Economy, Business and Development: An International Journal
Economy, Business & Development (EB&D) journal seeks to promote an understanding of the phenomena of development from a combined business and economy perspective. The journal consciously endeavours to combine scholarly perspectives relevant to academic research and policy issues relating to development. In this connection, we use the term development broadly - to include scholarship drawing on business and economic perspective in the context of developed and developing countries on a micro or macro level. We are also accepting research articles that focuses on one country, but provide a generalisation that can be used in similar empirical context. We welcome in-depth studies that are used to validate or extend existing theories and models.
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Faculty for Economics, Skopje, RN Macedonia
WHEN RATIONALITY INSPIRES AND FATIGUE PERSISTS: UNDERSTANDING DRIVERS OF ONLINE PURCHASE INTENTION
Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study investigates the effects of digital fatigue and digital rationality on online purchase intention. Although these forces have been frequently examined separately in prior research, little is known about how they interact to influence consumer decision-making in digital contexts. Direct and indirect effects were tested using mediation models on survey data from 259 members of Generation Z. The results show an unexpected asymmetry. Without influencing attitudes, digital fatigue directly increases purchase intention, suggesting that tiredness can influence consumers to make quick, closure-focused decisions. Contrarily, digital rationality only impacts intention through attitudes, demonstrating that logical assessments result in positive perceptions, which in turn influence more robust purchase intentions. By showing that attitudes mediate selectively based on the stimulus, these findings enhance the theory of consumer behavior. The study offers a more comprehensive understanding of digital decision-making by incorporating dual-process accounts and resource depletion perspectives into the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework. The necessity for interfaces that provide clear information to consumers who are rationally oriented while reducing friction for weary users is highlighted by the practical implications.
Copyright (c) 2025 Economy, Business and Development: An International Journal
The Role of Institutions in the Economic Growth of OECD Countries
This paper analyses the role of institutional quality in determining the economic growth in the OECD countries from 1995 to 2021 concerning the institutional economics framework developed by North (1990) and further advanced by Rodrik (2000) and Acemoglu et al. (2005). Institutions are viewed as the formal and informal structures that regulate economic, political and social activities and are considered the key to influencing economic performance through the minimisation of transaction costs, encouragement of innovation and human capital development. The theoretical framework assumes that inclusive institutions foster sustained economic growth while extractive institutions stifle development by consolidating power and assets. This paper hypothesises that institutional quality positively influences economic growth in OECD countries. Using panel regression models and Employing the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom Index and the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom as measures of institutional quality, it examines how government size, property rights, regulation, and trade freedom affect growth. The findings reveal that institutional quality has a positive but varying impact on economic growth. In particular, small government, low taxes, and good monetary policy are positively related to higher growth rates. However, factors such as property rights and trade freedom have either weak or negative coefficients of correlation with growth. The results suggest that fiscal prudency and sound money supply policies are conducive to growth, but other institutional factors are not as straightforward in their influence on growth. This study is useful for policymakers who wish to improve economic growth through institutional change.
Human Capital Components and Economic Development: The Relationship between Education and Health Expenditures and GDP in Selected Countries of Southeast Europe
The modern theory of economic growth and development posits that human capital is one of the main factor for economic growth as it enhances the productivity of two other classical growth factors: physical capital and labour. Also, investments in human capital accumulation are considered as important precondition for achieving higher levels of economic development. In this context, one line of emprical research is to assess the importance of the two components of human capital – education and health – in the process of economic development. In this paper, we investigate the impact of education and health on the level of economic development (measured as GDP per capita) in a sample of five Southeast European countries (Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, over the period 2000-2021.The empirical analysis relies on a cross-sectional regression using two panels (one for education - based human capital, and the other for health-based capital. Other variables in the models include lagged GDP per capita, gross fixed capital formation per capita and corruption perception index as a proxy for insitutional quality. The results from the two panel regressions indicate that spending on education and health has significant positive effects on GDP per capita. Such reserach results lend support to the policy prescription that public investments in education and health aimed at upgrading the quality of human capital may significantly contribute to the process of economic development.
