Economic Growth, Prosperity and Sustainability in the Economies of the Balkans and Eastern European Countries

Τhe aim of this article is to study indicators that measure the economic freedom of states. The concept of economic freedom is closely related to the importance of the institutions that contribute to the orderly functioning of an economy. Economic stability creates the conditions for economic freedom that may contribute to the achievement of prosperity. The main argument for economic freedom focuses on the state’s limited role and the existence of appropriate institutions that lead to prosperity. Adam Smith, the father of economics, played a key role in developing the argument that economic freedom contributes to the achievement of well-being (Lawson in Economic freedom, 2019). The precondition of economic freedom is the achievement of individual freedom in all aspects of life and not exclusively in the field of study of economics. The indicators examined in this article aim to study the concept of economic freedom and well-being and are the following: (1) Economic Freedom of the World Index and (2) Index of Economic Freedom. The aforementioned indicators are analysed for the study period 2012–2022, and for the four countries under study, i.e. China, Germany, Greece and the US.

The current study aims to investigate the relative country Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attractiveness in the region of post-communistic Central, East, and South-Eastern Europe, where countries started to build a democratic state and an open market economy based on relatively similar initial conditions after the fall of the Berlin wall (Outhwaite in Contemporary Europe, 2016a). Although the transition strategies and policies were very similar, influenced by the recipes of the so-called Washington Consensus and the Bing Bang approach towards the establishment of liberal market economies, there are significant differences (chronological or substantial) in the implementation of these policies leading to different paths of policy efficacy and institutional outcomes. We attempt to show that these different governance paths determine the ‘individual country FDI attractiveness and sustainability’ across eleven (11) countries in the specific region. Qualitative research methods influence the methodology applied. By filtering through theory and empirical evidence of firm internationalisation strategies, this paper identifies the more relevant determinants of country FDI attractiveness, expresses them in quantifiable forms, and measures the variation of FDI attractiveness in the region among our research cases. The paper concludes that the procedural structure of starting up a new business, combined with the economic and market policies for regulation, good structure, and efficiency, is the main configurational (By the word configurational, Rihoux and Ragin (2009) refer to a specific combination of factors that produces a given outcome of interest.) factors determining a country’s degree of FDI attractiveness and sustainability.

International trade has a multidimensional influence on the economy, since it determines to a great extent the production and distribution of products and the structure of the labour market in the trading countries. Countries with greater trade engagement tend to show higher rates of economic growth and lower levels of inequality. However, it is very difficult to attribute much of the growth to trade openness. Despite the fact that international literature has emphasised the causal relationship of trade openness with economic growth and economic inequality, the examination of this relationship leads us to mixed and not robust results, with most of the studies having varying outcomes. This paper attempts a thorough review of the related literature, in order to elaborate the most catalytic theories of trade and growth and establish the necessary theoretical background. Moreover, the causal relationship between the above variables is analysed, and the crucial evidence of the modern empirical researches is highlighted. The paper concludes that trade openness and economic growth are interconnected. Nevertheless, this correlation depends on many macroeconomic variables, and it is not a standardised process that all countries could follow with the same effectiveness. Trade liberalisation has contributed to the reduction of income inequality among countries, although in some cases it was observed a considerable increase in within-country income inequality.

Many changes have been made in the Georgia budget policy over the years, but providing municipalities with sufficient financial resources is still a matter of discussion. Local self-government plays a major role in the formation of a sustainable economy. The independence of the municipality and its strength is impossible without an appropriate budget that is why it is important to analyze the challenges of the municipal budget formation and determine the optimization mechanisms. The paper analyzes the dynamics of budget income of Georgian municipalities; it is studied the experience of foreign countries, and the existing problems are identified based on the analysis of research results. Based on the mentioned data, the changes implemented at the modern stage, which relate to the formation of the municipality’s budget revenues, have been evaluated.

