Suchergebnisse

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are one of the key pillars of development of all national economies, both the richest and those less developed. In this paper, attention is focused on the specific segment of SMEs, characterized by rapid and stable growth, ability to quickly adapt to changing market conditions and in the long term to operate at the high performance level. These companies are today known as "Gazelles", a term that was coined by an American author, David Birch. The interest for these companies, both at the macro level of policy creators, as well as at the company level, has grown rapidly in recent years because of their high potential for addressing issues of unemployment, creating a host of new products and services and added value for society as a whole and alike. The paper deals with issues such as definitions and basic characteristics of these companies, the key factors of their business, as well as their level of development in the European Union and the Republic of Serbia.

The topic of this article is the public-private partnership (PPP) as a specific form of investment projects implementation which is assuming cooperation between partners from public and private sectors. Commonly those investment projects are within jurisdiction of local and/or government of higher levels and refer to implementation of the capital infrastructural projects such as the construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, streets, communal utilities, schools, pre-school, sports and social facilities, etc. The rationales for using PPP are numerous, but, basically from the point of public partner, it is expected that PPP will provide additional capital and a greater level of management and operational efficiency. For the public sector it is also very important that the model of financing projects through PPP does not affect public indebtedness since the borrowing within this model usually is incurred by private partner. From the point of the private sector, participating in the PPP models is opening new windows in the growing market of public services. In the article the modalities of PPPs that are most commonly used in the practice are presented; also the organizational and institutional framework of the PPP functioning in Serbia which was completed by the adoption of Law on PPP and Concession in 2011 is elaborated; and finally the initial experience of this model implementation is Serbia are presented and compared with the practices in the Region (Western Balkans) and in the European Union.

Increasingly complex, complicated and demanding environmental regulations continually create higher and higher level of legal risk for businesses and society as a whole. It also puts on the companies the burden of additional costs that have to be included into the price of their goods and services. The legal protection of environment is complicated not only from the standpoint of legislation but also in terms of its implementation and compliance. The system of environmental protection must be the pillar that supports the development of sustainable nature, economy and society. To achieve that goal the system needs to be based on the "polluter pays" principle and it needs to include efficient cooperation between different stakeholders, amongst which companies have an important place. In addition to being an active partner in environmental protection, companies are at the same time the market participants so they must think about relevant costs. They must include into their decision making process all environmental regulations and all relevant financial and fiscal instruments.

New technologies have been changing the world for centuries. Innovations have been the strongest tool for development and recovery of world economy. Today information is the most valuable asset and global markets and global companies are depending on relevant data and information security. Tech-intelligent processes are fundamental for the European corporate governance environment. The stability of corporate governance as a system with the prime aim to protect investors and take care of stakeholders linked to public companies is based on quality of information and relevant access. When corporate governance is good, then also the process of collecting and disseminating information is good as well. This paper presents the potentials of information technology to be used for better corporate governance and to help Serbian companies to position themselves on European capital markets. Public company as well as of capital markets can be controlled in more efficient way by using IT. Shareholders rights and activities, board of directors` duties and responsibilities, settling of disputes, disclosure and transparency, stakeholders' protection and other important issues in corporate governance can be provided and organized in a better way. This paper mostly deals with tree main segments of corporate governance policy: protection of shareholders rights, effective board of directors and efficient resolution of disputes. Proper use of technology and right policies and procedures for information security can help public company to improve the efficiency of corporate governance by supporting diligence, restrict abuse and reduce corruption and bribery. Destructive nature of any dispute arising within or out of company has potential to spoil reputation of company and the trust of investors. On the other hand, the dispute, can be solved and even be a tool for better relationship between parties in a dispute in the future. If discovered at the early beginning, the dispute can be handled effectively by mediation. There, information technology and communication can be of great help.

Budget and finance management is one of the key functions of Local Governments (LGs), through which they perform their competencies: their own, as well as those which are delegated by higher levels of the Government. LGs use a number of management tools in conducting the budgeting process (planning, executing and controlling), among which specific budget models and formats are very important and particularly effective instruments. This article elaborates the most widespread budget models in LG practice such as Line-Item Budgeting, as well as specific ones such as Zero-Based Budgeting, Performance Based Budgeting, and finally the most advanced, such as Program Budgeting. The major features (advantages as well as disadvantages) of each of those budgeting models are briefly presented and discussed. In the following sections current budgeting practices in Serbian local government units are analyzed and evaluated in respect to the LG reform process which has been initiated during the 2000s. The general goals of the reform process which refer to improvement of the efficiency and transparency of the budget process and accountability of the main players in planning, executing and controlling public finance at the local governmental level - could be significantly affected by the selected and implemented budgeting models. In respect to this the prospective of improving the current LG budgeting practice through introduction of more advance budgeting models such as the performance-based and program budgeting are elaborated and discussed in more detail.

