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Revisiting the Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and the Environmental Kuznets Curve in Developing Countries

Author(s): E. B. Ali,Valery P. Anufriev / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: environmental degradation; renewable energy; non-renewable energy; economic development; PMG estimator; MG estimator;

Though economic development improves human lives and living standards, it poses serious environmental challenges. In recent decade, this has attracted the attention of researchers and policymakers aiming to find a balance between economic development and environment quality. The study examines the long and short-run effects of renewable energy, non-renewable energy, economic growth (gross domestic product) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 16 developing countries. Using a panel dataset from 1990 to 2020, we tested the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) by employing the pooled mean group (PMG) and Mean group (MG) estimators. The empirical results provide evidence of a positive long and short-run nexus between economic development and environmental degradation when environmental degradation is made the dependent variable, confirming the EKC hypothesis. However, when economic development is made the dependent variable, the result elucidates the existence of the negative long and short-run effects. Further, whereas renewable energy abates environmental degradation in both the long and short run, it promotes economic development in both periods. Finally, non-renewable energy increases environmental degradation in both the long and short run but promotes economic development only in the long run. Based on the findings of the study, we provide potential policy measures that can help to improve the environmental quality.

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Development of Kazakhstan’s Regional Labour Markets in the Digital Economy: Factors and Conditions

Author(s): Nurlan A. Kurmanov,Gulmira Kabdullina,Zhuldyz Zh. Aliyeva / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: labour market; regional employment; digital economy; automation risks; digital infrastructure; digitalisation of industries;

Changes in the labour market are an inevitable result of technological progress. In these circumstances, the effectiveness of public policy will depend on the correct projection of the future balance in the labour market and on the drivers that can affect the technological development, elimination or preservation of jobs. Based on correlation and regression analysis, the study examines the influence of various factors on the transformation of regional labour markets in the context of digitalisation. The conducted calculations revealed that the human capital and entrepreneurial activity in the region influence the labour market the most. The calculated coefficient of elasticity shows that when the share of students in the population increases by 1 %, the value of the variable of the share of IT employees in the total number of employees increases by 0.15 %. Increase in the ratio of small enterprises to the labour force by 1 unit shall increase the share of IT employees in the total number of employees by 0.002 %. However, at present, information and communication infrastructure is not a key factor in the development of labour market and new sectors, expanding opportunities for digital entrepreneurship, as well as online and offline training. Also, region’s innovative potential (level of business innovation in the regions by technological innovations) is not a significant indicator of the intensity of development of new economic sectors and the formation of a regional base of accumulated knowledge and competencies. It was concluded that for the developing economy of Kazakhstan, the improvement of information and communication infrastructure based on digital platforms is more rational for the labour market’s further development.

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Educational and Innovative Elements of Human Capital and Their Impact on Economic Growth

Author(s): Monika Daňová,Elena Šira / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: human capital; education; GDP per capita; research and development; economic growth; expenditure on education; ratio of students to teacher; employees in research and development; patents;

Human capital is an important factor for economic growth and the development of socio-economic systems. However, the appropriate expression of the value of human capital, the mechanism and its impact on economic development are still under discussion. It is hypothesised that there is a relationship between human capital and economic growth. To test this hypothesis, data on the group of Visegrad (V4) countries for the period 2000–2019 was analysed. The study examines the presence of a causal link between some attributes of human capital and economic growth and the conditions, under which its positive effects can be expected based on statistical methods. It also deals with the role and the applicability of some of its characteristics to express the impact of human capital on economic growth. The model revealed a positive, statistically significant relationship between gross domestic product per capita and the innovative capacity of human capital and the qualifications of employees. The impact of tools for human capital creation and development extends over a longer period and is reduced by the simultaneous action of other labour market factors. Currently, economies are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Corresponding changes are also noticeable in the way work is done, with more weight on the home office. It will be interesting to examine how this transformation will affect economic growth. The changes in the position of employees and the care of companies for human capital are also a good topic for further research that can be conducted every few years.

