Articles in "Economy and Business"

Summary: The evolving macroeconomic landscape, shaped by the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, poses significant challenges for economies worldwide. However, Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European (CESEE) countries have demonstrated resilience and rapid recovery during crises, driven by a surge in consumption fueled by domestic credit and robust export growth supported by flexible exchange rates and adaptive monetary policies. Prior to EU accession, substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) during privatization and restructuring facilitated knowledge and technology transfers in CESEE economies. This study examines the interplay of exports, real exchange rates, GDP growth, FDI, inflation, domestic credit, and the human development index (HDI) in the CESEE region from 1995 to 2022, covering the transition period, EU accession, and major crises. Employing a panel ARDL model, we account for asymmetric effects of these variables on exports. The results reveal that GDP, FDI, inflation, domestic credit, and HDI significantly and positively influence exports, with HDI and GDP exerting the strongest effects, underscoring the pivotal roles of human capital and economic growth in enhancing export competitiveness. Conversely, real exchange rate depreciation negatively impacts exports, though non-price factors, such as product quality, mitigate this effect. These findings provide a robust basis for targeted policy measures to strengthen economic resilience and export performance in the CESEE region.

Summary: The adverse effects of climate change on humanity have been escalating due to environmental degradation. Consequently, nations have been compelled to implement measures to address climate-related challenges. Within this framework, traditional and recently acknowledged factors play a pivotal role in achieving SDGs, particularly SDG-13. This study empirically examines the influence of newly recognized factors, such as the energy transition index (ETI) and environmental policy stringency (EPS), alongside traditional factors like gross domestic product (GDP), renewable energy use (REU), and foreign direct investments (FDI), on the environment, measured through ecological footprint and load capacity factor. Focusing on leading emerging economies— excluding Indonesia and Mexico due to data limitations—the study utilizes data from 2000 to 2020 and applies the kernel-based regularized least squares (KRLS) approach under the marginal effect framework to explore this nexus. The findings indicate that (i) GDP and FDI do not exhibit environmentally friendly characteristics across the examined countries; (ii) REU contributes to environmental preservation only in Brazil; (iii) ETI and EPS do not significantly enhance environmental quality in any of the countries studied; (iv) the KRLS approach demonstrates high predictive accuracy, achieving a 99.6% success rate across various models. Overall, the research highlights the differential marginal effects of these factors on the environment, which vary by factor, percentile, and country. Based on the empirical evidence, the study discusses policy implications for the five leading emerging economies to effectively pursue SDG-13 by leveraging the identified factors.

Summary: This study provides detailed statistical results on the use of digital banking and digital payments in Azerbaijan, highlighting a high level of usability. However, consumer adoption of open banking remains very low despite the implementation of relevant legislation and security standards. This study aims to assess the impact of digital banking on the use of open banking in Azerbaijan. Using the Toda-Yamamoto causality method and data covering the years 2022-2024, the variables "Bank accounts", "Bank customers", "Digital banking Number", and "Instant Payment System Number", where open banking operations will be carried out, were used in the econometric model. Based on the Toda-Yamamoto causality between "Digital Banking Number" (lnDBN) and "Instant Payment System Number" (lnIPSN), carried out for the main purpose of the research, digital banking will have a positive effect on the future use of open banking, and there is a bidirectional relationship. Additionally, while there is a causal relationship between "Bank Accounts" (lnBA) and "Instant Payment System Number" (lnIPSN), no causal relationship was found between "Bank Customers" (lnBC) and "Instant Payment System Number" (lnIPSN). Factors such as ease of use, usefulness, reliability, and a sense of psychological ownership will play crucial roles in the rapid adoption of open banking.

Summary: The banking sector in Azerbaijan has undergone significant transformations, especially after the country gained independence. The regulatory framework is largely governed by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, which has been shaping policies on interest rates, credit policies, and foreign exchange regulations. Currently, the major banks in Azerbaijan include both state-owned and private institutions that play a crucial role in the economy by providing essential banking services like savings accounts, personal loans, mortgages, and credit cards. On the global stage, banking services have increasingly shifted towards digitalization, with many customers opting for mobile banking, internet banking, and fintech solutions. Globally, the trend has also moved towards sustainability, with banks introducing green financing and socially responsible investment products, considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. With financial markets becoming more interconnected, Azerbaijan’s banking system is starting to align with global financial frameworks, although there are still gaps in terms of offering advanced products and services compared to more developed markets. In Azerbaijan, traditional banking products are widely offered, but there is a growing shift towards innovative financial services, including digital banking platforms and contactless payment systems. The customer experience in Azerbaijan is steadily improving, although banks need to enhance accessibility, transparency, and reduce fees to keep pace with global customer expectations.

