The year 2020 went down in economic history due to the dramatic and drastic changes in economic and social conditions that resulted from the outbreak of the global pandemic of COVID-19. This book offers a multi-level narrative about the pandemic, written from national and international perspectives, enabling the authors to construct several macro- and mega-scenarios. The book consists of six chapters. Four of them discuss the process of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Europe in 2020, i.e. the directions and dynamics of the spread and its socioeconomic consequences, and provide a comparative analysis of fiscal and monetary packages employed by Europe, with an emphasis on Eastern European countries. The remaining two chapters contain forecasts and scenarios. The fifth chapter, dedicated to forecasts, provides readers with a comprehensive description of possible consequences of any epidemic leading to severe social losses such as high percentages of infected and dead, limited interpersonal contacts as a result of lockdown, a lowered level of general individual and social well-being, as well as economic losses, for example a decline in production as a result of the collapse of aggregate demand and a reduction in the supply capacity of the economy, consequently slowing down the pace of capital accumulation. The sixth, final chapter describes possible scenarios of the spread of the pandemic in Poland and Ukraine, depending on measures taken by the governments of those countries. The Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 on Eastern European Countries is designed as a practical reference for scholars, researchers and policymakers.

The theory of interventionism of the Austrian School of Economics explains the successes and failures of the transformation processes in Central and Eastern European countries and offers a deep insight into contemporary economic phenomena. Three decades have passed since the collapse of communism that precipitated the economic transformation of these countries. This book describes the Austrian view of socialism and in such a context explains the transformational success of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, it shows that the theory of interventionism has not lost its relevance, and the theory itself—along with its modifications—may be used to explain current economic events. The book is divided into four sections. The first part presents the Austrian perspective on socialism; the second discusses a new approach to the Austrian theory of interventionism, suggesting that the theory should be revised and that its scope should be extended beyond the transformation of the 1990s into the realm of contemporary economic reality; the third part is oriented towards pragmatic considerations, whereby the authors employ the Austrian perspective to analyze specific factors that, according to their view, had an impact on the transformational success of post-communist countries; while the final part is ideological and philosophical in character. Here the authors search for certain principia that govern broadly understood social and economic transformations. The book is addressed to those interested in the Austrian School of Economics and the political transformation of the 1990s, as well as those who wish to understand contemporary economic trends.

This book explores the hypothesis of the emergence of a ‘dependent capitalism’ in Central and Eastern Europe. In a first theoretical part, this book presents the main approaches that structure the field of comparative capitalism and then examines this model shaped by the inflow of foreign capital. In an original way, it proposes to integrate the form of the monetary regime into the dependent capitalism analysis and to extend it to Balkan countries. The monetary regime is seen as complementary to the other elements of the institutional configuration of dependent capitalism. In the second part, the authors adopt a historical and empirical perspective. First, they demonstrate how dependent capitalism has emerged in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States over the last 30 years as part of the process of socio-economic transformation that began in 1990. The crisis of 2008 was an indicator of this dependence on Western capital. Secondly, they extend the analysis to the Balkan countries and show that dependence is even stronger for them, particularly in the monetary area, as evidenced by the implementation of currency boards or euroization phenomena. This book is of interest to academics and students, as well as to business and economic policy makers.

In 1956, Solow proposed a neoclassical growth model in opposition or as an alternative to Keynesian growth models. The Solow model of economic growth provided foundations for models embedded in the new theory of economic growth, known as the theory of endogenous growth, such as the renowned growth models developed by Paul M. Romer and Robert E. Lucas in the 1980s and 90s. The augmentations of the Solow model described in this book, excepting the Phelps golden rules of capital accumulation and the Mankiw-Romer-Weil and Nonneman-Vanhoudt models, were developed by the authors over the last two decades. The book identifies six spheres of interest in modern macroeconomic theory: the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on growth; the effect of different returns to scale on production; the influence of mobility of factors of production among different countries on their development; the effect of population dynamics on growth; the periodicity of investment rates and their influence on growth; and the effect of exogenous shocks in the form of an epidemic. For each of these issues, the authors construct and analyze an appropriate growth model that focuses on the description of the specific macroeconomic problem. This book not only continues the neoclassical tradition of thought in economics focused on quantitative economic change but also, and to a significant extent, discusses alternative approaches to certain questions of economic growth, utilizing conclusions that can be drawn from the Solow model. It is a useful tool in analyzing contemporary issues related to growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a major threat to the well-being of older Europeans. Its economic and social effects, however, varied across countries. This multidisciplinary book presents the first results of analyses that combined the renowned longitudinal database of SHARE with new data from two telephone surveys that were uniquely conducted during the pandemic. The analyses address important policy-related issues, such as: Did social distancing destabilize family and social support networks? Did the pandemic increase health, social and economic inequality? Who had to forego essential health care because of the pandemic? Did lockdown affect one's physical and mental health? Did the shift towards remote work affect workload and well-being? Were different housing conditions related to the spread of the virus?

