Eurasian Business and Economics Perspectives

Table of Contents

1. Frontmatter

2. Eurasian Business Perspectives: Education

   1. Frontmatter

   2. The Impact of Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Education Sector: The Experience of Slovakia

      Zuzana Stoličná, Jana Barjaková

      Abstract.

      The paper is focused on the analysis of the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the education of students in Slovakia in the context of managing distance education and reopening schools and making other strategic decisions in this field. The starting materials are legally binding documents and strategic documents to combat the COVID-19 pandemic considering specific anti-pandemic measures and recommendations in the school environment and data on the positivity of pupils and school staff from particular national authorities with an impact on the classroom and school closures and the transition to distance education. The aim of the paper is to clarify current legislation and other strategic documents regulating the anti-pandemic management system in schools and through data analysis to determine whether the overall maintenance of full-time education during the pandemic affects its development and whether the school closure positively or negatively affects the pandemic. Within the information processing, several methods of analysis of materials, data, and legislative documents are applied, as well as practical knowledge and experience from the education sector. The main findings of the paper are planning during a pandemic is problematic due to different behaviors of variants, and schools and regional public health authorities can independently decide, within their competence, to close schools, but the effectiveness of these decisions is questionable in terms of the development of COVID-19. The main output of the paper is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of anti-pandemic measures in the education sector in the Slovak Republic.

   3. Role of Social Media to Influence the Environmental Knowledge and Awareness Toward Education for Sustainable Development in Malaysia

      Wajiha Moughal, Shahrina B. T. M. Nordin, Rohani B. T. Salleh, Haider Ali Abbasi

      Abstract.

      Sustainable education is a big concern to protect the planet from natural catastrophes. Environmental awareness and knowledge can play a significant role in mitigating and reducing these calamities. This paper aims to measure the role of social media to influence environmental knowledge and awareness of education for sustainable development in Malaysia. Moreover, innovative technologies, such as social media, can be used effectively to raise environmental concerns among educational institutes. Different platforms have been used in enhancing environmental education but social media have been rarely used to enhance environmental awareness and knowledge. So, this study conceptualizes and investigates the idea of social media to enhance sustainable education by environmental knowledge and awareness. The educational sector is critical to educating and enhancing students’ awareness about sustainable environments. Therefore, the paper’s objective is to examine the impact of social media on environmental knowledge and awareness in educational institutes in Malaysia. This study developed the conceptual model to enhance students’ environmental knowledge and awareness with the help of social media.

3. Eurasian Business Perspectives: Human Resources Management

   1. Frontmatter

   2. The Effect of Personal Branding Factors on Generation Y Employability and Career Satisfaction: The Case of Croatia

      Marina Tomas, Irena Pandža Bajs

      Abstract.

      Personal branding as a concept is increasingly analysed in theory and practice, as it can significantly contribute to the development of young people’s careers after graduation. Generation Y’s importance and impact on the labour market is evidenced by the fact that Millennials are the generation with the highest education rate and soon they will make up the most of working population in the labour market. Accordingly, it is important to analyse the Generation Y’s personal branding concept and its impact on their career satisfaction. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between Generation Y’s personal branding variables, perceived employability and career satisfaction. The concept of personal branding is analysed through three variables: strategic, technological and differentiation factors. For the analysis of direct and indirect relationships and the impact of one variable to another, structural equation modelling was used. The research results show that strategic factors of personal branding affect the construct of career satisfaction indirectly, through perceived employability. It means that an individual who acts strategically and focuses his activities on building and developing his professional image at the same time raises the level of his perceived employability and is more satisfied with his own career. In conclusion, the obtained research model can be used as a model for assessing development orientation, use of personal branding and career satisfaction.

   3. No Captain on Deck: A New Understanding of Leadership in Cross-Border Post-M&A Integrations

      Wenjia Chang-Howe, Sylvia Van De Bunt

      Abstract.

