This paper assesses the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium-sized enterprises in Armenia. The analysis of representative nationwide survey data reveals that as compared with large-company employees, SME employees are more affected by the crisis, having been laid off or having reduced work hours and pay. Logistic regression results show that being employed by an SME doubles the likelihood of layoff and pay reduction. There is also support for the hypotheses that employees in sectors which allow for remote work, e.g., education and information and communication services, as well as those who have medium to high professional qualifications, have been less affected by the crisis. The findings call for more targeted government assistance to SMEs and low-skilled workers.
This report examines the social policy response of the Government of Armenia to the Covid-19 crisis. Official data on the implemented programs suggest that since March 2020, around USD 55 million has been transferred to individuals and households as wage support, unemployment and family benefits, utility payment subsidies and tuition fee support. Survey data suggest that despite being early and extensive, government assistance has not been effective in relieving the financial stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic, while public expectations about the future remain pessimistic. As individuals most and least in need have benefited equally from the implemented programs, government assistance has also not been well-targeted.Note: * Support provided to employees and sole proprietors of the affected industries, as defined and listed in government decrees. Source: Authors' compilation from official document review and formal communication with implementing agencies. * Legislative reforms in other policy areas explicitly aimed at social protection, e.g., food subsidies or tax cuts aimed at social protection.Note on subnational governments (entered "not applicable" for all policy areas): Armenia is a unitary state and legal acts adopted by the Government and the National Assembly (decrees and laws) apply with equal force to all regions (marzes) of Armenia.
This article examines how electoral alliances were formed in the 2017 parliamentary elections in the Republic of Armenia. It hypothesizes that alliances were formed among parties that are ideologically compatible and could not individually overcome the electoral threshold. Contrary to the established theory in the field, the data collected and analyzed from February to May 2018 reveal that ideological and programmatic similarities were not the primary factor that influenced the party leaders' decision to cooperate with others. Instead, parties converged because of the shortterm objectives of overcoming the electoral threshold and gaining more seats in the parliament.
This paper examines the impact of fiscal policy on business investment in research and development (R&D). Panel regression modelswith independent variables for the total tax and contribution rate, government appropriations and outlays for R&D, and the R&D tax subsidy rateare set up to examine cross-country differences in business investment in R&D, with a set of control variables. The latter include, most notably, the number of full-time researchers, tertiary education attainment, the protection of intellectual property rights, governance, the long-term interest rate, and trade openness. The panel encompasses eleven countries of Central and Eastern Europe over ten years (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019). The findings suggest that fiscal policy does not affect BERD, while trade openness, tertiary education attainment, and full-time researcher employment have a significant positive impact. These findings are consistent with some of the earlier studies on the effectiveness of fiscal policy in stimulating business investment, calling for greater allocation of public and private funds for R&D professional development and training programs. Implications for Central European audience: This paper used recent data for eleven Central and Eastern European countries. Therefore, the findings are directly applicable to these countries. As the paper used random-effects generalised least squares estimation for panel data, the findings can be generalised to other countries.
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