Vienna Insurance Group's Development on the Slovak Insurance Market between 2005 and 2013

Author(s): Lenka Přečková / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The aim of this article is to evaluate how the premium written and market share of the Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) developed on the insurance market of the Slovak Republic. This article also wants to find out whether this development was affected by strategic transformations which insurance companies belonging to the VIG underwent. The time period monitored and evaluated was 9 years - from 2005 to 2013. First, this article describes individual insurance companies belonging to the VIG group and their historical development.

INVESTIGATION OF WEAK-FORM EFFICIENCY IN THE CEE REGION APPLYING VARIANCE RATIO TEST

Author(s): Mihály Ormos,Gábor Botár / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

We test weak form efficiency for the Central and Eastern European stock markets applying variance ratio test. We investigate the price changes of seven CEE markets (Austria, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia) for the period 1991-2011. In order to make the results for these markets directly comparable with results for other developed markets, Germany, United Kingdom and the USA were also incorporated. Our results present contrarian pricing behavior in the investigated countries while instead of the mean reverting (negative autocorrelation) pricing process experienced in the US or in the UK we measure positive autocorrelation especially in the early years of the investigated stock exchanges.

The calculation of the output gap in the machinery sector of the Slovak Republic

Author(s): Eva Kafkova,Igor Hudak / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The aim of this paper is the calculation and evaluation of the output gap by Cobb-Douglas function in the terms of the Slovak economy with focus on the mechanical sector as an important part of the national economy during the period 2000 – 2012. The advantage of the chosen calculation of the output gap is the possibility to use it for the part of economy. The output gap is an important economic indicator determining the difference between actual and potential output of the economy, respectively of its part.

Slovensko-poľské kontakty profesora Jana Zouhara

Author(s): Zlatica Plašienková,Barbara Szotek / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

The article briefly reflects on Professor Jan Zouhar’s personal and professional contacts within his activities in the Slovak and Polish philosophical environment with an emphasis on the personal experience of the authors. It points out Professor Zouhar’s contribution and influence on the development of mutual relations and fruitful cooperation in the field of philosophy, as well as on the unforgettable human dimension that he brought to these relations.

Javna potrošnja u medijskom sektoru u Crnoj Gori za 2013.godinu

Author(s): Mira Popović,Ana Vujošević / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Cilj ovog istraživanja je da se učine dostupnim podaci o ulaganjima u medije u Crnoj Gori iz budžeta koji finansiraju poreski obveznici, ali i daju preporuke u pravcu spriječavanja, ili ograničenja na minimum, različitih oblika prikrivene kontrole medija kroz moguću ciljanu i pristrasnu upotrebu budžetskog novca, a samim tim preveniraju štetne posljedice za slobodu medija.

DIREKTNA DEMOKRATIJA I LOKALNA POLITIKA: NEPOSREDNA POLITIČKA PARTICIPACIJA U POSTDEJTONSKOJ BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI

Author(s): Elvis Fejzić / Language(s): Bosnian Publication Year: 0

Vladavina naroda je višestruko vezana za lokalnu politiku. U malim lokalnim zajednicama nastali su prvi oblici političkog aktiviteta i organiziranja kao, recimo, u starim predantičkim i antičkim državnim tvorevinama. U nekim organskim grupama, koje predstavljaju jedan od oblika društvenog organiziranja bez tradicije državnosti, poput plemena ili klana, moguće je detektirati prvobitne oblike uspostavljene vlasti, autoriteta, moći, uticaja i interesa, iako su te skupine bile zasnovane na biološkoj ili agnatskoj pripadnosti. Takvi oblici neformalne i lokalizirane vlasti, u kojoj se već mogu prepoznavati oni koji vladaju i donose odluke od onih koji sudjeluju u aktivitetu takvih skupina i na koje se te odluke odnose, bili su utemeljeni na direktnoj političkoj komunikaciji, participaciji i odlučivanju (Vinsent, 2009). Iako navedeni oblik vlasti i odlučivanja još uvijek nije imao atribucije demokratske vladavine, zapravo, bio je osnova na kojoj će se kasnije razviti prvi koncepti direktne demokratije u antičkoj političkoj epohi. Atinski koncept demokratije demonstrirao je raznovrsne efekte neposredne narodne vladavine u političkoj praksi, ali je njen elitistički duh zasjenio i eliminirao njenu poliarhijsku notu i destruirao njen istinski demokratski potencijal, koji se ne može praktično realizirati bez vladavine mnoštva u političkoj zajednici. Apostrofirani režim vlasti omogućavao je svim slobodnim građanima, ali u ovom slučaju na ograničenom prostoru lokalnih zajednica, da ravnopravno participiraju u odlučivanju o javnim poslovima na atinskom trgu, s tim da je ključni problem bio u tome što je većina tadašnje atinske populacije bila neslobodna i isključena iz javne sfere. Tako da je atinska demokratska vladavina bila više direktni, nego što je bila demokratski režim vlasti, zato što je otvoreno odbacivala načelo političke jednakosti i ravnopravnosti svih pojedinaca u društvu i javnim poslovima.