      This study challenges the structured integration process traditionally applied during the post-M&A stage. It highlights how post-acquisition integration activities were managed when the CEO was absent. The study was conducted from 2020 to 2021 in exceptional cases where the organization underwent integration phases during the COVID-19 crisis, and the CEO was absent. All three cases are Chinese-Western acquisitions. Drawing on the qualitative empirical research method, new innovative evidence is unveiled. This study suggests that the Chinese servant-leadership style of Wu Wei implies M&A integration in times of crisis. The CEO’s unexpected absence during the COVID-19 crisis had an unforeseen impact. Servant-leaders at the mid-organizational level stand up ad hoc to replace the CEO while trying to overcome the crisis for the sake of the continuity of the M&A. It shows that leadership in crisis should not be forced or burdened with the effortless striving, whereas a more relaxed approach is, in the end, more sustainable. Moreover, this study identified how the COVID-19 crisis became an opportunity. These new servant-leaders anticipated a lower M&A speed of integration. The low speed provided the M&A stakeholders the necessary time to rethink and digest a more sustainable post-M&A organization. The outcomes of this study open a new venue for scholars to further explore the leadership implications in the pace of cross-border post-M&A integration. Furthermore, some empirical recommendations for post-M&A integration in times of crisis are provided.

   4. Academic Spin-Offs’ Growth: Exploring the Role of Team Vertical Diversity and Academic Knowledge Corridor

      Giulia Tagliazucchi, Bernardo Balboni, Gianluca Marchi

      Abstract.

      The paper focuses on academic spin-offs (ASOs) and their team composition. To date, little attention has been devoted to investigating diversity of academic profiles by looking at individual academic positions, and how the growing accumulation of academic and scientific knowledge and experience over time may affect the new venture. Indeed, teams that are too immerse into the academic domain and distant to the commercial and market domain could hinder ASOs’ pace of growth. The aim of the paper is to explore whether the team composition in terms of disparity in academic team members relates to ASOs’ growth. In doing so, we focus on 110 operating Italian ASOs, founded between 2000 and 2012, and adopt a cluster methodology. Clusters are defined on team vertical differences in terms of individual academic positions—that is conceptualized and computed as disparity. We then assume that the higher the individual institutional position, the greater the cumulative experience matured into the academic domain, and the stronger the academic knowledge corridor. Results show that, as the academic knowledge corridor grows, the use of the logic of scientific research tends to predominate, so as the distance to the market and commercial logics, and ASO’s growth tends to be hindered. Implications are derived for academics and practitioners.

4. Eurasian Business Perspectives: Management

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Cross-Industrial Analysis of High-Growth Firm Performance During the Pandemic: Middle-Sized Russian Firms’ Evidence

      Dmitri Pletnev, Kseniia Naumova

      Abstract.

      High-growth firms are economic development drivers for any industry. It is an accepted theoretical framework and a typical empirical result of a dozen studies in the 2000. However, the new question is “whether high-growth firms react to the pandemic crisis.” Do they react differently from other firms in the industry? The research hypothesis is based on the assumption that high-growth firms have better ability to grow and have better profitability, efficiency, solvency, and employability during the COVID-19 pandemic. We tested the relevant hypotheses based on the Russian middle-sized firms’ data. The research uses the 2016–2019 data for high-growth firm identification and the 2020 data for hypothesis testing. In total, 7073 firms from 11 industries are evaluated, including 219 high-growth firms. The research includes cluster analysis of industries and testing of cross-industrial differences in the performance of high-growth and normal firms. The research identified the better ability to continuous growth (in four industries of eleven), efficiency (in five industries), solvency (in nine industries), and employability (in seven industries) of high-growth firms in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Wholesale and retail are the industries with the most significant differences in indicator values. No differences in profitability of high-growth and normal firms in 2020 are confirmed. The research also partially confirms the hypothesis of a higher share of high-growth firms in innovative industries. The research results can help improve the state industrial policy and develop the best business practices. Also, the research results can help to develop knowledge about high-growth firms’ sustainability and performance in pandemic challenges or other external shocks.

   3. Data Management in Enterprises Under the Influence of Digital Transformation

      Yordan Balabanov

      Abstract.

      The paper analyzes the technological challenges in data management in enterprises, where the aim of the analysis is to provide guidelines for synchronized data management, which gives the opportunity to supply up-to-date, reliable, and relevant information that is obtained in real time for sustainable corporate development. To achieve the goal set, the architectural structure of multi-cloud data storage environments is studied, as well as hybrid approaches for decentralized data management. The structural development of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence is studied, as integrated information systems, interacting with each other in the cloud as Software-as-a-Service at the stages of business process implementation in back and front office. It studies the technological development of information systems in data processing in the process of providing quality information, namely, artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotic process automation, and Internet of Things as well as blockchain technologies. The results of the research prove that investments should be made by businesses in the development of strategies for the perception of digital transformation in achieving organizational efficiency. The optimization in data management approaches contributes to building up information reliability and synchronization which has a central position in making competitive decisions in real time, which characterizes the nature of the modern “intelligent enterprise.”

