In the process of globalization of the world economy, foreign direct investment has a significant impact on economic growth and development of the national economy. To adequately facilitate the development of competitiveness, these countries usually intervene through measures and instruments of tax policy. One of the main tasks of developing countries is to create a favorable environment for investors, considering that this is one of the methods to ensure greater capital inflows. The main objective of this chapter is to assess the role of tax policy in achieving the competitiveness of developing countries. For the creators of tax policy, it is very important to constantly review the tax rules to ensure that the country is attractive for foreign investments. The results that were obtained indicate that tax incentives significantly influence the improvement of competitiveness and the attraction of multinational companies as a key holder of foreign direct investment.

Abstract:This papers analyses impact of fi rm characteristics, i.e. size, length of exporting experience, capital ownership and type of industry on export barriers´ perception in case of Serbian exporters. This study is aimed at an identifi cation of the barriers to export among examined factors of fi rm´s internal environment, domestic business environment and foreign markets to rank barriers according to their level of impact, to spot differences in evaluation of barriers depending on fi rm´s characteristics, and to examine correlation between fi rm´s characteristics and barriers to export. Main hypothesis in this research was that barriers to export for Serbian exporters have been similar to those faced by exporters in other countries, and that the level of their infl uence depends on fi rm´s characteristics. The empirical research has been conducted through a survey, using a questionnaire with 178 exporters taking part in it. Collected data have been analysed by descriptive statistics, differences among groups and correlation tests. The results imply that most export barriers refer to domestic business environment and that there is a correlation among fi rm´s size, length of export experience and capital ownership with certain factors that may cause problems for exporting business.Keywords: export, fi rm´s characteristics, factors of internal environment factors, factors of domestic business environment, factors of foreign markets, Serbia ЈЕL Classifi cation: F23, F14, М16

In order to make Serbia the most attractive investment destination in relation to countries in the region, special attention should be paid to the current tax incentives granted to foreign investors. Hence, the aim of this paper is to find the opinion and attitudes of foreign investors in the relevant research and analysis regarding the importance of tax relief for their investment in Serbia. Tax incentives are one of the most important tax instruments that can play a decisive role on foreign investors when choosing an investment location, and therefore to increase the competitiveness of the Serbian economy. In this paper, special attention will be given to tax incentives in certain areas for the business of foreign investors, depending on the way foreign investors enter the Serbian market. The methodology of empirical research in this paper is based on a quantitative approach to the collection of primary data through the survey of relevant subjects, the comparison of collected data, and the analysis of the causality of the investigated phenomena. On the basis of the obtained results it can be concluded that the greatest influence on the investor when making a decision on investing in Serbia is tax incentives in corporate income tax.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically research marketing and financial export barriers by perceptions of agri-food firms from small developing country with preferential trade position in Europe. Using resource-based and contingency theories as framework, differences in barriers perceptions between exporters classified by five organizational factors were tested. Design/methodology/approach Secondary data collection for literature review, conceptualization and hypotheses setting, and primary data collection for hypotheses testing were employed. Survey’s variables and their measurement were derived from previous studies, so exploratory factor analysis was utilized to test dimensionality. A total of 224 agri-food exporters were surveyed and 86 usable responses were collected. The single export venture was used as unit of analysis. ANOVA and t test were utilized for hypotheses testing. Findings Results indicate that the biggest barriers are price competitiveness and insufficient government support. Larger firms and foreign-owned ones perceive researched export barriers as lower than smaller firms and domestic-owned ones. Research limitations/implications The primary limitation of the paper is its one country scope, limiting generalizability. Despite this, research derives several implications especially for management and policy-makers. Originality/value This research confirmed propositions of resource-based and contingency theory in export barriers researching in a case of agri-food sector of small, developing economy with preferential position in European trade, but challenges treating export experience, intensity, and product type as firm’s valuable resources and internal contingencies.

Innovative capacity represents the ability of long-term production and commercialization of the flow of innovative technologies and is an essential factor influencing competitiveness in modern economies. When it comes to innovation, research and development, gross domestic product (GDP) is often used as an indicator of investment opportunities at the national level to gain insight into the country's ability to improve innovation and competitiveness. Accordingly, this paper aims to determine whether the export of high-tech products, as one of the results of innovation in the economy, measured by GDP growth, has a positive effect on overall economic growth. For the analysis process to have a comparative character, four countries were included in the empirical research: Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. The international Eurostat database was used as the main source of data, and the period covered by this survey is from 2008 to 2018. A simple linear regression model was applied in the analysis to determine the relationship between the share of hightech products in the country's total exports and GDP per capita. The research results in this paper show that it was not possible to confirm the positive relationship between exports of high-tech products and GDP growth in the case of Serbia, Hungary and Romania, while in the case of Bulgaria, the impact of growth in exports of high-tech products on GDP growth can be confirmed. According to the obtained results, it is most adequate that the issue of innovation, exports and economic growth is not observed exclusively through the development and application of innovations in high-tech industries. We need to look at the broader context in terms of how much innovation can improve exports and the overall business of medium and technologically inferior (less demanding) industries, what innovations these industries need, and how to develop and implement them.

Abstract. The main aim of this work is to determine, on the basis of empirical research, whether and to what extent foreign direct investment has impact on the overall economic development of selected countries in the Western Balkans. Analyses made for the purpose of this paper were performed on the basis of available secondary data possessed by the World Bank for the period of 2000-2012. The research methodology involved the use of the techniques of linear regression and correlation analysis. The first task was to determine whether there is an impact of foreign direct investment on the overall economic development of these countries. Where such influence occurred, it was necessary to define its level in comparison to the influence of other variables. The results of the analysis in this paper suggest that inflow of foreign direct investment does not affect to a significant extent the economic development of selected countries in the Western Balkans.

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