Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(6):1064-1089 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1474
On the one hand, government intervention in the functioning of the market is inevitable due to market failure reasons such as uncertainty, asymmetric information and externalities; on the other hand, a high share of government in health services may result in government failure on the respective market. To effectively sustain increasing health spendings, it is vital to determine the optimal level for private and public health spending that have a positive effect on the health market. From this point of view, the objective of our study is to empirically evaluate the impact of public and private health spendings on health outcomes for 33 OECD countries...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(6):1034-1063 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1475
Sraffian economics posits that the production prices are uniquely determined within a specific production framework, serving as the benchmark for maintaining economic reproduction. This study aims to link deviations between Sraffian production prices and market prices to economic disproportionality and investigate these divergences to understand the business cycle. Using input-output matrices of the Korean economy, the study computes these deviations using the Steedman and Tomkins (1998) formula. It then assesses the impact of these price changes on economic activity. VAR methodology analysis shows that increasing deviation, indicating disproportionality,...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(6):1015-1033 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1473
The structure of the consumer society that has emerged in the world since the 1950s has led to an increase in the impact of economic activities on the environment. Recently, the incidence rates of various diseases have increased, especially in Eastern Europe , owing to environmental pollution and degradation. Therefore, this study aims to explain the impact of economic activities on the environment in Nordic countries using an ecological growth model. This study analyses causality relationships based on data on economic growth, capital accumulation, employment level, energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, carbon dioxide emissions, renewable...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(6):986-1014 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1469
This paper aims to empirically investigate the dynamic behaviour of inflation rates in four countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) based on the assumption that inflation has become more persistent in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. The study analyses whether the inflation dynamics in these countries have exhibited any differences after the Arab Spring period. To do so, we conduct an analysis based on the quantile autoregressive (QAR) unit root approach for before and after the Arab Spring. Our findings indicate that the inflation rates in the studied MENA countries exhibit high persistence in the period...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(6):967-985 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1467
Europe's public debt situation is likely to persist in the coming years. This study evaluates the impact of public debt on growth in the EU-27 countries. The analysis, using dynamic panel threshold models, reveals an indirect connection between debt and growth from 1995 to 2023. The research identifies an indirect effect of general and central debt on economic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. While government effectiveness positively influences growth in the long run, this effect is not observed during the pandemic. To ensure the robustness of our findings, dynamic panel data models and mean group (MG) estimators are employed. The empirical results...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(6):948-966 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1472
This paper aims to bridge a gap in public finance research by investigating the impact of remuneration increases for local politicians on various budgetary indicators in Czech municipalities using the regression discontinuity design method. Building on prior studies from Italy and the Netherlands, this research examines how remuneration influences budgetary behaviour. Focusing on municipalities with populations ranging from 5 to 20 thousand inhabitants, divided by a threshold of 10 thousand, where remuneration increases occur automatically, the analysis reveals significant effects on budget allocations. Particularly notable are increases in current...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(6):926-947 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1468
Reduction in energy demand, application of circular economy principles and implementation of sustainable policies are the key pillars of sustainable development. Buildings and the construction sector are significant consumers of both energy and resources. Therefore, a crucial policy objective is to mediate investments in sustainable renovations to make buildings more energy-efficient, less water-reliant and constructed with less waste. The EU Taxonomy, the bible of sustainability, sets the technical criteria for defining sustainable investments. However, do the criteria introduce a new approach, or is it more of another European attempt to improve...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(5) Special Issue II:891-925 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1463
In the current literature strand, most of the literature is devoted to the role played by mineral and governance policies in environmental quality. However, their criticality in income inequality is mainly overlooked by scholarly works. This research investigated the nexus of mineral and governance policies with income inequality while exploring the importance of per capita income, health expenditure, and poverty. Covering the extended period from 1984Q1 to 20223Q4 in the case of China, this research confirms the presence of long-run equilibrium association between variables. Due to the non-normal data distribution, this research uses quantile regression...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(5) Special Issue II:868-890 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1479
This research investigates the environmental effects of mining activities in countries in the Global South, specifically focusing on Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, from 1990 to 2020. Utilizing advanced econometric techniques, especially panel data methods, the study identifies considerable variations in how key factors - such as mineral rents, forest areas, GDP per capita and freshwater resources - affect the ecological footprint. The results support the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and show that while mineral rents tend to decrease the ecological footprint, increased renewable freshwater resources are associated with a higher...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(5) Special Issue II:839-867 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1476