   4. How to Manage Delays and Disruptions at Intermodal Transportation Hubs in a Better Way?

      Janina Scheelhaase, Benedikt Scheier, Erik Grunewald, Saskia Seidel, Thomas Christ, Ulf Noyer, Sven Maertens, Gunnar Knitschky, Florian Rudolph

      Abstract.

      The aim of this paper is to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the current versus alternative delay management approaches at intermodal transportation hubs. In particular, a coordinated delay management approach where the various stakeholders at transport hubs are working together to minimize delays is being analyzed here as an alternative approach. Our methodological course of action consists of two main steps: As a first step, we modeled the individual processes and sequences at a generic hub airport on a microscale level. This included the ground-based feeder transportation modes. On the basis of these microsimulations, we estimated the traffic volumes of our three scenarios: reference scenario, delay scenario, and cooperative delay management scenario. As a second step, the economic impacts of the three scenarios assumed have been analyzed and compared. On these grounds, conclusions and recommendations were derived. Data bases for our paper are a thorough literature review, expert interviews with selected stakeholders at intermodal transportation hubs, cost estimations, and a self-conducted online survey of travelers. Our findings indicate that a coordinated intermodal delay management can be advantageous compared with the current rather uncoordinated management of delays. These benefits are of traffic and economic nature. They apply to all major companies operating at such transportation hubs as well as to the travelers.

5. Eurasian Business Perspectives: Marketing

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Social Media Effect on Fast Fashion Retailing: Romanian Case Study

      Andreea Strătilă Irimia, David-Florin Ciocodeică, Magdalena Ciobanu Stoian, Angela Madan, Mihai Mehedințu

      Abstract.

      Modern trends and the dynamic retail character are at a high level, probably even at the highest level in the field of fashion retailing. However, there are few research related to link between the fashion consciousness consumers and the social media effect with regard to customer perceptions. The editorial aims to investigate the correlation between media channels and fashion purchase intention in order to come into notice to conscious consumption and sustainable behavior. A survey questionnaire method was applied to collect the data. Data was collected from an online survey that was sent to respondents using the iSense portal. A questionnaire of 153 Romanian respondents has been encoded and analyzed based on IBM SPSS Statistics. The main findings of the editorials suggested a link between social media and fast fashion consumption with a perspective of informing the final consumer about the life cycle of the products in order to develop a collaborative consumption. This is the first study to analyze the transition of fashion brands from fast-fashion to sustainable behavior through social media.

   3. “Does Your Restaurant Deliver?” The Change in Consumer Behavior Due to COVID-19 Pandemic in Restaurant Delivery Market: Study of Restaurants in Rome, Italy

      Tetyana Kholod, Ieva Jākobsone Bellomi

      Abstract.

      The advancement in technologies, e-commerce, and social media put the restaurant delivery market on the constant rise during the last decade. While in some countries consumers were more open to this service, in other countries restaurant delivery was conquering consumers more slowly but steadily. The recent Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of this trend, drastically changing consumer behavior. This is especially true in countries with the long-lasting tradition of out-of-home dining such as Italy where many restaurants did not have a delivery service pre-pandemic. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they had to adapt quickly and introduce delivery or go out of business. However, as the restriction related to the pandemic eased in, restaurants saw a swing back to the previous pre-pandemic dining habits among Italians. This research aims at studying the long-term changes in restaurant consumer behavior accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper is building upon the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to identify the factors that influence consumers to use restaurant delivery services during the pandemic and the long-term change in consumer behavior. The original model is extended to include the perceived security, sustainability, and altruism as a part of pandemic-related factors. The pilot study to validate the model is done on a sample of 189 consumers from Rome, Italy. The results identify the motivational factors that have a long-term effect on the consumer behavior in the market of online food delivery from restaurants.

   4. The Complexity of International Marketing: Pitfalls of Dolce & Gabbana Marketing Communication Strategy in China

      Ieva Jākobsone Bellomi, Tetyana Kholod

      Abstract.

