ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic represented a tremendous shock for both public and private sectors and put pressure on the economic environment alongside national healthcare systems. Our article examined the economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU Member States and assessed if countries with more intense use of digitalization instruments (e-government features, e-commerce, ITC skills, etc.) in both public and private sectors registered a lower economic decline during 2019–2020. Our approach was based firstly on statistical correlation analysis applied to several indicators obtained from Eurostat and European Commission. Secondly, we elaborated different regional models of economic and social homogenous characteristics that could be found among EU Member States based on a hierarchical cluster analysis model applied to several structural socio-economic and digitalization indicators. The main conclusion was that there is a strong positive correlation between the share of ITC employment and the share of ITC in GDP, and the level of digital skills for individuals and the share of companies with high intensity of digitalization. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
Teleworking is known as a way of the future that enhances economic growth as an accumulation of physical as well as human capital. Using digitalization that increase the procedures and services efficiency and reduce the repetitive work of employers by using technology, teleworking improves firm performance by enhancing efficiency, motivation, and knowledge creation. This paper aims to analyze the influence of teleworking, based on its characteristics and determinants under the influence of financial and pandemic crises, on economic growth as measured by GDP growth;this was performed using econometric models from the literature and fuzzy logic. The econometric analysis included a two-step approach regarding the years 2008–2020 (including COVID-19 pandemic period) for the 27 member states of the EU. The research results suggest that access to the Internet, employment ratio, and average wage significantly influenced the teleworking ratio of the employees. Furthermore, the access to the Internet made a significant difference in using teleworking, given the infrastructure that was already created in the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. Employees took advantage of it and continued, at a lower scale, to maintain social distancing, although the measures taken in the second wave were not perceived to be as tough as in the first one. © 2022 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
Social protection systems are a key factor for ensuring the long-term sustainability and stability of economies in the European Union, their reform being nowadays present in the political agenda of member states. Aging and the dependence on mandatory levies applied to the employed population on the labor market represent a threat for the sustainability of public social protection systems. In terms of sustainability, our purpose was to highlight the factors influencing social insurance budgets, considering the fiscal policies implemented in six countries of Central and Eastern Europe and their particular labor market characteristics. Therefore, a panel study based on a regression model using the Ordinary Least Squares method (OLS) with cross section random effects was used to determine the correlations between funding sources and labor market specific indicators. The data analyzed led to relevant results that emphasize the dependence of social insurance budgets on positive factors such as the average level of salaries, the share of compulsory social contributions, the unemployment rate, and the human development index, suggesting the continuing need for professional and personal development of the workforce.