In recent years, international economic growth has been slow. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s economies must be considered. COVID-19 is not only a risk to the public health sector, but it is also a serious threat to the entire global economy. The purpose of this article is to present and analyse the effects of COVID-19 on the Greek and Chinese economies. More specifically, this paper empirically examines how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted foreign direct investment (FDI) in Greece and China, two economies of different locations and sizes. COVID-19 has plunged the world into the deepest recession in recent years, with unprecedented levels of deprivation, economic hardship and unemployment. Western economies, such as Greece, did not show better reflexes than China in containing the pandemic, with the result that this unprecedented situation, with the emergence of COVID-19, has had a negative effect on global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI flows must be differentiated on the basis of two different entry modes—Greenfield FDI, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The severity of COVID-19 in the host countries adversely affected FDI in different sectors regardless of entry mode, but the effect of the home countries’ COVID-19 situation on FDI was not so adverse. The COVID-19 pandemic actually boosted FDI. The main causes could possibly be the reduction of the companies’ ability to invest due to the lack of skilled workers as a result of health security concerns, as well as the drop in the level of corporate profits on one hand and the increase of financing costs on the other. Additionally, it is easy to see that investment trends have been broadly negatively affected in most economies. All these factors are made more apparent by finding that most economies, regardless of geography, experience a very high level of risk perception in investment and financial markets. Finally, this note is an introduction and preliminary statement of the impact of COVID-19 on FDI.

The present study extends Sarafopoulos and Terzopoulou (Sarafopoulos and Terzopoulou in Global, regional and local perspectives on the economies of Southeastern Europe. Springer, 2023b) to the case where the players of the game do not have the same information when choosing strategies. We suppose that the bounded rational player is characterized by knowing some information about the next time R&D efforts of its opponent. We examine the existence and stability of equilibria of this system. In order to show the effect of the speed of adjustment of the bounded rational player on the dynamics of the system, numerical simulations are carried out. We show that the speed of adjustment of the bounded rational player may change the stability of the Nash equilibrium and cause a structure to behave chaotically. Finally, an attempt is made to control the chaotic behavior.

In times of uncertainty, companies need to act quickly and respond to the market accordingly. Therefore, flexibility in the organization is a necessary prerequisite, whereby the budget plays a decisive role. Under the aspect of making budgeting as agile as possible, the Continuous Planning and Forecasting Framework (CPFF), from Dilger et al. (Proceedings of the 21st annual conference on information technology education. ACM, pp. 371–377, 2020) was developed. This framework proposed flexibility and at the same time shall help limiting the risk by granting room for maneuver being based on the beyond budgeting principles. A waterscrum/agilefall-led practice environment is seen as a use case for establishing the CPFF. Waterscrum/agilefall represents a mixture of waterfall- and agile software development. This paper addresses the question to what extent the framework can be implemented in such an environment. To answer the research question, a case study according to Yin (Case study research and applications: design and methods, 2018) was conducted, where, in addition to participant observations, the main component of information was generated from interviews with the employees of the departments under review. Continuous evaluation was performed on the one hand through constant participation in the meetings, and on the other hand with targeted interviews to gather information and in the end interviews with all employees receiving broad feedback. The agilefall-led department faces the challenge of meeting a traditional budgeting and agile project management. Thereby, the theoretical guidelines coincide with the assessments of the manager and the employees to a large extent, which refers to the application of the beyond budgeting principles in practice. According to the results, an implementation is possible under certain limitations, whereby the development of the leadership principles and management processes on a company basis still requires action, if all the principles and processes mentioned are to be implemented in a suitable way.