Economic development, Education expenditures, Health expenditures, Human capital, Southeast Europe
Enhancing Job Design with Artificial Intelligence: What We Know and What Lies Ahead
As businesses undergo digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping job design by automating tasks and redefining human roles. This shift presents a critical challenge for human resource professionals and managers: how to integrate AI into work while maintaining productivity, fairness, and employee well-being. To clarify the evolving landscape, this study synthesizes the state-of-the-art literature on AI-driven job design through a multi-technique bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Analyzing 67 Scopus-indexed publications, we use descriptive bibliometrics, co-authorship mapping, bibliographic coupling, and co-occurrence analysis to trace past research directions and outline a future research agenda. Our findings reveal key themes, including AI’s impact on job characteristics, data-driven human resource management (HRM) practices, group-level AI integration, emerging job skills, human-AI trust, labor relations, and algorithmic HRM. As one of the first bibliometric studies in this field, this research provides a foundational framework for understanding AI’s role in job design and identifies seven distinct pathways for future investigation.
Tax Compliance Strategies and Revenue Generation in Nigeria
Tax revenue generation is crucial for economic management and development in both developed and developing countries, as it supports public services, infrastructure, and social programs, thus fostering sustainable development and economic stability. This study aims to investigate the effect of tax compliance strategies on tax revenue generation in Nigeria, assessing the effectiveness of different approaches in closing the tax gap and boosting government revenue. This study used a survey research design to explore relationships between variables without manipulation, providing valuable insights into their connections. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 3,784 tax officials at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in the southwest states of Nigeria, considered knowledgeable about the subject as of December 31, 2023. The questionnaire employed a five-point Likert scale (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) to gather responses. The reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed using both statistical methods, like Cronbach's Alpha, and non-statistical methods. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics (mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis) and inferential statistics (correlation and regression analysis) to summarize and interpret the data. The empirical analysis reveals that both voluntary tax compliance and tax enforcement strategies significantly contribute to increasing tax revenue generation in Nigeria. This study concludes that a combined approach of encouraging voluntary tax compliance and implementing strong enforcement strategies is effective in increasing tax revenue generation in Nigeria. Based on the outcomes of this study, this study recommends that government should invest in comprehensive taxpayer education programs that clearly explain tax laws, the importance of compliance, and the benefits of paying taxes.
Shaping Market Perceptions: An Investigation into Macedonian Bank Stock Prices and their Drivers
This research paper examines the effects of return on assets (ROA), earnings per share (EPS), and audit opinion as a control variable, on the stock prices of banks in North Macedonia. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of these financial indicators on the stock prices of banks in North Macedonia and to what degree. To analyze this relationship, a linear multiple regression model is employed. Data were collected from the financial statements and annual reports of all 12 banks in North Macedonia over a ten-year period from 2012 to 2021. The results of the study demonstrate that audit opinion and EPS have a statistically significant impact on the stock prices of banks in North Macedonia. Specifically, the positive coefficient of the audit opinion variable indicates that audit opinion influences stock prices. Similarly, the positive coefficient of the EPS variable indicates that higher EPS leads to an increase in stock prices. However, it is important to note that when audit opinion is excluded from the model, the results change, and ROA shows a statistically significant impact on stock prices. This suggests that the inclusion of audit opinion as a control variable affects the relationship between ROA and stock prices. These findings imply that investors in the banking sector in North Macedonia consider audit opinion and EPS as crucial indicators of a bank's financial health, influencing their investment decisions. Maintaining a positive audit opinion and increasing EPS are important factors for boosting stock prices, which is valuable information for bank managers and investors. The recent changes in the format of the audit report, including the reporting of Key Audit Matters (KAM), have not yet been implemented in the domestic audit practice. As a result, auditors do not report on KAM, which may have influenced the research results in a different way. Also the small sample size can be persived as an limitation of the research. With only 12 banks in the Macedonian banking sector, the generalizability of the findings may be restricted. Future research could consider expanding the sample to enhance the representativeness of the study.