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Economic Sectors Impact Household Income in Vietnam: A Structural Path Analysis

Author(s): H. N. X. Nguyen,M. T. Nguyen,Le Ngu Anh Ngo,Valeriy M. Koshelev / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: household income; structural path analysis (SPA); social accounting matrix (SAM); economic sector; labour; capital; inter-industry linkages; urban areas; rural areas; income inequality;

Despite the remarkable achievements in poverty reduction, income inequality in Vietnam still tends to increase, consequently having negative impacts on the sustainable growth of the country. The goals of this research are to identify and measure the impact of propagation channels of economic sectors on the income of the household groups, which is of great importance to poverty reduction efforts in Vietnam. The study aims to unravel the critical supply chain paths that drive changes in household income. To this end, the structural path analysis methodology is used based on the 2016 Vietnam Social Accounting Matrix model, which has not been extensively studied in Vietnam. Compared with previous studies, this research was conducted at the national level instead of the regional level and detailed the factors involved in income distribution such as economic sectors, labour, and household groups. The analysis finds 513 higher-order paths of 25 sectors that lead to an income increase for the household groups. When economic sectors expand under policy changes, household income improvements are mainly affected by labour skill, capital, and the magnitude of inter-industry linkages. It is noteworthy that high-skilled labour has a significant impact on the income of urban households, while the income of rural households is considerably affected by the capital. The analysis also demonstrates 32 selected paths having the greatest influence on household income. The importance of forestry, wood and wood products, fisheries, coal, crude oil and natural gas, footwear, distribution of electricity, gas, water, and utilities, and retail and wholesale for poverty alleviation is underlined for their distributional impact. Based on the research findings, relevant policy implications are also recommended.

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Effects of Smart Specialisation on Regional Labour Resilience

Author(s): Vinko Muštra,Blanka Šimundić,Zvonimir Kuliš / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: regional labour resilience; smart specialisation; resistance; recovery; EU; regional development; multinomial logistic model; economic structure; institutions; human capital;

The global economy has experienced great volatility and uncertainty during the last decades. Economic effects of global recession in the period 2008-2009 showed to be diverse in terms of territorial impacts. This has raised interest in the empirical investigation of the causes of such territorial differences and supported the increase in literature dealing with the resilience concept and determinants of regional economic resilience. This research addresses literature gaps in understanding the role of smart specialisation process in regional labour resilience, as it is one of the cornerstones of the new place-based regional development policy approach in the European Union (EU). To this end, we have developed a new proxy for smart specialisation and employed the data for EU regional labour resilience for two different periods, recession (2007-2009) and recovery (2009-2014), which is determined based on regional economic performance data. Then, the EU regions were grouped in four categories considering resistance and recovery dimension of the resilience concept. We provide the extension of the existing literature by separately analysing the recovery dimension of the resilience concept in the short and long run. The multinomial logistic model enabled us to examine in detail the differential effects of all relevant resilience determinants. Research results indicate significant and positive effects of smart specialisation on regional labour resilience, especially for regions of the most resilient group. Furthermore, our study confirmed the significance of other determinants for regional labour resilience, such as stage of regional development, regional economic structure, population and education. The findings could be used for establishing the theoretical background for important socio-economic channels through which smart specialisation affects regional labour resilience and creating effective regional development policy measures.

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A taste of home: Immigrant food spaces in Monica Ali’s Brick Lane and In the Kitchen

Author(s): Silvia Baučeková / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: immigration; globalization; food spaces; Monica Ali; contemporary British novel;

In his book Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity (1995), Marc Augé notes that places inhabited by indigenous people “have at least three characteristics in common. They want to be—people want them to be—places of identity, of relations and of history” (52). However, in a global world, access to these ancestral places is often lost. Immigrants frequently find themselves in what Augé calls non-places: in transit, in temporary spaces, in generic, hostile, or alien environments. In this paper, I look at how everyday spaces are occupied by immigrant characters in two novels by the Bangladeshi-British author Monica Ali, Brick Lane (2003) and In the Kitchen (2009). Taking as a starting point Michel de Certeau’s understanding of everyday activities as possible vehicles of empowerment and resistance, I examine how domestic food spaces, and the activities performed in them, help foster a sense of belonging and community. I also explore the paradoxical nature of public food spaces, which, while providing the immigrant characters with jobs and serving as sites of community building, also contribute to their social exclusion and isolation. Finally, I explore how Ali uses (immigrant) food spaces in her novels to add a sense of locality to the global metropolis that is contemporary London.

