Speciális régiótípusok az Európai Unió regionális egyenlőtlenségeiben

n the regional policy of the European Union, the importance of regional typologies linked to specific geographical elements has varied over the past decades. This article shows that since the 1990s the role of these specific regional typologies, and thus of regional characteristics, in European regional policy has been declining. However, the analysis of a wide range of socio-economic data reveals that some types of regions (sparsely populated regions, outermost regions, external border regions) are in a particularly unfavourable socio-economic situation, while others may need specific support not at European but at macro-regional level (for example, the coastal regions of the Mediterranean). The article concludes that, although the value of GDP per capita is indeed only marginally explained by the different regional typologies, broadening the concept of underdevelopment and recognising macro-regional challenges could be a priority for the European Union.

Female Entrepreneurship: Basic Characteristics, Equality, Support

The publication examines the main aspects of female entrepreneurship in Bulgaria. Key issues on the entrepreneurial profile of women starting and running their own business, as well as gender equality in this field are explored. The strengths and the need for specific support for women who create and develop entrepreneurial activities are discussed. In total, 178 women entrepreneurs with different education and age have been surveyed. Their companies also differ in size and activity. Bulgarian women entrepreneurs are mainly with higher education – economic or technical. About half of their companies have been established before 2008, operating mainly in services and trade. According to the results of the study, women believe that they have equal chances with men for success in starting and developing a business. The support they prefer mainly includes providing access to financial resources, promoting successful examples of women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship training. Their most powerful weapons in business include: communication, intuition, adaptability.

The impact of the Anti-Crisis Shield package on the activity of cultural institutions in Poland

The main aim of the article is to present activities of cultural institutions during the pandemic. The theoretical part describes the impact of the anti-crisis shield package on the operation of cultural institutions during the lockdown. The description is based on information from the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The empirical part contains an analysis of specific support tools offered by cultural institutions and organisations, units of local government, the EU, banks, foundations and art academies.

Liderazgo directivo en escuelas y proyectos no formales en centros de menores y carcelarios de la Región Metropolita de Chile

La educación en contextos encierro es un tema poco estudiado e incluso invisibilizado, los/as docentes y los equipos directivos no cuentan con apoyos específicos suficientes para llevar a cabo su labor, la que está sujeta a una serie de condiciones y demandas muy diferentes a la del medio libre. Una investigación cualitativa en curso, en que se han recogido datos del 70% de los participantes, cuyo propósito es cartografiar el sentido los proyectos formativos con jóvenes y adultos en contextos de encierro en la R.M de Chile, arroja información relevante en torno al liderazgo directivo. En todos los casos los principios que guían los proyectos educativos constituyen parte del “sueño pedagógico” de los equipos que conducen las escuelas o programas, quienes se caracterizan por un fuerte compromiso ético y por una toma de decisiones que privilegia el desarrollo de las capacidades de los/as internos/as. Consecuentemente, los equipos directivos no dudan en ir más allá de lo que les corresponde y buscar alternativas autogestionadas para realizar su labor. Lo anterior posibilita que los proyectos no formales y las escuelas se constituyan en un espacio simbólico muy diferente al espacio carcelario, alejándose de la lógica de vigilar y castigar. Education in confinement contexts is a little studied and even invisibilized topic; teachers and management teams do not have enough specific support to carry out their work, which is subject to a series of conditions and demands very different from those of the free environment. A qualitative research in progress, in which data have been collected from 70% of the participants, whose purpose is to map the meaning of educational projects with young people and adults in confinement contexts in the R.M. of Chile, yields relevant information on managerial leadership. In all cases, the principles guiding the educational projects are part of the "pedagogical dream" of the teams leading the schools or programs, who are characterized by a strong ethical commitment and by decision-making that favors the development of the inmates' capacities. Consequently, the management teams do not hesitate to go beyond their responsibilities and seek self-managed alternatives to carry out their work. This makes it possible for non-formal projects and schools to become a symbolic space that is very different from the prison space, moving away from the logic of surveillance and punishment.

SUPPORT FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DURING THE 2020 CRISIS: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN AND KAZAKHSTAN PRACTICE

The article examines the features of ensuring the stability of the business sector during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan, OECD countries and other countries by analyzing the measures taken by their governments. A comparative analysis was conducted for global trends in the introduction of tax policy measures (cancellation / reduction of tax rates, the use of temporary / permanent tax deductions, benefits and loans, refundable tax benefits, etc.) and non-tax policy (provision of loans, subsidies for business expenses that are not related to with wages, various types of deferrals, and other industry-specific support measures).

