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The aim of the paper is to study the impact of human capital and R&D on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) from a nonlinear perspective. In the spirit of the theory of innovation-driven growth and models with thresholds in human capital and low-growth equilibria, we hypothesize that the impact of human capital and R&D on TFP is nonlinear. We also make an attempt to explain complementarities between R&D expenditures and human capital, applying developments in the R&D-based growth models. We use spatial panel data models to estimate the link among R&D, human capital, and TFP across the European regions between 2009 and 2014. Empirical evidence shows that there are decreasing returns to human capital and R&D in the European regional space. Moreover, R&D and human capital turn out to be strategic complements. Finally, regional TFP is found to be positively affected by TFP of neighboring regions.

In the face of constantly progressing climate and environmental changes that lead to hydrological droughts and, in consequence, to permanent water deficiency, the administration and management of water resources have become priority elements of local policy in rural areas. New water management methods are based on numerous digital tools and solutions. They allow, for instance, the optimising of water consumption, or the accelerating and increasing in the effectiveness of communication with local communities. This governance model fits into the green economy. This paper presents digital tools and ways of using them for water management in rural communities. We assumed that a higher degree of the socio-economic development in rural communities affects the use of high technology in the local governance. According to surveys, suburban communities featuring a higher level of urbanisation more often invest in ‘smart’ technologies, reflected by a more rational management of water resources.

By the implementing an enterprise development program, the existing key competence of the organization may undergo significant changes. Also introducing innovations, you can get not only benefits, but additional problems and even risks. It should be noted that an organization may have more than one key competence, especially when we deal with changes in the management structure or entering new markets. For this class of tasks, the classical linear optimization problem does not fit, since it does not take into account the additional conditions that arise when an organization transitions from one state to another, precisely due to the implementation of the development program. Therefore, to solve this problem, we need a dual problem. The subject of research in this article is the process of introducing key competence, as the main component of the management of innovative projects in the organization. Objective: to develop a tool for introducing key competence into an organization’s work by solving a dual linear optimization problem. Tasks: to analyze the factors influencing the results and the possibility of introducing key competence in the organization’s activities, to obtain a general algorithm for the transition from direct to dual competence. Research methods: logical generalization, analysis and synthesis, structural analysis. Results: The article considers the key competence of the enterprise as the main component of the management of innovative projects, which the company implements. Shown her place and the role that she plays. A project description model has been developed, which describes processes that take into account the impact of the production and economic system on project implementation. The article proposes a general algorithm for constructing pairs of dual linear optimization problems. The existing schemes of transition from a direct problem to a dual one are meaningful. Considering this fact, a generalized algorithm for generating pairs of related problems has been proposed and strictly proved. Formalization of the developed scheme makes it easy to get the correct pairs of dual problems. It is shown that the analysis of the key competence of the enterprise makes it possible to offer a new base for the formation of a strategic plan, the implementation of which will lead to the emergence (support) of a sustainable competitive advantage, as well as assess its potential in terms of financial plan and capabilities of the enterprise or business system as a whole. Conclusions: The tools for analysis and implementation of key competence in the organization’s activities have been developed. The results obtained in during the study allow us to state that a new base has been proposed for the formation of a strategic plan for the development of an enterprise, the use of this base will lead to a sustainable competitive advantage, which will become possible when implementing key competences in the process of changing the management structure. Taking into account that an organization can have more than one key competence, the second competence is dual to the original, that allows a general transition from direct to dual competence.

There are substantial differences in carbon footprints across households. This study applied an environmentally extended multiregional input–output approach to estimate household carbon footprints for 12 different income groups of China’s 30 regions. Subsequently, carbon footprint Gini coefficients were calculated to measure carbon inequality for households across provinces. We found that the top 5% of income earners were responsible for 17% of the national household carbon footprint in 2012, while the bottom half of income earners caused only 25%. Carbon inequality declined with economic growth in China across space and time in two ways: first, carbon footprints showed greater convergence in the wealthier coastal regions than in the poorer inland regions; second, China’s national carbon footprint Gini coefficients declined from 0.44 in 2007 to 0.37 in 2012. We argue that economic growth not only increases income levels but also contributes to an overall reduction in carbon inequality in China.

The presented article belongs to the research school of sustainable development economics as a relatively new science discipline within the broader area of heterodox economics. This paper is based on literature studies of homo concepts in economics, sociology and psychology. It identifies a research gap in sustainable economics, especially in sustainable energy management, formulating a novel concept of an economic man involved in energy management called homo energeticus. Homo energeticus concept is verified by empirical evidence at a local level-quantitative research conducted on a sample of 500 households in Lower Silesia region in Poland. The research’s first objective is to build the original author’s methodology on which the shift patterns from homo oeconomicus (neoclassical economics) to homo sustinens (sustainable economics) may be presented and may be used by scientists worldwide. After preparing a method for identifying concept, the second goal is to identify and describe the new concept of behaviour. The main conclusions are the sustainable behavioural pattern is dominating trend observed among households’ local energy management (homo energeticus). The homo energeticus behaviour was confirmed by every third respondent (critical threshold of 70%) or less restrictive and sustainable behaviour model homo sustinens (critical threshold of 50%) by more than 91.8% of whole respondents.

Household energy security, and in particular affordability of energy services and the energy poverty issue, is a debated topic both at the EU level and at the level of individual countries. The aim of the paper is to investigate the energy poverty diversity in the Central and Eastern European countries. The energy poverty index that aggregates three aspects: availability and affordability of energy services, as well as household energy efficiency, has been presented. This framework allows for comparison between countries and discloses the diversity of their energy poverty profiles. Analysis of energy poverty indicates diversification of level and dynamics of this phenomenon in the studied countries. Among countries of Central and Eastern Europe, there are both countries, where the problem of energy poverty is the highest, and the lowest in Europe. Almost all studied group is characterized by decreasing level of energy poverty in that particular period. Analysis of index components indicates diversification of energy poverty profiles. Important factor shaping the ability to acquire energy services was also the consequence of economic crisis, especially lowering the level of incomes and the increase of energy prices as a result of increasing tax burdens imposed on energy carriers.

Considering the necessity of achieving economic development by keeping the quality of the environment, the aim of this paper is to study the impact of economic growth on GHG emissions in a sample of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (V4 countries, Bulgaria and Romania) in the period of 1996–2019. In the context of dynamic ARDL panel and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), the relationship between GHG and GDP is N-shaped. A U-shaped relationship was obtained in the renewable Kuznets curve (RKC). Energy consumption, domestic credit to the private sector, and labor productivity contribute to pollution, while renewable energy consumption reduces the GHG emissions. However, more efforts are required for promoting renewable energy in the analyzed countries.

Due to industrialization, urbanization, and rapid population increases, the worldwide energy demand is increasing daily. The need for energy meets limitations, and searching for new energy sources is crucial, particularly for European countries. Energy crises occur temporarily due to different circumstances and cause oil price fluctuations. The present study aims to identify circular economy (CE) determinants that conditionally increase/decrease energy use to remain sustainable. It focuses on the linkage between energy consumption and circular economy in the European Union (EU) member states. In the econometric panel model specifications, two alternative endogenous variables are considered, i.e., total energy consumption and energy consumption from renewable sources. The results demonstrate that the selected CE indicators decreased the former and increased the latter. The data covered the period from 2010–2019. The significance of this study relies upon identifying the current level of CE implementation in the EU countries in the context of reducing total energy consumption and increasing the share of energy from renewable sources.