IMPACT OF INNOVATION - SUPPORTIVE CULTURE FOR AN EFFECTIVE BIO-ECONOMY IN BULGARIA

Author(s):  
Valentina Nikolova-Alexieva ◽  
Iordanka Alexieva

Bio-based economy as a part of circular economy covers all sectors and systems that use biological resources. It is one of the largest and most important sectors of the EU and includes agriculture and forestry, fisheries, agro-food, biomass and bio-based products. Its annual turnover is about 2 trillion euros, and it employs about 18 million people. Bio-economy is also a key area for stimulating growth in rural and coastal areas. In Bulgaria there is still a limited understanding of the added value of eco-innovation, the effects of defragmentation of the value chain, the consequences of the limited application of environmental investments, as well as the lack of appropriate financial instruments stimulating technological progress. The focus of the research was to measure the innovation-supportive culture exhibited through innovativeness, creativity, business alertness and risk taking and how and how they influence the effectiveness of bio-enterprises. The research focused on a population of 285 enterprises for the production of organic food from all Bulgarian regions. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Correlation and multiple regression were employed to analyse the data and test the hypotheses. The study revealed that innovativeness, creativity, business alertness and risk taking were significant for the formation of an innovations-supportive culture and affecting performance of Bulgarian bio-economy. The study concluded that innovation-supportive culture or lack of it has a major effect on business performance and if any organization is bended towards development and growth, it would have to embrace this concept.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Lubem Asenge ◽  
Hembadoon Sarah Diaka ◽  
Alexander Terna Soom

Many studies indicates that entrepreneurial mindset is a critical factor in the accumulation, evaluation and selection of the knowledge which can lead an individual into potential business opportunities thereby enhancing entrepreneurial outcomes such as firm performance. This study examined the effect of entrepreneurial mindset on the performance of small and medium scale enterprises in Benue State. The focus of the research was to measure the entrepreneurs’ mindset exhibited through innovativeness, creativity, business alertness and risk taking and how these attributes contributed to the performance of SMEs. The research focused on a population of 650 small and medium scale enterprises based in Makurdi metropolis. A questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 250 SMEs in Makurdi metropolis which were selected through stratified random sampling method. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Correlation and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyse the data and test the hypotheses. The study revealed that innovativeness, creativity, business alertness and risk taking were significant in affecting performance of SMEs. The study concluded that entrepreneurial mindset or lack of it has a major effect on SMEs performance and if any economy is bended towards development and growth, it would have to embrace this concept. It recommended that all the policy makers and all stake holders should re-strategize and create forums that can promote entrepreneurial mindset among the existing and potential entrepreneurs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 04004
Author(s):  
Ahmad Shabudin Ariffin ◽  
Mona Fairuz Ramli ◽  
Hasbullah Ashari

The Malaysian economy has experienced robust economic growth over the past few decades, averaging around 6 per cent a year since 2000. With competitive pressure for resources from non-agriculture sectors, there is likely to be an inadequate capacity to increase agricultural production. Attaining agriculture business performance continued relevance remains demanding in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan. Anchored in the supply chain management philosophy, this paper highlights cattle businesses and the interrelated elements of supply chain integration and a digital marketing perspective. The cattle meat industry in Malaysia is gradually transforming from unorganized backyard farming into organized farming. However, the supply chains are still characterized by inefficiencies, diseconomies of scale, lack of investments, and inadequate arrangement. Therefore, to improve the efficiency and economy of scale, added value chain is required. One form of value creation is technology adoption. The digital marketing part of technology currently leads to the adoption new business policies in agriculture production. Policies and procedures also need to be eased to facilitate investments to increase production. This paper concludes that, in many important ways, the Malaysian Government still sees food security as a public obligation, especially in the case of protein-based products, and is working attentively to increase food security for its citizens.


