Ageing map of the Balkan Peninsula

Age structure of a population, representing the final result of all the demographic processes, tells a unique story which incorporates not only the main demographic components, but also its history, cultural and political characteristics of the population. Through its history the Balkan Peninsula has been alluring to all kinds of demographic research. The process of aging, which is intensifying in all developed countries, will increasingly be the main focus of future demographic research. Although there is undeniable general shift in the age structure, there are many regional differences in the Balkan Peninsula. Thus, for the purpose of this paper we created a choropleth map of the Balkans showing the age structure at NUTS 3 regional level. For the purposes of this paper borders of the Balkan Peninsula are defined by Jovan Cvijić in his homonymous work. Toward a more complete understanding of the ageing phenomena in the Balkans we conducted an analysis of regionalization of ageing, to serve as a backbone for the analysis of age structure at the national level. We compare ageing borders with ethnic, religious and political borders in the peninsula

Dva primera upotrebe teorije grafova u društvenim naukama: analiza interakcija na Tviteru tokom izbora 2016. u Srbiji i analiza GivingBalkans podataka o filantropiji na Zapadnom Balkanu

Teorije grafova i analiza društvenih mreža se sve češće koristi u različitim naukama za analizu i vizuelizaciju podataka. Prebacivanjem fokusa sa entiteta na veze koje entiteti imaju među sobom nudi potpuno novu dimenziju za istraživanje, a ta dimenzija se često previđa. Izlažu se dva primera primene teorija grafova. U prvom se analizira interakcija političara na Tviteru u Srbiji tokom parlamentarnih izbora 2016. godine. Tviter je izabran kao onlajn društvena mreža koja zauzima posebno mesto u javnom diskursu i zbog transparentnosti gotovo svih interakcija. Konkretno, mrežna analiza nudi nove uvide koji se ne mogu dobiti analizom sadržaja ili primenom konvencionalnih pokazatelja karakterističnih za društvenu mrežu Tviter, npr. broj pratilaca i ritvitova. Saznanja dobijena ovom analizom mogu biti od praktične koristi političkim akterima, kako bi otkrili nedostatke dosadašnje komunikacije na Tviteru i eventualno je popravili, ali i naučnoj i široj javnosti. Drugi primer se odnosi na podatke o filantorpiji. Fondacija Katalist iz Beograda sakuplja podatke o lokalnoj filantropiji na Zapadnom Balkanu. Njihova baza podataka GivingBalkans sadrži informacije o tome ko, kome i šta donira u državama Zapadnog Balkana. Takvi relacioni podaci se mogu apstrahovati kao grafovi i na taj način se dobija mnogo jasnija slika o filantropskom pejzažu nego što bi to bio slučaj sa konvencionalnom analizom

Philanthropy in the Western Balkans: A Network Analysis Report on Giving in the Region

Cross-country philanthropy research is problematic because of cultural, economic and political differences. The paper proposes an alternative approach of cross-country comparison by looking at the networks formed by donors and beneficiaries. Data on giving from local sources in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro gathered from media sources in the period between 2015 and 2019 was used to construct philanthropy networks. The analysis revealed unique features of each country’s philanthropy ecosystem: Croatia’s network is centralized and Serbia’s distributed. Montenegro’s network seems to be the most stable, while Albania’s network is the most unstable and Kosovo’s the most fractured. Network analysis can provide a unique macro perspective on a philanthropy landscape but also provide us with the micro-level knowledge, helping us ascertain positions of specific actors in the network. Growing data availability means that we could employ similar analysis more widely in the future

Assessing Premature Mortality in Serbia: Insights from the Median Age of Years of Life Lost

