http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/1710 2026-04-08T09:09:07Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2640 Circular Economy in Tourism and Hospitality in Durres, Albania Cami, Sara This thesis investigates the application of circular economy principles in the tourism and hospitality sector of Durres, Albania. The circular economy offers a new sustainable alternative to the traditional linear model by promoting reuse, recycling, and resource efficiency. Through a mixed-method approach combining quantitative surveys and qualitative insights from hotel managers and owners, this study investigates the level of awareness, implementation, and challenges related to circular practices among hotels. The study revealed that due to limited knowledge, financial barriers, and a lack of governmental support frameworks are the main barriers that hotels in Durres face while implementing sustainability practices. This thesis comes up with recommendations for hotel operators, policymakers, and stakeholders who aim to promote greener hospitality in Albania, such as a clearer regulatory framework with information, considering giving financial initiatives, prioritizing new innovative technologies, staff trainings, and having educational campaigns. 2025-06-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2639 Effectiveness of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on GDP Growth: An Empirical Investigation for Albania Lika, Gresi This study investigates how fiscal and monetary policy affects GDP growth in Albania between 1998 and 2023 using time series data. The World Bank Indicators provided the data for the time series analysis conducted using the software EViews. An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model establishes the short- and long-run relationships between variables, where the ARDL is composed of broad money, real interest rate, inflation, gross capital formation, and final government consumption as independent variables, with GDP growth as the dependent variable. Thereafter, a series of diagnostic tests are conducted for heteroscedasticity, serial correlation, normality, Q statistic, Granger causality, unit roots, and the stability of the model. The output of the final regression results shows that our model has a long-run relationship; specifically, CAPF (capital formation) has a positive relationship with GDP growth, while BM (broad money) and GCexp (government consumption expenditure) have a negative effect on the dependent variable. In the short run, CAPF continues to stimulate GDP growth, while inflation has a significant negative relationship with it. This study fills an important gap in the literature by providing an updated empirical assessment for Albania a small, open, transition economy using recent data and a robust ARDL methodology. Based on the literature, our study suggests that investments should be promoted and that more focus should be placed on monetary and fiscal policy as two important instruments for GDP. 2025-06-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2638 Unraveling the Nexus between Migration Dynamics and Economic Growth in the Western Balkans- A Panel Data Analysis Tusha, Xhejda The aim of this paper investigates the relationship between migration and economic growth for Western Balkans. The methodology used is using panel data for years from 2006 until 2022. Western Balkan countries include Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro. There will be five independent variables including, Government national income, Net migration, unemployment, fertility rate. In this paper there are microeconomic and macroeconomic variables. The data is taken from WDI (World Data Indicators). For the test and methodology, we used E Views program to run all the tests such are Unit Root Test, Hausman Test, White Test for Heteroscedasticity, Serial correlation, Multicollinearity Test, Panel Granger Causality Test etc. After conducting the tests and final estimation output, the study shows that all of them are significant after the unit root test. One the contrary, after final estimation, three of the variables were found to be significant, GNI and Net Migration, with a positive impact on GDP, and Fertility Rate with a negative impact. Furthermore, Unemployment was found to be statistically significant and was justified by specific literature for each case. Unemployment happens to have a negative relationship. This paper aims to contribute into the literature of migration and economic growth in Western Balkan countries. 2025-06-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.epoka.edu.al/handle/1/2637 Sustainable Market Adaptation in Higher Education: A Comparative Case Study of EU Pre-Accession Countries of Albania and North Macedonia Xhihani, Enxhi This master's thesis analyses the competitive and environmental market relations of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) sector in Albania and North Macedonia. It assesses the economic actions, market structures, and legal order surrounding HEIs regarding EU competition policy. The comparative study indicates that Albania and North Macedonia have truly advanced in meeting the EU competition benchmarks, which warrants consumer protection and competition legislation changes. The high market concentration, which faces both weak laws and limited administrative capacity, creates hurdles for a robust education system. Some primaries, like the willingness of HEIs to accept EU Green Agenda Streams and the absence of green campus concepts, stand in the way of achieving a sustainable curriculum. This research mainly aims to signal to those in power, like the government, the needed actions to improve the market conditions, allowing foreign investment and greater innovation within the sector. In this research, challenges and opportunities that arise in the sector of education sector are to be pronounced. Recommendations are made for consideration of cooperation between some public and private sector operatives in Albania and North Macedonia, improvement of regulation, and the establishment of innovative and sustainable educational systems that could include green market and green economy needs. 2025-06-01T00:00:00Z