Author(s):  
Georgi Todorov ◽  
Krasimira Keremidchieva

On the go is the development and adaptation of an individual target for Bulgaria, in order to increase the share of RES energy, according to the EU common vision for leadership in the implementation of renewables to 32% in the gross final consumption by 2030. The technological progress, the easy applicability and feasibility of the projects, as well as the geographic and climatic specifics of Bulgaria, makes photovoltaic Bulgaria's main candidate for leading technology in this process. With net specific production of 1323kWh/annual per installed kWp, price levels of PV technology of €1360kWp and Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) below €0.12kWh for 20 years time frame, households in Bulgaria are at a stage where photovoltaic projects should be developed as an alternative to the grid supply


Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Danica Zendulková ◽  
Boris Rysuľa ◽  
Andrea Putalová

In the light of the increasing importance of the societal impact of research, this article attempts to address the question as to how social sciences and humanities (SSH) research outputs from 2019 are represented in Slovak research portfolios in comparison with those of the EU-28 and the world. The data used for the analysis originate from the R&D SK CRIS and bibliographic Central Register of Publication Activities (CREPČ) national databases, and WoS Core Collection/InCites. The research data were appropriate for the analysis at the time they were structured, on the national level; of high quality and consistency; and covering as many components as possible and in mutual relations. The data resources should enable the research outputs to be assigned to research categories. The analysis prompts the conclusion that social sciences and humanities research outputs in Slovakia in 2019 are appropriately represented and in general show an increasing trend. This can be documented by the proportion represented by the SSH research projects and other entities involved in the overall Slovak research outputs, and even the higher ratio of SSH research publications in comparison with the EU-28 and the world. Recommendations of a technical character include research data management, data quality, and the integration of individual systems and available analytical tools.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4058
Author(s):  
Paolo Esposito ◽  
Valerio Brescia ◽  
Chiara Fantauzzi ◽  
Rocco Frondizi

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, it aims to analyze what kind of value is generated by hybrid organizations and how; second, it aims to understand the role of social impact assessment (SIA) in the measurement of added value, especially in terms of social and economic change generated by hybrids. Hybrid organizations are a debated topic in literature and have different strengths in responding to needs, mainly in the public interest. Nevertheless, there are not many studies that identify the impact and change generated by these organizations. After highlighting the gap in the literature, the study proposes an innovative approach that combines SIA, interview, interventionist approach and documental analysis. The breakdown of SIA through the five elements of the value chain (inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact) guarantees a linear definition of the value generated through change with procedural objectivity capable of grasping hybrid organizations’ complexity. The value generated or absorbed is the change generated by the impact measured based on the incidence of public resources allocated. Through the SIA and counterfactual approach, the civil service case study analysis highlights how the value generated by public resources can be measured or more clearly displayed in the measurement process itself.


Author(s):  
Nils Johansson

AbstractA problem for a circular economy, embedded in its policies, tools, technologies and models, is that it is driven by the interests and needs of producers, rather than customers and users. This opinion paper focuses on an alternative form of governance—agreements, which thanks to their bargaining approach brings actors from across the value chain into the policy process. The purpose of this opinion paper is to uncover and analyse the potential of such agreements for a circular economy. Circular agreements aim at increasing the circulation of materials and are an emerging form of political governance within the EU. These agreements have different names, involve different actors and govern in different ways. However, circular agreements seem to work when other types of regulations fail to establish circulation. These agreements bring actors together and offer a platform for negotiating how advantages and disadvantages can be redistributed between actors in a way that is more suitable for a circular economy. However, circular agreements are dependent on other policy instruments to work and can generate a free-rider problem with uninvolved actors. The agreements may also become too detailed and long term, which leads to problem shifting and lock-ins, respectively.


