Search results for "Union"
showing 10 items of 2069 documents
In-Between ‘Smart’ Urban Growth and ‘Sluggish’ Rural Development? Reframing Population Dynamics in Greece, 1940–2019
2020
Multifaceted demographic dynamics have shaped population growth in Mediterranean Europe, reflecting a metropolitan cycle from urbanization to re-urbanization. To assess the distinctive impact of economic downturns on population dynamics, the present study illustrates the results of an exploratory analysis that assesses urban expansion and rural decline at various temporal scales in Greece, a peripheral country in southeastern Europe. Statistical analysis based on multivariate exploratory techniques outlined the persistent increase of regional populations, evidencing the distinctive role of agglomeration/scale with urbanization and early suburbanization phases (1940&ndash
Impact of reverse logistics on supply chain performance
2013
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of reverse logistics on order and inventory variance amplification in a single-echelon supply chain (SC) and to propose a new order policy for dampening such amplification. Design/methodology/approach – A general review of the literature on sustainable operations and on the impact of reverse logistics on SC performance provides the foundation for the study. The authors use difference equation math approach for modelling and analysing a closed SC. A proper design of experiment and data collected from the European Union statistics validate the obtained numerical results. Findings – The variability of reverse flow in a closed loop S…
An analysis of feed’in tariffs for solar PV in six representative countries of the European Union
2014
Abstract In this paper, after a brief review on the main support policies for Photovoltaic (PV) systems in Europe, the specific situations of six representative countries (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the U.K.) are examined, with the purpose of highlighting the main differences in the implementation of the feed’in tariff (FiT) support policies adopted for PV systems. In particular, a comparison based on the calculation of economic indexes, as the Discounted Cash Flows (DCF), the Pay-Back-Period (PBP), the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), for different sized PV systems shows that a specific FiT can sometimes be inconvenient for the producer and that…
New Alliances in Post-Brexit Europe: Does the New Hanseatic League Revive Nordic Political Cooperation?
2020
As Brexit removes the Nordic countries’ most powerful ally from the EU, what does this imply for their approach to European affairs? The literature on small states within the EU suggests that they can counterbalance limited bargaining capacities by entering two types of alliances: strategic partnerships with bigger member states and institutionalised cooperation on a regional basis. Against this backdrop we ask whether, by significantly raising the costs of non-cooperation for Nordic governments, the Brexit referendum has triggered a revival of Nordic political cooperation. We scrutinise this conjecture by analysing Nordic strategies of coalition-building on EU financial and budgetary polic…
Liberalising European electricity markets: opportunities and risks for a sustainable power sector
2003
The process of liberalising European electricity markets, encompassing a wide range of restructuring activities, has mainly been spurred by the attempt to increase the economic efficiency of the whole sector. This process might be used to trigger a development towards a sustainable power sector by increasing the use of renewable energy sources and enhancing energy efficiency on the supply and demand side. However, by taking a closer look at the current trends of the European electricity markets, it becomes obvious that the liberalisation not only implies opportunities but also risks for the creation of a sustainable power sector. Many of these risks are due to market distortions and imperfe…
Composite Indicator of Social Inclusion for European Countries
2013
Social inclusion is one of the key challenges of the European Union (EU) Sustainable Development Strategy. We use four indicators from EU policies to measure social inclusion for the 27 member countries of Europe. In particular, we aggregate the four indicators in a multiplicative composite indicator via a DEA-BoD approach with weights determined endogenously with proportion constraints. We obtain a score of social inclu- sion that allows us to grade the 27 EU countries from 2006 to 2010. In this way, we highlight the specific role played by the four indicators in determining improvements and deteriorations of social inclusion during the European phase of the financial and economic crisis.
LABOUR AND ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN LATVIA
2012
The structure of Latvian economy and distribution of employees within it during last years has changed. Dealing with study of population, one can find young people share continuous decline and labour mean age increase, but in situation of economic slowdown Latvia also face challenge to develop knowledge-based economy. One of the means of helping to achieve the goal of becoming competitive and knowledge-based economy is through an investment in human capital. To ensure sustainable development there is a need to balance between social and economical growth using available resources. The theoretical concepts have shown that further growth has to be built on innovation, diffusion and adoption o…
Do board characteristics affect environmental performance? A study of EU firms
2019
This paper explores the relationship between board characteristics and environmental performance. We adopt a triple perspective of environmental performance, focussing on emissions (waste and CO2), resource consumption (water and energy), and the implementation of environmental initiatives. The sample comprises 644 nonfinancial European Union–based companies. The data cover the period 2002 to 2017. The results confirm that gender diversity and the existence of a corporate social responsibility committee are positively associated with the firms' environmental performance. This finding is consistent with the view that the educational background, talent, and experience of women help promote su…
An Overview on European Union Sustainable Competitiveness
2014
Abstract The last few years have emphasized a continuing concern of many institutions, nations, companies for sustainable development. The recent literature brings into attention the concept of sustainable competitiveness beyond sustainable development. The main idea of sustainable competitiveness is reflected by the searching of a model that could balance economic prosperity, environmental issues and social sustainability. In this context, is shaping the sustainability-adjusted global competitiveness index that take into consideration two new dimensions – environmental and social. Practically, the triple bottom line concept will be extrapolated from the microeconomic level to the macroecon…
PROPOSALS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE MANAGEMENT BOOST AT A NATIONAL LEVEL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES
2017
Environmental noise is currently becoming one of the most dominant types of environmental pollution. The effects of environmental noise closely correlate with quality of life especially regarding the physical and psychological health of inhabitants, social and economic costs, and thus also impacting the sustainable development of a country. Environmental noise management, therefore, is one of the most necessary and exigent aspects of environmental pollution management governance. The management of noise need to be developed in a comprehensive, integrative and cross-sectorial way, and appropriate methods and approaches for the management of overall noise impacts need to be found to deal with…