Copyright (c) 2023 Economy, Business and Development: An International Journal
Multidimensional child poverty and its determinants: Empirical evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
Poverty has been a subject of global discourse most especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where little progress has been achieved. Most literature sources regard poverty mainly as a household threat rather than one to affects the children living within the household. Thus, through a multidimensional approach, this study analyses poverty, specifically in the context of its effect on children. In carrying out this study, the General Household Survey data for Nigeria (the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa) for 2018/2019 obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was used. Descriptive statistics, the Multidimensional Poverty Measure, and the Tobit Regression Model were employed in this study. The results showed that there are more male children (52.17%) than females (47.83%), with most of the children falling within the middle-age group (45.51%). Less than half of the household heads were found to be literate, while the mean size of the household amounted to nine. This study found that the poverty dimension mainly affecting the research sample of Nigerian children was their deprivation in terms of sanitation, while the least significant dimension was their lack of food. Child poverty is prevalent among the three respective age groups of children, among rural dwellers (57.16%), and among residents in the northern divide of the country. The rural sector, the residents in the northeastern region of the country, and the gender of the household head were found to be significant variables influencing child poverty in Nigeria. As such, poverty reduction strategies directed towards the rural sector, the northern region, and the identified age groups of children should be of primary focus in tackling child poverty in Nigeria to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG1) - “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”.
Copyright (c) 2024 Economy, Business and Development: An International Journal
Digital Tax Administration and Tax Compliance in Nigeria Informal Sector
In an era characterized by growing globalization and increased fiscal oversight, tax compliance has become a significant concern for governments, businesses, and individuals globally (Bruce-Twum, 2023). This study seeks to examine the impact of digital tax administration on tax compliance within the informal sector in the Southwest states of Nigeria. The study employed a survey research design to collect primary data using a structured questionnaire, targeting artisans, street vendors, small-scale traders, service providers, and other self-employed individuals in the Southwest States of Nigeria. These individuals typically operate outside formal tax channels. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed, with 547 completed responses received, providing a substantial and representative sample. The study used purposive sampling to select participants with relevant characteristics for the research. To ensure the reliability of the questionnaire, a Cronbach's Alpha test was conducted. Data analysis involved both descriptive statistics (such as mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis) and inferential statistics (including correlation and regression analysis). The regression analysis showed that both technical know-how and digital payment platforms have positive and statistically significant impacts on tax compliance within the informal sector in the Southwest states of Nigeria. The study concludes that enhancing technical skills and expanding access to digital payment platforms can significantly improve tax compliance within the informal sector in the Southwest states of Nigeria. Therefore, this study suggested that Government and relevant agencies should invest in training programs aimed at improving the technical know-how of individuals and businesses in the informal sector.
The impact of remittances on economic activity in the region of Central and Southeastern Europe
This research aims to investigate the impact of remittances on economic growth in Central and Southeastern Europe by employing panel unobserved effects methodology across twelve selected countries within the region (CSEE-12). Our motivation arises from the fact that these countries are among the highest recipients of private remittances in Europe, suggesting that such financial inflows could potentially have a significant influence on fostering their economic growth. The empirical findings provide evidence that remittances indeed exert a positive and significant direct effect on economic growth in the analyzed group of countries, along with some of the other standard growth factors, such as physical and human capital.
Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from European Countries
In this paper we empirically investigate the relationship between fiscal decentralization and economic growth in the European countries, using panel dataset for 31 European countries, over the period 1972-2012. Our empirical results indicate that fiscal decentralization, quantitatively measured as the ratio of local government expenditures and revenues in general government expenditures and revenues has a favorable impact on economic growth in the European countries and also that revenue decentralization is shown to be more effective than expenditure decentralization in terms of stimulating economic growth. Further, our empirical results also suggest that the relationship between decentralization and economic growth is nonlinear, i.e. there is a certain optimal level of fiscal decentralization in terms of economic growth. This means that fiscal decentralization is expected to have a more pronounced positive impact on growth in less decentralized countries, while in more decentralized countries, a further increase in decentralization starts to hinder economic growth. In addition, the growth-enhancing effect of fiscal decentralization is even strongly confirmed in our subsample of advanced European countries, when long term effect of decentralization was examined. Therefore, compared with our previous findings on the impact of fiscal decentralization on growth in Central and Eastern European countries, we find that fiscal decentralization has a different impact on economic growth in advanced European countries vis-à-vis Central and Eastern European countries, i.e., while it enhances growth in the former, it hindered growth in the latter.
