Hanna Khomenko

The article explores social capital and its impact on economic development. This paper aims to analyze the role of trust in the process of growth and economic development. The interdependence of GDP per capita and trust level as an element of social capital has been analyzed. The correlation between trust and GDP per capita in 43 countries has been reflected. World Values Survey (WVS) was used to obtain empirical trust data. To determine the relationship between confidence level and GDP per capita, the correlation model was built. The regression coefficient b = 0.834 shows the average change in the effective indicator. Thus, with an increase of 1 unit of trust, GDP per capita rises by an average of 0.834. The coefficient of determination indicates that 60.68% of cases of changes in trust lead to a change in GDP per capita. The result suggests that trust serves as a tool in assisting the economic growth and company’s value. The study examines the tools that help to build trust, as economic development as a whole depends on it.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
The study provides a comparative empirical assessment of the financial stability of waste management companies in Ukraine and the EU under geopolitical fragmentation and war-induced shocks. The sample includes 2,371 firms from the Orbis database operating in waste collection, recycling, and disposal from 2019 to 2023. The methodology combines correlation analysis, K-means clustering, and robustness checks using hierarchical and DBSCAN algorithms. Financial stability is measured by liquidity, solvency, and profitability. Wartime data gaps are addressed using median and k-NN imputation. The results identify three financial profiles (resilient, balanced, at-risk) in both regions but reveal profound structural asymmetries. In the EU, even at-risk companies maintain positive solvency (13.9%) and marginal ROA (0.81%), reflecting stable institutional conditions. In contrast, Ukrainian at-risk firms exhibit critical financial distress, with near-zero solvency (0.09%) and deeply negative profitability (ROA (–11.2%), ROE (–15.9%)), indicating capital destruction due to war-related shocks. A key finding is the weakening of financial coherence in Ukraine, with a significantly lower correlation between ROA and liquidity (0.60) than in the EU (0.78), confirming a structural break after 2022. Additionally, resilient Ukrainian firms show abnormally high liquidity (Current Ratio 7.91 vs. 3.51 in the EU), indicating precautionary cash hoarding and investment paralysis under extreme uncertainty. The findings confirm that geopolitical shocks transform financial behavior, whereby EU companies maintain efficiency-driven models and Ukrainian firms shift toward survival-oriented strategies. The study offers micro-level evidence of war-induced disruption to financial stability and proposes policy measures for recapitalization, green finance, and alignment with EU sustainability frameworks.