      The case study of Dolce & Gabbana marketing communication failure in Mainland China analyzes the key inter-cultural communication problems the company encountered in its advertising strategy around the Grand Show in Shanghai in 2018. The rise of China’s economic power, China’s nationalistic rejuvenation policies and historic forbearing of Western injustices in the form of One Hundred Years of Humiliation, and offensive use of Chinese traditional symbol chopsticks in Dolce & Gabbana advertising videos were the key challenges feeding into Dolce & Gabbana’s loss of foothold in Mainland China. The article reviews problems of communication across different cultures (Western and Eastern specifically) and provides insights into the “context” problems of encoding and decoding patterns in high-context cultures. On the basis of contextual complexity of communication, the authors have developed and present an elaborated model of inter-cultural communication framework for high-context cultures. The suggested framework is a practical tool for international managers to be used in marketing communications across different cultures.

6. Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Accounting

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning System and Its Implication on Accountants

      Kenny Wei Jie Quah, Zubir Azhar, Krishnen Kishan

      Abstract.

      An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system has become essential for organizations to ensure better decision-making by improving their information processing capability. More recently, more organizations have shifted from ERP systems to cloud ERP (CERP) systems for greater flexibility and accessibility. This paper examines how implementing a CERP system within an organization affects its accountants. Specifically, this paper analyzes the implementation of the CERP system in a Malaysian medium-sized engineering company and the associated implications. This paper uses a qualitative interpretive case study approach. This paper draws on actor-network theory (ANT) to analyze accountants’ changing roles after implementing the CERP system in the case company. The results from this case study suggest that implementing the CERP system has changed accountants’ roles from merely performing routine accounting tasks to setting up and configuring the CERP system, particularly in the posting module. Such a change indicates that the CERP system has transformed accountants’ roles to perform routine accounting and technical-related work. As a result, accountants in the case company end up working with the CERP system, which changes how they perform their daily accounting tasks and engage with the system to align with their accounting functions. Future research may analyze how the CERP system is implemented in multinational companies (MNCs), whereby their CERP system might be more complex to cater to challenging business requirements.

   3. Business Continuity, Business Crisis and Evolution of the Auditors’ Opinion

      Maurizio Rija, Dominga Anna Ippolito

      Abstract.

      The purpose of the work is to evaluate the assumption in the context of the auditing process of the financial statements. Through statistical investigation methods, the research work aims to analyze the evolution of the opinion expressed by the auditor within the report, with the aim of highlighting the level of investigation emerging from the value assumed by the chosen model and the audit opinion expressed. The study aims to apply Altman’s Z-score model to the financial statements of a sample of companies listed on the Italian stock exchange in the period from 2015 to 2020. The selected sample is part of the gray list and the black list communicated by Consob in 2020. The analysis was conducted with the aim of highlighting how much the economic-financial indicators and the Z-score forecasting model of the corporate crisis introduced by Altman can support the underlying assumptions: the auditor’s opinion on the going concern assumption and whether there is a correlation between them. The results obtained allow what they certify: the indicators that most support the auditing activity in assessing the company’s ability to operate as an operating entity, in the next 12 months, validating the opinions expressed.

7. Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Cryptocurrencies

   1. Frontmatter

   2. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Bitcoin Prices

      Hansheng Yu, Jianing Zhang

      Abstract.

      This study compares the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Bitcoin and gold prices from January 4, 2020, to October 8, 2021. Wavelet analysis is employed since it is currently one of the most popular methods for investigating correlations. The results show that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had a positive impact on Bitcoin price during the first 125 days of the pandemic, with a correlation frequency band centering around 18–68 days. In contrast, COVID-19 has a similar but much smaller positive effect on the gold price at the first 28 days of the pandemic, with a correlation frequency band centering around 8–18 days. Therefore, the positive correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic cases with Bitcoin price lasts longer than that with gold price; the same holds for the frequency span. We also find that the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases negatively affects gold prices during a relatively short period, a pattern which we do not observe for Bitcoin during the same period. Our results provide guidance for investors who might use Bitcoins to hedge their portfolio risks and policymakers who strive to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial markets.

   3. Is the Market Success of Dominant Stablecoins Justified by Their Collateral and Concentration Risks?

      Konrad Sobański, Wojciech Świder, Katarzyna Włosik, Blanka Łęt

      Abstract.

