<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The aim of this paper is to carry out a comparative study for nationality diversity in bank boards. The study covers practices of board diversity of nine commercial banks. The data are compared for subsidiary banks in Bulgaria and their parent banks from the home country. The study defines a high degree of nationality diversity in subsidiary banks. The Bulgarian banks have a higher number of foreign members on boards compared to their parent banks. The good practices on board diversity in Bulgarian banks are a consequence of their subordination in European financial conglomerates and are aimed to reduce agent conflicts.</abstract>

Nationality Diversity of Bank Boards

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The aim of the paper is to reflect upon the dilemma or whether the EU will continue the integration process in the Western Balkans or backlash on regional cooperation instruments and initiatives within the framework of the Western Balkans. The Regional Economic Area (REA) is analyzed as the more recent policy of the European Union for the remaining Balkan countries. It is crucial to analyze the idea behind REA, starting from two main assumptions: first, the creation of REA stemmed from EU internal challenges; and second, REA came up as a creative EU approach in efforts to find a specific model for reforms in the Western Balkans in the frame of regional institutions. The paper also discusses regional trade and specifically the role of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in coordinating these initiatives in the Western Balkans. Taking into consideration the EU current challenges as well as difficulties of the Western Balkan countries to overcome the political and economic problems, then regional cooperation could appear as an alternative to the EU integration process for the Western Balkans. The main conclusion of this paper is that the Western Balkans needs the EU’s direct support, in particular, since RCC and other regional instruments cannot enforce, support and monitor the initiatives and reforms in the region.</abstract>

Towards European Union or Regional Economic Area: Western Balkans at Crossroads

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> This paper focuses on investment in research and development as a factor of labour productivity and economic growth. Our analysis confirms the link between expenditure for research and development (expressed in % of GDP) and labour productivity (expressed in the number of hours worked) based on selected data for EU Member States in the period 1995-2013. A causal link between variables of the concave parabola was confirmed, and the value of expenditure for research and development (2.85% of EU GDP) maximising productivity (per hour of work) was determined based on the examined data. In accordance with these findings, EU’s target of reaching 3% of GDP spent on research and development to be achieved by 2020 seems in support of reaching maximum productivity in the EU.</abstract>

Productivity and Economic Growth in the European Union: Impact of Investment in Research and Development

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> This paper analyses possible challenges and opportunities that Mexican female entrepreneurs face during the establishment of new enterprises. Based on in-depth interviews with female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship experts, authors researched opportunities in the form of governmental and non-governmental institutional support, growing entrepreneurship, social awareness and women empowerment. However, lack of credibility, fear of vulnerability to criticism and social pressure are some challenges associated with gender egalitarianism. In such, the authors proved that Mexican culture impacts women in some ways more than the others. Institutional collectivism was the cultural dimension with higher positive impact on women, followed by gender egalitarianism with a neutral to positive impact and the power distance with a neutral influence on women.</abstract>

Cultural Foundations of Female Entrepreneurship in Mexico: Challenges and Opportunities

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between personal values and personal tax culture regarding the perception of a tax system’s fairness. The paper deals with the main theoretical starting points of the fundamental cornerstones of the general tax culture such as tax evasion, tax compliance and tax system. Based on findings in Schwartz's model of personal values, the paper discusses some of individual personal values, categorized into ten groups within a two-dimensional circular design, along two bipolar dimensions. Because this field of research is largely unexplored and based on the previous theoretical research, a conceptual model for analysing this relationship was developed.</abstract>

A Conceptual Model of the Relationship between Personal Values and Personal Tax Culture Regarding the Perception of Tax System Fairness

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The article deals with the cost of tax compliance which arises for taxpayers from tax complexity and the constant changes in tax legislation. A socially responsible institution for the fiscal aggression is the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, as its powers and responsibilities creates the tax position of individuals, businesses and the entire economy. The aim of our research is to encourage socially responsible behaviour of legislation institutions in adopting the tax legislation, which will help to improve the social responsibility of taxpayers and increase tax compliance.</abstract>

Changes in Tax Legislation and Social Responsibility of Taxpayers and Legislative Institutions

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 70 (2024): Issue 2 (June 2024)

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Volume 69 (2023): Issue 4 (December 2023)

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Volume 67 (2021): Issue 4 (December 2021)

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Volume 66 (2020): Issue 4 (December 2020)

Volume 66 (2020): Issue 3 (September 2020)

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Volume 65 (2019): Issue 4 (December 2019)

Volume 65 (2019): Issue 3 (September 2019)

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Volume 65 (2019): Issue 1 (March 2019)

Volume 64 (2018): Issue 4 (December 2018)

Volume 64 (2018): Issue 3 (September 2018)

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Volume 63 (2017): Issue 4 (December 2017)

Volume 63 (2017): Issue 3 (September 2017)

Volume 63 (2017): Issue 2 (June 2017)

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Volume 62 (2016): Issue 4 (December 2016)

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Volume 61 (2015): Issue 6 (December 2015)

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Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy

 Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy – Journal of Contemporary Issues in Economics and Business (NGOE) is a quarterly, double-blind peer reviewed international scientific journal, focusing on economics and business sciences. Scientific articles and review papers provide new insights into the research topics of both disciplines. The journal aims to provide a venue for high quality theoretical and empirical articles that significantly contribute to the disciplines of economic and business sciences.   NGOE promotes particularly the publication of articles that address issues in the following areas of economics and business sciences: Business Economics, Economic Growth and Development, Economic Policy, Economic Theory, Econometrics and Statistics, Financial Economics, History of Economic Thought, International Economics, Labour Economics, Political Economy, Public Finance, Social Policy, Social Economics, Sustainable Economics, Accounting, Auditing, Banking and Finance, Change Management, Corporate Law, Corporate Social Responsibility, Crisis Management, Decision Making, Education Management, Entrepreneurship, Ethics in Business, Health Management, Human Resource Management, Information Management, Innovation Management, International Business, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Operations Management, Organizational Behaviour, Organizational Development, Portfolio Management, Product Development Management, Production Management, Project Management, Public Administration, Risk Management, Services Management, Strategic Management, Systems Theory, Taxation, Tourism Management, Sustainable Business.   Why Subscribe and Read   The articles published in NGOE aim to synthesise and integrate the advanced knowledge of economics and business research, to promote the enrichment and integration of ideas among the areas of economics and business sciences.   Why Submit   Published continuously since 1955, NGOE is moving towards higher publication standards and we have taken important steps towards reaching global readership. We maintain a rapid review and publication process. The double-blind peer review process takes between five and seven weeks on average.   Publication Charges   There is no article processing charges (APC) nor article submission charges.   Peer review process   The aim of the peer review process is to ensure that high-quality and original research is published. All articles published in the Journal of Contemporary Issues in Economics and Business Naše gospodarstvo/Our Economy (NGOE) are peer-reviewed and all papers submitted follow the procedure outlined below.   Initial paper evaluation   All papers submitted for publication consideration in NGOE are first evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief. Papers which fall outside the aims and scope of the journal or fail to meet the requirements of a scientific research will either be rejected at this initial point or returned to the author for revision. Papers are never accepted by the Editor-in-Chief without the reports of two reviewers, at least.   Plagiarism checking   Papers that pass the initial evaluation stage are subject to a similarity/plagiarism scanning by using a plagiarism screening program. Any paper with a similarity percentage (excluding references) greater than 25 % will be rejected. Manuscripts that pass the initial evaluation stage and have a similarity rate below 25 % proceed to the referee process. All submitted papers are subject to anti-plagiarism control in the iThenticate system.   Peer review   NGOE employs double-anonymous reviewing, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process.   Instructions for reviewers   The primary objective of the reviewer's evaluation is to provide sufficient and unambiguous answers to the following questions and also recommendations for possible changes and improvements to the paper:    does the title match the subject of the paper and does the subject of the paper correspond with the area of interest of the journal (according to "Aims and Scope"),   is the Abstract correct, i.e. short but presenting the main results of the researches and conclusions based on these results,   does the Introduction present the subject and the objective of the researches correctly,   are the implemented methods used properly and is the research material sufficient,   are the results described, analyzed, commented on and presented correctly, without repetitions of data in tables and diagrams,   is the discussion presented correctly, based on actual knowledge and with the use of properly chosen scientific literature (as recent as possible),   do the conclusions generalize the obtained results and provide recommendations, which are appropriately prepared on the basis of results and are not merely the repetition of those results,   does the paper introduce new and interesting information and does it have sufficient impact and add to the knowledge base.    The formal evaluation of the paper should include answers to the following questions:    whether the layout and contents of tables and graphs is readable and convenient for recipients   is the information in tables not repeated in graphs and vice versa,   are there no reservations about the length of the paper, its linguistic correctness, the method of citation of the literature and usage of units, etc.?    Reviewers' evaluation   Papers are sent to at least two reviewers assigned by the Editor-in-Chief or Co-editor. The reviewers are chosen according to their expertise. Reviewers are asked to evaluate the manuscript’s originality, methodology, contribution to the literature, presentation of results and support for the conclusions, and appropriate referencing of previous relevant studies. Reviewers may either recommend accepting the manuscript, rejecting the manuscript or may require a revision for content and/or technical issues. When making a final recommendation, the reviewers should clearly state whether the paper is suitable for publication in journal. In the case of a positive answer, the reviewers indicate whether:    it might be accepted without changes,   it might be accepted after minor changes, suggested by the reviewer in the manuscript or in his/her opinion,   it might be accepted after major changes (please indicate them).    The detailed evaluation criteria are outlined in the Paper Review Form.If the reviews are positive they are sent for the reviews to the corresponding author. For a paper to be accepted for publication, two positive reviews are required. In case one reviewer's report is negative while the other is positive, the paper is forwarded to a third reviewer for additional evaluation. When a revision is required by the reviewer, the author(s) are to consider the critical observations and suggestions offered by the referees, and a revised paper should be submitted within a set deadline, otherwise it will be assumed to have been withdrawn. Reviewers may request more than one revision of a paper.   Final evaluation   Based on the corrected versions of the paper and the answers to the reviews the Editors take the final decision as to whether to publish the paper or not.Proofs are sent to the corresponding author and should be returned within the set deadline.Every year a list of Reviewers collaborating with the Editors of the NGOE is shown on the Journal's website when all four issues of the journal have been sent to print.   The data on society or institution responsible for the journal and the country where it is based:   University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business, Slovenia     Publication Frequency   NGOE is published quarterly.   Plagiarism Prevention Policy   Original unpublished scientific papers which have not been submitted for publication elsewhere can be submitted to NGOE. The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.   Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections. 