Author(s):  
Zhu Zhu ◽  
Hang Zheng ◽  
Zhu Zhu

AbstractBased on the theory of trade added value, this paper discusses the potential actual trade scale and benefit damage degree of the two countries under the background of big country game by measuring the real trade scale of China and the USA, simulating the economic impact of tariffs imposed by China and the USA and utilizing Wang–Wei–Zhu (WWZ) method to decompose the potential changes in Sino-US trade. The results show that: firstly, the size of China-US trade in terms of total value is significantly overestimated and China's overall trade with the USA in 2001–2014 was overestimated by an average of 3.06 percent, of which goods trade was overestimated by 8.06 percent. Secondly, although tariff increases can reduce the degree of trade imbalance between China and the USA to some extent, the adverse effects are mutual and global, and the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan and Canada become the main transfer countries of Sino-US trade. Thirdly, the pattern of China's final exports and the US' intermediate exports determines that China's trade interests are more damaged than those of the USA. It is proved that there is a big gap between China and the USA in the depth and breadth of China's participation in the value chain division of labor and the trade scale measured by Gross Domestic Product is more instructive than the total value.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gelius ◽  
◽  
Sven Messing ◽  
Sarah Forberger ◽  
Jeroen Lakerveld ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Public policy is increasingly recognized as an important component of physical activity promotion. This paper reports on the current status of physical activity policy development and implementation in four European countries based on the Health-Enhancing Physical Activity Policy Audit Tool (HEPA PAT) developed by WHO. It compares the findings to previous studies and discusses the general utility of this tool and its unique features in relation to other instruments. Methods The study was conducted as part of the Policy Evaluation Network (www.jpi-pen.eu) in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Poland. Data collection built upon information obtained via the EU Physical Activity Monitoring Framework survey, additional desk research and expert opinion. Data analysis employed Howlett’s policy cycle framework to map and compare national physical activity policies in the four countries. Results In all countries under study, policy agenda-setting is influenced by prevalence data from national health monitoring systems, and the sport and/or health sector takes the lead in policy formulation. Key policy documents were located mainly in the health sector but also in sport, urban design and transport. Physical activity programmes implemented to meet policy objectives usually cover a broad range of target groups, but currently only a small selection of major policies are evaluated for effectiveness. National experts made several suggestions to other countries wishing to establish physical activity policies, e.g. regarding cross-sectoral support and coordination, comprehensive national action plans, and monitoring/surveillance. Conclusions This study provides a detailed overview of physical activity policies in the four countries. Results show that national governments are already very active in the field but that there is room for improvement in a number of areas, e.g. regarding the contribution of sectors beyond sport and health. Using the HEPA PAT simultaneously in four countries also showed that procedures and timelines have to be adapted to national contexts. Overall, the instrument can make an important contribution to understanding and informing physical activity policy, especially when used as an add-on to regular monitoring tools like the EU HEPA Monitoring Framework.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Roland Y H Silitonga ◽  
Joko Siswanto ◽  
Tota Simatupang ◽  
Senator Nur Bahagia

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to develop a model that will explain the impact of government policies to the competitiveness of palm oil industry. The model involves two commodities in this industry, namely crude palm oil (CPO) and refined palm oil (RPO), each has different added value. Design/methodology/approach: The model built will define the behavior of government in controlling palm oil industry, and their interactions with macro-environment, in order to improve the competitiveness of the industry. Therefore the first step was to map the main activities in this industry using value chain analysis. After that a conceptual model was built, where the output of the model is competitiveness of the industry based on market share. The third step was model formulation. The model is then utilized to simulate the policy mix given by government in improving the competitiveness of Palm Oil Industry. Research limitations/implications: The model was developed using only some policies which give direct impact to the competitiveness of the industry. For macro environment input, only price is considered in this model. Practical implications: The model can simulate the output of the industry for various government policies mix given to the industry. Originality/value: This research develops a model that can represent the structure and relationship between industry, government and macro environment, using value chain analysis and hierarchical multilevel system approach.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Xénia Szanyi-Gyenes ◽  
György Mudri ◽  
Mária Bakosné Böröcz

The role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is unquestionable in the European economies, while financial opportunities are still inadequate for them. The more than 20 million SMEs play a significant role in European economic growth, innovation and job creation. According to the latest EC Annual Report , SMEs are accounting for 99% of all non-financial enterprises, employing 88.8 million people and generating almost EUR 3.7 tn in added value for our economy. Despite the fact that there is plenty of EU funding available for these SMEs, for certain reasons these funds hardly reach them. But we have to see that the EU supports SMEs by various way, e.g. by grants, regulatory changes, financial instrument, direct funds. On the other hand, SMEs and decision makers realised that the environmental sustainability has to be attached to the economic growth, therefore more and more tools are available for these enterprises. Over the last few years, public institutions, the market, the financial community and non-governmental associations have explicitly demanded that firms improve their environmental performance. One of the greatest opportunities might lay in the Climate- and Energy Strategy till 2030 as 20% of the EU budget is allocated to climate-related actions, however the easy access to finance is still a key question. Does the EU recognise the actual difficulties? Is there a systemic reason behind the absorption problems? Is the EU creating a more businessfriendly environment for SMEs, facilitating access to finance, stimulates the green and sustainable growth and improving access to new markets? The paper analyses the current European situation of the SMEs and the effectiveness of some new tools, which are specially targeting SMEs. JEL classification: Q18


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