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This paper aims to clarify the notion of artificial intelligence (AI), reviewing the present scope of the phenomenon through its main applications. It aims at describing the various applications while assessing the markets, highlighting some of the leading industrial sectors in the field. Therefore, it identifies pioneering companies and the geographical distribution of AI companies.

The paper builds upon an in-depth investigation of public initiatives focusing mostly on the EU. It is based on desk research, a comprehensive review of the main grey and scientific literature in this field.

The paper notes that there is no real consensus on any definition for this umbrella term, that the definition does fluctuate over time but highlights some of the main changes and advances that took place over the past 60 years. It stresses that, in spite of the hype, on both the business and consumer sides, the demand appears uncertain. The scope of the announced disruptions is not easy to assess, technological innovation associated with AI may be modest or take some time to be fully deployed. However, some companies and regions are leading already in the field.

The paper, based on desk research, does not consider any expert opinions. Besides, the scientific literature on the phenomenon is still scarce (but not the technical one in the specific research sectors of AI). Most of the data come from consultancies or government publications which may introduce some bias, although the paper gathered various, often conflicting viewpoints.

The paper gives a thorough review of the available literature (consultancies, governments) stressing the limitations of the available research on economic and social aspects. It aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the major trends in the field. It gives a global overview of companies and regions.

When is it more profitable for multinational manufacturers to manufacture in high-cost environments and when in low-cost environments? While the literature offers many cues to answer this question, too little empirical research directly addresses this. In this study, we quantitatively and empirically investigate the financial effect of companies' production footprint in low-cost and high-cost environments for different types of production networks.

Using the data of 770 multinational manufacturing companies, we analyze the relationship between production footprints and profitability during four calendar semesters in 2018 and 2019 (N = 2,940), investigating the moderating role of companies' production network type.

We find that companies with networks distinguished by both high levels of product complexity and process sophistication profit the most from producing to a greater extent in high-cost countries. For these companies, shifting production to low-cost countries would be associated with negative performance implications.

Our findings suggest that the production geography of companies should be attuned to their network type, as defined by the companies' process sophistication and product complexity. Manufacturing in low-cost countries is not always the best choice, as doing so can adversely affect profits if the products are highly innovative and the production processes are complex.

We contribute to the scarce empirical literature on managing global production networks and provide a data-driven analysis that contributes to answering some of the enduring questions in this critical area.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Preface The functions of business divide into several areas and the general focus of this book is on one of the most important although least understood of these—DISTRIBUTION. The particular focus is on reviewing current practice in distribution costing and on attempting to push the frontiers back a little by suggesting some new approaches to overcome previously defined shortcomings.

“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.

Price becomes a main instrument for rationing pharmaceutical drugs in Central America as a consequence of pro‐market reforms implemented in the 1980s. Under market‐rationing conditions, people's access to branded drugs does depend on their purchasing power and on the vector of prices they face. The purpose of this paper is to study the regional pricing strategy followed by pharmaceutical firms across Central American countries. These countries differ in such economic factors as per capita income, income distribution, market size, and nature and extent of their social‐security system; thus, there are conditions that foster the implementation of price‐discrimination practices across the region.

The investigation takes advantage of a large database with information about prices of identical drugs sold across Central American countries and produced by 17 large pharmaceutical companies. Regression analyses are used to study whether price discrimination exists in Central American drug markets and what pricing strategies are followed by different pharmaceutical companies.

Results show that there are significant differences in the prices of identical drugs across the Central American countries, as well as that pharmaceutical companies follow different pricing strategies.

Cross‐country price comparisons are usually based on constructed price indices, which imply losing detailed information about the products being compared. This investigation uses prices of identical drugs, rather than constructed price indices, to study cross‐country price differences by pharmaceutical companies across the Central American region. The study of price discrimination is crucial to understanding how markets end up rationing such an essential product as pharmaceutical drugs.

This research examines recent changes in retail distribution and the implications of such changes on the logistical support to stores in Scotland. As increasing volumes of stock are channelled through warehouses controlled by retailers, stock is being centralised in large regional distribution centres (RDCs) serving wide geographical markets. Scotland is geographically marginal to the mainstream operations of most British retailers; the research therefore focused upon the current pattern of retail distribution facilities in Scotland and the future demand for sites by retailers and third party contractors acting on their behalf. Data were collected by personal interview and postal questionnaire from a total of 63 multiple retailers and 23 distribution companies. Most retail multiples supply their Scottish outlets from RDCs in England, either by a direct trunk haul or via intervening transhipment or demountable points. There has been a tendency for both manufacturers and retailers to withdraw stockholding from Scotland and serve the Scottish market from warehouses in England. Many of these companies, however, continue to require a break‐bulk operation north of the border. While the main phase of RDC development appears to be over, particularly in the grocery trade, it is likely that significant new investment in distribution facilities in Scotland will occur in the near future. Seventeen of the retailers in the survey expected to undertake some form of distribution development by 1995, eight of them anticipated setting up an RDC. In aggregate terms this translates into warehouse demand for around 80,000 square metres and approximately 20‐25 hectares of land. Although this and past investment has created thousands of jobs, job losses have also occurred through various displacement effects, most notably the rationalisation of retailers′ supply systems, the decimation of manufacturers′ depot networks and the closure of contractors′ common user depots.

The last decade has been a period of considerable change for physical distribution in the UK. Major restructuring has been overdue, often because companies have in the past failed to appreciate the importance of distribution in the marketing process, but now there is a new awareness of the crucial role that distribution can play in the success of companies. As a consequence, innovation in distribution is taking place at an accelerating rate.

The paper aims to research the capability of using the tools of domestic and international performance benchmarking for estimation of efficiency, determine its key factors and reveal the full reserves of inputs reduction and potential growth efficiency for gas distribution companies.

In the research, three models of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and other tools of performance benchmarking are used to analyse the efficiency of gas distribution companies. Some factors are examined for their impact on efficiency. There are the scale, regional location, property category and other endogenous and exogenous factors. The results are based on the samples of 54 Ukrainian and 20 US gas distribution companies.

International benchmarking vastly expand performance improvement for domestic companies. The results of analysis and tools of this research allows to widen the capability of reduced consumption of various inputs by 10 per cent and provide the general gain of Ukrainian gas distribution company's and industry efficiency two times as much.

The research is limited by single industry and by relatively short data set. The former is explained by requirement of technology (product and service) homogeneity when using DEA tools. The latter is connected with specificity of the industry and generally little numbers of firms in it.

The results of researching contain the data and recommendations to optimal scale, best proprietors makeup, specific reserves of input reduction for each company that was analysed. These results can be practicable for companies' management, present and potential investors and proprietors, regulative public authority. It is possible to use results of this research to make benchmarking for the other industries.

This is the first paper that adopts the various DEA models for measuring of efficiency in gas distribution industry of Ukraine and the tools of international benchmarking for Ukrainian and US companies.