Economics, Finance and Management Review

The Impact of Economic, Geopolitical, and Climate Uncertainty on Stock Market Returns in MENA Countries: Evidence from an SVAR Model

2025-11-03T14:37:02+02:00

Stock markets in the Middle East and North Africa face recurrent global shocks that can alter risk pricing and expected returns. This study assesses whether economic policy uncertainty, geopolitical risk, and climate policy uncertainty transmit to MENA equity returns. The objective is to estimate and compare the dynamic effects of global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU), geopolitical risk (GPR), and climate policy uncertainty (CPU) on stock market returns in the region and to identify the dominant uncertainty channel. Monthly data for ten MENA countries from January 2003 to August 2023 are analysed. Returns and uncertainty indices are expressed as log differences and checked for stationarity using ADF and PP tests. A structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) framework is estimated for each market, with lag length chosen by the Akaike criterion, and impulse responses and variance decompositions evaluate shock transmission. GEPU shocks exert statistically significant negative effects on returns for roughly four months in most markets, whereas Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia show weaker or insignificant responses. In contrast, GPR and CPU shocks do not produce statistically meaningful return effects. Variance decomposition indicates that GEPU contributes more to return variation than GPR or CPU, and its share generally increases with the forecast horizon, although own return shocks remain predominant. Findings support integrated risk monitoring for regulators and hedging strategies for investors. Future research should test nonlinear or regime switching dynamics, include volatility and capital flow channels, refine climate exposure measures, and assess transition period effects.

Strategic Management Based on the Digitalization of the Construction Sector Considering the Interrelation Between the Real Estate Market and Financial Leasing

2025-12-29T21:41:59+02:00

The article examines the key aspects of strategic management in the construction sector under conditions of digital transformation, emphasizing the relevance of a comprehensive approach that considers the interrelation between the real estate market and financial leasing. Proposals for the implementation of digital development strategies are formulated, systemic barriers are outlined, and the impact of digital technologies on the dynamics of key indicators is visualized. A mechanism for interaction between stakeholders in construction, finance, and leasing activities is proposed. The aim of the study is to justify the role of strategic management based on digitalization, taking into account the influence of financial leasing on the development of the real estate market. The object of the study is the process of interaction between economic entities in the construction, financial, and leasing sectors under conditions of digitalization. The methodological foundation of the study is based on the dialectical approach, systems analysis, economic and statistical methods, comparative analysis, and the structural-functional approach. In the context of the digital transformation of the economy, strategic management in the construction sector requires a rethinking of existing approaches, with due regard to the relationship between the real estate market and financial leasing mechanisms. The integration of digital technologies at all stages of investment and construction project implementation – from design to operation – necessitates the use of innovative management tools that enhance efficiency, transparency, and investment attractiveness in the construction industry. As a result, mechanisms of interaction between digital platforms, leasing instruments, and developers are substantiated, which reduce investment barriers, improve operational transparency, and accelerate project implementation. It is established that the introduction of Building Information Modeling (BIM), smart contracts, digital platforms, and management systems allows for the optimization of financial leasing processes, improvement in communication among market participants, and enhancement of managerial decision-making quality. The practical value of the results lies in identifying strategic directions for the digital development of the construction sector, which contribute to improved housing accessibility, increased investment volumes, and more effective responses to changing real estate market demand.

The Strategic Challenges of Artificial Intelligence on Human Resource Management Practices