Summary: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between teachers’ job crafting, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction. This study is significant for understanding how the relationship between job crafting, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction contributes to enhancing the overall quality of life of teachers, who are key stakeholders in the education system. The literature highlights a strong relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction, emphasizing that the satisfaction individuals derive from their jobs positively influences their overall well-being. Aligned with the purpose of the study, Job Crafting Scale, Job Satisfaction Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale were used. The results indicate that teachers’ job satisfaction and cognitive job crafting have a significant and positive impact on their life satisfaction. However, the dimensions of task crafting and relational crafting were found to have no significant effect on life satisfaction. Also, the study revealed that female teachers exhibit higher levels of cognitive, relational, and task crafting compared to male teachers. Finally, the article, provide some suggestions and directions for future research.

Summary: The Net Promoter Score (NPS) has emerged as a well-known measure for assessing customer satisfaction and loyalty across different sectors, including higher education. This study examines how NPS is applied in higher education institutions to assess student satisfaction, loyalty, and overall institutional effectiveness. This study explores how adapting NPS, typically used in business environment, to the specific dynamics of higher education can function as an essential instrument for evaluating student experiences, pinpointing areas needing enhancements, and promoting greater student involvement. This research seeks to offer higher education leaders practical insights to improve student satisfaction, loyalty, and institutional results via NPS. The net promoter score's importance for higher education was investigated using systematic and phenomenological approaches.

Summary: Unemployment is an important phenomenon affecting all economies, especially during crises such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, the government size is significant for all the formerly planned and centralized economies, like the Central and Eastern European countries. This study aims to investigate the impact of government size, income tax, economic growth, inflation, trade openness, and urbanization process on the unemployment level in Romania from 1991 to 2021. After testing the nonlinearity property, the findings of the nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag (NARDL), estimations show a positive influence of urbanization on unemployment. Conversely, government size significantly reduces the unemployment rate in Romania. Inflation and trade are negatively associated with unemployment, while taxation has a positive impact. In this regard, the Romanian authorities should adopt appropriate measures to support governmental expenditure, they need to collect budgetary tax that can reduce the unemployment rate, unless some efficiency measures are adopted such as defeating tax evasion which is high in Romania.

Summary: Leaders can make significant contributions to the functioning of the firm, regardless of their time and position. Leadership with effective strategies can provide a fundamental foundation for the effective use of the strategic management process. Leaders who follow strategies can accelerate the growth of relevant strategic activities and determine how to implement them. These activities serve as a gateway to higher average results and strategic competitiveness. Managers working in various organizations are fully aware of the need to create a strategic plan for the future of their organizations and participate in the effective adoption of these well-planned plans. In strategic management, the leader assumes various roles. He/she creates the conditions for change. Secondly, he/she selects key players from the organization and in the third stage, he/she creates a leadership team by shaping the vision and strategy through a visionary process that breaks down the existing hierarchy and clarifies the strategy that the entire organization can understand. Taking into consideration above mentioned facts, the article focuses on theoretical background of the topic. Scientific literature has been used in order to shred light into the topic.

Summary: Entrepreneurship is critically importance for individuals' economic and social development. The concepts of entrepreneurial resilience, entrepre-neurial intentions and entrepreneurial self-efficacy have become important research topics in the field of entrepreneurship and the number of studies carried out on these topics is increasing. Entrepreneurial resilience describes the resistance and adaptability of entrepreneurs in overcoming challenges, while entrepreneurial intentions represent individuals' attitudes and motivations towards entrepreneurial activities. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is based on individuals' entrepreneurial abilities and their confidence in using these abilities. The aim of this study is to comprehensively examine the bibliometric analysis of academic studies on entrepreneurial resilience, entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This type of analysis is essential for understanding the current knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship, evaluating the effects on entrepreneurial processes and determining future research directions. For this purpose, data was obtained using the Web of Science database and analyzed using the R program using the bibliometric method. Within the scope of the findings, 2525 studies are examined in detail and it is aimed to provide important information for researchers who want to work in this field and to contribute to the literature.

Summary: This study employs harmonic analysis to investigate the relationship between Petkim stock prices and the USD/TL exchange rate. The harmonic analysis is a robust analytical method in modern time series analysis, particularly suitable for data exhibiting stationary characteristics without any apparent trend. This approach emphasizes the importance of considering both linear, nonlinear, and periodic components to fully understand and predict the dynamics of the financial market, demonstrating significant implications for econometric modeling. The dynamics between stock prices and exchange rates attract attention due to their profound impact on economic indicators and investment strategies in the volatile world of financial markets. Our study covers the period from May 1, 2023, to March 29, 2024, marked by significant economic events and policy changes potentially affecting Turkey's capital and currency markets. Consequently, a model with a parabolic (quadratic) trend for both factors and small amplitude sinusoidal and cosinusoidal departures around this trend has been constructed.