. Therefore, the main objective of this research paper is to highlight how the European leaders' discourse on a possible enlargement of the European Union has evolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 10 years at least, not only that human resource specialists have been challenged to upskill and re-skill themselves to stay relevant in a world dominated by technology, but they are in the driver's seat for selecting the right technology for employees and leadership, for managing large scale implementations and integrations, managing vendors, with the objective to keep the workforce engaged. Technology development disrupted traditional thinking, changed consumer behavior, and led to what we could call systemic malfunctions – the rapid development of technology gave no time to human resource specialists to acquire expertise in data analytics, information technology, user behavior, etc. – which translated into watermelon effect: metrics look good, but reality feels different. This study aims to add one more perspective in evaluating human resource technology performance, showing that we are measuring mostly service efficiency instead of measuring employee and business impact and outcomes. The methodology used in this study is Action-Research, mainly because is mostly aligned with Agile philosophy and business operating models. The existent literature is rich in proposing new ways to keep technology users engaged, and delighted, however, is not provide practical and relevant guidelines on how to measure their perception over the holistic experience mediated by technology. Outdated key performance indicators are no longer capable of driving further innovation, setting the stage for failure in keeping employees engaged. Furthermore, we believe that now more than ever before it’s time for consultants to play the role of service aggregators, to bring together technology, processes, and service providers, to unify the experience of employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the age of globalization and increasing social and environmental awareness, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and commitment to sustainability are becoming increasingly important for companies. These practices are no longer just optional choices but are becoming essential criteria for consumers in their purchasing decisions. In our empirical endeavour, we used document content - and survey analysis as research methods. By employing a qualitative content analysis procedure, we examined and evaluated various campaigns promoting sustainability and philanthropy in relation to different apparel brands. Thus, we identified four such relevant campaigns, designed to emphasize ethical and sustainable values enabling a comprehensive overview of the impact of these marketing strategies on consumer purchasing decisions. Moreover, we statistically analysed how the perceived brand value (i.e., translated into purchasing decision) is influenced by philanthropic and sustainable business practices. Based on our results we draw some relevant conclusions about the impact of CSR campaigns, in general, and on Romanian consumer purchasing behaviour, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific research leads the scientific progress based on which information technology (I.T.) professionals drive technology changes, impacting our daily life, business, and work models. The same inventions are impacting the work of the software developers, the ones responsible for building this technology. While I.T professionals are building new tools for automation used in the industry, the work of I.T. professionals is significantly impacted by the tools they build. Paying heed to these considerations, the paper intends to bring forward qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with 18 I.T. professionals. The research purpose is to scrutinize to what extent the workers in the software development industry are aware of the transformations happening in their profession, how they see the future of their jobs and how they prepare for that future. The I.T. engineers taking part in the interviews see the impact of technology in changing their work models, making them more productive rather than a threat to their jobs. They also understand the importance of continuous learning, keeping up with technological changes and soft skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the impact of transport infrastructure quality on economic competitiveness in the European Union (EU), context in which we argue that the quality of the different modal transport networks has a differentiated contribution on competitiveness. The purpose of our analysis aims to quantify the qualitative contribution of each modal transport network to economic competitiveness in the EU. The econometric quantification of the mentioned impact emphasizes a contributory hierarchy as follows: the quality of port and railroad infrastructure contributes most substantially to economic competitiveness, followed by the quality of the air transport infrastructure, the inland waterways and the road network. Based on the iterated results, we sequenced the EU member states with the lowest quality of networks with the highest impact on competitiveness. Thus, we identified the states for which the priority improvement of the quality of the port and railway infrastructures would significantly improve their economic competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important topics of Croatia accession to the EU was cooperation with International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in Den Haag. ICTY was created by the international community to prosecuted war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990es. In Croatia, there was an opinion that the court will prosecute only Serbia and there was a shock when the first indictments were sent for war crimes committed by Croatian forces. A personification of this process was general Ante Gotovina, who was accused among others as a member of a joint criminal enterprise but, in the end, he was found not guilty. At the same time, some parts of Croatian society and media started to build a mythical status around Ante Gotovina. This paper will analyze this type