Austrian centre-right coalition faces difficult future

Significance The government consists largely of newcomers and politicians with dubious links to the far right. It embarks upon a five-year reform programme for Austria which is thin on detail but could lead to radical changes. Impacts A tougher stance on migrants and asylum seekers could foster a wider reluctance in some EU states to accept refugees. Major constitutional changes are unlikely as the government would need the support of the SPOe or the small Neos party. Any extreme right-wing tendencies will concern Brussels and Israel, which will keep a close eye on the government. Austria will be an unpredictable ally, sometimes siding with Macron and at other times favouring alliances with Eastern European countries. The SPOe’s loss of office could lead to changes in personnel and programmatic position.

Subject Dutch right-wing populism. Significance The Netherlands' newest far-right party, Forum for Democracy (FvD), won the provincial elections on March 20, receiving almost 15% of the vote. The party’s support is expected to grow, and it joins the anti-Islamic Party for Freedom (PVV) as the Netherlands' second major far-right party. Impacts Support for far-right parties will increase pressure on the government to implement populist ideas, especially in cultural affairs. Centrist parties in the European Conservative and Reformist group may try to block the FvD’s admission after the European elections. Policymaking at the national level will become increasingly difficult.


2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1573-1592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhanna Belyaeva ◽  
Edyta Dorota Rudawska ◽  
Yana Lopatkova

PurposeThe presented study pinpoints transformation of business models of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the food and beverage sector depending on their sustainability strategy. This paper makes a novel contribution to understanding various instruments of sustainability implementation in SMEs’ business models operating in the food and beverage industry of well-developed Western European countries versus less-developed Central–Eastern European countries.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical basis is a survey of 770 European SMEs, of which 369 operate in Western European countries (including Great Britain, Germany and Spain) and 401 in Central and Eastern Europe (including Poland, Croatia and Russia). The nonparametric U Mann–Whitney test was used to examine the significance of the differences between the two groups of companies.FindingsThe study empirically confirmed that despite self-declared lack of skills and knowledge in managerial impacts of sustainability, it shapes business models of SME in both country groups in food and drink industry. At the same time, the motivation grounds for business models transformation toward sustainable models vary between mostly economic factors in Eastern Europe and social and cultural factors in Western Europe. The economic factor is formed due to smaller integration into social investments at the SME-level Eastern European countries, while Western European SMEs invest more in a variety of sustainability supporting instruments (R&D, new equipment).Originality/valueThis comparative study is the novel empirical research study on the implementation of sustainability into business models of food and beverage SMEs operating in two groups of Western and Central–Eastern European countries, which has not been previously observed in such a setting.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Kowalczuk ◽  
Jerzy Gębski

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the literature that discusses consumer tipping behaviour in eating establishments. Because there is no detailed research into this issue with regard to consumers in Central and East European countries, the authors conducted research aimed at learning about the tipping behaviour of the Poles. Design/methodology/approach This study was carried out in 2018, using the computer-assisted web interviewing method, for a sample of 1,000 people. Six research questions were asked: How often the Poles give tips in eating establishments? What is an average size of a tip? What determinants influence the frequency and magnitude of tips? Who is likely to give a tip every one to two visits? Who is likely to tip more than the standard 10%? What influences the reasons why Polish consumers tend to tip? Findings The findings show the strong relationships between both a consumers’ tipping frequency and magnitude and the frequency at which these consumers eat out. This study also implicates income and education as essential factors influencing tipping behaviour and the lack of gender effect on consumers’ decision to tip. It was also noticed that such reasons as the quality of service, a taste of the dishes and a belief that it is proper to tip have a significant impact on the frequency of giving the tips. A significant diversity of the reasons’ meaning for tipping among Polish consumers depending upon their age was also stated. Research limitations/implications It would be interesting to compare the results of the current study with studies concerning consumer tipping behaviours in other Central and Eastern European countries historically and culturally similar to Poland to investigate whether the specifics of tipping behaviour noticed in Poland apply elsewhere. Originality/value This study shows the specifics of Polish people’s tipping behaviour and partially fulfills the gap in the knowledge of this aspect of consumers’ from Central and Eastern Europe behaviour. The obtained results suggest that with the increasing incomes and the widespread use of food services, tipping is likely to become more common in Poland. Furthermore, the pragmatic reasons for tipping will become more important than social and psychological motivators.


Significance Like all European countries, France is facing increasing pressure from large-scale migration. While the government has so far been reluctant to welcome refugees, most candidates from the right and far-right call for an even more restrictive policy and are engaged in a fierce rivalry to offer ever-harder stances on immigration. Impacts The Calais 'jungle' is likely to be dismantled at least temporarily so the government can give the appearance of determination. A hard line will prevail regardless of the result of the next election, for fear of further increasing support for the National Front. In the light of the tense national context, some cities such as Paris will seek to develop local pro-migrant policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1258-1279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna Oliskevych ◽  
Iryna Lukianenko

