Reviewing development of active labour market policies and the evaluation techniques

Active labor market policies are commonly used tool to fight unemployment. In the early 1960s all Scandinavian countires have introduced several different measures to have an effect on their labor markets. In the late 1970s in most developed countries of OECD government expenditures on those policies reached the level of 1-1.5% of GDP. High levels of expenditures created a need to assess the impact of such measures and perform their cost-benefit analysis. Evaluations have in the previous 30 years been undertaken by using different methods: from experimental and quasi-experimental, to micro and macro analyses. Most precise evaluations are based on complex econometric methods. Moreover, during last decade there have been several meta-analyses to make cross-analysis of evaluations made worldwide in a long time-span. General conclusions of most papers are that ALMP do not have very high influence on the employability. The best results are experienced in services provided by local national employment services, as well in training programs, especially in on-job training. In the last few years there have appeared some indications that subsidized employment has high positive effects, however there is no general consensus on that matter. Despite large number of published papers on evaluations, there has been no research aimed on analyzing overall ALMP effects on the economy, and creation of a model which could ex-ante estimate future effects of ALMP.Active policies, evaluation, econometric models, economy

DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR – CASE OF SERBIA

New trends in global economy require greater capacity of the agricultural workforce. In order improve agricultural productivity it is needed to increase the level of human capital of the agrarian population. Human capital is accumulated knowledge, created in the long term process of human resources development, which begins in early stages and last all through the life, which is especially true for agricultural business. During transition Serbian economy went through major changes, with agriculture trailing to other sectors of the economy. Each farmer is producing only around 3,000 € gross added value per year, which is substantially lower than in other sectors. This paper will analyze what innovative activities are used worldwide in agriculture and give some possible solutions for investments in human capital and development of human resources in order to increase the level of competitiveness. Finally we analyze Serbian agricultural education system and give some instructions for improvements.agricultural sector, productivity, human capital, education, reform, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital, Productivity Analysis,

Razvoj privrede zasnovan na ulaganjima u ljudske resurse i stranim investicijama

In this book the author analyses three very important aspects of transition: human resources, foreign investments and financial sector. At the beginning there is an analysis of investments in human resources. It starts by definition and types of human resources, and continues with definition of knowledge life cycles and the process of human resources management. The work organization with the work process has been defined. Chapter ends by overview of the level of investments in human resources on the global level and distribution of those investments. Further on author presents two types of investments in HR. Investments in HR are a life-long process which mostly consists of formal education performed in educational institutions and non-formal education within family and work organizations. Special attention was drawn to the process of talents and managers development, as a tool to achieve sustainable system for development of organizations and economy as a whole. Current investment trends in human resources are presented, with review of the literature with citation of other authors’ findings on the topic of relation between investments in human resources and organizational performance. Further on there has been presented the system of evaluation of investments in HR, according to which the model of questionnaire which is used in empirical research has been made. Closing the chapter there is an analysis of increase of competitiveness achieved by investments in education and development of human resources in organizations. Section 2 starts with analysis of Serbian economy in transition. There is a comparative analysis with other transition countries, with special attention to financial sector. All factors that have had and which still have influence on Serbian transition are analyzed including factors of political instability and business infrastructure. It has been shown that despite all difficulties in transition, this process in Serbia is bringing positive results, especially in the financial sector. Ethical questions of transition like unemployment, pace of reforms, and employees involvement in the process are covered. It is shown that starting growth of unemployment as a direct result of transition is loosing its pace, and that during last two years there is a change of trend, with employment levels steadily rising. Real wages have been growing during the whole period of transition, and in order to have such positive results in the field of human resources to continue, it is necessary to include social partners in strategic planning of the future strategies in transition. Next topic covers the level of competitiveness created by investments in human resources in Serbian economy, its productive industry, and specially financial sector as a core of the research. According to results of the research the level of investment in education in Serbia is shown, with special attention to non-formal education. Most important national strategies which have been adopted in last few years are analyzed. This shows that regulations framework for development of human resources on the national level has been completed. At the end of the chapter are shown the characteristics of working population and some recommendations are given for the future corrective actions on the national level. Section three deals with investments and foreign investments in Serbia and relates them to investments in human resources, covering current trends of FDI in transition countries. It is explained how development of human resources influences the capacity for attracting foreign investments. The virtual circle of investments in HR and FDI is presented, the implementation of which enables technology transfer required for the economy growth and creation of qualitative competitive advantage on the global level. Legal and structural environment in which foreigners operate when investing in Serbia is covered. The levels and types of foreign investments during the transition period, with recommendations on how to approach the second stage of transition which begins with privatization of large scale public companies in Serbia are studied in details. The effects of human resources on transition and on level of foreign investments are analyzed with special attention to financial sector. There is an overview of knowledge based economy with recommendations on how to use current stage in virtual cycle in which Serbia is now in order to avoid the effect of economic crisis which is present on the world market during year 2009. Chapter ends with the analysis of the fundamental approach to human resources in the investment process of foreign investors. Section 4 introduces the empirical research of the companies operating in Serbian financial sector. The results give the insight of how this sector was developing during transition, what is the level of foreign investments and set the basis to establish relationship between FDI with investments in human resources made in companies and in the economy as a whole. There is a business analysis of financial institutions in Serbia. Major business indicators are analyzed with coverage of the level of employment. There are the results of empirical research and correlation analysis of HCI index level with business indicators Section five concludes the book with overview on how hypotheses are tested throughout the paper. It also gives some recommendations and perspectives regarding future research in this multidisciplinary topic

