Schon jetzt sind die sechs Westbalkanländer (WB6) politisch eng mit der EU verbunden. Doch seit Beginn des russischen Angriffskriegs auf die Ukraine rückt nun auch die Frage einer Annäherung der WB6 an die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (GASP) stärker in den Fokus. Die EU sollte...

Entrepreneurship education is a recent field in education. From a field mainly related to small business, it is extended towards enhancement of students' entrepreneurial attitudes and skills. It can support students in developing an independent and versatile way by growing the spirit of...

Women entrepreneurship is considered by many researchers as an imminent phenomenon of the 21st century, especially for developing countries. Due to its contribution to the economy and society, recent studies have focused on investigating its motivational factors, as well as achievements....

The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the insurance market in Albania, its level of concentration, and somehow to answer the question whether it impacts the country’s economy. The study analyzed how the insurance system in Albania has evolved, and more specifically, how the...

Non-performing loans in the Albanian banking system is becoming one of key concerns for banks, particularly after the breakout of the last global financial & economic crises of 2008. The crises effects, twinned with other specific factors of Albania’s economic structure, could be identified as...

This paper analyzes the recent judicial reform in Albania, which is in progress since 2015. The new mechanisms and institutions established by the reform are analyzed to identify the solutions to the problems of the judiciary system. After the fall of the communist regime, Albania has undergone...

Schon jetzt sind die sechs Westbalkanländer (WB6) politisch eng mit der EU verbunden. Doch seit Beginn des russischen Angriffskriegs auf die Ukraine rückt nun auch die Frage einer Annäherung der WB6 an die Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheits­politik (GASP) stärker in den Fokus. Die EU sollte...

Corporate bond markets are defined as the segment of capital markets in the economy that deals with corporate bonds. The building of the corporate bond market is a challenging process that requires a considerable amount of time to develop, but can act as a source of stability for a country’s...

Comparing the GDP growth rates of different regions can play a role in asset allocation, helping investment decisions in fast-growing regional economies.However, experts clarify on the other hand, that beyond the foreign investments that have entered Albania, the lack of diversification of...

Purpose: This study asks whether lower quality forms of employment lead to career transitions into higher quality forms of employment acting as steppingstones, or bridges or, whether instead they lead to dead-ends, or traps, in which workers move between unstable jobs with low prospects for...

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to understanding of the effects of active political engagement in port-of-entry jobs and employment pathways for graduate students. The data are derived from a structured survey of a small local labour market where political clientelism is pronounced due to...

This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of taxpayer communications informed by behavioral science in inducing business payroll tax compliance at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, an experimental tax trial targeting 5,423 firms...

An effective and equitable social protection system can help Kosovo to promote human capital, foster productivity, and reduce poverty. Since its independence in 2008, the country has made considerable socioeconomic progress, benefiting from the support of the international community and its own...

Der Westbalkan solle "so schnell wie möglich" in die EU, erklärte der Bundeskanzler auf dem Gipfel des Berliner Prozesses Anfang November 2022. Der Berliner Prozess besteht aus einer Reihe von Veranstaltungen und Treffen, die seit 2014 jährlich zwischen einzelnen EU-Mitgliedstaaten und den...

This paper aims to identify changes in consumption by students from Albania, Poland and Portugal in the era of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The study was conducted on a sample of 668 students of the Qiriazi University College and Aldent University in Albania, the University of Warmia and Mazury...

The objective of this brief situational analysis is to assess the extent to which each element of the social protection system in Albania fulfills its purpose; to determine whether the system as a whole satisfies the four principles outlined in the report; and to identify knowledge gaps and areas...

Despite a challenging transition period and a string of adverse shocks, in recent decades Albania has made major strides in raising per capita income and integrating into the world economy. A dynamic private sector has become the engine of Albania's economic development, and its increasing role...

An effective and equitable social protection system can help Kosovo to promote human capital, foster productivity, and reduce poverty. Since its independence in 2008, the country has made considerable socioeconomic progress, benefiting from the support of the international community and its own...

This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of taxpayer communications informed by behavioral science in inducing business payroll tax compliance at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, an experimental tax trial targeting 5,423 firms...

The collapse of communism led to highly skewed sex-ratios in Albania, which had a long patriarchal tradition before the advent of communism. While the use of sex-selective abortions in the region is well-known, little is known about other forms taken by revealed son preference, such as...

Fear of the threat of job loss is likely to elicit negative thoughts that have adverse consequences for not only job satisfaction, but also, all-round happiness and satisfaction with life. Using nationally representative cross-sectional data, this study provides evidence of the negative effect...

Among scholars, there is an interest in understanding how entrepreneurial behavior is influenced by the consequences of crises. The COVID-19 pandemic may negatively or positively affect individuals' behavior, including entrepreneurial intention. Thus, this paper seeks to study whether or not the...

In the last decades, Albania has started the implementation of a new practice which is partnership with the private sector, named public-private partnership (PPP), due to the inabilities of the public sector to fulfill all its public needs. This represents a crucial ratio related to economic...

This paper used publicly available data, such as the analysis of 103 court cases to make a profile of those convicted for cannabis cultivation in Albania. There are multiple reports on drugs and organized crime in Albania which provide information on the seizures of illicit substances, law...

Purpose: The Albanian migration has always reflected a family character, be that before 1945 when Albania was not yet completely isolated, as well as after 1990 when borders were reopened. This feature characterized all types of movement, internal or international, permanent or seasonal...

The collapse of communism led to highly skewed sex-ratios in Albania, which had a long patriarchal tradition before the advent of communism. While the use of sex-selective abortions in the region is well-known, little is known about other forms taken by revealed son preference, such as...

Estimating the impact of risk aversion on emigration at the individual level is complicated by selection issues. In this paper, we use original data from Albania on mobility intentions and elicited risk aversion to provide causal estimates on this relationship. Our identification strategy relies...

Worldwide, it is imperative for citizens to have access to electricity. This applies to Congolese--rural and urban dwellers, and if possible, it should be guaranteed by government’s laws and policies. However, the rural and urban areas of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suffer majorly from...

This paper aims to present the main developments of banking and finance in Albania in a historical perspective. This historical overview might help to better understand not only the great difficulties and obstacles the country faced in the past but also the successes it achieved. It is widely...

Der Westbalkan solle "so schnell wie möglich" in die EU, erklärte der Bundeskanzler auf dem Gipfel des Berliner Prozesses Anfang November 2022. Der Berliner Prozess besteht aus einer Reihe von Veranstaltungen und Treffen, die seit 2014 jährlich zwi­schen einzelnen EU-Mitgliedstaaten und den...

The Western Balkans should join the European Union (EU) "as soon as possible", according to statements by the Chancellor of Germany at the Berlin Process summit in early November 2022. The Berlin Process consists of a series of events and meetings that have taken place annually since 2014...

In 2022, there is a rapid increase in the prices of bread, flour and grain in the Visegrad countries and Albania. However, historically, the Visegrad countries have always met their own needs through domestic production, and the rise in prices cannot be associated with a shortage of supply of...

The objective of this paper is to investigate the validity of Okun’s law and estimate the so-called Okun’s coefficient for Albania using time series data on real gross domestic product and unemployment rate from 1993 up to 2021. In addition, the paper seeks to check whether the magnitude of...

For every company, decisions made on achieving an optimal capital structure are important for its life cycle and economic profitability. Properly funded investments contribute to the creation of new wealth, which reflects a high added value in the market.A number of theories have been developed...