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This paper analyse the innovation strategies followed by firms in transition countries between 1999 and 2014. During this period, institutional changes related to pro-competition reforms have changed the matrix of incentives that firms face. We shed new light on the correlation between the pressure of competition with firms' innovation strategies in transition countries by analysing complementarity between creative destruction and creative accumulation strategies on firms' productivity. Using econometric technics for panel data, our results show negative effects of competitive pressure on creative destruction strategy, and no effects on creative accumulation. Moreover, a positive complementary effect of these strategies on firms' productivity is observed. Rather than homogeneous market-driven innovation strategies, an uneven learning path with specific combinations of creative destruction and accumulation under different competitive regimes seems to emerge. These results allow us to suggest a policy mix that articulates stimulus to innovative persistence associated with competitive capacity of the firms and incentives to cooperation between firms, in order to make the most of the complementary effects of different innovative strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the correlation between patriarchal attitudes, women's asset ownership, participation in household decision-making and women's educational attainment across 27 post-communist countries. It hypothesizes that patriarchal attitudes hinder women's educational achievements while women's asset ownership and participation in household decision-making facilitate them. Utilizing regression analysis, marginal effects, post-regression simulation, the study tests and confirms these hypotheses. Results show that for every unit increase in women's asset ownership and participation in decision-making, the odds of achieving higher educational attainment increase by approximately 35.7% and 16.5%, respectively. Conversely, a unit increase in patriarchal attitudes decreases these odds by 15.8%. The findings underscore the importance of state and civil society commitment to addressing gender disparities in education.

The paper examines the correlation between patriarchal attitudes, women's asset ownership, participation in household decision-making and women's educational attainment across 27 post-communist countries. It hypothesizes that patriarchal attitudes hinder women's educational achievements while women's asset ownership and participation in household decision-making facilitate them. Utilizing regression analysis, marginal effects, post-regression simulation, the study tests and confirms these hypotheses. Results show that for every unit increase in women's asset ownership and participation in decision-making, the odds of achieving higher educational attainment increase by approximately 35.7% and 16.5%, respectively. Conversely, a unit increase in patriarchal attitudes decreases these odds by 15.8%. The findings underscore the importance of state and civil society commitment to addressing gender disparities in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to analyze the short and long run causal relationship between public health expenditure and GDP per capita in transition economies within the context of the Wagner hypoth­esis. For the period 2000-2020, the empirical analy­sis was conducted using a dataset covering 22 tran­sition countries: Latvia, Belarus, Czechia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Croatia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Ukraine, Armenia, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Romania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan.Wagner emphasizes that increases in govern­ment expenditure, considered an endogenous vari­able, do not drive GDP growth. In essence, Wagner argues that a rise in GDP leads to an increase in government expenditures. The study assessed the validity of Wagner’s hypothesis by applying the Panel Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregres­sive Distributed Lag model (CS-ARDL), developed by Chudik et al. (2016), using annual data. For the empirical analysis, panel data from selected tran­sition countries underwent causality tests pro­posed by Juodis, Karavias and Sarafidis (2021) and Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012). The stationarity of the series was assessed using a panel unit root test. Subsequently, the panel cointegration test de­veloped by Westerlund (2007) was employed to as­certain the long run cointegration of the variables in the subsequent phase. The results suggest that the Wagner hypothesis holds true within the context of transition countries, as indicated by the outcomes of the CS-ARDL model. The causality test revealed a one-way causal linkage between GDP per capita and health expenditure. Recommendations for those who make policy decisions were made in light of the findings.