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Albanians’ English fluency and its relevance to language learning, globally

Author(s): Daniela Hasa,Aileen Hale,Fitore Dida,Etleva Koni (Kondi) / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: accuracy; fluency; intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors; language acquisition;

This joint manuscript explores one of the most discussed issues among academics and laymen, such as “Why Albanians speak English with such fluency and ‘native-like’ pronunciation.” Collaboratively, the authors of the paper, who represent different ELT academic contexts, have looked into this issue for related comments, mainly from the literature published in this field, to discover more ways for global EL teachers to further develop techniques for enhancing their students’ acquisition of and fluency in English. Moreover, the manuscript tends to point out that factors related to historical, societal or political developments and trends may affect the acquisition of a foreign language. In addition to these external factors, there are some internal factors such as age, personality/attitude, intrinsic motivation, personal experiences, cognition/physical characteristics, and one’s native language, which will also be analysed and the findings will be corroborated against the data collected from the questionnaire. Finally, with this analysis, the overall goal is to provide insights for English language educators, globally, to apply to their respective teaching environments.

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Developing effective English speaking skills: Challenges for Albanian learners

Author(s): Leonora Lumezi,Elvana Shtepani / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: directed conversation practice; communication; speaking skills; speaking difficulties; speaking strategies;

Communicating, the most exciting part about learning a new language, is the main reason we love languages because we want to be able to talk to people from anywhere in the world. Once one has developed the skill to speak fluently, it provides them with distinct satisfaction. On the other hand, being a good foreign language speaker is also challenging. Using new vocabulary and complex sentence structures accurately cannot happen overnight. It is a process that takes a lot of time and effort and requires that foreign language teachers carefully think and plan their speaking sessions to help students employ strategies for developing their speaking skills for successful real–life communication. In this paper, we look into some factors that, in our opinion, make it difficult for non-native foreign language teachers to teach speaking skills effectively, as well as try to provide suggestions for overcoming challenges in specific situations to avoid potential traps.

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A contrastive analysis of “verb +complement” structures in English and Albanian

Author(s): Hatixhe Leka (Sejdini),Etleva Koni (Kondi) / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: acquisition; auxiliary; complement; lexical; finite; non-finite verb forms; verb patterns;

In this article, we compare and contrast verb phrases and the structures that complement them in English and Albanian. Juxtaposing structures in both languages will allow us to highlight the similarities and differences between them. The investigation is limited to some semantic types of verbs and their complements. Verbal complementation poses difficulties not only for students who learn English as a second language, but many teachers and linguists also find it challenging. Students view as extremely difficult and complex to acquire. Teachers sometimes offer no explicit teaching on this topic, while some even believe that students can master it despite a lack of instruction. These are reasons why both parties, teachers and students, often in some way “neglect” it. Despite its complexity, educators and grammarians make efforts to offer instruction. The latter believe that a good command of such a grammar topic is best achieved through instruction. As teachers, we have to analyze the individual learning needs of students, and reflect on them by taking them into consideration to improve their knowledge and performance. We should identify problems in their teaching environment, observe, reflect on and act. Based on relevant literature and empirical research, we can search for solutions to problems encountered in the pedagogical setting to facilitate complex issues such as verbal complementation.In this article, examples in English and Albanian are juxtaposed, based on a structured presentation of “verb+complement” structures in English, with the aim to make a modest contribution to the acquisition of these structures by Albanian students and inspire further research into this topic.

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Billy Clark, Pragmatics: The Basics

Author(s): Miloš D. Đurić / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

Keywords: book review; Clark; pragmatics;

Review of: Billy Clark, Pragmatics: The Basics, London and New York: Routledge – Taylor and Francis Group, 2021, 192 pp. ISBN 9781138193864

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“LAUGH OR LAMENT”: CIRCULATION OF IDEAS BY TRANSLATION

Author(s): Aslı Araboğlu / Language(s): English / Issue: 100/2022

Keywords: Aziz Nesin; a bestseller; circulation of ideas; satire;