In the context of growing global energy demand and advancing climate change, digital technologies offer opportunities for a low-carbon energy transition. Through such technologies, including big data, artificial intelligence and the internet of things, digitalization enables intelligent optimization, flexible management and efficient operation of energy systems, access to renewable energy, and reducing both energy consumption and carbon emissions. Grounded in the data of listed companies from 2011 to 2020, this study discusses the influence of enterprise digitalization on the low-carbon energy transition. The results show that enterprises’ digital...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(5) Special Issue II:810-838 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1482
As the corporate world has recently been increasingly held accountable for its non-green behaviour, corporate environmental disclosures (CED) are crucial in informing the relevant stakeholders. Among the factors influencing CED, firm auditors play a pivotal role. Our research investigates the impact of Big Four audit firms on corporate environmental disclosure in China. With unique institutional factors and the most significant carbon emissions globally, China provides an exciting and compelling ground for studying this relationship. For this purpose, we use annual firm-level data of A-listed shares on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges and...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(5) Special Issue II:778-809 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1452
In a contest to attain equitable economic performance, emerging economies of the Global South are rapidly strengthening their institutional framework and improving investment in the green energy sector and digitization. Also, these economies are extracting mineral resources to encourage development but still lagging in the context of an equitable growth race, which creates uncertainty among policymakers. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse the influence of mineral resources, digital economy and governance on the economic development of the emerging economies of the Global South from 1996 to 2022. In addition, the crucial role of green energy and foreign...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(5) Special Issue II:769-777 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1514
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(4):743-768
Green finance strategies have been established to direct funding towards green energy initiatives and promote the advancement of green technology for ecological sustainability. Moreover, the progress in green technology has played a significant role in the growth of green energy infrastructure in China. Nevertheless, there have been no prior investigations undertaken in China that specifically examine the impact of green financing and green technology on green energy within an asymmetric quantile framework. Thus, in the current study, a multivariate quantile-on-quantile regression (m-QQR) methodology is used to experimentally examine the link between...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(4):715-742 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1466
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the importance of energy by making affordable and clean fuel access the focus of Goal 7. Energy poverty is a widespread issue globally, particularly in developing countries. Thus, this investigation inspects the drivers of energy poverty in Brazil using data from 1997Q1 to 2022Q4. The study introduces the wavelet Zivot-Andrews (WZA) unit root test, which modifies the traditional Zivot-Andrews (ZA) test by incorporating wavelet analysis, allowing decomposition of the time series into different time scales (short-term, medium-term and long-term). This enables the WZA test to capture structural...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(4):686-714 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1460
This paper examines the profound effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on South Korean society, particularly focusing on the economic repercussions of a shock in energy use efficiency from Q1 2020 to Q3 2023. Employing advanced Bayesian estimation and impulse response function methods, the study reveals that enhanced energy use efficiency significantly boosts key economic metrics, including output, consumption, employment, energy use, real wages and investment. Additionally, an increase in real money holdings and a decrease in both deposit and loan interest rates are observed. The analysis further explores the impact of monetary policy adjustments made...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(4):657-685 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1465
We shed light on the German-Russian relationship, focusing on the complexities that underlie their economic policy uncertainties over the period 1994–2023. We start with static unconditional correlation and dynamic conditional correlation analyses to examine the strength and temporal variations in the correlation between economic policy uncertainties of these two major countries. We then utilize standard and time-varying Granger causality analysis to uncover causal relationships. Importantly, we use a novel energy policy uncertainty index for Germany to explore interconnections between economic and energy policy uncertainties. We emphasize the importance...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(4):615-656 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1461
Currently, nations worldwide are actively promoting various environmental movements to address the ecological crisis. Among these, the most prominent is the Green New Deal (GND). However, during the development of the GND, some scholars have identified that its advancement may lead to more severe environmental problems. Therefore, this study constructs indicators for green economic development and the GND. Utilizing an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model and a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) and based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces spanning 2008 to 2021, it specifically analyzes the impact of the GND on green economic development. The...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(4):584-614 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1464
This investigation explores the influence of remittances on economic growth in Algeria during the period 1970–2022 using the Fourier autoregressive distributed lags (FARDL) model. This study provides new insights by suggesting an N-shaped association between remittances and economic growth. The findings reveal a nonlinear relationship between remittances and growth in Algeria. Initially, the impact of remittances on income is positive, then becomes negative when they exceed a threshold of 1.2% of GDP, and later becomes positive again when remittances surpass a second threshold estimated at 1.894% of GDP. These results highlight the importance...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(3):580-583 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1500