The nexus between trade conflict and monetary policy is of great importance in international political and economic analysis. By employing data from a panel of global countries covering the period 2000–2015, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of trade conflict on monetary policy and how it works. We document the evidence that trade conflict has caused targeted countries to implement loose monetary policy. We also find that the impact of trade conflict is not only effective in the current year, but also continues in the next five years. In addition, we show that the significant impact on monetary policy is manifested in non-OECD countries and transition countries but not in OECD countries and non-transition countries. Consequently, we believe our findings should shed light on those policy makers in target countries, who can hopefully prepare for potential trade conflict and avoid similar disputes from interfering with the effectiveness of monetary policies in the domestic economy by providing practical currency and valuation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tolerance of others on grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion and sexuality is an important component of social capital but has received scant attention in the social capital well-being literature. We examine the components of social capital and their relationship with life satisfaction using data from the Life in Transition Survey in European Union transition countries. A principal component factor analysis identifies three distinct and independent social capital components: tolerance, ties, and trust. Using a multilevel modelling approach, we estimate the relation between these components and life satisfaction, whilst controlling for individual and area effects. Tolerance, ties (networks) and trust are positively associated with life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to analyze the impact of innovation and enterprise performance in the transition countries with special emphasis in the case of Kosovo. The innovations play a crucial impact on firm development, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises in countries in transition. This study uses primary data with a specific sample thus the enterprises that operate in Kosovo in order to analyze the relationship between innovations and firm performance. This study was conducted within a six-month period, specifically January 2022 - June 2022. The research sample consists of 400 Kosovar enterprises. These enterprises are from different economic sectors, such as production, services, and in terms of size, 80% of them are SMEs. The study used the CDM (Crépon, Duguet and Mairesse) model which includes the fourth phase. The first phase of this model is about the tendencies of enterprises to carry out innovative activities, the second phase is about the enterprises that invested in research and development, the third stage of the model, the conversion of inputs into outputs is analyzed. In the end, the impact of innovation outputs on the performance of the analyzed enterprises is investigated. The study concludes that enterprises that export to the EU and the Western Balkans region are significant, so this positively affects the tendencies of these enterprises for innovative activities, whereas enterprises that are oriented only to the local market, do not present significance and even have a negative relationship with the enterprises' tendencies for innovations. A large part of the enterprises think that innovations have high costs and are even unaffordable therefore this represents a big obstacle for the development of innovations. The lack of qualified personnel and the lack of knowledge about markets and technology represent a big obstacle to the development of innovations, and it even negatively affects the decisions of these enterprises about innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to analyze the short and long run causal relationship between public health expenditure and GDP per capita in transition economies within the context of the Wagner hypothesis. For the period 2000-2020, the empirical analysis was conducted using a dataset covering 22 transition countries: Latvia, Belarus, Czechia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Croatia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Ukraine, Armenia, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Romania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan. Wagner emphasizes that increases in government expenditure, considered an endogenous variable, do not drive GDP growth. In essence, Wagner argues that a rise in GDP leads to an increase in government expenditures. The study assessed the validity of Wagner's hypothesis by applying the Panel Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (CS-ARDL), developed by Chudik et al. (2016), using annual data. For the empirical analysis, panel data from selected transition countries underwent causality tests proposed by Juodis, Karavias and Sarafidis (2021) and Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012). The stationarity of the series was assessed using a panel unit root test. Subsequently, the panel cointegration test developed by Westerlund (2007) was employed to ascertain the long run cointegration of the variables in the subsequent phase. The results suggest that the Wagner hypothesis holds true within the context of transition countries, as indicated by the outcomes of the CS-ARDL model. The causality test revealed a one-way causal linkage between GDP per capita and health expenditure. Recommendations for those who make policy decisions were made in light of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore the effect of financial