Purpose: The aim of the research is to answer the question of what the impact of ven­ture capital investment is on the labour productivity of countries. Methodology: This study aims to analyse whether the effect of venture capital invest­ment on countries’ labour productivity may occur when, in addition to the traditional lin­ear specification, a non-linear and delayed impact is considered. The proposed method is based on multiple regression models. Findings: Despite the fact that EU countries allocate much support to develop the ven­ture capital sector, the research results reveal that the impact of venture capital investment on labour productivity in EU-25 countries is insignificant. Originality: Much of the literature investigates the impact of venture capital invest­ment at the company or sectoral levels. However, researchers emphasise the need to expand the scope and analyse this impact not only at the company or sectoral level, but also at the country level. The analysis of research works on the impact of venture capital investment on economic development indicators of countries demonstrates that empirical research on the impact of venture capital investment on labour productivity of countries is under­developed. The study contributes to the scientific literature with one of the first attempts to investigate this topic. The empirical analysis is based on the European Union’s (EU) 25 countries. Keywords: venture capital investment, labour productivity, innovation, European Union countries. JEL Classification: G24, J24, O30.

Purpose. Over the past century, the stock market has become an ideal investment option for investors by pooling the needs of people with similar financial aspirations. This study explores the various variables of investment objectives and decision-making that motivate stock market participants based on the inherent motivations of Nepalese investors. This study examined individual investors' reasons for investing regarding investment horizons, information and analysis, gender, age, academic qualifications, and stock market experience.Design/methodology/approach. This study includes administering a structured, closed-ended questionnaire to 405 investors in the stock market. This study uses an exploratory and causal-comparative approach to identify three primary investment motives: transactional, precautionary, and speculative.Findings. The regression analysis revealed that only speculative and transactional motives significantly impact stock market investment decisions (p < 0.05), emphasizing the unique nature of investor motivations. As there is no significant relationship found between precautionary motives and investment decisions (p > 0.05), it urges caution and highlights the need for informed decision-making. ANOVA tests further highlight the findings, emphasizing the significance of investors' experiences while rendering demographic factors such as gender, age, education, or formal training irrelevant in stock market decision-making.Research limitations/implications. This study implies that investors' motives drive their investment decisions, regardless of their background. The high value of investment experience underlines the importance of practical exposure in investor decisions.Originality/value. This study uniquely reveals that speculative and transactional motives, rather than demographic factors, drive investment decisions among Nepalese investors. Employing an exploratory and causal-comparative approach, it underscores the critical role of investment experience. These findings offer new insights, emphasizing the need for regulatory agencies and market-listed companies to enhance awareness and provide tailored investment options.

This study is a comprehensive analysis of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure levels and board diversity metrics of stock-listed companies in the Baltic states, comparing between two different time points: 2020 and 2022. The approach of the research involves qualitative content analysis of sustainability reports in order to determine disclosure levels, and statistical methods such as t-tests of differences in means to draw conclusions on the differences in disclosure levels based on diversity parameters. The results of the study demonstrate that ESG disclosure scores have improved over time. The average ESG disclosure score increased from 40% in the 2020 sample to 47% in the 2022 sample, with this improvement largely driven by an increase in the disclosure of corporate governance topics. Furthermore, this study provides evidence that companies with female board members and larger boards tend to achieve higher ESG transparency levels. The results show that companies with female members on their boards have higher ESG disclosure levels, with an average of 54% for companies with female members on their management boards compared to 42% for those without, and an average disclosure level of 52% for companies with gender-diverse supervisory boards compared to 42% for those with all-male supervisory board members. The findings of this study contribute to the academic literature by shedding light on the differences in ESG disclosure levels during a time of heightened corporate sustainability awareness, as well as connecting diversity to corporate sustainability.