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the behavior peculiarities of the labor force participation in Eastern European countries. Design/methodology/approach The authors provide the analysis of nonlinearity in dynamics of economic active population and perform the econometric analysis using logistic smooth transition autoregressive models that are flexible and capture various kinds of behavior for different modes. The paper investigates labor markets of six Eastern European countries, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Croatia that are characterized by lower level of labor force participation rate (LFPR) than average level in EU. Findings The results of modeling quantitatively characterize smooth changes in the behavior modes of labor force activity for each country and indicate how population economic activity depends on previous labor market states. The estimated slope parameters that determine the smoothness of transition between regimes show that, in all countries, the labor force participation quite quickly reacts to changes that occurred on the labor market in the past. During recession periods, households of European countries that joint EU last decade in order to prevent the depletion of their total income increased labor supply and showed increased activity in job search. Originality/value This paper indicates the nonlinearity and asymmetry in LFPR in transition economies, discovers variety of its dynamics in the different regimes and determines the indicators that cause the change of the population economic activity behavior in each country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-50
Author(s):  
Vainius Bartasevičius

Against the backdrop of international migration and the rise of right-wing populism, debates on citizenship policies intensified. This article seeks to explain why some Central and Eastern European countries adopted more inclusive access to nationality rules for non-ethnic immigrants than others. Encompassing the period from 1990 to 2014, the analysis focuses on four factors: left–right ideological position of governments, electoral strength of far-right parties, the size of expatriate/kin minority populations, and the importance of national minority issues. Using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, the article found that strong far-right parties, important national minority issues, and sizable expatriate/kin minority populations all contributed to restrictive citizenship policies in Central and Eastern Europe. However, none of these factors were necessary or sufficient. Meanwhile, inclusive access to nationality rules were adopted in those countries where far-right parties failed to register important electoral successes and national minority issues were relatively insignificant.


Author(s):  
A. E. YASHLAVSKII

The article makes focus on the rise of Western Europe’s far-right  parties which act with anti-immigrant agenda amid 2010s European  migrant crisis. Massive influxes of refugees and migrants have  accumulated huge political significance and triggered off a wide  range of conflicts (both on international and national levels). The  migrant crisis has indicated many social-political challenges for  European countries. The crisis has been synchronous with a rise of popularity of right populist political movements (old ones as well  as new ones), which promote restrictions of immigration etc. At the  same time it cannot be ignored that West European right-wing  populist political movements achieved some success in previous  decades, well ahead of the current migrant crisis. Immigration issue  has been a centerpiece of political discourses of West European right-wing parties (National Front in France, for instance)  since late 1970s – early 1980s. But it is quite obvious that the 2010s migrant crisis became a trigger for revitalization of the far-right  movements which are outspoken critics of the European Union as “a  supra- national body” dictating its conditions to the member  countries. Besides, the crisis gave a boost to a rise of new populist  movements (for example, “Alternative for Germany”). In 2017 the  populist right-wing parties in Europe won the largest support over  the three past decades. Recently the right populist forces appeared  in elections in a number of European countries (Germany, Austria,  France etc.) as tough competitor of traditional mainstream political  parties and won parliamentary representation and/or representation in the government coalitions. Furthermore, these  movements demonstrate attempts to change their image to shift to  political mainstream. However, in the foreseeable future, any  cardinal breakthrough and far-right anti- immigrant parties’ coming  to the power in Western Europe’s coutrnies is hardly possible.


2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 11-25 ◽  

This study tries to remedy the current lack of tax compliance research analyzing tax morale in 10 Eastern European countries that joined the European Union in 2004 or 2007. By exploring tax morale differences between 1999 and 2008 we show that tax morale has decreased in 7 out of 10 Eastern European countries. This lack of sustainability may support the incentive based conditionality hypothesis that European Union has only a limited ability to influence tax morale over time. We observe that events and processes at the country level are crucial to understanding tax morale. Factors such as perceived government quality, trust in the justice system and the government are positively correlated with tax morale in 2008.


Author(s):  
Irena Szarowská

This paper provides direct empirical evidence on cyclicality and the long-term and short-term relationship between government spending and output in eight Central and Eastern European countries in a period 1995–2009. We analyzed annual data on government spending in compliance with the COFOG international standard. Although the theory implies that government spending is countercyclical, our research does not prove that. The results confirm cyclical development of government spending on GDP, Wagner’s law and voracity effect in the CEE countries during 1995–2009. We used Johansen cointegration test and the error correction model. Output and government spending are cointegrated for at least 4 from 10 spending functions in every country and it implies a long-term relationship between government spending and output. The government spending functions are procyclical in most CEE countries (93% cases in the sample). Average value of long-run elasticity coefficient is 1.74 for all spending functions, 1.02 for total government spending. We also analyzed the short-run relationship between spending and output. The coefficient values (average is 2.89) confirm the voracity hypothesis, as they suggest that in response to a given shock to real GDP, government spending rises by even more in percentage points.


2014 ◽  
Vol 155 (21) ◽  
pp. 833-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
József Marton ◽  
Attila Pandúr ◽  
Emese Pék ◽  
Krisztina Deutsch ◽  
Bálint Bánfai ◽  
...  

Introduction: Better knowledge and skills of basic life support can save millions of lives each year in Europe. Aim: The aim of this study was to measure the knowledge about basic life support in European students. Method: From 13 European countries 1527 volunteer participated in the survey. The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic questions and knowledge regarding basic life support. The maximum possible score was 18. Results: Those participants who had basic life support training earned 11.91 points, while those who had not participated in lifesaving education had 9.6 points (p<0.001). Participants from former socialist Eastern European countries reached 10.13 points, while Western Europeans had average 10.85 points (p<0.001). The best results were detected among the Swedish students, and the worst among the Belgians. Conclusions: Based on the results, there are significant differences in the knowledge about basic life support between students from different European countries. Western European youth, and those who were trained had better performance. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(21), 833–837.


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