Aktuálne číslo: 1/2026
Archív
THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF COUNTRIES IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN REGION (CEE)
In Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, competitiveness is a pivotal factor given its impact on economic growth, the capacity to attract foreign investment, and integration into global markets. Human capital, defined as the aggregate of an individual's education, health, and skills, is a critical factor in determining competitiveness. It exerts a substantial influence on productivity, the innovative capacity of economies, and their capacity to achieve sustainable economic growth. The primary objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between human capital and the competitiveness of economies in Central and Eastern European countries. To this end, the V4 countries were compared with other countries in the region, the growth dynamics of selected indicators were analyzed, convergence trends were examined, and a regression analysis was performed on the relationship between these indicators in individual countries. To achieve this objective, a variety of scientific methods were employed. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to compare the V4 countries with other countries in the region, while the dynamics of HDI and WCI development were assessed using the average growth coefficient. The sigma convergence method was employed to identify convergence trends, and the relationship between the HDI and WCI levels in individual countries was examined using the simple linear regression method, supplemented by the Durbin-Watson test. The findings indicated that the V4 countries are comparable to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe with regard to competitiveness and human capital. The σ-convergence results did not demonstrate a discernible convergence or divergence trend between countries. The application of regression analysis revealed a statistically significant impact of human capital on competitiveness in the Czech Republic and Estonia. In contrast, the majority of countries exhibited a weak or insignificant relationship between human capital and competitiveness, indicating the necessity of considering additional factors that influence competitiveness.
Vydanie: 2026/1 Strany: 27-48 Klasifikácia JEL: I23, I25, Z32, M53, J24
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52665/ser20260103
Kľúčové slová: Central Eastern Europe, Competitiveness, Human capital, Human Development Index, World Competitiveness Index
Sekcia:
Kontakty:
Eva Koišová, Ing., PhD., MBA
Faculty of Social and Economic Relations
Alexander Dubček University in Trenčín
Študentská 3
911 50 Trenčín Slovak Republic
e-mail: eva.koisova@tnuni.sk
Veronika Žárská, Ing., PhD.
Faculty of Social and Economic Relations
Alexander Dubček University in Trenčín
Študentská 3
911 50 Trenčín Slovak Republic
e-mail: veronika.zarska@tnuni.sk
Literatúra:
Ábel I., Lóga M., Szabó I. A., & Tóth O. É. (2025). Az Európai Unió versenyképessége a humán tőke tükrében – ami a Draghi-jelentésből kimaradt. Public Finance Quarterly, 71(1), 9–30.
Acemoglu, D. & Autor. D. (2011). Skils, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for employment and aernings. Handbook of Labor Economics, 4, 1043-1171. https://doi.org/10.3386/w16082
Annoni, P., & Dijkstra, L. (2019). The EU Regional Competitiveness Index 2019. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/work/2019_03_rci2019.pdf
Arnold, N., Diolizi, A., Fotiou, A., Frie, J., Hacibedel, B., Iyer, T., Lin, H., Nabar, M., Tong, H. & Toscani, F. (2025). Lifting binding constraints on growth in Europe (IMF Working Paper). International Monetary Fund. Available: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/wp/2025/english/wpiea2025113-print-pdf.pdf
Bąk, I., Wawrzyniak, K., & Oesterreich, M. (2022). Competitiveness of the Regions of the European Union in a Sustainable Knowledge-Based Economy. Sustainability, 14(7), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073788
Baron, A. & Armstrong, M. (2007). Human capital management: achieving added value through people. London: Kogan Page Limited, s. 240, ISBN-13 978 0 7494 4938 4