      This paper analyzes the mechanisms that govern the price stability of stablecoins and aims to assess their collateral risk. Additionally, the research investigates the concentration risk of stablecoins that stems from the distribution of their supply across holders. The study focuses on the five most dominant stablecoins in terms of market capitalization and trading volume: Tether, USD Coin, Binance USD, DAI, and True USD. Their risks are compared to those of TerraUSD, which collapsed in May 2022. The study aims to answer the question of whether the market success of the top stablecoins is justified by their collateral and concentration risks. The research reveals that collateral risk appears to be material albeit substantially differentiated across the most popular tokens. This risk is particularly high for crypto-backed DAI but lower for fiat-backed stablecoins. In addition, the concentration risk for the most dominant tokens is significant, with the top 100 entities holding nearly half the market supply. This is particularly evident for smaller stablecoins, such as True USD or Binance USD. In turn, the largest tokens—Tether and USD Coin—exhibit the least concentration, which potentially decreases the risk of market manipulation. Last but not least, the price stabilization mechanisms for the top stablecoins seem to be more secure than those for the algorithmic TerraUSD. This finding is reflected in negligible peg deviations. The study points to the need to standardize reserve reporting for asset-backed stablecoins, ensure periodic audit procedures by reliable entities, and address the high market concentration.

8. Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Finance

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Stock Price Synchronicity and Information Disclosure Quality: Evidence from China

      Zhenghai Chi, Chun Lu

      Abstract.

      Based on the data from the Chinese stock market with a time span from 2013 to 2019, we examine the relationship between the stock price synchronicity and information disclosure quality, where we find that the high-quality information disclosure can weaken the stock price synchronicity and it is logically consistent with prior research. Also, this paper investigates the credibility of information disclosure audited by the international Big 4 firms and the domestic audit firms, and the result indicates that the credibility of information audited by the international Big 4 firms is relatively lower than that audited by the domestic audit firms, namely, the effect of information disclosure that decreasing stock price synchronicity is weakened by the international Big 4 firms. Simultaneously, since some crucial proposals were issued by the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) in 2007, the phenomenon of audit switch appears frequently in the Chinese audit market (switching from the international Big 4 to the domestic audit firms). Therefore, we aim to investigate whether a distinction exists in the impact of information disclosure on reducing stock price synchronicity between international Big 4 firms and domestic Big 6 firms. The empirical results show that the domestic Big 6 firms do increase the credibility of information disclosure more than the international Big 4 firms so that it decreases the stock price synchronicity effectively, ceteris paribus. Furthermore, this paper reveals the latent new consensus that has been achieved in the Chinese audit market.

   3. Waqf Fund Management and the Blockchain Horizon

      Hiba Ali Al-Saudi

      Abstract.

      Blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt the management of waqf. Characterized by features that provide immutability and irrevocability of records, transparency of transactional flows, automated dispute resolution, and a rich investable universe, waqf management can benefit greatly from blockchain. This paper uses a case study approach to explore the potential of employing blockchain-based sukuk to bridge the funding gap needed for the development of waqf assets and strengthen the role of cash waqf in achieving socioeconomic development. To fulfill the potential of blockchain-based sukuk in the management of waqf and secure scale and expanded adoption, serious efforts are required to establish enabling legal, regulatory, shariah, and governance frameworks. The development of architectural infrastructure that supports these instruments is another area under development.

   4. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Liquidity of Chinese Corporate Bonds

      Xinyi Cai, Jianing Zhang

      Abstract.

      This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the liquidity of Chinese corporate bonds. We use the daily number of new cases as a proxy for the COVID-19 pandemic and the Amihud price-impact measure as a proxy for bond liquidity. The results of the univariate regression and the difference-in-differences method show that the COVID-19 pandemic has a significantly negative impact on bond liquidity. However, this negative impact disappears after controlling for the bond age, interest risk, credit level, and daily trading volume. The above results are robust when using bid-ask spreads as an alternative illiquidity measure. We also do not find a nonlinear quadratic relationship between new cases and bond liquidity. Furthermore, we divide the sample into pre- and post-pandemic periods and investigate the determinants of corporate bond liquidity. The regression results show that the influence of bond age on liquidity weakens during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the influence of interest rates and credit levels strengthens. The present study provides retail investors and the government with an assessment of the current situation in China’s corporate bond market in the wake of the pandemic, thus allowing more sound investments and more appropriate interventions.