2025-12-29T21:43:38+02:00

Artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in human resource management, shifting HR work from transaction-heavy administration toward data-driven decision support and workforce analytics. This transition creates measurable efficiency gains, but it also raises governance and legitimacy challenges in domains where decisions are high-stakes and socially sensitive. This paper examines the strategic challenges that shape responsible AI adoption in HRM and clarifies how these challenges influence decision quality, fairness, compliance, and trust. The study applies a qualitative approach based on secondary sources published between 2018 and 2024, including peer-reviewed articles, industry reports, and white papers. The evidence is synthesized through thematic analysis and complemented with comparative insights from organizational cases of AI use in recruitment, engagement, performance management, and training. Findings indicate uneven diffusion of AI across HR functions, with earlier uptake in recruitment and learning processes and comparatively lower automation in compensation and succession planning, reflecting higher governance sensitivity. Employee perception evidence shows strong support for efficiency benefits alongside contested views on fairness, with a pronounced preference for human review in consequential decisions. Organizational scale conditions adoption: larger firms exhibit higher budgets, stronger skills, and richer data environments, translating into higher functional uptake than small and medium enterprises. The risk assessment highlights hiring bias, data misuse, legal non-compliance, and employee distrust as priority risks that require proactive mitigation through auditing, privacy safeguards, and transparency measures. Future studies should test causal effects of AI on fairness and workforce outcomes using longitudinal and multi-method designs, including audit studies of recruitment systems. Additional work is needed on practical human-AI workflow design, explainability mechanisms, and scalable governance models suited to resource-constrained organizations.

Developing an Effective Management System for Agricultural Enterprises: a Synergetic Approach

2025-12-29T21:45:05+02:00

In the context of global economic transformations, volatile markets, and increasing ecological and social challenges, agricultural enterprises require innovative management systems to ensure competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience. This study aims to develop a theoretical and methodological framework for an effective management system for agricultural enterprises, utilizing a synergetic approach to integrate ecological, social, intellectual, and economic components for holistic development. The research employs a systemic-comprehensive analysis, SWOT analysis, expert evaluations, statistical methods, and synergetic modeling to examine development trends in agricultural enterprises in Ukraine’s Ternopil region. The methodology integrates philosophical and specialized methods to model dynamic interactions within management systems, ensuring strategic alignment with regional and global trends. The results propose a comprehensive management system that enhances strategic competitiveness by 10%, operational efficiency by 15%, and long-term sustainability. For instance, the implementation of cluster cooperation strategies in regional enterprises, such as PP “Urmanske,” led to a 20% increase in export revenues. Practical recommendations include establishing innovation hubs to foster research and development, promoting cluster-based collaboration for resource sharing, and attracting investments through public-private partnerships. These strategies were tested in the Ternopil region, demonstrating significant improvements in resource utilization and market positioning. The findings provide actionable insights for policymakers, enterprise managers, and researchers aiming to strengthen the agricultural sector in dynamic economic environments, offering a scalable model adaptable to other regions and sectors.

Innovative Approaches to Strengthening Employee Motivation and Improving Work Productivity

2025-12-02T21:59:23+02:00

Employee motivation increasingly depends on how organizations combine financial incentives with human capital development in conditions of digital transformation. The case of “Orient Ceramic” LLC shows that rapid digital adoption may initially generate technostress and weaken the short-term link between wage growth and job satisfaction, while creating new requirements for skills, communication, and managerial support. The study aims to examine how investments in human capital, upskilling initiatives, and motivational mechanisms influence employee satisfaction and labour productivity at “Orient Ceramic” LLC over 2020–2025, and to determine which levers provide the most stable performance effects. The analysis relies on internal annual company indicators, including workforce size, motivation fund, satisfaction measures, training expenditures, turnover, and productivity metrics. Trend analysis is complemented by regression modelling in EViews, where labour productivity is modelled as a function of training costs, number of employees, and turnover, alongside a separate specification testing the relationship between the motivation fund and productivity. The results indicate that wage and incentive growth in 2020–2022 was associated with only modest increases in satisfaction, consistent with adaptation costs during early digitalization. From 2023 onward, expanded training and stronger digital competencies coincided with higher satisfaction and sustained productivity growth. The regression evidence supports a positive and statistically significant association between the motivation fund and productivity, suggesting that well structured incentives matter when embedded in broader human capital policies. Further studies should test the model on larger samples, apply cross firm comparisons, examine technostress mitigation mechanisms, and evaluate long term effects on retention, well being, and productivity resilience.

