Оценка на актуализираната национална стратегия за демографско развитие на населението в Република България (2012–2030) от гледна точка на намаляване на различията, свързани с етничността

Author(s): Ilona Tomova,Lubomir Stoytchev,Stoyanka Cherkezova,Stanislava Nikolova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2016

Using analytical consulting approach, we studiedly discuss the ethnicity related policies and measures in Bulgaria’s Updated National Strategy for Demographic Development (2012-2030) and its 2015 Plan for Monitoring and Implementation. Special attention is paid to health and human capital issues. The major problems of health policies and medical practices concerning fertility, (child/maternal) mortality, infectious diseases and morbidity are construed. Furthermore, the educational system’s shortcomings concerning the Roma children are listed and analysed. Recommendations which provide particular solutions of the pending problems are propounded.

Combatting fraud as a disincentive of an unintended economic migrant: A comparative review of the direct Turkish model and the indirect Australian model

Author(s): Sherene Özyürek,Rodger Fernandez / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

AS OF JANUARY 12, 2021, THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN ON AUTHORS' REQUEST Under the new Turkish Law on Foreigners and International Protection (Article 54) represents a rapid deterrent approach as the consequences of fraud are implemented within 30 days. In contrast to the Turkish approach, Public Interest Criteria 4020 used in Australian law implies a lengthy process that may take up to two years. A quantitative analysis of retrospective data (2010-2014) of the Australian Migration Review Tribunal substantiated the notion that in contrast to the Turkish model, the Australian model is used as a procrastinating tool to the advantage of unintended economic migrants to remain in Australia.

Трудната европеизация: българските медии в контекста на ЕС

Author(s): Orlin Spassov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1-2/2017

The article traces some of the basic developments in the Bulgarian media sphere after the country’s accession to EU in 2007. The author highlights the mutual connections between several key trends: the crisis of the media economy, the deterioration of media freedom, the growing influences on the media, including by the state, the deficit of quality content, the increase of nationalism and hate speech in the traditional and online media. The high expectations that the media environment would improve after 2007 were not fulfilled. The reasons for this are analyzed. Several alternative developments are pointed out, which may potentially promote a change in the culture of journalism and in the basic values defended by the media.

Етиката в рекламната комуникация

Author(s): Nikola Vangelov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 4/2019

With the expansion of globalization, more and more companies are considering ways to ensure success through effective marketing. But is it always possible to create a worldwide uniform brand image? Many companies have realized that even the universal needs of consumers are determined by differing attitudes and mental patterns of thought, behavior and communication. Of all marketing tools, advertising is the one most dependent on cultural codes, language and symbolism, for its purpose is to give social meanings to products. On this basis, the rule “think global, act local” ensures better communication and more powerful presentation because understanding in communication is based on shared cultural knowledge. This comparative study analyzes the transformations of brand slogans in Bulgaria and other markets, and points out many fundamental socio-cultural features. Evidently, not only the content of the message, but also its rhetorical diversity is determined by differing cultural values and expectations.

Тенденции на изследванията в природонаучното образование: контенст-анализ на български педагогически списания от 2011 до 2015 г.

Author(s): Isa Hadjiali,Teodora Kolarova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2016

The primary objective of this study is to outline the trends in science education research based on content analyses of publications from 2011 to 2015 in four Bulgarian educational journals: “Chemistry: Bulgarian Journal of Science Education”, “Strategies for Policy in Science and Education”, “Bulgarian Physics Education” and “i- Continuing Education”. A methodology for content analysis of the selected journals is described using quantitative and qualitative parameters. A total of 290 research papers were analyzed in terms of the following criteria: 1. Degree of education; 2. Research topics and 3.Components of the process of science instruction, on which educators focused their research in trying to find decisions of specific issues. The criterion “Research topics” was decomposed to ten main research fields: 2.1. Training for science teachers; 2.2. Teaching of science; 2.3. Cognitive aspects of science learning; 2.4. Learning context and learner personality characteristics; 2.5. Educational objectives, curriculum, content knowledge, and assessment; 2.6. Reflective practice; 2.7. History, philosophy, epistemology and nature of science; 2.8. Educational technology; 2.9. Cultural, social and gender differences between students; 2.10. Informal learning. The results of this study found that most of the published articles were related to the secondary degree of science education. The research topic referred to the educational objectives, curriculum, content knowledge, and assessment was the most frequently investigated one in 2011 – 2015.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-7 July

