JournalTOCs

Acta Economica
Number of Followers: 0

This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 1512-858X - ISSN (Online) 2232-738X
Published by U of Banja Luka

[1 journal]

STOCHASTIC MODELING OF OPTIMAL LOGISTICS IN THE FUNCTION OF MAXIMIZING
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EFFICIENCY OF SMEs
- Authors: Mirjana Landika, Vanja Sredojević, Vedran Šupuković, Velibor Peulić
  Pages: 9 - 18
  Abstract: The concept of business activity conditions specific procedures and activities in order to maximize the difference between output and input variables while taking into account the uncertainty of the business outcome. The business outcome is determined by a number of factors that are under the control of the decision maker. However, a number of factors are conditioned by stochastic quantities, which obey the laws of probability of a random variable whose value the decision maker cannot influence but must anticipate and respect in the business decision making process. Conditionality of business results with the market component refers to user expectations, and it requires a model approach by which the uncertain business future is recomposed into business expectations, with a high level of reliability. Modeling of the system by the process of mathematical simulation enables the calculation of variants of business future in the present time without realizing business strategies before their selection and classification. The modeling process includes business system analysis, factor selection, qualitative and quantitative expression, classification of variables, functional linking, formulation of probability distribution of random variables, and the choice of time frame for simulation. The process of mathematical simulation indicates the management consequences of business alternatives, thus the decision maker is guided by business expectations and recruits business logistics in accordance with the decision. The simulation model is adapted to the specific management problem, specific conditions and circumstances of decision making. It does not have a universal character and must be constructed specifically for each management situation.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135009L
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
MACROECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF INVESTMENT IN THE BALKAN OUNTRIES
- Authors: Jelena Bjelić , Ognjen Erić, Slaviša Kovačević
  Pages: 19 - 33
  Abstract: This study analyzes the impact of crucial macroeconomic variables on investments for six selected Balkan countries (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania) in the period from 2005 to 2020. Most of these countries are on the path to European integration, and Croatia has been a member of the EU since 2013. Their development and macroeconomic goals are mostly identical, and one of the main is the requirement of a high level of investment in order to achieve higher growth rates and overcome the development gap in relation to EU countries. The research starts from the hypothesis that the selected factors (independent variables): gross savings, FDI, interest rate, GDP growth and external debt, affect the total investments in the region. To prove this hypothesis, a panel analysis model was applied, that is the panel with a fixed effect as a more relevant model for estimation. The results show that savings and external debt are significant variables, whereby savings have a positive impact on investment, while the impact of public debt is negative. Real interest rates also determine investment, which is shown by their marginal significance and negative numbers. In other words, higher interest rates discourage investment. Finally, the analysis shows that GDP growth is not significant, but the direction is logical and slightly encourages investment. Foreign investments are also an insignificant variable, but they have a positive direction, which explains why the deficit of domestic investments is only partially compensated through the FDI.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135019B
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND DOWNSIZING: IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL
PERFORMANCE
- Authors: Marko Slavković, Marijana Bugarčić, Jasmina Ognjanović, Goran Pavlović
  Pages: 35 - 51
  Abstract: Downsizing as a corporate restructuring strategy aims to reduce significantly the number of employees in order for the company to adjust to the reduction of revenues resulting from the influence of environmental factors. Workforce reduction is most often implemented during economic crises, which is why it is associated with ambivalent outcomes. Reducing the number of employees through reducing the budget for salaries can have a favorable impact on reducing costs and thus enable the company to operate in the short term. The departure of employees from the organization is associated with a potential loss of organizational knowledge that can reduce the company’s competitiveness and have a negative impact on business. The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of workforce reduction on knowledge management and organizational performance. A questionnaire filled out by managers from 75 companies was used to collect data. Correlation analysis and multiple hierarchical regression were applied to determine the relationship between the observed variables. The results showed that downsizing has a statistically significant and negative impact on organizational performance. Knowledge management has a positive impact on organizational performance and reduces the negative impact of workforce reduction on organizational performance during the implementation of downsizing. The obtained results give clear practical guidelines to managers that downsizing can have negative consequences on organizational performance if the protection of organizational knowledge is not taken into account and that managers must focus on knowledge in order to preserve potential for competitiveness and performance. The obtained results have a much broader significance in all those situations (restructuring, digitalization, business model change, etc.) in which the company needs to reduce the number of employees.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135035S