Building a Counterparty Risk Profile Based on Consolidated Information: An Economic Security Approach

2025-12-29T21:44:22+02:00

Counterparty relationships in extended supply chains and multi jurisdictional networks increase information asymmetry, contagion effects, and integrity risks, so economic security depends on third party governance. Consolidated information is defined as an integrated dataset combining financial indicators, ownership and governance attributes, legal and compliance status, transactional behavior, and external signals such as sanctions and litigation markers. The aim of this study is to develop and empirically substantiate an economic security approach to constructing a counterparty risk profile based on consolidated information that integrates financial, legal, governance, integrity, and reputational indicators. A sequential mixed method design integrates literature synthesis, a domain based indicator system, a consolidation protocol for entity resolution and conflicting evidence, and an interpretable multi criteria scoring model. Weights and thresholds are set through expert elicitation from practitioners in economic security, compliance, procurement, and internal audit. Quantitative validation links scores to outcomes including payment delinquency, contract termination, disputes, confirmed fraud events, and adverse compliance findings. The profile functions as a governance artifact that converts consolidated evidence into contractual safeguards, monitoring cycles, and escalation triggers, reducing direct losses and secondary compliance and reputational exposures. The model foregrounds beneficial ownership transparency and critical flag logic so that unacceptable risks are not diluted by average scoring. A supporting Third Party Risk Management policy standardizes approvals, documentation, and lifecycle monitoring routines. Future work should test predictive performance across sectors, quantify the impact of beneficial ownership complexity, refine methods for reputational signal uncertainty, and assess how profile outputs shape managerial decisions and audit outcomes.

Systematic Identification and Evaluation of Dark Patterns and Nudging at the Travel Service Market

2025-12-29T21:43:08+02:00

The primary objective of this study is to systematically identify and evaluate the dark patterns and nudging strategies within the travel service market. The research aims to assess how these practices are perceived by consumers in terms of manipulation and to examine their broader societal acceptability. To achieve these objectives, the study adopts a structured, multi-stage methodological approach. In the first stage, dark patterns and nudging techniques commonly used in the travel service sector are identified and categorized based on their key characteristics. The second stage focuses on evaluating consumer perceptions of these practices through the development of measurement scales capturing perceived manipulation and societal acceptability, followed by the administration of a structured survey. The final stage involves quantitative data analysis using statistical methods to assess the impact of dark patterns on consumer perceptions and attitudes. The findings reveal that dark patterns and nudging strategies are widely employed across travel service platforms, with practices such as hidden fees, urgency cues, and misleading choice architectures being particularly prevalent. Consumers generally perceive these practices as manipulative, often associating them with feelings of frustration, reduced trust, and ethical concern. The results further indicate that the societal acceptability of such practices is limited, especially when consumers perceive a lack of transparency or intentional exploitation of their decision-making processes. Overall, this study contributes to the growing body of research on digital consumer protection by providing empirical evidence on the prevalence and perceived impact of dark patterns in the travel services sector. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, platform designers, and researchers seeking to promote more transparent, ethical, and user-centered digital environments.

Assessing the Contribution of Tourism to Uzbekistan’s Economic Growth: Analysis of Influencing Factors

2025-11-25T21:42:15+02:00

Tourism has emerged as one of the key engines of sustainable global economic development, contributing significantly to national competitiveness, employment creation, and balanced regional growth. In many developing and transition economies, the tourism sector plays an increasingly strategic role in diversifying economic activities, enhancing service quality, and attracting foreign investment. Against this backdrop, this article provides a systematic and comprehensive examination of the contribution of tourism to Uzbekistan’s economic expansion, with particular attention to the core determinants shaping the sector’s performance and long-term development prospects. Drawing on official statistical data from 2016 to 2024, the study analyzes a wide range of quantitative and qualitative indicators, including the volume of domestic and international tourist flows, hotel and accommodation occupancy levels, tourism-related export revenues, employment trends within the industry, and the evolution of physical and institutional tourism infrastructure. Particular emphasis is placed on identifying structural shifts in tourist demand, changes in market composition, and the effectiveness of state policies aimed at liberalizing visa regimes, improving transport connectivity, and stimulating private sector participation. The findings reveal that tourism is increasingly becoming a strategic pillar of economic advancement in Uzbekistan. Over the past several years, the sector has demonstrated steady growth, driven by modernization initiatives, enhanced marketing promotion, and improved international cooperation. Moreover, the results highlight a notable enhancement of the country’s investment climate, infrastructure capabilities, and digitalization efforts, all of which collectively strengthen the foundations for sustained sectoral development. The study also underscores the growing importance of pilgrimage tourism, cultural heritage preservation, and regional tourism clusters as additional drivers of economic activity. Overall, the research confirms that tourism has a substantial and expanding impact on Uzbekistan’s GDP, employment structure, and export diversification. The article concludes by outlining practical policy recommendations aimed at further improving sectoral resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability in the face of evolving global tourism trends.