Author(s): Ioana Caloianu / Language(s): English Issue: 07/13/2020

Today’s news headlines: Britain’s Magnitsky sanctions; Estonia’s “strawberry war”; a precocious Romanian vlogger; and more.

Economic essays (part two): toward a realistic concept of choice

Author(s): Frederic B. Jennings Jr. / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

The previous three essays (Jennings 2019) and the first in this second series were originally drafted 30 years ago in 1988-1990. They aimed to present a more realistic concept of choice in economics. These four essays serve as a precursor to my subsequent work. The first three essays (Jennings 2019) addressed these issues. Essay One started with the notion of ‘opportunity cost’ and the ‘problem of invisibility’ as a case for open discourse. The second essay introduced two metaphors for economic behavior: the ‘neighborhood store’ and the ‘chessboard’, to raise issues of incomplete knowledge, time and social process. The third essay focused on interdependence: a ‘transport’ metaphor shows a balance of substitution and complementarity, opening institutional questions of competition and cooperation. These three essays set up an ethical theory of planning horizons. The fourth essay outlines a theory of ethics based on rational bounds. The endless interdependence of choice makes rational limits essential; surprises show the border of prior awareness of radiant outcomes. Our ethics align private with social incentives; wherever relations show affinity, competition is self-defeating: cooperation is more efficient, especially in education. Learning extends horizons, suggesting the failure of rivalrous systems. How incentives shape planning horizons is central to social well-being. The fifth essay develops this view with regard to institutions. Where substitution is not the basic character of our relations, competition fails. We see rivalry as productive and think ‘collusion’ is suspect, on an assumption of opposition with no room for consilient aims. But am I discomfited by your success or enriched thereby? Substitution may not be so general, if cooperation expands our horizons in a complementary way. The sixth essay poses a horizonal research agenda. How incentives shape behavior is central to well-being. Substitution and competition lead to fragmentation, when nothing complete can be understood through isolated design. Everything connects, so we must approach understanding thus. Economics – severed from honor, ethics, civilization, climate and ecological loss – cannot grasp these horizonal issues. Our short attention spans bring harm; competitive frames support a myopic culture in self-destruct mode. This is where substitution has failed; a cultural evolution is needed, starting with realistic concepts of choice.

The rationality principle as a universal grammar of economic explanations

Author(s): Cheng Li / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

A universal grammar of economic explanations is characterized by the means-end rationality principle, which can be understood by drawing a conceptual distinction between its two facets: theoretical abstraction and empirical content. The former serves as a pure form of economic way of thinking and thus delimits the capacities of economists to perceive and understand the manifold human behaviour. The latter provides economists with objects of thought and renders the discipline empirically relevant. Given the implications of the two facets of rationality, the main task of economics as a descriptive science is to incorporate appropriate empirical content into the pure rational framework with the aim of better explaining and predicting human behaviour. As a prescriptive science, economic inquiry should draw on the persuasion and communication skills of its practitioners, thereby influencing the state of the economy through changing the means and ends of the decision makers in question.

Nordhaus on philosophy in climate change economics

Author(s): Laurent Jodoin / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Nordhaus’ contribution to climate change economics is well-known and, for many, praiseworthy. But his refusal to acknowledge his normative stances is philosophically problematic. This article explores his arguments about philosophy in the economics of climate change found in his review of the Stern’s Review (2007). It concludes that Nordhaus nonetheless relies on normative, ethical assumptions, whose oversight hinders the finding of a solution to the problems he tries himself to solve.