The Romanian online advertising market has been growing recently at a rapid pace and has adopted the main technological advancements from more mature markets. Our analysis explores whether Romania’s online advertising market structure could provide a ripe field for potential abuses of dominant position from players wielding high market power. Such cases are currently the object of legal inquiry from the European Commission’s antitrust watchdog. This paper examines all of the three components of the supply chain—the advertisers, the publishers, and the advertising intermediation companies—inquiring into the degree of market concentration of each one. A particular focus is placed on the role of advertising intermediation (AdTech) companies and whether the technology they provide could offer them some undue advantages. The research uses data collected in the past 15 years by the main Romanian industry associations, which gives us insight into the workings of both ends of the market: the advertisers through which the demand is manifesting, and the publishers who represent the supply side. In addition to this, we have also studied the media buying algorithms used by these companies, in order to better understand their influence on the market’s functioning. For each of stated market components, we have calculated the degree of market concentration. The findings show that the Romanian online advertising market is a highly concentrated one, especially for the ad intermediation component, which is effectively composed of a duopoly. Further studies are needed in order to better understand how this market dominance affects the functioning of Romania’s online advertising market.

Over time, a systemic view of corruption developed, with early modern literature characterizing this phenomenon as a dysfunctional element, rooted in institutions, people’s behavior, and their habits, manifesting itself in different ways, such as bribery, embezzlement, fraud, nepotism, undue influence, with the aim of gaining private resources against the common good. Mostly, corruption affects people’s confidence in public institutions, undermines the sense of justice, and the quality of public administration is generally questioned. Corruption can be understood by referring to different contexts, starting from the situation of a multinational company offering a bribe for the award of an important contract to build a public road despite promoting a bid below market standards, from the case of politicians redirecting public funds to self-interest areas, depriving parts of society that really need that money of funding, up to the manager of the public institution who places various close ones in key positions, or up to the situation of the first-line civil servant who collects inappropriate benefits from ordinary citizens for the provision of basic services, with the result that vulnerable people are most affected by corruption. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive review of the causes of corruption and how the management of public institutions is affected by this phenomenon. In this study, the information collected from OECD, Transparency International Index, Global Corruption Barometer, and from Human Development Reports was analyzed, the result indicating an increase in the incidence of the phenomenon of corruption by up to 65% compared to the last decade. Bribery is one of the most widespread forms of manifestation, with an increased incidence, especially in the area of Eastern Europe. Also, a bibliometric approach highlighted the relationship between corruption acts and public institutions and provided valuable information and extended knowledge to industry practitioners and policymakers.

The effects of militarization on different macroeconomic indicators have long traditional debate in the terrain of defense economics. Accordingly, main interest has been paid on output and productivity growth. Since unemployment is closely correlated with output growth through the Okun’s Law, this paper aims to address the causal nexus amidst military expenditure per capita and unemployment for a large set of Central and Eastern European countries by considering a relatively novel approach in the empirical literature. Due to historical and geo-political reasons, the disputes and proliferation are also prevalent among those countries. Under these circumstances, investigating the economic effects of militarization deserves special attention for these countries. To this end, this paper conducts the panel bootstrap causality test approach that accounts for the slope heterogeneity and cross-country correlation over the period of 1996 and 2020. Within the presence of cross-country correlation and heterogeneity, the findings indicate the non-existence of causal interplay between military expenditure and unemployment regardless of measure for military expenditure. In particular, weak form of causality exists for Croatia and Czechia running from military expenditure per capita to unemployment. Moreover, causal interplay running from unemployment to military expenditure per capita exists only for Serbia.

The paper investigates corporate governance in Cyprus through analyzing the regulatory framework and a large sample of public Cypriot firms. The Corporate Governance Code for listed companies was first introduced in 2002. This Code was subsequently revised in March 2011, September 2012 and January 2019. The Code applies to all listed companies in the Cyprus Stock Exchange, and companies of the non-regulated market are excluded. We attempt to highlight various characteristics of the enforcement of corporate governance rules in the everyday practice of corporations. According to the Cypriot Code of Corporate Governance, at least one third of the directors must be independent and a relevant application must be submitted to the Cyprus Stock Exchange to be granted a reasonable period for compliance. The size and composition of the board of directors should reflect the company’s size and activities. The remuneration of executive and non-executive board members is handled by the remuneration committee. This committee is responsible for the appointment, remuneration and termination of the external auditor. Pursuant to appointment, the committee must ensure the independence and effectiveness of the auditors, particularly when they offer a substantial volume of non-auditing services. Since it is difficult for shareholders to monitor boards or senior management effectively, transparency is essential. This may be achieved with adequate supply of timely and accurate information.

