<abstract xml:lang="en"><title style='display:none'>Influence of National Culture on Decision-Making Style</title>The reality of international business is often a confrontation with failures and difficulties that are a result of a lack of understanding of cultural background, and not market conditions. The decision-making process depends on cultural background and choice of "the right way" - decision-making styles are dependent on the values and beliefs of the people involved in the decision-making process. Considering the fact that Western managers often neglect cultural differences present in the CEE context, the objective of this research was to point out the cultural similarities and differences in decision-making styles between Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary. A narrow-sample strategy was used in empirical research that confirmed that cultural values do influence decisions and decision-making styles and the hypothesis was accepted through X2 test analysis between Hofstede's dimensions of national culture and decision-making style.</abstract>

Influence of National Culture on Decision-Making Style

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) is an economic theory that provides an analytical framework for investigating the governance structure of contractual relations within a supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to examine existing research in an effort to understand the potential effects of transaction costs on the vertical coordination of a supply chain. The paper arrives at many insights into how supply chains are organized under different governance structures. These insights can certainly be shared via the development and introduction of related propositions. The conceptual typology of contractual relations developed herein can help researchers better understand the scope of both the problems and the opportunities associated with supply management. It will be of value, therefore, not only to researchers who desire to expand their research into this area, but also to those who have already investigated this topic in isolation or with limited scope. </abstract>

Supply Management: A Transaction Cost Economics Framework

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
South-East European (SEE) countries are experiencing high emigration, resulting in a significant increase in remittance inflows, exceeding FDI flows. Today the most important challenge facing SEE countries is how to grow at a higher speed to achieve faster economic convergence with the EU. The objective of the paper is to empirically examine the relevance of remittances as a factor of economic growth, using quarterly balanced panel data set of six SEE countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Serbia (SEE6) over 2008q1-2020q2. Panel regression with the fixed-effects model is employed to account for potential cross-section heterogeneity. This study provides original econometric evidence that remittances have a significant positive impact on economic growth in our panel of SEE6. Those results will be useful both to scholars and policymakers in the process of the creation of policies that will direct remittances into investments in the economy.
</abstract>

Impact of Remittances on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from South-East European Countries

<abstract xml:lang="en"><title style='display:none'>The Impact of Globalization on the Insurance and Reinsurance Market of Eastern Europe</title>The analysis of the influence of globalization on the insurance and reinsurance markets of Eastern Europe confirms its significant importance in directing it towards steady increase, reflecting global trends. Special attention in this paper has been dedicated to the new thriving market in the insurance and reinsurance business as a basic indicator of market globalization with special attention to Eastern Europe. Namely, the business environment in Eastern Europe is especially dynamic and complex regarding the phase of altering its social-economic system. The research in this paper covers analysis of insurance and reinsurance markets of Eastern Europe with special attention on this market in the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia from 2000 to 2008. The subject of this research is an overview and analysis of the reflexive relationship between the insurance and reinsurance markets of Eastern Europe and the globalization processes on both micro and macro levels. The main goal of the research is to obtain specific results about the intensity and direction of the influence of globalization processes on the course and direction of development of the insurance and reinsurance markets of Eastern Europe on the one hand, and changes in the insurance and reinsurance markets of Eastern Europe on globalization processes on the other. The basic hypothesis of this research is that there is a distinctive and strong reflexive relationship between the globalization processes and the conditions and state of the insurance and reinsurance markets of Eastern Europe. The applied methodology during the research includes analyses and synthesis methods. The research results undoubtedly confirm the significance of the relationship between globalization trends and changes in the insurance and reinsurance markets of Eastern Europe, hence providing a found and background for further research in this area.</abstract>

The Impact of Globalization on the Insurance and Reinsurance Market of Eastern Europe

