Local government and utility firms’ debts

The global financial crisis has affected the Croatian local public sector. In such circumstances, local government units’ debts and borrowing should be approached with caution. The highly interwoven financial operations of local government units and their utilities indicate the need for analysis of consolidated financial statements of local governments and utility companies in order to gain an insight into the real financial “health” of local units. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to analyze the size and the structure of the consolidated (local government and utility companies) local public debt in Croatia. Accordingly, the paper presents the financial position of local government units supplemented with information on the financial operations of utility companies, with particular emphasis on the size and structure of their liabilities and gross and net debt. Although the current Budget Law does not require formal preparation of consolidated financial statements by local governments and their utility firms, consolidation is stipulated by International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). The application of IPSAS regulations would be helpful in determining overall direct and indirect exposure of local government units arising from the financial operations of their utilities.local government units’ debts, utility companies’ debts, the consolidation of financial statements of local units and utility companies, Croatia

Government guarantees and public debt in Croatia

Government financial and performance guarantees have been issued in Croatia since 1996, to support funding and ensure favourable borrowing conditions in the financial market for companies in majority state ownership. However, government guarantees have rarely been part of defined strategies and goals of public debt and risk management. Despite their steady growth, the structure of active guarantees and their influence on Croatian public debt are still unknown. This paper analyses the amount and structure of state guarantees, their maturities and the authority and accountability for their management, and it compares the structure of guarantees in terms of economic sectors. The main objective of the paper is to determine the influence of government guarantees on the public debt growth.government guarantees, maturity, management, public debt, Croatia

Measuring the efficiency and productivity of the Croatian banks with Malmquists index of change of total factor productivity

In the literature that deals with the empirical measurement of relative technical efficiency and change in the productiveness of banks over time the Malmquist index of change of total factor productivity has become the most often-used analytical tool. It has been shown that the Malmquist index helps both central and commercial bank analysis to monitor trends within the banking sector, and that it can be used as assistance in controlling the system and in strategic planning. This investigation is directed at the relative comparison of banks within the banking sector of Croatia in the period from 2000 to 2003, and is the first paper in which the Croatian banking sector has been analysed with the application of the Malmquist index of change in total factor productivity. The scientific contribution deriving from this is heightened by the interdisciplinarity that informs the paper. The primary objective of the investigation is the monitoring of relative trends of banks inside the very dynamic Croatian banking sector. Focus is placed on the need for the development of additional models to cover alternative and above all off-balance-sheet indicators.Malmquist TFP index, banking performance

Determinants of sovereign risk premia for European emerging markets

This paper analyses the determinants of the changes in sovereign bond spreads in emerging European markets before and during the recent global financial crisis. In particular, these determinants are associated with changes in market sentiment and in domestic macroeconomic fundamentals. The model was estimated on panel ata for eight central and eastern European countries between Q1:2000 and Q2:2010, using least squares and controlling for serial correlation. The results show that the dynamics of spreads can be explained by both market sentiment indicators and macroeconomic fundamentals. In particular, the external imbalances did not exert any discernible effect on spreads prior to the crisis, but became increasingly significant as the crisis broke out.sovereign bond spreads, emerging markets, central and eastern Europe, global financial crisis, market sentiment, macroeconomic fundamentals

Usporedba TV žanrova u promociji proizvoda

Proizvodi se promoviraju preko oglasa u raznim medijima – od televizije, radija, Interneta i tiskovina. Na televiziji se oglašavaju preko TV reklama koje su po duljini trajanja kratke, a po sadržaju originalne, efektne i zabavne da bi ih potencijalni kupac zamijetio i zapamtio, jer je krajnji cilj TV reklama da ostanu u podsvijesti gledatelja. S druge strane, novinarski prilog kao televizijska forma je po duljini trajanja duži od TV reklame, te daje objektivno više informacija o samom proizvodu ili usluzi koja se promovira. U ovom radu primjer oglašavanja je primijenjen na autoindustriji – izrađeni su primjeri za navedene televizijske žanrove, pomoću kojih je provedena analiza utjecaja na potencijalne kupce. Cilj analize je istražiti i zaključiti koji od navedenih televizijskih žanrova ima više utjecaja na odluku i akciju potencijalnog kupca / gledatelja

Matizaciones sobre la figura del donaire.

Sin resume

Važnost inovacija i njihovih metoda financiranja za mala i srednja poduzeća u Podravini

Nowadays, in modern and turbulent business environment, it’s very hard for SMEs to prevail everyday challenges’ without introducing innovations in their business models. However, innovations are usually not cheap or easy to implement. Moreover, not all entrepreneurs have possibility and knowledge to access all possible ways of financing for SMEs innovations. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine how do SMEs use financing methods for their innovations in northern part of Croatia - Podravina region. An empirical research is conducted with intention to analyze how do SMEs finance their innovations and whether they use own ways of financing or some sort of EU funds or state agencies. It is very interesting to observe that majority of analyzed SMEs still use old-fashioned ways of innovations financing, even though there are very cheap and very assessable ways of financing at their reach.U današnjem modernom i turbulentnom poslovnom okruženju malim i srednjim poduzećima vrlo teško je prevladati svakodnevne izazove bez uvođenja inovacija u svoje poslovne modele. Međutim, inovacije uobičajeno nisu jeftine te ih nije jednostavno implementirati. Štoviše, nemaju svi mali i srednji poduzetnici mogućnost i znanje za pristup svim načinima financiranja inovacija. Stoga, cilj ovog rada je ispitati kako SMEs koriste metode financiranja za svoje inovacije u sjevernom dijelu Hrvatske, tj. u području Podravine. Empirijsko istraživanje provodi se s namjerom da se analizira kako SMEs financiraju svoje inovacije, te koriste li se vlastitim izvorima financiranja ili EU fondovima/državnim agencijama. Vrlo je zanimljivo primijetiti da se većina analiziranih SMEs i dalje koristi staromodnim načinima financiranja inovacija, iako su im na raspolaganju vrlo jeftini i vrlo pristupačni načini financiranja