innovation on economic growth in 28 transition countries from 2004 to 2021. Financial innovation is categorized based on the structure of the financial system, including commercial banks, non-commercial banks and financial markets. By applying difference GMM estimation, the research demonstrated a significant positive effect of financial innovation in commercial banks and non-commercial banks on economic growth. The results show that a greater number of financial innovations in terms of products and services, processes, technology and function in commercial banks and non-commercial banks would result in higher economic growth in transition countries. In contrast, financial innovation in financial markets indicates significantly negative effects on economic growth. Introducing complex products in stock and bond markets in underdeveloped financial markets probably lead to the volatility and fragility, reducing economic growth. The results of this research contribute to issuing crucial policies that employ financial innovation as an impulse for spurring economic growth in transition countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental gender preferences may affect partnership decisions and as a result lead to early life disadvantages. We study these preferences in five post‐communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, a region with strong traditional gender norms and persisting inequalities between women and men in labour market outcomes. Using subsamples of census from Belarus, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia around 2000 and 2010, we follow Dahl and Moretti (2008), The demand for sons, to examine the effect of the gender of the first‐born child(ren) on fertility decisions and relationship stability of their parents. We only find strong evidence of 'boy preferences' in fertility decisions in the cases of Romania and Russia. However, unlike Dahl and Moretti (2008), The demand for sons, for the US, we cannot confirm a relationship between the children's gender and parental partnership decisions. This is the case for all examined Central and Eastern European countries, as well as for a number of countries from Western Europe. The cases of Romania and Russia raise questions about other potential consequences of the documented gender preferences. We argue that our approach can be applied more broadly to identify other countries characterised by parental gender preferences, and to motivate further examination of different forms of gender driven early life disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between trust and life satisfaction in transition countries, focusing on community-level trust, institutions, and regional diversity. Transition countries, characterized by unique levels and trends of subjective well-being (SWB) and trust, present an intriguing case for study. These countries exhibit lower happiness levels compared to non-transition counterparts, despite similar income levels—a phenomenon known as the "transition happiness gap." Additionally, the influence of trust on SWB in these regions remains insufficiently understood, given the lingering effects of communist rule and dictatorship that have fostered fear and distrust. This research fills existing gaps by investigating the impacts of community-level trust on life satisfaction, distinguishing between interpersonal and institutional trust, and differentiating between Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU). Using data from the Life in Transition Survey conducted in 28 transition countries from 2006, 2010, and 2016, the study employs instrumental variables to address endogeneity. The findings reveal that community-level interpersonal and institutional trust positively influence life satisfaction in transition countries, emphasizing the importance of meso-level trust. Interpersonal trust has a stronger impact on life satisfaction than institutional trust, particularly in countries with low-quality formal institutions. Moreover, the effects of trust on life satisfaction are more significant in the FSU compared to the CEE, potentially due to compensatory effects and the historical accumulation of trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the importance of landholdings in explaining income inequality among family farms in four districts in Georgia following the land reform of the 1990s. Income inequality is decomposed by sources of income and by determinants of income. The results indicate that farm income is a disequalizing source of income among family farms in these districts. In addition, a uniform increase in landholding is expected to reduce income inequality. Combining the two results, we conclude that the impact of land reform on farm household income inequality depends on the resulting distribution of landholdings. It can reduce inequality if land is distributed relatively equally, but inequality can increase if the wealthier farmers are able to gain control of more (and perhaps better) land resources. A possible implication of this result is that for land reform to be equalizing, distributing land to smallholders should be accompanied by additional policies and regulations supporting small farmers, such as land titling and registration, support for cooperation, and access to credit and other market services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although R&D activities can be effective means for firms to develop their innovation capacity, the current understanding of which informal institutions affect firms' propensity to invest in R&D remains limited, especially in emerging and less-developed countries. Using a large sample of transition countries, this work investigates whether family ownership and political