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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Doina Muresan (Acad. Andrei Rădulescu Legal Research Institute of the Romanian Academy) |
| Abstract: | The process of digitalization of public administration represents one of the most important institutional transformations in contemporary Europe. However, the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe face specific challenges in implementing the administrative reforms necessary for the development of digital governance. Differences in institutional capacity, level of economic development, administrative culture and degree of European integration significantly influence the pace and efficiency of these reforms. The paper presents the results of the comparative analysis of the administrative reform and digitalization processes in Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia, highlighting the main institutional, technological and political challenges encountered in the process of modernizing public administration. The study uses a comparative methodology based on the analysis of strategic documents, European reports and indicators on digital governance. The results highlight the fact that, although digitalization is recognized as a strategic priority in all the countries analyzed, the implementation of administrative reforms remains influenced by factors such as institutional fragmentation, limited administrative capacity and the variable level of inter-institutional cooperation. The article contributes to understanding the dynamics of administrative reforms in Southern and Eastern Europe and highlights the importance of strengthening institutional capacity for the success of the digital transformation of public administration. |
| Keywords: | Administrative Reform, Digitalization, E-Government, South-Eastern Europe, Institutional Capacity |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0642 |
| By: | Ziyoqulova, Aziza; Egamberdiev, Bekhzod |
| Abstract: | The findings in this study are novel and relevant for defining human capital as a factor in e-government development. The main objective of this working paper is to contribute to the consolidation of the understanding of the relationship between digital literacy and e-Governance. The study constructs the digital literacy and e-government index using the predicted values from the factor analysis. The dataset used in this study was obtained from the Life in Transition Survey (LiTS). This study aims to analyze the relationship between digital literacy and e-government in Central Asian Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. |
| Keywords: | E-government, Digital literacy, Central Asia |
| JEL: | A1 C12 H10 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:340041 |
| By: | Eduard Dobre (University of Bucharest, Romania) |
| Abstract: | In the mid-19th century, the model of Catholic journeymen's associations founded by Adolph Kolping spread rapidly from Germany to Central and Eastern Europe. For his contribution he was surnamed “the journeyman’s father†(Ridder, 1956). This study analyses the emergence and evolution of the Catholic Journeymen's Association in Timișoara in the broader context of urban industrialization and social change in the Banat region. Founded in Timișoara in 1859, it was the first association in Banat, Transylvania, and Bukovina, after the one established in Bucharest in the same year. The association was closely linked to the Catholic Church and benefited from the support of the clergy and local economic elites. Particular attention is paid to the role of the association in integrating young craftsmen into an urban society in the midst of industrialization. The religious, civic, and professional training of its members can also be found in the period after 1989, in the associations called the Kolping Family, which took the name of the founder. Based on archival documents, press sources, and specialized literature, the research highlights the importance of an associative model that generated sociability, education, and civic training in Timișoara's urban society. |
| Keywords: | Timisoara, Banat, Catholic Journeymen Associations, Kolping, Urban Sociability, Industrialization |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0654 |
| By: | Martyshev, Pavlo; Grigoriadis, Theocharis; Nivievskyi, Oleg; Kolodiazhnyi, Ivan |
| Abstract: | The weaponization of agricultural trade has once again emerged as critical in the study of modern geopolitics due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although Russia has used its wheat exports as a means of enhancing its geopolitical influence over countries in the Global South, evidence on the impact of such a policy is scarce. This paper assesses the impact of reliance on Russian and Ukrainian wheat imports on food security and political development in sub-Saharan African countries. The panel data for the analysis come from 35 African countries between 2005 and 2024. The Bartik-style shift-share instrumental variables (IV) model utilizes exogenous variables derived from the historical shares of wheat that African countries imported from Russia and Ukraine multiplied by the export contractions caused by geopolitical conflicts in 2014 (Crimea annexation) and 2022 (full-scale invasion of Ukraine). The dependence on Russian wheat has had a uniquely adverse impact upon the development of sub-Saharan Africa, whereas this has not been the case for the dependence on Ukrainian wheat. Prior to 2022, the dependence on Russian wheat had no significant impact upon the reduction of undernourishment in Africa, but had a significant impact on the rise of political instability. After 2022, though, the Russian wheat played a crucial role in the food insecurity within the region. While democratic indices remained unaffected by Russian wheat, other geopolitical factors such as U.S. development aid and Chinese development finance were not able to counter the negative effects of Russian wheat exports. Our findings identify an independent vector of autocratic influence enabled through Russian agricultural exports. For sustainable political development within sub-Saharan Africa, the diversification of staple food suppliers is urgently required. |
| Keywords: | development, food security, political stability, democracy, wheat, Russia, Africa |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:340110 |
| By: | Ibadoghlu, Gubad |
| Abstract: | Azerbaijan's substantial hydrocarbon endowment-particularly in crude oil and natural gas-plays a central role in shaping both its economic structure and governance model. The hydrocarbon sector constitutes the backbone of the national economy, accounting for a dominant share of fiscal revenues, export earnings, and macroeconomic stability. However, consistent with the literature on rentier state dynamics and resource dependence, the concentration of hydrocarbon rents has contributed to the consolidation of a highly centralized political system. Control over these revenues has enabled ruling elites to accumulate and sustain economic and political power, thereby limiting political pluralism and reinforcing the persistence of dominant leadership. This article examines how hydrocarbon wealth functions not only as an economic asset but also as an instrument of political control. Drawing on fiscal and sectoral data for the period 2007-2025, it shows how oil and gas revenues are accumulated in the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), transferred to the state budget, and disproportionately allocated to defense, law enforcement, and judicial institutions, thereby expanding the state's coercive capacity. The analysis also highlights a structural shift from oil to gas production and Azerbaijan's growing role as a gas supplier to Europe. At the same time, it identifies a parallel increase in political repression, reflected in a sharp rise in the number of political prisoners since 2022. The findings suggest that Azerbaijan's increasing geopolitical and energy importance has reduced external pressure for democratic reforms. Overall, the article argues that hydrocarbon revenues play a central role in sustaining authoritarian governance by reinforcing coercive institutions and limiting accountability. |
