Politická ekonomie, 2026 (vol. 74), issue 3

Nobel Prize in Economics for 2025

Pavel Sirůček, Zuzana Džbánková

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):560-573  

Impact of Circular Economy on Waste Elimination Within the Sustainable Supply Chain Framework

Maryam Khokhar, Yongrui Duan, Munaza Bibi, Anshuman Sharma, Fahad Alam

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):383-417 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1491  

In a system of production and consumption, sustainable supply chain management plays a crucial role in overseeing and curbing excessive waste. This research introduces two interconnected supply chains dedicated to waste elimination within the production and consumption processes. The study integrates the tenets of the circular economy (CE) explicitly emphasizing the 3R concepts, which are Reduce, Restore and Recycle. Within this framework, the initial product in the primary chain follows degradation and transforms into raw material for the production system of the secondary chain (secondary production facilities). When transporting used products to...

Efficiency of Public Spending in Achieving Indicators of Human Security Dimensions: A Comparative Study Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Mohammed Benlebbad, Radja Bouzidi, Mustapha Mostefaoui

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):418-435 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1494  

The current global landscape is experiencing numerous geopolitical shifts and security threats that directly affect human security and economic stability. The present study originates from this observation and aims to explore the interconnectedness between development and individual security, the significance of public spending and its role in strengthening human security dimensions, and the efficiency of public spending in improving human security indicators. The study utilizes data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure spending efficiency in 44 countries regarding human security indicators. The analysis, assuming variable returns to scale, reveals...

Financial Development in Uncertain Economies: A Pathway to Sustainability

Xin Ling, Muhammad Atif Khan, Hammad Qadeer

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):436-463 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1495  

This study is the first to explore the effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on multidimensional financial development. Using data from 22 countries over 20 years (2002-2021) and employing fixed effects regression and two-step dynamic system GMM estimators, the results reveal a significant negative impact of EPU on financial development. This adverse effect spans both key dimensions: financial institution development and financial market development. The analysis further highlights how EPU hampers key dimensions of financial institutions' and markets' performance - depth, access and efficiency. Importantly, the study highlights the positive moderating...

Future of Digital Economy: How Research and Development Can Address the Digital Divide Amid Resource Constraints

Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):464-489 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1496  

The digital economy is unquestionably a globally recognized priority among countries, yet comprehensive scholarly discussions on the specific determinants driving its growth remain relatively limited. To fill this gap, the present study pioneers an investigation into how research and development, natural resources and economic policy uncertainty influence the digital economy in the United States of America (USA), using data from 1996Q1 to 2020Q4. Given the nonlinear and non-normal distribution of the data, the study employs a series of quantile-based approaches, particularly the wavelet quantile-on-quantile regression (WQQR). The results of the WQQR...

Impact of Geopolitical Risk and Economic Globalization on Turkey's Environmental Sustainability: Novel Quantile-on-quantile KRLS Method

Ashar Awan, Atif Jahanger, Mohammad Emran Hossain, Muhammad Saeed Meo, Nora Yusma bte Mohamed Yusoff

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):490-514 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1505  

This study investigates the impact of economic globalization, geopolitical risk and natural resources on carbon emissions (CO₂) in Turkey, while controlling for economic development and renewable energy. The study uses annual data from 1970 to 2019 and employs a quantile-on-quantile-based regularized least squares (QQKRLS) approach. The findings confirm a weak positive association between economic globalization and CO₂ emissions at low and high quantiles, while this association becomes strong at quantiles from 0.40 to 0.65 of both variables. The study also confirms an overall positive association between geopolitical risk and...

Exploring the Impact of Democratic Consolidation and Women's Political Participation in Alleviating Energy Poverty

Emmanuel Oluwatosin Adewusi, Babatunde Olamide Oladosu, Tunde Sodiq Taiwo, Steve Udoka Okwechime

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):515-535 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1504  

Tackling energy poverty contributes to attaining Sustainable Development Goal 7, which seeks to provide universal access to cheap, dependable, eco-friendly energy by 2030. The present study examines drivers of energy poverty in South Africa using data from Q1 1997 to Q4 2021 to explore the association. The study employs nonlinear ARDL (NARDL), revealing that democracy and financial development exhibit significant positive long-run effects on energy poverty, while the short-run impacts demonstrate mixed asymmetries, with democracy showing a weaker negative effect. Economic growth and women's political representation reduce energy poverty in the long...

Environmental Regulations and Sustainable Development: The Role of Fiscal Decentralization and Clean Energy

Rong Wang, Xiaohan Gu, Yunqiu Zhan, Xiao Gu

Politická ekonomie 2026, 74(3):536-559 | DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.1508  

There is a growing recognition of the importance of sustainable development. Political economy factors and natural resources are considered important sources of economic prosperity. These are the fundamental primary resources utilized in the production process, which subsequently drives economic activities and results in sustained growth. Nevertheless, resource-rich countries often experience sustainability challenges. This study examines the impact of mineral resource rents on sustainable development in selected developed countries from a political economy perspective. Moreover, we include renewable energy deployment and fiscal decentralization as...