This chapter is focused on numerous issues with respect to establishment, operation and sustainable development of an industrial park. The reason for choosing this topic lies within a realistic assumption that light industrial development may be a generator of economic development in Serbia. On the other hand, decentralization is, undoubtedly, one of significant processes which have affected the state and therefore it is inevitable to focus on local government as an entity which is more than ever responsible for its development. Given local government's legal position and financial capacity, the cooperation between local government and private capital in the form of public-private partnerships has been examined as a particularly interesting form with potential. The chapter is built on the fact that industrial parks are of multidisciplinary character (involving economy, technical-urban planning, demography, sociology, politics, etc.), and in that sense it analyses in detail numerous factors of impact in the quest for an optimal solution with positive economic and financial outcomes for founders and positive impact on the population and environment. Relevant legislation is rather complex and immature. It covers several areas: laws which regulate the use of land, planning and construction as well as those which regulate business establishment and operations and investment climate and policies for attracting domestic and foreign direct investments (strategies, tax and other incentives, competitiveness, environmental protection, etc.).

In today societies the local public sector is getting increasingly important role in countries´ sustainable development. The sustainable development assumes close interrelation and specific balance between economy, society and environment. It implies balanced development of the economy and society with simultaneous careful exploitation of limited natural resources and preservation of the environment. In such a general framework the local public sector is becoming one of the key agents of this complex process. Nowadays approach to the management of economic development is increasingly shifting from traditional and centralized to the local level. In the continuous struggle for economic resources needed for economic development, the market competition include variety of players: the businesses compete with other businesses, the central governments with other central governments, and in the same way in this process are including local governments which compete with other local governments. In the chapter are presented some of the most relevant experiences of the local public sector involvement in the economic development in the developed countries, and the analogy and comparison with the present situation in Serbia is made. In the last part of the chapter the major assumptions necessary to create efficient and effective local economic development are elaborated and the present situation regarding each of the specified assumptions is presented and evaluated.

Intergovernmental transfer system is one of the key components of the local governmental financing system. It role is to equalize the position of the local governments (LGS) and in this way to enable them to fulfill large variety of competencies which have been in the last couple of decades broaden far beyond the traditional one, which includes areas of local administrations and various social functions. Nowadays, these competences include issues such as local economic development, local infrastructure development, local investment programs, pro-active local employment policy and other. The issue of LG financing and the specific role of intergovernmental finance system in Serbia has been especially emphasized with enforcement of law on local government financing (2007), the intention was to insure the stable and predictable source of LGS financing which should decisively contribute to improve the effectiveness of management process in planning and implementing local budgets. Unfortunately, just after two years of applying of the law, the global finance crises broke and the strongly negatively impacted its effects, which eventually resulted in its suspension in some of its most important aspects.

Entrepreneurship development is conditioned by finding a balance between long-term sustainability of the production process of a particular product or service, environmental and social dimensions of development. Improving economic performance, reduce production costs, promotion of innovation and increased market orientation through diversification of economic activities are important for improving the quality of life and better environment. The attractiveness of certain areas requires the promotion of sustainable growth and development and the search for new employment opportunities. Entrepreneurship development starts from the point where people are now, with vision and dreams for their future and is based on two things build resources and pooling. The concept of entrepreneurship development is in its infancy. The experience of the European Union designed mostly to policy development and financial support are the result of a successful economy. The aim of this research is to find the potential of young people and the education of entrepreneurs who represent the base of development. One million unemployed, with a tendency to increase this number, clearly indicates that the workforce greatest potential for economic development of Serbia. For the stature of the workforce, its general education and vocational training were made huge investments that not only have the opportunity to fully express themselves in increasing production and labor productivity growth, but the unemployed emerge as consumers and producers who are not. Therefore, unemployed labor is not only the most abundant and untapped production potential of more social troubles of enormous proportions, which does not create a favorable social climate for successful economic development.