   5. Determinants of Financial Inclusion: An Evidence from an Emerging Market

      Mohammed Hersi Warsame, Alhashmi Aboubaker Lasyoud, Yousif Abdelbagi Abdalla

      Abstract.

      Financial inclusion as one of the main pillars of economic development is the heart of every nation’s developmental goals, and Oman is not an exception. The objective of this empirical study is to investigate factors that have the highest influence on financial inclusion in the Sultanate of Oman. A survey questionnaire employing convenience sampling was conducted at Al-Buraimi governorate to investigate the moderation effect of financial inclusion in Oman by looking at the impact of certain variables including gender, age, and level of education among others. The structural modeling technique was applied to understand this phenomenon. The results revealed that the well-off participants were more likely to be financially included, while the youngsters were more likely to be financially excluded and less educated. Furthermore, the study found that the effect of financial literacy on financial inclusion in the Sultanate of Oman is significantly moderated by age, gender, and employment status. Finally, the study made a noticeable contribution to the endeavor of enhancing financial inclusion in the Sultanate of Oman and suggested that special attention should be paid to young people and the less affluent members of society by enhancing their financial literacy which will mitigate the problem of financial exclusion in the Sultanate of Oman.

9. Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Growth and Development

   1. Frontmatter

   2. How Do Inequality and George Floyd’s Protests Affect the Vote Shares of Trump?

      Yidi Wu, Jianing Zhang

      Abstract.

      The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020. This paper investigates how inequality and the occurrence of protests affected the vote shares of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump. We collect data from multiple open sources, including the MIT Election and Science Lab, Institut Publique de Sondage d’Opinion Secteur (Ipsos), and the US Census Bureau. This study delineates the location and magnitude of the protests on the US map and whether the protests escalated or involved police brutality. We investigate the relationship between the Gini index, assembling to protest, escalated violence, and the vote count in favor of Donald Trump by using OLS multivariate regression, fixed effects, logit, dummy variable, and log-linear models. We employ a two-stage least squares model to address the endogeneity issue, where instrumental variables include the unemployment rate, the percentage of people in the countries whose income is under the poverty level, and the top 5% share of aggregate household income by country. The results based on the survey responses regarding 3112 protests, escalations, Gini indexes, and vote shares reveal that counties with high inequality levels and protests have an anti-Trump inclination.

   3. Welfare Perceptions of the Youth: A Case Study of University Students in Turkey

      Bilal Bagis, Aynur Yumurtaci

      Abstract.

      This paper discusses the welfare perceptions in Turkey, in particular among the university students. It finds growing financial concerns among university students in terms of social and economic welfare. This is despite the recent economic, social, and cultural transformations in modern Turkey during the past two decades. Meanwhile, the latest pandemic is likely to have deteriorated these perceptions. The paper is based upon survey outcomes from different cities’ university students across Turkey. We employ the standard chi-square test of independence to test our hypotheses. It analyzes the Turkish university students’ current welfare, happiness, contentment with life, and the future financial wellness perceptions. Despite little or no academic attention, these widespread perceptions of the welfare state policy areas have proven to be a critical aspect of their evaluation, efficacy, and the validity processes. Therefore, understanding the welfare perceptions of the youth may potentially provide significant contributions to carving the nation’s socioeconomic policies in the middle and long term. An up to date understanding of these perceptions may, therefore, prove vital toward a roadmap regarding the socioeconomic policies to be implemented looking forward. The paper demonstrates and elaborates on understanding the underlying fundamentals behind the decreasing optimism, the worsening income and wealth inequalities, as well as the worsening welfare perceptions among the youth in Turkey.

10. Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Inequality

    1. Frontmatter

    2. Regional Development of Central European Countries in the Pre-COVID Period

       Ingrid Majerova, Ainur Abdrazakova

       Abstract

       Reducing regional disparities within the European Union is one of the main objectives of EU cohesion policy. One way to monitor the failure/success of the above policy is to compare certain indicators assessing the level of human development. For this purpose, the aim of the paper was to create a composite index at the regional level (IRD—Index of Regional Development) in some Central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia) in the years between two crises: the global crisis and the crisis caused by the COVID-19. This index was created from 12 socioeconomic indicators: three economic indicators, three indicators of education, three indicators of health, and three indicators of the living standard. Afterward, the min-max method was used to construct the above index of regional development. The same variable weights were used to calculate this Index. In order to eliminate their double counting, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The created indexes were compared in years 2010 and 2019. Based on the principles of cohesion policy, assumptions about reducing regional disparities were ascertained and confirmed in the monitored economies.

