The purpose of this article is to determine the level of competitiveness of agri-food products in South East European (SEE) countries within the processes of European Union (EU) and regional integration as well as to find the factors that determine agri-food competitiveness. This article uses the revealed comparative advantages (RCAs) index to find the level of comparative advantage of agri-food products. Additionally, a model for identifying the determinants of the SEE agri-food comparative advantage was constructed and estimated. The results show that all SEE countries (except for Albania) have comparative advantages in the agri-food sector as part of the global market. Also, the estimation of the model shows that partial productivities in agriculture have a positive impact on comparative advantage while gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has a negative impact. This article makes a useful review of competitiveness of agri-food sector in SEE countries and determines which factors are significant for an RCA index. This is essential for policymakers to identify what determinants improve or degrade competitiveness of the agri-food sector in SEE countries.

Uzimajući u obzir specifičnosti srpskog tržišta osiguranja, sektor osiguranja u Srbiji je i dalje nerazvijen i po stepenu razvijenosti nalazi se znatno ispod proseka zemalja članica Evropske unije. Tržište osiguranja u Srbiji je u razvoju i ima ogromne potencijalne mogućnosti. Profitabilnost je jedan od najvažnijih ciljeva finansijskog upravljanja. Cilj ovog istraživanja je ispitivanje uticaja unutrašnjih faktora poslovanja neživotnih osiguravajućih kompanija kao što su: veličina aktive (kompanije), rast aktive, rast premije, racio likvidnosti, racio zadužeosti, poslovni rizik (underwriting risk), operativni troškovi, finansijski leveridž, učešće dobiti u ukupnim prihodima na profitabilnost neživotnih osiguravajućih kompanija u Srbiji. Rezultati istraživanja su dobijeni primenom modela višestruke linearne regresije gde će se reprezentativnost modela ispitati proračunom koeficijenta korelacije, koeficijenta determinacije i korigovanog koeficijenta determinacije. Takođe, biće sprovedena i analiza varijanse (ANOVA), kako bi se testirala značajnost posmatranih varijabli u modelu i sagledao uticaj navedenih nezavisnih varijabli na profitabilnost ROA kao zavisne varijable. Temeljni rezultati sastoje se u davanju empirijske podloge za donošenje zaključka da najveći uticaj na profitabilnost neživotnih osiguravajućih kompanija imaju rast premije, racio zaduženosti, operativni troškovi i učešće dobiti u ukupnim prihodima.

Inflation can be simply defined as a price rise in the general level in one country. Friedman (1976) points out that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon and low inflation has an important place in the economic policy of each country because in the case of the pronounced volatility of this indicator may lead to adverse implications for economic growth (Klomp & Haan, 2009). Haderi et al. (1999) point out that when a country moves from a planned economy to a market economy, inflation could be a direct problem for the government. In the past, countries of the former Yugoslavia had negative experiences with inflation and Žižmond

Since the beginning of the application of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model in various areas of the economy, it has found its wide application in the field of finance, more specifically banks, in the last few years. The focus of this research was to determine the sustainability of the intermediate function of banks, especially in recent years when interest rates on deposits have been at a minimum level. The research was divided into two parts, wherein the first part determined the efficiency of the intermediate function of banks in the countries of the Western Balkans in the period from 2015 to 2019. The second part approached the regression analysis in which we determined the influence of the bank size, type of bank, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity on the defined efficiency. In the first stage we applied the output-oriented DEA model using deposits, labor costs, and capital as input variables; on the other side, we used loans and investments as output variables. We used data from the revised financial statements of the banks operating in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania. The results of our study showed that there is a difference in efficiency levels between countries and within countries in the considered time period. Furthermore, Tobit regression analysis showed a significant and negative influence of the bank type and M&A on relative technical efficiency of banks, and a positive and significant relationship between bank size and relative efficiency. These findings suggest that large commercial banks can sustain on the West Balkan market. It is to be expected that less efficient small banks will be taken over by large and more efficient banks.

The aim of the paper is to show the relevance of nexus between tax forms and economic growth and how they affect on gross domestic product in Serbia for the period 2006-2015. The impact is manifested through the analysis of three main tax forms: personal income tax (PIT), corporate income tax (CIT) and value-added tax (VAT) and their effect on the macroeconomic indicator as gross domestic product (GDP

This study presents an empirical analysis of taxes and economic growth in Serbia and Croatia in the period 2007-2016. In order to identify the impact of tax forms on economic growth and their relationship, the authors decided to set up a panel regression where gross domestic product is the dependent variable, while corporate income tax, value added tax, social security contributions and excises are independent variables. The results of random effect model have shown that corporate income tax, value added tax and social security contributions have a positive impact on the gross domestic product, while excises affect the gross domestic product negatively. However, only value added tax has a statistically significant impact on economic growth in these countries, with each increase in revenue from this tax contributing to the growth of gross domestic product in the observed period.

In economic theory the price movement at a general level is one of the essential issues that can significantly affect on economic flows.

Abstract:In a research paper, the authors provide an empirical approach to taxes and economic growth in the United States in the period 1996-2016. The basic goal is to explore how taxes affect economic growth. The subject of the research is measuring the effects of tax revenue growth and tax form as a personal income tax, corporate income tax and social security contributions on gross domestic product as a proxy for economic growth. Methodology framework includes several tests to clear the potential problem of heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, multicollinearity and specification of the model. Based on diagnostic tests, a regression model is adequately created where fundamental econometric procedures are applied. Correlation matrix reflects a strong and positive relationship between tax revenue growth and corporate income tax on the one side and gross domestic product growth, on the another side. Also, personal income tax and social security contributions are weakly related to gross domestic product growth. The model shows a significant effect of tax revenue growth and social security contributions, while personal income tax and corporate income tax do not have a significant impact on gross domestic product growth. Interestingly, personal income tax as the main tax form in the tax structure of the United States has no significant impact on economic growth compared to social security contributions which percentage share is lesser.