Central European Economic Journal

Central European Economic Journal CEEJ publishes original theoretical and empirical research papers in the field of economics

🌱🤖 Can digital readiness accelerate the green transition?In our latest article Digital Twin Readiness and Green Entrep...
11/08/2026

🌱🤖 Can digital readiness accelerate the green transition?

In our latest article Digital Twin Readiness and Green Entrepreneurship: Evidence from the Baltic States

by : Weibo Zhou and Anatolijs Krivins the authors investigate whether digital twin readiness is associated with stronger green entrepreneurship across the Baltic States.

Using panel data from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (2015–2024), the study introduces a Digital Twin Readiness Index (DTRI) based on enterprise digital capabilities—including AI, IoT, cloud computing, big data analytics and ICT specialists.

The findings suggest that higher digital twin readiness is more consistently linked to green venture capital mobilisation and environment-related patenting than to the formation of new green start-ups, with particularly strong associations in Lithuania's energy sector and Estonia's manufacturing industries.

The paper offers fresh evidence for the ongoing twin transition debate and highlights the importance of digital capabilities in supporting sustainable innovation.

📖 Read the full article here: https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2026-0017

| D is for: Difference-in-Differences (DiD) 📊Some economic ideas sound deceptively simple. Difference-in-Differences (...
10/08/2026

| D is for: Difference-in-Differences (DiD) 📊

Some economic ideas sound deceptively simple. Difference-in-Differences (DiD) is one of them.

Imagine one city introduces free public transport for students 🚋 while another similar city does not. A year later, student mobility has increased in the first city. Was the policy responsible?

🤔 Not necessarily. Perhaps mobility was already increasing everywhere.

This is where Difference-in-Differences (DiD) comes in. Instead of comparing places only after the policy—or looking only at before vs. after in one place—DiD compares the change over time in the treated group with the change over time in a comparable control group. By focusing on the difference in changes, researchers can better isolate the effect of the policy itself. 📈

The method has become a cornerstone of modern empirical economics, shaping research on topics as diverse as 💼 labour markets, 🎓 education, 🏥 healthcare, 🌍 climate policy, and public finance. Recent methodological advances—recognized by the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences awarded to David Card, Joshua Angrist, and Guido Imbens 🏅—have further strengthened the credibility of causal inference in economics.

Of course, DiD is not magic. ✨ Its key assumption is that, in the absence of the intervention, both groups would have followed parallel trends. Testing and justifying this assumption is often where the real research begins.

💡 Behind one of economics' most influential methods lies a simple but powerful question:

Compared to what would have happened anyway?

🚀 | Can a neural network "see" bankruptcy?Most of us think of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) as image experts. T...
07/08/2026

🚀 | Can a neural network "see" bankruptcy?

Most of us think of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) as image experts. They recognize faces, classify cats, and help autonomous vehicles navigate the world.

But what if you asked them to predict something they weren't designed to "look" at—like the probability of a firm's bankruptcy? 📉

In this paper Modelling cross-sectional tabular data using convolutional neural networks: Prediction of corporate bankruptcy in Poland

by Aneta Dzik-Walczak and Maciej Odziemczyk, the authors did exactly that.

The challenge? Financial statements aren't pictures. To make CNNs work, the researchers first transformed traditional tabular financial data into a matrix representation—essentially giving the model something it could "see."

Then came the real test:

🔹 CNNs vs. logistic regression

🔹 CNNs vs. random forests

🔹 CNNs vs. XGBoost

🔹 CNNs vs. dense neural networks

Along the way, the study explored hyperparameter tuning, cross-validation strategies, and one of machine learning's less glamorous—but absolutely crucial—topics: data preprocessing.

The findings are a reminder that in predictive modelling, how you prepare your data can matter just as much as which algorithm you choose. While tree-based models proved remarkably robust, neural networks (and even logistic regression) relied heavily on thoughtful preprocessing to reach their full potential.

Sometimes innovation isn't about inventing a new algorithm—it's about asking whether an existing one can solve a problem nobody expected it to.

