Currently, the decline in spruce wood prices is a serious problem for the forestry sector in the Czech Republic. We estimate that the fall in wood prices in European markets causes losses not only to the forestry companies producing, harvesting, and processing the wood, but also to the workers in the sector. These losses are mainly caused by a combination of several natural factors: drought, climate change, and the effects of bark beetles. In particular, spruce bark beetles cause the greatest damage. Due to this bark beetle calamity, unplanned logging has increased. In 2019, these damages have culminated. Almost 100 million m³ of wood has been harvested over the last decade due to the bark beetle and more than half of this volume has been mined in the last four years. Therefore, the losses in the forestry sector are around EUR 1.12 billion. The aim of this study is an analysis of the relationship between the volume of incidental logging and the decline in the price of spruce wood. These results show the strong correlation between the measure of unplanned wood harvesting and the decrease in wood prices, as well as an estimate of price development if the upward trend of incidental mining continues. The average price of wood in the Czech Republic could thus reach a historical minimum of EUR 79.39 per m³ of spruce and category SM/JE II (spruce/fir). In addition, the decline in wood prices will be reflected in the management of forestry and timber businesses, including stagnant wages for forestry workers. The socio-economic impact of the bark beetle calamity is high and is most affected by the decline in spruce timber prices.

Employment in forestry is an essential component of the forestry industry. It is a socio-economic phenomenon, which has been at the edge of economists’ interest for quite a long time. The proportion of employees in the forestry sector is relatively small, standing at only 0.6%. However, forestry as a sector has a very significant multiplier effect which is reflected in the growth of related jobs. Examples of this can be found in the production of forestry machinery and equipment, the construction of wooden and timber structures, and the furniture sector. These sectors are kept separately in economic and statistical records, but forestry remains their natural determinant. The aim of this work is to describe, analyze, and formulate the prognosis for the development of these types of jobs. Conclusions of the work show that there has been a decrease in employment and simultaneously an increase in labor productivity. This is due to a increasingly high use of technological equipment. Development forecasts show that the Czech Republic does not differ from the overall surveyed trends in other selected countries. It is therefore evident that forecasts of the development of employment in forestry are also relevant in other similar countries. Our results show a statistically significant reduction in forestry employment. The analysis focused on the Czech Republic, but the results may also apply to other European countries. A significant decrease in employment leads to instability in the forestry sector. It means a skilled labor force leaves the forestry sector and is not replaced. Disruption of knowledge continuity leads to a negative impact on the environment.

Environmental policy is a set of objectives put in place for the protection of natural resources including water, air, soil, food, and other renewable resources. In addition, it has a considerable impact on the labor market and the income of employees in the environmental and forestry sectors. Environmental policy both directly and indirectly creates new jobs, the so-called green jobs. These jobs are designed to be long-term and sustainable, working towards both environmental and socio-economic stability. The aim of the research was to determine if there was a difference in income between the forestry and the environmental policy sectors. The primary objective of this paper was to propose ideas and instruments for strengthening the income of employees in both sectors to the creators of the new State Environmental Policy. This objective was met through appropriate research methods, including the field survey technique. In terms of statistics, we used descriptive characteristics and tested the hypothesis using a T-test. The data from 70 respondents were collected from January 2019 to December 2019. Half of the respondents were from the forestry sector, and the other half worked in environmental protection. Their total income was compared by using two selective T-tests, and the results showed a strong discrepancy. The analysis indicated that the average incomes in forestry are significantly lower than incomes in the environmental protection sector (in the Czech Republic). The statistically higher income of environmental workers reflects that the State Environmental Policy is effective, which improves the position of employees in the labor market. The forestry sector deserves similar concentrated state assistance, and therefore we recommend that the new State Environmental Policy in the Czech Republic also addresses the problem of low income in forestry.

The paper addresses the issue of employment policy development and implementation in the selected European countries with a similar economic structure and population, namely the Czech Republic and Belgium. The existing approaches used by Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs are based either on d rawing subsidies from EU structural funds within the frameworks of various Operational Programmes or direct job creation that is realized as a consequence of GDP growth. The retrospective observation of the development of such macroeconomic indicators as GDP per capita and employment rate in Belgium reminded us the Okun’s law. This encouraged us to verify the inverted version of the latter and conduct a time series analysis with the use of ARIMA model. The conducted calculations revealed the existence of determined relationship between GDP per capita and employment rate, namely with GDP per capita increase by 2% corresponds to an increase in employment by 1%. This relationship applies vice versa as well. The obtained result may be considered as an extension of the classical Okun’s law theoretical framework. The main aim was to explore these relationships and on the basis of comparative analysis between macroeconomic indicators in the Czech Republic and Belgium to suggest recommendations aimed at development of employment policies.

Language and statistics The article deals with research conducted with prospective German language teachers studying at faculties of education in the Czech Republic. With the help of statistics, hypotheses about the correct proofreading of a German text with mistakes are tested in comparison with native speakers and depending on when the students started learning German and whether they learnt German before English.