Determining the Effectiveness of ALMP on Youth in Serbia

The focus of research in this paper is on analysing the effective-ness of the active labour market policies in one of the largest vulnerable groups in Serbian labour market - youth population. By means the nearest neighbour matched pair design applied on the youth population cohort at the labour market, the aim was to determine what policies bring about the most gains in comparison to their absence. Moreover by using PSM methodology there was performed a micro-evaluation of several different types of ALMP used in Serbia with a goal of obtaining precise information on the difference in effects among such policies. Main results show that labour market policies for youth population are at least as effective as for general population, leading to around 28% higher chance of a person participating in the treatment to remain employed 6 months later as compared to non-participants. Employment and start-up incentives and apprenticeship training show best results, but surpris-ingly public works have shown nearly no effects, with an expected net loss in a long term

Export Activity of Croatian Companies: Does Innovation Matter?

The Republic of Croatia is geographically part of Eastern Europe. On this market, Croatia has accomplished the best results in export. The structure and the amount of foreign trade of the national economy depend on technological achievements, organizational superiority and managerial skills, and on that basis, lower costs, with an emphasis on high quality and differentiation of products and services. Following the aforementioned, in the modern economy, innovation often represents the key competence of a company. However, the complex nature of innovation is evident in the theoretical approach to innovation, contradictory results of studies and distinctive analyses of the impact of innovation on certain economic aspects. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to examine the innovations of goods and services in service of increasing the export in Eastern Europe on the sample of Croatian companies engaged in export activities. Results of the survey showed that innovation activities of companies, directed at the Eastern European market, have a negative impact on export activities in these markets. This result indicates actually that Croatian companies participate in foreign markets with already tested, wellestablished and well-known products. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

The Darker Side of Fintech: the Emergence of New Risks

The financial sector has always been recognized as a traditional activity. One of the biggest challenges facing the financial sector recently is the introduction of new technologies. Financial innovations, and especially the development of financial technologies (FinTech), contribute to changing the way the entire financial system, including the banking sector, changes in the digital economy. The changes brought about by financial innovations and technologies condition all market participants, and especially banks, to continuously improve their business in order to keep up with the competition. FinTech enable easier access to financial services, improvement of traditional services, provide greater efficiency, lower costs and automation of regulatory reporting. They have changed the way we perceive financial institutions. Banks can increasingly be seen as an application on the phone and computer through which financial services can be performed, less and less as a grand building that instils confidence. However, it should be borne in mind that the application of financial innovations, in addition to the advantages, carries with it many risks, in a way that it can be said that digital technologies change existing ones, but also bring new risks in the field of financial services. The key risks caused by these technologies include strategic, operational and cyber risk, the risk of business compliance with data protection regulations, as well as liquidity risk. The importance of outsourcing risk is not negligible. It is precisely because of the speed of change and innovation that new risks are constantly emerging. With the growing importance and number of these firms, as well as the speed of their cross-border transactions, the fact is that it is necessary that these firms must adjust the way they measure risk in accordance with the speed and pace of their development. The importance of risk management must be one of the key points for FinTech companies, both now and in the future. Due to the observation of advances in financial technologies and the assessment of the risks that financial innovations bring, there is a need to harmonize regulatory frameworks, in order to ensure that none of the financial service providers would be at a disadvantage. However, regulatory bodies must carefully consider the dynamics and manner of regulation, bearing in mind that in a rapidly changing environment, excessive and rapid regulation carries the risk of undesirable outcomes in a way that does not exploit the full potential of innovative technologies. The development and increasing use of financial technologies affects the activities of all participants in the financial market, which imposes the need for continuous learning and adaptation of users and providers of these services, as well as supervisors and regulators. An additional challenge for financial institutions is the fact that competition in the provision of financial services comes from IT companies, which necessarily imposes the need to adapt its business models. Financial institutions are facing one of the biggest business challenges. All this brings special challenges for the creators of regulatory standards (RegTech) and the development of supervision based on new technologies (SupTech)

PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF CABLE-STAYED FOOTBRIDGE

Rad prikazuje idejno rješenje pješačkog mosta preko rijeke Drave u Osijeku. Širina vodene prepreke koju je potrebno premostiti iznosi 195,0 m. Odabrano rješenje je ovješeni armiranobetonski most s jednim ekscentričnim kosim pilonom. Grafički prikaz mosta je izrađen u programskom paketu AutoCad, a numerički model mosta u programskom paketu SAP2000 v14.2. Na osnovi odabranih izmjera pojedinih dijelova konstrukcije, analize promjenjivog opterećenja prema EN1991-2 te odgovarajućih kombinacija opterećenja (EN1990), izvršena je modalna analiza i proračun odgovarajućih reznih sila mosta.This paper presents a preliminary design of a footbridge over the River Drava in Osijek. Width of the water obstacle is 195,0 m. The selected solution is cable-stayed reinforced concrete bridge with an eccentric inclined pylon. Graphical drawings of the bridge were made in AutoCad software package and numerical model in the SAP2000 v14.2 software package. Modal analysis and calculation of the section forces was performed on the basis of selected dimensions of certain parts of the bridge structure, the analysis of variable loads according to EN1991-2 and the appropriate combination of loads according to EN1990

