In a sample of 79 districts of the Slovak Republic for the period 1997 -2019, we examine the connection between the unemployment rate and the crude divorce rate. Our findings reveal a negative and statistically significant relationship, which suggests a procyclical nature in terms of the economic cycle. The estimated coefficients are relatively consistent even after the addition of control variables considering socio -economic factors or fixed effects. The results of the regression analysis show that an increase in the unemployment rate by one percentage point is accompanied by a decrease in the crude divorce rate by an average of 0.024 units. These findings support the assumptions of the theory of the high costs of divorce that spouses must bear. In a period of high unemployment, it is more acceptable for spouses to stay married than to bear the high costs associated with legal proceedings or the loss of part of the joint savings. The analysis of possible non-linear relationships between the unemployment rate and the crude divorce rate also showed a negative relationship. Quantile regression also points to the U-shaped relationship between variables and supports the opportunity theory. ii

Gender equality should be a necessity in every developed economy of the world. Despite this assumption, this is not the case. The field of sports is no exception. This study addresses the relationship between gender equality, institutions and football performance of national teams. Correlation and regression analysis is used to determine the relationship between variables. The results suggest that higher gender equality leads to better performance for footballers on the fields. Countries with higher gender equality perform better (more FIFA points). The economic condition of the country has a similar effect on performance. Estimates have shown a statistically significant positive relationship between economic prosperity and performance on the pitch. Climate and age of players do not affect the performance of national teams. Institutional factors significantly affect players’ performance. Members of the European Union perform significantly higher than those that are not in the EU. As well as countries in which there was no communist regime in the past . Keywords: gender inequality index, FIFA ranking, men, women, institutions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between suicide rates broken down by gender and socio-economic factors in the Slovak Republic. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses panel data of 79 counties of the Slovak Republic for the period 1997–2019. Methodology used includes fixed effects regression and sensitivity analysis. Also, regressions with lagged variables are used. Findings The results show that per capita income and unemployment rate are associated with increased risk of suicide rates for both genders. Economic growth is negatively correlated and significant only for women. Women’s participation in the labor market does not have a significant impact. Social factors, such as divorce and fertility rate, have a significant effect on men but insignificant on women. Strong faith is associated with increasing men’s suicide rates. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the results. This paper also examined the possibility of cumulation of the effects by using lagged variables. Unemployment rate has a significant effect only in the simultaneous year and for men only. Per capita income and economic growth have insignificant impact for both the genders. Divorce rate has a significant positive relationship for men, if measured in the previous year. The fertility rate is negatively correlated with the suicide rate of women up to two years after the birth. Higher participation of women in the labor market has a positive relationship with men’s suicides in the simultaneous year. Research limitations/implications Few limitations of this paper need to be stated. First, the data are not balanced, as data for some districts and years are missing. Also, it is possible to collect data only for a maximum period of 29 years (as the Slovak Republic exists only from year 1993). Moreover, important variables in suicide research, like alcohol consumption or drug use, are not collected on the district level. Therefore, poor data availability is putting barriers to research of this area in the Slovak Republic. Second, there is a lack of previous studies in the Slovak Republic. According to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to deal with issue of suicides and socio-economic factors in the Slovak Republic; therefore, some important factors of the Slovak Republic influencing the results of this paper may be missed. Third, limitations in the methodological approach might influence the paper. The lagged-variables approach might require further methodological improvements and research like implementing a structural regression model. Originality/value According to knowledge of the authors, this relationship has not yet been examined in Slovakia. This provided space for this paper. According to the information presented in this paper, it is important to take individual economic and social circumstances into account when developing suicide prevention programs. The results of this paper may lead to useful guidelines for health policymakers, but addressing this issue certainly requires further research.

The Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector of tourism has been rapidly expanding until the world met COVID-19. Purpose of this research is to analyse and identify the economic impact of congress tourism as a part of MICE sector in Slovakia with regard on GDP and revenues of accommodation services. To achieve this, first, paper discusses the latest data in MICE tourism sector of Slovakia in comparison with other countries. To accomplish the main goal secondary data were collected and the variables were assessed. Correlation and regression analysis were used to analyse impact of MICE tourism towards on GDP in the country and revenues of accommodation services. The paper continues by discussing the results which revealed that there is a significant relationship between the number of events in MICE tourism and GDP of Slovakia. Apart from this, the results also show that there is no significant relationship between revenues of accommodation establishments in Slovak republic and average expenditure on trip for a business purpose. Lastly, this study presents an overview on the MICE tourism in Slovakia taking research results.

In the spring of 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on both the economic and noneconomic spheres of everyone's life. The paper deals with the impact of the pandemic on the labour market in the Slovak Republic. The analysis examines data of selected indicators at the level of districts and regions. The results showed a more negative impact on men than on women. The economic activity rate of men decreased on average by 1 p.p., while that of women only by 0.5. At the same time, labor markets in eastern and central Slovakia were affected more than those in western Slovakia. The results of the analysis indicate that people with higher education are more resilient to the corona crisis than those with no or low education, specially women with higher education are more resilient to the corona crisis. A paradoxical outcome of the analysis is the finding that the number of workers in the 55+ age group in the labor market increased for both genders and across the country. The focus of economic policy should be to mitigate the negative effects of the corona crisis through measures aimed at creating jobs and increasing employment.