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This paper looks at different case studies of European lotteries operating games of chance for the public benefit. It takes the case studies of four national lotteries as most similar systems design comparative methodology to investigate the extent to which market structure and managerial strategy play a role in the profitability of the companies. The empirical data collected through process tracing, public statements and public records shows that while being bound to interact with each other, the market context does not dictate managerial strategies, and innovations in the latter offer very diverging results in terms of the bottom line of the different European lotteries operating games of chance. This paper contributes thus to the existing literature on market conditions for companies operating games of chance (e.g. Huttenen 2020, Grote & Matheson 2023, Clotfelter & Cook 1991) by developing a much-needed link to the academic literature on corporate governance in state-owned enterprises (e.g. Cao & Vittas 2017, Szarzec & Nowara 2017, Megginson & Netter 2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic & Regional Studies/Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The economic crisis, followed by the sovereign debt crisis, resulted in high unemployment, unsustainable public finances and deepening disparities between Euro Area member states, and underlined the necessity of strengthening economic coordination. In order to lessen the effects of the crises, to prevent further deepening of the economic context and the appearance of new similar situations, the European framework was improved by the provisions of the new economic governance. The aim of this paper is to assess the effects regarding macroeconomic stability within Euro Area member states, achieved under the new economic governance framework. In this respect, the first part of the paper consists in an overview of the provisions imposed through the European Semester, the reformed Stability and Growth Pact and the other elements of the new European governance. In order to assess the achievement of economic stability we analyzed data for Southern Euro Area member states, during 2009-2013, as this group of countries registered most issues during 2013. We took into consideration five important indicators, essential in any economy that form the macroeconomic stability pentagon: economic growth rate, unemployment rate, inflation rate, budgetary balance and current account balance. By comparing the area obtained through the macroeconomic stability pentagon, we conclude on meeting one of the main objectives of the new European governance: economic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides general information about forests and forestry in Poland against a background of other EU Member States. Based on the data published in various international sources of statistical data it presents the information of forest resources, forest health condition, protection of forests, occurrence of forest fires, employment in forestry and related sectors, as well as selected aspects of production and trade of wood and wood products and also generation and use of renewable energy. The paper concludes that Poland is characterized by vast forest and timber resources, however in view of a large area of the country and large population share of forest lands in the total area of the country and the average forest area per inhabitant are low. The high share of protected areas makes Poland one of the leaders in forest protection, however Polish forests are very vulnerable to fires. Poland is a significant producer of wood-based panels, sawnwood and pulpwood, as well as paper and cardboard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mostly theoretical and following a descriptive - normative logic, with a specific focus on the models of higher education institutions and practices, the present paper addresses the subject of entrepreneurship within higher education area, in relation with current European policy context regarding higher education and university entrepreneurship. It proposes a strategic public relations framework as an integrating effective approach for actual opportunities and challenges that universities deal with presently. Various theoretical approaches and concrete actions emerged, from the complex perspectives of triple helix (organic relationships and interactions between universities, industry and government) to particular aims regarding the development of knowledge-based economy or to the European Union knowledge triangle initiatives (education-research-innovation). The role of universities is expected to be broader and its actions should be characterized by both responsibility and pragmatism within the context of sustainable decision making. However, mostly in practice, there are limitations and criticism regarding a convergent model of entrepreneurial university, even more in relation with issues related to ethics of teaching and research and especially for universities with social and humanistic profiles. In this context, a viable solution could come from the area of public relations, undertaken in their most advanced form: as strategic approach linking decision making processes, stakeholders' needs and interests and assuming long term responsibility. The main aim and originality component of this paper is to propose and support such an approach presented both verbally and trough graphical modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's Water Framework Directive introduced a new approach to the system of water management in Europe by nominating the river basin district as the basic unit in water management. While its transboundary character aims to better manage natural resources, its design and implementation carries several challenges due to its weak integration of various bordering effects related to administrative boundaries that strongly affect the directives' implementation. Based on a comparative document based case study of two river basin districts – the International Oder River Basin District (IORBD) and the International Torne River Basin District (ITRBD) – the paper scrutinizes the effects on the implementation processes of the directive and aims to draw attention to identify the differences that derive from various socio-spatial settings during the first cycles of water management plans from 2009 to 2015. By thematically comparing biophysical characteristics, cross-border cooperation, cultural and administrative bordering processes the study displays a mismatch between the directives aims for transboundary governance and the actual governance processes which are hampered by a variety of conflicting bordering processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 6 July 2017, after four years of negotiation, the EU reached an agreement with Japan over the main elements of a