Purpose: The study aims to assess the benefits of using econometric methods to analyse the impact of government initiatives on innovation development, entrepreneurship and economic growth. The study analysed the impact of government support on innovation strategies, start-ups, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in countries such as the United States, the European Union (Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and France), Japan, South Korea, India, and China, accounting for regional and cultural specifics.Methodology: The methodological approach was based on the analysis of data from official sources, in particular, government websites, as well as reports and analytical materials of international publications. Econometric methods, such as regression and correlation analysis, were used to determine that an increase in gross domestic product per capita is accompanied by an increase in the innovation index, while research and development (R&amp;D) expenditure has an insignificant relationship with the innovation index, demonstrating the benefits of using econometrics.Findings: The study demonstrated that the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programmes in the US, Horizon Europe in the European Union, and the Creative Economy Initiative in South Korea are highly effective. The study determined that the Startup India Programmes in India and Made in China 2025 in China contributed to the creation of a favourable regulatory environment and provided tax incentives, which had a positive impact on the development of entrepreneurship and innovation. Recommendations on the use of econometric methods to assess the impact of government support on innovation and entrepreneurship, improving financial support for start-ups, enhancing educational programmes for entrepreneurs, promoting cross-sectoral cooperation, and optimising the regulatory environment, were made.Originality: This study breaks new ground by rigorously analyzing how government open data initiatives impact innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth through advanced econometric methods. Keywords: international markets, financial incentives, economic growth, competitiveness, government initiatives JEL classification: O3, L26, O4

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how energy consumers evaluate economic, social, and environmental factors in developing and developed countries and to compare developed and developing countries in terms of the impact of these factors on consumer decisions in dimensions of sustainable energy consumption.Methodology: To achieve this goal, the authors will use data from a survey conducted in five countries representing developing and developed economies and then use hierarchical modelling to assess consumer preferences regarding sustainable energy consumption.Findings: The analysis of the results indicates that economic, social and environmental factors play an important role in shaping consumer decisions on sustainable energy consumption, with their importance varying according to the level of development of the country. The income and energy price are important factors in both developed and developing countries, but they are more crucial in developed countries. Social factors are perceived as more important in developing countries. Environmental factors are crucial in both developing and developed countries, but acceptance of these factors is higher and more uniform in developed countries. Originality: This study offers a multidimensional framework for understanding sustainable energy consumption. Besides, the authors assess preferences not only for one group of countries, but also the differences in consumer preferences about the energy supply in developing and developed countries. This paper provides empirical evidence why the theory of energy and fuel poverty treats this phenomenon separately in relation to developing and developed countries. Additionally, for the first time during the research process, the hierarchical modeling method. Keywords: hierarchical modelling, sustainable development, energy consumption, preferences, developed and developing countriesJEL codes: C11, C80, P46, Q01, Q43, H41.

This paper examines the risk-return correspondence of ESG investing strategy through turmoil induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ESG segment demonstrates growth in the attractiveness of investments, and the investigation of their risk-return characteristics is significant. The goal of this article is to present the results of our research devoted to two ETF groups passing through a pandemic. One group of ETFs corresponds to low-level ESGs (ESG score &lt;2.5), and another to high-level ESGs (ESG score &gt;7.5). A comparative analysis focuses on risk estimations before, during, and after shock. It applies three approaches to measuring risk and a specially constructed pair of indicators. Additionally, trading volume parameters are analyzed. The results indicate differences in passing through shock for the abovementioned groups. Before shock, the second group was slightly less risky. During shock, the first group demonstrated strong linear dependency between the deepness of the shock and recovery rate, unlike the second. After shock, the second group showed a sharper increase in risk. Moreover, it demonstrated a higher correlation inside the group and a correlation with S&amp;P500 returns. These results also reveal that dependency risk changes from the diversification level of the ETF portfolio. A complex analysis of trading volume activity and the Cowles-Johns ratio indicated the essential difference between groups. The final results indicate that ETFs from the ESG score &gt;7.5 group were more strongly affected by COVID-19 shock. This can be expressed by the more severe “jitters” of returns and trading after the shock. The obtained results can be applied in the practice of forming portfolio investment strategies.