The use of hydropower potential in the Republic of Serbia is dependent on the demand for electricity and implies meeting the basic and special needs for energy, certainty of delivery to the consumers, attaining lower prices, aligning the development of the energy sector and economic and societal development and rational production, transmission and distribution of electrical energy. By establishing a specific public-private partnership model (PPP) the water sector can use the renewable potential of the amounts and quality of water and manage its water resources to gain indirect, induced and direct supply that may impact the private energy efficiency and that meets ever growing demand of the energy sector, that is their supply in the energy market. Today's conditions under which the water sector is functioning and the attitude towards energy demands need to be changed by establishing a relationship between the public and the private domains in accordance with the principles and requirements that apply on PPP and under conditions that are based on the national and EU legislation.

The importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for the development of national economies is undeniable and it is in many works stand out as a generally accepted position. In this paper, attention is focused at a specific segment of SMEs which comprise particularly dynamic companies that are characterized by fast and steady growth, ability quickly to adapt to market conditions and continuously to function at a high level of performance. These firms are now known as gazelles, the name which was in the 80s of last century first coined by British author David Birch. Gazelles represent relatively small part of total and according to number of studies their share in the total number of companies in national economies is accounting from 3% to the most 5%. Interest for this companies, both at macro level by the creators of economic policy, as well as at micro level by businesses, in recent years is exceedingly increased because of their high potentials for resolving the issue of (un)employment and creating multitude of new products and services and added values which they are created for the society as a whole. In the paper the definitions of these companies are elaborated, the basic features and key factors of their business operation are analyzed, as well as their state (level of development) and their future development prospects in the European Union and the Republic of Serbia. The authors of the paper have used research methods in accordance with the specifics and complexity of the subject of the analysis, relying on the current domestic and international literature and internet sources. The research results clearly showed that gazelles can be an important part of the answer to deep and comprehensive economic and social crisis with which modern societies face today in the world.

In the last decade, from 2001 to the present, Serbian local government has gone trough a reform process and got specific competencies concerning local infrastructure development, construction of public buildings and delivering various public services. This process was followed with the local finance system reform in which Local Serbian Governments' financial power has been considerably increased: during the above mentioned period the total funds available to LGs have increased by almost 50%. Newly developed legal framework introduced possibility of borrowing funds, first of all, for financing capital infrastructure projects. According to this framework Serbian LGs are allowed to use municipal bonds to finance their functions. It also defined some general rules for issuing bonds (the types of bonds, its purposes, general procedure of issuing and alike). Anyhow, even if it has been for some degree of readiness both at the local and central government level to use municipal bonds, they have not yet become part of financial practice in Serbia.

In this paper we have tried to highlight the main characteristics of doing business in Serbian economy having in mind strategic cooperation between Fiat, the Italian car manufacturer, and Zastava, the only car manufacturer in Serbia. The paper consists of three parts. In the first part the most important transition indicators in Serbia have been analyzed as well as general ambience of doing business. Serbian government have put tremendous efforts in making economic ambience as attractive as possible for prospective foreign investors. Still there are open issues of how successful these efforts have been and what else has to be done. In the second part of this paper, recent global trends in automotive industry have been analyzed and their influence in Serbia and Western Balkans region. Finally, in the third part, the most important aspects of strategic cooperation between Fiat and Zastava have been analyzed, in order to put out the direction into which Serbia government can direct its activities so as to improve general economic ambience for business activities and further attracting of foreign investments.

The challenges the local governments (LGs) are facing in contemporary developed societies are getting larger and more complex. LGs have to deal with tasks relating to fulfillment of certain parts (in certain cases of a whole) of some of the key public functions which are arranging the life in local communities: land use of urban planning, organization and management of public services (like local water supply system, solid waste disposal, waste water treatment, public cleaning, maintaining and managing of city green areas, organizing distant heating system, etc.) along with some of conventional local governmental (administrative) functions. In the recent years, one of the LG functions, which is certainly becoming one of the most important one, is – an active role in economic development initiating through attracting the foreign investors, encouraging the self-employment process, SMEs development, etc. In such conditions, the strategic management planning becomes an essential tool that "managers" of local governments are using in order to provide efficient use of local governments resources and their long-term prosperity.