Exploring Economic Growth and Environment Nexus in Nine Southeastern European Countries

This paper investigates the interdependence between environmental degradation (CO2 emissions) and economic growth (GDP per capita) in nine SEE countries over the period 1992 – 2016. The results of Granger causality testing indicate that in the short run there is a positive bidirectional causal relationship between CO2 emissions and GDP per capita, but in the long run, there is causality running just from GDP per capita to CO2 emissions, with the 2.0279% speed of adjustment. In pursuit of adequate policy measures, SEE countries need to work on inclusion of non-EU countries into European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme, further developing carbon taxation policies and using renewable energy sources on a larger scale

Trgovinska konkurentnost drvne industrije u zemljama jugoistočne Europe

The paper examines the trade competitiveness of the wood industry as a whole and some of its parts (Cork and wood, Cork and wood manufactures and Furniture and parts) of fi ve countries of South Eastern Europe (Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina) by using six indicators (Revealed Comparative Advantage – RCA, Index of Trade Performance – RCA2, Competitiveness Growth Index – RCA1, Michaely Index – MI, Index of Contribution to the Trade Balance – CTB and Grubel-Lloyd Index – GLI) in the period 2000-2015. On the basis of the results obtained, it was concluded that the wood industry of these countries observed as a whole has great export potential and that it significantly participates in their processing industry. The results of the survey show that companies from the wood industry viewed as a whole are competitive on the domestic market. However, this cannot be said of the international competitiveness of the timber industry of these countries. To be specific, the production of cork and wood from Bulgaria and Serbia, cork and wood manufactures excluding furniture from Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia, as well as furniture and parts manufacturers from Bulgaria do not have a competitive advantage in the international market. By combining the values of six competitiveness indicators, it can be concluded that there is a statistically significant difference in the competitiveness of the wood industry of the countries observed. It can also be concluded that the degree of wood processing has a positive impact on their export competitiveness, this impact not being statistically significant, and that the level of finalization of production did not have a positive impact on the competitiveness of the wood industry of the selected countries of Southeastern Europe.U radu se istražuje trgovinska konkurentnost drvne industrije pet zemalja jugoistočne Europe (Srbije, Hrvatske, Bugarske, Rumunjske te Bosne i Hercegovine), i to u cjelini i po dijelovima (pluto i drvo, proizvodi od pluta i drva, namještaj i dijelovi za namještaj). Istraživanje je provedeno u razdoblju od 2000. do 2015. uz pomoć šest pokazatelja konkurentnosti (utvrđene komparativne prednosti – RCA, indeksa neto poslovanja – RCA2, indeksa rasta konkurentnosti – RCA1, Michaely indeksa – MI, indeksa doprinosa trgovinskoj bilanci – CTB i Grubel-Lloyd indeksa – GLI). Iz dobivenih je rezultata zaključeno da drvna industrija navedenih zemalja, promatrana u cjelini, ima velik izvozni potencijal i da značajno sudjeluje u njihovoj prerađivačkoj industriji. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da su poduzeća iz sektora drvne industrije, promatrana u cjelini, konkurentna na domaćem tržištu. Međutim, to se ne može reći i za međunarodnu konkurentnost drvne industrije tih zemalja. Konkretno, proizvodnja pluta i drva iz Bugarske i Srbije, proizvodi od pluta i drva iz Bugarske, Srbije i Hrvatske, kao i namještaj i dijelovi za namještaj iz Bugarske nemaju konkurentsku prednost na međunarodnom tržištu. Kombiniranjem vrijednosti šest pokazatelja konkurentnosti utvrđena je statistički značajna razlika u konkurentnosti drvne industrije promatranih zemalja. Također se može zaključiti da stupanj obrade drva ima pozitivan utjecaj na njihovu izvoznu konkurentnost, ali taj utjecaj ipak nije statistički značajan. Nadalje, uočeno je da stupanj finalizacije proizvodnje nije pozitivno utjecao na konkurentnost drvne industrije promatranih zemalja jugoistočne Europe

R&D expenditure and economic growth: EU28 evidence for the period 2002–2012

In this paper, we investigate the influence of R&D expenditure on economic growth in the EU28 during the period of 2002–2012. For this purpose, we constructed a multiple regression model, which showed that, ceteris paribus, an increase in R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP by 1% would cause an increase of real GDP growth rate by 2.2%. This model takes into consideration actual financial crises and emphasises the negative influence of fertility rate in the EU28 on economic growth. We believe that the achieved research results can be beneficial to the economic policy makers in the innovation and demographic areas