Begg, I. (1999). Cities and Competitiveness. Urban Studies, Vol. 36 Issue 5/6. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098993222
Barro, R. J., & Lee, J. W. (2013). A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010. Journal of Development Economics, 104, 184–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.10.001
Bontis, N. & Fitz-enz, J. (2002). Intellectual capital ROI: a causal map of human capital antecedents and consequents. Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 3, No. 3, 223 – 247. https://doi.org/10.1108/14691930210435589
Borowiecki, M. & Giovannelli, F. (2025). Boosting EU productivity through a stronger Single Market. OECD Publishing. https://oecdecoscope.blog/2025/07/03/boosting-eu-productivity-through-a-stronger-single-market/
Borovitskaya, M., Strelnikov, E., Khayrullina, R., Kolesnikov, M., & Mukhniuk, M. (2019). A basis for regional competitiveness: socio-economic potential. Revista de la Universidad del Zulia, 10(28), 345–356. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8809784#
Bruegel. (2024). Decarbonising competitiveness: Four ways to reduce European energy prices. Bruegel Policy Brief. https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/decarbonising-competitiveness-four-ways-reduce-european-energy-prices
Cetinguc, B., Calisir, F., Guven, M., & Guloglu, B. (2023). Are Human Development and Innovativeness Levels Good Predictors of the Competitiveness of Nations? A Panel Data Approach. Sustainability, 15(24), 16788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152416788
De Grip, A. (2024). The importance of informal learning at work. IZA World of Labor 2024: 162. https://doi.org/10.15185/izawol.162.v2
Debrah, Y. A., Oseghale, R. O., & Adams, K. (2018). Human Capital, Innovation and International Competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa. V I. Adeleye & M. Esposito (Ed.), Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy (s. 219–248). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67014-0_9
European Commission. (2023). Joint communication to the European parliament, the European council and the council on “European economic security strategy“. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/3948446b-101c-11ee-b12e-01aa75ed71a1/?utm
European Commission. (2025b). Report on energy prices and costs in Europe. Publications Office of the European Union. https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravo-eu/navrhy-aktov-eu/5b1cd70b-ea78-4658-90b8-001d71ce87cb
European Commission. (2025a). Competitiveness Compass. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/competitiveness-compass/
Ferrazzi, M., Schanz, J., Guadagno, F., & Slačík, T. (2024). The future of EU competitiveness: The role of Central Eastern European countries (SUERF Policy Brief No. 1016). SUERF – The European Money and Finance Forum. https://www.suerf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/SUERF-Policy-Brief-1016_Ferrazzi-et-al-2.pdf
Ferrazzi, M., Schanz, J., & Wolski, M. (2025). Growth and competitiveness in CESEE (EIB Working Paper 2025/01). European Investment Bank. https://doi.org/10.2867/4566543
Gamal, A.M. (2008). "A Blueprint for Building IT Workforce Empowerment Program Based PCMM Level 3 (People Capability Maturity Model)," 2008 ITI 6th International Conference on Information & Communications Technology, Cairo, Egypt, 2008, pp. 101-105. https://doi.org/10.1109/ITICT.2008.4806648
Gaona, L. B., & Vásquez, E. I. (2021). Capital humano, desigualdad y crecimiento económico en América Latina. Revista de Economía Institucional, 23(45), Article 45. https://doi.org/10.18601/01245996.v23n45.13
Gorzelak, G. & Smętkowski, M. (2010) Regional development dynamics in Central and Eastern European countries, In Regional Development in Central and Eastern Europe, 1st Edition, 25 p, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203855386
Grundke, R. a kol. (2018), „Ktoré zručnosti pre digitálnu éru?: Výnosy z analýzy zručností“, Pracovné dokumenty OECD pre vedu, techniku a priemysel , č. 2018/09, OECD Publishing, Paríž, https://doi.org/10.1787/9a9479b5-en .
