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European Union (EU) as a whole has made modest short-term progress toward sustainable development goals (SDG). Only in one goal (ensuring healthy lives and promotion of well-being) out of 17, the progress was substantial. The most problematic goals, which show movements away from sustainable development objectives, are goals that are focused on building resilient infrastructure, promotion of inclusive, sustainable industrialization, fostering innovation, and the goal that takes urgent action to combat climate changes. The analysis between old and new EU members revealed that median new EU member has made bigger progress in the last five years. For 11 SDGs, the average score is lover for median new EU member compared to median old EU member. However, the last available level of the indicator is in general still more favorable for median old EU member compared to median new EU member.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of public governance quality on tax evasion levels in old (pre-2004) and new (post-2004) European Union (EU) members before and after the 2004 EU-enlargement.

This study uses panel data of 28 EU countries over the period 1996-2015. Tax evasion is measured using an updated version of the shadow economy size based on the light intensity, as calculated by (Medina and Schneider, 2018). The World Bank’s worldwide governance indicators are used as a measure of public governance.

The results indicate that new EU members have higher tax evasion levels compared to the old ones before and after the 2004 EU enlargement. The findings also report that the public governance quality is superior in old members throughout the 1996-2015 period. Furthermore, the authors found that after the EU enlargement, tax evasion levels decreased in both EU groups; however, the authors noticed an improvement in the public governance quality in new members and a deterioration in old ones. Additional analysis confirms the impact of public governance quality as an effective tool for reducing tax evasion behavior in both EU groups before and after the EU enlargement.

The findings are potentially useful for EU policymakers in identifying the most effective tools that can minimize tax evasion levels in EU countries. Additionally, the results are alarming as they show the negative consequences of the EU enlargement in old EU members. Thus, policymakers should consider them when setting their rules and regulations to reduce the significant differences between both EU groups to prevent member states from potentially exiting the EU.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study that examines the tax evasion behavior and public governance quality in the EU before and after the EU enlargement.

In the enlarged European Union (EU) with 25 members, the free movement of capital, coupled with the free movement of goods and services should be a major direct attraction for both intra-EU and external foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. EU membership does not, however, lead to a linear increase in FDI inflows as many analysts suggest (ECE, 2001). With EU accession, the structure of FDI may change substantially (Hunya, 2000; Dyker, 2001). Activities based on the existence of closed domestic markets (e.g. food and beverages) and on cheap labour (e.g. assembly activities) might be reduced, or even closed down, giving way to more knowledge-intensive activities in the new EU member countries (Kalotay, 2004a). FDI in the new EU member countries is not yet on an uninterrupted growth path. In the pre-accession phase (1995–2003), the relative importance of new EU members in global FDI flows when compared to that of the “old” members of the EU, was actually shrinking. Thus, if new members want to use FDI as one channel for catching up, they have to reverse this trend and increase their inward FDI quite rapidly.

This paper aims to analyze the potential variables explaining the compliance value added tax (VAT) gap, which basically represents an estimate of the unpaid VAT in the economy. A major component of compliance VAT Gap is represented by tax fraud; there exist other causes too, like insolvencies, bankruptcies, optimizations practices and maladministration. The objective of our paper is to revisit the main determinants of the VAT compliance gap for the European Union (EU)-27 member states. Using econometric modeling, our study identifies the relationship between the VAT gap and various determinants of it.

Our work focuses on the shadow economy, final consumption, VAT revenues, standard VAT rates, differences between the standard and reduced rates, economic prosperity, press freedom, political stability and others, as determinants of European VAT compliance gaps, for the 2005–2020 time interval. The methods include panel data analysis through simple and multiple regression modeling, the combinatorial approach, fixed and random effects.

Our study validates the direct impact of shadow economy and the indirect impact of VAT revenues, economic prosperity and press freedom, upon VAT compliance gaps. Upon subsampling of EU member states within old and new ones, our results estimate a larger positive impact of shadow economy upon old member states, compared to new ones.

The policy implications include leverage effects of governments acting upon a reduction in shadow economy phenomena and boosts of economic development, political stability and press freedom, in order to attain the contraction of compliance VAT gaps.

Our paper sheds light in a poorly explored scientific area, that of the determinants of VAT gap, especially in relationship with financial and economic crime phenomena.

This paper evaluates the economic, political and institutional determinants of variation in public investment in emerging Europe.

Panel econometrics (panel-corrected standard error, generalized least squares and the two-stage least squares) methods have been applied using annual data from 2000 to 2017 for 16 countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

Public investment was procyclical in relation to output and negatively associated with the level of public debt. Austerity episodes triggered a significant drop in public investment. Positive drifts in public investment during election periods and the negative impact of the number of cabinet seats held by left-wing parties have been captured. While no firm evidence on the impact of EU membership was found, the results show that arrangements with the IMF were strongly associated with lower public investment. Political factors were of greater importance in Central Europe and the Baltics, while institutional factors had a more significant impact in South Eastern Europe.

