One of the major challenges for policymakers in Serbia is to improve the competitiveness of the Serbian economy. Universally applicable solution to this problem does not exist, but there are certain segments which can be a significant driver of improving the effectiveness and productivity of the economy by implementing diverse possibilities offered by the digital economy. A critical factor in the development of digital economy is the sector of information and communication technology (ICT), which has the potential to extremely improve the competitiveness of Serbia and start production towards modern business processes, but also contribute to a notable synergistic effect in terms of the competitiveness of micro-enterprises. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a factor for competitiveness and development of the digital economy, to analyze the application of ICT in the economy of Serbia, to highlight the benefits of development and acceptance of new solutions in the field of ICT, to create recommendations that would contribute to improving the business environment in the ICT field, and consequently of the digital economy as a whole.

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.

In modern business conditions, the company sends its promotional message through various instruments of promotion, and therefore the different media. One of the instruments of promotion is economic propaganda (advertising), which uses a number of media such as television, radio, newspapers, billboards, Internet and others. By using various media, the company affects the consumer awareness of the brand, spreads information about themselves and the brand, educates consumers, creates a brand image and the like. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of different media of advertising on consumer awareness of the brand, as well as to investigate that influence in the context of socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. The methods used in the work are historical and research (field and online) methods and include a total of 690 respondents from Serbia in the period February-April 2017. For data analysis, we used the independent-samples t-test and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The results showed that television has the strongest impact on brand awareness. The Internet and billboards follow, while the weakest effect is that of newspapers and radio. Results show that in the context of gender, age, education and income of respondents, there are reasons to analyze the impact of television, radio, newspapers, billboards and the Internet to consumer awareness of the brand in a different manner. The contribution of the thesis is also reflected in the fact that, on the basis of the obtained results, the authors give recommendations, when it comes to perception and brand awareness, on the media that are an adequate promotional instrument for a particular segment of consumers.

Starting from the fact that clusters contribute to the competitiveness of industry sectors and the high standard of living in regions where clusters operate, the aim of this paper is to show the relationship between the stage of economic development and the state of cluster development at the level of national economies. Using the ANOVA statistical method the authors have accepted the hypothesis that the state of cluster development in national economies varies depending on the stage of economic development. In order to evaluate the state of cluster development in the country and the stage of economic development, the authors used the secondary data from the World Economic Forum (WEF), published in "The Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014". Although the stage of economic development is influenced by many economic and political factors, the authors assume that the stage of economic development predominantly depends on the decision and willingness of political and business leaders to lead the country to higher stages of economic development and sustainable economic growth. Their decision has an impact on cluster development in the country, and therefore influences the possibility of clusters to improve economic development and national competitiveness, especially in emerging markets and developing economies.

Population ageing is a global phenomenon without precedent in the history of humanity having implications in all facets of life. From an economic point of view, population ageing is certainly one of the biggest challenges of modern time. A consequence of these global demographic tendencies reflected in growing number of pensioners which negatively affects sustainability of public pension systems financed by the principle of intergenerational solidarity (Pay-As-You-Go) - widely represented in public pension schemes of European countries. In this paper, impact of demographic ageing on pension systems is analyzed in the context of sustainability of public finance in Serbia in the period 2010-2050. Although the comparative analysis of the pension expenditure share in gross domestic product (GDP) does not point to significant differences between Serbia and the countries in the neighborhood and the European Union, the growth trend of subsidizing the Pension Fund from the government budget endangers medium-term sustainability of the public pension system in Serbia, bearing in mind that the implementation of measures proposed in pension reforms can be valorized only in the long run. The main objective of the analysis is projecting long-term pension expenditure as a share of GDP. The projections were formed indirectly by modeling the average pension expenditure, because this variable incorporates both growth in the total pension expenditure and growth in the number of pensioners as a result of demographic trends, and better reflects the actual growth of pension expenditure. For the purposes of the analysis, in addition to the projection of real GDP growth, size of the inactive population aged 65 and over, as the main contingent of the pension system users and the total number of pensioners, was projected by means of stochastic cohort component methodology. Based on these projections and assumptions about the growth rate of average pension expenditure (three scenarios), the projections of total pension expenditure (as a percentage of GDP) are produced for the period 2010-2050. The results indicate that the growth rate of pension expenditure over the past few years is unsustainable in the long run. However, there is fiscal space for continuous real growth of pensions that does not jeopardize the budget deficit on the medium term, and leads to long-term reduction of the share of pension expenditures in GDP. The proposed change would not affect sustainability of the pension system and consequently public finance in Serbia, even in completely certain circumstances of significant increase in the number of elderly and their pressure on the workforce. In this context, critical review of the current government approach to the pension growth dynamics was given from the perspective of medium-term sustainability of pension system, which resulted in appropriate recommendations. Generally, the intent of the Government of the Republic of Serbia on the indexation of pensions represent a good soluti...

The primary goal of this paper is to deepen the knowledge and provide analysis of the basic features of the major appliances aftersales market in the Republic of Serbia. This is relatively large, and for a huge number of consumers significant market, which, according to the available knowledge, was not the subject to more detailed research until now. Therefore, through a combination of survey (desk) and secondary (field) research, a detailed overview of the scope and structure of the major appliances aftermarket was carried out. With the aim to identify potential issues and propose curative to overcome them, an analysis on the competitive relations between the main actors and the factors that predominantly affect the market relations in this segment of the aftersales market was conducted. Bearing in mind the basic characteristics of the primary market in Serbia, it can be concluded that interbrand competition on the major appliances aftermarket is intense, and that significant issues are noticed. A potential problem related to competitive relations in this market segment is reflected in the constraints of intrabrand competition (competition between distributors / servicers / spare parts resellers of the same brand). The manufacturer is in a position to impose restrictions on distributors in respect of the terms of their contracts with authorized services and spare parts dealers, obliging them to install / sell spare parts exclusively from its production. Restrictions of this kind are justified only if they provide higher quality of the after-sales service. Otherwise they represent a serious distortion of competitive market behavior, as this limits the entry of independent spare parts manufacturers and servicers, who can offer spare parts and technical and repairing services of the appropriate quality.

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