The Causal Link Between Savings and Economic Growth in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The causal link between savings and economic growth has been extensively discussed in the economic growth and development literature, but the question of the direction of this link has not yet been clearly defined. The aim of this paper is to determine the direction and intensity of savings causality (components of private savings) and economic growth in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Granger’s causality test, the Toda-Yamamoto procedure, was applied to test for causality between savings and economic growth. The results of Granger’s causality test indicated that there is no causal link between components of private savings with economic growth in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was found that among the variables there is cointegration, but not causality, which means that the variables have a common stochastic trend. This fully corresponds to the characteristics of the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s economy.

The Infinite Wardrobe: Female Consumers’ Value Perceptions Regarding Collaborative Consumption of Apparel

Understanding the potential factors and underlying mechanisms to engage in collaborative consumption practices has become a significant concern for academics and practitioners. However, collaborative consumption research is still considered in its early stage; thus, further research is needed. Based on this need, this study extends existing research by providing empirical support for the importance of value perceptions and empathy on female consumers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions to engage in collaborative consumption in the apparel industry. This study also shows a significant moderating effect for materialism and the need for uniqueness in the collaborative consumption of apparel. These findings are believed to be particularly valuable in contributing to the broader literature on collaborative consumption and guiding, especially practitioners, to develop strategic tactics for motivating consumers to engage in collaborative consumption practices.

Risk Management Maturity, its Determinants and Impact on Firm Value: Empirical Evidence from Joint-Stock Companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The current extremely volatile business environment requires companies to manage a wide range of risks. Poor management of the company’s main risks can lead to significant value losses for key stakeholders. Companies strive to preserve and protect their value by developing risk management models based on organisational culture, processes and structure. The main objective of this paper is to assess the maturity of risk management, explore its determinants and examine its impact on firm value. In order to quantify the maturity of the risk management model, we have created an index based on 31 reference components whose weighting values have been determined by a group of experts using the Delphi technique. In addition, this paper aims to identify the determinants of the risk management model maturity in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Based on the estimated ordinary least squares (OLS) model, the results confirm that companies from the financial sector have more mature risk management models compared to the real sector. Moreover, the size of the firm and the type of auditor were identified as additional determinants of risk management maturity. The OLS model confirms the positive and statistically significant impact of risk management model maturity on Tobin’s Q value.

Information and Communication Technology Development and Foreign Trade in the Region of South-East Europe

This paper provides an analysis of the influence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, usage and skills on the export and import of goods and services in the region of South-East Europe (SEE) by applying gravity models to bilateral trade flows through the panel data analysis. The results show that GDP per capita and Internet usage have a significant positive impact on import, and in addition, the digital infrastructure and digital skills have a positive, but small impact on export. Distance has a negative impact on trade. These countries faced relatively poor development and usage of the ICT sector, which indicates unexplored potential which could be used to improve international trade if exploited by businesses, government and households.

Economic Performance in Post-Soviet and Post-Communist Countries – Evidence from Panel Data and Multivariate Statistical Analysis

The study examines the effect of sets of determinants of economic growth, which are widely emphasised in the literature, in a group of 27 selected post-Soviet, post-communist and transition countries from Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Mongolia during 1997–2017. The set of baseline variables includes, among others, trade openness, investment rate, public consumption spending, and selected demographic factors. The methodology uses panel data and it is supported by multivariate statistical methods of grouping objects. The panel data provides results that are mainly consistent with the literature review. However, the effects of demographic factors are rather not significant, but the role of investment has been emphasised. In turn, the multivariate statistical approaches indicate the shifts in regional (dis)similarity between the analysed countries with respect to the performance of the selected variables over the last 20 years.