The purpose of this paper is to present an example of the circulation of ideas in the form of “laugh or lament” which is the collection of short stories by Aziz Nesin. The cause to question the basic problem is the translation of satires in the short stories in the context of circulation of ideas, which (do not) consist of Aziz Nezin’s style. The paper, from different perspectives, but based on Aziz Nesin's satire style, aims to analyze the circulation of ideas by translation. Aziz Nesin is widely regarded as one of the prominent Turkish authors, with his satirical language; he targets the absurdity of hypocrisy, corruption in a society, the dehumanizing effect of excessive bureaucracy, and unexpected problems and solutions in life, which are all cultural. As it is well known throughout the history of the literature, the best satirical work should provoke the readers by enabling them to understand the targets of the author. In Turkish, Aziz Nesin has been well understood by his target audience, and still exists in a bestseller status. However, his stories are not just made up of humor sense but also full of allusion. Thus, as Lawrence Venuti (1998) told in his work The Scandals of Translation, and considering that Aziz Nesin’s specified short stories are ranked as bestsellers, in the hope of a similar performance in a different language and culture, the translation of the short stories is expected to reinforce literary, moral, religious, or political values already held by that reader. When the translations of the short stories have been analyzed, it has been seen that the translation does not seem to have the same satirical aims. However, it can be said that the circulation of ideas has been completed by translation, transformation of satire and information. In the paper, by using Lawrence Venuti’s “bestseller” concept, the translator’s choices will be analyzed considering the features of bestsellers. Thus, this perspective can give readers a wide opinion to understand the translator’s choices, and by presenting an example of the circulation of ideas, how the translation effects this “circle” will be described.

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MEASUREMENT OF KENAN ÖZTEN’S KANUN LEVERS

Author(s): Serkan Mesut HALİLİ,Tolgahan Çoğulu / Language(s): English / Issue: 101/2023

Keywords: Turkish music; Kanun; Makam; Kanun Lever Measurement; Microtone;

Kanun is a trapezoidal plucked string instrument that was redesigned in the early 20th century to include levers (mandal) transforming it into an essential Turkish musical instrument. Kanuns made in Turkey are mostly based on 72 equal temperament tuning with 72 equal tones per octave. For measuring the Turkish music pitches, kanun is more suitable than any other Turkish musical instruments because of their fixed lever system. In this article, all kanun levers of prominent luthier Kenan Özten’s kanun have been measured and their average cents have been calculated. The objective of this article is demonstrating the kanun tuning process of Serkan Mesut Halili, calculating the average cent values of one-to-six lever changes and make them available for calculating the microtones of makam flavors. In Turkish music, makams are made of trichords, tetrachords and pentachords. Makams cannot be defined by scales. The main characteristic of the makams are their melodic progressions (seyir) and the flavors they use. Therefore, calculating the cent values of these flavors is a way to describe the exact values of microtones in makams. According to the measurements found in the research, one lever flattens the string by 17 cents, two levers by 35 cents, three levers by 51 cents, four levers by 69 cents, five levers by 85 cents and six levers by 100 cents which is a semitone. For the measurements, the advanced tuning software “Clear Tune” was used.

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FOSTERING RESPECT FOR LIFE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Author(s): Vincentas Lamanauskas / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2011

Keywords: behaviour in nature; educational process; respect for life;

The respect for life educational process is extremely important for primary school. Psychologists assert that exactly the early school age strongly requires fostering the feelings of love, sensitiveness and help as the period is important for the mastering and establishing certain standards of behaviour. This is the key for the explanation of the different aspects of the teenager‘s behaviour in nature. An important point is to set out the conditions for the child to correlate with nature and on that basis to foster moral and aesthetic feelings in the junior school age. Presumably nobody could deny that fostering respect for life becomes a universally accepted and relevant objective of our society. It could responsibly be contended that society must reconsider its principles of the correlation with nature.

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EXPLORING LEARNER UNDERSTANDING OF ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES’ (EMS) CONCEPTS THROUGH VARIATION OF LEARNING THEORY: CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES

Author(s): Thomas (Tom) Edwin Buabeng Assan / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2011

Keywords: Economics and Management Sciences (EMS); object of learning; outcomes-based education; outcome space; phenomenography; South Africa; variation of learning (ToV);

This paper addresses one of the fundamental issues in learning and the strategy for enhancing learning within the context of outcomes-based education. The paper argues that the Theory of Variation (ToV), within the phenomenographic paradigm, could be used as a classroom resource to enhance learning particularly in Economic and Management Sciences’ (EMS) education. The article discusses the results of how the understanding of value/price determination of the South African currency (the Rand) among grade 9 (15-16 year olds) was enhanced using the variation theory of learning approach within the phenomenographic studies as a classroom resource. The notions of conceptions, outcome space and object of learning, are found to be key aspects in ToV as a classroom resource. Using these notions, the article analyses the effect of ToV integration into EMS classroom learning activities. It also argues that the use of ToV as learning support strategy significantly enhanced the quality of learning. ToV approach could, therefore, supplement the simplistic outcomes-based learning schemes that overly simplify the outcomes and products of learning and which have received much criticism of late in South Africa.

