Katerina Fotova Čiković – University North, Trg dr. Žarka Dolinara 1, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/EMAN.S.P.2021.75
5th International Scientific Conference – EMAN 2021 – Economics and Management: How to Cope With Disrupted Times, Online/Virtual, March 18, 2021, SELECTED PAPERS published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia; ISBN 978-86-80194-44-8, ISSN 2683-4510
Abstract:
The global COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world in 2020 and it has been
recognized as the biggest stress test in the history of the European Union. The pandemic is
inflicting high and rising human costs worldwide, and the necessary protection measures are
severely impacting economic activity. As a result of the pandemic, the global economy had been
projected to contract sharply by –3 percent in 2020, which is much worse than during the 2008–
09 Global financial crisis. In these difficult and challenging times, countries and societies need
to adapt to the new situation while minimizing the negative social and economic implications.
This paper discusses how different governments in the South East Europe region (Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) have managed and dealt
with the COVID-19 pandemic. A review of the current literature on COVID-19 is conducted. This paper
should enable a better understanding of how different governments have faced the pandemic and how
and to which extent they facilitated a proactive and timely approach towards crisis management.
The objective of this study is to theorize a CAS (Complex Adaptive System) framework to evaluate the
prevention, preparedness, response and crisis management and strategies used during the pandemic
and assess the steps taken so far by the selected Southeast European transitional countries for tackling
the COVID-19 crisis up to September 2020.
Keywords:
COVID-19 pandemic, SEE countries, CAS (Complex Adaptive System) framework, Crisis management.
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