Ekonomický časopis - Obsahy ročníkov

In this study, the sustainable efficiencies of 25 EU countries are analyzed, and practicable paths for improvement are offered on a country-by-country basis. Dynamic eco-efficient production is not necessarily sustainable, and countries must therefore ensure the fulfillment of endogenously determined targets through additional measures. As the goals of maximizing production and avoiding pollutants seem to oppose each other, an optimization program with multiple simultaneous objective functions enlarges the dynamic eco-data envelopment analysis concept. The countries’ economies and their impacts on the environment are described in Eurostat and ECB data on the countries’ flow and stock inputs, output, resources for environmental protection, and emissions from 2014 to 2022. The examination reveals that the development of each EU country is far from sustainable. The countries that performed best were those that introduced carbon taxes early on, allowing their economies to largely adapt. The usage of the term “sustainable efficiency” is thus misleading, being used to measure static/dynamic eco-efficiency, without analyzing whether efficient production processes are indeed sustainable. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first measurement of sustainable efficiency. To distinguish the approach developed in this article from traditional models, this study uses the term “conserving efficiency”.

Although the current dominant trend in the literature is to analyze cigarette demand through individual consumer microdata, an aggregate country-level approach might be more preferable for countries that legislatively prohibit spatial variation in their prices. This paper, therefore, explores the idea of utilizing the cigarette tax declaration data to estimate a monthly vector error correction model of cigarette prices and volumes taxed in Slovakia for a relatively stable period of Jun 2011 – May 2023. The results are also confronted with alternative estimates using the univariate autoregressive distributed lag model framework. Despite observing volumes of cigarettes stocked by Slovak retailers, after controlling for several exogenous variables, the estimated price elasticity tends to approach magnitudes quite similar to those found in the literature investigating inelastic cigarette demand. Additionally, the paper also provides evidence for measures of tobacco control policy effectiveness regarding the cigarette tax elasticity of volumes stocked by retailers.

The threat of war limits the fiscal space via direct fiscal items and indirect macroeconomic flows. The Russo-Ukrainian war has edged the fiscal challenge of the growing need for military spending in different regions of Eu-rope. This study examines the impact of war-related threats on the fiscal capacity of European NATO countries. The research employs cluster analysis to evaluate the preparedness of these countries to reallocate fiscal re-sources in response to these pressures. Furthermore, the paper utilizes a dynamic panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) regression model to assess the influence of fiscal space determinants and geopolitical risk factors on military expenditure. The cluster variables are: military expenditures per capita in USD, public finance risk expressed as the credit default swap (CDS) spread, gross public debt representing the original sin, tax wedge as a mitigating items of reallocation of expenditures, the Gini coefficient as the origin of social spending needs, and finally distance from Russia as the pressure of military threat on the public finances. The GMM regression is extended with geopolitical risk indicators, development indicator and economic growth. The findings suggest that while a country’s level of development is a primary determinant of its per capita military spending in USD, the fiscal space exerts a particular influence on these expenditures, too.

This paper examines the impact of the Montenegrin development financial institution (DFI) – Investment and Development Fund of Montenegro (IDF) on development dynamics and the overall efficiency of the financial system in Montenegro. The research was conducted using the unrestricted (reduced-form) vector autoregression (VAR) model in levels. This study shows that the Investment and Development Fund of Montenegro has a significant short-term influence on the interest rates of commercial banks, with the effect fading over time as the financial system matures. The IDF did not crowd out private borrowing. Findings highlight the valuable contribution of DFI in fostering competition in the emerging financial system. Limitations include the focus on small and underdeveloped financial system and the absence of analysis in larger and more developed systems. Future research should address these limitations, extending the scope for a more comprehensive result. The findings provide insight for policymakers regarding the DFI role in fostering development and efficiency on small and underdeveloped financial systems. This study contributes novelty by analysing the development impetus of DFIs on the incipient financial system, providing valuable insight for policymakers and guiding future research directions.