This volume explores how firms, public institutions, and communities are responding to technological change, environmental pressures, regulatory developments, and evolving market and societal demands. Featuring contributions presented at the 2025 International Conference on Applied Economics (ICOAE) held in Bratislava, Slovakia, this volume address topics such as corporate governance, ESG and sustainability reporting, artificial intelligence (AI), digital public administration, taxation reform, logistics and supply chain resilience, consumer behavior, tourism, education, human resource management, and social inclusion. In doing so, the volume moves beyond a narrow business focus and highlights the interconnected roles of management, policy, governance, and society in processes of adaptation and reform. It also offers empirically grounded insights from a variety of national and sectoral contexts, particularly studies from Greece, Slovakia, Germany, Italy, Thailand, and broader European settings.

By combining empirical research with conceptual and application-oriented contributions, the volume contributes to ongoing academic and policy debates on organizational adaptation, institutional change, and sustainable development. It offers researchers rigorous empirical findings and comparative perspectives, while providing policymakers with evidence-based insights relevant to the design and implementation of policies in areas such as digital transformation, ESG, taxation, and public governance. The volume is also of  interest to graduate students and practitioners engaged with contemporary economic and societal challenges.

Nicholas Tsounis is a Professor of Economic Analysis at the Department of Economics, and a Director of the Applied Economics Laboratory of the University of Western Macedonia, Greece. His research interests are in applied microeconomics, computational economics, international economics, and the economics of tourism. He has published more than 70 articles in international scientific periodicals and conferences and 20 books. His published work attracted more than 900 citations. He is a referee/peer reviewer for several scientific periodicals and research calls of various countries, including the EU. He is the co-founder and co-chair (with Prof. Aspasia Vlachvei) of the ICOAE conferences (www.i-coae.com).
 
Aspasia Vlachvei is Professor of Marketing at University of Western Macedonia,Greece and Adjunct Professor at Hellenic Open University. She is also director of Institute of Economic Analysis and Entrepreneurship, at University of Western Macedonia. Her research interests focus on marketing strategies, competitiveness of firms, structure, conduct and performance and entrepreneurial behaviour. She has participated in several research projects on agrofood. She is co-editor of sixteen books published by Springer, Elsevier and IGI Global and author of two books (in Greek). She has published in several scientific journals while she has more than 1300 citations. She is member of Gender Equality Committee - University of Western Macedonia, Hellenic Society of University Women and of the women's sector of the International Chamber of Commerce of Greece (ICC Women Hellas).