MENADŽERSKE PERCEPCIJE IZVOZNIH BARIJERA: UVID DOBIVEN ANKETOM PROVEDENOM U ICT TVRTKAMA NA KOSOVU

This study investigates the managerial perceptions of export barriers of Kosovo ICT companies and provides some policy proposals. For this purpose, the study uses a survey of owners or managers of the ICT companies in Kosovo. The data collected through an online questionnaire survey using a Qualtrics platform were analysed. The survey results reveal four significant export barriers: external institutional barriers, such as visa requirement for Kosovo to visit companies in EU and access to international markets, financing issues for scaling up and growth and human resources barriers, and difficulties in having comprehensive information about the target markets and finding the right partner. Findings from the factor analysis clustered barriers to export into four groups: (1) formal and informal institutions; (2) market information and networking; (3) skills, technical capacities, and quality standards; and (4) International branding, visa requirement and lack of government support. The findings will help boost the growth potential ICT sector, address their needs, and raise policy awareness of the importance of the ICT sector for generating employment and economic growth. The study provides critical practical implications and policy recommendations for government, business associations and ICT companies.U ovom istraživanju ispituju se menadžerske percepcije izvoznih barijera kosovskih ICT tvrtki i predlažu strategije. U tu svrhu u istraživanju je provedena anketa među vlasnicima ili menadžerima ICT tvrtki na Kosovu. Analizirani su podaci prikupljeni online upitnikom na platformi Qualtrics. Rezultati ankete otkrivaju četiri značajne izvozne barijere: vanjske institucionalne barijere, kao što je vizni režim za građane Kosova za posjet tvrtkama u EU i pristup međunarodnim tržištima, pitanja financiranja za povećanje i rast i za prepreke u ljudskim resursima, te poteškoće u dobivanju sveobuhvatnih informacija o ciljanim tržištima i pronalaženje pravog partnera. Nalazi faktorske analize grupiraju izvozne barijere u četiri skupine: (1) formalne i neformalne institucije; (2) informacije o tržištu i umrežavanje; (3) vještine, tehnički kapaciteti i standardi kvalitete i (4) međunarodno brendiranje, vizni režim i nedostatak državne potpore. Nalazi će pomoći jačanju potencijala rasta ICT sektora, rješavanju njihovih potreba i podizanju političke svijesti o važnosti ICT sektora za stvaranje radnih mjesta i gospodarski rast. Ovo istraživanje pruža praktične implikacije i prijedloge strategija za vladu, poslovna udruženja i ICT tvrtke

GIBRATOV ZAKON I JOVANOVIĆEVA TEORIJA UČENJA: EMPIRIJSKI TEST ZA MALA PODUZEĆA U POST-KONFLIKTNOM GOSPODARSKOM OKRUŽENJU

This article tests the validity of Gibrat’s Law and Jovanovic’s learning theory for growing small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in post-conflict economy of Kosovo. Despite evolving body of evidence suggesting that Gibrat’s Law does not hold, there is a lack of empirical evidence from transitional and post-conflict economies. This study provides econometric analysis of the relationship of age, size and growth of SMEs. The article is based on pooled SME surveys conducted by Riinvest Institute (2004- 2006). Econometric findings show that Gibrat’s Law does not hold in all model specifications while support the conventional Jovanovic’s learning theory based on growth-size age model suggesting important policy implications for promotion of small firms in Kosovo.Ovaj članak testira validnost Gibratovog zakona i Jovanovićeve teorije učenja za rastuća mala i srednja poduzeća u post-konfliktnom gospodarstvu Kosova. Iako brojna istraživanja sugeriraju kako Gibratov zakon nije prihvaćen, nedostaju empirijska istraživanja iz tranzicijskih i post-konfliktnih ekonomija. Ovo istraživanje pruža ekonometrijsku analizu odnosa starosti, veličine i rasta malih i srednjih poduzeća. Članak se temelji na istraživanju malih i srednjih poduzeća koje je proveo Riinvest institut (2004-2006). Ekonometrijski rezultati ukazuju kako Gibratov zakon nije dokazan, dok je prihvaćena konvencionalna Jovanovićeva teorija učenja temeljena na modelu rast veličina-starost što rezultira važnim implikacijama za promociju malih poduzeća na Kosovu

Mapping business start-up ecosystem in Kosovo

The aim of this study is to critically review the existing initiatives of start-up support services for entrepreneurship growth in Kosovo. In the light of an increasing government and donor activities to support start-ups in Kosovo, there is a need for evaluation of these policy interventions to guide future entrepreneurship policy. Building on the political economy of small firm intervention literature and using mapping method the study identifies and critically evaluates the technical, financial and other support services to start-ups. The study uses secondary resources to explore the initiatives and understand the entrepreneurship growth ecosystem. The findings suggest that although there is an increased trend of business support services the entrepreneurship ecosystem has not gone beyond the traditional policy measures and in many areas remains in its infancy phase of development. Challenges remain in the area of provision of alternative forms of financing, incubation space and services and moreover, in the area of support for growth-oriented startups. The study concludes by providing alternative and additional policy intervention tools