of media coverage and how it did shape opinion and consequentially created a modern myth around Gotovina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the political landscape of post-war Armenia, focusing on both domestic and foreign policy implications of the devastating war of 2020. More specifically, it aims at explaining the aftermath of the 2020 war, with a special emphasis on Armenia's growing dependence on Russia. Since September 2020, Armenia has plunged into a deep crisis. The Nagorno-Karabakh war had a series of implications, both for conflicting parties and a wider region. The ceasefire agreement which entailed huge territorial concessions took many by surprise and raised questions as to the transparency and accountability of the government. Although the Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the hostilities, yet it left many fundamental matters unanswered. Furthermore, the war has exacerbated the pre-existing divisions amongst the foremost political actors and the general public. Combined with the war and its aftermath, the COVID-19 pandemic has also invited challenges, which resulted in an increased human toll, slowdown of economy, and deepened public anger and mistrust of the authorities. The situation is compounded by Armenia's deepening dependence on Russia, which has been largely treated as war-torn Armenia's irreplaceable ally by the Armenian leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the 2015 European refugee crisis, immigrant integration has reemerged as a pressing issue endangering France's social and political stability. France is one of the main asylum host countries in Europe. In the past few years, terrorist attacks have become more frequent in France, and the spread of xenophobia has led to a social crisis that threatens the country's national security. It has prompted France to consider returning to Laïcité in response to this situation. So the purpose of this paper is to analyze France's immigrant integration policy in 2020 and reveal the discourse of Laïcité and republican values in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aegean conflict constitutes a dispute that has been affecting Greek-Turkish bilateral relations for the last five decades. It involves elements such as sovereignty, sovereign rights and national security. This paper suggests that the Torres Strait Treaty, an international agreement that provides the framework for the management of Australia and Papua New Guinea's (PNG) maritime boundaries, can be utilised to provide a possible solution to the Aegean conflict. The resolution of the Aegean conflict would improve the political and diplomatic relations between Greece and Turkey, guarantee the security of the Aegean region and allow for the two countries to benefit from economic cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess employment in Georgia's public sector and study job creation factors. During the last decade, employment in the public sector has increased, and its share in total employment is, on average, 22.5%. This figure is high considering the real expenditures of the government, and the amount of delivered goods and services since some countries like Georgia ensure the provision of public services with relatively fewer human resources. On the other hand, the paper demonstrates job creation factors in the sector through regression analysis. Such a factor is politicians' rent-seeking - creating jobs for influential groups and ensuring political stability. This is more characteristic of those countries that lack democracy and the rule of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global COVID-19 pandemic caused a severe blow to the world economy, bringing the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. This economic downturn was accompanied by various controversies regarding the role of the state in the economy. To withstand these shocks, most of the states started to use fiscal stimulus measures. The main purpose of this paper is to present the effects that COVID-19 caused on the world economy, as well as to review Keynes's ideas regarding the need for state intervention in the economy. The results of the study show that many countries have used monetary and fiscal stimulus measures to cope with the negative effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, Keynes's ideas for state intervention in the economy are still relevant and necessary in today's economy, until the number of people infected with COVID-19 decreases and the economy reopens completely as it was before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the ways to develop small businesses in Ukraine in the post-war period. The overall objective of the study is to identify potential ways to promote small business development in Ukraine in the post-war period. The research objective leads to the following question: what are the best practices and tools that can be used to develop small businesses in Ukraine in the post-war period. To achieve the research objective, the following tasks were used: the analysis of scientific literature on the research topic, using the data obtained within the framework of the UUT 25 Grant Project "Dynamic Capabilities building in Ukrainian SMEs for development and growth in the framework of post-war restoration of territorial communities of Ukraine" (Odesa Polytechnic National University, 2023) and secondary analysis of data from open Internet resources, and the proposals for the small businesses in Ukraine development in the post-war period were given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to evaluate the importance and relevance of fundamental values, beliefs to Ukrainian citizens in the context of full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The research assessed the worldviews and beliefs of respondents that have changed in Ukraine regarding the European Union's values commitment. An online survey of Ukrainians' worldviews of European values perceptions was conducted for Ukrainian citizens in all regions in 2022. The assessment of Ukrainian citizens' values shows the growing tendency of Ukrainian citizens to adhere to the European Union values. The study demonstrates dissatisfaction of citizens with the pace of Ukrainian