Statistika: Statistics and Economy Journal - No. 2/2025

Statistika, 105(2): 151–164
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.46

Abstract
Economic growth, which is the focus of nations' central objectives, is causing significant environmental costs and damage (Chou et al., 2023). Fossil energy use contributes to economic growth but is also a major source of carbon emissions and accelerating rates of climate change, requiring governments to balance spending on economic growth with sustainable energy management (Bhuiyan et al., 2022).
This research aims to examine and evaluate the links between economic performance and energy management. This will be achieved through a multivariate statistical analysis of relevant EU data (GDP, energy production and consumption, energy exports and imports, GHG emissions) for 27 Member States in 2022. The results of the correlation analysis will partly provide insights into the relationships between the variables, while the results of the principal component analysis will allow for identification of background variables. The cluster analysis shows a high degree of homogeneity among members, but several outliers can be identified.

Keywords
Economic growth, sustainable energy, energy use, renewable energy, GHG emissions

Statistika, 105(2): 165–177
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.58

Abstract
The global financial crisis, sovereign debt crisis, Covid-19, and the invasion in Ukraine highlighted the need to optimise the production processes in banking sectors in Europe. Data Development Analysis (DEA) is a method used to evaluate the efficiency of production units and to benchmark them. It is an important part of analysing and managing the production processes. The contribution attempts to measure and compare technical efficiency scores of 26 European banking systems in 2020 and 2021 by using Network-Data Envelpment Aanalysis (N-DEA), specifically the two-stage slacked-based model (SBM) by Kaoru Tone and Miki Tsutsui (2009). The methodology of NSBM-DEA allows us to assess the efficiency scores of two sub-processes: the deposit collection process and the intermediation process that reflects the use of deposits for earning assets (loans and purchased bonds). Therefore, by NSBM-DEA the deposit collection efficiency, the intermediation proces efficiency and its overall technical efficiency can be gained. Most banking systems in Europe reveal a large inefficiency in collection of deposits and higher efficiency in intermediation of the deposits into earning assets. Our findings show that in 2020 and 2021 only 2 out of 26 European banking sectors were technically efficient in the deposit collection phase, namely Latvia and Malta. In the intermediation phase, the only France was almost technicaly efficient (99.9% in 2020 and in 2021 as well). As to the overall technical efficiency, as the best overal efficiency was reached by the banking systems of France and Germany. The result of our contribution is benefitial to policymakers, regulators, or economists that must assess the performance of the entire banking sectors. The deeper integration of the banking sectors through initiatives like the BankingUnion is inevitable.

Keywords
Performance measurement, optimization, regulation, banking, Data Envelopment Analysis, Network Data Envelopment Analysis

Statistika, 105(2): 178–196
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.52

Abstract
The European Union (EU), as a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, aims to take on a global leadership role in sustainable environmental initiatives. This study explores the contribution of economic and financial developments to environmental sustainability in EU member states with successful environmental policies. The impacts of economic growth, financial development, and foreign direct investments on the ecological footprint are examined for 16 EU member states. Data from 1990–2021 is analysed using panel quantile regression and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test. According to the results, the overall impact of economic growth and financial development on the Ecological Footprint is positive. Additionally, foreign direct investments contribute to an increase in ecological footprint. According to the causality test results, economic growth and ecological footprint mutually influence each other. There is a unidirectional causality from financial development and foreign direct investments to ecological footprint. Implementing financial policies directed towards eco-friendly technologies in EU member states will positively impact environmental sustainability.

Keywords
Ecological footprint, sustainable environment, economic growth, financial development, foreign direct investments, EU member states

Statistika, 105(2): 197–213
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.51

Abstract
The paper aims to assess and explain the multidimensional integration of migrants in Europe by addressing two research questions: (1) Are there differences between European countries regarding migrants’ integration? and (2) What individual characteristics might explain differences in integration levels? To answer the research questions, an Aggregate Integration Index was built, based on four partial integration indexes, covering social, psychological, political and economic dimensions of integration. The paper uses individual data for third country nationals residing in Europe, extracted from the European Social Survey (2018), and relies on a multistage methodology, using factor analysis for deriving various integration measures and multivariate regressions. The results show that in all the European countries in the sample, migrants’ integration is still relatively low and there is room for improving their situation. At the same time, the integration policies seem to be effective: in countries with more inclusive integration policies, individuals feel better integrated.

