Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

This paper examines how externally originating disturbances – such as drops in demand or supply constraints – are transmitted and amplified through existing production networks, where firms’exposure is determined by their horizontal, backward and forward linkages to the largest five firms. Using firm-level data from eight European countries between 2006 and 2019, we measure each firm's network position through linkages in its own industry and in the downstream and upstream industries. Our results reveal three key contributions. First, as shown by the fixed effects model, demand shocks tend to flow upstream to suppliers, while supply shocks more strongly affect downstream buyers which is aligned with theory. Second, industry analysis reveals that the effects of firm linkages become more pronounced during periods of economic shocks, as their impact is amplified under both demand and supply shocks. Third, our results suggest that economies with lower market concentration – where SMEs dominate – exhibit more pronounced shock transmission, highlighting the role of network structure in amplifying shocks. These findings emphasize the critical role of production networks in amplifying firm-level shocks and underline the need for policies that reduce systemic vulnerabilities in granular economies.

This paper examines how selected policy announcements and realized supply shocks affected Slovak electricity prices between 2015 and 2025. Using an event study framework, it shows that announcements produced only modest and short-lived price responses, while realized disruptions, especially gas supply interruptions, led to much stronger and more persistent increases. The results further indicate that Slovak electricity prices are closely linked to movements in natural gas, carbon allowance, and major regional markets. The study provides new evidence that even a relatively small and predominantly nuclear based market such as Slovakia remains highly exposed to external shocks through European market integration.

This paper compares long-term projections of the Slovak pension system from an aggregate cohort-component model and a dynamic microsimulation model under broadly harmonised Ageing Report assumptions. Microsimulation links individual employment and earnings histories to pen-sion entitlements and provides distributional adequacy measures. Both models project similar expenditure profiles and declining benefit ratios, but microsimulation generates lower expenditure, mainly for disability and minimum pensions. Its higher replacement rates largely reflect differences in the definition and timing of the wage denominator. Individual results reveal declining inequality among new pension awards and persistent differences by sex and age. Sensitivity scenarios illustrate the effects of lower fertility and a constant retirement age. The findings support using the two approaches as complementary tools for assessing pension sustainability and adequacy.

This study examines the gender wage gap at different points of the wage distribution in Türkiye, highlighting how its patterns differ across education groups. Using unconditional quantile decomposition on nationally representative labor force microdata, the analysis presents that while the overall gender wage gap appears moderate, it conceals substantial disparities among workers with different education levels. Among those with at most a high school education, women earn 20 to 25 percent less than comparable men across the distribution, whereas among university graduates, the gap narrows in the middle but widens again in the upper quantiles. Observable characteristics explain only a small share of these differences, while the remaining unexplained portion may reflect a range of factors, including unobserved productivity-related characteristics or differential returns to similar characteristics across genders, particularly at the lower and upper ends of the wage distribution.