connections influence the firm's propensity to invest in R&D, as well as in a specific type of open innovation (OI) strategy (i.e. performing simultaneously internal and external R&D activities). According to our evidence, both informal institutions seem encouraging firms to invest in R&D. Moreover, family and political connections appear increasing the engagement in the aforementioned OI strategy. Finally, the two kinds of networks seem to substitute each other in boosting the probability of investing in internal and external R&D activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 30 years of transition from communist regimes, the people's views towards transition have varied from support to opposition. We empirically examine the influences of international labour migration on these views, using the survey data covering 28 transition countries in Europe and the former Soviet Union area and three points of time, 2006, 2010 and 2016, based on multivariate regression models. Our main findings are twofold. (I) Labour emigration to Western Europe increased people's support for a market economy and democracy over a planned economy and authoritarian government, albeit a less robust result for democracy. This suggests the role of social remittances – migrants transmit their experiences and promote the support for transition among people remaining in the home countries. (II) However, immigrant inflows reduced these support, suggesting that the economic and cultural conflicts with immigrants made people sceptic towards liberal policies or nostalgic towards the communist era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the role of international intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) former Soviet Union republics participated after its disintegration on their international trade patterns, particularly the consumer animosity and nostalgia dimensions toward each other and major countries in the IGOs. The results suggest that the republics were faced with a choice between EU/Western institutions and those that are led by Russia. Analysis shows that their international trade patterns reflect these alliances in the international institutions network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite years of research, scholars still have a limited understanding of the factors that lead individuals to start their own businesses. Drawing upon the crisis decision theory (CDT), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the entrepreneurial event model (EEM), and previous research on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), this study investigates the impact of a set of predictors (i.e., perceived crisis severity, entrepreneurial disposition, support from family/friends, university affiliation, gender, year of study, work experience, presence of a role model, and completion of an entrepreneurship class) on the outcome variable (i.e., EIs) of Generation Z in a highly tourism-dependent transitional economy. Pearson's correlation and multiple regression were employed to analyze the data collected in May/June 2020 via a self-administered questionnaire from 300 tourism and hospitality students enrolled at five public universities in Croatia. The results indicate that entrepreneurial disposition, work experience, and gender are directly related to EI. The perceived crisis severity does not affect EI. These findings contribute to filling gaps in the existing research on entrepreneurship during major crises, on EIs of Gen Z, on the role of perceived crisis severity in EIs, and on the state of EIs in mono-industrial (i.e., dominated by one industry) crony capitalist ex-communist economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the impact of total fertility rate as one of the basic demographic variables on economic growth per capita concerning six selected transition countries (including the five countries of the Western Balkans: Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and Croatia as a member of the European Union), from 2000 to 2018. The fundamental idea of the research is the view discussed in the recent literature and it concerns the reduction of the total fertility rate as a burning problem of a large number of developed modern economies. Inspired by the question of whether such an attitude is relevant for a group of small European transition countries, an econometric model was constructed , as a framework for the application of statistical analysis of multiple regression. The results of empirical research showed that if the rate of total fertility increased by 0.1% in one of the analyzed countries, the GDP growth rate per capita for this country would fall by 0.53 percentage points in the same year of the period under review.

This paper provides a historical overview of the concept of corruption, the existing models for studying it, and the main costs that corruption imposes on the economy and society at large. Corruption was first understood as a disturbance of thebalance of state power, andlaterasthe immoralityofpoliticalpatronage and favouritism of certain groups. It evolved from the public sphere to the intertwining of the public and private spheres, from a political issue to the intertwining of political and economic issues. The fight against corruption evolved from the maintenance of necessary checks and balances, from moral struggles against a system of privilege, to a major motive for state policy. Looking at all these aspects allows us to understand the origins and evolution of corruption and why the fight against corruption is seen as a way to lead »failed countries«, politically backward and immoral societies, to the right path of political virtue. By understanding the historical evolution of corruption and its