ANALYSIS OF SERBIAN INNOVATION POTENTIAL IN THE PERIOD 2009-2012

In this paper a review of significance of country’s innovation potential for its economic growth and development is displayed first. Afterwards, positions and values of the global innovation index for the top 25 most innovative economies, for Serbia and for selected countries from its surroundings, for the period from 2009 to 2012 have been displayed. In order to classify selected countries into two or more groups, based on their similarity according to innovation performances, cluster analysis is conducted. The relations between innovation inputs and innovation outputs have been studied on the example of selected groups of countries (the group of European innovative leaders and Serbia with neighboring countries) through the correlation analysis. Key words:  innovation, innovation inputs, innovation outputs, innovation efficiency

Upravljanje kvalitetom u organskoj proizvodnji i preradi mleka

Organic production of milk and milk products with the mark of 'organic products' requires certain acquaintance of some rules that have been established through the organic production standards. Producers as well as the processors must completly and timely be informed about the necessary conditions and how to manage in accordance with organic production standards. Proper quality managing in farm milk production as well as in the milk processing generate some preconditions for manufacturing of milk products that are more healthy, high nutrition valued, with better flavor properties and which positively influence the sustainable development of the human society, environmental protection and better social quality.Organska poljoprivreda predstavlja sveukupan sistem upravljanja poljoprivredom i proizvodnjom hrane. Kombinovan sa zaštitom životne sredine uz očuvanje biodiverziteta i prirodnih resursa je osnova za kvalitetnu i bezbednu hranu, socijalnu sigurnost i održivi razvoj. U ovom radu istraživanje je skoncentrisano na specijalne teme, tačnije rečeno na bezbednost mleka na farmama koje rade po principima organske proizvodnje, zatim na kvalitet mleka i kontrolu kvaliteta. Sumirani su koraci uvođenja HACCP sistema na porodičnim farmama koje su specijalizovane za proizvodnju sirovog mleka. Kvalitet sirovog mleka je osnovni preduslov za proizvodnju kvalitetnih mlečnih proizvoda a kako je praksa u Srbiji malo drugačija od zahteva EU, njegova važnost će biti još veća posle ulaska u EU. Rezultati istraživanja na oglednim farmama i mlekari u Južnobačkom okrugu (Fruška gora) su dobijeni u okviru projekta BTN 20100. Okolnosti proizvodnje bile su dosta dobre, s obzirom da je područje Fruške gore dosta izolovano i izgleda kao prava prirodna oaza. Nema zagađenja iz okoline, stoka dosta vremena provodi na pašnjacima, rasni sastav je većinom domaće šareno goveče koje je otporno i zdravo, voda je dobrog kvaliteta i ima niz drugih predispozicija za organsku stočarsku proizvodnju. Ova istraživanja imala su nekoliko različitih koraka u upravljanju kvalitetom, od ispitivanja postojećih uslova, zatim ulazak u period konverzije i priprema za organsku proizvodnju

Međuzavisnost privredne razvijenosti i emisije CO2 – studija slučaja Republike Srbije i Republike Hrvatske

Značajan porast emisije CO2 prethodnih decenija je pretežno antropogenog karaktera. Nastaje upotrebom fosilnih goriva kao glavnog izvora električne energije, ali i porastu proizvodnih aktivnosti, transporta i potrošnje roba i usluga koje su u vezi sa ekonomskim rastom i razvojem. Stoga, uočena je sistematska veza između ekonomskog rasta i kvaliteta životne sredine. U radu je istražena zavisnost CO2 i realnog BDP. Rezultati regresione analize pokazuju da se emisija CO2 poveća za približno 377,5 kilograma, kada se realni BDP poveća za 1 milion USD u Srbiji, dok rezultati za Hrvatsku pokazuju da se emisija CO2 poveća za približno 259,4 kilograma, kada se realni BDP poveća za 1 milion USD. Ekonomski razvoj, sektorska struktura BDP-a i učešće u razvijenim šemama “cap and trade” su opredeljujući faktori za dobijene rezultate i idu u prilog Hrvatske, dok Srbija ima veće učešće obnovljivih izvora energije u ukupnoj potrošnji energije

An analysis of innovation performance of the Western Balkan countries and the EU selective economies group