Greek yogurt has proven to be an essential part of a healthy diet. Consumers worldwide recognize the nutritional value of yogurt and add it to their eating habits in Greece, numerous high-quality dairy industries exist, while consumers are becoming more and more selective about the quality of the yogurt they consume. However, the factors that influence their buying behavior are largely unknown. Also, the factors affecting the acceptance of foods with particular health characteristics, such as functional yogurts, have yet to be explored; this study attempts to investigate them. Further, in highly competitive markets, such as the Greek dairy industry, research methodologies need to be adapted in order to better understand end-users’ needs and especially when new products are developed. Under that context, five focus group sessions were conducted in three urban cities of Greece, with a total of 39 participants. Their objective was to identify the main aspects involved in Greek consumers’ buying behavior concerning the nutritional characteristics of the yogurt and the functional yogurt.

Numerous researches regarding the effects on consumer behavior in the Greek organic food market have been conducted since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of the Russian–Ukrainian war. Previous findings suggest an increased interest in organic food products on a global scale as consumers seek healthier, more environmentally friendly products that meet animal welfare standards. Moreover, food supply chains have experienced major disruptions such as food shortages due to the pandemic and the ongoing war. This is especially the case for the European Union since a considerable amount of raw food materials was being imported from Ukraine. The goal of this study is to assess the impact of both current events on the organic food market with evidence from Northern Greece. A quantitative research has been conducted to collect primary data, which are analyzed with descriptive statistics analytical tools. The results of this research suggest a relation between organic food consumption and specific demographical characteristics.

Healthcare services’ ultimate mission is to generate value for their patients. This implies taking into account patients and caregivers’ opinions on the care they provide, as a satisfied patient not only is the best indicator of the quality of care provided but it is considered to be an healthcare service’s outcome (Abdel Maqsood et al. in Wiley Online Library 18:140–146, 2012). The USL Toscana Centro’s (USLTC) Nursing Department adopted PREMs in January 2022 joining the Permanent PREMs Observatory at the Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa, with the aim of improving its performances and enhancing its human capital. By gathering data on patients’ perceptions during their hospitalization, the organization’s management can identify the trajectories following which it becomes possible to drive service improvement strategies (e.g., workflows’ redesign, care pathways’ improvements, and ward layout appropriateness) and human resources management’s (HRM) promotion through a real-time return of the results (De Rosis et al. in J Health Organization Manag, 2021). Aiming to achieve these two goals, measurement must be systematic. All users are invited to participate in the investigation by hospital staff, exceeding the sampling to the census. Patients and caregivers are invited to fill out a survey that reaches them through an SMS and/or e-mail containing a personalized link to access and complete it online, twenty-four hours after the hospital discharge. The survey includes standard experience closed questions and a series of open ones, to allow a punctual description of the most relevant aspects experienced. USLTC’s Nursing Department carried out staff’s training on patient recruitment and a pilot study in two inpatient’s wards during the first two months of the 2022, before the scaling up. In the first year of operation in nine hospitals, the responses of 5107 patients were collected (32% response rate), establishing a new routinely management-informing data collection. The dimensions with the best evaluation, among those investigated, were those relating to the “nursing staff’s kindness and courtesy in welcoming the patient to the ward” and the “management of pain.” The dimension with the worst evaluation was that of “patient involvement in the treatment path.” The total value of the assistance received in the hospitalization experience was 94% “excellent and good,” 4.51% “sufficient,” 1.55% “poor,” and 0.43% “very bad.” The purpose of this managerial tool is to open a direct channel with patients, to collect their stories, and to treasure their experiences, with the aim to improve the quality of the assistance offered, so much to enhance the healthcare staff who are committed daily to providing services.