    3. Healthcare Indicators of the Czech Republic Compared with Selected Countries of the EU

       Karin Gajdova

       Abstract.

       This paper focuses on the healthcare field and finding out how busy healthcare is in selected European countries, with a focus on the Czech Republic. The aim of this paper is to identify the level of healthcare in the Czech Republic and to compare it with selected countries of the European Union before COVID-19. The healthcare of the Czech Republic is evaluated on the basis of determined basic indicators. It is compared with the other seven European countries with a similar level of GDP per capita like the Czech Republic. Hence, the analysis of this paper is focused on the Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovenia. Data of the selected indicators are from Eurostat. Among them, the state of medical doctors in hospitals, nurses in hospitals, available beds in hospitals, curative-care beds in hospitals, and healthcare expenditures by all providers and hospitals was included. This paper presents the level of healthcare in the Czech Republic, which is not the worst, based on selected basic indicators and their comparison with other countries. The healthcare for citizens is highly important, and a healthy population is also essential for the economic stability of the entire economy. But if there is no quality healthcare and the healthcare is overworked, it is not good for society.

11. Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Public Economics

    1. Frontmatter

    2. Public Procurement Between Emergency and Transparency: Where We Are

       Anna Maria Bagnasco

       Abstract.

       Governments have been pushed to increase public spending quickly and substantially because of the public health disaster brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic and the following economic crisis. Due to the urgency of the situation, rules and procedures for public procurement, which are used to purchase goods and services, have been simplified in an effort to accelerate public action and try to contain the pandemic. The paper aims to investigate whether the major simplification required by the faster procurement procedures has implied, or not, a weakening of the level of transparency. To this end, we have considered data regarding the expenses related to the health emergency through public administration calls for tenders between January 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021. Data analyzed suggests that easing procurement rules in response to COVID-19 shock does not always guarantee the needed transparency. Nevertheless, the extraordinary conditions of extreme urgency make this first evidence a wake-up call, and a stimulus to further analysis in times, when the topic of public expenditure and procurement is at the core of the management of the national recovery and resilience plan. In this perspective, the aim is to investigate some evidence about the actual capacity to preserve the principle of transparency in public procurement considering the recent development of the Italian legislative framework.

    3. The Italian Monetary Unification and the North/South Divide

       Andrea Filocamo

       Abstract.

       In the scientific debate on the origins of Italian North/South divide, the effects of monetary unification achieved by the new Kingdom of Italy in 1862 are hardly taken into account. This paper wants to focus the attention on this specific aspect, trying to understand if the adoption of single currency, in reality necessary step after political unification, has been able to influence the subsequent, different development in the North and in the South of Italy. Indeed, economic and monetary integration processes are closely related with regional development policies. The theory of the optimum currency area is the tool we will use to interpret what is happening after the Italian monetary unification. Despite the difficulties due to availability of data, the research leads to the conclusion that Italy was not an optimum currency area and the single currency, as in the Europe of the early 2000s, is not enough to create it. The positive effects of greater trade integration, determined above all by the improvement of the transport system, in particular of the railways, were cancelled by the productive specialization induced by the single currency. In fact, monetary unions favor the shifting of financial resources toward the areas having a comparative advantage in a given sector. This, as well as the low factor mobility, determined vulnerability to asymmetric shocks that can no longer be absorbed by the exchange rate. The Mezzogiorno was penalized, especially after the agrarian crisis in the 1880s, when it would need exchange rate depreciation. Monetary unification, without being the main cause, has favored the occurrence of the gap between North and South of Italy.

    4. Economists Making Art: Contemporary Art and New Narratives in Political Economy

       Raúl de Arriba, María Vidagañ

       Abstract.