Trends of Ukraine’s Freight Transport Sector During the War

2025-12-26T16:55:33+02:00

The article is devoted to the study of transport development trends under the effect of the war. The objective of the study is to conduct comprehensive analysis of trends of freight transport transformation under the war-time conditions. Ukraine has been in a state of a full-scale war for the fourth year; and the transport infrastructure has suffered significant damages. In particular, the russian invasion has caused the cessation of air, river and partly maritime transport, overall drop of transportation volumes. A sharp deterioration in dynamics of transportation and forced changes of transport and economic connections due to the displacement of the origin and destination points of cargo flows are clearly observed. Among the negative factors there are the lack of qualified personnel due to the mobilization for the defense needs and also the fleeing of about 6 million people abroad. Analysis of dynamics of freight carriage by transport of Ukraine, volume of cargo handling has been provided. Challenges, new trends and risks for transport in Ukraine have been assessed. One of the biggest bottlenecks in the freight transport has been identified - the insufficient capacity of checkpoints on the border with the EU. The research methodology is based on systemic analysis of official Ukrainian government documents, expert assessment by the World Bank and the European Commission for transport industry. Analysis of the National Transport Strategy of Ukraine until 2030, the Strategy for Development and Expansion of Boarder infrastructure with the EU, recent laws for road and rail transport has been provided. Procedure for implementation aquas communitare for transport industry has been analyzed. Some solutions for improvement of the transport logistics between Ukraine and EU countries are discussed. Along with the negative trends, there are also discussed some positive prospects. Transport development priorities have been reoriented, and some reforms are being carried out in the industry in accordance with the principles of the European transport policy. Logistic chains are somehow improved thanks to the construction of dry ports near the state boarder with EU, building of links with EU railway track 1420 mm, development of multimodal transportation. Ukraine's experience has become unique in many ways.

Uzbekistan's Foreign Trade Strategy: Economic Analysis of WTO and EAEU Directions

2025-12-09T15:56:08+02:00

The article examines how Uzbekistan’s participation in international trade agreements can influence national economic performance. The focus is placed on two alternative integration trajectories, accession to the World Trade Organization and the expansion of cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union. The analysis considers how these trajectories may affect GDP dynamics, sectoral composition, and labour-market outcomes, with particular attention to agriculture, industry, and unemployment. The objective is to assess and compare the potential economic effects of Uzbekistan’s WTO accession and deeper EAEU cooperation by estimating their associations with GDP, structural shifts between agriculture and industry, and changes in unemployment. The study applies an econometric modelling approach. Gross domestic product is specified as the dependent variable. The independent variables include the unemployment rate, selected agricultural indicators, the share of industry, a WTO integration factor, and an EAEU cooperation factor. These integration factors are operationalized as indicators capturing the presence and intensity of engagement with the respective trade frameworks. The calculations suggest that Uzbekistan’s GDP could increase by approximately 0.16% following WTO accession. The results also indicate that trade agreements are associated with structural changes in the economy, including shifts in the balance between agriculture and industry and measurable effects on employment processes. Overall, the findings support the conclusion that the choice of integration pathway can have macroeconomic relevance beyond trade flows, affecting sectoral ratios and labour-market conditions. Further research should test the robustness of these estimates using alternative model specifications and dynamic frameworks, including lag structures and scenario-based simulations. Future studies should also refine the measurement of integration intensity, incorporate additional control variables such as investment, productivity, exchange rates, and external demand, and extend the analysis to distributional effects across regions and social groups. A sector-specific assessment of competitiveness and import dependence would further clarify the conditions under which trade liberalization yields sustained growth gains.