COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES AND COMPETITIVENESS: EVIDENCE FROM TRADE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA WITH ITS MAIN PARTNERS

The paper analyzes revealed comparative advantages and international competitiveness of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in trade with its main partners between 2008 and 2017. By comparing results of two different concepts of success in trade, the paper aims to identify characteristics of BiH position in its most important bilateral trade relations. Several indicators of international specialization and competitiveness at macro and meso level are employed, such as Balassa index of revealed comparative advantage (RCA), trade balance and the difference between export and import price units. Research results indicate that position of BiH in bilateral trade should be improved: revealed comparative advantage exists only in trade with Serbia, import dominates in one-way flows, while trade categories representing unsuccessful price and quality competition of BiH industries prevail in two-way matched trade. The analysis discovered some structural shift in terms of increasing shares of categories with successful competition in trade with all trading partners. The test of consistency between RCA index and two-dimensional international competitiveness measures indicated more consistent results when comparing revealed comparative disadvantage to unsuccessful competition

BILATERAL TRADE TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: CASE OF TRADE WITH TURKEY

A country’s trade pattern reflects its supply (export) and demand (import) specialization indicating national performance and competitiveness in the foreign as well as in the domestic market. By applying two different concepts of trade specialization (one based on traditional trade theories of comparative advantages and the other based on modern trade theories), complemented with analysis of export-import flows and relations, the paper aims to identify characteristics of the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in its bilateral trade. The paper investigates trends, patterns and variations in trade of BiH with Turkey during the eleven-year time frame (2009-2019), with a special regard to identifying industries with revealed comparative advantages and industries with dominancy of IIT. The analysis employs different indicators such as indices of export composition, sectoral diversification/concentration, IIT intensity and structure, quality of exports and imports based on relative unit values and classification of industries by technological intensity. The research results indicated an unfavourable position of BiH in trade with Turkey, with no prominent changes in the observed period. Trade deficit is constantly present, with low export-import coverage and a declining export trend. The analysis revealed a higher level of export product concentration primarily on low value added products, and comparative advantages of BiH in fewer industries, mainly resource-based or medium-technologically intensive. Trade with Turkey is extremely inter-industry trade, viewed both at aggregate and industrial level, also pointing to BiH's low competitiveness in analyzed trade relations

The Comparative Analysis of Export Competitiveness of ex-Yu Countries

The paper deals with the analysis of ex-Yugoslav countries' export performance (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia) over the period 2006-2013. The paper is aimed at assessing these countries’ export competitiveness and determining its dynamics in trade with the world. The analysis included the research into and comparison of export characteristics – the volume and dynamics of export flows, geographic and product export structure and concentration, technological export sophistication, export specialization expressed through revealed comparative advantage, intensity and direction of change in export structure. In order to gain a comprehensive insight into export competitiveness, a few indicators were used: Balassa RCA index, Michaely index, Herfindahl-Hirschman concentration indices, etc. The indices were calculated based on the information from relevant databases of the World Bank and International Trade Centre, aggregated at the second and sixth HS2002 level, for the eight-year period and/or for the first and the last year. The research revealed that ex-YU countries’ export performance is generally unsatisfactory, despite the progress that individual countries registered in the observed period. Most countries have comparative advantage in the products of traditional, declining industries, a high share of semiproducts and primary products, and a negligible share of high-technology products in their export portfolio, a stagnating export structure, and a low degree of geographic and product export diversification. Mutual comparisons showed that the group is not homogenous and that, besides the described common characteristics, there are significant differences within the group in certain aspects of export competitiveness. The EU member–states, Croatia and particularly Slovenia, have a series of advantages compared to countries that are candidates and potential candidate. The greatest progress toward the improved export competitiveness was achieved by Serbia, while Montenegro got the poorest rating for export competitiveness

PRIKAZ KONFERENCIJE: 1. međunarodna konferencija hrvatske probacijske službe „10+ iskustva i novi izazovi razvoja probacije”

PRIKAZ KONFERENCIJE: 1. međunarodna konferencija hrvatske probacijske službe „10+ iskustva i novi izazovi razvoja probacije

PRIKAZ KONFERENCIJE: 1. međunarodna konferencija hrvatske probacijske službe „10+ iskustva i novi izazovi razvoja probacije”

PRIKAZ KONFERENCIJE: 1. međunarodna konferencija hrvatske probacijske službe „10+ iskustva i novi izazovi razvoja probacije

Razvoj suradnje probacijskog i zatvorskog sustava – idemo li u dobrom smjeru?

