Exploring the Dynamic Fusion of Cutting-Edge Technologies Associated with Industry 4.0 and Social Entrepreneurship in Emerging Europe

This article addresses a gap in the literature regarding corporate management in Eastern Europe during over three decades of reforms. This research reveals the influence of corporate management in Industry 4.0 on economic growth and social entrepreneurship in Eastern European countries. A combination of the regression analysis method and the least squares method is used to determine the influence of microeconomic factors connected with corporate management on economic growth in Industry 4.0 and to perform Pareto optimization of these microeconomic factors for the simultaneous achievement of economic growth and development of social entrepreneurship in these countries. The paper includes indicators of corporate management practices and identifies governance factors that influence economic growth in Eastern Europe while also contributing to social entrepreneurship. It explores the unique aspects of Industry 4.0 corporate management and emphasizes that optimizing corporate governance is a crucial response to managing regional economic crises. The article demonstrates that more than thirty years of economic transformation in Eastern Europe have produced positive results, challenging current scholarly perspectives that downplay the role of corporate governance. Improving corporate management by increasing the business disclosure index and reducing the number of companies facing losses due to theft and vandalism can enhance the effectiveness of Industry 4.0 technologies in social entrepreneurship. This approach can also provide a significant anti-crisis impact on the economies of Eastern European countries. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.