Reviewing development of active labour market policies and the evaluation techniques

Active labor market policies are commonly used tool to fight unemployment. In the early 1960s all Scandinavian countires have introduced several different measures to have an effect on their labor markets. In the late 1970s in most developed countries of OECD government expenditures on those policies reached the level of 1-1.5% of GDP. High levels of expenditures created a need to assess the impact of such measures and perform their cost-benefit analysis. Evaluations have in the previous 30 years been undertaken by using different methods: from experimental and quasi-experimental, to micro and macro analyses. Most precise evaluations are based on complex econometric methods. Moreover, during last decade there have been several meta-analyses to make cross-analysis of evaluations made worldwide in a long time-span. General conclusions of most papers are that ALMP do not have very high influence on the employability. The best results are experienced in services provided by local national employment services, as well in training programs, especially in on-job training. In the last few years there have appeared some indications that subsidized employment has high positive effects, however there is no general consensus on that matter. Despite large number of published papers on evaluations, there has been no research aimed on analyzing overall ALMP effects on the economy, and creation of a model which could ex-ante estimate future effects of ALMP

DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR – CASE OF SERBIA

New trends in global economy require greater capacity of the agricultural workforce. In order improve agricultural productivity it is needed to increase the level of human capital of the agrarian population. Human capital is accumulated knowledge, created in the long term process of human resources development, which begins in early stages and last all through the life, which is especially true for agricultural business. During transition Serbian economy went through major changes, with agriculture trailing to other sectors of the economy. Each farmer is producing only around 3,000 € gross added value per year, which is substantially lower than in other sectors. This paper will analyze what innovative activities are used worldwide in agriculture and give some possible solutions for investments in human capital and development of human resources in order to increase the level of competitiveness. Finally we analyze Serbian agricultural education system and give some instructions for improvements

Analysis of the Process and Development Stages of Efficient Marketing Communications

In this paper the authors analyze the process and stages of development in contemporary marketing communications. Communications represent the “voice” of a product/service or brand that the company desires to promote. However, under the influence of the increasing fragmentation of world markets and the media, reinforced global competitive struggle, technological advances in the field of telecommunications, there is a significant shift in profiling the communication mix, in terms of adopting the concept of integrated marketing communications, which should create the basis for communication strategy towards target audience, with a goal to significantly improve the effectiveness of marketing strategies

Dynamics of Female Participation in Higher Education and Employment- The Absorption Index

In recent decades there is constant growth of female enrolment in the higher education in Europe, but it is generally observed that such trend is not reflected in the labour market. The goal of this paper is to present the Absorption Index (AI) as an indicator for dynamic comparison of female participation in tertiary education and their later participation in work force. The main purpose for introducing this indicator is to identify the countries with successful labour markets when it comes to the employment of women with tertiary education. The general conclusion is that the growth of female students is faster than employment growth and as a consequence there is increasing number of unemployed female with tertiary education in the labour market

Pharmaceutical Sector in Serbia in the Period 1990-2013

In this paper authors give an overview of the development of the pharmaceutical industry in former Yugoslavia and Serbia in the period 1990-2013. The aim is to examine whether pharmaceutical industry, which was largely fragmented at the beginning of 90’s, after a decade of privatization and restructuring had come to consolidation. In this paper we review the essentials of the pharmaceutical industry as well as key trends in that industry. In addition, there has been analyzed the privatization process in the pharmaceutical sector, as well as the outcomes of these privatizations. There was also presented the market distribution with market shares of the largest manufacturers of drugs and medical products, and trends that have shaped the market structure of the pharmaceutical industry in the analyzed period. In conclusion we can say that foreign owned pharmaceutical companies, as compared to domestic companies record higher and above average levels of profitability indicators. This indicates that there is a need for another round of restructuring in public owned companies in Serbia

System of Direct Debit as a Method of Efficient Receivables Collection in Serbia

For many years Serbia has faced the problem of inadequate financial discipline which has, as in most EU countries, culminated after 2008. Procrastination of receivables collection at the request of creditors represents a major problem, which leads to a permanent increase in business sector illiquidity. In contrast to the EU which introduced strict deadlines for obligations settling in October 2010, Serbia did not want to increase state intervention in the free market flux. In paperwork the authors show what steps the Republic of Serbia are undertaking to improve the situation, above all through the Direct Debit model implementation, which is in the EU also at an early stage. The paper also presents a broad SEPA initiative which is implemented in stages in the EU from early 2004 and is planned to be completed by 2011, with special emphasis on Direct Debit schemes as an integral component. Specifically, the paper describes the Direct Debit scheme, which was introduced into the payment system in Serbia in order to improve the situation and create conditions for increased liquidity and the overall competitiveness of the economy, without introducing any drastic measures such as restricting the term of payment. In addition, the aim of the paperwork was also to show the full commitment to European integration, primarily in the field of payment systems. Finally, the paper shows that the measures implemented in Serbia may facilitate the collection of receivables, especially with the increasing effectiveness of enforcement of a claim, and lead to cheaper realization of the debit transfer