Hajšová, M. (2014). Význam ľudského kapitálu pre rozvoj samosprávy. In Sociálno-ekonomická revue, 12 (2), 6-11. ISSN – 1336-3727 https://fsev.tnuni.sk/revue/archive/REVUE-2014-02.pdf
Hanushek, E.A., & Woessmann, L. (2012). Do better schools lead to more growth? Cognitive skills, economic outcomes, and causation. J Econ Growth, 17, 267–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-012-9081-x
Heussaff, C. (2024). Decarbonising for competitiveness: Four ways to reduce European energy prices (Policy Brief No. 32/2024). Bruegel. https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/decarbonising-competitiveness-four-ways-reduce-european-energy-prices
Herre, B., & Arriagada, P. (2023). The Human Development Index and related indices: What they are and what we can learn from them. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/human-development-index
Holobiuc, A.–M. (2021). Real convergence in Central and Eastern Europe: A comparative analysis of countries and regions. Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, vol. 15, no. 1, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 2021, pp. 824-837. https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2021-0076
Huovari, J., Kangasharju, A., & Alanen, A. (2000). Regional competitiveness in Finland. ERSA 40th European Congress. Pellervo Economic Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10419/114862
Jazwinski, I. (2024). "Human Capital in the EU Member States from Central-Eastern Europe Region: Labour Market Context in 2022“ European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 1455-1463. https://ideas.repec.org/a/ers/journl/vxxviiy2024i3p1455-1463.html
Kenton, W. (2025). Durbin Watson Test Explained: Autocorrelation in Regression Analysis. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/durbin-watson-statistic.asp
Krugman, P. (1997). Pop Internationalism. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts, p.237, ISBN: 9780262611336
Kouskoura, A., Kalliontzi, E., Skalkos, D., & Bakouros, I. (2024). Assessing the Key Factors Measuring Regional Competitiveness. Sustainability. 16(6): 2574. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062574
Letta, E. (2024). Much more than a market: Speed, security, solidarity – Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU citizens. European Council. Availeble https://european-research-area.ec.europa.eu/documents/letta-report-much-more-market-april-2024
Majerova, I. (2012). Comparison of Old and New Methodology in Human Development and Poverty Indexes: A Case of the Least Developed Countries. Journal of Economics Studies and Research, 2012. 15 p. https://doi.org/10.5171/2012.290025
Mazurek, J. (2013). On beta and sigma convergence of Czech regions. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/47940/1/MPRA_paper_47940.pdf
Miron, D., Holobiuc, A.-M., Cojocariu, R.C., & Budacia, A.E. (2022). Real Convergence in the Euro Area: Mirage or Reality? Journal of Competitiveness, 14(1), 100-117. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2022.01.06
Mulliqi, A., Adnett, N., Hisarciklilar, M., & Rizvanolli, A. (2018). Human capital and international competitiveness in Europe, with special reference to transition economies. Eastern European Economics, 56(6), 541–563. ISSN 0012-8775. https://doi.org/10.1080/00128775.2018.1502612
Nachar, N. (2008). The Mann-Whitney U: A Test for Assessing Whether Two Independent Samples Come from the Same Distribution. Tutorials i Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 4(1), 13‐20. https://doi.org/10.20982/tqmp.04.1.p013
OECD (2023), OECD Skills Outlook 2023: Skills for a Resilient Green and Digital Transition, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/27452f29-en.
OECD (2019), OECD Skills Outlook 2019: Thriving in a Digital World, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/df80bc12-en.