Hrvatska je probacijska služba započela s radom 2011. godine, a probacijske poslove tijekom izvršavanja kazne zatvora i uvjetnog otpusta obavlja od 2013. godine. Od tada broj ovih predmeta kontinuirano raste te se sada polovica svih predmeta koje godišnje zaprima probacijska služba odnosi na izvršavanje ovih probacijskih poslova. Veći broj predmeta i veća uključenost probacijske službe tijekom izvršavanja kazne zatvora i uvjetnog otpusta ukazuje i na potrebu kvalitetne suradnje probacijskog i zatvorskog sustava. Na europskom se području učinkovita suradnja zatvorskih i probacijskih sustava smatra nužnom za svrhovito izvršavanje kazni zatvora i obavljanje probacijskih poslova. U okviru rehabilitacijskog pristupa prepoznate su određene manjkavosti postojećih suradnji, uz istovremeno isticanje modaliteta koji se pokazuju učinkovitima ili obećavajućima. Ovaj rad donosi analizu razvoja suradnje probacijskog i zatvorskog sustava u našoj zemlji, u odnosu na postojeća europska iskustva, uz zaključne preporuke daljnjeg razvoja te suradnje u smjeru dobrih europskih praksi

VALUTNI RIZIK U METALNOM SEKTORU BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE

Osnovni cilj rada je analiza različitih aspekata valutnog rizika u najznačajnijemizvoznom sektoru u Bosni i Hercegovini – metalnom sektoru. Istraživanjem se nastojaloutvrditi da li se preduzeća u ovom sektoru suočavaju sa valutnim rizikom,te da li koriste instrumente zaštite od valutnog rizika. Dodatno je istraživano da lipostoji veza između određenih karakteristika preduzeća (veličina, djelatnost i učešćeizvoza u ukupnom prihodu) i valutnog rizika izraženog kroz postojanje kursnih razlikau finansijskim izvještajima. U istraživanju su korištene statističke metode – deskriptivnai induktivna statistika, te neparametarski i parametarski statistički testovikao χ2-test o nezavisnosti dva obilježja, F-test i t-test razlike aritmetičkih sredinadvije populacije. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da više od polovine obuhvaćenihpreduzeća ostvaruje oko 90% svojih prihoda izvozom na ino-tržišta. Uprkos tome,implementacija menadžmenta valutnog rizika je nezavisno od veličine preduzeća navrlo niskom nivou posmatrano kroz primjenu instrumenata zaštite od rizika. Rezultatiistraživanja pokazali su, također, da ne postoji statistički signifikantna razlika upostojanju kursnih razlika između preduzeća u metalnom sektoru BiH u zavisnostiod njihove veličine, djelatnosti i prosječnog učešća izvoza u ukupnom prihodu

Conditional Release in the Perspective of Modern Croatian Legislation and the Criminal Justice Practice of the Probation Service

Mogućnost uvjetnog otpuštanja zatvorenika postoji u mnogim europskim zemljama. O značaju tog instituta govore i europske preporuke, u kojima se uvjetni otpust navodi kao jedan od najučinkovitijih načina postizanja socijalne reintegracije zatvorenika i prevencije recidivizma. Radi se o važnom institutu penitencijarnog prava i jednom od najvažnijih mehanizama moderne penološke prakse, naročito u smislu ostvarivanja participativnog pristupa izvršavanju zatvorske kazne. Svojevrsna reforma tog instituta, ostvarena kroz nedavnu opću reformu kaznenopravnih sankcija u našoj zemlji, prikazana je u prvom dijelu rada kroz komparativnu analizu ranijih i aktualnih zakonskih odredbi. S obzirom na europske preporuke jedna je od zadaća hrvatskog zakonodavstva bila i uvesti nadzor probacijske službe u institut uvjetnog otpusta. Stoga se u drugom dijelu rada daje prikaz donošenja i promjena zakonskih propisa, ustrojavanja te službe i aktualnih modaliteta uključenosti službe u izvršavanje uvjetnog otpusta, uz analizu nekih obilježja uvjetnog otpusta i populacije kojoj je uz uvjetni otpust bio određen i nadzor probacijske službe. Analizirana je dokumentacija iz 6176 predmeta uvjetnog otpusta koji su zaprimljeni na izvršavanje u razdoblju od 2013. do 2019. godine . Osim na respektabilan broj uvjetnih otpusta koji se izriču i na intenciju hrvatskog zakonodavca da konstantno usklađuje domaće zakonodavstvo s najsuvremenijom europskom legislativom, radom se upozorava i na značaj intervencija usmjerenih na socijalnu reintegraciju zatvorenika, koje su dodatno omogućene ustrojavanjem probacijske službe, kao i na važnost evaluiranja domaće prakse izvršnog kaznenog prava i provođenja istraživanja.The possibility of c onditional release is available in many European countries. The importance of this institute is also supported by European recommendations indicating that conditional release is one of the most effective and constructive ways of achieving the social reintegration of prisoners and for the prevention of recidivism. It is an important measure of penitentiary law and one of the most important mechanisms of modern penological practice, especially in terms of achieving a participatory approach to the execution of prison sentences. The fi rst part of the paper presents one kind of reform of this mechanism achieved through the recent reform of general criminal sanctions in Croatia, through a comparative analysis of previous and current legal provisions. With respect to European recommendations, one of the tasks of the Croatian legislation was to introduce supervision by the probation service into the institute of conditional release. Consequently, the second part of the paper presents an overview of the adoption and changes of the legal regulations, the organisation and development of the probation service, and the current modalities of the involvement of the probation service in conditional release cases, with an analysis of some characteristics of conditional release and its population ordered into probation supervision. The research analysed the documentation of the probation service of 6,176 conditional release cases, which were executed from 2013 to 2019. Apart from the respectable number of conditional release decisions and the intention of the Croatian legislator to continuously harmonise domestic with the latest European legislation, this paper also shows the importance of interventions aimed at the social reintegration of prisoners which are additionally provided through the established probation service, as well as the importance of evaluating domestic executive criminal law practice and of conducting further research