This paper summarises the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the effects of R&D investment on the essential components of the economic development such as economic growth, competitiveness, labour market and...

The COVID-19 pandemic forced national governments and administrations to seek flexible solutions to deal with the emergency. Thus, the main purpose of the current study is to design a model of a flexible methodology based on detailed flexible methodologies to make decisions and measures connected to COVID-19 pandemic to be effectively applied without the loss of meaning and within a short time. For the creation of the methodology, we used comprehensive desk research based upon a literature review in the period May 2021–November 2021. As a result, an expandable set of relevant methodologies for crisis management and flexible methodologies was identified, modeled, and formalized using a broad literature review and an innovative model of a flexible methodology for crisis management was created in accordance with standardized concepts, transforming them into secondary use models. Furthermore, an algorithm for taking measures and decisions in crisis conditions was designed. The next step is to implement the methodology, which is planned for future empirical research. The findings provide an innovative model of a flexible methodology that could be used by academic and business representatives, public institutions of central and local government, and private stakeholders.

The study focuses on the measures and policies implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic and analyses how effectiveness is in the EU compared to Bulgaria. The new reality is a serious challenge because the country is still dealing with the historical heritage and the challenges of the EU membership and the ERM II. Alternatively, the effect of the pandemic on the economy is analyzed in analogy with the 2008 global economic crisis, by comparing the dynamics of the main indicators during the two periods, of crisis and of pandemic. In this way, the influence of the pandemic on the economic system is objectively outlined not only through a change in the basic values of the indicators in a pre-pandemic order, but also through a comparison with another crisis period.