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MYTHS IN THE ACADEME – PRE-ENROLLMENT PROFILES AND ACADEMIC EDUCATION AS KEY TO POST-GRADUATION EMPLOYMENT AND SATISFACTION

Author(s): Nitza Davidovitch,Hadassah Littman-Ovadia,Dan Soen / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2011

Keywords: academic access; employment; satisfaction;

Academic education is considered a key to gaining employment and satisfaction. This scientific research attempts to explain the association between the demographic and pre-enrollment profiles of graduates of one academic institution, and their retrospectively reported satisfaction with their academic studies, and with their career. The study, based on a case study of the Ariel University Center of Samaria, Israel, integrates Holland’s classic congruence theory and Seligman’s innovative theory of positive psychology, specifically the hypothesis concerning everyday deployment of individual character strengths. Findings of the study demonstrate that deployment of character strengths was a significant predictor of graduates’ work satisfaction. The interesting finding in this exploratory study is the failure of graduates’ pre-enrollment admission profiles to distinguish among graduates based on their post-graduate employment status or job satisfaction. This finding is especially interesting and scientifically significant in the context of the accepted myth in the academe, according to which admission profiles are key predictors of future success.

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REMEDIAL WORK AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING POSITIVE LEARNING MOTIVATION OF ADOLESCENTS

Author(s): Svetlana Guseva,Valerijs Dombrovskis,Vadims Murasovs / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2011

Keywords: adolescent; learning motivation; the level of intellectual development; remedial work;

The topicality of this study is determined by the problem of gaining knowledge and developing positive learning motivation among 13 years old teenagers with low intellectual activity. Since learning motivation and intellectual development are interrelated, the remedial programme, which fosters the increase of teenager’s intellectual activity, may become one of the factors influencing the development of learning motivation. The authors assume that specially developed remedial programme for pupils with low intellectual activity indirectly reforms the hierarchy of motives in the structure of learning motivation.Taking into account that all children are different and that intellectual development and learning-cognitive motivation are interrelated, during the research 290 pupils in Latvia have been examined by the use of the GIT method (Group Intellectual Test), which consists of 7 subtests. Out of the all sample group the experiment team chose pupils (101) who had shown the lowest results for the test tasks and studied the peculiarities of their learning motivation. These pupils were divided into control group (56) and experimental group (45), subsequently dividing the latter group into three subgroups. Then two experimental stages were processed: one before the remedial work and one afterwards. The level of intellectual development and peculiarities of learning motivation were diagnosed. It was concluded that remedial work stimulates cogitation, enriches vocabulary and reforms the hierarchy of motives in the structure of learning motivation.

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Industries Development with the Input-Output Analysis: Investment Simulation on Two Regencies in Indonesia

Author(s): Firmansyah Firmansyah,Shanty Oktavilia,Sri Handayani / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: economic development planning; input-output analysis; Leontief multiplier; Leontief production function; investment policy simulation; economic structure; inward-outward oriented planning;

The similarity of the industrial structure of the main industries in two neighboring regencies, Wonosobo and Temanggung, Indonesia, is expected to result in equality demand for intermediate and primary inputs. The neighbouring regencies are located in the mountainous area and had similarities in economic structure. The goals of this study were to analyse the economic structure, select 5 main sectors in each district, and compare the impact of the economic investment on the main sectors in order to identify the effectiveness of the investment in the same production sector in the context of its impact on the economy. This research employed independent Input-Output analysis using the 2016 Input-Output Tables of Wonosobo and Temanggung regencies to evaluate the flow of intersectoral transactions and develop a multiplier analysis to determine development strategies which are shock injections applied to each region. This study hypothesises that the increase of sectoral investments increases output which is relatively the same in 5 corresponding industries in both regions. The obtained results showed that the selected main sector included Trade, Other Food and Beverage Industries, Building, and Wood and Wood Materials Industries. The investment on the main industrial sector led to a higher improvement in Temanggung rather than in Wonosobo. By simulating investment policies in two adjoining regencies, the optimally economic impact on each region and the cooperation approach used to carry out development planning can be assessed.

