Issue 2, 2021

The study presents general results of the research project “Academic sphere and business in Bulgaria: status and possibilities for expanding cooperation” carried out at the Economic Research Institute at BAS. An assessment of the status of the cooperation between the universities, research organisations and enterprises in Bulgaria is made. Main problem areas are identified and on this basis – possibilities for its expansion are derived.
JEL: I23; I28; O3

The global economy has been in a state of permanent crisis for the last 10 years, the beginning of which is considered to be the financial crisis of 2007. Many studies have been devoted to identifying the reasons for deepening this crisis and gaining global scales, but there is no explicit answer to questions related to measures to overcome crisis phenomena and to create the basis for further sustainable development and its regulation.
In our opinion, one of the main reasons for the failure of national economies and the global economy as a whole to ensure a positive development trend is the significant influence of modern monopolies and monopolistic associations both on the national and international levels.
From the early 1970’s to the beginning of the nineteenth century, transnational corporations have become the engine of the global economy and the driving force behind the spread of globalisation, but at the current stage, reaching a large size and with considerable financial resources, they become an obstacle to the development of a free market and support and development of competition.
Most publications in scientific sources are devoted to the analysis of tendencies of development of transnationalization of the world economy and substantiation of efficiency of activity of transnational companies as the organisation of the world economy, but insufficiently covered the shortcomings of activity of transnational corporations and revealed negative influences on the state of development of the global economy.
In a scientific article in order to find ways to overcome the stagnation of the world economy, the influence of international monopolies on economic relations has been researched both within individual states and within the global economy, trends in their development have been identified, and measures have been developed to improve the situation.
JEL: A1; C1; F01; F23; F6

We examine beta and sigma convergence in the European Union in 2000-2019. Our study shows that the hypotheses for both beta and sigma convergences are not rejected. While the process of convergence is occurring in the EU it is not fast enough, and it is much more concerned with convergence clubs’ formation instead of community convergence. Our estimations of speed and years of convergence show that some countries, mostly from Eastern and Southern Europe, will need higher growth rates to catch up with the average level of income. Since the global economic and financial crisis of 2008 divergence process in the EU is underway and it threatens the functioning of the euro area. Facing such challenges, the EU needs an Investment Deal to carry out the fundamental idea of the Single Market and foster the process of convergence.
JEL: O47; R11; F43

The purpose of this study is to outline the perspective public policies to limit informal employment. They are based on a study of its influential factors through The Doing Business international rating in the European Union and the EU candidate countries. For the group of “old” European countries, the priority measures are to improve the contracting procedures it terms of their numbers and time-consuming. For the group of new EU members, such measures are the reductions of the number of procedures to obtain electricity. For EU candidate countries, key steps to improve the regulation of informal employment include the raising legal awareness, reducing specific types of taxes and fees and increasing credit opportunities for business and people.
JEL: E26; E69; J21; J68

This article is a retrospective of the development of industrial relations from their inception to the present day. It clarifies the essence of the basic principles on which they operate and the main participants in these relations. It examines the main trends in modern conditions and the formation of new “players” in these relations. It also clarifies the main changes occurring in the conditions under which industrial relations operate and will have to function in the future.
JEL: J50

The study is dedicated to the current and insufficiently developed problems related to the setting of priorities in the policies aimed at overcoming the existing regional differences in the educational infrastructure of the country. This statement predetermines the main goal of the study – on the basis of the existing European and national regulatory frameworks in the field of regional development and education, as well as the author’s study of the differences in educational infrastructure by regions and districts of the country, to propose policies for their restriction.
In view of the main goal, an analysis and evaluation of the European and national regulatory frameworks, as well as of the current legal documents in the fields of education and regional development have been carried out. The focus of the study is: the proposals made for priority policies to reduce regional disparities by regions and districts, according to their concrete specifics features. These policies have a targeted nature and practical applicability in the activities of the relevant local authorities in this area. The proposed policies in territorial terms are defined by different levels of education.
In a conclusion of the study, systematized conclusions are made, which expresses the opinion that the set of proposed policies is a guarantee for achieving minimal differences between regions and districts in terms of their educational infrastructure.
JEL: R11; I2; J71; R58

