The primary aim of this study is to examine the causal relations between energy use, CO₂ emissions and economic growth, using the examples of Greece and Bulgaria. The empirical evidence on South Eastern Europe (SEE) considering this research is quite sparse, so there is merit in the analysis of the paper. Vector Error Correction model with annual data from 1980 to 2010 has been used in order to determine potential causality between the variables. The empirical findings indicate that, in the long run there is causality from energy and CO₂ emissions to economic growth in both countries. In the short run, there is no causality between energy and economic growth neither on Greece nor on Bulgaria. Based on the results of the analysis certain recommendations can be presented considering energy policy in the long run, through the orientation to saving energy could have negative impact on economic growth.

In the context of measuring the effects of structural policy, the analysis of the relation of economic growth and inflation is essential for the economy of the Republic of Serbia. The high inflation rate has caused for years macroeconomic instability in the Serbian economy. Consequently, the main objective of this study is to examine the potential relation and impact between inflation and economic growth, with the variable of unemployment treated as a control variable. As an appropriate methodological framework for establishing the long run relationship (cointegration) between variables, we used ARDL model, while Toda-Yamamoto procedure was used for testing the short run causality. The period of observation was from Q1 2007 to Q3 2014. The results showed the presence of the cointegration between variables in the long run, and that in the short run, a unidirectional causality from inflation to economic growth was present. According to the results of the conducted empirical study, it can be noted that the growth in the Serbian economy has been linked to a moderate increase of inflation in the short run. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.28.4.14003

The European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) is one of the most important insect pests of maize, and has a significant impact on the production of this crop. In this work, we examined the effects of different insecticides on the antioxidative defense system of O. nubilalis larvae. The experimental setup consisted of a completely randomized block design with 4 replicates. Four experimental groups were formed as follows: control (C), indoxacarb (250 mL ha-1), chlorantraniliprole (100 mL ha-1) and the chlorantraniliprole+lambda cyhalothrin (200 mL ha-1) group. Larvae from maize stems were collected 20 days after insecticide application and the whole larvae were homogenized. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), and the total amount of free SH groups were assessed. Comparison of the experimental groups showed that indoxacarb significantly affected the activities of GST, GPx and the total amount of free SH groups, while chlorantraniliprole significantly affected the activities of SOD, CAT, GST and the total amount of free SH groups, while chlorantraniliprole+lambda cyhalothrin significantly affected the activities of CAT, GST and the total amount of free SH groups. The results show that exposure to insecticides considerably affects the antioxidative defense components of the European corn borer larvae, especially chlorantraniliprole (T2).

This study examines the impact of renewable energy, economic growth, and trade openness on CO₂ emissions in the EU-15 countries over the period 1980–2022, employing the ARDL modeling framework. In addition, a panel PMG-ARDL model is employed as a robustness check. The analysis identifies cointegration among the variables in 11 out of the 15 countries studied. Economic growth is found to increase CO₂ emissions, highlighting the ongoing challenge of aligning economic expansion with environmental objectives. The estimated coefficients for economic growth range from 0.43 to 5.70, depending on the country. Renewable energy significantly reduces emissions, highlighting its critical role in achieving sustainability (the corresponding coefficient moves in the range −0.13 to −0.96). Trade openness generally shows a neutral impact on emissions across most cases. Overall, renewable energy contributes to reducing CO₂ emissions, whereas the effects of economic growth and trade openness remain mixed and country-specific. These findings highlight the need to promote cleaner technologies, enhance energy efficiency, and ensure broader access to environmentally friendly energy sources.

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