Olczyk, M. (2016). A systematic retrieval of international competitiveness literature: A bibliometric study. Eurasian Economic Review, 6(3), 429–457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40822-016-0054-9
Onyusheva, I. (2017). Analytical and Managerial Issues of Human Capital in Conditions of Global Competitiveness: The Case of Kazakhstan. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 16(2), 198–209. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2017.16.2.17
Palinchak, M., Tsalan, M., Brenzovych, K., Kucher, A., Kajánek, T., & Grešš, M. (2021). Competitiveness as the Basis of EU Regional Policy: Smart Specialization and Sustainability. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 10(4), 227. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2021.v10n4p227
Pellényi, G. M. (2020). The role of Central and Eastern Europe in global value chains (European Economy Economic Briefs No. 062). European Commission. https://doi.org/10.2765/602083
Pravdiuk, N., Pokynchereda, V. & Pravdiuk, M. (2019). The Human Capital of an Enterprise: Theory and Assessment Methodology. Baltic Journal of Economic Studies. 5(2), s.176-183. https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2019-5-2-176-183
Purnomo, S. D. & Istiqomah, Suharno. (2019). The Effect of Human Capital and Human Capital Spillover on Economic Growth. International Conference on Rural Development and Enterpreneurship 2019, Enhancing Small Busniness and Rural Development Toward Industrial Revolution 4.0 Vol. 5 No. 1 ISBN: 978-623-7144-28-1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339526075_The_Effect_of_Human_Capital_and_Human_Capital_Spillover_on_Economic_Growth
Rácz, S., Egyed, I., Horeczki, R. (2025). Central and Eastern Europe: 20 Years in the European Union. Deturope. 17(3), 8-23. https://doi.org/10.32725/det.2025.017
Rađenović, T. & Krstić, B. (2017). The impact of human capital development on competitiveness. Paper presented at FINIZ 2017 - Challenges in modern corporate governance, pp. 104-111. https://doi.org/10.15308/finiz-2017-104-11
Roos, G., Pike, S. & Fernstrom, L. (2006). Managing intellectual capital in practice. Butterworth-Heinemann-Ltd, p. 396. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780080479118
Schwab, K., WEF. (2015). The Global Competitiveness Report 2015–2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/gcr/2015-2016/Global_Competitiveness_Report_2015-2016.pdf
Sener, S., & Delican, D. (2019). The causal relationship between innovation, competitiveness and foreign trade in developed and developing countries. Procedia Computer Science, 158, 533-540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.09.085
Staníčková, M. (2019). Regional competitiveness index as a suitable tool for evaluating socio-economic situation of the EU NUTS 2 regions. In V. Klímová & V. Žítek. (Eds.), 22 nd International Colloquium on Regional Sciences (pp. 28–36). Masaryk University https://10.5817/CZ.MUNI.P210-9268-2019-3
Stankovičová, I. & Mojsejová, A. (2020). Index ľudského rozvoja: hodnotenie a klasifikácia európskych štátov pomocou viacrozmerných metód. Slovenská štatistika a demografia Roč. 3/2020, s. 9-39. ISSN 1210-1095. https://ssad.statistics.sk/SSaD/wp-content/files/3_2020_clanok_2_Stankovicova_Mojsejova.pdf
Tijanic, L., & Obadic, A. (2015). Can we boost the competitiveness of the european union through reducing regional inequalities in human capital? Engineering Economics, 26(3), 295–305. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.26.3.8029
Török, L. (2025) Economic convergence of Central and Eastern European countries in the European Union. Political Research Exchange, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2474736X.2025.2507633
UNDP. (2023). Human Development Report 2023/2024. United Nations Development Programme. ISBN 9789210031028. https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2023-24reporten.pdf
World Health Organization. (2018). Global reference list of 100 core health indicators (plus health-related SDGs). World Health Organization. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/documents/ddi/score/tools/100_core_health_indicators_2018.pdf?sfvrsn=fab1f47
World Bank. (2020). The Human Capital Index 2020 Update. World Bank. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/456901600111156873/pdf/The-Human-Capital-Index-2020-Update-Human-Capital-in-the-Time-of-COVID-19.pdf
Žárská, V., & Masárová, J. (2025). Human capital and economic growth in EU countries, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues. Vilnius: Entrepreneurship and sustainability center. ISSN (online) 2345-0282. Volume 12 Number 4 (June) s. 171-188, http://doi.org/10.9770/x9875664529
Žitkus, L. (2015). New approach to regional competitiveness as instrument of regional development. European Integration Studies, 9(1), 114–126. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.9.12800