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
POSSIBILITIES OF DEVELOPING A SERVQUAL MODEL FOR MEASURING USER
SATISFACTION
- Authors: Perica Macura, Aleksandar Smiljanić
  Pages: 53 - 76
  Abstract: This paper will explore the possibility of adapting the original SERVQUAL model for measuring customer satisfaction. The possibility of developing this model is given through its adaptation in practice. When it comes to services, customization of the original model is necessary due to their intangible nature. In the empirical part, the analysis of the level of user satisfaction with innovative electronic products and services of banks will be conducted through five dimensions of the adapted SERVQUAL model: efficiency, reliability, responsibility, trustworthiness and kindness, where the differences between the characteristics of an excellent bank and the consumer’s perception of the performed services of the bank were examined. The collected data were statistically processed in the IBM SPSS program and included in the regression analysis, correlation matrix formation, as well as the analysis of importance – performance. The results of this research can provide additional useful information to decision makers to identify which dimensions of satisfaction with the service cause a sense of happiness in a customer, and which dimensions offer room for improvement of the service levels, in order to achieve the goal – a happy and satisfied customer.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135053M
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
IMPACT OF CROP PRODUCTIVITY ON POVERTY AMONG FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN GHANA
- Authors: Boahen Atta Oppong, Edward E. Onumah, Ramatu M. Al-Hassan, Akwasi Mensah-Bonsu
  Pages: 77 - 94
  Abstract: Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy I & II sought to increase crop productivity to reduce high poverty incidence in farm sector, but the magnitude of impact of the productivity on poverty is not present in all agro-ecological zones in Ghana. The aim of the study is to estimate poverty headcount ratio, poverty gap and poverty severity, and link crop productivity to poverty according to agroecology subject to a two-step instrumental variable regression technique using Pseudo Panel data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS rounds 5 & 6). Farmers’ poverty headcount ratio, poverty gap, and poverty severity reduced from 57%, 25%, and 14% in 2005 to 37%, 14%, and 7% in 2013 respectively. The result further indicates that 1% growth in crop productivity reduces the probability of poverty headcount ratio, poverty gap and poverty severity by 0.28%, 0.38% and 0.75% respectively in all agro-ecological zones. Additionally, the paper shows that education, livestock and remittance income reduces poverty, while household size and great distance to access water increase poverty differently from agro-ecology. The study recommends rapid crop productivity growth by prioritizing technology adoption and institutional coordination to suit agro-ecological conditions among the poor, illiterate and non-partisan.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135077A
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
INTERDEPENDENCE OF FISCAL CONSOLIDATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN EU
COUNTRIES WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT
- Authors: Biljana Gojković
  Pages: 97 - 113
  Abstract: The concept of fiscal consolidation is most often mentioned during major economic crises, which are usually the result of economic shocks caused by crises such as the one in 2008, but also the last crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In such circumstances, as a rule, high deficit and/or enormous growth of public debt occur. Therefore, many countries need to consolidate fiscally their public finances. In this paper, the focus of the analysis is on the impact of fiscal consolidation on the economic growth of the European Union with different levels of development. It is assumed that countries with low incomes and less developed economies have a special obligation and a need for stable public finances. The same refers to the small and open economies that are largely exposed to the stability/instability of the surrounding countries. Therefore, it is very important that countries with a low level of development pay special attention to the fiscal stability of the country’s public finances.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
HARMONIZATION OF THE MARKETING AND ACCOUNTING ACTIVITIES IN THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GROWTH STRATEGY
- Authors: Predrag Gajić, Perica Macura
  Pages: 115 - 140
  Abstract: This research is an attempt to emphasize the interdependence of the accounting and marketing functions in the segment of the growth strategy implementation with an attempt to increase the market share. In this process, activity-based management and activity-based costing were used as recommended instruments, with analytical activities and implementation (operational) activities in the application of the mentioned strategy considered separately. In both cases, the analysis was performed from the standpoint of the need to identify activities and costs of non-production departments, such as marketing and accounting, by individual cost objects, which are, in this case, target markets where the growth strategy will be applied. In this way, it will be possible to concretize the target character of such costs and an objective approach when linking them to cost objects, because the cost of such activities is pooled out from the costs of marketing department whose costs are mostly budgeted as a unique whole. In operational terms, this will enable a number of decisions, such as: whether to outsource the analysis of the effects of entering new markets or to do it within the company, whether and how to standardize time and costs of non-production activities; whether there is an economic justification for entering new markets based on planned results that include the consumption of resources of identified non-production activities that are commonly “hidden” in the aggregate cost values of these and other functions.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135115G
