Purpose: This article’s primary purpose is to present and analyze the current state of board gender diversity and elaborate on the relatively sparse literature in this field in the Czech Republic, a post-transition Eastern European economy. The described study sought to identify and comment on the theoretical views concerning previous research in other, mainly Western European countries, by highlighting new perspectives on board gender diversity.

Design/methodology/approach: The study’s empirical analysis was based on 235 companies domiciled in the Czech Republic with 500 or more employees. We followed a selection protocol consisting of several filters in arriving at our final sample. We initially analyzed the data in relation to (a) the number of employees, (b) organization turnover, and (c) industrial classification. We calculated the mean (μ), standard deviation, (σ), and coefficient of variation (CV) of the data/variances, then tested our hypotheses through χ2, determining the significance through the p-value. Finally, we calculated the board diversity index (DI) for female/male board members.

Findings: Our findings showed that the representation of women on corporate boards of Czech Republic companies is well below the European directive target figure of 40%. There is a greater representation of women on supervisory than on statutory boards. Moreover, the research revealed that female directors are more likely to serve on boards of companies in health care, social, wholesale, retail, and administration sectors compared to the construction, manufacturing, transportation, and storage sectors. Furthermore, company turnover also plays a part in board gender diversity. Finally, we highlighted many reasons why the Czech Republic is a fertile ground for the study of board gender diversity.

Practical implications: We believe this article will be valuable to senior managers in industry and wider regulatory, corporate governance, and ethical environments, fostering diversity and equality on corporate boards. This article forms a sound foundation for future studies on board gender diversity in the Czech Republic and contributes to the ongoing discussion on any adoption of possible future quota.

Originality/value: This research presents a rare insight into the current board gender diversity structure in the Czech Republic, especially because the country is relatively under-researched in the corporate governance and gender diversity literature. Thus, the research adds to the theoretical views concerning earlier research undertaken in other, mainly Western European countries, highlighting new perspectives on board gender diversity.

Purpose: To determine the impact of changes in tax burden in Ukraine on the country’s economic freedom.

Methodology: The study applies qualitative methods for historical analysis, periodization of reforms, and classification of their key priorities and influences. Quantitative methods are applied to compare tax burden (tax-to-GDP ratio) in Ukraine and OECD countries. The overall success and failure of tax reforms was measured by the index of economic freedom, including its component, the index of tax burden (fiscal freedom). The first hypothesis suggested that a reduction in tax burden positively impacted the level of economic freedom in Ukraine; the second hypothesis stated that a reduction in tax burden positively affected the fiscal freedom of Ukraine. Regressions in average tax burden and the index of economic freedom, including the index of tax burden, were built in R software.

Findings: Regression analysis did not confirm the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis was confirmed. Reduced tax burden does not affect the level of economic freedom of Ukraine. This is explained by the slow progress of institutional reforms in Ukraine. The reduction of tax burden has a significant positive impact on the level of fiscal freedom.

Practical Implications: The results obtained have practical relevance for the elaboration of fiscal policies in developing countries, in accordance with the country’s economic and political development priorities.

Research Limitations/Implications: Future research will include a more in-depth comparative
analysis of tax reforms in Ukraine, focusing on the key taxes.

Purpose: The technological progress of production processes causes changes in the social structure
of work, i.e. modifies the content of most, if not all, workplaces. In that respect, the identification
of changes in the intensity of creativeness, the level of education, and the experience of employees
in production processes and occupational tasks is a particularly important issue. The article investigates
the interdependence among work creativity, education, and job experience of employees of
one of the municipal companies operating in Poland.

Methodology: The study employs firm-level data covering over 2,200 observations. The study gathered
data from three major internal sources of information: the scopes of responsibilities of organizational
positions, personnel documentation regarding the individual level of education and
professional experience, and the results of interviews with executive staff and employees on particular
posts. The research proceedings base on document analysis, structured interviews, teamwork
methods, and a classification technique.

Results: Research revealed that the complexity of work increased in the company. Jobs requiring
higher levels of creativity are occupied by employees with relatively higher education. However,
their average level of education in the analyzed period decreased as opposed to jobs that require
relatively lower levels of creativity. The analysis of interdependence between creativity and job
experience identified that there emerged a relatively shorter average job experience for employees
who perform cognitive work. Moreover, the average job experience increased in the group of employees
who perform routine manual and non-routine cognitive work.

Implications: The study refers to the job polarization issue by confirming the tendencies of labor
markets. It also addresses issues concerned with technological progress, although they are not
confirmed by research in this paper.

Originality/Value: The main contribution of the paper is the interesting dataset gathered. Furthermore,
the paper addresses an interesting question where empirical research at the firm level is
lacking, particularly municipal company.

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to overview the research on inequalities in economics. The paper is based on mainstream and heterodox economic theories and approaches addressing inequality and its economic interdependence.

Methodology: Due to its positive and normative nature, inequality is a complex concept that eludes precise definition. The available application of mainstream and heterodox approach to study inequality and its economic interdependence allows for the identification of various components of inequality. Classifications that fall within the mainstream economics especially reveal less numerous and often even different types of inequalities compared to heterodox approaches. Moreover, what determines within-country inequality is the number of driving forces related to the factual and regulatory sphere of an economy.

Findings: This study does not exhaust the general debate over inequality in economics. The question remains about the state of research dedicated to the outcomes of inequality, for instance, perceived in its dynamic and historical perspective. Moreover, there emerges a need to overview the theoretical and empirical research dedicated to inequality in terms of not only its driving forces but also economic outcomes.

Purpose: The problem of identifying the most important determinants of the market value of football players is quite well described in the literature. There are many works that try to identify these factors. Some of them are focused on variables to make a set complete and others are on models and methods. The aim of this article is to present the variables influencing the valuation and to build an econometric model valuing footballers playing on the forward position, taking into consideration the assumptions of the econometric modelling. Such an approach indicates managers as other sources for obtaining information.

Methodology: Econometric models were used to verify the hypothesis formulated in this research. The database was created on the basis of variables presented on the website www.transfermarkt.de that presents the values of the most valuable football players in the world playing on the forward position. The Gretl program was used in the research.

Findings: The literature review showed that there are many independent variables having an impact on the value of the player. There are also many different models used to valuate footballers’ performance rights. The results of estimation of models in the research indicated that such factors as Canadian classification points adjusted the market value of the team and dummy variables describing “goodwill” (only for the best players) had an impact on the market value of footballers’ performance rights.

Limitations/implications: Information about different factors having an impact on football players’ market value could support the investment decision process of football managers.
Originality/value: The results were part of a study concerning economics of sport, particularly processes of management of football clubs and valuation of intangible assets.