comprehensive free trade agreement. The breakthrough came at a time when progress on multilateral trade negotiations at the global level seemed out of reach and EU bilateral trade agreements faced strong public opposition. This paper examines the content of the new agreement with a view to global trade dynamics and assesses its main trade policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing youth unemployment across Europe raises the need to take appropriate measures. One of steps taken towards decreasing it by the European Union has been the program Youth Guarantee, implemented by a number of member states. Despite the relatively lower youth unemployment, the Czech Republic has implemented this program as well, and supported the realization of the project Internships for Young Job Seekers, whose aim was to ease the transition for students from schools to the labour market thanks to internships in companies. The effects which internship related project bring for their participants have been evaluated in other EU countries, mainly in Germany, but also in Sweden or France. However, evidence about internships' effectiveness has been missing for the Czech Republic, and this paper fills this existing knowledge gap with the use of counterfactual impact evaluation methods. In the paper, we have focused on examining the impacts of internships on personal income and economic status of trainees by using the propensity score matching, difference-in-differences estimation and two complementary methods - ordinary least squares and multinomial logit. The results confirmed a positive impact of internships on treated project participants regarding both outcome variables, and thus, are consistent with the majority of literature in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Regional Focal Point for Animal Genetic Resources (ERFP), is the European regional platform of National Coordinators (NCs) supporting management of animal genetic resources (AnGR). To assess the performance of the ERFP platform/network and consider options for its further development, a survey was performed among NCs. Twenty-five NCs responded to the survey on the roles, values and future of the platform. The paper provides an analysis of the results of the survey, including a ERFP SWOT analysis. NCs indicated high value of the support of the ERFP in fulfilling their functions at the national level. They highlighted the well-established network and facilitated communication and collaboration among NCs and other AnGR experts in Europe. The NCs appreciated the efficient organizational structure of the ERFP (Working Groups, Task Forces, Ad hoc Actions), and the well-functioning Secretariat. Indicated weak points included discontinuity of NC positions in some countries, and low levels of activities in some countries. NCs saw new opportunities for ERFP development in the context of the EU policy and regulatory framework related to AnGR management, and in strengthening the role of the Secretariat. No immediate threats were identified, however potential future threats included insufficient financing and lack of continuity. The NCs highly appreciated the substantial progress achieved by the ERFP over the last 20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union project initially started as a peaceful solution for war reconstruction in Europe. European countries decided to cooperate rather than compete in an aggressive way. At the beginning, this project supposed (involved) market liberalization, trade barriers removals, market access improvement (initially for coal, steel, energy and, later, for all goods, services, workforce and capital). Unfortunately, in the last decades, all these Single Market facilities have been backed by redistributive schemes, protectionist mechanisms, social engineering, subsidies and facilities packed in so-called "EU policies". New "European" institutions have been created, more and more funds have been involved to financially support this very complex redistributive intervention. The political dimension of the European Union project enhanced the economic dimension and constantly suffocated private markets and the economy. The "incomes" of the European Union that fuel its financial support are coming from taxes and/or inflation (better administered after the introduction of a Single Currency - the Euro). This paper will discuss the relevance of European Funds for economic development, especially for new members in this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission is trying to increase the EU's competitiveness by building on its assets, particularly its many ICT industrial clusters. The Commission is seeking to strengthen the role of European ICT poles of excellence (EIPEs). But where are EIPEs and what are their characteristics? This paper reports the results of a project that casts more light on the geography of European ICT activity and indicates the key ICT locations in Europe. The project results show that excellence is scarce and is built on solid foundations in science and technology and industrial activity. We discuss the challenges to the EU's ambition to nurture five additional EIPEs within the next few years and present policies which could strengthen the position of existing EIPEs and improve the performance of potential candidates so that they play a stronger role in European ICT activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing European Union (EU) natural gas network provides large capacity to integrate renewable (RGs) and low-carbon gases. Today, hydrogen contributes only a few percent to Europe's energy consumption and is almost exclusively produced from fossil fuels and used in the industry. Nevertheless, hydrogen has a significant role to play in emission reduction in hard-to-decarbonize sectors, in particular, as a fuel in transport applications and as a fuel or feedstock in certain industrial processes (steel, refining or chemical industries, the production of "green fertilizers"). Carbon dioxide (CO2) in reaction with hydrogen can also be further processed into synthetic fuels, such as synthetic kerosene in aviation. In addition, hydrogen brings other environmental co-benefits when used as fuel, such as the lack of air pollutant emissions. However, in transitional phase from fossil to RG, namely, renewable or green hydrogen, natural gas/biomethane and hydrogen blends, are needed to gradually replace natural in existing gas transmission and distribution networks. The gas networks are believed to be able to use natural gas/biomethane and hydrogen blends with 5–20 % of hydrogen by volume. Most systems and applications are able to handle it without a need for major infrastructure upgrades or end-use appliance retrofits or replacements. The promotion of hydrogen network such as European Hydrogen backbone (EHB) is gaining momentum in Europe. To decarbonize the natural gas grids, the threshold of