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
POVERTY REDUCTION, INSTITUTIONS AND THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY
- Authors: Olayide Olayinka Olaoye
  Pages: 141 - 160
  Abstract: The prime goal of the United Nations is to reduce poverty to the barest minimum in all economies of the world. Africa seem to be worst hit by poverty. Nigeria, has also experienced the consequences of poverty in the forms of kidnapping for money, extortion and so on. Although Nigeria has recorded growth in the economy over time, such growth has not succeeded in transforming the economy. This study therefore sets out to examine the relationship between poverty reduction and economic growth through the channel of institutional quality. Trickle-down theory formed the basis for the study which covered the period 1990-2019. Correlation analysis, Granger-causality as well as the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model were used. The study found that an inverse but weak relationship exists between poverty reduction and economic growth. Also, a unidirectional flow exists from voice and accountability (an indicator of institutional quality) to poverty reduction. Moreover, the study found a strong but negative influence of the rule of law on poverty reduction. Therefore, enforcement of law and order is crucial to poverty reduction in Nigeria. In addition, government expenditure on health has had positive impact on poverty reduction, while government expenditure on education has had negative impact on poverty reduction. Hence, government investment in providing more health facilities will help to reduce poverty in Nigeria. However, government should reconsider public spending on education in Nigeria. Government intervention in education should be limited to regulation and the provision of those educational facilities that face the free-rider problem.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135141O
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
BORROWING OF THE REAL SECTOR IN THE FUNCTION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF
THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA
- Authors: Predrag Ćurić, Srđa Popović, Dragana Bašić
  Pages: 161 - 177
  Abstract: The availability of funds for lending in the economy under favourable conditions is the fundamental and most important function provided by the banking sector, even though its role is crucial in executing payment transactions as well as in providing security in savings products. As per expectations, quantitative analysis shows a very high level of correlation between the changes in the volume of bank loans and the changes in the gross domestic product in the Republic of Srpska. The research of the indebtedness of the real sector in the function of economic development of the Republic of Srpska was conducted on the basis of a representative sample comprising of 188 large companies out of 343 in total. By using the data obtained from the financial statements of the companies, we investigated the extent to which the channeling of bank credit funds affects the financial stability and operations of companies in the Republic of Srpska. The results obtained indicate a high level of use of bank loans for the purpose of ensuring current liquidity and maintaining fixed assets necessary for regular operations. Companies that are more indebted to banks fail to operate more successfully even to the slightest extent. The conducted research indicates a significant volume of loans placed with the aim of providing current liquidity and maintenance of fixed assets and equipment. However, it is particularly significant to alter the credit policy of banks, which would direct a larger volume of bank credit funds to investments.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135161C
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)
ENERGY GENERATION AND AGGREGATE OUTPUT IN NIGERIA: EVIDENCE FROM NARDL
- Authors: Musibau Ojo Adejumo, Rasak Adetunji Adefabi
  Pages: 181 - 196
  Abstract: Energy generation has received a little or no attention over a period of time. Most scholars are focused on energy consumption and economic growth. This study empirically examined the asymmetric impact of energy generation on aggregate output in Nigeria between 1980 and 2019 using Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) Model. The stationarity test was conducted on the variables employed to avoid spurious regression. The result revealed that the variables were mixed at level and the first difference. The bound test result revealed that the variables are not cointegrated in the long run. Also, Wald test indicates that energy generation has short run impact on aggregate output in Nigeria. As revealed from the empirical results, from all sources of significant energy generation in Nigeria, gas generation brings the desired result to aggregate output in Nigeria. The study therefore suggests that action should refocus on the gas production subsector. This subsector needs to be developed carefully to avoid wasting this energy source by incineration. Also, the government should redirect those subsidies for petroleum products to the gas generation subsector.
  PubDate: 2021-12-31
  DOI: 10.7251/ACE2135181O
  Issue No: Vol. 19, No. 35 (2021)