| Keywords: | Azerbaijan, Oil and Gas Production, Hydrocarbons revenues, Energy, SOFAZ, SOCAR, Budget expenditures, Defense and security budget, Judiciary, law enforcement and prosecution budget, Gas Exports to Europe, Political Repression, Political Prisoners, EU |
| JEL: | P16 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:340056 |
| By: | Michał Gradzewicz (Narodowy Bank Polski; SGH Warsaw School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper quantifies the magnitude and evolution of the efficiency of resource allocation in the Polish enterprise sector over 1993–2023 using a near-census of non-financial firms with 10+ employees. The baseline approach follows Hsieh and Klenow (2009) and shows that hypothetical elimination of within-industry inefficiencies generate sizeable and rising gains in productivity and value added, increasing from close to 40% of value added in the 1990s to roughly 70–75% in the early 2020s. Deteriorating allocation efficiency of resources is robust to changes in the identification scheme and to changes in the underlying model (accounting for wedges related to the use of materials or allowing for non-unit economies of scale and markups that vary across sectors). The efficiency of allocation worsens primarily in services and is due to entry and exit, rather than within-cohort dynamics. Firm-level regressions show that high-productive firms and middle-sized firms are disproportionately too small, that non-exporters and more profitable firms exhibit larger wedges, and that subsidies are conductive to better allocation of resources, while the same characteristics often have opposing effects on actual growth of firms’ value added. It implies that market forces and policies do not systematically steer firms toward efficient scales. Deteriorating allocation efficiency can also be a factor explaining the slowdown of productivity growth in the Polish economy since the 2000s. |
| Keywords: | allocation efficiency, productivity, misallocation, firm dynamics, markups, returns to scale, production function, Poland |
| JEL: | C23 D24 E23 E25 O47 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbp:nbpmis:385 |
| By: | Stefan Tanevski |
| Abstract: | This paper asks how institutional stock-market integration reshapes the transmission of monetary policy through asset prices in small open economies. Motivated by the persistent segmentation of Western Balkan capital markets, we develop a two-stage counterfactual transmission framework to identify how stock-exchange consolidation would alter the elasticity of market valuations to monetary shocks. First, a synthetic-control simulation constructs a counterfactual integrated Western Balkan stock exchange comprising Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Serbia, benchmarked to the Baltic OMX merger, thereby quantifying the structural valuation gains of institutional integration. Second, we identify exogenous monetary-policy innovations using a Taylor-rule framework augmented with inflation and output forecasts and reserve adjustments. These shocks are then embedded within a Local-Projections estimator \`a la Jord\`a (2005) to trace the dynamic responses of market capitalisation under fragmented and integrated market regimes. The results point to a systematic amplification of monetary-policy transmission through the asset-price channel once markets are unified. Following a policy tightening of about 100 basis points, equity valuations fall roughly twice as strongly under integration than under fragmented markets. Additionally, we find that integration alters the sensitivity of monetary transmission itself: the initial pass-through intensifies, but its marginal responsiveness to further integration declines over time, signalling the consolidation of a new steady-state regime. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.18330 |
| By: | DragoÈ™ Lucian Radulescu (Petroleum Gas University of Ploiesti, Romania) |
| Abstract: | The concept of discrimination in employment relationships is based on the application of unequal treatment among employees of the same employer in situations where they are in comparable circumstances, or on the application of identical treatment to individuals who are in different situations. The regulation of discriminatory conduct is founded on the recognition of certain protected criteria. These criteria were first established in European secondary law through a series of EU directives, which were subsequently transposed into the national legislation of the Member States. Non-discrimination rules aim not only to limit unjustified differences in treatment, but also to protect specific characteristics such as race, nationality, religious belief, and other comparable grounds. In such cases, the employee may invoke a presumption of discrimination. Even conduct that appears neutral may constitute discrimination if it produces the effect of restricting or preventing the exercise of legally recognized rights. In this context, the prohibition of discrimination is grounded in the protection of fundamental rights and entails banning any distinctions, exclusions, restrictions, or preferences applied by employers to employees who are in comparable situations. This article examines the concept of discrimination in employment relationships, the protected criteria, as well as the classification and development of European and national regulations concerning discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination, Protected Grounds, European Law, National Law, Case Law |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0647 |
| By: | Alok Yadav; Saroj Yadav |
| Abstract: | Traditional macroeconomic growth models rely on general equilibrium and continuous, frictionless institutional transitions, failing to account for the catastrophic structural collapses observed in empirical economic history. We propose the Stochastic Networked Governance (SNG) model, a discrete-time, agent-based framework that bridges econophysics, network science, and institutional economics. By defining jurisdictions through a binary institutional genome, the model formalizes institutional complementarity, endogenous growth, and the non-linear macroeconomic penalties of structural reform (the "J-Curve"). Using the CEPII Gravity Database and the IMF Systemic Banking Crises dataset, we move beyond theoretical topologies to execute an empirical historical simulation from 1970 to 2017 across the top 100 global economies. Through Monte Carlo ensembles, we demonstrate how scale-invariant exogenous shocks and spatial capital flight drive global phase transitions, exposing the mathematical mechanics of the 1989-1991 Soviet collapse, the Hub-Risk Paradigm, and the emergent resilience of spatially firewalled market networks. |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2604.19968 |