This study investigates the interlinkages between the dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR-economic, environmental, social), financial performance (ROA, ROE), and corporate governance (CG), by applying the structural equation modeling technique (SEM). It is based on a sample of 614 large companies from the European Economic Area, covering specific indicators published by the Thomson Reuters database, for the years 2013–2017. The equation models are structured starting from isolated dependencies between variables, up to the global ones (direct, indirect, and total dependencies). The mixed results obtained imply that the nature and heterogenous content of CSR lead to different statistical dependencies for each of the two financial performance indicators. ROA is positively influenced by the economic dimension of CSR, but, the level of this rate does not necessarily contribute to an increase in the involvement of the company in this type of CSR actions. At the same time, ROA is influenced and affects in a negative way the environmental and social dimensions of CSR. In the case of ROE, it is influenced and impacts the economic and social dimensions in a positive way. The environmental dimension of CSR influences ROE positively, but it is negatively affected by this profitability rate. Corporate governance exerts a positive impact on all of the model’s variables, both as a direct and indirect factor of influence.

Research background: The ongoing digital transformation within the European Union's banking sector, driven by the adoption of financial technologies (FinTech) and artificial intelli-gence (AI), has introduced substantial opportunities for enhancing operational efficiency, customer service personalization, and financial outreach. However, these innovations also generate strategic complexity, intensify competition from non-bank digital entrants, and create disparities in adaptation capacity across financial institutions. Despite a growing body of literature on this topic, empirical investigations remain limited regarding how these technologies differentially affect banks, based on their existing performance levels. Purpose of the article: This study examines the extent to which FinTech and AI integration influences financial performance across banks in all 27 EU member states. Specifically, it investigates whether these technological drivers yield uniform effects or whether their impact varies across banks depending on their baseline performance. The analysis is grounded in the premise that FinTech and AI are not inherently per-formance-enhancing and that their effects may depend on context, capacity, and strategy. Methods: Employing a panel quantile regression model, the analysis is based on a balanced panel dataset spanning the 2017–2023 period. To address both short- and long-term dynamics, the study complements its core estimation with a vector error correction model (VECM) and validates the robustness of findings through sys-tem-based regression techniques. The econometric framework incorporates bank-specific instruments and lagged performance metrics, with a particular focus on return on equity (ROE) as the dependent variable. Findings & value added: The results indicate that the adoption of FinTech and AI is associated with signif-icant improvements in performance metrics, particularly among well-capitalized or technologically agile banks. However, institutions with weaker fundamentals may experience limited or even adverse effects. These findings suggest that the performance implications of innovation are conditional, not universal. The paper contributes by offering a distribution-sensitive analysis that refines our under-standing of technological transformation in EU banking and provides actionable insights into strategic decision-making and regulatory oversight. Also, the results offer practical implications for bank executives considering strategic technology investments, as well as for regulators aiming to design supportive, risk-sensitive digital finance policies.

In recent years, sustainable growth has become an important issue in the business field. Environment, social, and governance (ESG) actions of companies have come to represent key elements in adopting decisions by stakeholders. The question is to what extent they validate the companies’ environmental behaviour, as profitability varies over time. The answer can be obtained by analysing the relationship between environmental performance (EP) and financial performance (FP) of the firms. The paper proposes a new perspective of this relationship, namely, the separate assessment of the EP–FP in the case of positive and negative FP (expressed through accounting returns). A survey on 299 companies in the European Economic Area (EEA), operating in extractives and minerals processing and health care, was conducted. The data were extracted from the Refinitiv database for the period 2009–2018. The findings showed a significant EP–FP correlation in the case of the extractives and minerals processing industry, but their dependency slightly varied on the positive and negative returns’ scenario. As for the healthcare industry, the best result was a moderate correlation between EP and the negative return. Our findings support a managerial design of environmental policy, as well as the future academic research of the EP–FP relationship.

This study is set out to identify feasible ways for immigrants’ integration into the major ten host countries within the European Union (EU-10) and increased labor market performance. Eurostat, OECD, and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official data was mainly used to capture essential international migration indicators (for both dimensions—economic and humanitarian), along with education, socio-economic development and labor market credentials, as key variables for immigrants’ integration into EU-10, compiled for 2000–2017. In this respect, spatial analyses, bootstrap estimations, structural equations (SEM), and Gaussian graphical models (GGM) are applied, to better grasp migrants’ labor market outcomes. Significant positive consequences reflected through a reduction in the unemployment rate of the foreign population are generated by active labor market policies, jointly with an enhancement in the attainment for secondary education, and welfare advances. The opposite, a rise in income inequalities has negative effects, while additional support for R&D activities deployed within the business sector is required to entail migrants’ labor market performance. The passive policies need to be redesigned and tailored to significantly downsize the foreign unemployment, since these are currently acting like a disincentive for an active participation of migrants on the European labor market, thus confining their integration.

The core of sustainable public procurement lies in its ability to stem uneconomical public expenditures that waste taxpayer money and stifle social trust and development. The external audit of public procurement proves problematic since current research fails to provide sufficient empirical studies aimed at identifying procurement fraud. The development of online portals with embedded e-procurement solutions, along with the big data revolution, open new horizons and allow us to reveal trends otherwise impossible to spot, such as transactions achieved in an exclusive commercial relationship, in which a vendor engages only with a single public entity. By using innovative data acquisition techniques, our research encompasses 2.25 million online direct public procurement procedures conducted in 2023 using the Romanian portal for public procurement, totaling EUR 3.22 billion. By aggregating databases obtained from various public sources, our analysis achieved remarkable granularity, using over 112 million data elements—50 pertaining to each transaction. Research results indicate a unique sub-population of public procurement procedures—those conducted with “in-house” vendors totaling 14.28% of all direct public acquisitions and which is significantly differentiated along the entire list of analyzed criteria—financial, geographical, statistical, or risk-wise—illustrating a troubling phenomenon: possible gerrymandering of the online public procurement landscape, which, at least in theory, resembles a perfect market, by cultivating preferential commercial relations, thus affecting the legality, regularity, and economical aspects of public procurement.

Agricultural financing is a key global topic impacting sustainable development, food security, and environmental protection. This article presents a bibliometric analysis of research evolution in agricultural financing from 1975–2025, using the Web of Science and VOSviewer 1.6.18 platforms. The findings indicate a significant increase in interest, with agricultural financing emerging as a critical pillar for sector sustainability. Research in this field is shaped by a global network of collaborations, supported by major international organizations, contributing to innovative policy development. The study highlights key themes such as climate change, food security, and access to financing, as well as the diversification of financial resources. Countries with strong agricultural traditions have been central to this process, while others with fewer resources have achieved excellence through strategic approaches. Recent research underscores the role of agricultural financing in fostering a sustainable sector, with a focus on advanced technologies and international partnerships. This study provides a preliminary bibliometric overview of the evolution and growth of agricultural financing, identifying key influencing factors. It contributes to the existing literature and offers directions for future research, emphasizing emerging trends and significant academic contributions in the field.