In the current digital age, social media platforms have become a significant source of information for individuals and organizations which can be harnessed by e-commerce companies to improve their marketing strategies and product offerings. Therefore, using data from social media to increase the capability to have e-commerce can provide a positive impact on a company’s budget, profitability, and long-term sustainability in the market. This article investigates the role that big data analysis on data collected from social media can have on the companies’ capability to do business in the e-commerce environment. The study aims to explore the relationship between the number of companies that analyze big data from social media and the number of companies that have e-commerce sales. The datasets, based on statistics between 2016 and 2020, involve companies located within the European Union, and we expect the results to show that the countries with a high percentage of companies that analyze big data from social media present a high number of companies with sales executed via e-commerce. This would suggest that the analysis of social media data can have a significant positive effect on the number of e-commerce companies that execute e-commerce sales, as it provides valuable insights into consumer behaviors and preferences, which can help companies better target their marketing efforts and improve their product offerings. These findings have important implications for companies seeking to increase their presence in the e-commerce space, as well as for policymakers and regulators seeking to promote e-commerce growth.

The current study investigates consumers’ intentions to visit green hotels, as well as the factors that may affect them. Specifically, a search of secondary and primary data is carried out. The review of the related literature highlights two basic theoretical models that have been adopted in the investigation of consumer behavior, regarding the choice of green hotels: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Values Beliefs Norms (VBN) Theory. Taking into account that there is a gap in our country's research in the field of consumer behavior regarding the choice of green hotels, in this primary research, an attempt is made to fill this gap by adopting the VBN Theory. The factors influencing consumers’ intentions are biospheric values, the awareness of the consequences that human actions have on the environment, the ascription of responsibility for these actions, and the personal norms that each consumer has. In addition to this theoretical model, three factors have been added: green trust, which is shown by consumers in the hotel commitments to the environmental practices they follow, environmental friendly activities they apply in their daily lives, and the willingness to pay a premium price to visit green hotels. For this purpose, a sample of 201 respondents was used, through a structured online questionnaire. The results of the data analysis showed that the inhabitants of Thessaloniki Regional Unit have high biospheric values and a strong awareness of the consequences of their actions in the destruction of the environment. However, they show medium results in taking personal responsibility for the protection of the environment and the formulation of personal norms of moral obligation to contribute to its protection. Inductive analysis proved statistically significant correlations and regression equations between all pairs of variables in the theoretical model chain. The additional variables also seem to affect, to some extent, the intentions of staying in green hotels.

The abstract should summarize the contents of the paper in short terms, i.e., 150–250 words. The paper investigates how southeast European startups utilize Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to enhance their brand. It explores factors driving the adoption of CSR practices by startups, their significance, and best practices of CSR implementation, and also addresses customers’ perceptions of startup sustainability, CSR initiatives, and the resulting impact on the firm’s reputation. To conduct this research, an interpretive study design utilizing thematic analysis was conducted. The sample included CSR specialists, advertisers, and startup owners, with the study findings reflecting the theoretical aspects of CSR. The data revealed a strong focus on the social dimension of CSR implementation, highlighting practices that prioritize human resources, the environment, and broader societal well-being. Key themes that emerged from the study include the importance of developing and implementing environmental awareness programs, engaging in volunteer work, and promoting labor-related initiatives. The results underscored the significance of ethical practices in fostering a positive work environment for employees and emphasized the pivotal role of the firm’s purpose in brand building. Establishing strong relationships with the community, both at large and within the company’s operational area, emerged as a critical factor in effectively implementing CSR for brand reputation. The reciprocal relationship between customers and the company, where customers perceive a genuine commitment to the community rather than a sole focus on profit, serves as the foundation for a sustainable business trajectory. Furthermore, voluntary actions organized by the firm to support the community were identified as instrumental in building brand reputation.

