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Accurate load forecasting models are essential for normal operation and schedule planning in utility company. This paper presents the development of short-term load forecasting models for the Republic of North Macedonia and gives a comparison review of various models for load forecasting. These models use time series analysis such as the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model and the Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Explanatory Variable model. Time series approach is one of the most used methods for short-term load forecasting. Models were designed and implemented in Python. The results were evaluated by the Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 0.5% for the forecasted day.

This study investigates the effects of a local information campaign on farmers’ interest in a rural development programme (RDP) in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The results suggest that while our intervention succeeded in informing farmers, it had a negative, albeit only marginally significant, effect on the reported possibility of using future RDP support. This puzzling result can be attributed to increased awareness of administrative burden associated with RDP participation. An additional heterogeneity analysis suggests the negative effect is driven by unprofitable farmers who are averse to any administrative encumbrance, for whom upfront cofinancing of an RDP is untenable.

Farm economic performance measuring is important for farm management purposes and for assessing the impact of agricultural policy measures. Efficiency studies enable assessment of farm performance since highly efficient farms are considered to have higher potential for operating in a changing economic and technological environment. The aim of this paper is to assess the technical efficiency of vegetable farms in North Macedonia, utilising Data Envelopment Analysis, as a non-parametric approach estimating the relative efficiency of decision making units producing multiple outputs and using multiple inputs. The analysis is based on Farm Monitoring System data including 75 vegetable farms in 2011 survey. Apart from baseline scenario, additional scenarios include available agricultural policy support in 2011 and 2016. The average technical efficiency of vegetable farms is 0.62 considering constant returns to scale, i.e. 0.71 and 0.75 considering variable returns to scale (in output and input oriented perspective, respectively). With better farm management, technical efficiency score can be improved on average by 25%. Technical efficiency increases slightly with subsidies, on average by 2 to 3%. Analyses based on farm level data, are valuable when estimating the effects of implementation of agricultural policy as well as when creating new policy interventions.

The rural areas in North Macedonia encompass around half of the territory and population in the country, where agriculture is core activity and source of income, with lack of other employment opportunities. The rural development program (RDP) budget is not fully utilized. Informal networks among rural population are still the most valuable source of social capital and information exchange, whereas formal networks, such as associations or cooperatives, are still lacking to ensure their sustainable and functional role. This paper explores the factors influencing farmers’ intention to apply for RDP, with an emphasis on network membership. The Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Capital Theory are used as framework. A direct survey on 296 family farms was carried out in 2014. The study is conducted using multivariate statistics, structural equation modelling and social network analysis. The model explains farmers’ mid-term intention to use RDP. Farmers’ attitudes and perceived behavioral controls, as well as network activity and participation, significantly influence the intention to apply for RDP funds. Network participation, as well as education levels and investment tendency are positively related to the intention to use RDP. These findings could be reflected in appropriate measures to encourage farmers’ participation in institutionalized networks, thus in addition to their primary aim, to increase the RDP effectiveness as means of providing better opportunities and quality of life in rural areas.

The purpose of the text is to present, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Serbian Musicological Society (SMS), the circumstances of its founding on 5 July 2006 and offer a panoramic survey of its accomplishments in research and publishing so far, which re-examine our stance toward our musical heritage and/or illuminate previously neglected chapters from the history of music in Serbia. The many and diverse contributions of the Serbian Musicological Society to the achievements of Serbian musicology, in general, are reflected in its conception and organization of scholarly meetings, publication of essay collections, scores, and sound recordings, organization of concerts, as well as initiation of large-scale projects in the reconstruction of individual anthological works of stage music, independently and in collaboration with related institutions and opera houses.