Fiscal decentralization, Economic growth, European countries
The importance of digital skills for the Western Balkans -comparative analysis between the Western Balkans and the European Union
In knowledge-intensive economies, skills emerged as crucial resources, determining economic development. Thus, in the post-pandemic, digital world, digital skills gain new ground, attracting the interest of researchers and practitioners. As one of the first studies on the topic in the region, the article aims to investigate the level of digital, computer, and skills in evaluating data, information, and digital content in Western Balkans (WB) and to compare it with the European Union (EU) region. Furthermore, we found that EU countries are way ahead in terms of basic or above basic overall digital skills on average. In the WB context, Serbia and Montenegro are close to converging with the EU average related to computer skills while Montenegro and North Macedonia lead in skills in evaluating data, information, and digital content. The results point out that the level of digital skills highly correlates with labor productivity and GDP per capita in WB.
digital skills; labor productivity; European Union; Western Balkans; comparative analysis
Non-financial disclosure and firm performance: Insights from listed consumer goods manufacturing companies in Nigeria
In the dynamic landscape of corporate reporting and stakeholder engagement, the significance of non-financial disclosure has gained considerable prominence. As businesses strive for sustainable growth and investors increasingly recognize the value of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, understanding the nexus between non-financial disclosure and firm performance becomes pivotal. This study endeavors to explore this relationship within the context of listed consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study encompassed a population of 21 listed consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The sample size was 21 firms, determined through census sampling techniques. The research spanned from 2013 to 2022. FGLS regression model was used to examine the relationship between the variables studied. The results found that environmental disclosure and social disclosure had a positive and significant effect on the firm’s performance. While governance disclosure had a negative and significant effect on the firm’s performance. This implies that firms that engage in robust non-financial disclosure practices tend to experience better overall performance. The study concludes that non-financial disclosure, encompassing environmental, social, and governance aspects, plays a pivotal role in influencing the performance of listed consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Firms are encouraged to enhance their ESG reporting frameworks, aligning with stakeholder expectations and global sustainability trends.
How resilient was international trade to Covid-19? Insights from clusters of European countries
The Covid-19 crisis spread around the world at lightning speed mainly due to the interconnectedness of today's economies as evidenced by major disruptions in international trade. This article aims at assessing the possible shifts that coronavirus disease has triggered in trade activity of European countries in two particularly affected sectors, that is food and machinery and transport equipment. In this process, exploratory data analysis is conducted in order to accurately explain the patterns lying behind the observed variations in trade values. Furthermore, cluster analysis is performed to the sample of European countries by applying hierarchical and K-means clustering algorithms using Python's libraries. By examining clusters of countries with similar trade profiles, this article contributes to discussions on global value chains, and to which extent there is data-based evidence to indicate systemic changes and reconfiguration of global production processes.
A Capital Structure & Cost Efficiency in Selected Listed Financial Firms in Nigeria
The study analyzed the cost effectiveness of a subset of Nigerian listed financial firms and looked at the impact of corporate governance on the subset of listed financial enterprises. Additionally, it evaluated how corporate governance affected how chosen listed financial organizations in Nigeria related to capital structure and cost effectiveness. There were with the intention of supplying details on the interactions between capital structure, corporate governance, and cost effectiveness in a number of Nigerian financial organizations between 2005 and 2020. The study used secondary data from 20 quoted, carefully chosen financial firms in Nigeria and used a descriptive survey design.The annual audited financial statements of the companies were used to collect and analyze data on corporate governance variables like size, membership, independence, and shareholding status; efficiency variables like assets, profit, and share capital; and capital structure variables like long and short term debts. The findings indicated that the deposit money banks in Nigeria had an average cost of efficiency of 54.6%. The capital structure was significantly impacted by corporate governance factors such board size (t= 2.285, p0.05) and board expertise (t=-2.311, p0.05). Finally, the outcome demonstrated that elements of corporate governance such board size (t=-2.807, p 0.05),Board independence and board composition, which acted as intermediary variables between corporate governance and cost effectiveness, were both statistically significant at the 5% level. According to the study's findings, there was a significant association between cost effectiveness, corporate governance, and capital structure.