Functional foods are foods that have been enriched or fortified with additional nutrients or bioactive compounds that are believed to provide health benefits beyond their basic nutritional value. These foods are designed to promote health and prevent or manage certain health conditions. Examples of functional foods include probiotics, which are live bacteria that are added to some dairy products and fermented foods to promote gut health. Functional foods are often developed through a process of scientific research and testing and are regulated by government agencies to ensure that they are safe and effective for human consumption. They are typically marketed as a healthier alternative to traditional foods and are often targeted toward individuals with specific health concerns or dietary needs. Despite that, very little is known about the attitudes of everyday consumers toward functional foods. The present study aspires to contribute toward filling that gap, offering insights to companies that consider introducing such products into the food market. Under that context, this empirical study explores the attitudes of Greek consumers toward functional yoghurts. The Greek dairy market was selected, since it represents a significant share of the whole food market. Greek yoghurt has been shown to be a crucial component of a nutritious diet, with people around the globe acknowledging its nutritional benefits and incorporating it into their diets. In Greece, there are many top-notch dairy industries with global reach, and consumers are increasingly discerning when it comes to the quality of the yoghurt they consume. The present quantitative study is based on previous qualitative research (i.e., focus groups) that laid the background for this empirical attempt. A structured questionnaire was developed and distributed to 996 Greek consumers. Results indicate the profile of consumers that are more likely to purchase functional yoghurts and underline statistically significant differences between various consumer groups. Finally, the study offers managerial implications to dairy industries and proposes directions for future market research.

The present paper is part of a broader research on telework; it investigates the impact of telework on employee engagement in Greek public sector (e-EFKA) and the mediating effect of work-family conflict on the relationship between role overload and role ambiguity and employee engagement. The literature review provides an overview of the extant literature on telework, role overload, role ambiguity, work-family conflict, and employee engagement. A sample of 360 e-EFKA employees in several local branches across Greece was used and data were collected with the use of online structured questionnaires and subsequently analyzed by partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using “SmartPLS 3.3.5”. Based on the research findings there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between role ambiguity and work-family conflict, role overload and work-family conflict, and with work-family conflict having a negative impact on employee engagement. Finally, the research finds that work-family conflict acts as a partial mediator, mediating the relationship between role overload and employee engagement, but not the relationship between role ambiguity and employee engagement.

In Italy, the number of nurses per 1000 population (6.2) is lower when compared to the average ratio of other European Countries (8.8) (OECD, Health at a glance 2020: OECD indicators, OECD Publishing, 2020). The shortage of nurses has been recognized as a key problem of the industrialized countries (Kingma in Health Serv Res 42:(3p2):1281–1298, 2007; OECD, Health at a glance 2008: OECD indicators, OECD Publishing, 2008) and continues to impact the national healthcare system’ service delivery. Two trends have been discussed as impacting the number of nurses in Italy: the first concerns the ordinary turnover related to the high number of nurses who will retire in the next five years (− 29,000); the second refers to the increase in the demand for nursing to enhance the primary care services, following the reforms steaming from the Recovery Plan (+ 21,000) (Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Conto annuale 2020). Given the nursing staff shortage, over time, countries have introduced the cooperation agreements with other countries to reduce the impact of the phenomenon (Cabanda in Asian Politics & Policy 12:404–431, 2020; Plotnikova in Recruiting foreign nurses for the UK: the role of bilateral labour agreements, University of Edinburgh, 2012). This practice is well rooted among many countries, both the USA and Central and Northern Europe (Brush et al. in Health Affair 23:78–87, 2004; Buchan in International recruitment of nurses: United Kingdom case study, Queen Margaret University College, 2002; Khadria in Health Serv Res 42(3p2):1429–1436, 2007; Reiff et al. in Handling the shortage of nurses in Germany: Opportunities and challenges of recruiting nursing staff from abroad, 2020). Nevertheless, administrative burdens linked to the recruiting have been deemed to hamper the recruitment (Reiff et al. Handling the shortage of nurses in Germany: Opportunities and challenges of recruiting nursing staff from abroad, 2020). In addition, hiring internationally educated nurses may entail issues related to healthcare services’ provision (Li et al. in Int J Nurs Sci 1:314–317, 2014). For instance, the level of qualification and the host country’s language proficiency of foreign-educated nurses can influence the quality of patient care (Habermann and Stagge in Journal of Public Health 18:43–51, 2010; Schilgen et al. in Applied Nursing Research 46:57–66, 2019). Cultural factors can also affect the satisfaction of patients’ needs, if the expat nurses are not trained to deal with the professional values and principles of the context in which they will work (Morin and Talbot in Cultural Intelligence of Expatriate Health Workers in an Inuit Context: an Exploration of Managerial Competency Profiles, 2021). Further, internationally non-homogeneous nurses’ qualification profiles and professional expertise can bring conflicts in multicultural teams when carrying out operational practices (Reiff et al. in Handling the shortage of nurses in Germany: Opportunities and challenges of recruiting nursing staff from abroad, 2020). While studies on problems experienced by expat nurses saw a consolidated expansion over time, scant research aimed at deepening potential actions to face such issues (and the related outcomes) has been produced (Ghazal et al. in Western J Nurs Res 42:373–392, 2020). Thus, this paper aims at identifying the weaknesses and potential actions to improve the anticipatory and in-country adjustment (Black et al. in Academy of Management Review 16:291–317, 1991; Bhaskar-Shriniva et al. in Academy of Management Journal 48(2):257–281, 2005) and retention (Almansour et al. in International Nursing Review 69:125–131, 2022) processes of expatriate nurses in the Italian context. To this regard, the multiple case study research was conducted (Yin in Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Sage, 2003) to investigate the adjustment and retention strategies adopted by three Italian healthcare cooperative organizations and by a company experienced in recruitment considering their aim to recruit Albanian nurses. Potential actions implemented to solve the limitations detected by the recruiters were also examined. Data were collected through focus groups and semi-structured interviews, then analysed using the qualitative content analysis method. The paper allows us to identify the implications related to the international nurses’ recruitment in a Mediterranean country such as Italy as well as at exploring the actions that the recruiters have taken or are urged to take to implement effective adjustment and retention processes. The results will be discussed considering the stream of literature available on international nurses’ recruitment and will inform a larger study of the nurses recruiting process in the Italian context.

