Distance in time between transition economies and the European Union

The time distance methodology used offers a new perspective to the problem, an additional statistical measure, and a presentation tool for policy analysis and debate readily understood by policy makers, media and general public. Disparity between the analysed transition economies and EU countries is considerably smaller for other indicators than for GDP per capita. Compared with Ireland, Portugal and Greece Slovenia was in 1995 in 13 cases behind (but time lag of Slovenia never exceeded 10 years) and in 13 cases ahead of them. Sicherl (1997a) discusses application of S-distance to time series regressions, models, forecasting and monitoring. First version received: October 1995/final version received: April 1998     

Cagan’s paradox and money demand in hyperinflation: Revisited at daily frequency

Using daily data the Cagan money demand is estimated and accepted for the most severe portion of Serbia’s 1992–1993 hyperinflation, i.e. its last 6 months. An implication is that the public adjusted daily throughout this extreme period. Moreover, the obtained semi-elasticity estimates are by far lower than those previously found using monthly data sets. Consequently, the daily estimates reject the longstanding Cagan’s paradox, based on monthly studies, by showing that the economy has been on the correct, increasing side of the Laffer curve almost through the end of hyperinflation. This strongly supports the view that hyperinflation is triggered and driven all way through its end by the government’s hunt for non-decreasing seigniorage. Daily adjustments of public in hyperinflation can account for the difference between the results obtained at daily and monthly frequencies, calling into question the latter. Some evidence is offered that the findings of this paper may hold for other hyperinflations.     

Economic growth and carbon emissions: evidence from CIVETS countries

ABSTRACT

This paper examines whether a long-run relationship exists between CO₂ emissions and selected variables: real gross domestic product per capita, inward stock of foreign direct investments, gross fixed capital formation, industry, value added and energy use per capita for Colombia, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa countries in the period of 1989–2016. We used panel unit root testing, followed by panel cointegration tests and panel causality. The results clearly prove the existence of a bidirectional long-run causal relationship between all the variables except between CO₂ emissions and GDP and CO₂ emissions and GFCF. Major finding of the short-run causality analysis is that CO₂ emission in the short run does not result in changes of other variables. On the other hand, all variables except foreign direct investments (FDI) cause the changes in the CO₂ emissions, and there is a positive bidirectional causal relationship between GDP and FDI, between GFCF and FDI, and between GFCF and IVA. Finally, positive unidirectional causal relationship also exists, running from GDP to IVA, GDP to ENUSE, IVA to FDI and ENUSE to FDI.     

Variable neighborhood search heuristic for nonconvex portfolio optimization

Abstract

In this article we consider a portfolio optimization problem under multiple real-world constraints, such as: cardinality constraints, tracking error, active share, and turnover. We propose a heuristic based on variable neighborhood search (VNS) that effectively addresses additional constraints that introduce non-convexities. In the VNS-based heuristic, several neighborhood structures are introduced and fast local search is implemented. We develop a VNS portfolio rebalancing framework (VNS-PRF) with two rebalance strategies. Data sets provided by a financial investment firm are used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the proposed VNS-PRF. Computational experiments and different portfolio performance measures indicate that our approach is able to obtain solutions with competitive quality and can be applied on large-scale data sets.     

What is the Value of Luxury? A Cross‐Cultural Consumer Perspective

International luxury businesses are challenged by the identification and satisfaction of the common needs and desires of global market segments. Although luxury goods have become available to a wider range of consumers, the traditional conspicuous consumption model has been transformed into a new experiential luxury sensibility that is marked by a change in the way that consumers define luxury. Based on an empirical study in collaboration with American, European, and Asian researchers, the results provide evidence that consumers in various parts of the world purchase or wish to purchase luxury products for varied reasons but that such consumers generally possess similar values. Regardless of their countries of origin, the basic motivational drivers of luxury consumers are similar among the financial, functional, personal, and social dimensions of luxury value perceptions, although the relative importance of these dimensions varies.     

Analysis of fatal injuries in Serbian underground coal mines – 50 years review

Abstract

The study presented here analyzes mining accidents and fatal injuries in Serbian underground coal mines over a period of 50?years, in order to assess the effectiveness of legislation changes in the overall safety of work environment. Two distinct periods, prior to 2000 and after 2000 were compared. The data from the period after 2000 were further analyzed to provide better understanding of the results. In order to assess the overall state of safety in Serbian mines, the data on fatal injuries were also compared to the international data. It was found that the legislative changes are more easily accepted by the common workers than by the mine management. Consequently, the key recommendation for the safety of coal mine companies in Serbia is the investment in the new technology. Additionally, mine management should be in the focus of the mining inspection with a stronger penal policy regarding mine safety neglect.     

REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES IN YUGOSLAVIA

Regional distribution of government expenditures is examined first in relation to other indicators of economic and social development. This shows both the magnitude of regional disparities and the degree of redistribution in the field of government expenditures brought about by the federal subsidy. The static aspect of regional disparities is analysed by decomposing per capita income into demographic, employment and productivity components. The time-dimension of disparities is analysed by introducing the concept of time-distance, which is a dynamic measure of disparity that is complementary rather than competitive with existing static measures.
Institutional aspects are explored next, along with some implications of the present system of federal subsidy as an instrument towards regional equalization of the budgetary resources available to lower levels of government. A few alternative technical solutions to improve the present system are discussed and a set of macro-variables is suggested as a framework within which the degree of equalization, which is basically a political decision, could be discussed in an explicit and systematic way. While the question of the appropriate degree of equalization remains a problem with many facets, it can be shown that government expenditures have been distributed much more equally than the corresponding levels of regional economic activity.     

Price distortion and income dispersion in a labor-managed economy: Evidence from Yugoslavia

Although the standard literature on a labor-managed economy implies price distortions and spillovers of profits into wages, the evidence obtained for the Yugoslav economy does not support these predictions. In particular, price distortions in the mid-1970s are found to be small. Price deviations estimated by means of linear price models permit the calculation of excess profits and permit testing of whether they spill over into incomes. Again, contrary to what the standard theory predicts, only a small fraction of such profits is transferred into incomes.     

Credit allocation and the financial crisis: evidence from Spanish companies

The worldwide financial crisis of 2007–2008 raised serious concerns about the soundness of banks’ activities and about the extent to which banking regulation should supervise banks’ investment decisions. We contribute to this topic by examining the Spanish case, which has been emblematic of the bubble and burst dynamics in the credit market. In particular, we study the allocation of bank credit among Spanish companies from 1999 to 2014, showing that larger companies accumulated greater amounts of bank loans per unit of total assets, thus leading to a notable concentration. We also find that, during the Spanish boom period, bank loans shifted from the manufacturing to the construction industry, and in particular to the largest companies of the latter sector. This happened in spite of the high leverage of large construction firms, which was increasing also due to their growing debt. We argue that the higher operating benefits, reflecting the increase of the housing price during the boom period, overvalued construction firms as potential borrowers. The bankruptcy of several large construction companies during the Spanish crisis supports the need for monitoring and regulation, to avoid an excessive concentration of bank credit to a few large companies, especially if they belong to a specific sector.