The transition toward a green economy has become a central pillar of economic policy in the European Union, reflecting the need to reconcile economic growth with environmental sustainability. As defined by international frameworks, a green economy is one that is low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially inclusive, aiming to reduce environmental risks while generating new economic opportunities.

Over the past seven decades, fertility decline has become one of the most significant demographic transformations worldwide. The global total fertility rate (TFR)—defined as the average number of children a woman would bear if current age-specific fertility rates prevailed throughout her reproductive life—declined from approximately five births per woman in the early 1960s to around 2.3 births per woman in the early 2020s (United Nations, 2022; Ritchie, Spooner & Roser, 2023). Although the pace and timing of fertility decline have differed across regions, the overall direction has been remarkably consistent.

Economic development of the municipalities (outside capital) is one of the key sustainable development challenges in Georgia. The capital city of Tbilisi, while accounting for nearly 1/3 of the country’s population generates 53% of GDP and keeps expanding, whereas the municipalities, with few exceptions, are losing population and suffering from high incidence of poverty, unemployment, and slow and weak economic development.

Firms differ systematically by size, and these differences shape how aggregate shocks propagate through the corporate sector. Large and small firms vary in their production technologies, cost structures, financing options, and ability to absorb adverse shocks. These differences become particularly important during periods of macroeconomic stress, when constraints on liquidity, access to finance, and cost flexibility can translate into sharply divergent performance outcomes.

Remittances constitute one of the most important external income sources for Georgian households, accounting for more than 10 percent of GDP in recent years. Large-scale emigration to countries such as Russia, Italy, Greece, Germany, and the United States has made remittance inflows a central component of household livelihoods, particularly for vulnerable and lower-income groups.

Innovation-driven growth has long been understood as a restless, uneven process. In the Schumpeterian tradition – captured formally by Aghion and Howitt’s model of creative destruction – economies progress when new, higher-quality technologies displace older ones, pushing the productivity frontier outward.