ANALYSES OF THE GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE MACEDONIAN LABOUR MARKET AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

The aim of the paper is to provide critical analysis of the current position of women in the Macedonian labor market and to point out the opportunities and barriers for Macedonian women entrepreneurs. The paper methodology is largely based on the classical methods of desk-based research of the available literature and data retrieved from comparable international databases such as Eurostat, GEM Special Report of Women’s Entrepreneurship, Female Entrepreneurship Index, and data from national sources. Women in North Macedonia still have lower participation in the labor force, suffer from higher rates of unemployment and women's entrepreneurship is underdeveloped and there is a lack of governmental support into concrete policies. Finances, lack of information, and knowledge of how to run and manage a business as well as the challenge to balance the work and family engagements are the main problems facing women entrepreneurs in the Republic of North Macedonia. Other constraints include socio-cultural barriers; barriers relating to networks of information and assistance, and access to finance and investment funds

WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND PUBLIC PERCEPTION: A CASE STUDY OF REVERSE VENDING MACHINE USABILITY IN THE PELAGONIA REGION

In today's rapidly evolving world, environmental sustainability and waste management pose significant challenges. Consumer habits in many countries often lead individuals to behave irrationally, exploiting resources selfishly and egocentrically, disregarding the environmental damage caused by such actions. While many developed countries actively seek creative solutions to enhance public awareness of waste reduction, recycling, and reuse, numerous less developed countries, including the Republic of North Macedonia, are at the early stages of transitioning toward a green economy. Initial efforts are underway to shift awareness and foster sustainable waste behavior among both individuals and legal entities. This paper aims to explore the citizens' waste behavior and challenges in the Pelagonia Region in the Republic of North Macedonia, with the goal of promoting the adoption of eco-friendly solutions, such as Reverse Vending Machines (RVM). The study also seeks to enhance awareness and promote waste management behavior through the research process and communication with the citizens. A survey was conducted, collecting data from 842 citizens in the Pelagonia region to gain insights into their perspectives. Statistical analysis of the collected data in the SPSS software package indicates that citizens' waste sorting practices are influenced by their age and employment status. However, the citizens' information for reverse vending machines and their use does not depend on this cluster affiliation. The analyses confirm that in the Republic of North Macedonia as a developing country, efforts are still needed to raise awareness and enhance education regarding ecosustainable practices and behaviors among the population

STYLIZED ECONOMIC FACTS OF TRANSITION

In the course of transition, former socialistic countries moved from planned to market economy. This journey typically started with sharp falls in economic activity in all transition countries, accompanied by deterioration of various social indicators. Hence, their main objective was the recovery of economic activity, i.e. increasing the economic growth rate, which in addition was supposed to enable catching up with the European developed economies. This growth movement is usually described by famous U-curve of transition. However, in spite of the efforts and reforms, all transition economies recorded various paces of recovery. This study discusses that difference, through various GDP indicators, - real GDP path, GDP growth rates path, the height of the GDP index achieved and the volatility of growth rates. Analysed in concert, these indicators suggest several other variations of the transition Ucurve, such as: the rapid-J group, the wide-U group and the L-curve group. Namely, almost three decades after the start of the transition, the differences persist, suggesting that some transition economies has not moved significantly towards catching up with the successful transition countries, or with the developed economies

'MultiCreation' : participatory learning approach for business : academia collaboration

In today's complex, dynamic, information–rich global society, operating in developing countries requires ingenuity and innovative capacity from all stakeholders, due to limited resources (especially financial), turbulent socio–economic, political and environmental circumstances. Our motivation as relevant participants in the higher educational system is to facilitate students to develop their knowledge, skills and competences for facing business world challenges; be able to take entrepreneurial initiatives; and boost their (self –) confidence. To properly address the multi– dimensional, multi–disciplinary, multi–participant world, we designed our ‘MultiCreation’ teaching/learning approach. Based on the knowledge matrix, we conceptualised, effectuated and validated it in a business–academia collaboration project during a semester as a problem–based, learning by doing, blended learning approach that encompasses complete course content of four classes (Innovation Management, Change Management, Business Planning and Business Communication) and engages students, professors and managers in various roles towards individual and collective progress