Crisis socioeconomic developments our country has been facing lately gave rise a to brand new approach to managing social problems embodied in social design. Social design as a technology of social management has been taking ever more significant place in the development of the Ukrainian society. It has been a while since social design proved to have a significant impact in the developed countries, which extensively design and implement social projects. Social design as it is today should be considered as a social practice phenomenon of the globalized society. Research of social design as a functional, applied management methodology and technology is also important for the development of practical principles of social management and social security. This research is aimed to improve and further develop theoretical provisions and practical recommendations as to the use of social design as a technology of social management in the development of Ukrainian society. The object of this study is the process of use of social design as a technology of social management when addressing social problems of society. The subject of the study is theoretical and applied aspects of social design as a social management technology. The paper analyzes and generalizes the conceptual framework of social design; defines the role and function of social design as a technology of social management, offers a functional block diagram of social design (it details the object, the subject, the base principles, social design tools), substantiates the stages of social design.
JEL: B55; O22; H10

The aim of this research is to study the consumer’s attitude and buyers’ behaviour towards organic (bio) agricultural products as key factors to influence the market development and market potential, especially for supply to other regional markets in the particular country, and for export. Three regions have been studied, all of them with production and export potential for organic products. Two of them are in Central Asia – Altay region in the Russian Federation (Barnaul and the region) and Eastern Kazakhstan (Semey and the region). Bulgaria (Sofia and Varna) was included in the research, with the idea to contrast the findings from Siberia with those from Europe. The three regions, which are covered by this survey, have the production capacity to supply the local and foreign markets with organic agricultural products. The findings of this research lead to a better understanding of the consumers’ specifics, as well as – the gender specifics, and by this, it provides the producers and sellers with ideas about optimisation of their marketing communication and pricing strategies.
JEL: M31; Q13; L66; F18

The evolution of theoretical approaches to the definition of the “entrepreneur” and “entrepreneurship” concepts essence was studied. It was established that various risks inherent in entrepreneurship are characterised by the complexity of distinguishing the signs of economy and investment within a turbulent dynamic environment of uncertainty, limited liquidity in a small and medium-sized business. It was determined that in many countries of the world small and medium-sized enterprises enjoy state support through their taxation systems, which necessitates the determination of a fair tax burden and appropriate fair tax bases. The role of small and medium-sized enterprises in ensuring technological progress, eliminating regional imbalances in economic development, achieving socio-political stability in society and strengthening national security was highlighted. The Recommendations of the European Commission on the SME definition in different countries of the world were characterised. The method of SME classifying into independent and dependent was suggested, which will further allow guiding the SME sector activities to ensure stability in society and simultaneously comply with their obligations to manage public finance at all levels.
JEL: G38

The article is investigating the improving of the company’s reputation through quality customer relations. Hence, customer satisfaction is essential for company reputation and loyalty because of a company brand whole dependency on customer satisfaction in turbulence market. Therefore, the current study conducted in Pakistani context to check the customer believes regarding company brand and its reputation, because nowadays the Pakistani market is very flexible, and no one can go smoothly inter in this turbulence market. The underline study finding suggests many recommendations for policymakers and practitioners, that build a cluster of trust among company’s staff because it will support the customer reputation, and different steps (advertising, public relations and marketing campaigns) are very pivotal tools, can change customer’s behaviours.
JEL: M30

The relevance of this paper is determined by the dynamic competitive environment of the international tourist markets and the necessity for seeking possibilities for increasing the competitive advantages of Bulgaria as a destination. One of these possibilities is through a digital change of the tourist sector in our country. The research goal in the article is to make an analysis and assessment of the competitiveness of destination Bulgaria, together with defining directions for enlarging it through digital transformation in tourism. In analysing and synthesising for the goals of assessing the competitive positions of Bulgaria as a tourist destination, there are applied the approaches of induction, deduction and glocalisation. The publication is based on the methodology of determining the Travel and tourism competitiveness index of the World Economic Forum. Particular suggestions and recommendations are made for the digital transformation of the tourist sector in Bulgaria on a macro- and micro level. Guiding and stimulating the processes of digital transformation in the various sectors of the national economy, incl. those in tourism, have to be carried out by the state, its governmental authorities and responsible institutions, the respective enterprises and organisations.
JEL: Z32; O33