Globalisation Scepticism in the Visegrad Countries

Recent developments in the European Union revealed significant differences between the Visegrad countries and the remaining members of the EU. The enlargement euphoria of the first decade of the 21st century was replaced by certain enlargement fatigue, manifesting itself not only in concrete governmental policies but also in the public opinion towards the EU. As European integration and globalisation are parallel processes, declining support for European integration must not necessarily be the result of disagreement with specific policies and should be examined in the broader context of globalisation fears and anxieties. The article describes variations in globalisation scepticism between the group of Visegrad countries and the remaining countries of the EU as well as variations within the Visegrad group itself, focusing on the main drivers of economic globalisation – international trade, foreign direct investment, and immigration. The development of public opinion since the financial and economic crisis in 2009 indicates that Visegrad countries should not be treated as a uniform bloc of globalisation sceptics as there are significant differences in opinion between the more pessimistic Czechs and Slovaks and the more optimistic Poles and Hungarians. Their globalisation scepticism also varies across different dimensions of globalisation and is fuelled by different motivations.

Foreign Direct Investment and External Debt Impacts Assessment on Environmental Resources Depletion in Nigeria

The public interest in justness, equity and fairness in the use of environmental resources between the present and future generations have raised concern about the current depletion rate of environmental resources in Nigeria. Several socioeconomic factors are involved. Worrisome however is the inflow of foreign direct investment and external debt escalation in recent years in the economy. Importantly, we asked, do they contribute to the depletion of environmental resources in Nigeria? In that, we modelled the implications of growth in FDI and external debt on four cases of environmental resources depletion (forestry, solid minerals, fisheries, and crude oil resources productions). The estimated results suggested that though the depletion rate of environmental resources like crude oil depends largely, over the long run and short run, on the movement in FDI inflow, critical to the level of depletion of the forest is the short run effect of external debt. Furthermore, the depletion level of fisheries responds positively only to a change in FDI with a lag in the short run. In terms of solid minerals, we found a long run impact of external debt. Therefore, provided the impact of a rise in FDI and external debt on the depletion of environmental resources is subject to the particular resource and time in Nigeria, selective policies based on the FDI and external debt management is appropriately adequate to control the level of depletion of environmental resources in Nigeria for the benefit of the future generation.

Current Trends of the European Union Integration Policy As a Reaction to the Refugee and Migrant Crisis 2015

Investing any resources and energy in integration policies today could contribute to making the European Union a more prosperous, cohesive, and inclusive place for society. However, notwithstanding the efforts made, third-country nationals continue to fare worse than domestic citizens in terms of employment, education, and social inclusion outcomes. The article examines and subsequently reviews various trends in integrating foreigners (primarily third-countries nationals and asylum seekers) on social and economic level after the outbreak of migrant and refugee crisis in 2015 until the present day. Our research suggests that the concerned group of immigrants continue to face barriers in the education system, on the labour market, and in accessing decent housing and adequate health care. All of the aforementioned aspects have become the main focus of all parties involved. Through funding, initiatives, and specific measures undertaken by both the EU and Member States with NGOs strengthen and support integration across key policy areas, albeit deficiencies are still observed.

The Influence of the Benefit Redistribution Method on the Willingness to Voluntary Contribute to Public Goods Provision Classroom Experiment

Currently we are facing Covid 19 pandemics and it opens many questions about willingness of individuals to give up some private pleasure to contribute to public wellbeing. Theoretical economic research suggest that methodology of group account distribution does affect the contribution size. Lawyers, politicians and economists try to answer these questions using various scientific approaches and methods. One of them is to examine the willingness of individuals to contribute to public goods. Using a laboratory classroom experiment, we test various situations through public goods game. We examine whether economic entities are willing to contribute in situations when it is not advantageous for them from an individual point of view, but it is advantageous for society.

Impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic on the Labor Market in the Slovak Republic: Women vs. Men

In the spring of 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on both the economic and noneconomic spheres of everyone's life. The paper deals with the impact of the pandemic on the labour market in the Slovak Republic. The analysis examines data of selected indicators at the level of districts and regions. The results showed a more negative impact on men than on women. The economic activity rate of men decreased on average by 1 p.p., while that of women only by 0.5. At the same time, labor markets in eastern and central Slovakia were affected more than those in western Slovakia. The results of the analysis indicate that people with higher education are more resilient to the corona crisis than those with no or low education, specially women with higher education are more resilient to the corona crisis. A paradoxical outcome of the analysis is the finding that the number of workers in the 55+ age group in the labor market increased for both genders and across the country. The focus of economic policy should be to mitigate the negative effects of the corona crisis through measures aimed at creating jobs and increasing employment.

Countercyclical capital buffer in the Slovak banking sector

The essence of banks’ capital lies in the protection against potential risks or losses and represents a protective layer for their creditors. Confidence in the banking system generally results from setting the conditions for its regulation. The purpose of regulation is to limit the riskiness of banks in their activities by setting capital requirements that banks must maintain given the volume and structure of their assets. The aim of the paper work is to determine the impact of capital regulation on the profitability and lending behaviour of the Slovak banking sector with a focus on the countercyclical capital buffer. The work is divided into the five parts. It contains two pictures and six tables. The first chapter is devoted to the theoretical definition of the nature and need for regulation of the bank's capital. Within the chapter it‘s characterized the current situation that persists in the Slovak banking sector. The content of the second chapter is a brief review of the literature which studies examined the impact of the introduction of a countercyclical capital buffer on the profitability of commercial banks as well as their lending behaviour. The next part characterizes the aim of the work, used the methods and the methodology of researching the issue. The fourth part deals with the econometric analysis of the change of selected variables with respect to the level of the countercyclical capital buffer in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. The final part is used to evaluate the results and drawing conclusions.

Assessment of flexicurity implementation in selected EU countries

The flexicurity approach has taken official shape with the release of the Europe 2020 strategy, which recommended this approach for employment policies for all EU Member States. As Europe 2020 is in its final phase, the aim of the paper was to analyse the development of flexicurity implementation during the validity of the Europe 2020 strategy in selected countries (the Slovak Republic, the Netherlands, France and Poland) based on individual flexicurity indicators and to find out to what extent this development correlated with employment rate in the countries concerned. The results show that the positive development within the four proposed components of flexicurity may contribute to increasing employment rate in the given countries. On the other hand, it is important to perceive that the employment rate reflects the overall situation in the country and is influenced by many different determinants. At the end of the article, we present our view of the further development of flexicurity.

Empirical analysis of the environmental Kuznets Curve for atmospheric pollution and economic growth in Algeria

This study aimed at examining the Environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for Atmospheric pollution and economic growth in Algeria, in the period 1980–2017. As indicators of pollution emissions were chosen CO2 emissions per capita (PECO2), SO2 emissions per capita (PESO2), and NOx emissions per capita (PENOx). To prove these relations, we are using time series data in Vector Autoregression model supported by cointegration tests. The results indicated that the assumption of Environmental Kuznets curve was confirmed for the case of Algeria, where the mapping showed us a curve in inverse U-shape Environmental Kuznets curve characterized by a rising phase that peaked when the level GDP was highest to move to a new downward phase where environmental quality is improving over time. In terms of the direction of causality, we identified a causal relationship to Granger from GDP to the different emissions, which justifies that the implementation of a range of measures protecting the environmental quality of Algeria should be the top priority in the context of sustainable development and enhancing the long-run growth. To reduce pollution emissions, Algeria is called upon to increase significantly the use of renewable energies and the establishment of a more efficient energy policy.

Education in further professional education before and during the pandemic

The aim of the paper is to increase the motivation of organisations by providing the varieties of forms of education and the possibility of choosing the form of education for a specific educational activity. The focus of the paper is on two basic forms of education, full-time and distance learning. The centre of our attention is distance education, in terms of the conditions and implementation aspects of electronic corporate education in the Slovak Republic. Two methods were used in the empirical research: the questionnaire method and the interview. Respondents were selected from two sections of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities – NACE (Rev.), Section C and Section G, 120 respondents in each section. Despite the digitalisation of the economy and education, respondents as well as authors believe that in the future, the corporate education after the pandemic will return to full-time education and development of blended education.