Unemployment in Slovenia

Capitalul uman este una dintre cele mai importante forţe motrice ale competitivităţii economice, ale dezvoltării şi creşterii economice. Jumătate din abilităţile, cunoştinţele şi productivitatea unei naţiuni este reprezentată de femei. Pe termen lung, performanţele economice ale unei ţări depind de cât de eficient şi în ce măsură este utilizat talentul feminin. Analiza noastră de supravieţuire privind inegalităţile dintre sexe pe perioadele de şomaj în Slovenia s-a bazat pe un set de date cu mai mult de 450000 perioade de şomaj ale persoanelor fizice între ianuarie 2004 şi iulie 2008. Analiza empirică bazată pe estimări Kaplan-Meier a funcţiei de supravieţuire sugerează că diferenţele dintre sexe pe durata perioadelor de şomaj în Slovenia sunt semnificative. Baza noastră de date arată că există peste 107% mai multe perioade de şomaj în rândul femeilor cu studii superioare comparativ cu bărbaţii cu acelaşi nivel de educaţie. Acest fapt indică existenţa unui potenţial neexploatat şi folosirea prea puţin a talentului sexului feminin care, dacă ar fi accesat, ar putea contribui la sporirea competitivităţii şi la o mai puternică creştere economică a ţării în ansamblu.Human capital is one of the most important driving forces for economic competitiveness, development and growth. One half of a nation\u27s skills, knowledge, and productivity is represented by women. In the long run a country\u27s economic performance depends on how effectively and to what extent female talent is well utilized. Our survival analysis of gender disparities in duration of unemployed spells in Slovenia was based on a dataset with more than 450,000 unemployment spells for individuals between January 2004 and July 2008. The empirical analysis based on Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival function suggests that gender disparities in the duration of unemployment spells in Slovenia are significant. Our database shows that there are 107% more unemployment spells for women with tertiary education compared to men with the same level of education. This fact is indicating unexploited potential and underuse of female talents which, if accessed, could contribute to higher competitiveness and overall stronger economic growth of the country

THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON BANK PERFORMANCE IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