Demystifying Blue Box Support to Agriculture Under the WTO: Implications for Developing Countries

Developing members at the WTO face a shrinkage in policy space for supporting their agricultural sector due to the limited room available under the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). Contrastingly, most developed members can provide high levels of product-specific support without breaching their commitments on account of their support entitlements. For some of these members, the so-called ‘Blue Box’ under the AoA, plays a pivotal role in expanding the policy space with respect to domestic support to agricultural products. Though a lot of scholarship has discussed and examined other support provisions under the AoA, the ‘Blue Box’ remains relatively shrouded in mystery. Testimony to this is the fact that although the Blue Box has found use amongst developed members, no developing member, except for China in 2016, has ever used the Blue Box to support their producers. Given the impasse in the Doha Round of negotiations and limited flexibilities available under the AoA, this paper examines the feasibility and compatibility Blue Box measures with developing members’ socio-economic situation. Findings of this paper bring to fore the variations in member practice and the operational flexibilities available in implementing Blue Box programmes to support agriculture. JEL: F13, F14, F17, Q17

Agriculture Subsidies: Unravelling the Linkages between the Amber Box and the Blue Box Support

Domestic support disciplines under the Agreement on Agriculture are controversial, to say the least. The aggregate measurement of support (AMS) restricts Members’ policy space to provide product-specific support. The structural flaws in the determination of AMS further compel Members to explore alternatives. In contrast to the Amber Box, the Blue Box offers certain flexibilities for Members to exempt product-specific support from AMS calculation. The Blue Box reflects several elements which are seemingly typical to the Amber Box, except that it has certain production-limiting features. This article explores the legal bounds of the Blue Box measures, and its similarities and dissimilarities with the Amber Box. Towards this end, the article builds on a fresh legal understanding of the Blue Box based on its negotiating history and interpretative bounds, and also offers a fuller appreciation of market price support (MPS) and non-exempt direct payments under the Amber Box. While the calculation methodology for non-exempt direct payments bears a close resemblance to the calculation of MPS, the article argues that direct payment and MPS measures are fundamentally distinct types of product-specific support which makes the interchangeability of Blue and Amber Boxes seemingly difficult.

Lay Health Workers in Community-based Care and Management of Dementia: a ‘Pre’ and ‘Post’ Pilot Intervention Study in Southwestern Uganda

Background: The global need for efficient and cost-effective use of healthcare resources in low-income countries has led to the introduction of lay health workers (LHWs) as a link of the community to the formal health care services, especially in remote areas. As such, the LHWs perform a variety of tasks such as patient care, education, support for care delivery, and social support across all disease types. However, little is known about their ability to support dementia care and management in the community. Purpose: The goal of the pilot intervention study was to evaluate the ability of LHWs in rural southwestern Uganda to support community-based care and management for people with dementia. Methods: This was a ‘pre’ and ‘post’ pilot intervention study which involved a qualitative assessment of LHWs’ knowledge on community-based management and care for people with dementia. The pilot intervention focused on four core competency domains in the WHO dementia toolkit. It began with a five-day training of the LHWs, followed by eight weeks of implementation of knowledge and skills gained during the training, and an evaluation of their experiences. Analysis focused on apriori themes i.e., needs assessment, early detection and management, community engagement, and support for people with dementia; as well as evaluation of the eight-weeks implementation. Results: Before the training, the LHWs did not know much about dementia and provided no dementia-specific support in the community. Activities were limited to general support, including sanitation, nutrition, and health education. After the training, LHWs had a basic understanding of dementia and began sensitizing their communities. They provided dementia-specific support, although they had challenges in differentiating the signs of early dementia from superstitious beliefs. They felt more comfortable in handling people with dementia and reported a notable change in the attitude of family members towards people with symptoms of dementia. Conclusion: Results from the pilot intervention study showed that, with enhanced capacity, LHWs may be able to support community-based management for people with dementia. A larger study is needed to confirm these findings and further assess effectiveness of the LHWs’ skills.

To Pursue or Not to Pursue STEM? Faculty Behavior Enhances Student Involvement in STEM Roles by Signaling Role-Specific Support

Four studies examine the faculty–student relationship as a mechanism through which students ascertain their place in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Studies 1 and 2 use experimental methods to demonstrate STEM faculty who behave communally, relative to independently, increase undergraduates’ belonging and interest in STEM roles through anticipation of greater role-specific support (i.e., support that emphasizes guiding students through structures and activities of field-specific roles). Study 3 then examined the consequences of role-specific support for undergraduates’ belonging and interest in STEM. Students anticipated more belonging and interest in STEM roles when faculty provided high levels of role-specific support. Finally, STEM doctoral students’ perception of role-specific support from faculty related to their belonging and future identification in STEM fields (Study 4). Taken together, these studies demonstrate the importance of students’ construals of role-specific support from faculty, and how faculty behavior signals role-specific support, with benefits for student involvement in STEM.