Sustainable economic growth is desired to be achieved by governments targeting economic, social, and environmental benefits. The idea of circular economy model is to consider feedback effects from proper waste management instead of one-way effects typical with the classical linear model. Several sectors of society contribute to circular economy and its monetary and environmental outputs in a sustainable way. The aim of this paper is to analyze the dependencies and causalities of circular economy and economic developments in the EU. The research objectives include testing (i) whether research and development (R&D) expenditure, GDP per capita and generation of municipal waste per capita influence the recycling rate of municipal waste, and (ii) whether R&D expenditure, generation of municipal waste per capita and the recycling rate of municipal waste influence the GDP per capita. The relevant indicators are obtained from Eurostat. The research methods of fixed effects and Tobit approach are used to study the statistical relevance of the two models. The pairwise causality of variables is tested by Dumitrescu–Hurlin causality test. One result of the study is that technology development, by a decreasing life of products, leads to an increase of waste generation. Therefore, environmentally friendly technologies should be produced.

The financial health of enterprises and their continued profitability and competitiveness in the market are influenced considerably by the level of earnings achieved. Enterprises are forced to report the best possible results to demonstrate financial strength and competitiveness and to provide a good accounting for investors and creditors. Thus, the main objective of the study is to investigate whether there is any mutual dependence between corporate financial stability and earnings management. To measure these categories, Altman’s Z score was used to determine the financial health of enterprises, and the Beneish M-score and modified Jones model were applied to detect earnings manipulation. Using the chi-square test, the results revealed a statistically significant dependence between financial distress and earnings manipulation. Then, a multivariate statistical technique of correspondence analysis was applied to the categorical data to find categories of factors that are mutually correspondent. Based on a dataset of 11,105 enterprises operating in the Visegrad countries, the results found that enterprises that are threatened by bankruptcy or located in the gray zone tend to manipulate their earnings to maintain credibility, creditworthiness, and competitiveness. Because the financial health of an enterprise provides a potential incentive for earnings manipulation, state authorities, regulators, and policy-makers may benefit from the findings of the study.

Achieving a competitive economy and a competitive market generally proceeds from the desire to meet economic and social objectives and it ensures a growing level of social welfare. The objectives of our research are to determine and highlight the bidirectional linear correlations among competitiveness, well-being and innovation and to analyze the main factors that influence these relations. Our research includes the EU member states and the UK using these countries’ specific indicators from the databases of EUROSTAT, the World Economic Forum and the United Nations from 2016-2018. We used Canonical Correlation Analysis to determine a set of canonical variates which represent linear combinations of the variables from each set. The contributions of our research show a direct and strong link among the three pillars of competitiveness, innovation and well-being. This analysis allowed us to identify and analyze the influence of innovation on the economic development and competitiveness of each EU country and on the well-being of its population. Governments and organizations that invest more in research in terms of innovation to increase the competitiveness of their products and services have shown a growing GDP and a higher level of population well-being. This research is representative at the European level and may influence the decisions of national governments and other institutions to encourage innovation through drivers such as R&D expenditures and human resources as the main factors generating economic growth and competitiveness, thus with a direct effect on GDP and on well-being.

The current phenomenon of the economy-accelerated digitalization, known as the “Industry 4.0”, will generate both an increased productivity, connectivity and several transformations on the labor force skills. Our research objectives are to determine the influence that digitalization has had on the workforce in several developed countries and to propose a new composite indicator that reflects these dynamics over time. We have used the Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) in order to identify and analyze the correlations between two sets of variables, an independent one and a dependent one. Data were collected from the World Bank and World Economic Forum for the years 2018–2019. Based on the results of our research we have determined and made a consistent analysis of the new composite index of digitalization and labor force in 19 countries. The results of our research are relevant and show not only the impact of digitalization on the labor force in different countries, but also the structural changes required by the new economic and social models. Our research can help decision-makers get in advance the necessary measures in the field of labor force in order to ensure a proper integration of these measures into the new economic model based on digitalization.

A health crisis caused by a pandemic tested the effectiveness of national healthcare systems by testing both financing and organizational and technical performance of patient care. At that time, the structural flaws in healthcare systems and inequalities in the level of healthcare in its different dimensions and countries due to resource constraints were highlighted. Therefore, the paper concentrates on investigating how the crisis in the health system affects the quality of healthcare services as a result of changes in the availability of financial, material, and human resources belonging to this system. The quantitative data, in terms of healthcare characterizing the OECD countries and selected non-member economies, treated as an example of economically developed regions, were chosen for the analysis. The study included five areas of resources, i.e., demographic, financial, human, technical, and the delivery of basic services in healthcare. T-test method for dependent samples, supplemented with Hedge’s g statistics, was applied to test the differences between the mean values of individual indicators. The results indicate the occurrence of changes in some areas of the healthcare system due to a crisis. Identifying areas that are particularly vulnerable to sudden changes in the healthcare system helps to understand which resource areas need to be strategically managed first, as shifts in levels respond to deteriorating healthcare quality outcomes.