Analysis of Intra-Industry Trade in Agri-Food Products Between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union

Although research of intra-industry trade (IIT) has been intensive in the last several decades, the empirical literature focusing on this phenomenon in the Western Balkans countries remains limited, especially in agricultural sector. Aiming to contribute to the existing literature, the paper analyses patterns and country-specific determinants of IIT in agri-food products between Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the European Union (EU) during the period of their mutual trade liberalisation (2008-2018). The analysis employs Grubel-Lloyd indices and Greenaway-Hine-Milner methodology for measurement of IIT, and applies an econometric panel data model using a Poisson Pseudo-maximum likelihood approach in order to estimate effects of IIT determinants. The findings suggest that intra-industry agri-food trade of BiH with the EU is of low intensity and mainly of vertical nature, viewed totally and bilaterally. We found significant positive effects of trading countries’ sizes, common border and history on IIT, and negative effects of the geographic distance and differences in agricultural productivity.

Entrepreneurship Factors Among Developed Countries and Emerging Regions

The paper contributes to the understanding of entrepreneurial activity by assessing the relative importance of eight entrepreneurial readiness factors across countries in different regions and stages of economic development. Drawing on the literature, this paper identifies eight principle national entrepreneurial readiness factors (NERFs) as (1) business freedom; (2) investment freedom; (3) investor protection; (4) property rights protection; (5) technological readiness; (6) innovation; (7) freedom from corruption; and (8) access to risk capital. NERF country data is subjected to a linear regression analysis for each factor’s influence on the sum of all eight factors which is called a country’s National Entrepreneurial Readiness Value (NERV). Six South East European countries, eight South American countries, ten South East Asian countries, and six West African countries are compared against one another and the benchmark of the four largest G7 economies. Results of this analysis are presented and show that investor protection, property rights protection, and freedom from corruption are the most impactful entrepreneurial readiness factors. These findings present future research implications of how these results link to endowments and relate to improving entrepreneurial readiness.

Evaluation of Mixed Frequency Approaches for Tracking Near-Term Economic Developments in North Macedonia

Aggregate demand forecasting, also known as nowcasting when it applies to current quarter assessment, is of notable interest to policy makers. This paper concentrates on the empirical methods dealing with mixed-frequency data. In particular, it focuses on the MIDAS approach and its later extension, the Bayesian MFVAR. The two strategies are evaluated in terms of their accuracy to nowcast Macedonian GDP growth, using same monthly frequency data set. The results of this study indicate that the MIDAS regressions demonstrate comparable forecasting performance to that of MF-VAR model. Moreover, it is interesting to note that the two approaches are reciprocal, since in general, their combined forecast demonstrates clear superiority in predicting business cycle turning points. Additionally, the MF-VAR model showed higher precision in times of increased uncertainty.

Economic Growth in the Western Balkans: A Panel Analysis

This paper investigates how typical macroeconomic indicators affect the economic growth of Western Balkans countries. A static panel empirical investigation for the period 2010 to 2019 has been conducted using GDP growth rate as the dependent variable, while independent variables in focus include foreign direct investments, remittances, unemployment rate, population growth rate, and control of corruption. The most interesting finding is that a rising share of remittances positively affects economic growth. This might indicate that even when remittances are used for non-investment purposes, they might increase domestic production of consumption and intermediate goods. There is also evidence of a non-linear relationship between FDI and economic growth, which may be a consequence of undeveloped capacities to use the positive side of FDI. To foster economic growth policy-makers should focus on reforms that target sectors that show sharp declines in FDI and remittances inflows, including also a need for better control of corruption in the region.

The (Positive) Design Environment as a Prerequisite of Design Orientation

Design is a human-centered activity. Every design project starts with the analysis of user needs and preferences. This means that design orientation of a company should also be positively related to company’s business results. However, in most transitional countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs), design environment is not supported, there is no clear national design policy, design implementation in companies varies, and there is no constant measurement of design impact. The main interest of this paper is to research the level of design implementation in Croatian companies related to the managerial approach and business results, because such research is usually undertaken in more developed countries. The study focuses on the perception of management. This quantitative research has been carried out using an Internet survey to examine managers and CEOs from Croatian companies in different industries. The results show positive relations between design environment and design orientation of a company and a significant impact of management.