Can diversity encourage entrepreneurship in transition economies?

Entrepreneurship is an important lever for spurring transition in the economies of the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe. Utilizing diversity, in terms of religion or gender, can positively affect entrepreneurial development. Programs that encourage entrepreneurial initiatives (such as business start-ups) in culturally diverse localities should rank high on the policy agenda. Prompting women to start a business, along with female-friendly measures (including targeted legislation), can positively affect entrepreneurial behaviour and the performance of existing enterprises

UK’s Ratification of the CISG – An Old Debate or a New Hope for the Economy of the UK on Its Way Out of the Recession: The Potential Impact of the CISG on the UK’s SME

The main hypothesis of this article is that the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods has the potential to act as a catalyst for the economy of the UK on its way out of the recession and, therefore, should be ratified, as it will strongly affect the development of the SME sector. This hypothesis will be questioned and evaluated throughout the article. In Part II of the article, the importance of the SMEs for the current economy of the UK will be assessed. Together with Part I, Part II will form the prism through which the remainder of the article will be viewed. Parts III and onwards will analyze the hypothesis stated earlier in the Introduction. They will ask the questions: (1) Would the ratification of the CISG be beneficial for the UK SMEs? and (2) Would the ratification of the CISG be beneficial for the economy of the UK

War and Social Attitudes

We study the long-run effects of conflict on social attitudes, with World War II in Central and Eastern Europe as our setting. Much of earlier work has relied on self- reported measures of victimization, which are prone to endogenous misreporting. With our own survey-based measure, we replicate established findings linking victimization to political participation, civic engagement, optimism, and trust. Those findings are reversed, however, when tested instead with an objective measure of victimization based on historical reference material. Thus, we urge caution when interpreting survey- based results from this literature as causal

Religious diversity and entrepreneurship in transition: lessons for policymakers

Using the 2010 Life in Transition Survey, we show that localities with higher religious diversity have more respondents who have tried to set up a business. Although religious diversity also correlates with a higher start-up probability (following trial), this effect is driven by access to finance and risk preferences. We provide suggestive evidence that the positive association between religious diversity and entrepreneurial trial is positively moderated by social capital (when measured as access to weak ties and the ability to bridge structural holes). Our results suggest that programs which encourage entrepreneurial attempts in diverse areas and develop such social capital are likely to be particularly effective. At the start-up stage, relaxing credit constraints should rank high on the policy agenda

Study of the terms for performing procedures under the HTA of a medicinal product in Bulgaria for the period 04.2016-12.2018

Introduction: The Health technology assessment (HTA) is a multidisciplinary activity that systematically assesses the effects of technology on health, on the availability and allocation of resources and their effectiveness for the health system. It is a dynamic, rapidly evolving process that helps make informed decisions about the benefits, risks and costs of introducing new technologies. The administrative terms for the HTA vary in different European countries and depend on the type of evaluation that is performed - single, multiple, rapid assessments and more. For Bulgaria, the statutory deadline for carrying out the procedure under the HTA according to Ordinance № 9 of 01.12.2015 is 90 days from the date of submission of the application by the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH).Objective: To monitor and analyze the average duration of HTA procedures and the factors that affect it in order to assess whether the normatively determined term of 90 days is sufficient.Methodology: Monitoring, analysis and synthesis are applied for data extraction and interpretation of information about the submitted applications for HTA in National Center of Public Health and Analyses (NCPHA), as well as the overall organization of the process. Criteria for completeness and duration of the procedure are analyzed.Results: In the general case of conducting HTA, the practice shows that the normatively determined term is extremely insufficient. The leading reason for going beyond the time frame is the interval for convening and holding regular meetings of the Heath Technology Assessment Committee (HTAC). Other factors are the incomplete information in the submitted documents or the need to revise the reports. The analysis of the deadlines shows that the share of procedures completed on time is very small and decreases over the years. The longest terms are for procedures in the field of oncology, urology and hematology, and the shortest - in the field of dermatology, rheumatology and endocrinology.Conclusion: The normatively set term is insufficient and regardless of the efforts made, it was not observed in 90% of the implemented procedures. The average duration of a HTA procedure in Bulgaria in the analyzed period is about 156 days. The established practice shows that in the country the duration of HTA is close to the group of EU countries with an established term of 90-220 days

Quasi-Stationary Approximation of a Dynamical Model of MicroRNA Target Regulation. Part II. Application of the QSSA Theorem

The QSSA theorem is applied to the dynamical model of microRNA target regulation after special selection of model variables, presented in Part I of this article. On the basis of this theorem the complete model, represented as a system of seven nonlinear ordinary differential equations, is reduced to a degenerate one, comprising only two ordinary differential equations. As a result it is proved that the proteins, produced by miRNAs are identified to play a driving role of the dynamical behaviour of the genetic process investigated, but in post-initial (or quasi-stationary) stage

The happiness gap in Eastern Europe

Citizens in Eastern Europe are less satisfied with life than their peers in other countries. This happiness gap has persisted over time, despite predictions to the contrary by earlier scholars. It holds after controlling for a variety of covariates, such as the standard of living, life expectancy and Eastern Orthodox religion. Armed with a battery of surveys from the early 1990s to 2014, we argue that the happiness gap is explained by how citizens in post-communist countries perceive their governments. Eastern Europeans link their life satisfaction to higher perceived corruption and weaker government performance. Our results suggest that the transition from central planning is still incomplete, at least in the psychology of people