Retained Surgical Foreign Bodies after Surgery

The problem of retained surgical bodies (RSB) after surgery is an issue for surgeons, hospitals and the entire medical team. They have potentially harmful consequences for the patient as they can be life threatening and usually, a further operation is necessary. The incidence of RSB is between 0.3 to 1.0 per 1,000 abdominal operations, and they occur due to a lack of organisation and communication between surgical staff during the process. Typically, the RSB are surgical sponges and instruments located in the abdomen, retroperitoneum and pelvis

IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL INTERVENTION PROGRAMS ON INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT: EVIDENCE FROM VEGETABLE SECTOR IN KOSOVO

The paper aims to analyse the feasibility of the vegetable crop production in Kosovo by developing a model used to measure the impact of agricultural intervention programs. For this purpose, we have used combination of direct costing (DC) and activity based costing (ABC) to assess the production costs schemes comparing the two crop modalities extended in the two different regions using different cultivars and different production technologies. This study uses a DC and ABC approach in calculating costs in the pepper and tomatoes’ production sectors and in the related agro-processing industries based on five case studies. The results derived from the adopted DC and ABC model in the vegetable sector provide more details and precise cost information that assist various managerial decisions, but are primarily used here to evaluate the impact of agricultural programmes on employment and income generation. It helps government and donors to decide between types of funding intervention programs and to see their impact on agricultural development and employment. Results, which referred to one-hectare area, showed both a higher economic and financial sustainability of good agricultural practice with respect to conventional farming, while the opposite was true in terms of employment effects of intervention programs. The study provides policy implications for both, policy makers and donors when estimating impact of interventions on employment and income levels

Complex matching of RDF datatype properties

Property mapping is a fundamental component of ontology matching, and yet there is little support that goes beyond the identification of single property matches. Real data often requires some degree of composition, trivially exemplified by the mapping of "first name" and "last name" to "full name" on one end, to complex matchings, such as parsing and pairing symbol/digit strings to SSN numbers, at the other end of the spectrum. In this paper, we propose a two-phase instance-based technique for complex datatype property matching. Phase 1 computes the Estimate Mutual Information matrix of the property values to (1) find simple, 1:1 matches, and (2) compute a list of possible complex matches. Phase 2 applies Genetic Programming to the much reduced search space of candidate matches to find complex matches. We conclude with experimental results that illustrate how the technique works. Furthermore, we show that the proposed technique greatly improves results over those obtained if the Estimate Mutual Information matrix or the Genetic Programming techniques were to be used independently. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40285-2_18

Fabrication of Ceramic Monoliths from Diatomaceous Earth: Effects of Calcination Temperature on Silica Phase Transformation

The raw diatomaceous earth from the vicinity of Bitola (North Macedonia) showed low bulk density (0.61–0.69 g/cm3), high-water absorption (75–81%) and porosity (66–72%). The chemical composition was determined with ICP-MS, revealing the following results for the diatomaceous earth: SiO2 (63.69 wt%), Al2O3 (11.79 wt%), Fe2O3 (5.95 wt%), MnO (0.15 wt%), TiO2 (0.65 wt%), CaO (1.51 wt%), MgO (2.24 wt%), P2O5 (0.13 wt%), K2O (1.64 wt%), Na2O (0.93 wt%), LOI (11.21 wt%). XRPD data of the examined sample of clayey diatomite mainly depicted crystalline behavior with a small presence of amorphous phase. The crystalline mineral phases mainly comprise: silica (quartz), feldspars (plagioclase), mica (muscovite), chlorites and dolomite. SEM and TEM results show cased presence of micro- and nanostructures with pores ranging from 250 to 600 nm. The clayey diatomite was sintered at three temperatures (900, 1000 and 1100ºC) for a period of 1 h. XRPD of the sintered samples at 1100ºC showed certain thermal stability and formation of new phases (mullite and tridymite) that makes the analyzed diatomaceous earth suitable for production of various types of ceramic, construction and thermal insulating materials

Compound double ileoileal and ileocecocolic intussusception caused by lipoma of the ileum in an adult patient: A case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The initial diagnosis of intussusception in adults very often can be missed and cause delayed treatment and possible serious complications. We report the case of an adult patient with complicated double ileoileal and ileocecocolic intussusception.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 46-year-old Caucasian man was transferred from the gastroenterology service to the abdominal surgery service with severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. An abdominal ultrasound, barium enema, and abdominal computed tomography scan revealed an intraluminal obstruction of his ascending colon. Plain abdominal X-rays showed diffuse air-fluid levels in his small intestine. A double ileoileal and ileocecocolic intussusception was found during an emergent laparotomy. A right hemicolectomy, including resection of a long segment of his ileum, was performed. The postoperative period was complicated by acute renal failure, shock liver, and pulmonary thromboembolism. Our patient was discharged from the hospital after 30 days. An anatomical pathology examination revealed a lipoma of his ileum.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Intussusception in adults requires early surgical resection regardless of the nature of the initial cause. Delayed treatment can cause very serious complications.</p