Review of Craig Smith, Adam Smith, Cambridge / Medford MA, Polity Press, 1st Edition, 2020, 210 pp., pb, ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1823-4

Author(s): Sergiu Bălan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Review of Dumas, Lloyd J., Building the Good Society. The Power and Limits of Markets, Democracy and Freedom in an Increasingly Polarized World, Emerald Publishing, 2020, xiv+228 pp., hb, ISBN 978-1-83867-632-2

Author(s): George Şerban-Oprescu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Review of Mark Thornton, The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century, Auburn, Alabama, Mises Institute, 2018, 275 pp., pb, ISBN 978-1-61016-684-3

Author(s): Alexandru Pătruţi / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Review of Andrea Komlosy, Work. The Last 1000 Years, translated by Jakob K. Watson with Loren Balhorn, London, Verso, 2018, 265 pp., hb, ISBN 978-1-78663-410-8

Author(s): Valentin Cojanu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Приложението на интерактивното обучение в извънкласните дейности по информационни технологии

Author(s): Lyudmil Velinov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2020

In the light of the fact that education is an area of the greatest public importance and the school as an institution is called to develop the knowledge, skills and abilities of all students, the author considers the need to be paid more attention to additional training of gifted and talented students and to their participation in various competitions and Olympiads in information technology. The text examines the growing motivation and desire of students from the Vocational School of Economics - Pernik to participate in extracurricular activities and in development of projects for participation in national Olympiads and IT competitions. These successes are not only the result of traditional teaching methods and techniques, but also of some typical interactive techniques. One of these techniques is the role of the teacher as a facilitator, mentor, supporter, counselor and teammate. Shown are other techniques that increase student motivation and success.

“OUR VILLAGE WAS PROCLAIMED A TOWN”: GRANTING OF URBAN STATUS TO MAJOR SETTLEMENTS IN STARA PLANINA REGION IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF THE 19th CENTURY

Author(s): Ventsislav Muchinov / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

The article addresses an insufficiently studied issue in Bulgarian historiography – that of granting, in the third quarter of the 19th century, of an urban status to the most significant settlements from the period of the Bulgarian National Revival located in the Stara Planina (Balkan Mountain) region, such as Gabrovo, Troyan, Dryanovo, Tryavna, Elena, Kotel etc. The study elucidates the reasons behind the policy pursued by the Ottoman authorities in granting urban status and developing public works in the major settlements of the Balkan Mountain region. The article discusses the attitude of the local Bulgarian community to this policy and analyzes the role of the new urban status for the further demographic and socio-economic development of the settlements in the Stara Planina region.

THE ROLE OF SOFU MEHMED PAŞA’S COMPLEX IN THE URBANIZATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF SOFIA AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRE IN RUMELI

Author(s): Paulina Andonova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

The Ottoman sources give evidence about the role of the Black Mosque complex (nowadays the church “Sv. Sedmochislenitsi”) in the urbanization of Sofia and the establishment of the city as an important economic, political and religious centre in the Balkans. It was constructed in 1548 by the donation of the Ottoman vizier and Rumeli beylerbey Sofu Mehmed Paşa and designed by the great architect Mimar Sinan. Located on the periphery of the city, in the valley (dere), called Pınarcık, between the modern Graf Ignatiev Street (Samokovsko chaussée) and Tsarigradsko Chaussée Boulevard (the Road of the Ghazis), the complex of Sofu Mehmed Paşa was constructed on an empty site. The zâviye of the famous Halveti Şeyh Bali Efendi also emerged along the Samokovsko chaussée in the 1540s. The building of the Black Mosque külliye and the zâviye led to the settlement of Muslim population in the empty plot around the two cult centres and resulted in a new neighborhood formation called Imaret Mahalle. This study aims at tracing the stages of utilization of the extra-urban space of Sofia towards the 1540s, emphasizing the interaction between the Rumelian beylerbey and vizier and the Halveti Şeyh in the context of the religious policy of the Ottoman authorities.