Premature mortality, defined as death occurring before a predetermined chronological age, is a significant public health challenge in Serbia, compounded by an aging population, high rates of non-communicable diseases, and healthcare system challenges. This study introduces a novel indicator, the Median Age of Years of Life Lost (MeAYPLL), to assess the age distribution of premature mortality in Serbia and selected European Union (EU) countries during the pre-pandemic period (2000-2019). The findings reveal that Serbia is among the European countries with the highest rates of premature mortality, similar to other former socialist countries. However, the age distribution of premature deaths varies considerably across countries, influenced by factors such as the cause of death and population age structure. The results show that Serbia, in the period between 2017 and 2019, lost 539,591.3 years of potential life annually with Serbian MeAYPLL being 57.62 years in this period. The study underscores the importance of considering multiple dimensions of premature mortality, including its intensity, age structure, and geographical variations, for designing effective public health interventions. It also highlights the limitations of the MeAYPLL indicator, recommending its use in conjunction with other measures of premature mortality intensity for a comprehensive assessment

East-West Demographic Divide In The Eu: A Regional Overview

The goal was to examine demographic differences between former communist regions and other regions of the EU. Besides providing a regional overview of EU’s demographic differences, we question whether the subnational approach offers any new insights into the East-West divide. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,155 EU’s NUTS3 regions from 2014. These regions are grouped in two groups: regions that were part of a communist country, and other regions. Mortality, fertility and age structure indicators were tested between the two groups of regions. GDP/c was used to control for differences in economic development by segmenting the regions into tree brackets: low, medium, and high. The differences were then tested for each indicator. Regional variation within countries for each indicator was also assessed. The gaps exist at regional level and are the widest with mortality and fertility schedule, regardless of GDP/c. Former communist regions on average tend to be slightly younger. Analysis of regional variation showed that subnational approach was warranted when studying East-West demographic disparities, especially when it comes to fertility schedule