integration into the European Union. Economic values estimations show the dissatisfaction with fiscal freedom and tax burden in Ukraine. The study's findings prove how important it is to implement political and legal changes to build a civil society, democratic institutions, and a state that protects property rights and the rule of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's (EU) Cohesion Policy, the oldest policy within the EU, has undergone numerous transformations over more than three decades, evolving in both objectives and implementation instruments. The recent expansion of the European Union has rekindled discussions on the efficacy of Structural Funds in achieving economic goals. (Drăgan, 2018). Analyzing the impact and effectiveness of cohesion policy in Romania, as well as understanding the challenges involved in fund absorption and distribution at all levels, is crucial for achieving sustainable regional development to benefit citizens. Starting from the research question: "To what extent has Romania capitalized on the funds allocated through the cohesion policy?", this study outlines the following main objectives: (O1) identifying and analysing the main challenges for the regional policy and for the strengthening of regional and urban development (O2) determining the thematic priority areas to which the majority of cohesion funds in Romania have been allocated, (O3) identifying the primary investment priorities for which European funds have been attracted in Romania. This study aims to address the stated objectives and, where necessary, to identify areas for improvement and suggest strategies to overcome these obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hungary's democratic backsliding demonstrates that the Cold War era notion that more access to information will accelerate the spread of democracy is dying. For authoritarians, social media enabled disinformation is the weapon of choice because it challenges democratic institutional legitimacy. The popularity of the Sputnik V vaccine in Hungary indicates that, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine Russian influence was growing in the EU's backyard. By exploiting social, political, and economic inequalities in Hungary, Russia disinformation facilitated Victor Orban's consolidation of power ahead of the April 2020 elections. Democracies should adopt a new paradigm of state power projection that views robust domestic institutions as the way to confront the issue of social media enabled disinformation. Democracy's most effective weapon against disinformation is institutional legitimacy, socio-economic equality, and public participation in government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After consolidation following the Second World War, the Yugoslav regime began modernising the country and transforming means of production, which resulted in a fragile economy and increasing labour surplus. The reforms coincided with economic development and increasing demand for migrant workers in several countries in the western hemisphere. Consequently, the migration of Yugoslav labour emerged and expanded for more than a decade. This article discusses developments conditioning and sustaining Yugoslav labour migration and Yugoslav workers' labour market performance in industrial countries of Western Europe. This article draws on empirical literature and theoretical understandings of labour migration merged with the perception of temporariness of labour migrants' relocation. The article argues that Yugoslav workers' labour market performance in Western Europe was an outcome of interactions between driving forces of Yugoslav labour migration, practices of its main agents, and the surrounding socioeconomic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The context of this article is a larger, ongoing postdoctoral research that looks into the relationship between opinion mining - more precisely sentiment analysis - and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that started in February 2022. The postdoctoral research aims to analyze political speeches in the context of the war by using available sentiment analysis tools, the purpose being to discover the real emotions behind the speeches per se: are they indeed negative as they pretend to be, or are they rather neutral, in fact, or perhaps even positive. Furthermore, the political speeches selected, coming from official bodies and governments, are focused on the sanctions applied to Russia since invading Ukraine, so both context and sentiment should converge. This article has therefore meaning in the larger context of that research and it aims to offer a short exercise into using a sentiment analysis tool for investigating the presence on social media, this time, of the realities of this conflict. For this purpose, a couple of relevant key words were selected and they were analyzed using opinion mining in the framework of social media platforms and their numerous users. The article investigates the results of this search, discusses them and offers a personal perspective on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation in February 2022 caused significant damage to the Ukrainian economy. The war caused obstacles in the sphere of foreign and domestic trade, disruption of transport and logistics processes, outflow of personnel abroad or partial movement of labor resources within the country, occupation of territories, destruction, looting of enterprises, which certainly affected the ability of entrepreneurship to fully function. This made it necessary to study the impact of war on the state of entrepreneurship of Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to study the state and identify priorities for the restoration and further development of entrepreneurship in the post-war period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article answers the following research question: What effects did Romanian Foreign Policy have on the settlement process in Transnistria between 1992 and 2008? By looking at this particular question this article conceptualizes the role of Romania towards the conflict in Transnistria. It identifies three different major changes in Romanian's Foreign Policy between 1990 and 2008 