Keywords: Financial firms, corporate governance, cost effectiveness, capital structure, Nigeria
Comparative Analysis of Transport and Storage Information Systems of the European Union and Serbia Using Fuzzy LMAW and MARCOS Methods
Information and communication technology is one of the critical factors for the business success of modern transport and storage. Therefore, it is important to research the information system of transport and storage from different aspects. In this paper, starting from that, a comparative analysis of the selection and ranking of the information system of transport and storage in the European Union and Serbia is carried out based on the FLMAW - MARCOS method. The obtained empirical results show that the top five countries according to the information system of transport and storage include: Malta, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Spain and Slovenia. Germany ranked thirteenth, France sixteenth and Italy eighteenth. Bulgaria (in twenty-fifth place) and Romania (in twenty-sixth place) are in an unenviable position. In the last (twenty-eighth) place is Belgium. Serbia is in twenty-second place, and is in a worse position compared to the countries in the region (Slovenia - fifth place and Croatia - fifteenth place). In order to improve the information system in the future, a greater application of information and communication technology in transport and storage is necessary, especially in countries ranked at a lower level. The effects of this are to improve the overall transport and storage performance.
The Practice and Drivers of CSR Disclosure Among the Blue-Chip Companies in North Macedonia
Non-financial reporting is becoming an increasingly common topic of discussion and is a matter of time before it is regularly implemented around the world. Stakeholders want to see how companies contribute to the common good and what social activities they undertake, so although in the Macedonian practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure is not mandatory, there is a growing intention to publicly disclose information about social activities. CSR is extremely important for businesses and other stakeholders, and it requires businesses to develop a corporate strategy that balances environmental, social, and ethical concerns. Through this type of activities, companies manage to increase their influence in society, to leave a good impression but also to contribute to the improvement of society and place of living, which is a win-win situation for everyone. The paper aims to examine the level of CSR reporting in domestic practice, through research conducted on the blue-chip companies listed on the Macedonian Stock Exchange. We analyzed the financial and annual reports and official websites of the joint stock companies that were part of the MBI10 index in the period from 2016 to 2020. First, a theoretical review of the CSR is presented, followed by a literature review on the CSR’s indicators and the state of the CSR in the Macedonian practice. Our findings from the conducted content analysis and linear regression show that larger and more profitable companies show a greater propensity for social responsibility and display more information about their undertaken social related activities.
CSR, non-financial disclosure, North Macedonia
Copyright (c) 2022 Economy, Business and Development: An International Journal
The Role of Social Capital in Contributing to Lifestyle Brand-Related Content on Social Media
The purpose of this research is to analyze the differences in users’ intentions to like, comment and share lifestyle brand-related content on social media based on the social capital focus. In this paper, social capital is conceptualized as a positive outcome of users’ interaction on social media, focusing on bonding and bridging dimensions of social capital. However, in order to examine the differences in intentions to like, comment and share between social media users with bridging and bonding focus, social capital is analyzed as a cause of social media engagement in terms of liking, commenting and sharing brand-related content on social media. A survey with social media users was carried out, using questionnaires as a method of data collection. A data set of 415 effective responses is collected and factor analysis and ANOVA test was used. The respondents were divided into two groups: social media users with bridging focus and with bonding focus. The results of factor analysis identified the factors as conceptualized in the literature. The results of ANOVA test indicated existence of significant differences in intentions to like, to share and to comment lifestyle brand-related content depending on the social media users’ social capital focus. Social media users with bridging focus showed stronger intentions to like, share and comment lifestyle brand-related content comparing to social media users with bonding focus. The findings of this research study may help social media marketing managers to successfully design and implement effective lifestyle brand-related content depending on the users’ social capital focus.
like, comment, share, lifestyle content, social capital
Public, Private and Foreign Investment Nexus in the Republic of North Macedonia: Crowding-In or Out Effect?
