The Eastern enlargements of the European Union (EU) since the early 2000s have included post-transitional economies at a lower level of development than the existing member states and thus, have significantly affected the East-West migration flows and labour markets on both sides. This has provided a distinctive opportunity to study the effects of liberalisation and to identify economic factors leading to migration flows with the purpose of enabling better estimations of future migration trends. In this research, a panel data analysis with pair of country fixed effects and time fixed effects is used to explore several pull and push factors of the East-West EU migration flows in the period from 2000 to 2017. Results indicate that emigration rate responds rather quickly to the changes in GDP per capita and unemployment rate of the youth population in immigration country, with statistically significant elasticity coefficients, suggesting that international migration contributes significantly to adjusting the labour supply to fluctuations in economic activity.

Background: Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows are unevenly distributed around the world and determined by different factors. The literature points out to economic and non-economic determinants of FDI flows, while the latter have shown to generate ambiguous effects across regions. Objectives: The primary goal of this paper is to examine the relationship between non-economic determinants and the FDI inflow in Croatia from 1996 to 2017, thus capturing different periods of the economic cycle. The importance of non-economic institutional determinants of FDI is analysed in parallel with the economic determinants. Methods/Approach: This study uses available data on FDI per capita and a set of non-economic (institutional) and economic determinants. We employed the OLS regression analysis to determine the significance of FDI inflow determinants and compare the relevance of non-economic to economic factors. Results: Results of this exploratory study show that institutional quality variables included in the model (regulatory quality, political stability, and government effectiveness, the rule of law and control of corruption) could not be pointed out as important determinants of the FDI inflow in Croatia. Economic variables GDP per capita and average gross wage prove to be important in determining the FDI inflow in Croatia. Conclusions: The research results point to a variety of FDI determinants among countries and economic cycle periods. Given the evidence from Croatia, variations, especially in institutional determinants, might be caused by the diverse FDI inflow characteristics and specificities of receiving economies.

The aim of this study is to investigate the motives and effects of mega-regional trade agreements on the multilateral trading system using the example of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Multilateralism and regionalism, although opposite trends, coexist simultaneously. While many arguments can be given for both approaches one has to recognize that the number of regional trade agreements is increasing and that regionalism is becoming a prevailing trend. The response to the regional trade agreements, especially mega-regionals, will mostly depend upon the effect on the third countries’ trade interests. Since it is expected that, over time, many of the currently excluded emerging economies will become a part of some mega-regional agreement, it is not likely that new global standards and rules will be created on a strictly regional but rather on multilateral level.

To meet the goal of sustainability and transition to a green economy, renewable energy sources have to be used. Although many countries have declared their transition to a smart, green and sustainable economy, there is still modest evidence of achieving climate change goals, Sustainable Development Goals and other related societal and environmental goals. This paper aims to give an overview of the current global and regional trends, and the strategic frameworks on the use of wind energy to clarify its potential, especially offshore wind energy, using the example of the United Kingdom as one of the global leaders in this area. For several decades, the United Kingdom has implemented various regulations and mechanisms to improve climate action and the transition to a green economy. It offers specific Contract for Difference schemes to offshore wind producers, under which they are entitled to a specially defined purchase price of electricity produced for 15 years. Thus, the United Kingdom is one of the global leaders in offshore wind energy generation. Initiatives, strategic frameworks and regulations in the United Kingdom can serve as guidelines for other countries in developing their own strategic framework.

European Union (EU) is fostering the quintuple helix approach as it recognizes sustainable development and innovation as important development priorities. The quintuple helix represents a new framework which includes new knowledge, more stakeholders with sustainable development at its center. The EU has put in place different policy measures, regulations and funds to support designing and implementation of innovation strategies and sustainable development in all Member States. The objective of this paper is twofold as it includes identifying key features of helix innovation model and its evolution over time, and exploring EU efforts to transform to the quintuple helix system. The purpose of this paper is to explain the new context of development where innovation and sustainability should be considered as key elements. Using the example of the European Union, this paper studies policies and measures that the EU has put in place in order to support innovations as well as inclusive, smart and sustainable development, which are significant parts of the quintuple helix approach.

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the causal relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI), exports, and economic growth in the Republic of Croatia for the period 2000-2020 and determine the implications of research results on corporate management. The management of the investment enterprise is usually interested in high returns, whereas the management of the recipient enterprise is interested in higher productivity, spillovers, and larger market share on domestic and international markets. Several methodological approaches, including unit root tests, cointegration tests, and Granger causality test, were used to assess the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, on the one side, and the share of FDI and total exports of goods and services in real GDP, on the other side. The results of cointegration tests indicated there is no long-term relationship between the real GDP growth rate, the share of FDI, and the share of exports of goods and services in real GDP. Based on the Granger causality test, it cannot be concluded that there is no causal relationship between the analysed variables. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the conducted research for corporate management. The results indicate that managers are not discouraged by the fact that FDI is not correlated to economic growth, as investment decisions are determined by numerous factors and not primarily by the growth rate of a recipient country.