<abstract xml:lang="en"><title style='display:none'>Ownership Concentration, Managerial Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from Turkey</title>This study examines the effects of ownership concentration and managerial ownership on the profitability and the value of non-financial firms listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) in the context of an emerging market. We measure the firm's performance by Return on Assets (ROA) and Tobin's Q ratios, where the former measures profitability and the latter the value of the firm. In addition, we give detailed information on the main characteristics of the ownership structures of the firms in our sample and find that ownership of Turkish firms is highly concentrated. In addition, the unlisted holding companies have the highest average percentage of shares, which supports the belief that individuals or families establish the holding companies in order to control their listed firms. After controlling for investment intensity, leverage, growth and size, we find that ownership concentration has a significantly positive effect on both firm value and profitability, while managerial ownership has a significantly negative effect on firm value.</abstract>

Ownership Concentration, Managerial Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from Turkey

<abstract xml:lang="en"><title style='display:none'>Impact of Leadership Styles on Employees' Organizational Commitment in Lithuanian Manufacturing Companies</title>This article investigates the relationship between employees' organizational commitment dimensions and leadership styles in Lithuanian manufacturing companies. The findings of the study reveal positive correlations between a transformational leadership style and affective and normative employee commitments. A laissez-faire leadership style was found to be negatively associated with employees' affective commitment.</abstract>

Impact of Leadership Styles on Employees' Organizational Commitment in Lithuanian Manufacturing Companies

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Using data from 1996 to 2019 covering five Western Balkan countries and applying the linear panel data estimation method, this paper examines the effect of macroeconomic indicators and financial market development on income inequality. Regression results with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors demonstrate that income per capita increases income disparities. Theoretically, there are grounds for both a positive and negative relationship between economic growth and income inequality. In addition, contrary to prevailing literature, our analysis finds no significant impact of financial market development on income inequality, while the rule of law is found to have no effect on income inequalities in these countries. We depart from previous literature by bringing new evidence on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth in the specific context of Western Balkan countries. We study this relationship in an integrated framework and rely on a larger time span, both of which are seemingly important for comprehending the income inequality-economic growth nexus. Certainly, the obtained results bear important policy implications as discussed in this paper.
</abstract>

The Effects of Macroeconomic and Financial Development on Income Inequality: Evidence from the Western Balkans

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
If the standards of living in the Western Balkans are to converge on those in the EU then the current productivity gap needs eliminating. A significant portion of that gap would ideally be eliminated through the expansion of employer-provided training. However, survey data indicate that since 2016 training incidence has been rising in only two of the six countries of the Western Balkans. The main contribution of this paper is to investigate this disappointing performance. A model of the determinants of the incidence of employer-provided training is developed based on theory and investigations in other countries. It is found that in the Western Balkans firms with foreign owners, those who export and those who report that their employees are eager to access training are more likely to provide training, whilst micro and small firms are less likely to provide training. Sentiments regarding the firm’s and economy’s current performance and their prospects are also significant determinants. The policy implications of these findings are addressed in the concluding section.
</abstract>

The Determinants of the Incidence of Employer-Provided Training in the Western Balkans

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper analyses canonical correlations between domestic competition, trade openness and entrepreneurial culture. The research covered 141 countries ranked by World Competitiveness Index in 2019. Canonical correlation analysis is applied to find relationship between two canonical variables. The first canonical variable includes sub-indexes from Domestic competition and Trade openness pillars. The second variable contains sub-indexes from Entrepreneurial culture pillar. The results of the analysis showed there is a strong, positive, statistically significant canonical correlation between these canonical variables with a Pearson coefficient of 0.86. The linear regression analysis is also applied. The regression analysis shows that the variable Distortive effects of taxes and subsidies on competition is the most important for all dependent variables. The extent of market dominance, Competition in services and Border clearance efficiency are important, but not as much as taxes and subsidies. It confirms that regulation of domestic competition and trade openness are supreme for entrepreneurial culture.
</abstract>

Domestic Competition, Trade Openness and Entrepreneurial Culture: Canonical Correlation Analysis

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In times when AI’s development and research is moving at an unprecedented speed, this paper explores its role in retail banking. The results presented are part of a wider research of market readiness and AI acceptance, especially in developing economies. The research was conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&amp;H). The quantitative portion consisted of a survey completed by 671 respondents. This paper focuses on the influence of social factors (perceived humanness, perceived social interactivity, and perceived social presence) on the attitudes towards – and subsequently acceptance of - AI-based services. Chatbots, specifically ChatGPT-4, were the technology the research focused on. The results indicate that perceived humanness and perceived social interactivity have a positive effect on attitudes – and acceptance – of AI-based services. This research could not prove that there is a positive relationship between social presence and attitudes towards AI-based services. The positive relationship between attitude and acceptance was proven as well.
</abstract>

