Some aspects of business operations of Serbian economy in 2017

After a period of stagnation, caused by the global economic crisis, the Serbian economy has been transformed into a growing economy with a satisfactory level of price and currency stability. In order to maintain this trend in the future and to ensure further acceleration of economic activity, it is necessary to identify the key problems faced by companies in every economic segment. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to identify the segments of the economy with the most favourable and the disadvantageous business economy, as well as the advantages and limitations of each segment individually. To perform this comparative analysis, the ratio analysis was applied in combination with PROMETHEE and the entropy method. Research results suggested that medium enterprises and those operating in the sector of information and communication and in the region of Vojvodina had the most favourable business economics, while the micro enterprises, those who operate in the construction sector and in the region of Kosovo and Metohija were in the worst economic and financial situation. On the basis of the obtained results, appropriate recommendations and guidelines for improvement of the business economics in the worst ranked segments of the economy have been defined

SOCIJALNE, EKONOMSKE, RIBARSTVENE I KONZERVACIJSKE ODLIKE MUŠIČARENJA U SRBIJI

Modern fly fishing, mainly for brown trout and grayling, has been done on a local scale and in low extensity in Serbia for over 50 years. Data obtained from 117 fly fishermen filling out an online questionnaire, with 30 questions processed using multivariate analysis, revealed that most fishermen who had started fly fishing since 2000 were under 40. Only few who were under 20 started to fish initially with the fly fishing equipment. They turned up committed to and skilled in fly fishing. Most of them live in large municipalities with much better economic opportunities. Their level of education is above average in Serbia. Economic power, place of residence and level of education outline their fishing capabilities, frequency of fishing outings, distance they travel to fly fish, as well as their attitudes towards fishery policy, conservation of native brown trout and grayling stocks, management of streams and communication with other fly fishermen.Suvremeno mušičarenje, prije svega potočne pastrve i lipljena, postoji više od 50 godina u Srbiji na lokalnom nivou i slabog je intenziteta. Podaci od 117 mušičara dobiveni anketiranjem upitnikom sastavljenim od 30 pitanja putem Interneta, analizirani multivarijatno, pokazali su da je većina onih koji su počeli mušičariti od 2000. godine starosti ispod 40 godina. Samo mali broj onih mlađih od 20 godina mušičari su od početka bavljenja ribolovom. Svi anketirani pojedinci vrlo su posvećeni mušičarenju i posjeduju potrebne mušičarske vještine. Veliki dio njih živi u velikim gradovima gdje postoje bolje ekonomske mogućnosti. Njihov obrazovni nivo je iznad prosječnog u Srbiji. Ekonomska moć, mjesto stanovanja i obrazovni nivo određuju njihove mogućnosti za ribolov, učestalost odlaska na ribolov, daljinu na koju putuju radi ribolova, kao i njihove stavove prema ribarstvenoj politici, očuvanju autohtonih fondova potočne pastrve i lipljena, ribarstvenom upravljanju pastrvskim i lipljenskim vodama i komunikaciji s drugim mušičarim

Factors of the shadow economy in market and transition economies during the post-crisis period: is there a difference?

The shadow economy (SE) is a global phenomenon that affects every country. However, its forms and mechanisms may differ depending on a country's socio-economic characteristics. The major characteristic is a country’s economic system. Hence, market and transition economies can be affected differently. Given that the size of the SE directly affects the level of tax revenue, it is particularly important to investigate the factors of the SE during the post-crisis period, when policymakers need sufficient budgetary funds to implement anti-crisis measures. In that sense, this paper aims to identify the differences in the factors that boosted the SE in 17 market and 19 transition economies in Europe between 2009-2014. The research is based on the PLS-SEM method. A country’s wealth and development, market openness, tax system and political environment are employed as the major SE factors. These factors are the most common in previous literature when investigating the issues of the shadow economy and are most appropriate for this research. The results suggest that particular factors of the SE differently affect market and transition economies. In transition economies, a favourable political environment, greater wealth and development, as well as a lower tax burden contribute to a smaller size of the SE, whereas greater market openness and a higher tax burden lead to a larger size of the SE. The links between market openness, tax system and the SE are not, however, statistically significant. Like transition economies, market economies are characterized by the positive impact of political environment and wealth and development when combating the SE. Unlike in transition economies, the size of the SE in market economies is reduced by a high tax burden and greater market openness. In the latter case, there is only one statistically insignificant path coefficient – it represents the relationship between the SE and market openness. The Multi-Group Analysis (MGA) method was employed to compare the path coefficients estimated for the country groups under consideration. The results indicate that the only difference in the path coefficients representing the relationship between market openness and the SE is not statistically significant. Based on the research results, some recommendations for policymakers in transition and market economies are provided in the conclusion