       This paper is about the relationship between economics and contemporary art. It focuses on the utility of new narratives in political economy from art-based research experiences, in the representation of the economy through contemporary art. The work reviews the work of several contemporary artists who are also economists. In addition, this contribution analyzes the potential of art for the transmission of economic concepts and therefore its effectiveness for teaching and learning political economy. Art is also a space for the representation of the economy. The political and social aspect of the economy recommends extending the reflections on the economy beyond the debate between economists. Economic ideas cross that disciplinary frontier and end up being the subject of a more open thinking. Therefore, the pieces of art about economy are useful. One particularly noteworthy aspect is that, unlike the dominant economy, the artistic process is inevitably associated with creativity. The paper reviews the work of several contemporary artists who are economists as well and identifies how to use art in the classroom for teaching and learning political economy. We found that art creation of economists constitutes an alternative form of reflection about the economic problems and a suggestive material with educational utility.

12. Eurasian Economic Perspectives: Regional Studies

    1. Frontmatter

    2. The Economic Impacts of EU Climate Policies on Intra-European Aviation

       Katrin Oesingmann

       Abstract.

       This study analyzes the economic impacts of the Fit for 55 policy measures proposed by the European Commission for air transport. The methodology used in this paper is based on simulation modeling of different scenarios of how costs will increase and demand will decrease between 2023 and 2050. Various projected economic and key aviation-specific statistics serve as input variables for the model. The results indicate the following: All of the measures proposed by the European Commission have the potential to make flying more expensive, albeit to different degrees. Moreover, the full impacts of each measure take effect at different times in the future. Until 2035, the kerosene tax and the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) have the largest impact on airline costs. The costs incurred by a quota for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) increase after 2035. The highest total cost impact is given in the medium term (2035–2040), when costs add up to 2.50 euros per 100 passenger kilometers (RPK) in the reference scenario. With an increasing SAF ratio, the total cost impact decreases in the long run to 2.09 euros per 100 RPK in 2050. Assuming 100% pass-through to customers and negative price elasticities, the decrease in demand for intra-European transport amounts to a maximum of −23% in the reference scenario. Additional costs and decrease in demand are likely to be higher in the medium term (2035–2040) than in the long term (2050).

    3. The Role of Household Consumption in a Very Small, Very Open Economy

       Zuzana Stoličná, Lucia Klapáčová

       Abstract.

       We witness different financial and economic crises, whose impact we can perceive in our wallets and standard of living. Household consumption varies from individual European countries with respect to the economic situation. The article points out the sustainability of the economy and the role of household consumption in a very small, very open economy. The main aim of the article is to highlight importance of household consumption in Slovak Republic. Our aim is also to analyze the economic situation and financial reserves of Slovak households. Data from the freely available Eurostat database were used to achieve the goal. Within the processing of the information, several research methods such as synthesis, analysis, and deduction were applied. The most appropriate model is the autoregressive integrated moving average model (the ARIMA model). Based on historical data, the consumption prediction for selected country was created. Time series for the period 1995–2020 were used to estimate consumption in Slovakia. The model with its estimated parameters were identified and tested. The most appropriate ARIMA model was used to forecast the evolution of the time series. Predictions consist of a point estimate and 80% and 95% confidence intervals. The conclusion is devoted to the analysis of the results of consumption models and their interpretation. As we pointed out, Slovakia continues to be a growing GDP trend as well as in household consumption growth. The results of the analysis demonstrate that Slovakia’s household consumption is growing vigorously. Results suggest household consumption changes over time and it is influenced by external factors.

    4. International Capital Flows and Monetary Policy in the Emerging Economies

       Agnieszka Wójcik-Czerniawska

       Abstract.

       We extant small open market economy model which incorporates important elements of the economic and financial structure of emerging markets, such as high pass-through charges of exchange rates to import prices, low pass-through rates of exchange rates to trade prices, and shallow household financial marketplaces that give increase to sporadic obligatory leverage restrictions. Due to the latter, a complete halt accompanied by significant capital outflows may result in an economic meltdown. The abrupt stop presents a presiding trade-off for the central bank as production decreases while inflation goes up. Normally, there is a partial equilibrium trade-off since the possibility of future abrupt stop pushes a central bank to take monetary steadiness into account when deciding how to execute its policy. The best monetary policy is one that discourages domestic borrowing and capital outflows. All intra- and intertemporal exchanges can be reduced with the aid of capital flows administration and the central bank’s balance sheet measures. Fiscal policy is also important. More leverage and, thus, the higher tail danger for the economy are implied by higher public debt levels and worse fiscal policy.