Interconnections between Social and Economic Indicators in the Context of EU Resilience

The COVID 19 pandemic has once again exposed a number of important risks and problems for the world's economies. Although the present analyzes in the literature are more and more often aggregated between fields, emphasizing the capacity of digitalization and international relations to improve the transition to the circular economy, resilience speaks not only of positive aspects but also of vulnerabilities. Thus, the article deals with the link between vulnerabilities and capacities of the socio-economic domain at EU27 level. The study uses Eurostat data for the period 2011-2020, systematized in the panel form. The results once again demonstrate the need to strengthen public support for health and education, for research and development, in order to reduce socio-economic vulnerabilities at EU27 level, demonstrating the need to correlate policy efforts with results.

From necessity to opportunity: lessons for integrating phone and in-person data collection for agricultural statistics in a post-pandemic world

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted survey and data systems globally and especially in low- and middle-income countries. Lockdowns necessitated remote data collection as demand for data on the impacts of the pandemic surged. Phone surveys started being implemented at a national scale in many places that previously had limited experience with them. As in-person data collection resumes, the experience gained provides the grounds to reflect on how phone surveys may be incorporated into survey and data systems in low- and middle-income countries. This includes agricultural and rural surveys supported by international survey programs such as the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organization's AGRISurvey, or the 50x2030 Initiative. Reviewing evidence and experiences from before and during the pandemic, the paper analyzes and provides guidance on the scope of and considerations for using phone surveys for agricultural data collection. It addresses the domains of sampling and representativeness, post-survey adjustments, questionnaire design, respondent selection and behavior, interviewer effects, as well as cost considerations, all with an emphasis on the particularities of agricultural and rural surveys. Ultimately, the integration of phone interviews with in-person data collection offers a promising opportunity to leverage the benefits of phone surveys while addressing their limitations, including the depth of content constraints and potential coverage biases, which are especially challenging for agricultural and rural populations in low- and middle-income countries.