various forms, institutions and countries in general can develop more targeted and effective anti-corruption policies to limit the occurrence of corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human resource management as a business function, but also as a specific management philosophy, can significantly contribute to the creation of competitive advantage, growth and development of the organization. Due to the above, the role of human resource management departments has been increased through the past decades. The main characteristic of 21st century is dynamic environment which imposes many challenges to business organisations. Regarding human resource management field, organizations must develop an adequate approach to the emerging challenges associated with globalization, technology development, digitalisation, demographic changes, different values of new generations of the workforce, ethical issues, as well as environmental issues. Contemporary organizations are intensifying their efforts in order to find an appropriate human resource management model, which will enable them to successfully deal with those challenges through the efficient use of available human resources. Unfortunately, in transition countries, these processes take place at a slow pace. Many organizations still, out of ignorance or fear of change, practice the philosophy of personnel management, even though this concept was rejected in theory and practice as inadequate for modern business conditions. Therefore, in transition countries, human resource management, as one of the key business functions, usually has a reactive, passive, approach and adapts to the changes that have already occurred in the environment. The main aim of this paper is to determine the role and importance of the human resource management in companies operating on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in comparison with companies from Serbia and Slovenia. These European countries share a common socialist heritage, but the transition processes in them took place with different intensities. The research is based on data collected through the international CRANET network, which is large academic research network in the field of human resource management, and which conducts periodic research regarding the development of human resource management practices such as recruitment, selection, training and development of employees, performance management, compensation management etc., using the same methodology in more than 40 countries around the world. Additionally, the theoretical part of this paper aims to elaborate and highlight importance of human resource management in changing environment of 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the inconsistency of the effectiveness of aid based on the total economy and agriculture, this study provides evidence for food manufacturing for developing countries and economies in transition. Using data on 22 developing and 9 transition countries from 1990 to 2019, aid is ineffective independently. However, in the presence of appropriate policies (low inflation and increased trade), aid is effective in the food manufacturing sector for developing countries, transition economies and the combination of the two groups. Economic managers of developing and transition economies must keep down inflation and promote trade as these do not only benefit food manufacturing but have a collateral effect on the wider economy.

This article examines the importance of landholdings in explaining income inequality among family farms in four districts in Georgia following the land reform of the 1990s. Income inequality is decomposed by sources of income and by determinants of income. The results indicate that farm income is a disequalizing source of income among family farms in these districts. In addition, a uniform increase in landholding is expected to reduce income inequality. Combining the two results, we conclude that the impact of land reform on farm household income inequality depends on the resulting distribution of landholdings. It can reduce inequality if land is distributed relatively equally, but inequality can increase if the wealthier farmers are able to gain control of more (and perhaps better) land resources. A possible implication of this result is that for land reform to be equalizing, distributing land to smallholders should be accompanied by additional policies and regulations supporting small farmers, such as land titling and registration, support for cooperation, and access to credit and other market services.

This paper provides a historical overview of the concept of corruption, the existing models for studying it, and the main costs that corruption imposes on the economy and society at large. Corruption was first understood as a disturbance of the balance of state power, and later as the immorality of political patronage and favouritism of certain groups. It evolved from the public sphere to the intertwining of the public and private spheres, from a political issue to the intertwining of political and economic issues. The fight against corruption evolved from the maintenance of necessary checks and balances, from moral struggles against a system of privilege, to a major motive for state policy. Looking at all these aspects allows us to understand the origins and evolution of corruption and why the fight against corruption is seen as a way to lead »failed countries«, politically backward and immoral societies, to the right path of political virtue. By understanding the historical evolution of corruption and its various forms, institutions and countries in general can develop more targeted and effective anti-corruption policies to limit the occurrence of corruption.

