<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The paper analyses the impact of national culture on leadership and leadership styles. It has been determined that national culture impacts leadership and leadership styles by defining the meanings that both leaders and their followers ascribe to the reality that surrounds them. The analysis includes the impact that the dimensions of national culture, identified in the Geert Hofstede’s and GLOBE’s researches, have on leadership. The paper analyses the impact that the dimensions of national culture have on two main dimensions used to differentiate leadership styles: authoritarianism–participative orientation and task orientation–people orientation. It has been determined that power distance and individualism– collectivism as well as uncertainty avoidance and assertiveness decisively impact the selection between authoritarian and participative leadership styles. The national culture’s “masculinity”–“femininity” dimension, as well as gender equality, performance orientation, people orientation, and future orientation correlated with it, impact the selection between people orientation and task orientation. In certain contexts, high uncertainty avoidance also impacts this leadership dimension. By intertwining two leadership styles’ dimension, four leadership styles are created, as well as cultural contexts in which each of the styles is favoured, preferred, and thereby more effective. Serbian national culture, with its assumptions and values, implies using of authoritarian people-oriented style.</abstract>

The Impact of National Culture on Leadership

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper identifies the conditions under which the private pension funds generate superior retirement outcomes compared to public pension system. The research objective is to determine the probability of success of the selected investment strategies in achieving the public pension system replacement rate, and the probability of the realization of extremely unfavourable outcomes. The methodology used in this paper includes the comparative analysis of simulated financial results of the four selected investment strategies implemented in the private pension fund model and the defined retirement benefits generated within the public pension system. For the simulation of the financial results at retirement, Monte Carlo simulation technique has been used. The authors have found that the success rate of the private pension fund in achieving superior financial results in comparison to public pension system is high, but only for the contribution rates higher than 10%. At low contributions rates, the extremely aggressive strategy is the only one that generates moderate success rate. Also, the probability of realization of extremely unfavourable financial results is lowest for the conservative strategy, which suggests that for the relatively high levels of the contribution rate, it is the most appropriate option for the pension fund members.</abstract>

Comparative Analysis of Retirement Benefits in Private Pension Funds and Public Pension System

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The paper analyses one of the most important economic issues relevant to most countries. The issue involves how to as painless as possible overcome the problems of high budget deficits and excessive accumulated public debt. Argentina and Serbia are used as an example. Argentina implemented rigorous saving measures in 2002 and Serbia began to implement restrictive budgetary measures in 2014. The effects of such a policy can be designed for the future. Results indicate that the key to Argentina’s success lies in the transition to a floating exchange rate and the high level of correlation between the growth of the foreign exchange rate and growth in exports. When comparing strict fiscal policy in Argentina and Serbia, it should be emphasised that the measures in Serbia are far less stringent than those that were established in Argentina. But it also means that the effect of reducing budget expenditures should have less of an impact on GDP reduction than in the case of Argentina.</abstract>

Overcoming the Effects of Restrictive Fiscal Policy: The Case of Argentina and Serbia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Executive compensations have a strong motivation role in contemporary business organizations. Adequate models of compensation enable attracting and retaining the high-capacity managers. This way, business organization conquers and maintains the competitive position in the context of globalization. It is necessary to align the executive compensation with the business organization’s strategy, which requires careful process of planning, done by the highest levels of management and ownership. The main objective of the paper is to explore and compare the structure and the level of executive compensation in the Republic of Serbia and EU countries. The paper focuses on executive compensation components, primarily long-term and short-term incentives, as well as sallary and benefits. A comparative analysis of executive compensation models was performed to explain the differences in the observed countries.The study found large and disproportionate differences in the executive compensation levels, conditioned mostly by the economic development of the observed economies.</abstract>

Comparative Analysis of Executive Compensation in the Republic of Serbia and EU Countries

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The economic crisis and the emergence of an increasing number of competitors in the banking sector have led to the need for banks to better understand their clients and to work more closely together with them. The basis of survival and profitable business of banks is the achievement of high quality offer that is the asset for developing long-term relationships. The aim of the paper is to determine the effects of the banking services quality dimensions on satisfaction and loyalty of clients using modified SERVQUAL model. The main research question is to examine which dimensions of banking services quality have an effect on the satisfaction and loyalty of clients, what is the nature and the intensity of this impact. For the purpose of measuring clients’ attitudes regarding banking services quality, the survey method, questionnaire technique was applied. The questionnaire was distributed to clients of banks operating in the territory of Kragujevac, Central Serbia, in the period from September to October, 2018. Simple random sample technique for sampling was applied. The analysis was conducted by processing the primary data in statistical software SPSS where several statistical analyses were conducted. Based on multiple regression analysis, it came to the result that the strongest influence on clients’ satisfaction has variable empathy and the weakest variable tangibility, while variable reliability has no influence. On the other hand, clients’ loyalty is most strongly influenced by variable responsiveness while the weakest influence, as well as on satisfaction, has variable tangibility. The paper points to the significance of improving banking services quality in order to achieve higher level of satisfaction and long-term clients’ loyalty, which is particularly important when it comes to dimensions that have weak or no influence on the observed aspects of consumer behaviour.</abstract>

Measuring Clients’ Attitudes About Banking Services Quality Using the SERVQUAL Model

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Rural tourism represents the tourism in rural households, as well as holidays and stays in rural areas, events, festivals, recreations, productions and sales of handicrafts, crafts and agricultural products. Rural tourism is especially suitable for the revitalisation of degraded rural areas, ensuring their sustainability in the future, through creating new work places, increasing the diversity of occupations, rural crafts, and also preserving the landscape and nature. The development of rural tourism of the Republic of Serbia could play an important role in the country’s rural development and economic development in general. Thanks to its diverse relief and preserved nature, Serbia has significant resources in rural tourism at its disposal, but the number of negative factors that prevent more intensive growth of this economic branch is not negligible at all. One of the most important problems, but not unsolvable one, is the extinction of rural settlements in Serbia.</abstract>

Perspectives of Development of Rural Tourism of the Republic of Serbia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Application of The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union implies the existence of a single market (without customs duties on mutual trade), the community’s priority in meeting the needs for agricultural products (protection against imports) and the existence of financial solidarity (joint financing). Joining the European Union for new member states implies the termination of the implementation of the existing national agricultural policy and the the beginning of the implementation of the CAP. Although membership in the European Union implies many advantages, the period after joining this community can be quite economically unstable for some countries. One of the most significant problems is an increase in agricultural product prices and a rise in the general price level (inflation). The above can be confirmed by a simple empirical analysis of the economic indicators of the countries that joined the EU together in the period from 2004 until 2007.</abstract>

The Impact of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union on the General Price Level of Countries that Joined in the Period from 2004 to 2007

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Economic Themes

 The Faculty of Economics in Niš publishes the journal Economic Themes within the Center for Publishing. According to the categorization of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia the journal is classified as the leading journal of national importance (M51) and is issued quarterly (in Serbian and English). In the upcoming period we wish to implement two important aims: first, to continually enhance the quality of the journal in compliance with generally accepted standards and second, to improve the ranking of the journal in the following years. All articles sent for publishing are anonymously reviewed.  Rejection Rate   App. 28%  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  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. 