First of all, the paper offers a theoretical explication of the importance of economic innovation for a country’s economic development. It further considers the metrics of the Global Innovation Index. By means of a box-plot diagram, the article explores the link between basic innovation performances (Global Innovation Index, Index Innovation Input and Index Innovation output) of the six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro) and a group of six selected European Union economies in the neighbourhood (Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovenia). The aim is to identify the existence of extreme values between the data that reveal the key innovation performance of the two groups including the description of the basic characteristics of the performances which have been examined

UTICAJ INOVACIJA NA ZAPOLJŠAVANJE I PRIHOD MALIH I SREDNJIH PREDUZEĆA U REPUBLICI SRBIJI

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the “driving force” of modern economies because of the contribution which is reflected in employment, increased exports, dynamics of competition, etc. New and existing innovative SMEs increase overall productivity and competitiveness of the economy, squeezing out less efficient enterprises with lower productivity. By constructing an appropriate econometric model, this paper shows that the income of SMEs significantly depends only on the number of employees in a particular enterprise, not on innovation and the number of employees in research and development areas. The results obtained prove that innovative SMEs do not create more jobs and do not generate higher income compared to non-innovative SMEs in the Republic of Serbia.Mala i srednja preduzeća su "pokretačka snaga" savremenih privreda zbog doprinosa koji se ogleda u zapošljavanju, povećanju izvoza, dinamiziranju konkurencije, itd. Nova i postojeća inovativna MSP doprinose povećanju ukupne produktivnosti i konkurentnosti privrede, istiskujući manje efikasna preduzeća sa nižom produktivnošću. U radu je putem konstruiranja odgovarajućeg ekonometrijskog modela dokazano da prihod MSP statistički značajno zavisi samo od broja zaposlenih u konkretnom preduzeću, ne i od inovativnosti i broja zaposlenih u istraživanju i razvoju. Na osnovu dobijenih rezultata dokzano je da inovativna MSP ne kreiraju više novih radnih mesta i ne stvaraju veći prihod u odnosu na neinovativna mala i srednja preduzeća u Republici Srbiji

Economic growth and carbon emissions: evidence from CIVETS countries

This paper examines whether a long-run relationship exists between CO2 emissions and selected variables: real gross domestic product per capita, inward stock of foreign direct investments, gross fixed capital formation, industry, value added and energy use per capita for Colombia, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa countries in the period of 1989–2016. We used panel unit root testing, followed by panel cointegration tests and panel causality. The results clearly prove the existence of a bidirectional long-run causal relationship between all the variables except between CO2 emissions and GDP and CO2 emissions and GFCF. Major finding of the short-run causality analysis is that CO2 emission in the short run does not result in changes of other variables. On the other hand, all variables except foreign direct investments (FDI) cause the changes in the CO2 emissions, and there is a positive bidirectional causal relationship between GDP and FDI, between GFCF and FDI, and between GFCF and IVA. Finally, positive unidirectional causal relationship also exists, running from GDP to IVA, GDP to ENUSE, IVA to FDI and ENUSE to FDI

Analysis of innovativeness, as a determinant of competitiveness of the selected European countries

Starting from the premise that the phenomenon of innovation is at the heart of modern economic policies, the focus of the paper is on the most innovative and least innovative European countries, based on the values of the 12th pillar of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) - Innovation. The research centres on the analysis of the selected countries, observing them as 10 innovation leaders and 10 innovation learners of Europe in 2013. Cluster analysis of the selected countries shows the depth of the gap between the formed clusters of innovation leaders and innovation learners. By applying the method of visualisation, the paper examines the components of the pillar Innovation in respect of these countries. With regard to the clusters formed and a big difference between them, the further course of the research includes the time dimension and analyses the trend of innovativeness in the studied groups of countries for the period 2006 - 2015. The time series graphs for each of the clusters, according to indicators of Innovation, with average values per cluster have been constructed, showing also the trend lines for each of the clusters. Bearing in mind that the majority of macroeconomic time series exhibits time dependence, dynamic relations between them are analysed using the VAR model. Statistically significant interdependence is established between the observed series. Furthermore, through simple linear regression, the impact of innovativeness on GDP per capita of the observed group of countries is examined. It can be concluded that, in addition to the pronounced gap between the achieved levels of innovativeness of the observed groups of countries, there is a positive impact of innovativeness on the achieved level of GDP per capita, expressed in the purchasing power of the domestic currency on the part of the group of innovation 'learners' in the reporting time period