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The aim of the article is to report on how the Covid-19 pandemic influenced education quality and learning efficiency in universities in the Republic of Armenia. A survey was administered to 783 students and 169 academic staff members at one of the universities in Armenia. Results indicate that both students (73%) and academic staff (54%) preferred offline (classroom) learning. The level of satisfaction with the effectiveness of online learning among academic staff was higher (65%) then among students (54%). The survey revealed some positive sides of online learning, connected with being able to record lessons; time flexibility; savings of time and money on transportation; and computer skills development. However, online learning has many negative sides, including being more tedious and stressful; lacking face-to-face communication and socialisation; a lack of control; leading to a competitive environment among students; difficulty in using interactive methods; and technical issues can occur frequently. The findings may be useful for universities in small, developing countries seeking to improve their online learning and education quality.

Territorial development disparities are an undeniable reality for all the countries of the world, which implies that no country can practically avoid them. However, how different countries respond to these disparities is another matter. The effectiveness of policies in overcoming territorial development disparities depends significantly on how deeply these disparities are recognized and studied. In this context, assessing disparities in territorial development is necessary, and the article proposes a methodology for its implementation. The methodology examines territorial development indexes and their relative standard deviation. In the article, the developed methodology was also applied to 10 countries, as a result of which the levels of territorial development disparities in Canada, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and China were evaluated. Based on the assessments, general conclusions are also presented for each country in the article.

Type of the article: Research Article AbstractVolatility in international capital flows remains a key source of global financial stability, particularly in the manifestation of sudden stop episodes with disruptive consequences. This study examines how global financial conditions, domestic macroeconomic fundamentals, and macroprudential policy responses shape the likelihood of sudden stop episodes in international capital flows. The analysis utilizes an unbalanced quarterly panel of up to 64 advanced and emerging economies over 1980–2024, in which sudden stop episodes in total, portfolio, and cross-border bank gross inflows are constructed following the Forbes and Warnock methodology. A panel probit with clustered standard errors is employed to estimate the likelihood of sudden stop episodes. The results indicate that tighter global financial conditions, measured by global uncertainty and long-term interest rates, significantly increase the probability of sudden stop episodes across capital flow categories. For total inflows, a one-point increase in the VIX raises sudden stop probability by 0.39 percentage points, while a one-standard-deviation increase raises it by 2.66 percentage points. Stronger domestic fundamentals, including high capital account openness and higher growth, reduce sudden stop risk, whereas elevated domestic credit significantly increases this risk. Emerging economies exhibit a structurally higher baseline probability than advanced economies, even after controlling global and domestic factors. Macroprudential policy tightening does not prevent sudden stop risk unconditionally, but when tightened amidst domestic credit expansion, it significantly mitigates sudden stop probability. These effects are most pronounced for Total and Cross-border sudden stop episodes, whereas portfolio flow sudden stops are largely driven by global push factors.

Geopolitical developments in recent years have reshaped trade patterns in small open economies. In particular, sanctions imposed on Russia following the Russia–Ukraine conflict have increased trade between Russia and Western countries via third countries, boosting re-export activities. Technically, these do not qualify as traditional re-exports; instead, they represent intermediated trade, which is recorded as exports in official statistics. As a result, trade volumes and structures can be distorted by the export of goods not domestically produced, affecting the assessment of export competitiveness. Armenia provides an illustrative case, as its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has positioned it as a hub for intermediated trade. This paper assesses the comparative advantages of Armenia as a small open economy under conditions of a high share of intermediated trade. The study applies a simultaneous analysis of comparative advantage indicators based on gross and value-added exports. The results show that value-added measures provide a more accurate assessment, as they isolate domestically generated value from imported components embodied in exports. In particular, re-export activities led to overestimation of the metals sector’s competitiveness and an underestimation of the food, beverages, and tobacco sector when using gross export data. Combining both indicators allows for more informed trade and industrial policy decisions.

Despite the fact that a decade has elapsed since the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the impact of the EAEU on the economic development of its member states remains a subject of ongoing debate. This article examines the mutual trade in services between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries, with the aim of assessing the impact of membership on it. The difference-in-difference model has been applied for impact assessment. The model utilizes data from five EAEU member countries—Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia—capturing periods both before and after their EAEU membership, spanning 17 years in total. The results show that membership in the EAEU has significantly affected the exports of services from Russia and Belarus and has a less significant impact on the exports of services from Kazakhstan to the EAEU. At the same time, it has no significant effect on the exports of services from Kyrgyzstan and Armenia to other EAEU countries. In order to ascertain the challenges that exist, expert surveys among service exporters from Armenia have been conducted. Representatives of companies exporting various services to the EAEU have been selected as experts. The survey results indicate the presence of various barriers, including legal, logistical (for cargo transportation companies), and cultural challenges. These barriers encompass licensing difficulties, technical obstacles related to VAT refunds, a ban on cash payments, and difficulties with financial transfers due to sanctions against Russia. The findings of this research are of practical importance and can serve as a guideline for policymakers in the EAEU.