This book offers new insights into the real and financial sectors in the post-pandemic European Union, with a specific focus on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and a special reference to Croatia. The contributors examine the timeliness, justification, and appropriateness of the measures taken in response to the deteriorating economic conditions and the associated outcomes. They further discuss various aspects of economic, financial, and energy policy. While doing so, they focus on two important issues. The first is an analysis and assessment of the financial development and performance of the real sector. The second is an insight into the institutional dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the discussion of obstacles and opportunities for recovery in the near future. The topics covered in this book include, but are not limited to, unconventional monetary policy, financial cycles, fiscal incentives, institutional development and institutional quality, the banking system, real estate markets, competitiveness, pension systems, financial regulation, energy markets, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, as well as agricultural policy. Therefore, this volume will appeal to researchers, students, and scholars of finance and economics, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of real and financial sectors, economic policy, and post-pandemic economic development in Central and Eastern Europe.

The “digital economy” is a conceptual umbrella referring to markets, organizations and their networks that are based on digital technologies, communication, data processing and e-commerce. It is multidimensional and its dynamic structure must be analysed from various dimensions, such as economic – changes in the nature of resources, production factors and economic processes; technological – technological progress viewed from a macroeconomic perspective vs. technological innovation viewed from a microeconomic perspective; regulatory – challenges facing regulators, new risks affecting the institutional order; and sociological – changes in society’s functioning principles, attitudes towards work and human relations. The purpose of this book is to analyse the effectiveness of digital technologies as well as the fundamental factors that contribute to technological progress in the long run. It also examines structural and qualitative shifts in economies and societies. It investigates many research questions, such as the gap between the level of digital economic development in European Union countries; digital transformation and its impact on workplace skills development patterns; and also the legal framework for data as resource. The book approaches these issues from a multidisciplinary perspective, from law to economics and sociology. It focuses on definitional discussions, the measurement challenges, drivers for digital transition, the impact on labour relations, digital skills and education, data reuse and data extractivism. This is a comprehensive introduction to the different contexts from which the digital economy can be addressed, offering an innovative method for studying this complex phenomenon, and as such, it will be a valuable resource for students, scholars and researchers across a range of disciplines.

The growing indebtedness of households reported over the last 30 years and in most developed countries has serious economic and social implications. This book provides insight into the concepts, measures, and determinants of household indebtedness, over-indebtedness, and well-being by integrating theoretical perspectives, adopting recent analytical methods, and using a sample of Polish households. The authors identified the socio-demographic and economic characteristics of indebted and over-indebted households, as well as the basic characteristics of indebtedness and the differences in its subjective perception among over-indebted households and those that are not over-indebted. They determined the spatial differentiation of over-indebtedness, examining the relationship between economic, social and behavioural factors and over-indebtedness and the role of over-indebtedness in shaping the economic well-being of households. The results of a questionnaire conducted on a sample of Polish households and econometric modelling served as the basis for assessing the economic well-being of indebted households. This assessment was conducted with the use of a composite well-being indicator developed by the authors. Given the multidimensional nature of the issues being analysed, the authors offer an approach that accounts for two separate but overlapping dimensions of economic well-being, namely material and financial, and two ways of assessing each of them: objective and subjective. The book holds appeal for researchers, scholars, and students of economics, finance, consumer economics, and economic psychology and offers practical guidance for policymakers and advisors who deal with consumer affairs.

Zusammenfassung: This book takes stock of and analyses the direct and indirect effects of the war in Ukraine, the policy response to the shock across countries, as well as the potential medium-term economic and social implications and policy challenges. The last decade most Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies have been on a convergence path towards the EU average according to the main economic indicators. In 2022, however, the terrible war in Ukraine had major spillovers to the rest of the world, with the CEE economies being among the most exposed. The millions of refugees, the disruptions to energy supply, trade and supply chains, the surge in inflation, the tightening of global financial conditions, and elevated uncertainty created a radically new economic and social environment in these countries. The volume covers the economic effects of these challenges, the policy options available, and also those related to the eventual reconstruction of Ukraine, including the potential role of the CEE countries. Based on data and evidence-supported policy analysis, each chapter studies the impact of the shock on a particular area of the economy and makes general and country-specific policy recommendations. This makes this book a must-read for students, scholars, and researchers of economics and neighboring disciplines, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understading of the direct and indirect effects of the war in Ukraine on the CEE countries. The book is a sequel to the volume Emerging European Economies after the Pandemic, (Springer Nature, January 2022). Chapter "Economic Growth & Resilience" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

These proceedings represent the work of contributors to the 2nd European Conference on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (ECIAIR 2020), hosted by ACI and Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Portugal on 22-23 October 2020. The Conference Chair is Dr Florinda Matos, and the Programme Chairs are Dr Ana Maria de Almeida and Prof Isabel Salavisa, all from Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Portugal.