that include the following defining traits: post-communist identity(1990-1993); re-defining of national identity (1993-2004) and defining an Euro-Atlantic identity (2004-2009). Based on this distinction three types of action towards the Republic of Moldova are identified: 1. Establishing Bilateral relations 2. Consolidation of diplomatic relations 3. Advocacy in Euro-Atlantic structures that have led to specific roles by Romania towards: 1. the facilitation of direct mediation (1992-1993) 2. Noninvolvement in direct mediation and support for third party mediation (1993-2004) and 3. Support for the expansion of the third party mediation framework in the conflict in Transnistria (2004-2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting to market changes is the lifeblood of any business. In the context of an increasingly dynamic environment, the need for a company to survive, adapt, and perform in the marketplace requires innovative strategies supported by digitalization. Developing the entrepreneurial behavior of human capital and maximizing the company's financial performance requires continuous learning, time management, and building strong and constructive relationships. In this study, an up-to-date review of the specialized literature sets the stage for classifying companies' market adaptation strategies into internal and external strategies. Thus, the results obtained are in line with the company's objectives to identify strategies for market adaptation in a dynamic and challenging environment. Among them, innovative strategies to adapt the company to the market, based on education and experience, have long-term positive effects on economic growth and development in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the year of 2022 was marked by many significant and rapid changes on the cryptocurrencies market, this comparative study explores perceptions of Romanian students about cryptocurrencies before and after the market collapse. A qualitative approach has been used to understand attitudes towards cryptocurrencies in March 2022 (when prices of most cryptocurrencies were higher) and then the same study was conducted during August-November 2022 (when the prices of most cryptocurrencies were lower after a dropout in prices that lasted all throughout the summer). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare the results. Our findings show that cryptocurrencies were associated with more negative words in the second wave of the study, but surprisingly, the willingness to invest in such assets did not change that much. However, the willingness to invest seemed to be influenced by how secure/trustworthy respondents perceived cryptocurrencies. Implications and future research suggestions are finally discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship represents an innovative and optimistic perspective for economic and social development. By creating new businesses and jobs, entrepreneurship contributes to the reduction of unemployment and it helps increase the standard of living. Entrepreneurship can also be a source of inspiration for young people and the opportunity to reach their potential and pursue their passion. In this regard, the government and the decision-makers should encourage and support entrepreneurial activities through appropriate programs and initiatives. The present study is based on a bibliometric analysis of the entrepreneurial profile. The bibliometric analysis was made on the basis of 1277 scientific articles extracted from the Web of Science database, on the topic of entrepreneurial profile. Data processing was carried out with the help of the VOSviewer software. The results of the analysis highlight the evolution of the subject over the 1991-2022 period, providing a significant picture of the entrepreneurial profile for the researchers in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal payments in the public health care system represent one of the most sensitive topics in the medical world. It is also a subject of interest for many researchers. As evidenced by reports from various European institutions, a catalyst for their use was the COVID-19 pandemic. Among all the countries of the European Union, Romania was reported with the highest rate of use of these payments. With the support of parallel marketing research, carried out both among patients in Romania and among medical staff, it is demonstrated that they do not consider such practices natural. However, following the conclusions, in order to stop this trend, it is recommended, among other things, to reduce the institutional asymmetry, to tighten the penalties for the medical staff who accept such payments or to stimulate the medical staff, by increasing their salaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant entrepreneurship is recognized as an essential economic driver for host and home countries. However, Eastern European entrepreneurs' social initiatives and contributions are rarely acknowledged, shadowed by their image of precarity and economic survival in host countries. This Interpretative Phenomenological Study (IPA) challenges this paucity by investigating how 18 London-based Romanian migrant entrepreneurs interviewed (LRMEs) enable transformational entrepreneurial practices transcending their "individual subsistence to create jobs and income for others" (Schoar, 2010, p.5) and contributing positively to Britain's social fiber. Specifically, this interdisciplinary study draws on Berry's acculturation model (1997, 2003, 2005) and social learning and self-efficacy theories (Bandura, 1971, 1977). This article contributes to the nascent transformational entrepreneurship scholarship and practice (TE) and policy. Specifically, it demonstrates how these Romanian migrant entrepreneurs enable acculturative belonging for themselves and other stakeholders as they enact through their everyday transformational entrepreneurship practices of role modelling, encouraging other migrants to pursue a socialeconomic entrepreneurial path and acculturative mentoring, supporting them to become custodians of bicultural values and customs, empowered to address social injustice and discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquidity management has an important