To foster public capital formation, it is necessary to: 1) strengthen the countercyclicality of public investment policy and to keep public debt at a low level; 2) adjust the fiscal criteria for EU membership in a manner that would enable countries to use the EU structural fund more effectively, while maintaining fiscal sustainability; 3) put a stronger emphasis on structural features of fiscal policy when designing country-level arrangements with the IMF.

The paper contributes to the literature on determinants of public investment policy by adding empirical evidence for emerging Europe countries.

The main purpose of the paper is to investigate and to document the current level of web usage within the confectionery industry in the South Eastern European (SEE) region. Also, the paper aims to examine the web content structure of confectioners in the given region and to explain the impact of the location and the size of the company on the quality of contents published on web sites.

The experimental research was conducted on the sample of 333 companies in the confectionery industry from 5 SEE countries. The research questionnaire included 56 web sites' characteristics divided into five categories.

The confectionery industry uses web sites as “presentation space” only, and the “show‐case” is the main purpose. The implementation of the web in the confectionery industry in SEE countries is correlated with a company's characteristics. Companies within EU member countries more often implement the web as a customer communication channel. However, confectioners in non‐EU countries have more information published on their web sites and their web sites are more interactive.

The paper contributes to a better understanding of web usage within the confectionery industry because it classifies information published on web sites into several categories and describes common web contents in the confectionery industry. Moreover, it discusses the correlation between a company's characteristics (size and location) and web implementation. Finally, it gives an overview of relevant findings of web usage as a customer communication channel within transitional economies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore factors leading to the early internationalization of international new ventures (INVs) in Lithuania – a transition economy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The determinants of early internationalization were grouped into three categories: entrepreneurial, firm-related and contextual determinants, and their impact on high-tech INVs that operate in emerging economies was investigated.

The research design is a case study approach. Case studies are presented of six Lithuanian entrepreneurial firms that demonstrated successful internationalization and rapidly expanded into foreign markets during the preceding year.

Region-specific theoretical propositions are provided for new ventures in CEE emerging economies. The results reveal that essential factors leading to the early internationalization of INVs operating in Lithuania, a transition economy, are entrepreneurial factors. Internationalization of INVs from CEE emerging economies is driven by push factors related to domestic market specifics; however, institutional factors do not seem to have a significant impact on INVs’ internationalization.

The results of the analysis of the case studies are not generalizable to the entire population of INVs in Lithuania. However, the results are substantial considering the success of high-tech Lithuanian firms that started their international activities shortly after their inception. Future research can contribute to the literature by seeking to apply international new venture theory in the context of emerging economies with larger samples and a focus on distinct patterns of internationalization.

The findings contribute to the literature on international entrepreneurship by exploring early internationalization of INVs in the context of transition economies in CEE. This study’s contribution is based on theory building, especially in understanding the driving factors related to the early internationalization of new ventures founded by Lithuanian entrepreneurs. International entrepreneurship studies in the CEE, as well as Baltic countries, are limited, and this research contributes to filling this gap.

This study aims to examine the impact of market competition, and capital regulation on the cost of financial intermediation of banks of the Bangladesh banking industry.

This study has used a balanced panel dataset comprised of 340 firm-year observations for 34 commercial banks in the Bangladesh banking industry from 2011 to 2020. The Prais Winsten panel estimator has been used to assess the impact of market competition and capital regulation on the cost of financial intermediation of banks.

Based on the regression results, this study has documented that greater market competition results in a lower cost of financial intermediation for banks. Similarly, an increase in the regulatory capital of banks increases the cost of financial intermediation of banks. The main findings of this study are found robust by using alternative proxies for the cost of financial intermediation, market competition and capital regulation. The regression results also suggest that private commercial banks tend to have a higher cost of financial intermediation than state-owned commercial banks.

The regulatory reforms should aim to foster sustainable and optimal market competition for the Bangladesh banking industry to regulate the market power of banks to reduce the cost of financial intermediation. The regulatory authority of Bangladesh should find the optimal policy measures for implementing the capital regulation in the banking industry which would reduce the cost of financial intermediation margin of banks.

Unlike previous studies which have used structural market competition measures, this study has used non-structural market competition measures to assess the relationship between market competition and cost of financial intermediation in the Bangladesh banking industry.

Considers the reasons for the lack of consensus among the member states of the European Union (EU) on both the scope and extent of an ageism policy. The EU has become increasingly concerned with the problems that are raised by the ageing of the European population. In response to these concerns the EU has began to develop a policy towards older employees. The expectation of the EU is that this policy will help the member states effectively to adjust to the demographic challenge of an ageing population. Assessment of the effectiveness of the approach taken by the EU is made by utilizing economic theories that have been devised by neo‐classical and equal opportunities economists. The prospects for the development of a common EU policy on ageism is discussed and its possible impact on companies operating in the EU is explored.