📖 Revisit this fascinating contribution to the intersection of economics, finance, and artificial intelligence in the Central European Economic Journal.

https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2021-0024

When was the happiest period of your life?Is happiness concentrated in youth, midlife, or later years? And what shapes...
05/08/2026

When was the happiest period of your life?

Is happiness concentrated in youth, midlife, or later years? And what shapes our memories of the happiest chapter of our lives?

A new study published in the Central European Economic Journal explores these questions using SHARELIFE data from adults aged 50+ across 17 European countries.

The findings reveal that both personality traits and socio-economic circumstances influence not only whether people identify a distinct "happiest period" in their lives, but also how long that period lasted.

Interestingly, the study shows that major life transitions and even adverse socio-economic experiences can make a particular life period especially memorable and meaningful, although these happiest periods tend to be shorter.

By examining how older Europeans look back on their lives, the article offers new insights into life-course well-being, successful ageing, and the complex interplay between personality and life experiences.

📖 Read the full article:

The Happiest Life Periods of Older Europeans: The Role of Socio-Economic Circumstances and Personality Traits by Magdalena Grabowska Agata Górny (Pawelec) Małgorzata Kalbarczyk https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2026-0016

🔤 | C is for... Creative Destruction 💡What do streaming platforms, electric vehicles, and AI tools have in common?They...
03/08/2026

🔤 | C is for... Creative Destruction 💡

What do streaming platforms, electric vehicles, and AI tools have in common?

They all illustrate creative destruction.

Coined by economist Joseph Schumpeter, creative destruction describes the process through which innovation replaces outdated technologies, industries, and business models. While this transformation fuels economic growth, it also reshapes labour markets, firms, and entire regions.

📈 Innovation creates...

✅ new products

✅ new jobs

✅ new industries

📉 ...but it may also lead to...

❌ declining sectors

❌ disappearing occupations

❌ regional inequalities

That's why economists study not only how innovation happens, but also who benefits—and who bears the costs of change.

At the Central European Economic Journal, research on technological change, productivity, labour markets, regional development, and economic transformation regularly explores these questions.

💬 Can economies foster innovation while ensuring that no one is left behind?

| Looking back at research that still mattersHow competitive are the regions of Central and Eastern Europe—and what ro...
31/07/2026

| Looking back at research that still matters

How competitive are the regions of Central and Eastern Europe—and what role does social progress play in shaping their success?

In this insightful paper, Katarzyna Chrobocińska goes beyond traditional measures of regional competitiveness by combining the European Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI) with the European Social Progress Index (EU SPI). The study offers a more comprehensive perspective on what drives regional development across Central and Eastern Europe.

🔍 Key findings include:

• Regions in Central and Eastern Europe continue to lag behind Northwestern Europe in both competitiveness and social progress.

• Significant disparities exist within the region itself.

• Cluster analysis identifies regional leaders, with several Polish and Czech voivodeships standing out for their relatively strong competitive position.

As discussions on regional cohesion, resilience, and sustainable development continue across Europe, these findings remain highly relevant.

📖 Katarzyna Chrobocińska, Competitiveness of Regions in Selected Countries of Central and Eastern Europe

https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2023-0022

🔤 | B is for... Bounded RationalityWhen economists first assumed that people make perfectly rational decisions, Herbe...
27/07/2026

🔤 | B is for... Bounded Rationality

When economists first assumed that people make perfectly rational decisions, Herbert Simon asked a simple but profound question:

What if the problem isn't the person—but the limits of being human?

🧠 Bounded rationality recognizes that our decisions are constrained by limited information, limited time and limited cognitive capacity. Instead of optimizing every choice, we often satisfice—choosing an option that is "good enough" rather than mathematically optimal.

This seemingly modest insight transformed economics.

It challenged the image of the omniscient Homo economicus, laid the foundations of behavioural economics, influenced organizational theory, and continues to shape research in finance, public policy, artificial intelligence and decision sciences.