Premature Mortality in Serbia

Disertacija se bavi prevremenim mortalitetom. U istraživanju se polazi od pretpostavke da prevremeni mortalitet predstavlja generalni pojam, a ne samo pokazatelj izgubljenih godina života (iako ga on najbolje opisuje). Pojam prevremenog mortaliteta se koristi u njegovom užem smislu, tj. odnosi se isključivo na hronološku starost. Centralni koncept u ovom istraživanju prevremenog mortaliteta jeste teret koji takva vrsta mortaliteta predstavlja za društvo i državu (Srbiju). Disertacija se nadovezuje na prethodna istraživanja prevremenog mortaliteta u Srbiji i svetu. Integrišu se srodni koncepti prevremenog mortaliteta i mortaliteta koji se može izbeći. Pored konvencionalnih načina za analizu mortaliteta, uvode se dimenzije koje ističu relativnost prevremenog mortaliteta sa više aspekata. Prostorni obuhvat disertacije je Republika Srbija bez Autonomne pokrajine Kosovo i Metohija. Ipak, analiza sadrži i različite geografske dimenzije, pa se pokazatelji računaju na dva administrativna nivoa: na republičkom i na opštinskom. Osim prevremenog mortaliteta u Republici Srbiji, disertacija daje prikaz prevremenog mortaliteta i u 35 izabranih evropskih država. Među izabranim državama su i zapadnoevropske i istočnoevropske države različitog ekonomskog razvoja. Stavljanjem Srbije u evropski kontekst omogućava komparaciju Srbije sa ostalim državama. Disertacija se bavi savremenim prevremenim mortalitetom pa je vremenski obuhvat disertacije godina sa najsvežijim postojećim podacima vitalne statistike za Srbiju i pet godina unazad (od 2015. do 2020. godine). U disertaciji se kvantifikuje prevremeni mortalitet u Srbiji i to ukupan prevremeni mortalitet, onaj koji se može izbeći prevencijom i pravovremenom i adekvatnom zdravstvenom negom, kao i mortalitet izazvan pandemijom SARS-CoV-2 i aerozagađenjem, finim PM2.5 česticama, koje najviše utiču na prevremeni mortalitet. Rezultati pokazuju da stanovništvo Srbije izgubi preko pola miliona godina potencijalnog života svake godine. Samo prva godina pandemije je imala cenu od preko 300 miliona američkih dolara u izgubljenoj produktivnosti. Aerozagađenje tipa PM2.5 košta Srbiju više od 200 miliona američkih dolara godišnje u izgubljenoj produktivnosti. Aerozagađenjem su najteže pogođene vojvođanske opštine. Nivo prevremenog mortaliteta je značajno viši u Srbiji nego u najrazvijenijim zemljama Evropske unije. Međutim, postoje države poput istočnoevropskih država (novih članica Evropske unije), koje i pored toga što su ekonomski razvijenije od Srbije imaju više stope prevremenog mortaliteta. Srbija je među 7 država sa najvišim prevremenim mortalitetom (od 35 analiziranih). Osim kvantifikacije prevremenog mortaliteta u disertaciji je ispitana korelacija pokazatelja društvenog razvoja, i pokazatelja udaljenosti od zdravstvene infrastrukture sa pokazateljima prevremenog mortaliteta. Najbolji prediktor prevremenog mortaliteta u Srbiji je siromaštvo mereno udelom korisnika nacionalne socijalne pomoći. U disertaciji su date preporuke u vidu promene paradigme kada je u pitanju populaciona politika (umesto pronatalitetne na onu koja zdravlje stavlja u fokus populacione politike), revizije strateških dokumenata, fokusiranje na prevenciju i otvaranje podataka kao jeftinog načina da se podstakne istraživanje, informiše i edukuje šira javnost.The dissertation deals with premature mortality. The research starts from the assumption that premature mortality is a general concept and not just an indicator – years of life lost (although this is the indicator that best describes it). The notion of premature mortality is used in its narrower sense, i.e., it refers exclusively to chronological age. The central concept in this study of premature mortality is the burden that this type of mortality represents for society and the state (Serbia). The dissertation builds on previous research on premature mortality in Serbia and the world. Related concepts of premature mortality and avoidable mortality are being integrated. In addition to conventional methods for analyzing mortality, dimensions are introduced that emphasizes the relativity of premature mortality from several aspects. The spatial scope of the dissertation is the Republic of Serbia without the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. However, the analysis also contains different geographical dimensions, so the indicators were calculated at two administrative levels: national and municipal. In addition to premature mortality in the Republic of Serbia, the dissertation provides an overview of premature mortality in 35 selected European countries. Among the selected countries are Western and Eastern European countries at different levels of economic development. Putting Serbia in the European context enables comparisons of Serbia with other countries. The dissertation deals with modern premature mortality, and the scope of the dissertation covers the year with the most recent existing data from vital statistics for Serbia and five previous years (2015 to 2020). The dissertation quantifies premature mortality in Serbia, namely total premature mortality, that mortality that could have been avoided by prevention and timely and adequate health care, as well as mortality caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and air pollution by fine PM2.5 particles, a type of air pollution that contributes the most to total premature mortality. The results show that the population of Serbia loses over half a million years of potential life every year. The first year of the pandemic alone cost more than $ 300 million in lost productivity. PM2.5 air pollution costs Serbia more than 200 million US dollars a year in lost productivity. The municipalities of Vojvodina are hit the hardest by air pollution. The level of premature mortality is significantly higher in Serbia than in the most developed countries of the European Union. However, there are countries like Eastern European countries (new members of the European Union), which, despite being more economically developed than Serbia, have higher premature mortality rates. Serbia is among the seven countries with the highest premature mortality (out of 35 analyzed). In addition to the quantification of premature mortality, the dissertation examines the correlation of indicators of social development and distance from health infrastructure with indicators of premature mortality. The best predictor of premature mortality in Serbia is poverty – measured by the share of beneficiaries of national social assistance. The dissertation provides recommendations in the form of a paradigm shift when it comes to population policy (instead of pronatalist one to the one that puts health in focus as population policy), revision of strategic documents, focus on prevention, and open data as a cheap way to encourage research, information propagation and education of the public