Population aging and public health expenditure mainly dedicated to older dependent persons present major challenges for the European Union (EU) Member States, with profound implications for their economies and labor markets. Sustainable economic development relies on a well-balanced workforce of young and older people. As this balance shifts in favor of older people, productivity tends to suffer, on the one hand, and the older group demands more from health services, on the other hand. These requisites tend to manifest differently within developed and developing EU countries. This research aimed to assess population aging impacts on labor market coordinates (employment rate, labor productivity), in the framework of several health dimensions (namely, health government expenditure, hospital services, healthy life years, perceived health) and other economic and social factors. The analytical approach consisted of applying structural equation models, Gaussian graphical models, and macroeconometric models (robust regression and panel corrected standard errors) to EU panel data for the years 1995–2017. The results show significant dissimilarities between developed and developing EU countries, suggesting the need for specific policies and strategies for the labor market integration of older people, jointly with public health expenditure, with implications for EU labor market performance.

The research conducted in this paper aims to examine the role of energy innovations, digital technological transformation, and environmental performance in enhancing the sustainable economic development of the European Union (EU) countries, widely shaped by the globalization process. An advanced empirical analysis is configured on a cross-sectional dataset of EU-27 Member States compiled at the level of 2018 based on several modern econometric procedures, namely robust regression, structural equation modelling (SEM) and network analysis through Gaussian graphical models (GGM). We apply the econometric procedures to firstly identify and assess the direct, indirect, and total interlinkages between all considered variables, as well as their further cumulated spillover impact on sustainable economic development. EU countries are afterward clustered according to the Ward method inset on hierarchical clustering for an in-depth assessment and tailored policy design by accounting for the level of financial and trade globalization (captured through the KOF Index of Globalization), environmental performance and sustainability (captured through the Environmental Performance Index—EPI), and the degree of integration of digital technologies (proxied through the Digital Economy and Society Index—DESI). Main results highlight that there are significant beneficial effects induced by energy innovations, increased environmental performance and digital transformation on the sustainable development of EU countries, with notable differentiation among them. Policy guidelines and strategic directions are also enhanced and largely presented within the paper.

This paper examines the impact of the ageing dimensions and other economic and social variables on labour productivity and poverty risk within the European Union (EU). Taking into account the sizable dissimilarities among the EU Member States, our research is configured on four specific panels, according to the UNECE/European Commission mapping of EU countries, based on the Active Ageing Index data and methodology for 2018. We have compiled a complex dataset with official data to measure the ageing features, labour market dimensions and poverty, along with other economic and social representative variables, during 1995-2017. The methodological endeavour is critical and analytical, grounded on an extensive quantitative research. Two multifactorial macro-econometric models are applied in order to evaluate the direct implications of the ageing dimensions and other utter credentials on labour productivity, respectively on poverty levels. Structural equation modelling further entails an integrative examination of the total, indirect and bidirectional connections between the ageing phenomenon, several socio-economic indicators and the labour market performance, with a final impact on poverty. Results show different yet extremely significant labour market and poverty impacts for the ageing representative groups of EU countries, which require specific policy interventions and tailored strategies.

Interplay between environmental, social and governance coordinates and the financial performance of agricultural companies | Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, Gratiela Georgiana Noja, Mirela Cristea, Mirela Panait | Agricultural Journals

Management financial incentives are an effective way to attract, retain and stimulate managers with beneficial spillover effects on firm performance. This paper explores the relationship between board and executive management compensation and remunerations and the financial performance of European companies from various industries in a sustainable development framework. The sample covers 1594 firms with data extracted from Thomson Reuters Eikon (Refinitiv, New York, NY, USA) databases from 2019 and a selection of specific indicators. The complex methodological endeavor encompassed by our research embeds several robust and two-stage least squares (2SLS/IV) regression models, structural equation modelling, including latent class analysis and network analysis through Gaussian Graphical Models. Main results bring to the fore that management financial incentives/packages reverberate positively and significantly on the performance of European firms, leading to important upwards in enterprise value and company earnings. Moreover, the sustainability indicators (committee, policy, energy use, renewable energies) also have positive effects on the financial performance of analyzed companies, being discussed extensively within the paper.

This paper empirically evidences the role played by board characteristics (skills, diversity, structure, independence) in supporting risk management disclosure and shaping the financial performance of European companies operating in the financial services sector. We exploit data selected from Thomson Reuters Eikon database in 2020 for the last fiscal year 2019 (FY0) on a longitudinal sample of 144 companies with the head offices in Europe (25 countries). Following an original empirical approach based on two modern financial econometric techniques, namely structural equation modelling (SEM) and network analysis through Gaussian graphical models (GGMs), the research endeavor outlines the decisive importance of an optimal board size, enhanced management skills, upward gender diversity (encompassed by women participation on board management), and structure (mainly a two-tier type, one management board, and a distinctive supervisory board) as fundamentals of risk management strategies, leading to improved financial achievements and a higher profitability for the analyzed companies.