The research conducted in this paper aims to appraise the interlinkages between public governance and digital transformation at the level of the European Union. We employ two advanced approaches to modelling longitudinal data compiled at the level of the EU-27 Member States during the 2010–2021 period, namely, structural equation modelling and Gaussian and Mixed-Markov graphical models. The main results indicate positive impacts on government effectiveness arise from the human capital involved in complex activities that engage the use of digital services, e-government users, and integration of digital technologies, and the effect of demands and supplies of digital public services using open data. This further supports the government’s capabilities in enforcing regulations and policies to control corruption and sustain the achievement of digital skills, at least at a basic level, by the entire society. Moreover, good perceptions and a higher degree of confidence in the rules of law have a positive influence on the need for connectivity of digital services, especially the supply side of fixed and mobile broadband. Lastly, a relevant impact of regulatory quality is identified in the digital connectivity of broadband infrastructure, which is enclosed by the public governance representative indicators under the influence of a stronger integration of digitalisation.

Recognising the significant role of artificial intelligence in the labour market is essential for China to develop sustainably. The research utilises the mixed frequency vector auto-regression (MF-VAR) technique, which would innovatively incorporate data at different frequencies into one model to identify the intricate correlation between the monthly artificial intelligence index (AII) and the quarterly unemployment rate (UR) in China. Through comparison, the MF-VAR method has a more substantial explanatory power than the low-frequency VAR (LF-VAR) model, the impulse responses of the former reveal that AII exerts favourable and adverse influences on UR. Among them, the positive effect occurs on the AII in the first and second months. In contrast, the negative one appears on the AII in the third month, highlighting that artificial intelligence has both stimulating and inhibiting effects on the labour market in China. By analysing UR’s predictive error variance decomposition, the total impact of China’s artificial intelligence technology on employment is a substitution; this outcome is accordant with the theoretical dis¬cussion. In the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, meaningful recommendations for China would be put forward to avert the wave of unemployment brought by the development of artificial intelligence technology. First published online 09 September 2024

This research aims to rank the regions of the European Union based on their digital performance in public services, offering a new perspective on the digitalization process and its effects on the European public system. Therefore, the study examines the evolution of intensity and the impact of digitalization through the e-government framework, specifically from the perspective of the 27 member states of the European Union. Thus, the research analyzes the interplay between digital intensity, institutional quality, and adoptingadopting e-government services to understand the challenges and disparities across different regions. To evaluate the digital performance of the European Union regions, the analysis employs the following methods: (i) Principal Component Analysis to construct a composite Institutional Quality Index based on governance indicators, (ii) Gaussian graphical models to assess the relationships between digital intensity, institutional quality, and e-government highlighting the interconnections between variables, (iii) Data Envelopment Analysis to measure the relative efficiency of public service delivery, and (iv) cluster dendrograms to identify the clusters of countries with similar performance levels and challenges. The findings reveal disparities among nations and the contemporary challenges facing EU member states in implementing and adopting e-government initiatives. While Denmark and Finland often excel in digital service efficiency, countries like Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania may lag due to citizens’ limited digital infrastructure and digital literacy. However, it is to note that the quality of regulations, as reflected in the Institutional Quality Index, plays a significant role in successfully integrating digitalization. The study underscores the crucial role of digital adoption in enhancing the public sector’s performance, particularly when coupled with strong institutional frameworks.

Given that the European Union is facing complex fiscal challenges arising from recent crises, understanding the impact of fiscal rules, institutional governance, and economic performance is critical. This paper examines the effects of fiscal rules and sustainable development trajectories in the context of effective governance of EU member states, analysing how these rules affect fiscal resilience, which is understood as the government’s ability to maintain discipline, absorb shocks, and sustain growth without undermining macroeconomic stability. This study focuses in particular on 2012 to 2023: a period marked by post-crisis adjustments and institutional consolidation. To carry out the proposed empirical analysis, we apply a panel vector autoregressive (VAR) model to capture the dynamic interdependence between fiscal policy indicators, governance quality, and economic performance, offering a temporal and comparative perspective across countries with varying levels of compliance with fiscal rules. Our results indicate that strong fiscal rules are embedded in robust institutional frameworks that enhance fiscal resilience, stabilise public finances, and foster long-term, sustainable economic growth. This study also demonstrates that effective governance is essential for translating fiscal discipline into improved economic outcomes, providing insights for policymakers and researchers on sustainable development strategies. These findings contribute to the literature by highlighting how institutional quality and fiscal rules interact dynamically, particularly during periods of economic restructuring and regulatory adaptation.

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