The Role of Social Factors in the Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence-Based Services: the Example of the Banking Sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
This study investigates the benefits of international diversification in the stock markets of the 28 European countries (the EU and the UK) over two five-year periods: a stable period from 2014 to 2019 and a turbulent period from 2019 to 2024. The analysis draws on the Markowitz mean-variance, Sharpe reward-to-variability, and naive diversification models, based on which different investment strategies were developed and implemented. We find that actively managed portfolios perform significantly better than naively diversified portfolios. The analyzed markets exhibit positive short-term associations, with an average correlation coefficient of 0.29 in the first period and 0.46 in the second period. However, these markets do not show long-term cointegration.
Recent crises have reduced diversification benefits, yet significant opportunities for diversification remain. Diversification benefits are almost halved in the second period: average single-market standard deviation can be reduced by 60.5% with investments in 20-indices portfolios in the stable period, and only by 33.7% with the same portfolio size in the turbulent period.
</abstract>

International Portfolio Diversification Benefits: An Empirical Investigation of the 28 European Stock Markets During the Period 2014–2024

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
This paper evaluates the impact of the Ukraine conflict-induced crisis on firms in North Macedonia using data from a survey conducted with 112 firms in April and May 2023. Through descriptive statistics and probit regression analysis, we find that small firms in low-wage sectors predominantly coped with the crisis by raising prices of final products and services, followed by cost-cutting measures. Larger firms tended to invest in self-electricity generation or energy-saving equipment. Our results show that firms with higher energy cost shares increased final prices more but experienced decreased competitiveness. Firms not addressing rising costs did not consistently pass these costs onto prices or maintain competitiveness, except for labor costs. Labor cost increases, such as from minimum wage hikes, may lead to cost-push inflation unless firms absorb these costs at the expense of profits.
</abstract>

The Impact of the Crisis Induced by the Conflict in Ukraine on Firms: Evidence from North Macedonia

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The paper conducts a qualitative narrative appraisal of the existing empirical literature on the key macroeconomic determinants of economic growth in developing and developed countries. Much as other empirical studies have investigated the determinants of economic growth using various econometric methods, the majority of these studies have not distinguished what drives or hinders economic growth in developing or developed countries. The study finds that the determinants of economic growth are different when this distinction is used. It reveals that in developing countries the key macroeconomic determinants of economic growth include foreign aid, foreign direct investment, fiscal policy, investment, trade, human capital development, demographics, monetary policy, natural resources, reforms and geographic, regional, political and financial factors. In developed countries, the study reveals that the key macroeconomic determinants that are associated with economic growth include physical capital, fiscal policy, human capital, trade, demographics, monetary policy and financial and technological factors.</abstract>

Doctoral Candidate, Department of Economics, University of South Africa, Pretoria,

Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of South Africa, Pretoria,

Macroeconomic Determinants of Economic Growth: A Review of International Literature

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This study primarily aims to analyze the relationship between selected board characteristics and the extent of environmental disclosure in annual reports of Turkish companies, using a sample of 62 non-financial firms listed on the BIST-100 index at the end of 2011. The content analysis is used to measure the extent of environmental disclosure. Four board characteristics, namely board size, board independence, board gender diversity and audit committee independence, are considered as the independent variables that may have an impact on the extent of the environmental disclosures of Turkish companies. According to the results of the regression analysis, only board size has a statistically significant and positive relationship with the extent of environmental disclosure. This result implies that firms with larger boards disclose more environmental information than firms with smaller boards. On the other hand, the rest of the independent variables are found to be unrelated to the extent of environmental disclosure. The low degree of independence and gender diversity on the boards of the sample companies for the time period analyzed in the study could be one possible explanation for this result.</abstract>

