M38 - Marketing and Advertising: Government Policy and RegulationReturn

The effectiveness of education policies and economic, social and environmental conditions play a crucial role in a country’s ability to attract intellectual capital and influence emigration levels. Effective management of migration processes requires coordinating and synchronizing policies across various economic sectors to address the complexity of these dynamics. This study employs a two-step system of the generalized method of moments (GMM) to analyse the impacts of population literacy and ICT skills on migration patterns in EU countries in the period 2007–2022. The findings underscore the importance of enhancing ICT skills and improving education systems. Population literacy has a statistically significant nonlinear impact on the net migration rate. Initially, higher literacy may lead to more emigration and lower net migration. However, as literacy rates reach very high levels, the country becomes more attractive to immigrants, leading to greater net migration. A 1% increase in ICT skills can significantly boost a country's ability to attract skilled migrants by up to 5%. Policymakers need to ensure that increasing literacy rates are complemented by sufficient local opportunities to retain the educated population.
Implications for Central European audience: This study highlights key strategies for Central European countries to manage migration and foster sustainable development. Investing in ICT skills and lifelong learning, increasing R&D to at least 1% and implementing balanced trade policies can attract and retain talent. Promoting sustainable economic growth improves living standards, reducing migration outflows. Tailored migration policies that address diverse migrant needs enhance integration and retention. Adopting data-driven approaches for continuous policy improvement ensures adaptability to emerging challenges. These combined efforts support a competitive workforce and long-term economic resilience, positioning Central Europe as a hub for innovation and sustainable growth.

Global dynamics, including globalization, resource mobility and capital flow, have profoundly transformed countries' long-term development policies and shaped migrants' motivations. Beyond traditional socioeconomic considerations, migrants prioritize a country's global brand and image, extending beyond economics to cultural, social and environmental factors. The paper aims to test the hypothesis positing a statistically significant correlation between the net migration index and the perceptions of a country's brand by external stakeholders. The study applies the ANOVA test to check the research hypothesis. The object of investigation is EU countries from 2000 to 2020. The ANOVA testing results highlight the significant influence of a country's brand on migration processes, serving as either a catalyst or an inhibitor. The study emphasizes the need to align national migration policies with effective national branding strategies to capitalize on the positive image of countries and attract intellectual capital. Policymakers should recognize the significant impact of a country's brand perception on migration patterns and consider sustainable practices to enhance overall attractiveness.
Implications for Central European audience: For the Central European audience, the study suggests that fostering a positive national brand is crucial in attracting skilled migrants and intellectual capital. Policymakers in Central European countries should consider integrating branding strategies into their migration policies to enhance global competitiveness and address demographic challenges through the attraction of qualified professionals. Central European countries should strategically attract a diverse array of migrants by making use of their unique historical and cultural heritage, emphasizing achievements in democracy and human rights, maintaining an affordable yet high standard of living, capitalizing on their pivotal economic position and showcasing both traditional and contemporary contributions, thereby creating a compelling narrative for sustained economic growth and cultural enrichment.

The struggle toward an environmentally sustainable economy brings forward many difficult decisions and actions. Governments may confront substantial resistance from the general public as they try to promote or enforce policies that will be necessary to secure a stable natural environment and sustainable economic performance for generations to come. Understanding the current stances of the population towards environmental issues is a prerequisite for any successful implementation of environmentally concerned policies. The goal of this paper is to provide (based on primary data) structured information on generational and other socio-demographic differences in individual environmental stances and related lifestyle preferences. Given the Likert-scale based data collected from the questionnaires, we use ordered multinomial logistic regression as our main tool for quantitative analysis. Major differences in stances are identified between genders and among different age and education groups. Women and younger individuals exhibit higher levels of environmental awareness. Lifestyle preferences segmentation provides additional context for our analysis and the basis for incentivising and targeting environmental policies. Overall, our contribution brings forward fundamental and actionable information that can facilitate many of the complicated decisions and policy actions leading toward environmental sustainability.
Implications for Central European audience: Environmental protection and sustainability plans are thoroughly implemented into most of EU policies, programs, and subsidies. However, for Central European economies, the transition towards sustainable and environmentally neutral economies may be more complicated as compared to “old” member states. Weaker GDP per capita, a historically strong coal-based energy sector and prevailing energy-intensive production segments imply a slower and more costly transition. Our analysis can be used to ease some of the impediments and complications lying ahead.

This paper is primarily focused on analyses of the research undertaken to understand the awareness of food advertising's self-regulation authority (Council for Advertising) and of the Czech Code of Conduct in the context of the growing issue of child obesity. The objective is to find out the perception of food advertising to children and awareness of regulation and industry self-regulation amongst Czech mothers. Our theoretical framework presumes dependence between the awareness levels and selected demographic variables. We conclude several actions to overcome low awareness of the Council of Advertising and its Code of Conduct and to transfer the industry's self-regulation into an efficient and recognized tool of shaping the culture of responsible advertising in the Czech Republic. The conclusions lead towards stronger protection of children.

This paper explores the approach of the food industry towards the issue of rising children obesity in the context of the external regulatory environment and industry self-regulation. It presents the roles and positions of the industry associations, self-regulation and industry representatives through a case study of best practices in applying self-regulation rules. It proves that companies, acting in accordance with the long-term strategy of social responsibility, approach the self-regulation respectfully, because its absence would be a cause for development and implementation of stricter legislation over the long run.

This paper provides an overview of key stakeholders involved in food marketing to children in Europe and in the Czech Republic. It analyzes the role of the legislation as well as voluntary codes of conduct in the food industry. The industry part of the issue is also covered by an explanation of their role and position in the obesity issue. The form of food industry cooperation in the Food Chamber through a working group of involved companies is analyzed and an example of a corporate responsibility program is shown. The paper serves as a review of the issue for further exploration needs.