INNOVATION STRATEGIES FOR YOUTH TOURISM AS A CONTIBUTION TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

Tourism is the fastest growing industry that contributes for the production of new jobs, generate huge revenue for the country and become important part of the economic foundation of many countries. Tourism is an industry, with large growth rates and important influence on economic development, but in the past year as the consequences of the global corona virus pandemic suffered major damage. There are different types of tourism, in recent years innovative types of tourism have become current, such as eco, rural, youth, etc. Youth tourism is a new, fast growing sector in the tourism industry. Young travellers can influence the development of the tourism industry and intercultural communications. Youth tourism occurs in different forms and has its own characteristics. This paper focuses on identifying the challenges of tourism in the Western Balkans, with a special focus on the concept of youth tourism, in order to identify the key strategies and motivational factors for youth tourism, experiences and challenges of young people in this sector. For the purposes of this paper, desk and field research was conducted, i.e. the use of electronic questionnaires to identify the characteristics of youth tourism in the Western Balkans. Keywords: Tourism, Tourism strategy, Western Balkan development, Young people, Innovatio

The effect of economic policies on North Macedonia’s food system

The agriculture system is a significant contributor to North Macedonia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but with substantial influence by economic policies. In 2020, the sector contributed 9.09% against 7.87% in 2017 and the years before, contributing to past political insecurities. Agriculture performance needs to be reinforced with suitable economic policies, which would solve the prevailing complications in food systems. The temperate of North Macedonia is not favourable for food production, and irrigation is an effective means of providing water. The total arable land in North Macedonia is about 665,000 hectares, which is 50% of the total available land. Only about 163,700 hectares are provided with water through several government irrigation schemes. Aside from the country being water deficient, the mean temperature of the region is also high and is continually on the increase. It is estimated that in 2050, the mean annual temperature would have increased 1.90°C and a decline of 5% in precipitation. North Macedonia can achieve more by having an increased growing season and changing cropping patterns to adapt to climate changes. Since the agricultural sector is less profitable, the government needs to enact more policies to improve the food system performance to experience positive returns

MultiCREATION : multi-stakeholder problem-driven approach : entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship

Collaboration among several different actors is of vital importance in co-creation and for new value creation. The MultiCreation approach defined by Petrevska-Nechkoska et al. for collaboration among academia, policy makers, businesses, community, and civil society organizations was the foundation for generalizing a new model that will contribute to defining the distinctive roles for co-creation and establishing the processes of creating new values. The MultiCreation approach was focused on establishing the fundamentals for a competitive and compatible model for successful co-creating approach and action in line with internationally recognized norms and standards, as well as with the requirements that are imposed by new technologies and changes and to add a vision that underscores prospective scientific, technological, and societal trends. In this chapter, taking into account the theoretical foundations, the already established Triple Helix model, Quadruple Helix model, Quintuple Helix model, N-tuple Helix model and the extensive inspiration in the literature review, as well as upon the qualitative comparative analysis of three case studies which generated and traced the MultiCreation approach in different problem-based missions we are able to propose a generic n-units (turbine) model for collaboration and co-creation. There are three types of roles in the model: Initiator, Facilitator, and Implementer. Each of these types of roles can be populated and represented by n-actors from various profiles. Number and types of actors depend on the nature of the existing problem that can be addressed by co-creation. Finally, a generic iterative co-creation process model has been developed. This model consists of three different interconnected stages with intertwined processes in each stage: Collaboration in Problem identification, Collaboration in Solutions identification, and Collaboration in Problem solving and solution implementation. With this we are wrapping up a design process of several years in projects, incorporating multiple disciplines and modeling the learnings for generic use in diverse contexts and domains, fit for use of the MultiCreation approach

Improvement of business competitiveness through developing G2B e-services in Slovenia and Macedonia

Governments around the world use modern information and communication technologies increasingly in their activities trying to make their services better and more easily accessible to their citizens and businesses.The aim of this paper is to analyze some e-Government services in Slovenia and Macedonia by focusing on government-to-business applications (G2B) with special emphasis on their contribution to creating better business environement in these two countries respectively. The data presented in this analysis come from both desk and field research made in Slovenia and Macedonia.The development of government-to-business services facilitates the interaction between governments and businesses via web-based applicationsimproves e-business environment and increases business benefits for the companies. By using government-to-business applications companies save time and moneyhave more efficient communication with government entities and contribute to achieving a higher level of transparency of government activities