Institutions in a broader sense represent the adopted norms and rules of behavior in society. They define the necessary constraints that a society has adopted in order to shape and direct human interactions. Institutional change is a positive targeted adjustment of these constraints in line with social development. Due to the existence of a synergistic effect, any institutional change can cause significant social and economic changes. The goal of the European transition countries to join the EU is at the same time a strong driver of their needful institutional transformation and necessary institutional harmonization with the EU countries. This strategic goal, which originally stems from social consensus, has a strong capacity to promote, consolidate and implement the necessary reform processes. Harmonization of institutions and, consequently, full membership in the EU generates a safer and more predictable social (and thus economic) environment. Strong institutions do not tolerate a large sphere of discretionary decision-making, creating a basic precondition for increasing domestic and foreign investments. However, the institutions also fundamentally depend on the cultural heritage of transition countries, which cannot be compensated and balanced so quickly with the traditional market economies of the EU. Institutions are a complex category whose description is not simple. Respect for democratic principles of functioning of public institutions is especially important for the presence and level of corrupt social activity. It is generally accepted that corruption, as abuse of authority in order to gain illicit benefits, is a serious obstacle to social and economic advancement, significantly reducing the possibility of successful implementation of state measures and decisions. Institutions reduce uncertainty and increase the predictability of decisions of all actors in the economic life of the country. The eight transition European economies that were leaders in institutional development dynamics and became the EU members in 2003 had a GDP of $ 36,855 pc at the end of 2018, which is an absolute increase of $ 28,165. Three European countries in transition that last became the EU members, together with five countries of the Western Balkan as countries with relatively undeveloped institutions, in 2018 had an average GDP per capita of current international $ 22,114 compared to 4,092 in 1990. In addition, GDP pc by five-year periods data show that the leading countries of institutional development were far less affected by the 2009-2010 crisis. We should always keep in mind the fact that these countries’ institutional convergence towards the developed market economies institutions must not be an aim in itself, but a way to achieve better business conditions and ultimately more dynamic and quality economic growth and development. A review of numerous studies confirmed the fact that institutions have a strong influence on economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the paper is to explore how an individualized incentive system could increase professors' motivation to contribute to the university's mission to become entrepreneurial in transition countries. The paper proposes a conceptual analysis that draws on the principal-agent problem to examine incentives that may stimulate institutional change. It considers the framework of a university becoming entrepreneurial and assumes that the principal is dean while the agent is a professor. It contributes to the national innovation system literature by providing new insights about the institutional change in transition countries. The contribution is threefold: it distinguishes between an ordinary and an entrepreneurial university, it explains relationship between micro and meso levels in the process of institutional change towards entrepreneurial university, it refines knowledge on individualized incentive system acting as a motivation for professors to contribute to university becoming entrepreneurial. The paper challenges studies that dismiss the micro level role of human agency in institutional change. The conceptual arguments have important managerial implications for all public and private institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a theoretical framework and empirical evidence to argue that a knowledge management process under the open innovation paradigm brings a viable solution for firms, especially those in transition economies, to acquire valuable knowledge-based dynamic capabilities to respond to environmental changes and achieve desirable organizational performance. These knowledge-based capabilities in turn enable firms to enhance their economic performance in terms of productivity and profitability. Dynamic capabilities act as an intermediary that bridges firms' open innovation efforts and their economic realization. Local institutional quality plays an important moderating role in this process. Micro-sized firms have not consistently obtained the expected economic benefits from their open innovation efforts, which require more policy attention. For empirical evidence, we consider a comprehensive range of measures for open innovation and dynamic capabilities. Our proposed hypotheses are tested in a set of seemingly unrelated equations by combining two datasets from the Vietnam SME survey and the Provincial Competitiveness Index survey. As a robustness check, we estimate the performance equation applying fixed-effect regression and one-year lag structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has been considered as a potential factor in development strategy in many developed and developing countries worldwide. Besides, tourism is really a key economic sector in some countries. This study aims to examine the tourism-led growth hypothesis for some transition countries, which includes seven high growth economies Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam. The research database is collected by an annual form in the period of 1995- 2019. These economies are considered successful transitional cases in the global economy, however, the tourism-led growth hypothesis in these countries has been received only a little evidence from academics in recent years. The Johansen-Fisher test and the OLS estimation are applied in the quantitative process. There are some new findings from the empirical results. First, the Johansen-Fisher test confirms the existence of long-run cointegration relationships between tourism (denoted by the tourism revenue and the tourism arrivals) and economic growth in the panel data sample of countries. Second, the long-run coefficients of the tourism variables are positive and significant that concludes the tourism-led growth hypothesis in these transition countries. The contribution of the study is not only to fill the empirical research gap by the estimated results from a group of transition economies but also to confirms the tourism-led growth platform as an efficient development strategy for other developing countries. Furthermore, our study suggests some policy implications for policymakers to use tourism as a key development sector in these countries in the future.