Long gamma-ray bursts as binary-driven hypernovae - analysis within the induced gravitational collapse paradigm

The central engine of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is still under debate. The (currently) prevailing theoretical understanding is referred to as the standard fireball model. Here, the prompt emission is attributed to the internal shocks and the afterglow emission is attributed to the external shocks. The GRB outflow contains a wide range of bulk Lorentz factors. When a fast-moving portion overtakes the slower one, an internal shock is generated. On the other hand, the external shocks are caused by the interaction between the outflow and the circum-burst medium. However, data that was accumulated in the last 25 years challenges the overall picture. Some of the observed properties can not be explained within the standard framework. For example, the immense isotropic energy requirements of GRBs can be considerably reduced if one assumes the outflow is collimated. As a consequence, an achromatic break should appear in the afterglow light-curves. However, for the majority of GRBs the break is not achromatic, if present at all. In addition, the model itself does not deal with the exact mechanism of this initial energy release, but only its consequences. space{0.5cm} One of the alternatives to the fireball model is the fireshell model. Its origins can be traced back to the idea which revolves around the energy extraction from a charged black hole. During the years, with the implementation of new available data, the fireshell model evolved into the induced gravitational collapse (IGC) paradigm. This theory emphasizes the importance of binary system interaction for the GRB production mechanism, offering additional channels to study the role these systems have in GRB formation. In it, all GRBs originate from binary systems. Different observational properties are a direct consequence of a wide spectrum of acceptable binary system parameters. According to these observational properties, long and short GRBs are divided into nine different sub-classes. GRBs belonging to the type-I binary driven hypernova (BdHNe-I) class are of main interest in this thesis. The name is referring to GRBs with energies above $sim 10^{52}; m erg$ that originate from a collapse of a neutron star into a black hole. This collapse is initiated by the supernova explosion of its binary companion. space{0.5cm} In the work presented here, the theoretical framework of the IGC paradigm was tested on twelve GRBs. From these, only GRB 160829A is a member of the short GRB class. The remaining ones are long bursts, classified as BdHNe-I on the account of their energetics and GeV emission. Two main tools were put to use in order to analyze and interpret the data: the erb|rmfit| software and the simulation of the fireshell propagation that is available on our group's server. All of the GRBs were detected with the GBM detector onboard the extit{Fermi} satellite. Time-integrated and time-resolved analysis was carried out for each GRB in order to determine their isotropic equivalent energy and to possibly identify the P-GRB signature. The latter is expected to occur in the beginning of the prompt emission and to have a spectrum that shows a presence of thermal signatures. From 11 BdHNe-I, five had an identified P-GRB associated emission: GRB 100728A, GRB151027A, GRB 090618, GRB 110731A and GRB 141028A. A black body component was found in six GRBs. For three of them, the component did not exhibit the expected P-GRB spectral and temporal properties and it was therefore rejected as a possible P-GRB. GRB 110731A, GRB151027A and GRB 090618 were further interpreted within the fireshell model. Average values of circum-burst medium density inferred from the simulations are $sim0.03; m cm ^{-3}$, $sim15; m cm ^{-3}$ and $sim1; m cm ^{-3}$, respectively. Therefore, these bursts occurred in different environments. The averaged value of this sample, $sim$1 baryon per $; m cm ^{3}$, is consistent with previous findings. Baryon load and the relativistic Lorentz gamma factor at transparency point were also consistent with long GRBs, although we find that GRB 110731A shared some of these values with short bursts. In the case of short GRB 160829A, the fireshell simulation up to the transparency point was used in order to evaluate the redshift. Poor S/N ratio constrained its redshift to z<5. This is not particularly helpful considering it is true for all of the short GRBs observed so far. That is, if one does not take into account GRB 080913 at $z=6.7$, which was observed to last longer than $2; m s$ due to its high redshift, but it may be intrinsically short. The difficulties encountered during the analyses played a role in the further development of the IGC paradigm. The ongoing work is also discussed. It was devised with a goal to enable a more consistent and faster analysis. Then, a more complete BdHNe-I catalog with all of the fireshell parameters included would be easier to produce

Analiza DNA u sudskoj medicini i njezina primjena u hrvatskome kaznenopravnom sustavu

U izlaganju se daje kratak pregled tijeka razvoja istraživanja DNA kao “novog znanstvenog dokaza” odnosno odgovora znanosti na sve profesionalniji pristup počinitelja u planiranju počinjenja te prikrivanju tragova kaznenog djela i potrebu očuvanja najvažnijih vrijednosti svake pravne države. Posebno se iznose novine vezane uz DNA analizu bioloških materijala i DNA baze podataka kroz novi Zakon o kaznenom postupku. Također, izlaganje prikazuje nastojanje da se prvi put u hrvatskome kaznenopravnom sustavu omogući izuzimanje biološkog materijala, radi provođenja DNA analize, od pravomoćno osuđenih osoba koje se nalaze na izdržavanju kazne zatvora, i to kroz predložene izmjene Zakona o izvršavanju kazne zatvora, koje su trenutno u saborskoj proceduri