Aleksandra Zečević1, Jelena Radović Stojanović2 and Aleksandar Čudan2
The paper analyzes the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in enterprises in the European Union member states. The objectives of the analysis were to examine the level reached in the application of ICT in European enterprises and explore the differences in ICT usage that exist between the EU member states. The analysis is based on the Eurostat data on ICT usage in enterprises in the European Union countries (EU-28) for the years 2018 and 2017. The following indicators of ICT usage were analyzed: fixed broadband access, the speed of the internet connections, the presence of the Internet (enterprises having a website), the use of social media, the use of cloud computing services, e-commerce indicators (the share of the enterprises making e-sales and the share of e-commerce in the total turnover) and the indicators of e-business integration – the share of the enterprises using enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and the supply chain management (SCM) software applications. A comparative analysis of the EU countries by the value of these indicators was carried out. The main focus in the analysis was to identify the factors that influence the difference in the value of the ICT indicators between the countries. The analysis has shown that the regional position, the geographic characteristics, the size of the country and the level of its economic development are the factors that influence these differences.
Miljan Leković
The growing gap between standard finance theory and practice has made way for the emergence of new theories and the development of new asset-pricing models. Behavioral economists have seized this opportunity to promote their ideas and thus develop behavioral finance theory, as an antithesis to standard finance theory; behavioral portfolio theory, as an antithesis to modern portfolio theory, and a behavioral asset-pricing model, as an antithesis to standard financial asset-pricing models. The paper aims to illustrate these new theoretical frameworks, given the absence of research at the national level relating to behavioral portfolio theory and the behavioral asset-pricing model. The objective is to explain the key features of behavioral portfolio theory and the behavioral asset-pricing model by means of conducting a comparative analysis of the mentioned theory and its model and standard financial concepts and models. By using a qualitative research methodology, the author concludes that, by incorporating psychological factors, behavioral portfolio theory and the behavioral asset-pricing model complement conventional financial concepts and bring finance theory closer to reality. It is, however, still too early and exaggerated to a certain extent to speak about the superiority of these new theoretical frameworks in relation to modern portfolio theory and conventional asset-pricing models, which is also the main finding of the research study.
Milena Nedeljković Knežević1, Maja Mijatov1 and Slađana Nedeljković2
The subject matter of this research study is the importance of the sociodemographic characteristics and the personality dimensions of employees for communication satisfaction. This study is aimed at determining the significant influences and correlations between the main constructs within the research study conducted on a sample of 119 employees. The obtained results have shown that, except for the gender structure of the respondents, the other examined sociodemographic characteristics have an influence on certain dimensions of communication satisfaction. Correlations were also identified between certain personality dimensions and the dimensions of communication satisfaction. The research results have numerous practical implications. The quality of the interpersonal relationships between highly-educated employees and their supervisors needs to be improved by providing a greater autonomy and complex working tasks. It is also necessary to improve the bottom-up communication process for the purpose of enabling subordinates to express their ideas without barriers. Finally, it is recommended that employees with a high level of the personality dimensions ‘Openness to new experiences’ and ‘Extraversion’ should be in the positions in which they could achieve the best results.
Danijela Martinovic
The break-even point model is a well-known instrument for determining target production, income and costs for the purpose of gaining a zero profit. Although it is a concept that was present in the literature as early as in the late XIX century, the break-even point is applied in the contemporary business practice even today. This paper aims to demonstrate the advantages and limitations of the traditional (linear) and contemporary (nonlinear) break-even models. Particular attention is paid to the assumptions needed for a successful application of both models. The frequency of the use of the break-even point, limitations and assumptions were studied on a sample of 100 manufacturing enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research study has revealed management’s awareness of the potentials for applying the break-even point concept and the need to use the modern models that include assumptions pertaining to change in the key variables in the model. This results in the need to design such nonlinear, dynamic and stochastic models that best represent the dynamic conditions of contemporary business.
Ebiaghan Orits Frank
This study empirically investigates the nexus between the moral hazard hypothesis and the adoption of the Deposit Insurance Scheme (DIS) in Nigeria. Using the secondary data sourced from the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (NDIC) annual reports and accounts, a multiple regression model was formulated, comprising a deposit insurance fund as a proxy for moral hazard (the dependent variable), whereas the asset quality indicators of Nigerian banks were the independent variables. The estimation technique according to the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) was used to test the relationships between the variables. The study revealed a significant positive relationship between the asset quality indicators of Nigerian banks and the deposit insurance fund, which supports the moral hazard hypothesis. It is recommended that governments should strengthen their banking regulatory systems in order to mitigate the unintended risks which the adoption of the DIS portends.
Violeta Todorović, Jasmina Bogićević and Stefan Vržina
Income tax management includes a set of activities aimed at the legal minimization of income tax liabilities. Due to the tax law flexibility and cross-country differences in income taxation, banks may be in a position to significantly reduce their tax burden. An objective of the paper is to calculate the effective income tax burden of banks in the Republic of Serbia and examine the impact of income tax on banks’ operations. A research study conducted on a sample of banks between 2010 and 2016 shows that the effective income tax rate in banks is well below the statutory rate, mostly due to the use of government tax incentives. Furthermore, 25% of the observations have an effective tax rate of 0% despite the reported pre-tax income. The latest increase in the statutory tax rate in the Republic of Serbia has not had an impact on bank leverage, either in the short or long term. This may be an indicator that tax shield effects are not considered when the statutory tax rate is relatively low. The paper also finds that the effective tax rate is not correlated with bank profitability.
Vlastimir Leković
Issue 3 Volume 21 Year 2019 of the Economic Horizons scientific journal contains eight contributions – four original and two review papers, the Subject Index and a List of Authors and Titles of all the contributions published in the Journal in 2019. Simultaneously, we are highlighting the fact that a total of seven scientific papers written by the authors from abroad (Nigeria, Vietnam, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina) have been published in Issues 1, 2 and 3 Volume 21 Year 2019, which is 38.89% of all the number of the scientific papers published in the Journal in 2019.