We examine the role of intra-generational upward mobility (hereafter upward mobility) in determining the fertility of transition countries. Upward mobility can increase fertility through a positive income effect. It can also reduce the value of children's support during parents' elderly years as parents expect to have more resources in the future. Transition countries have experienced large socio-economic changes since the early 1990s and have highly varied economic conditions, including upward mobility. Using data from the Life in Transition Survey, we find that upward mobility increases fertility and the effect is robust to different model specifications. This result is consistent with a dominating income effect. Our findings point out the importance of considering upward mobility to boost fertility which has significant implications for demographic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the linkage between financial development, human resources, and economic growth in a group of twenty-five transition countries during the period 1995–2019. The author applied a range of estimations such as Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), fixed effects model, and two-step GMM methods in order to estimate the empirical research model. Different from previous research, financial development in this paper was a proxy variable that was assessed based on the level of outcomes of financial institutions and the financial market in three aspects: depth, access, and efficiency. In addition, the labor force participation rate and the human development index were employed as the comprehensive proxies for human resources. Generally, financial development and human resources exert positive impacts on economic growth. Financial access and financial efficiency boost economic growth, while financial depth does not. Human development was also documented as the driver of economic growth. In addition, the interaction between aggregate financial development and the human development index demonstrated a robust spur to economic growth. These findings contribute to the literature on economic growth and have considerable implications for policymakers in transition economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the effect of the firm size and commitment on small firm performance indicators are inconclusive, especially in the geographic area of Southeast Europe. This study examines the role of firm size in the relationship between commitment and firm sales growth, operating profit and market share. Alterations in firm size and commitment are attributed to differences in market structures, namely, non-European union and European union member states. Results of the empirical research state that firm size and commitment have a positive and significant effect on performance indicators (sales growth rate, operating profit, and market share). Separating firms that originate from the European union member states from those that do not, suggested that firms that are not part of the European union rely on commitment more firmly than those that from the European union member states. Moreover, firm size moderates the relationship between commitment and firm performance indicators only in the non-European union countries. Larger firm size indicates a smaller effect of the commitment on firm performance for firms from the non-European union countries. The study concludes with limitations and practical implications of the empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper aimed to investigate the FDI determinants in 27 transition countries within the 2002 – 2018 period by employing system GMM analysis. One of the results of our research is that an uncertain political situation and civil liberties violations have a significant negative impact on foreign investors’ confidence. Generally, the erosion of democratic institutions acts as a deterrent to FDI inflows. Transition countries which experienced prolonged periods of central planning also recorded lower levels of FDI inflows. The results show that creating conditions for stimulating foreign investors through the improvement of institutional quality embodied in the control of corruption and voice and accountability impacted positively on FDI inflows. The interplays between overall institutional quality, voice and accountability, regulatory quality, government effectiveness and GDP growth are positive and significant. Hence, macroeconomic development has an important impact on the marginal effect of institutional quality. Therefore, we concluded that the influence of governance on FDI inflows is conditional on the transition countries’ macroeconomic performance. Our findings also reveal that of the governance dimensions, control of corruption and voice and accountability have a significant influence on the decision of multinationals to undertake investment.