The last two decades’ economic growth of North Macedonia can be qualified as sluggish and volatile. During this period, the government has been proclaiming a narrative of fiscal and economic policies focused on public investment driven development and growth, yet the capital budget bias, has been significant with regularly overestimated plans vs. the outturn. The public investment-to-GDP ratio, has been an average 5.47%, ranging from minimum 4.0% (Y2007) to maximum 6.7% (Y2010). Simultaneously, the private investment-to-GDP ratio has been an average 17.1%, with minimum of 15% (in Y2005) and a maximum value of 20.6% (in Y2008). The FDI inflows, have been ranging from minimal below 1% in Y2014 to a maximum 12.7% in Y2001, with average of 4.6% per annum. The trends of the variables straightforwardly do not suggest a nexus between the public and private investments i.e. crowding-in or crowding out effect. This paper investigates whether public investment and foreign direct investments crowd-out or crowd-in the private investment in North Macedonia. To test this hypothesis, we use the available annual data on private, public & foreign direct investments and GDP for the period of 2000-2017, with a model of autoregressive distributed lag bound testing. The results indicate crowding-out effect of public over private investments with significance of the foreign direct investments variable and crowding-in effect of foreign direct investments over private domestic investments. The crowding-out effect is immediate and short run.
private investment, public investment, crowding-out effect, ARDL bound testing
Viable health funding in time of demographic ageing
In the past several decades a new challenge has arisen, and it refers to the rapid demographic ageing of the population in developed and developing countries, quite opposite to the previous understanding of overpopulated planet. Increase in the older population brings its implications to different segments of the society, and the national health system and its funding is one of them. This paper tends to analyze if there is a relationship between the government health expenditure and the increase in the older population in fourteen countries from the European Union that are experiencing most intense process of demographic ageing. Also, other possible determinants of the health expenditures are included, such as government social spending, gross domestic product per capita and dummy variable to estimate the effect of the global recession onto the health expenditure.
Demographic ageing, Health expenditure, Panel regression model
A Comparative analysis of the explanatory power of the CAPM and the Fama-French three-factor model on cross-sectional variation of returns on stocks trading on the Official market of the Macedonian Stock exchange
Abstract: The amount of literature on factors that explain the cross-sectional variation in average returns is vast, however, the majority of these papers attempt to explain the variation of returns in developed and emerging markets. In that sense, the literature lacks sufficient evidence regarding the variation of returns of frontier markets. The Republic of North Macedonia is considered to be a frontier market and in this paper we aim to empirically test the ability of the Capital Asset Pricing model and the Fama-French three factor model in explaining the cross-sectional variations of stock returns of securities trading on the Macedonian stock exchange. The empirical study is based on monthly returns from January 2011 to April 2021. Additionally, we use annual data obtained from the financial statements of the analysed companies included in this study. Using OLS time series regression we find that both models have limited explanatory power of the cross-sectional variation in expected returns on the Macedonian Stock exchange. The study shows that only the size factor exhibits some limited explanatory power regarding stock returns. Based on the comparative analysis the Fama-French three-factor model describes the variation of returns on the MSE much better than the Capital Asset Pricing Model.
The African Continental Free Trade Area and its Employment-Generation Potentials in Nigeria’s Industrial Sector
The study empirically examines the employment generation potentials of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Nigeria’s industrial sector. The ARDL approach to cointegration and error correction modeling is employed for analysis of annual time series data covering the period 1991-2020. The study finds inter alia that the short run effect of expansion of intra-African trade (expected to result from the AfCFTA) on industrial sector employment is positive and statistically significant. The long run effect is also positive, but not statistically significant. It also finds that trade openness – deeper integration of the economy with the global market – significantly enhances employment generation in the nation’s industrial sector in the long run; though the short run effect is negative and significant. These suggest that the country’s membership of the AfCFTA and implementation of policies to (cautiously) deepen the integration of the economy with the global market should be considered as supplementary avenues to achieving sustainable employment generation in the nation’s industrial sector in the short-and long-run. Other evidence-based policy recommendations are discussed.