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(3):566-579 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1487
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(3):528-565 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1448
Purpose: This paper aims to examine the real interest rate parity (RIP) theory for EU5 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) versus the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Utilizing RALS-FADF and RALS-FKSS unit root tests, this study addresses non-normality, non-linearity and structural breaks in real interest rate differentials. Findings: The results confirm the RIP theory, indicating mean reversion of real interest rate differentials and highlighting impact of financial integration on monetary policy independence and arbitrage opportunities. The study notes that central banks' ability to influence domestic economies through...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(3):500-527 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1456
This study investigates the impact of public debt on economic growth in a panel of 27 EU economies over the period 2000-2022. As the preliminary analysis suggests a nonlinear relationship between these variables, the debt threshold analysis based on the dynamic panel threshold regression is employed. The results for the whole panel indicate that public debt supports growth below a threshold of 68.7%, but it has a detrimental impact on growth if it is above the threshold. The validity of the findings is confirmed by including the effects of crises, which also indicates that economic growth in countries with debt below the threshold was more resilient...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(3):471-499 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1455
In the literature, it is still thought that to combat budget deficits, the state struggles to adjust the relationship between government revenues and spending. Accordingly, the causality relationship between government revenues and spending is generally explained through four main hypotheses: tax-spending, spending-tax, fiscal synchronization and institutional separation hypotheses. In addition to the doubt that the first and the only step in the fight against the budget deficit is government revenues and government expenditures, there are various uncertainties in the studies on this subject in the literature. There is no consensus on the subject due...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(3):447-470 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1459
Production in Turkey has a high dependence on imported inputs. Therefore, the policy aiming at increasing exports through the depreciated national currency leads to different results depending on the degree of dependence on imported inputs. In this context, this study econometrically analyses increases in exports of manufacturing and service industries which have different levels of imported input dependence. The analysis findings indicate that national currency depreciation leads to competitive effects in the manufacturing industry, but not in the service sector. The effect of labour costs, on the other hand, is much lower in the manufacturing industry...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(3):418-446 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1454
In this paper, we present the results of a study examining whether the European Union, where countries act in common on many issues such as monetary policy, abolition of borders and mobilization of labour and capital, also constitutes a union in terms of energy security. From this point of view, whether the energy security risk in the European Union has converged or not is tested by using various analysis methods covering the period 1980-2018 for 17 EU countries. The findings of the study not only reveal whether individual countries converge to the group average but also show whether the group as a whole forms a convergent outlook. The linear unit...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(2) Special Issue I:397-417
Energy efficiency is the cost-effective utilization of energy in the production process, whereby energy waste is minimized and the overall depletion of primary energy resources is curtailed. Improving energy efficiency enables countries to abate the rising CO2 emissions by efficient utilization of energy. Hence, energy efficiency is a source of improving environmental performance. This study examines the deep determinants of energy efficiency in BRICS countries. The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of effective governance on energy efficiency in BRICS countries. This study utilizes both fixed-effect and random-effect...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(2) Special Issue I:366-396 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1457
Emerging economies are consistently targeting advanced approaches to attain sustainable development while reducing their risk exposure and factors simultaneously. This research examines the influence of political risk, digitization and environmental policies, along with a set of economic and environmental factors, on the sustainable development of the BRICS economies. For the period from 1990 to 2020, the diagnostic tests confirmed a mixed order of integration. Therefore, the autoregressive distributed lag test is utilized and the results show that political risk, mineral resources and exports are harmful to sustainable development in the short run...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(2) Special Issue I:329-365 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1485
This study investigates the relationship between natural disasters, institutional factors, environmental poverty and climate-related migration. The analysis focuses on 112 countries, representing 95% of natural disasters globally from 1992 to 2021, using regression models and clustering countries by their vulnerability and resilience. Key findings show that although improved transport infrastructure can aid in recovery, it may also increase exposure to disaster-affected areas, causing higher mortality. At the same time, sanitation availability significantly reduces mortality and migration in affected regions. The study highlights the need for disaster...
Politická ekonomie 2025, 73(2) Special Issue I:297-328 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1486
In the empirical determination of the factors influencing the clean energy transition, the BRICS economies have initiated various policy reforms, such as increased R&D budgets, improvements in technology and political stability. This study analyses the critical role of political risk and economic growth, natural resources, research and development and technological innovation in the clean energy transition in the period 1990-2022. Using panel econometric approaches, this study confirms the heterogeneity of slopes and cross-sectional dependence. Using linear regression with the heteroscedastic panel-corrected standard error approach, the results...
