The automotive industry is set to face a series of fundamental changes in the following years. Along with the transition to electric vehicles or production of autonomous cars, companies are also expected to better address sustainability issues, usually divided into environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects. The present paper aims to explore the relationship between non-financial sustainability, measured by ESG scores, and firm value in the automotive industry, where empirical evidence is scarce. A structural equation modelling (SEM) approach has been taken on a novel dataset of 131 listed companies worldwide across 6 years. Our results indicate a mixed influence of the E, S, G scores on firm value in the analyzed period, with some inconclusive effects, especially from the social score. The findings are beneficial for investors, fund managers and automotive companies’ executives. Further research directions are also provided.

This paper assesses education sector’s efficiency by comparing 28 European Union states at different levels of education using the mathematic approach of data envelopment analysis. We conducted the study from both the allocative and technical perspectives by considering all education levels separately and then as a whole, every three years, starting with 2006. The input and output variables were adapted to each particular level of education. In this way, we offered a complete image of the education system, creating a ranking for the countries, based on efficiency scores. Efficiency appears to be achieved when education results, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment scores, attainment level or other value-added outcomes, are reached with rather low levels of financial resources. The performance in education lacks sustainability in many countries, mostly belonging to Mediterranean and south-eastern European groups, with old member states recording efficiency scores closer to 1 compared to the new ones. Inefficiency derived from different causes and interactions between these causes (the mixture between public and private resources, the different population composition, gross domestic product per capita or levels of education attainment) and most often imply particular solutions from country to country.

The objective of this paper is to identify the most efficient healthcare systems in a sample of 17 EU Member States. According to the health system financing schemes, the selected countries belong to two main groups, Beveridge and Bismarck. The research includes five input variables describing the financial and human resources, the level of health infrastructure, the medical technology and the healthcare utilization. On the output side we analysed four measures that reflect the overall health status of the population and the effectiveness of prevention and emergency care. Using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method, the most efficient healthcare systems are found in Sweden, the UK and Romania. The constraints applied for all the indicators and scenarios lead to higher or lower inefficiency scores, the Beveridge group being on average more efficient than the Bismarck one.

The current paper evaluates the impact of corruption and rent-seeking behaviors upon economic wealth in the European Union states using a public choice approach. The period of study is 2000 to 2019. To measure this impact, the present study uses a regression with variables reflecting governance quality and considered relevant, from a public choice approach, to corruption and rent-seeking. The main results of this study show a negative relationship between the level of corruption and economic wealth for all analyzed countries, especially for the ones that compose the new member states group. For all the EU member states, the variables capturing governance quality seem to have a positive impact on economic wealth. The higher levels of governance performance, synonymous with lower levels of rent-seeking, personal interest, and political pressures on state administrations, contribute to economic wealth, as public choice theory emphasizes. There is a need for reform and an increase in the efficiency of public institutions, especially in new member states.