THE BULGARIAN ECONOMIC ELITE IN PLOVDIV IN THE 19th CENTURY (SOCIAL AND PROPERTY PROFILE OF A PLOVDIV FAMILY)

Author(s): Maria Levkova-Muchinova / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2020

The article presents the characteristics of the social and property profile of the Bulgarian economic elite in Plovdiv in the XIX century, seen throughout the history of a wealthy family – the Chalakovs. Various archival sources, documents of local self-government, personal and economic correspondence keep information about the rise of the Chalakovs and a number of other Plovdiv Bulgarian families, who have taken their place among the city’s economic and social elite, the local “notables”. The specifics of their economic activity and their property status, as important elements of their socio-professional portrait, are outlined in an article. The role of the Chalakovs and a number of other wealthy and influential Bulgarian families in the economic and social life of the city of Plovdiv in the nineteenth century is also analyzed in the study.

The European Union Hydrogen Strategy as a significant step towards a circular economy

Author(s): Florin Bonciu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

The paper is structured in three parts: the first contains some reflections on the essence of the circular economy concept; the second reviews the European Union positions vis-à-vis the circular economy and the large scale utilization of hydrogen, with reference in particular to the most recent strategic documents (European Green Deal, EU New Industrial Strategy for Europe, EU Strategy for Energy System Integration, EU Hydrogen Strategy, European Clean Hydrogen Alliance); the third part evaluates the feasibility and implications of the transition to a hydrogen based economy and the relation of this transition to the circular economy. The conclusions state that the adoption by the European Union of a hydrogen strategy represents a significant step towards a true circular economy

Chinese backed energy projects in the Western Balkans: where supply and demand could meet

Author(s): Dániel Gábor Csapó / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Although China attempts to present itself as a leader of the fight against climate change – and, in some aspects, is taking initiative in this respect – through the Belt and Road Initiative the country has lent support to many ‘dirty’ projects in the energy infrastructure sector. This is also the case in the Western Balkans, where Chinese banks and energy companies have invested in coal power plants. Western Balkan countries need to improve their energy infrastructure and build new capacities. An obvious solution to this issue is the extension of their coal mines and plants, but this comes with complications. They do not have the capital to invest in these projects themselves, and international monetary institutions do not support these types of investments. In contrast to this, China can offer soft loans and expertise to realise the projects. Although many of the projects that Chinese banks have invested (or intend to invest) in are delayed or only in the planning phase, it seems that some of them can be realised despite the resistance of the Energy Community and various environmentalist groups.

To Brand or Not to Brand: The Perception of Brand Image in the Digital Games Industry

Author(s): Dinko Jukić / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

The paper presents, discusses and analyses the role of building brand image in digital games. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss in-game marketing in cultural spheres from the aspect of brand image. The aim is to explore, identify and present the relationship between brand image, consumer self-image and digital games as a brand. The contribution of this study is manifested in an interdisciplinary approach to work through marketing, psychology, sociology, and media theory. Consumers project their desires through digital games, and the brand’s entry into the digital game itself enhances the gaming experience and reality of the digital game. It was concluded that consumers want a realistic experience while playing digital games and they want to see famous brands within the game as this enhances their experience and projects the reality of the digital world. The core of brand image is consumers’ perception. In recent years, the digital game industry dominates this segment of the global entertainment economy. The paper analyses in-game marketing from the aspect of branding and sociology of culture. It is based on J. N. Kapferer’s theory of brand building and Huzinga’s theory of game. The article explores the meaning of the phenomenon of brand image and identity in virtual reality. The emphasis in this paper is put on the influence of brand image and digital game as a model of popular culture. This article adopts an integrated knowledge inquiry approach through thematic analysis to explain the concept of brand image. From the consumer’s point of view, the brand represents a symbol built on impressions, associations, metaphors and archetypes in the digital gaming industry. Brand loyalty is a key factor in building brand equity. The problem of brand loyalty appears as a reflection of brand symbol and its image. However, the oxymoron of in-game marketing starts from the hypothesis that consumers want to see brands in virtual reality.