hydrogen in the existing grid systems must be increased, which can be done by means of wider natural gas/biomethane and hydrogen blending and simultaneous transportation in currently operational gas networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Labour market policy aims to fight against unemployment and to raise employment. With this study we attempt to contribute to the evidence of the effectiveness of active labour market policy. Objectives: In the empirical part of the paper we aim to research the relations between the labour market policies and macroeconomic variables. Methods/Approach: In order to distinguish the effects of expenditures for labour market policies on unemployment rate, we separately analysed the effects of expenditures for active labour market policies and the effects of expenditures for passive labour market policies on unemployment rate using panel regression analysis. Results: The expenditures for active labour market policies have negative and statistically significant effect on unemployment rate, whereas the expenditures for passive labour market policies have positive and statistically significant effect on unemployment rate. Conclusions: Not only the activation strategies with benefit conditioning, but also encouraging and enabling unemployed person to actively approach in searching for a job should be implemented. The implementation of activation strategies which create favourable conditions for unemployed people to develop their skills, fulfil their potential, continuously maintain contacts with the employers and actively participate in the society should be supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use European Union Labour Force Survey data for the period 2005–2018 to investigate the cyclicality of training in Europe. Consistent with the view that firms use recessions as times to update skills, we find that training participation is moderately countercyclical for the employed. Within the not-employed group, this is true also for the unemployed, who are likely to be involved in public training programs during recessions, but not for the inactive, who may be affected by liquidity constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European integration is obviously impeded by the national and nation-state idea that is still vigorous and motivates European Union (EU) member states' refusals to cede powers to the EU or subnational levels. Recent events like the global economic crisis, the Euro crisis, the migration crisis and the coronavirus pandemic have, however, demonstrated that it is not just the national idea and the nation state that appear to seriously hinder further integration, but that fundamental differences in cultural attitudes in different parts of Europe are also responsible. They can be traced back to earlier periods of history and a Europe that consisted of parts with very divergent economic, social and political attitudes. These disparities are difficult to equalize. The article highlights Europe's major cultural differentiation processes in history, hints at their current traces in economic, social and political attitudes and relates those attitudes to problems in European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyse the results of a youth study carried out in selected post-communist countries in Central Europe, published in the monograph The Me-Generation in a Post-Collectivist Space. Dilemmas in a Time of Transition. Its authors ask a question about the role of the young generation in the processes of systemic transformation. Their research reveals that young people have little involvement in public life, rarely participate in elections, and are mostly preoccupied with individual strategies and satisfying their own needs. Those who show an interest in public affairs and actively participate in political life tend to contest the idea of liberal democracy, and support nationalist and populist parties; they blame democracy for failing to fulfil their aspirations. This type of youth generates social changes that contribute to the strengthening of nationalist and anti-European trends in Central Europe. Nevertheless, conclusions presented in the study seem to be overly pessimistic, as there are also groups of young people who present post-materialist attitudes and who are interested in the democratisation of the political systems in their countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanian Journal for Baltic & Nordic Studies/Revista Romana de Studii Baltice si Nordice is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Econometrics / Ekonometria is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This note argues that one should lay the focus of future European growth policy on integration and technology. This focus should be on maximising the growth effects of their interaction, with an emphasis on the importance of deep integration. The note provides three examples that show how deep integration has contributed to stop the relative economic decline in the UK vis-à-vis the EU founding members; how deep integration increased productivity in Sweden, Austria, and Finland compared to that in Norway; and how a key mechanism to advancements in the new EU member states has been the capacity of deep integration to generate institutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early observations show that the introduction of e-learning to the rural areas of the EU has brought fewer advantages than had initially been expected. The results of the international research - interpreted by the means of the sociological theory of diffusion - indicate that the economic profitability does not have much influence on the pace of disseminating of that innovation; since, the rural inhabitants - both those following the e-learning courses as well as those who have not yet done so - largely feel that that type of education has the variety of advantages including the lowering of its costs. It seems that its social profitability has the crucial influence on the poor dissemination of this new form of teaching and learning. E-learning has not yet found its niche in the value systems or educational experiences of the Europe's rural populations, since - rather like the other forms of education - it does not automatically improve the capability of coping with the current day-today problems. The better adaptation to the needs of the rural inhabitants through the perception of various types of the deficits hindering the usage of this type of education is intended by the so-called innovative e-learning, implementing new and generally innovative solutions to the pedagogical, technological and organisational fields, which overcome existing limitations through the greater flexibility of the ways of the potential participants' accessing e-learning proposals as well as the greater adaptation to the individual needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]