The implications are far-reaching.

📌 Why do consumers stick with default options?

📌 Why do firms rely on routines instead of constantly optimizing?

📌 Why do policymakers simplify choices through behavioural "nudges"?

Bounded rationality provides part of the answer.

Perhaps the most important lesson is that economic behaviour cannot be understood without considering the environment in which decisions are made. People do not make choices in a vacuum—they make them under constraints.

And sometimes, what looks "irrational" is simply rationality adapted to a complex world.

🔙 | Revisiting research that still shapes today's debatesAs the EU moves from the transitional to the operational phas...
24/07/2026

🔙 | Revisiting research that still shapes today's debates

As the EU moves from the transitional to the operational phase of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), one question remains as relevant as ever:

Can a carbon border adjustment be both an effective climate policy and a sound fiscal instrument?

In the article "The European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as a Green Tax Policy Instrument" by Susana Aldeia the author examines CBAM through the lens of tax principles and environmental law.

The paper discusses how CBAM may:

🌍 reduce the risk of carbon leakage,

⚖️ promote tax neutrality and legal certainty,

🏭 encourage long-term investment in industrial decarbonisation,

🤝 influence international trade through carbon diplomacy,

🌱 contribute to environmental sustainability and the protection of the right to a healthy environment.

As CBAM continues to reshape global trade and climate governance, this research offers valuable insights into the legal and economic foundations of one of the EU's most ambitious policy instruments.

📖 A timely read—whether you're following climate policy, international taxation or the economics of the green transition.

🔗 Read the article: https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2025-0006

Ane here we go again ...📚 Series | A for Agency TheoryEvery breakthrough in economics starts with understanding how pe...
20/07/2026

Ane here we go again ...📚 Series | A for Agency Theory

Every breakthrough in economics starts with understanding how people make decisions.

Welcome to the CEEJ Monday Alphabet Series, where each week we'll explore an important economic and research concept—from A to Z—in a simple and practical way.

A = Agency Theory

Agency Theory examines what happens when one person or organization (the agent) makes decisions on behalf of another (the principal).

While their goals may appear aligned, differences in incentives, information, or accountability can create conflicts that influence outcomes.

Think about:

• Shareholders and company managers

• Citizens and elected officials

• Patients and healthcare providers

• Investors and fund managers

Understanding these relationships helps researchers and policymakers design better governance systems, improve accountability, and create institutions that encourage better decision-making.

At CEEJ, we believe that explaining complex economic concepts in accessible language helps bridge the gap between research and real-world impact.

Next Monday, we'll continue our journey with the letter B.

Follow CEEJ as we explore the language of economics—one letter at a time.

🔙 | Retirement: The best-laid plans... don't always happen.We've all made plans that didn't quite work out. But what h...
17/07/2026

🔙 | Retirement: The best-laid plans... don't always happen.

We've all made plans that didn't quite work out. But what happens when those plans involve when you'll retire?

In this week's , we're revisiting an insightful study Expectations of older workers regarding their exit from the labour market and its realization

by Filip Pertolf and Miroslava Federičová, exploring whether older workers retire when they expect to—and why reality often tells a different story.

Using longitudinal SHARE data from across Europe, the authors found that while Czech workers' expectations about working until age 63 are remarkably similar to those of their European peers, their actual retirement outcomes are not.

📊 One of the study's most striking findings:

The Czech Republic exhibits one of the highest rates of unexpected retirement among the European countries analysed.

So what's driving the gap?

Contrary to what many might assume, differences in health or the prevalence of physically demanding jobs explain very little. Instead, a substantial share of the difference is linked to the institutional setting—particularly the statutory retirement age—which shapes decisions long before retirement actually occurs.

The paper offers valuable insights for policymakers navigating demographic ageing, pension reform, and labour market participation among older workers.

Sometimes, retirement isn't just about personal choice—it's also about the rules of the game.

Have your career plans ever changed because of factors beyond your control?

https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/ceej-2022-0007

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