Aim: Our research concentrates on the sustainable development and digital transformation of educational systems. This topic has gained the special attention of researchers and policymakers in recent years due to the wide spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the digital surge that can be observed all around the world. This digital surge, which can also be called a digital revolution, was further deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the massive closure of schools and universities and the deployment of online and home learning. Methods: We use data obtained from researchers and lecturers at universities and higher education institutions in the Czech Republic and Russia between September 2020 and March 2021 to perform ordinal regression analysis. This allows us to test the relationships between effectiveness as a key factor of creativity on one side and motivation to look for new ways of teaching and research during and after the COVID-19 pandemic on the other. Results: Overall, it appears that there are still many obstacles to the digital transformation of educational systems that might be embedded in the structure and the scope of today’s educational institutions. We demonstrate that, at present, universities and higher educational institutions are undergoing r`adical change driven by the need to digitize education and training processes in record time, and that many academics lack the innate technical skills for online education. Nevertheless, it appears that young and motivated academics and researchers are keen on embracing new technologies and support the digital transformation of educational systems. Conclusions: Our results might be useful for decision-makers and stakeholders in universities and higher education institutions for designing their strategies for the digitalization of educational systems.

Big Data and Big Data Analytics (BDA) are becoming trending technologies of the future. This topic has garnered considerable interest from researchers and businesses. However, BDA research in the banking sector has proven to be extremely limited and mixed. Addressing the challenges of BDA application and laying the foundation for BDA to improve banking efficiency raises significant questions about strategic management in the banking sector. Through a systematic review of the literature and a case study in Hungarian banks, this study intends to address the major inconsistencies in existing ideas about BDA applications. This study also proposes a conceptual model to evaluate the impact of factors influencing the use of BDA in the banking sector and investigates whether BDA affects the performance of banks. Our study finds that the use of BDA in the banking sector has to be aligned with the creation of dynamic capabilities that positively and directly affect banking in terms of the market and operational performance. Meanwhile, the dynamic capabilities created by BDA usage have a moderating impact on bank performance through improved risk management performance. Furthermore, this research helps managers focus on key factors, namely technological infrastructures, Big Data skills, data quality, and top management support, to boost the efficiency of using BDA.

Despites research that reveals the organizational innovation capability has been carried out by several researchers, research that integrates human resource management practice and knowledge management model in build creativity is still underdeveloped. Therefore, the present study aimed to examines the nexus between human resource management practice and knowledge management with creativity to influence organizational innovation capability in small and medium enterprises. The present study used data collected from 405 respondents from the managerial level of 135 woodcraft SMEs in Indonesia. Data analysis employing partial least square SmartPLS 3.2.7. The results showed that human resource management practices, knowledge management, and creativity significantly influence organizational innovation capability. Meanwhile, knowledge management has no significant influence on organizational innovation capability. Another important finding is that creativity is a double mediator in the mediation mechanism tested in this research. Furthermore, the research help managers to optimize HRMP when seeking for creative employees to boost innovation capability, develop analytical skills to improve knowledge management practices and realize that KM not only signifies knowledge acquisition, rather it also greatly establishes metacognitive strategies for adopting, disseminating, and creating new ideas. This research also discusses the associated limitations.

Communication is an element that permeates the life of individuals, from birth to death. Through it, it is possible to create new shared meanings, relationships and social networks. The importance of the communication process emerges in different contexts, one of which is undoubtedly the work context: several types of research have affirmed that an efficient organisational communication produces positive outcomes at the level of workers and organisations, such as increased work commitment, satisfaction and reduction of phenomena as emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Starting from the theoretical framework of the Job Demands-Job Resources model, which divides the characteristics of each work context according to two general categories, namely job demands (representing workers' efforts in performing their job tasks) and job resources (facilitating aspects of work that can provide opportunities for personal growth), the aim of the research is to explore the role of communication with colleagues and superiors in the relationship between a job resource (increased social resources) and a negative outcome, such as emotional exhaustion, by means of a non-parametric structural equation model (PLS-SEM), in a sample of 479 workers. Reliable structural and measurement models yielded excellent fit indices of the hypothesized latent variables. The results show that for workers, enhancing social resources by asking for feedback from colleagues and bosses, does not protect against emotional exhaustion risks, but in fact it improves communication. The exclusive use of social resources at work does not have a significant impact on the risk of emotional exhaustion if it is not accompanied by perceived communication appropriate to the circumstances and contexts. Communication, therefore, fully mediates the relationship between increased social resources and emotional exhaustion and stands out as a crucial protective factor.