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Global Production Networks in the Regional Analysis Framework: Case of the EU Peripheral Automotive Manufacturing

Author(s): Germán Héctor González,Elena Vladimirovna Sapir,Alexander D. Vasilchenko / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: global value chains; global production networks; input-output tables; domestic value-added; total factor productivity; betweenness centrality; EU periphery; automotive manufacturing; clusterisation;

Recent transformations following the global financial crisis of 2009, COVID-19 pandemic, supply chains disruptions and newest shocks have radically reshaped global production landscape and challenged comparative benefits of global production networks (GPN) vs global value chains (GVC) paradigms in international production analysis. The study tests the hypothesis that GPN concept allows for a better identification of structural shifts in international production structures while revealing regional patterns of cooperation. In the first section, the main methodological constraints of GVC paradigm are specified. Additionally, the reasons for the application of network-based approach to international production are outlined. The second section dissects the EU automotive manufacturing to support the theoretical propositions. While comparing GVC and GPN quantitative toolkits, the possible trade-off has been reached which is to calculate network indicators (transitivity, centrality, etc.) on the inter-country input-output tables. As a result, the hypothesis was confirmed. Specifically, betweenness centrality metric suggests that Czechia and Slovakia have immediately favoured a positive effect of the entry into the EU, whereas neither of GVC indicators reveals such a shift. Simultaneously, 2008 crisis is depicted via GVC indicators, whilst network metrics suggest no structural changes in the production system. These results corroborate to our theoretical juxtaposition of GVC/GPN approaches. The methodological cohesion of two sets of indicators further advances the views on European regional core-periphery integration and automotive production networks dynamics. At the same time, the findings may contribute to the reassessment of regional integration developments in Europe, as well as in Latin America and Eurasia.

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The Effect of Budget, Audit and Government Performance: Empirical Evidence from Indonesian Regional Governments

Author(s): Abdul Kahar,Andi Chairil Furqan,Tenripada Tenripada / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: public accounting; auditing; budget; bureaucratic performance; accountability and transparency; public choice theory; audit opinion; governance; regional governments; Indonesia;

The development of public sector accounting was now propelled by stakeholder demands on bureaucratic performance, accountability and transparency, to pay close attention to tax revenues and expenditures with due regard to financial governance through positive auditing results. The Indonesian government enacted a new rule of Government Accounting Standard No. 71 of 2010 which fundamentally changed the form of government accounting books. The impact of these changes on budgeting, auditing and government performance in the early days of their implementation is crucial as a basis for reference for later reforms. This study aims to examine empirically the effect of audit opinion on the performance of Indonesian local governments by considering the mediating effect of revenue and expenditure realisation based on legitimacy and public choice theories. Data from 32 provinces in Indonesia during the 2010-2014 period with a total number of 150 observations (province-years) was analysed by least square regression. The research found that, in line with legitimacy theory, the previous year’s audit opinion had a significant and positive effect both directly and indirectly through the realisation of regional expenditure as a mediating variable on the performance of local governments. However, regarding public choice theory, the results must be carefully interpreted as the mediating effect of the realisation of expenditure on how audit opinions affect the performance of the provincial government depending on the measurements used. The result may be used by the government, provincial government, local parliament and the Audit Board of Indonesia in policy setting, supervision and inspection in improving the performance of the provincial government. Audit opinion, in relation to the realisation of government expenditure and its function, indirectly boosts the performance of local government in developing countries.

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Yugoslavia and the Balkan unity, 1925–1930

Author(s): Srđan Mićić / Language(s): English / Issue: 29/2022

Keywords: Yugoslavia; Bulgaria; Albania; Greece; Turkey; alliance; diplomacy; economy; minority issues; regional international structure

This paper analyzes policies of the Yugoslav foreign ministers Momčilo Ninčić and Vojislav Marinković towards the ideas of the Balkan unity. Not only were both of them prominent political figures, but also economists and in several mandates ministers of finance, national economy, trade (and industry) and/or construction. Therefore the aim is to analyze their views on the political unification and economic co-operation between the Balkan states, and factors that provided opportunities or stood as constraints to the implementation of their plans. Chronologically, the paper covers the period from the beginning of the Locarno period in the Balkans to the beginning of the Balkan Conferences. The paper is primarily based on the Yugoslav and Bulgarian archival sources, domestic and foreign published sources, and scientific literature.

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