REFORME ORGANIZACIJE I PODELE NADLEŽNOSTI GRADA BEOGRADA (2000-2022)

Author(s): Snežana S. Đorđević / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

The subject of this article is a description of the reforms of the organization and functioning of the city of Belgrade after the year 2000, with an emphasis on the current situation. The most important part of this analysis is the way of division of responsibilities between the state, city and city municipalities as well as local communities as a sub-municipal level of local government. The work follows the structure of the essential aspects of the local government system: status, elections, organization of government, jurisdiction, financing, to a lesser extent services, service provision, but most of these topics are integrated into the text. Emphasis is placed on the division of responsibilities and to some extent on financial regulation. The aim of the work is to analyze the instruments of democratization (the possibility of citizens’ involvement in decision-making) and the development of entrepreneurial capacities of the city of Belgrade, because it has greater potential than other local self-government units in Serbia to provide a greater scope and better quality of services due to economies of scale. Research question: Is the model of Belgrade’s organization democratic enough, to what extent is it decentralized (especially with regard to the division of responsibilities between the city and city municipalities as well as the form of direct involvement of citizens in decisionmaking processes) and does it in principle correspond to the needs of citizens and the community (tailored services according to the needs of citizens)? Methods: The paper will use the analysis of the content of documents (legal regulations and the legal model of city planning) as well as studies in this area, then comparative experiences of the planning of Belgrade from various stages of development and synthesis (deduction) of all experiences into some more general knowledge that can be used in improving the organization of Belgrade and other cities. This article is done as a case study of Belgrade. In her work, the author used her decades of experience in the reforms of Belgrade’s organization (decentralization, democratization, modernization of management). For this text, numerous public debates and conversations with officials of city municipalities and the city from all stages of reforms, as well as at the present time, are of great importance. They give this study a stronger connection to real life and practical problems, challenges and solutions made. Expected results: This analysis is a good basis for learning from other cities’ experience - good and bad practices of the functioning of Belgrade.

PROFIL BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE

Author(s): Zlatko Lagumdžija / Language(s): Bosnian Publication Year: 0

Nedospělí autoři a jejich zastoupení v české literatuře mezi lety 1989-2015

Author(s): Anna Hronová / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

Příspěvek se zabývá nedospělými autory (tedy těmi, kteří své literární dílo vytvořili a publikovali v době své nezletilosti) v české literatuře mezi lety 1989–2015. Příspěvek má za cíl odhalit a shrnout, kolik nedospělých autorů se v české literatuře v daném období objevilo a působilo, jakým způsobem své dílo publikovali, jaké je v jejich dílech poměrné zastoupení odborné a krásné literatury, ale také poezie a prózy, a rovněž jejich rozvrstvení na časové ose – zda se v průběhu uvedených let 1989–2015 výrazně měnila intenzita jejich publikačních aktivit.

REFLEXIE VÝSKUMU CESTOVNÉHO RUCHU NA SLOVENSKU VO VEDECKOM ČASOPISE EKONOMICKÁ REVUE CESTOVNÉHO RUCHU V ROKOCH 1993 AŽ 2012

Author(s): Kristína Pompurová / Language(s): Slovak Publication Year: 0

The scientific journal Economic Review of Tourism was created in 1968 and is continuously published by the Faculty of Economics Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica. It brings out original articles and analytical studies of domestic and foreign authors pointed on the tourism theory development. It creates a space for discussion on topical issues affecting tourism in Slovakia and in the European context. It furthermore provides publication reviews and annotations useful for theoreticians and practitioners of tourism. The journal presents an interdisciplinary approach of scientific study of tourism. In the period of years 1993 ‒ 2012 there were published scientific articles focused mainly on the tourism market, tourism demand and supply, on the management and marketing of tourism companies and destinations, on thequality in tourism and customer satisfaction, as well as on human resources and teaching in tourism, tourism economics and organizational structure in the tourism.

VÝZNAM LÁZEŇSTVÍ A WELLNESS PRO SOUČASNÝ CESTOVNÍ RUCH V OBDOBÍ ZMĚN

Author(s): Eva Vavrečková,Jiří Vaníček / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

The paper is based on research results, especially on the first research phase focused on topic "Spa and tourism" organized by Department of Spa, Gastronomy and Tourism, Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Silesian University in Opava for Association of Spas. The paper is focused on analysis of current situation in Czech spa area based on chosen statistical indicators in providing of spa care services in years 2000 – 2013 and it defines visitor's and inhabitant's profiles of chosen spa resorts in Czech Republic. There is also analysis of wellness services in spa care and hotels and its importance for tourism, supported by particular indicator values obtained in specified areas in Czech Republic. Final part containssummary and describes another options and perspectives available for spa care and wellness in service offers of tourism in Czech Republic.