Copyright of Ekonomske Ideje i Praksa is the property of Centar za Izdavacku Delatnost Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Beogradu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The drastic banking reform within Central and Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union provides an ideal quasi-experimental design to examine the causal effects of institutional development on accounting quality (AQ). We find that banking reform spurs significant improvement in predictive power of earnings and reductions in earnings smoothing, earnings-inflating discretionary provisions, and avoidance of reporting losses. These effects hold under alternative model specifications and after considering concurrent institutional developments. In contrast, corporate reform shows no such effects, refuting the alternative explanation that unobserved factors affect both reform speed in general and the quality of financial reporting. We further identify four specific reformative actions that are integral to the drastic banking reform process where prudential regulation contributes the most to the observed AQ improvement. It supports the conjecture that banking reform improves AQ by reducing banks' risk-taking behaviors and, as a result, their motive behind accounting manipulation. JEL Classifications: G21: G28; K20; M40; M48. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Schumpeterian theoretical considerations, this paper investigates the innovation behavior of firms during the severe economic crisis of the year 2008/2009. It focuses on transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which have completely restructured their innovation systems through the course of transition from planned to market economies a relatively short time ago. As a result of the crisis, we observe a strong decline of innovation activity in all transition economies. In line with the literature, there is, however, empirical evidence for both creative destruction as well as creative accumulation. This underlines two key findings: firstly, the universality and durability of Schumpeterian assumptions, and secondly, a call for anti-cyclical innovation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper employs a gravity model augmented with institutional related factors to study the determinants of bilateral FDI flows between South East European Countries (SEE-5) and Central East European Countries (CEE-10) on one hand, and European Union Countries (EU-14) on the other hand, on a yearly time span 1994-2010. The study applies different linear estimation technique like GLS and nonlinear estimation techniques, like Random Effect Tobit and Poisson-Pseudo Maximum Likelihood. The findings of the paper suggest that the bilateral flow of FDI between countries is determined by market size factors of both host and source countries and transaction cost factors between countries, as well as by the institutional performance of host countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the effect of sets of determinants of economic growth, which are widely emphasised in the literature, in a group of 27 selected post-Soviet, post-communist and transition countries from Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Mongolia during 1997–2017. The set of baseline variables includes, among others, trade openness, investment rate, public consumption spending, and selected demographic factors. The methodology uses panel data and it is supported by multivariate statistical methods of grouping objects. The panel data provides results that are mainly consistent with the literature review. However, the effects of demographic factors are rather not significant, but the role of investment has been emphasised. In turn, the multivariate statistical approaches indicate the shifts in regional (dis)similarity between the analysed countries with respect to the performance of the selected variables over the last 20 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how a set of regulations influences the pro-environmental actions of firms in a panel of 25 Transition Countries. For this purpose, we use the enterprise survey data developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank Group (WBG). Based on a logit modelling and on the construction of different indicators characterizing the environmental actions of the firms, we find that regulation positively affects the decision of firms to implement an eco-action. Results are confirmed when we examine the different eco-action categories. Findings obtained from the interactions are also worthy of note. In particular, we find that board of directors are more prone to consider shareholder interests, and a strong network effect emerges between EU candidate countries and EU economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has a significant effect on the economic growth and development of host economies, but also on international economic integration through globalization. Particular aspects of this topic are being extensively addressed by scientific research in recent decades. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether globalization and through it the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has an impact on the economic growth (GDPgr) of the Western Balkan countries which are facing a transitional phase. The relation between FDI and economic growth has been analyzed by employing econometric models with panel data approach: linear regression with poled data, the Fixed Effects model, and the Random-Effects model (GLS). The study is based on panel data of six countries for the period between 2004-2018, obtained by the World Bank. The results of the Random Effects model (GLS) shown that lagged FDI has a significant impact on the economic growth (GDPgr) of the Western Balkans (p<0.05%), as well as gross capital formation (Cap) and government expenditure (Gov) whereas export (Ex) has been excluded from the model. The results also shown that there are significant differences in the factors influencing economic growth among countries in the region (LM Method - Breusch-Pagan test; p=0.02455 < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an extended piece of research on the impact of corruption on the market competition in Southeast Europe (SEE). The aim of the paper is to investigate the relationship of corruption and competition in the selected SEE countries. This paper analyses the annual data over the period of 1996 - 2019 from the World Bank and Transparency International. The starting hypothesis is that corruption has great influence on restricting competition in SEE and a significant negative impact on it. Multiple regression and analysis of time series are used in this research. The results verify the hypothesis. Our findings allow us to conclude that corruption must be reduced for SEE economies to take advantage of potential resulting benefits. Additionally, the conclusions also indicate that competition in these countries would be significantly reduced by policies on controlling corruption. Finally, several political implications for the regulation of corruption in SEE arise from these findings, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]