V doktorski disertaciji proučujemo korporativno upravljanje in vpliv korporativnega upravljanja na poslovanje bank v osmih državah Srednje in Vzhodne Evrope (Češka, Estonija, Latvija, Litva, Madžarska, Poljska, Slovaška, Slovenija), in sicer v obdobju od 2005–2013. Za pridobitev odgovora na osrednjo raziskovalno vprašanje smo oblikovali štiri raziskovalne hipoteze, pri čemer je prva hipoteza sestavljena iz treh delnih hipotez. Prve tri hipoteze se nanašajo na proučevanje vpliva lastniške strukture, sestave nadzornega sveta in uprave in velikosti bank na korporativno upravljanje. Pri proučevanju vpliva lastniške strukture na poslovanje bank se raziskava osredotoča na vprašanje vpliva koncentracije lastništva in tujega ter državnega lastništva na korporativno upravljanje (tri delne hipoteze). Druga hipoteza se nanaša na proučevanje vpliva sestave nadzornega sveta in uprave na korporativno upravljanje, medtem ko se tretja hipoteza nanaša na proučevanje vpliva velikosti bank na korporativno upravljanje. Četrta hipoteza se nanaša na proučevanje vpliva korporativnega upravljanja na poslovanje bank. Na osnovi opravljene raziskave ugotavljamo, da lastniška struktura bank, in sicer koncentracija lastništva in tuje lastništvo, predvsem pozitivno vplivata na korporativno upravljanje, medtem ko vpliv državnega lastništva na korporativno upravljanje ni potrjen. Prav tako ugotavljamo, da sestava nadzornega sveta in uprave ter velikost bank pozitivno vplivajo na korporativno upravljanje. Pri preverbi vpliva korporativnega upravljanja na poslovanje bank je bil ugotovljen omejen vpliv na uspešnost poslovanja bank, predvsem kadar le-to merimo z donosnostjo povprečnih sredstev in donosnostjo povprečnega kapitala. Pri preverjanju vpliva na neto obrestne prihodke je bil ugotovljeni vpliv bolj statistično značilen. Rezultati se med državami precej razlikujejo. Za večino držav (razen Latvijo) je bil ugotovljen pozitiven vpliv korporativnega upravljanja na uspešnost poslovanja bank, merjeno z neto obrestnimi prihodki. Ugotovljeni vpliv korporativnega upravljanja na donosnost povprečnih sredstev in donosnost povprečnega kapitala je bil v glavnem negativen. Poleg indeksa korporativnega upravljanja, ki ga uporabljamo kot neodvisno spremenljivko, smo kot neodvisne spremenljivke izmenično uporabili tudi stopnjo rasti BDP na prebivalca, vladavino prava, učinkovitost vlad in prisotnost finančne krize. Na osnovi opravljene analize in dobljenih rezultatov ugotavljamo, da je vpliv rasti BDP na prebivalca v večini proučevanih držav pozitiven in statistično značilen pri ROAA in ROAE in da spremenljivka pojasni dodaten delež variabilnosti uspešnosti poslovanja bank. Spoštovanje pravnih določil v nekaterih državah pozitivno vpliva na uspešnost poslovanja bank, medtem ko je ponekod ta vpliv negativen. Za večino proučevanih držav velja, da vpliv učinkovitosti vlade na tri kazalnike uspešnosti poslovanja ni enosmeren in v večini ni statistično značilen. Prisotnost finančne krize ima v večini izmed proučevanih držav na poslovanje bank negativen vpliv (ki je statistično značilen v nekaterih državah), kar je v skladu s pričakovanji, da banke v obdobju krize poslujejo slabše.Prihodnje raziskave naj se osredotočajo na podrobno proučevanje vsebinskih in kvalitativnih aspektov korporativnega upravljanja. Vzpostaviti bi veljalo enotni in celovit merilni instrument in nabor ključnih dejavnikov upravljanja, kar bi omogočalo kvalitetno primerjavo podatkov in rezultatov med leti, kakor tudi med državami in različnimi družbami. V raziskavo bi veljalo vključiti še dodatne spremenljivke in uporabiti druga merila uspešnosti poslovanja bank.In our doctoral dissertation we studied corporate governance and the impact of corporate governance on bank performance in eight countries from Central and Eastern Europe (i.e. the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) in the time period from 2005 to 2013. To obtain the answer to our main research question, we formulated four research hypotheses. The first three hypotheses addressed the impact of the ownership structure, the composition of the supervisory boards and the management boards as well as the size of banks on corporate governance. Our first hypothesis consisted of three partial hypotheses. That is, when considering the impact of the ownership structure on corporate governance, our analysis focused on the influence of ownership concentration, of foreign ownership and of state ownership on corporate governance (i.e. three partial hypotheses). The second hypothesis referred to the study of the impact of the composition of supervisory boards and management boards on corporate governance, while the third hypothesis addressed the study of the impact of the size of banks on corporate governance. The fourth hypothesis related to the study of the impact of corporate governance on bank performance. Regarding the ownership structure of a bank, our analysis led us to the conclusion that both the concentration of ownership and foreign ownership mainly have a positive impact on corporate governance, while the impact of state ownership on corporate governance is not verified. We also noted that the composition of supervisory boards and management boards as well as the size of banks have a positive influence on corporate governance. When investigating the impact of corporate governance on bank performance, we identified a limited impact on the analysed banks\u27 performance, especially when the latter was measured by return on average assets and return on average equity. The examination of the impact on net interest income showed that the impact on net interest income is more statistically significant. The results we obtained varied considerably between countries. For most countries (except for Estonia and Latvia), corporate governance was found to have a positive impact on banks\u27 performance measured by net interest income. The observed effect of corporate governance on the return on average assets and return on average equity was mainly negative. In addition to the corporate governance index, which was used as the independent variable, we were alternately using other independent variables as well, i.e. the growth rate of GDP per capita, the rule of law, government effectiveness, and the presence of a financial crisis. Based on the analysis performed and the results obtained, we found that the impact of growth in GDP per capita was positive and statistically significant on the ROAA and ROAE in most of the countries and it explained additional variability of the performance of banks. In some countries, the rule of law provisions had a positive impact on banks\u27 performance while in others this impact was negative. The impact of government effectiveness on the three performance indicators was not one sighted and was mostly not statistically significant for most of the countries. The presence of the financial crisis in most of the countries had a negative impact on banks’ performance (which was statistically significant in some countries), which is in line with the expectations that banks perform worse during a crisis. Future research should focus on a detailed study of substantive and qualitative aspects of corporate governance. It would be worth establishing a common and comprehensive measurement instrument and a set of key governance indicators that would allow for a qualitative comparison of the data and results between years, countries and different types of business entities. It would also be worth including additional variables and other measurements of bank performance

