Global, Regional and Local Perspectives on the Economies of Southeastern Europe: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on the Economies of the Balkan and Eastern European Countries (EBEEC) in Bucharest, Romania, 2019

Preface
About the Conference
Contents
About the Editors
The Publicly Declared Customs Union Between Albania and Kosovo (1244 Security Council Resolution)
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Framework: The Economic and Political Aspect of Regional Trade Agreements
3 Analytical Framework
4 The Publicly Declared Customs Union Between Albania and Kosovo (1244 Security Council Resolution)
4.1 Foreign Policy and Economic Diplomacy: The Political Motives
4.2 Bilateral Economic Relations: The Economic Motives
5 Conclusions
References
Building Resilience Through Cross-Border Cooperation Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. A Comparative Analysis Between Euroregions “Upper Pruth” and “Lower Danube”
1 Introduction
2 An Overview on Specificities and Differences of Euroregions “Upper Pruth” and “Lower Danube”
3 Obstacles and Risks in Cross-Border Cooperation Within Upper Pruth and Lower Danube Euroregions
4 Opportunities
5 Conclusions
References
David and Goliath: An Investigation Between Greece–Germany Bilateral Trade for Agricultural Products
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Greek Agricultural Sector
2.2 Greece–Germany Trade
2.3 The Gravity Model
3 Data and Methodology
4 Empirical Results
5 Conclusion—Discussion
References
Tourism Destination Development, a Situation Analysis of a Greek Region
1 Introduction
2 Mass Tourism Versus Alternative Tourism
3 A Case Study of Epirus Tourism Destination Development
3.1 Region’s Profile
3.2 Tourism in Epirus
3.3 Situation Analysis
3.4 Current Alternative Forms of Tourism in Epirus
3.5 Stakeholders Involved in Region
3.6 Epirus’ Vision
3.7 Strategic Direction
4 Concluding Remarks
References
The Core-Periphery Analysis as to Socioeconomic Characteristics: The Case of Ankara
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Discussions on Core-Periphery Approach
3 Core-Periphery Analysis of Socioeconomic Differentiation in Ankara Case
3.1 Methodology
3.2 Descriptive Analyses
3.3 Hierarchical Cluster Analyses
4 Concluding Remarks
References
The Economic Integration Maturity of Romania and Bulgaria
1 Introduction
2 Theory of Integration Maturity
3 Methodology
4 The Economic Integration Maturity of Romania and Bulgaria
4.1 Functioning Market Economy
4.2 Competitiveness
4.3 Convergence
4.4 Macroeconomic Stability
4.5 Financing Ability
5 Conclusions
References
Supranational Class Formation and Concept of Control in Global Economy
1 Introduction
2 Supranationality and Globalization
3 Supranational Capitalist Class
4 From the State to Globalization and Supranational Formations
5 Supranational Capital and Control of Global Economy
6 Supranational Capital and Dissolution of State
7 Conclusion
References
Measuring Global Political Economy
1 Introduction
2 Measuring Economic Globalisation
3 Conclusions
References
Examination of the Liquidity, Profitability and Indebtness Relations for Polish Companies with Neural Networks
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Model, Testable Hypotheses, Data and Methodology
3.1 Model
3.2 Testable Hypotheses
3.3 Test Data
3.4 Methodology: Neural Networks Analysis and Relative Literature
4 Analysis of Results
5 Summary and Concluding Remarks
References
Financial Instability and Economic Growth in Transition Economies
1 Introduction
2 The Impact of Financial System in Economic Growth
3 Financial Development and Economic Growth in Romania, Bulgaria, and Baltic States
4 Credit Expansion and High Indebtedness
5 Vulnerabilities
6 The Global Financial Crisis and Channels of Transmission
7 Alternative Theories of Financial Expansion and Minsky’s Theory of Financial Instability
8 Cope with Crisis
9 Conclusion
References
InsurTech in CEE Region—Where Are We?