Main challenges for the Norwegian schools during the last decade

Author(s): Roald Jensen,Dag Sørmo / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This part of the book deals with elements that show how developments in school and in the teachers’ education are demanding processes. Various aspects are being pointed out as background for the necessity of continuous guidance in a profession that at all times must adapt to a complex and rapidly evolving society. Since the school receives its assignment from the authorities, it should reflect and prepare students for a society that is consistently directed towards the future. At the start of his career, a teacher has a basic education that will help him or her to manage various future challenges. With such a task, it is important that the teacher acknowledges that updates and adjustments of both own competence and interaction must be continuous processes that evolve along the way. It is difficult to be a citizen in the new modern world, but perhaps even more challenging to be a teacher who has to deal with all these changes. Society often expects the teacher to be ahead of the events. At the same time, the teacher is responsible for leading the school in the direction established by the authorities. Often, this can also be in conflict with professional judgement and decisions (Garbo, 2014).

ACTIVITIES OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN TOURISM DESTINATIONS – CASE STUDY OF SLOVAKIA

Author(s): Vanda Marakova,Diana Kvasnová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The success of destinations on tourism market determines coordination and cooperation of stakeholders participating on its development. In states with developed tourism has cooperation and partnerships in tourism destinations long tradition. In Slovakia is this collaborative approach actual from 90s, when with the aim to support tourism development were established tourism associations. The Tourism Support Act. 91/2010 Coll. Determined conditions for establishment of destination management organizations (DMOs) on the base of public-private partnership. Partnership can be characterized as a strategic joining of different stakeholders participating on tourism development in destinations. Its establishment increases competitiveness of tourism destinations and their sustainability on tourism market. The aim of the paper is to examine the activities of DMOs on local and regional level in tourism destination in Slovakia. The material utilized by the authors are secondary data processed by selected methods of correlation and regression analysis. The paper focuses on analysis of funds on marketing activities of DMOs in the relation to attendance of tourism destinations.

Komparační analýza cílů a opatření Koncepcí státní politiky cestovního ruchu ČR v období 1999-2013..

Author(s): Šárka Tittelbachová / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

Concept of state policy and strategy documents are the main instruments for implementing the national policy of tourism. Politics tourism is an important part of economic policy of the Government of the Czech Republic, her subsystem. The need to clearly define the politics of tourism is becoming in the context of the current directions of development more urgent, in connection with the expectations that are associated with increased influence of tourism on economic and social development of regions with increasing demands on the creation of comprehensive, internationally competitive products in tourist areas. Essay deals with comparisons of targets and measures of state policy concepts of tourism for the period 1999-2013 and appreciation their implementation. Main goal is to find latent problems and propose solutions to them at the time of the new tourism policy strategy for the period 2014-2020. This article is a contribution for discussion across a range of entities implementing the tourism policy, which should result in clear and measurable strategy for the new tourism policy in the Czech Republic.

THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT IN RELATION TO THE PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES IN SELECTED REGIONS OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Author(s): Markéta Beranová,Hana Vostrovská,Miroslava Navrátilová,Helena Čermáková,Hana Urbancová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Since 1989, not only has the economy of the agricultural sector been fundamentally transformed, but also those of other sectors. The consequences of changes in agricultural enterprises have primarily become evident in the employment rate and their performance. This article aims to evaluate the financial performance of agricultural enterprises in selected regions in relation to the general unemployment rate in these regions. The results obtained are based on the collection and processing of secondary data from the database of economic and financial records called Amadeus (na = 117, nb = 81) and from publicly available financial statements of enterprises. The evaluated results have shown that the general unemployment rate does not affect the financial results and personnel costs, and thus neither the performance of agricultural enterprises.

Optimization for Minimal State: Case Study of Bureaucracy Ratio in Czech Armed Forces 1997 -2017

Author(s): Vojtěch Müllner / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

The limited possibilities to compare the inputs with the outputs build a barrier for the efficiency assessment in some segments of the public sector. The sphere of external safety undoubtedly ranks among those segments of the public sector. The alternative way of assessment can be formed by the analysis of alternative aggregates. The efficiency of the economic management of public funds is, among others, determined by the personnel structure optimization which can be one of the alternative indicators. Optimizing of personnel structure was one of the transformation goals of Czech Armed Forces. By use of personnel optimization indicator which is based on the ratio between soldiers and civil employees was possible to track the dynamic of transformation as well as the transformation goal fulfilment. The rate of personal optimization ratio drop in time of transformation, which had been caused by the change of the system and was replaced by the increase in the utilization of the apparatus in the following years. Since 2009, the proportion of the supportive bureaucratic apparatus has been exceeding the values from the late 1990s and it still shows increasing tendencies. Due to this result we can evaluate the fulfilment of one several pre-transformation goals.