Copyright (c) 2021 Economy, Business and Development: An International Journal
Оrganizational change as "push factor" of employees' turnover intention: Statistical analysis of the employees in the Republic of North Macedonia
The process of globalization and intensive technological development, imposes the need to constantly introduce different types of organizational changes. Numerous studies revealed that the most critical reason for the unsuccessful organizational change implementation is employee resistance. If further appropriate steps are not taken to improve the way employees are guided through this process, the end result can lead to leaving the organization Human resource managers in organizations are becoming increasingly aware that hiring and retaining talents are the most important determinants of success in the complex global world. Hence, HRM must work more intensively on modernizing the process of change management to help employees, not only for acceptance, but also for their involvement in the change implementation process. Hence, this paper analyzes the impact of four different types of organizational change on employee turnover intention, according to the Cummings and Worley organizational change classification. The statistical method of simple linear regression was applied to predict and evaluate the turnover intention of the employees in the Republic of North Macedonia (as a dependent variable “Y”) based on the value of each of the types of organizational changes (as independent variables “X”). A multiple regression method was also applied in order to analyze the associations between the independent variables and the dependent variable and identify the type of organizational changes that most significantly affects the employee turnover intention. The analysis was conducted based on the findings obtained from the respondents who completely answered the survey questionnaire (282 employees in the Republic of North Macedonia, different according to their demographic characteristics). The correlation analysis shows there is a positive correlation, as well as a causal relationship between all four types of organizational changes and the employee turnover intention, where techno-structural interventions have the most significant impact.
organizational changes, human process changes, techno-structural changes, human resource management changes, strategic changes, turnover intention.
Efficiency analysis of Macedonian and Croatian banking sectors with DEA
The aim of this paper is to measure and analyze the relative efficiency of commercial banks in two developing countries, the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Croatia by using the leading non-parametric methodology for measuring performance, data envelopment analysis (DEA). We follow Banker et al. (2010) in the selection of variables and the model. We have applied the output-oriented BCC DEA model on a sample of 14 Macedonian and 20 Croatian commercial banks in the period from 2015 to 2019. Outliers are identified and excluded by using the Banker and Gifford (1988) super efficiency procedure, and the BCC output-oriented model is rerun with a sample of 11 Macedonian and 19 Croatian bank. We provide relative efficiency scores for each bank in both sectors, as well as an average score for the banking sectors. In addition, we analyze few banks for both sectors that have decreased or increased the efficiency, or show variable results over time. Besides, we explain how inefficient banks can improve the efficiency in future by setting targets for improvement. Our study provides valuable information for banking management and regulatory bodies.
banking sector, relative efficiency, DEA, BCC, developing countries
A DSGE model with partial euroization: the case of the Macedonian economy
This paper describes the theoretical structure and estimation results for a DSGE model for the Macedonian economy. Having as benchmark the model of Copaciu et al. (2015), modified to allow for a fixed exchange rate, we are able to match relatively well the volatility observed in the data. Given the monetary policy regime in place, the debt deflation channel is more important relative to the financial accelerator one when compared to the flexible exchange rate case. The lack of balance sheet effects results in no significant differences in terms of net worth evolution across the two types of entrepreneurs when impulse response functions are evaluated. However, the shocks related to the financial sector appear to be especially important for investment, for the domestic interest rate and interest rate spreads, illustrating the relevance of including financial frictions in the model. With the exchange rate not acting as a shock absorber, the external shocks are more relevant for the CPI inflation and the domestic interest rate. The drop in GDP associated with the pandemic mainly reflects the negative innovations to the consumption preference shock and to the permanent technology shock.
DSGE model, Financial frictions, Partial euroization, Small open economy, Bayesian estimation
COULD SHORT SELLING IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EMERGING STOCK MARKETS? – REVIEW OF SOME THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN LITERATURE
Short selling is a common practice in many developed markets. However, due to the lack of a suitable regulatory, institutional and market infrastructure, short selling cannot be practiced in many emerging market countries. Furthermore, the regulators who were concerned about potential adverse effects of short selling during various episodes of crises decided to place some constraints on short selling at different points in time and for different periods of time. Based on the experience with the short selling practices and the bans on short selling in different countries around the world and by respecting the assumption that there is at least a basic regulatory, institutional and market infrastructure, the author will try to answer the question: Could short selling improve the quality of emerging stock markets? According to the author’s findings, short selling could improve the quality of emerging stock markets, under the determined condition. Additionally, as the regulatory, institutional and market infrastructure becomes more and more developed, the possibility of the market quality to be improved to a higher degree by short selling will increase.
short selling, short sale bans, emerging stock markets, stock markets performance, stock market quality
Copyright (c) 2020 Economy, Business and Development: An International Journal