place in the asset and liability management of banks. The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the intra-bank and macroeconomic factors that affect liquidity in 20 Turkish commercial banks. Financial data of commercial banks operating in the 2002-2022 period and macroeconomic data for the same period are taken into account. In the panel data analysis where liquidity ratios liquid asset ratio (LAR), acid-test ratio (ATR) and current ratio (CR) were taken as dependent variables, a negative relationship between liquidity ratios and deposits to liabilities ratio (DR), financial asset ratio (FAR), fixed asset ratio (FIXR), economic growth rate (gross domestic products - GDP), central bank interest rate (INT), loans to assets ratio (LR), net interest margin (NIM), non-performing loans ratio (NPL); a positive correlation with liquidity ratios and equity ratio (equities to assets ratio, CAP), inflation rate (INF), natural logarithm of asset size (TA), foreign exchange rate (XR) was found. In the study, no statistically significant relationship was found between foreign exchange liquidity ratio (FXLR) and liquidity ratios. Despite its profitabilityreducing effect, banks need to manage their liquidity sensitively and effectively in order to maintain the trust of customers and market, especially during crisis periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of various shocks and natural disasters, the scientific community has expressed a particular interest in the study of countries resilience capacity, after being affected by a hazard. In association with this concern, hazard risk management is becoming a relevant and highly debated topic, due to an increased exposure of people to devastating disasters, all around the world. In the context of fighting for the mitigation of threatening manifestations of nature, the paper provides an overview of hazard risks and resilience, from an institutional perspective, underlying the main characteristics and lessons that can be learned by smaller administrative units (cities) from the emergence of some shocks. In recent years, European Union policies have focused on the component of (smart) city resilience to fatidic events, which has led us to further highlight the major elements that should define it, in order to minimize as much as possible the negative effects of hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term goals set for the post-2020 EaP policy are oriented to support economic resilience. Due to its peculiarities, tourism has proved to be one of the most sensitive economic sectors to the manifestation of multiple crisis experiences. The present study aims to: study and identify the effects of crises on tourism competitiveness and performances in Eastern Partnership countries; to identify measures by which the European Union authorities intend to counteract the effects of crises and improve the response capacity of governments and tourism companies; and to identify actions through which the tourism industry can improve its capacity to manage the various crisis phenomena. To achieve these objectives, the authors used European Commission programmatic documents and reports, statistical reports, data and information on the effects of crises on the activity of the tourism industry in EAP countries. In the frame of the partnership and cooperation relations between the European Union and the EaP countries, special attention has been paid to the support measures established to counteract the negative effects of the pandemic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The support of loved ones is beneficial at any time and in any activity that an individual wants to pursue. In difficult moments in life, the importance of the support given by the loved ones increases. This is also the case at the time of separation from society by being sentenced to a prison sentence due to committing an act condemned by the criminal law. Periodic visits from family, friends or other acquaintances help the condemned to get over the dark period in his life more easily. Also, being released into society for short periods is extremely important for the moral tonus of the person serving a custodial sentence. Such rewards are predominantly used near the time when the prisoner will end his prison sentence to alleviate the shock of reintegration into the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participation of the European Union in the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict created favorable conditions for the implementation of the concept of "involvement without recognition" of the Transnistrian region in the legal field of the Republic of Moldova. The effectiveness of this approach largely depended on the effective functioning of the EU as an intermediary and the tools used to solve this problem. The purpose of the work is to consider the influence of the "post-military" stage on the effectiveness of the implementation of the mediation activities of the European Union, as well as to analyze the strategy of "Europeanization" from the point of view of rational choice theory, which affects the change in the behavior of the conflicting parties in the context of the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the factors influencing food inflation in Turkey, employing both endogenous and exogenous models and integrating major literature findings. Utilizing monthly data from February 2007 to November 2023, standardized for analysis, it explores the relationship between food inflation and various determinants through classical and Bayesian methods. The analysis reveals that increases in the real effective exchange rate, money supply (M1), Turkish and Federal Reserve interest rates, and the food and beverage price index contribute to rising food inflation. Conversely, higher oil prices have a statistically significant negative effect on food inflation. The most influential variables, determined by their inclusion probabilities in the model, are the money supply, Federal Reserve interest rate, real effective exchange rate, and Turkish interest rate. These findings underscore their importance in understanding and analyzing changes in Turkey's food inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]