Sustainable development is a concept that has gained significant attention in the recent years, as the world faces a growing number of environmental and social challenges. At its core, sustainable development is the idea that economic growth, social well-being, and environmental protection should be mutually reinforcing, rather than conflicting, goals. Governments should implement policies and regulations that promote sustainable development and encourage the active participation of all sectors of society. With the cooperation and commitment of all stakeholders, sustainable development can become a reality and contribute to a better future for all. To assess the holistic progress of the Republic of Serbia toward the achievement of the global sustainable development goals, this paper examines a set of indicators over time and performs trends analysis, as well as the creation of guidelines to improve the achievement of certain sustainable development goals. Working toward these goals makes it possible to create a more just and equitable world, ensuring a prosperous and equitable future for all citizens in the Republic of Serbia.

Greece’s national health system is called upon to meet the challenge of a large volume of migrant populations with particular pathogenesis while meeting the health needs of the domestic population. The aim of this paper is to present, through a review of the literature, the internal and external operating environment of the National Health System (NHS) in Greece, with emphasis on the period from the advent of the economic crisis and the signing of the first memorandum of rescue of the Greek economy until today. The review of the literature comprehensively outlined with particular emphasis on the challenges that have emerged since the arrival of the economic (2009) and migration (2014) crises until today. A methodological framework of four distinct and sequential research stages was chosen. The sample used was 224 and included health professionals working in public health. The health professionals came from all levels of public health (primary, secondary and tertiary health care) and were drawn from the medical, nursing and paramedical staff of each health facility. The data was entered into the specialized online platform Survs.com. It seems that health professionals in public health are quite often confronted with refugees and asylum seekers in their daily work especially in the primary healthcare sector. The pathogenesis of migrant populations varies and it seems that health professionals are also confronted with particular pathological entities that are uncommon in the general population. The Greek population, still suffering from the effects of the economic crisis (such as over-taxation and wage cuts) without adequate information, may see refugees/asylum seekers as a cause of expenditure of precious national resources.