Vpliv edukativne intervencije zdravnikov na samooceno kakovosti življenja, zadovoljstva z obravnavo in partnerskega odnosa z zdravnikom družinske medicine pri bolnikih z medicinsko nepojasnjenimi stanji

Introduction: Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are very common in family medicine, despite being a poorly-defined clinical entity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention (EI) on self-rated quality of life, treatment satisfaction, and the family physician-patient relationship in patients with MUS. Methods: In a multi-centre longitudinal intervention study, which was performed between 2012 and 2014, patients were asked to rate their quality of life, assess their depression, anxiety, stress and somatisation, complete the Hypochondriasis Index, the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale and the Patient Enablement Instrument for assessing the physician-patient relationship, before and after the EI. Results: The mean values before and after the intervention showed that after the EI, patients with MUS gave a lower (total) mean rating of their health issues and a higher rating of their quality of life, and they also had a more positive opinion of their relationship with the physician (p<0.05). However, there were no differences in the (total) rating of treatment satisfaction before and after the EI (p=0.423). Significant differences in the symptoms in patients with MUS before and after the intervention were confirmed for stress, somatisation and hypochondriasis (p<0.05). Conclusions: It could be beneficial to equip family physicians with the knowledge, skills and tools to reduce hypochondriasis and somatisation in MUS patients, which would improve patients’ self-rated health status.Uvod: V družinski medicini so medicinsko nepojasnjena stanja (MNS) pogosta, vendar slabo opredeljena klinična entitetaod 2,5 do 25% bolnikov, ki obiskujejo zdravnika, se pritožuje zaradi telesnih simptomov, za katere ni mogoče odkriti patofiziološkega vzroka. Namen študije je bil odkriti dejavnike, povezane s samooceno kakovosti življenja pri bolnikih z MNS v povezavi z edukativno intervencijo (EI), ki so ji bili podvrženi zdravniki. Metode:K sodelovanju v multicentrični vzdolžni intervencijski raziskavi, ki je potekala od leta 2012 do leta 2014, je bilo povabljenih 90 zdravnikov družinske medicine, v sodelovanje jih je privolilo 63 (70% ali 7,5% vseh timov družinske medicine v Sloveniji). Po koncu prve faze je bila polovica zdravnikov (32 od 63) povabljena na dvodnevno usposabljanje s področja prepoznavanja in obravnave bolnikov z MNS. Bolniki so pred EI in po njej izpolnjevali vprašalnike o kakovosti življenja, depresiji, anksioznosti, stresu in somatizaciji, hipohondriji, zadovoljstvu in o partnerskem odnosu z zdravnikom. Rezultati: Zdravniki so s sistematičnim vzorčenjem povabili k sodelovanju 1410 bolnikov, v sodelovanje je privolilo 826 (58,58%) bolnikov, od tega 422 z izpolnjenimi kriteriji za MNS: (1) starost (18 do 80 let), (2) zdravnikov sum in (3) izpolnjeni točkovni in klinični kriteriji za MNS (prisotnost simptoma vsaj tri mesece, klinično pomembne težave pri bolniku, nezmožnost razlage simptoma s katerokoli znano telesno boleznijo). Povprečna starost bolnikov je bila 50,35 leta ± 11,49 leta, izstopale so ženske (64,9 %) in osebe z osnovnošolsko (23,7%) in srednješolsko izobrazbo (29,1%). Brezposelnih je bilo 28,9% bolnikov. Bolniki z MNS so po intervenciji izkazovali v povprecju nižjo (skupno) oceno težav in višjo kakovost življenja ter boljše mnenje o partnerskem odnosu z zdravnikom (p<0,05), ne pa razlik v (skupni) oceni zadovoljstva z obravnavo pred intervencijo in po njej (p=0,423). Značilne razlike v simptomih pri bolnikih z MNS pred intervencijo in po njej smo potrdili v primeru stresa, somatizacije in hipohondrije (p<0,05). Zaključki: Edukacija zdravnikov je pri bolnikih z MNS izboljšala samooceno težav z zdravjem in kakovosti življenja, vplivala je na znižanje stopnje simptomov stresa, somatizacije in znižala stopnjo hipohondrije ter izboljšala mnenje bolnikov o partnerskem odnosu z zdravnikom. Do sedaj v Sloveniji MNS kot ena od specifičnih vsebin dela v družinski medicini niso bila dovolj raziskana, tudi pristopi k obravnavi bolnikov z MNS še niso bile oblikovani. Zdravnike bi kazalo opremiti z znanji, veščinami in orodji za zmanjševanje hipohondrije in somatizacije pri bolnikih z MNS, saj bi na ta način tudi izboljšali samooceno zdravja bolnikov