Does Czech Republic Suffer from Baumol´s Cost Disease?

Author(s): Irena PALIČKOVÁ / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper deals with Baumol´s cost disease theory. This theory is usually used to explain the different dynamics of some sectors of the economy, particularly public sector and to explain the growing share of the public sector in total resources. The aim of the paper is to verify the validity of Baumol´s theory on data from the Czech economy using the time series from 1995 – 2017. It was found that the Czech economy shows some symptoms of Baumol´s cost disease. These include, in particular, the growing share of the tertiary sector in total gross value added and employment, declining trend in labor productivity in the tertiary sector, declining expenditure on goods and rising spending on services spent by households. It was also confirmed that wage growth in the tertiary sector is determined by wage growth in the secondary sector, which is in line with Baumol´s theory. Although the share of the public sector in total resources in the Czech Republic is increasing, the share of public expenditure in GDP has a decreasing trend. This may be due, inter alia, to the faster growth rate of GDP recently.

A Question of State Aid for Sectoral Development in the EU

Author(s): Piotr Podsiadło / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The article presents the conditions of admissibility of State aid in the European Union, taking into account the rules applicable to the sectoral aid for enterprises. Pursuant to Article 107 par. 3 (c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), State aid may be compatible with the internal market in so far as it is intended to facilitate the development of certain economic activities. Thus, aid that is determined according to sectoral criteria may be permissible where this leads to the development of that sector. While many aid schemes are sectoral in nature, the European Commission has not sought to develop a sectoral approach in the development of its State aid policy. In general, the main state aid policy instruments governing horizontal aid, such as the guidelines on regional State aid or the guidelines on environmental protection, draw no distinction between different sectors, other than to restrict their application in certain circumstances. Nevertheless, certain sectors have been subjected to different treatment under the State aid rules. In particular, sectors that suffered from over-capacity, such as motor vehicles, synthetic fibres and textiles were subject to individual treatment by the Commission. The article offers an analysis of State aid granted by EU Member States is carried out under the provisions of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union and the rules of State aid admissibility on the basis of the implementing sectoral regulations. The analysis made it possible to verify the influence of State aid on economic growth in EU Member States, which provided State aid for sectoral development in the years 2000-2017. The analysis was based on a linear regression model. The response variable (dependent variable Y) is the size of the GDP, while the explanatory variable (independent variable X) is the expenditure on State aid for sectoral development.

Public Funding of Business R&D Activities in the Czech Manufacturing Sector 2010 – 2014

Author(s): Marek Vokoun,František Stellner / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The analysis aims at the Czech manufacturing sector and innovation activities between 2010 and 2014. A panel of three Community Innovation Surveys is analyzed. This paper evaluates public funding of business R&D. The analyzed sample consists of 9316 observations of which 4313 are about R&D spenders, and 1942 are about new-to-the-market innovators. This paper estimates the model based on three stages of the innovation business process. The probability to innovate (full sample), the R&D expenditures per one employee and sales from innovated goods and services per one employee (new-to-the-market innovation sample) are analyzed. Central government funding and EU Programmes funding contributed to the innovation intensity (R&D expenditures). In the case of the innovation output, the additional contribution of public support was measured. Local and central government programmes, EU programmes, and also the variable describing support from the Framework/Horizon programmes were statistically insignificant. Public funding led to some extent to a crowding-effect of private sources in the manufacturing sector among new-to-the-market innovators.

Application of selected financial performance methods to chosen industry in the Czech Republic

Author(s): Dana Dluhošová,Barbora Ptáčková,Dagmar Richtarová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper is dedicated to financial performance evaluation of selected industry of the Czech Republic. Financial performance of the industry or company is a random process, which can be decomposed into the particular indicators. Very important is to find and to quantify main factors which influence financial performance of the industry the most. One of the possible ways is to apply the method of pyramidal decomposition to financial indicators. The aim of this paper is to evaluate financial performance of selected industry in the Czech Republic in the period 2007 to 2015 according to the methods of analysis of deviation and to find main value drivers of this selected industry. Annual data from the period 2007 to 2015 will be used for the analysis. The data for the analysis will be taken from the web site of Ministry of industry and trade of the Czech Republic. Firstly, financial ratios will be determined. Secondly, the method of pyramidal decomposition will be applied to selected financial indicators, such as profitability ratios, liquidity ratios and activity and debt ratios. Analysis of deviation will be then applied to particular financial ratios and dynamic analysis of selected industry financial performance will be performed. Evaluation of selected industry in the Czech Republic according to economic value added indicator will be included in the conclusion of the paper and also value drivers of this industry will be determined in the analyzed period.