PEST Analysis of Serbia

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the current Serbian macro-environment on the businesses through the implementation of PEST analysis as a framework for assessing general or macro environment in which companies are operating. The authors argue the elements in presented PEST analysis indicate that the current macro-environment is characterized by the dominance of threats and weaknesses with few opportunities and strengths. Consequently, there is a strong need for faster implementation of structural changes in order to eliminate or minimize the impact of weaknesses and threats of the current macro-environment and create more favorable business climate that would enable companies to formulate effective strategies and to raise their business performances

ADAPTATION OF THE HP LIFE PROGRAM FOR PROMOTION OF THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

This text is dealing with attempt of Management department, of Technical faculty in Bor, todevelop and further sustain the „entrepreneurial spirit“among young people. The subject of the paperis the HP LIFE program, in which Technical faculty in Bor is the only partner institution from Serbia.Besides up-to-date IT equipment obtained by Hewlett Packard in previous phases of this project,during 2012 this project was financially sustained by the Serbian institution „Centre for promotionof science“. This support will increase the scope of project activities during this year, including newtarget groups

Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions for the SME Development in Serbia

The SME development in Serbia, like in the most of the Western Balkans countries, shows a significant improvement. Serbia has adopted the SME development policy which is in accordance with the EU policies and is actively engaged on improvement of the business environment in order to foster the SME further expansion. It has moved from the phase of formulating policy and defining strategic objectives to implementing policy, particularly in the field of start-ups, provision of business services and dissemination of information. Analysis of the current framework conditions for the SME sector, and its role and significance, demonstrate considerable enhancements in transition period. However, SMEs in Serbia still face numerous problems, that this sector encounters in its business operating. The analysis of business environment for SMEs in Serbia has been performed through consideration of poll survey Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) as well as annual reports „SME Policy Index 2007” and „SME Policy Index 2009” which show realized progress in application of the European Charter for Small Enterprises in the Western Balkans with special emphasis on Serbia. The most important findings in the paper suggest that, despite realized progress, business environment in Serbia is still under-stimulating for SMEs development due to certain limitations of legal, procedural and financial nature, whereby defined recommendations for improvement of framework for business operating of SMEs in Serbia have been formulated

Attractiveness of Serbia for foreign direct investments: tendencies, obstacles and perspectives

Taking in account the role and the importance of the FDI, as well as the measures for stimulating the FDI inflows, the overall objective of this paper is to investigate attractiveness of Serbia for inwards FDI, particularly within the South-East European region. The focal point of this paper has been the research on tendencies, sector distribution and spillovers of the FDI in Serbia. Comparison of experiences from the region is given, and some of the best practices are identified, in order to indicate to the direction that Serbia should follow in the future. Furthermore, the key current obstacles for inflow of FDI to Serbia have been analyzed and especially attractiveness of business environment for foreign investors, effects of Serbian national brand, country risk and the role of supporting institutions. Last, but not least, this paper has an aim to identify perspectives of FDI to Serbia in the coming period. Furthermore, the main factors that determine FDI inflow have been evaluated, in order to provide policy recommendations over the obstacles to the FDI increase in Serbia

Urban recycling of derelict industrial sites: analysis of socio-economic redevelopment of post-industrial districts

In the reclamation of derelict industrial areas it is essential to define the contributions of the urban landscape components, once different approaches to these components, may give different ways to reclaim this landscapes, allowing the use of different design strategies. To specify the different design strategies that may be used in the reclamation of derelict industrial areas three case studies will be presented, each one related with a different strategy. Based on the applied strategy, this thesis will analyze the three case studies: Industrial heritage in Manchester; Distillery District in Toronto; Industrial heritage in Terrassa. In these projects it was found that the adopted design strategies are beneficial to the society, economy and the environment respecting the models of urban recycling. Through the case studies, in this thesis will be present models of financing, method of protecting the industrial heritage and the impact on the environment, economy and society. In the projects specified above it was found that the adopted design strategies minimize the environmental impact, respecting the cultural heritage, improve social conditions and contribute to economic growth. The interest for this thesis is to headline the importance of preserving the industrial heritage and the different methods of its utilization. The research was carried out with the intension to show the variety of possibilities for use of formal industrial districts. The intension was to presented different approaches to resolving the problems of derelict industrial sites and the process of transformation of abandoned and endangered industrial heritage. As an example of good recycling process it will be present cases of reutilization of site and district to cultural, commercial and residential purpose