Prepričanja in stališča zdravnikov družinske medicine o pristopih k prepoznavanju in zdravljenju medicinsko nepojasnjenih stanj

Namen: Namen prispevka je na podlagi analize mnenj identificirati prepričanja in stališča zdravnikov družinske medicine (ZDM) o pristopih k prepoznavanju in zdravljenju medicinsko nepojasnjenih stanj (MNS). Metode: Uporabljene so bile kvalitativne in kvantitativne metode raziskovanjanamenski vzorec za izvedbo je predstavljalo pet fokusnih skupin (Maribor in Ljubljana) v obdobju od julija do septembra 2011. Ugotovitve so bile kot vprašanja uporabljene v kvantitativnem delu raziskave s slučajnostnim vzorčenjem (N = 90), povabljeni pa so bili ZDM iz celotne Slovenije (januar - marec 2012). Za analizo kvalitativnega materiala in proces kodiranja smo uporabili računalniško orodje ATLAS.ti 7, kvantitativne podatke smo statistično obdelali s statističnim programskim paketom SPSS 21.0. Rezultati: V procesu kodiranja smo oblikovali 64 kod in jih razvrstili v osem kategorij. V kvantitativnem delu se je odzvalo 63 (70 %) povabljenih ZDM, ki so poudarili preprečevanje in zdravljenje bolnikov z MNS (84,1 %n = 53), pomen dobre komunikacije z bolnikom v 77,8 % (n = 49), medtem ko je bilo 93,7 % (n = 59) ZDM mnenja, da jih bolniki z MNS izčrpajo, utrudijo in frustrirajo. Kot potencialne vzroke za MNS so ZDM opisali težave v bolnikovi interakciji z okolico (100 % , n = 63), pretekle in sedanje stresne dogodke (96,8 %, n = 61) ter skrite psihiatrične bolezni (68,3 %, n = 43). Kvaliteto obravnave bolnikov z MNS bi v največji meri izboljšalo izobraževanje s področja osnovnih psihoterapevtskih tehnik in na temo pristopa k težavnemu bolniku (95,2 %, n = 60) ter s področja veščin komuniciranja (95,2 %, n = 60). Zaključek: Ugotovili smo, da slovenski ZDM namenjajo velik poudarek preprečevanju in zdravljenju bolnikov z MNS, hkrati pa jih ti bolniki izčrpajo, utrudijo in frustriraj

Gender disparities in the duration of unemployment spells in Slovenia

The paper offers an overview of labor market characteristics in Slovenia with an emphasis on gender disparities. A survival analysis is conducted based on an extensive database obtained from the Employment Office of the Republic of Slovenia of more than 450,000 unemployment incidences between January 2004 and July 2008. Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival functions show specific disparities among unemployed women and men in Slovenia. Unemployed men are better off when re-entering the labor market as they are re-employed more quickly than women

The effect of an educational intervention in family phisicians on self-rated quality of life in patients with medically unexplained symptoms

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are very common in family medicine, despite being a poorly-defined clinical entity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention (EI) on self-rated quality of life, treatment satisfaction, and the family physician-patient relationship in patients with MUS

Corporate Governance of Banks in Poland and Slovenia

This paper focuses on the analysis of the characteristics of corporate governance in banks in Poland and Slovenia between 2005 and 2013. It studies the impact of corporate governance in these banks on their performance. The results of our research show that Slovenia achieved lower average scores for the variables and indicators related to the transparency of corporate governance than Poland. The density of banks with the highest corporate governance index scores was higher in Poland than in Slovenia. When examining the impact of corporate governance on bank performance as measured with net interest income, the regression analysis showed that its impact is positive in both countries and that it is statistically significant in Slovenia