The Relationship Between Board Characteristics and Environmental Disclosure: Evidence from Turkish Listed Companies

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> This study aims to identify the factors that make passengers loyal to an airline in Southern Africa by investigating the impact of service quality and safety perception on customer satisfaction and how satisfaction and frequent flyer programs (FFP) subsequently influence customer loyalty. The key finding was that service quality positively influenced customer satisfaction, and satisfaction was an important antecedent of customer loyalty. The analysis also suggested that safety perception and FFP positively influence customer loyalty, while their relationship with satisfaction was not significant. An analysis of switching behaviour revealed that satisfied customers may still switch to other airlines. The main contribution of this study is the development of a customer loyalty model for the aviation industry in Southern Africa. Knowledge of customer loyalty drivers will assist airline marketing managers in developing strategies for improving passenger load factors and profitability.</abstract>

An Investigation into the Impact of Service Quality, Frequent Flier Programs and Safety Perception on Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in the Airline Industry in Southern Africa

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> The aim of this paper is to evaluate contrasting policy approaches towards undeclared work. To do so, evidence is reported from 1,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in Croatia during 2013. Logistic regression analysis reveals no association between participation in undeclared work and the perceived level of penalties and risk of detection, but a strong association between participation in undeclared work and the level of tax morality. It thus confirms recent calls for the conventional direct controls approach, which seeks to deter engagement in undeclared work by increasing the penalties and risk of detection, to be replaced by an indirect controls approach which seeks to improve tax morality so as to encourage greater self-regulation and a culture of commitment to compliance. The implications for theory and policy are then discussed.</abstract>

Professor of Public Policy Management School, University of Sheffield, UK

Marie Curie Research Fellow Management School, University of Sheffield, UK

Tackling the Propensity towards Undeclared Work: Some Policy Lessons from Croatia

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> This paper proposes a way of explaining the undeclared economy that represents participation in undeclared work as a violation of the social contract between the state and its citizens, and as arising when the informal institutions comprising the norms, values and beliefs of citizens (civic morality) do not align with the codified laws and regulations of a society’s formal institutions (state morality). Drawing upon evidence from 1,018 face-to-face interviews conducted in Bulgaria during 2013, the finding is that the greater is the asymmetry between formal and informal institutions (i.e., citizens’ civic morality and state morality), the greater is the likelihood of participation in the undeclared economy, and vice versa. The outcome is that tackling the undeclared economy requires a focus upon reducing this lack of alignment of formal and informal institutions. How this can be achieved in Bulgaria in particular and South-East Europe and beyond more generally, is then discussed.</abstract>

Explaining the Undeclared Economy in Bulgaria: an Institutional Asymmetry Perspective

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> In this paper we investigate the impact of environmental taxes on CO2 emissions in the context of emerging market economies. An attempt has been made to identify what role environmental policy and specific tax policy measures play in understanding the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation. The empirical analysis covers ten Central and Eastern European countries in the period from 1995 to 2015. The latest data on environmental taxes are available only from 1995. We contribute to recent literature in two respects. First, we study this relationship within a dynamic framework in which we take into account the issues of serial correlation and endogeneity in the regressors due to the cointegration relationship. Specifically, we rely on the fully-modified least squares (FM-OLS) estimation technique to model the long-term relationship between income and carbon-dioxide emissions. Second, this paper advances our understanding on the effectiveness of tax policy measures in curbing CO2 emissions, on which we have scarce empirical evidence. The results of this analysis provide rather strong evidence in support of an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and the environment. However, environmental taxes do not seem to be effective in modifying the behaviour of economic agents and in protecting the environment. The results are robust to different models.</abstract>

Do Environmental Taxes Pay Off? The Impact of Energy and Transport Taxes on CO2 Emissions in Transition Economies

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South East European Journal of Economics and Business

The Journal of University of Sarajevo

 The South East European Journal of Economics and Businessis a research oriented journal that deals with topics in the field of economics and business, highlighting the...

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 The South East European Journal of Economics and Businessis a research oriented journal that deals with topics in the field of economics...

South East European Journal of Economics and Business

The Journal of University of Sarajevo

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