1 Introduction
2 Short History of Insurtech
3 Polish Insurance Market
3.1 Comparison with Other European Insurance Markets
3.2 Legal Framework for InsurTech Companies
3.3 New Technologies on Polish Insurance Market
4 Conclusions
References
Methods of Regulating Non-performing Loans. The Challenge for Greece
1 Introduction
2 Methods of Addressing NPEs Problem
2.1 Settlement Options and Their Viability
2.2 Sustainable Versus Non-sustainable Regulatory Measures
2.3 Types of Settlements and Final Arrangements Types of Short-Term Settlements
2.4 Types of Long-Term Settlements
2.5 Final Settlement Solutions
3 Methodology for Testing the Impacts of Restructuring Methods
4 Findings
5 Conclusions
References
Qualitative Criteria and the Performance of the Global Economy
1 Introduction
2 Deregulation and Geostrategic Regulation of Global Economy
3 Global Economy and Security
4 Qualitative Versus Quantitative Criteria
4.1 Materials and Methods
4.2 Quantitative Criteria—Indicators
4.3 Qualitative Criteria—Indicators
5 Conclusion
References
A Framework for Information Mining from Audit Data
1 Introduction
2 Background Theory
3 Approach
3.1 Dataset
3.2 Tool
4 Results
4.1 Pre-processing
4.2 Classification
4.3 Clustering
4.4 Association Rule Mining
5 Discussion and Conclusions
References
Determinants of Profitability: Evidence of Renewable Energy Companies
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Firm-Specific Determinant
2.2 Industry Specific Determinants
2.3 Market Related Determinants
3 Risk and Sustainability of Renewable Energy Companies
4 Methodology and Data
5 Empirical Results
6 Conclusion
References
Sentiment Analysis: Relationship Between Customer Sentiment and Online Customer Ratings for Price Comparison Engines. An Empirical Study
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
2.1 Current Domestic e-Commerce Market Trends
2.2 Product and Price Comparison Engines
2.3 Sentiment Analysis
3 Methodology
3.1 Data Collection and Cleaning
3.2 Model Training
3.3 Algorithms Used
4 Research Findings
4.1 Results and Algorithm Performances
4.2 Results and Algorithm Performances for Sports
4.3 Results and Algorithm Performances for Technology Goods
5 Conclusions
5.1 Limitations
5.2 Food for Thought—Recommended
References
Determinants of Subjective Well-Being: Case of Albania
1 Introduction
2 Subjective Well-Being
2.1 Income
2.2 Social Capital
3 Methodology
3.1 Data and Variables
4 Results
5 Conclusions
References
Emotional Branding—Identifying the Difference Between Nike and Adidas
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Research Topic
4 Methodology and Model
5 Findings
6 Summary and Conclusion
7 Limitations and Further Research
References
Determinants of University Efficiency Focusing on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Activities
1 Introduction
2 Literature
3 Data, Methodology, and Results
3.1 Data and Variables
3.2 Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Results
3.3 Panel Tobit Model Results
4 Conclusion
Appendix
References
Stochastic Socio-economic Ex-ante Evaluation of Road Transport Infrastructure Projects
1 Introduction
2 CBA and EU Cohesion Policy 2014–2020
2.1 Definition and Scope of Major Infrastructure Projects
2.2 General Principles in CBA
2.3 Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) and CBA (Stochastic-CBA)
3 Numerical Example: Construction of a New Motorway
3.1 Deterministic-CBA Calculations
3.2 Stochastic-CBA Calculations
4 Conclusion
References
Types of Markets Within the Healthcare Systems; Examples from Balkan and East European Countries
1 Introduction
2 Types of Markets
2.1 Primary/Front-Stage Output Markets
2.2 Secondary/Back-Stage Input Markets
2.3 State Intervention
2.4 Market Mergers
3 Conclusions
References
Digital Divide Evaluation in High Education from Distance Learning Perspective
1 Introduction
2 Methodology
3 Findings and Results
References
Public Corporate Governance: Upcoming Changes Regarding the Implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and Corporate Social Responsibility in Public Sector
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Research Goal
4 Methodology
5 Suggestions
6 Private and Public Sector—Corporate Social Responsibility
7 Conclusions—Scientific Impact
References