C38 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Classification Methods; Cluster Analysis; Principal Components; Factor ModelsReturn

This study explores the financial dynamics, strategic growth, and innovation within the sugar production sector in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) over the period 2013–2022. It focuses on six countries—Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and analyzes 14 major sugar-producing companies using a combined methodological approach based on time-series trend analysis and Principal Component Analysis (PCA).
Key financial metrics such as capital structure, working capital, operating revenue, profitability, and employment are examined to assess differences in performance across firms and countries.
The research is framed by three central questions that investigate the interaction between company size, financial stability, national market context, and development potential.
A major turning point for the sector—the abolition of the EU sugar quota system in autumn 2017—marked the beginning of a fully liberalized market environment, intensifying global competition and reshaping regional production strategies.
The results indicate that larger firms tend to provide financial stability but exhibit limited growth trajectories, while smaller companies are more adaptable and often demonstrate stronger development potential.
National differences are also significant: the Czech Republic and Poland emerge as dynamic and competitive markets; Austria and Germany reflect mature industries with constrained growth prospects; Hungary and Slovakia show financial challenges yet offer opportunities for development.
By identifying structural trends and regional disparities, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of the post-quota sugar market. It offers relevant insights for policymakers and industry leaders aiming to balance financial health, innovation, and sustainability in order to ensure the sector’s long-term competitiveness in a volatile global economy.

The enlargement of the European Union (EU) to include Central and South-Eastern European countries in 2004 and 2007 launched an integration process that unifies the economies and financial markets of member states and enables the convergence of these two areas. This study focuses on analyzing the development and similarity of the European insurance sector after the EU enlargement. We study 34 European insurance markets from 2004 until 2021 based on a certain set of indicators that characterize insurance markets, such as Insurance Density, Insurance Penetration and Gross Written Premiums to name a few. With a functional clustering method applied to such indicators, we try to reveal whether there are similarities between the individual countries that could explain the European insurance market homogeneity and convergence via the EU integration process. The proposed method has also a practical importance since it provides visualization of the clustering results through the construction of global envelopes. This study supports the works of EU policy makers that have a major impact on the ability of further integration of the European insurance market.Keywords: European insurance markets,