Keywords
Migrants’ integration, multi-dimensional index, migration policies, Europe

Statistika, 105(2): 214–226
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.36

Abstract
The global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent necessity for the development of rapid, effective diagnostic methods. Rapid antigen tests (RAT) have emerged as a key tool in this regard due to their speed and cost-efficiency. Nevertheless, the accurate interpretation of RAT results is challenging due to various factors, including the viral load, the quality of the sample, and the patient's status. This study demonstrates the advantages of Bayesian methods, which are capable of propagating posterior uncertainty in the form of the entire posterior distribution. It also highlights the benefits of using informative priors, which significantly reduce uncertainty in diagnostic parameters, lower false negative rates, and improve clinical decision-making. The results emphasize the need for precise interpretation of RAT results including uncertainty. Employing Bayesian simulations for posterior predictive values can reduce diagnostic errors and improve public health outcomes by upgrading the performance of RATs and explicitly propagating posterior uncertainty in clinical diagnosis, as described in this study.

Keywords
Bayesian statistics, posterior simulations, informative prior, Covid-19

Statistika, 105(2): 227–244
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.29

Abstract
This study compares the impact of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war on global staple food prices to know which is more dangerous. The error correction model (ECM) was used to examine the impact of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war on global wheat, maize, soybean, and rice prices. The study used data from January 1997–June 2023 from various source databases. Covid-19 increased the global wheat, maize, and soybean prices in the long-run but had no impact at all in the short-run. Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war only raised global wheat prices in the short-run but did not affect other global staple food prices. Covid-19 has spurred a bigger increase in global staple food prices than the Russia-Ukraine war. Increases in the short – and long-run global wheat, maize, and soybeans prices have also been attributed to rising global oil prices. The rise in urea fertilizer prices led to a short- and long-run increase in the price of rice globally while simultaneously lowering the price of wheat globally.

Keywords
Wheat, maize, soybean, rice, food price volatility

Statistika, 105(2): 245–256
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.43

Abstract
This study examines the long-term impact of taxation on economic prosperity across 20 major Indian states and union territories from 1993 to 2017. To estimate the long-term relationships, various panel autoregressive distributed lag (P-ARDL) models, including pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effect (DFE) models, are employed. Unit root tests reveal that the variables exhibit a mixed order of integration at the level and first difference. Panel cointegration tests confirm a high likelihood of a long-term cointegrating relationship among economic growth, direct taxes, indirect taxes, and social expenditure. The PMG results indicate a long-term relationship between economic growth and these variables, significant at the 5 percent level, with a cointegration rate of 1.03. In contrast, the MG and DFE estimations show cointegration rates of 1.09 and 1.07, respectively, also significant at the 5 percent level. The findings highlight a significant impact of taxation and social expenditure on economic growth in India.

Keywords
Indirect tax, direct tax, social expenditure, economic growth, co-integration, panel ARDL, Indian states and Union territories

Statistika, 105(2): 257–267
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.44

Abstract
From 2023 onwards, the head of household in the Living Conditions Survey is the person with the highest income. The article analyzes the impact of this methodological change in determining the head of household in the Czech Republic's version of the EU-SILC survey. The shift from traditional criteria, such as gender or age, to identifying the head of household based on the highest income earner, has led to certain changes in the structure of households in terms of gender, age, education or economic activity. The change has resulted in an increase in female heads of households and in heads of households with higher education. This has also led to shifts in household income categorization, particularly affecting non-working and pensioner households. While income variability decreased for employee and pensioner households, it increased for the self-employed. Overall, the new methodology aims to better reflect contemporary household dynamics and aligns with broader efforts to harmonize household survey methodologies.

Keywords
Head of household, EU-SILC, living conditions, household income, household survey methodology

Statistika, 105(2): 268–283
https://doi.org/10.54694/stat.2024.24

Abstract
This paper examines the adequacy of grouped (interval) frequency tables for statistical modelling. Inspired by the chosen real-world data structure, the research question is: Can accurate modelling be achieved with the given grouping schemes without a significant loss of accuracy compared to the original data? To answer this, simulations based on log-normal distributions and various levels of grouping detail were conducted. The results show that large sample sizes enable accurate estimates even with low detailed censoring, provided the model aligns with the data-generating process. However, the mismatch between fitted and real distribution can introduce an additional bias, which can be reduced with detailed right-tail intervals. Therefore, it is recommended to consider this when choosing intervals for grouped frequency tables.

Keywords
Grouped frequency table, censoring, log-normal distribution, parametric estimate