Rural development policy reforms and necessary institutional adjustments are of particular importance in overcoming the transitional challenges for the Western Balkan countries, whose economies are highly dependent on agriculture. The complex rural development context in these countries triggers the need for better understanding and explaining of the factors influencing the use of rural development policy funds. The research aim is to identify how the behavioural determinants and some socio-economic characteristics influence farmers’ intention to apply for rural development support (RDS). The analytical framework is based on the theory of planned behaviour and structural equation modelling by using farm survey data collected in Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014. The results suggest that the success of RDS depends on farmers’ underlying psychological constructs. The intention to use RDS funds is stronger with farmers with positive attitudes (in all three countries), support from the social environment (in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and higher perceived behavioural control (in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia). Prior experience with applying for RDS funds has positive effects on forming farmers’ intention to apply for RDS, while the influence of age, education and perceived farm profitability on the behavioural determinants is less pronounced. Investigating the farmer’s behaviour in these Western Balkan countries provides novel insights that could be used for related policy strategies.

The economic transition and market globalization processes have triggered structural changes in the Macedonian agriculture and influence on the efficiency and competitiveness in the pig production sub-sector. This paper aims to identify the level of technical efficiency on pig farms in the Republic of Macedonia. The Data Envelopment Analysis approach is used to measure the efficiency level, taking into consideration the exact quantity of inputs used in the production in relation to a given quantity of output. The data is analysed by making comparative analyses of the managerial behaviour and other non-measurable variables that influence the efficiency. The results determine what managerial activities influence the efficiency. They indicate the type and level of inputs that need to be changed, so that farms could reach the same technical efficiency achieved by the best farmers., Procesi ekonomske tranzicije i tržišne globalizacije potaknuli su promjene u makedonskoj poljoprivredi i izvršili utjecaj na učinkovitost i konkurentnost u svinjogojskom podsektoru. Cilj ovoga rada je određivanje razine tehničke učinkovitosti na svinjogojskim farmama u Republici Makedoniji. Korištena je metoda analize omeđivanja podataka kako bi se izmjerila razina učinkovitosti, pri čemu se uzela u obzir točna količina inputa u proizvodnju u odnosu na dobivenu količinu outputa. Podaci su analizirani pomoću komparativne analize menadžerskog ponašanja i ostalih nemjerljivih varijabli koje utječu na učinkovitost. Oni ukazuju na to da se vrsta i razina inputa moraju promijeniti na farmama, kako bi se dosegla razina učinkovitosti koji postižu najbolji poljoprivrednici.

Macedonia has been a candidate-country for EU membership since 2005. The EU integrative process, without doubt, will have an impact on the Macedonian economy and particularly on the agricultural sector. So far, the farmers’ attitude and intentions with regard to the EU integration and accession have not been thoroughly investigated. Respectively, the objective of the paper is to provide understanding of the Macedonian farmers’ attitude and behavioural intentions in the context of EU accession and the potential policy and market changes. Furthermore, another issue is to establish whether there are significant discrepancies among farmers and their attitude towards EU accession. The results revealed that the farmer community in the country is quite heterogeneous in terms of farm and farmers’ profiles and farm management practices. The cluster analysis suggests that there are four clusters according to which the variables explaining the attitudes were significantly different, provisionally labelled as “optimist “, “moderate”, “restrained” and “sceptic”., Makedonija je država kandidat za ulazak u EU od 2005. Integracijski proces će nedvojbeno imati utjecaj na makedonsku ekonomiju, posebice na područuju poljoprivrede. Do sada nisu vršena značajnija istraživanja u vezi stavova i namjera poljoprivrednika u odnosu na integracije i pristup EU. U tom smislu, svrha ovoga rada jest pružiti uvid u stavove makedonskih poljoprivrednika i njihovih reakcija u kontekstu pristupa EU te potencijalne politike i promjena na tržištu. Nadalje, predmet istraživanja bilo je i utvrđivanje postoje li razlike između poljoprivrednika i njihovih stavova prema pristupanju EU. Rezultati su pokazali da su poljoprivrednici u zemlji poprilično heterogeni u smislu farme, profila poljoprivrednika i prakse vođenja farmi. Klaster analizom utvrđene su četiri grupe čije varijable reprezentiraju značajno različite stavove, provizorno označene kao „optimistični“, „umjereni“, „suzdržani“ i „skeptični“.