We apply nonlinear Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL)-based methodologies to examine the nature of the effects of changes in R&D (intensity) on the employment rates of ‘high-skill’, ‘medium-skill’ and ‘low-skill’ labour and also whether or not these effects are symmetric. The empirical results based on the annual data for the period of 1991–2017 have suggested that while increased R&D has favourable effects on the employment rate of ‘high-skill’ labour in France, it has a negative impact on this type of labour in the UK. On the other hand, while the given increase in R&D has been found to be negatively affecting the employment rates of both ‘low-skill’ and ‘medium-skill’ labour in France, it has no impact on the employment rates of these two types of labour in the UK. These results may suggest that the dominant form of technological change in France is possibly a combination of ‘low-skill automation’ and ‘task-based’ whereby new technologies are simultaneously leading to replacement of ‘low-skill’ and ‘medium-skill’ labour by machines and the creation of new tasks (jobs) in which ‘high-skill’ labour has a comparative advantage. In the UK, the dominant form of new technologies resulting from additional R&D efforts seems to be in the form of ‘high-skill automation’ whereby ‘Robotics and Artificial Intelligence’ kind of new technologies might be causing replacement of ‘high-skill’ labour with machines. These results suggest that new technologies might be exerting adverse effects on income distribution in different ways in the UK and France.

Socio-economic development and the concept of the tourist function of areas are multidimensional socio-economic phenomena, the diagnosis of which is particularly important in various comparative studies regarding EU countries. Measurement based on GDP per capita, widely used in the assessment of the socio-economic level of development of countries, does not include many aspects of this development in its construction. Similarly, the level of development of the tourist function cannot be assessed by means of one universal measure. Both categories should be treated as complex phenomena, which are influenced by many different factors. The aim of this article is to compare and statistically assess two complex phenomena, i.e. level of socio-economic development and level of tourist function development in 28 European Union countries. Linear ordering of EU countries was carried out using the TOPSIS method on the basis of diagnostic variables determining individual complex phenomena in 2016. Values of the overall synthetic measure were also indicated, taking into account all diagnostic variables. Rankings of EU countries were built and four typological groups of countries with high, medium-high, medium-low and low level of development were created. Discriminant analysis indicated variables that have the greatest impact on the classification of EU countries in terms of the level of socio-economic development and level of tourism function development. A linear econometric model with synthetic variables was also constructed, and it was determined which of the synthetic measures is relatively more important in describing the shaping of the overall synthetic measure. The quality of the work is increased by the use of many different statistical and econometric methods, as well as methods from the field of Multidimensional Comparative Analysis. Thanks to this, it is possible not only to deepen the assessment of the studied phenomena, but also to obtain more objective results. Conclusions from the research may be a basis for proper management in the field of socio-economic development as well as for the development of the tourist function of EU countries. They can also be used for appropriate allocation of financial support for countries within the framework of the EU cohesion policy and in determining the tourist specialization of countries.

This study aims to present the environmental performance of agriculture in Turkey, focusing on the post-2000 period, and to evaluate the agri-environmental support instruments in Turkey in light of the data obtained. According to the findings, it can be asserted that, in spite of several positive developments, Turkey’s agriculture seems to be far from sustainable. The number of farmers and the extent of the agricultural land aided by the support instruments account for very small portions of the total figures. At the same time, the amount of support provided to producers also has a very small share of the total agricultural support. Considering the findings about agri-environmental performance and agri-environmental support instruments together, we suggest that while the use of these support instruments is a positive step, the supports have not had an impact on inducing a green transition in agriculture yet. Uncertainties caused by legislative changes, amounts of support falling short of the cost of a green transition in agriculture, lack of knowledge and training activities regarding environment-friendly agricultural methods, and lack of effective organization of agricultural producers are thought to be among the reasons for this result.

The ravages of two world wars and a desire to develop a politically and economically united Europe led to the establishment of the Eurozone in January 1999. The European Monetary Union was a grand experiment that brought 11 European nations under a single currency, the euro. Complexities associated with the implementation of effective fiscal, budgetary and banking coordination left the bloc vulnerable to asymmetries in the productivity and factor markets of its members. This article analyses how adoption of the euro, which prevented nominal exchange rate adjustments, impacted on the competitiveness and real economies of member states, thereby undermining the European Union’s key priority of creating balanced economic growth and productivity.

One of the most important problems facing Greece is the long-term and high-level unemployment rate. The Economic Adjustment Programmes (EAPs) focused on the supply side of the economy, aiming at the adjustment of prices and wages, draw on the classical economic model, as it is widely accepted that internal devaluation policies keep inflation low. This article attempts to examine whether the Keynesian theory and the Phillips Curve, which shows the relationship between unemployment and inflation, apply in the case of the Greek economy. We use descriptive statistics, ordinary least squares (OLS) and VAR Analysis to examine the relationship between the variables. According to the results, there is a negative correlation between unemployment and inflation in Greece, thus confirming the Phillips Curve hypothesis. Finally, results show that unemployment is less dependent on inflation compared with the past, and there are numerous other decisive factors affecting unemployment.

This article looks at the careers of two school-founding Hungarian historians and university professors, the reconstruction, interpretation and comparison of their perceptions of history, their views on the role of the historiographer, and their opinions on the history of Jews in Hungary. Since both openly professed to be Hungarian Jews, I also try to find out what that meant for them. My interpretive frame follows the ‘speech-act’ approach of the Cambridge contextual school of the history of ideas, the description of notions of meaning/attribution of meaning, and the ‘drama triangle’ (the identification of the traumatized roles of the victim, persecutor and rescuer) in the literature of trauma elaboration.

The world-renowned physicist Andrei D. Sakharov (1921–1989) was ‘the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb’ and, as such, an architect of the Soviet superpower. He developed into a fierce fighter for human rights, distinguished by the Nobel Peace Prize. In his words, ‘my fate was larger than what would have followed from my personality. I was merely trying to be worthy of my fate.’1 His life and career provide thought-provoking lessons and is worthy of review on the eve of his centennial.