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STUDENT AND PARENTAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS VOUCHERIZATION OF EDUCATION

Author(s): Admir Čavalić,Damir Bećirović,Amela Bešlagić / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2018

Voucher system of education implies the use of vouchers as instruments of financing public and private education. Unlike the traditional ways of financing education, the voucher system creates the assumptions for increasing the freedom of choice regarding educational programs within different levels of education. Paper will use scientific methods of systematization and analysis of existing literature regarding school vouchers, in order to give a critical review of the influence of vouchers on increasing the competitiveness of education. The paper will also present the results of the research of student and parental attitudes about towards voucherization of education. Research sample includes respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Croatia and Republic of Serbia. Along with the conclusion, the paper also offers some recommendations regarding the use of vouchers for the improvement of local education systems.

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Konkurencja, zagrożenie czy ratunek dla gospodarki? Postawy Polaków wobec imigrantów

Author(s): Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2019

This article presents the attitudes of Poles towards immigrants and analyses the factors that co-exist with these attitudes. Data come mainly from the European Values Study (2017). The analyses have shown a clear impact of media discourse on the social perception of immigrants, which leads to a split image of the immigrants: „real” ones, whom Poles meet in various public places or at work and who are generally accepted, and „imagined” immigrants - „aliens”, more often causing a sense of threat. Attitudes towards real immigrants are not connected with political views and are to a small extent related to opinions on the European Union. The assessment of the „imagined” immigrants’ impact on the development of Poland is an element of a broader set of axiological orientations, the essential element of which is trying to order the social reality in the framework of traditionally understood roles and hierarchy and which are associated with a negative relationship with the European Union and even with scepticism towards democracy as a form of government and civil liberties.

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Selected national approaches for achieving global standards in public administration

Author(s): Polya Katsamunska / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2020

The new reality of modern world places greater pressure on governments to put in place effective programs for education and training of public administrators. Indeed, this is the way to achieve greater excellence in public administration education and training, which has a main purpose to provide public administrators with the competencies and capacities to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life. This context outlines the focus of the article to examines and provide interesting insights into various national approaches for the delivery of public administration education and training from selected countries in the Americas and Europe. These countries have been chosen basically for two reasons; first, they represent traditional practice in their regions and second, they have excellent programs in public administration education and training for which they have had no major difficulties in seeking to reach the international standards of excellence in public administration education and training.

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Bevezető a Fordulat 27. számához

Author(s): Zoltán Sidó,Kristóf Nagy,Mátyás Domschitz,Márton Fabók,Sára Lafferton,Ágnes Gagyi,Virág Buka / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 27/2020

The 27th issue of the Fordulat maps the possibilities of a social-solidarity economy with a special focus on the Eastern European post-socialist conditions.

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Smart dwellings

Author(s): Mihaela Zamfir (Grigorescu),Mihai Viorel Zamfir,Ileana Ciobanu,Andreea Georgiana Marin / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2021

Preamble: The pandemic with COVID-19 that we have been experiencing globally for almost one year now brings continuous challenges on many levels, the built environment being an important one. Social distancing meant that during this period housing has been requested differently, first as a shelter, now as a space in which we have to work or learn. Objectives: The research aims to identify dwellings parameters that need reconsideration from the pandemic experience with COVID-19, how these can be adjusted in order to meet safety and comfort requirements to ultimately maintain well-being. Prior work: The paper investigates the latest written documents on the influence of the pandemic with COVID-19 on the built environment, including published articles, peer-reviewed articles, digital blog posts, expert opinions. Approach: The research is of narrative review type and interdisciplinary investigation of the specialized literature but at the same time it is also a reflection of the personal experience of the authors during COVID-19 pandemic. The following parameters of the home are analyzed: areas, dimensions, functions, finishes, accesses, lighting, relationship with the outdoor. Results: Health, safety and comfort are 3 aspects that were tested during the quarantine period and are essential when we talk about housing and pandemic dwellings. It is estimated that there will be changes in the design of new residential buildings, collective and individual. Homes will need versatility, more generous spaces, functional expansions so as to cover both living and work or learning areas. There is talk of a living architecture but at the same time of touchless technology. The post-pandemic COVID-19 architecture will emphasize the user's well-being, but with much more emphasis on safety issues. Implications: The challenges of the pandemic will influence the design process with possible changes in regulations, with an impact on architects, verification requirements, and contractors but also costs for the beneficiary. The architecture of post-pandemic housing will be an interdisciplinary collaboration between architect and specialists such as medical doctor, biologist, psychologist, engineers. Value: The paper highlights the importance of the need for an interdisciplinary approach in the design of housing, a new aspect catalyzed by the pandemic with COVID-19.

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Surabaya towards a smart city constrained by COVID-19

Author(s): Akhmad Yusuf ZUHDY,Aan FAUZI / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2021

Surabaya, East Java is one of the cities in Indonesia which is well known as a Smart City. This achievement can not be separated from the breakthroughs and innovations that the local City Government (Pemkot) has made. The city government of Surabaya has also received various awards from within and outside the country, especially in the field of smart city. One of the awards is the 2018 OpenGov Recognition of Excellence. However, when the smart city was being helded, a pandemic emerged that attacked almost all parts of the world. This study aims to identify obstacles and steps to deal with Covid-19 without disturbing the stability of Surabaya towards a smart city. The data were obtained from social media from the Surabaya municipal government and the smart city parameters were taken from academic papers. The concept of smart city according to Surabaya begins with Smart Government, namely by implementing an internet-based government system which is also known as e-procurement. Other parameters are smart branding, smart economy, smart living, smart society, smart environment. This paper focuses on discussing smart environment without neglecting other parameters. Unfortunately, since the Covid-19 pandemic Surabaya has become the city in Indonesia with the most corona cases after Jakarta and Bogor with confirmed positive data up to November 1, 2020, amounting to 15,973 cases. The Surabaya City Government (Pemkot Surabaya) has implemented various efforts in order to prevent or break the chain of the spread of COVID-19. Consists of promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative efforts.

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THE ASSESSMENT OF FISCAL DEFICIT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES OF SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE

Author(s): Luljeta Gllogjani,Driton Balaj / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2021

The overall aim of this research is to observe the impact of fiscal deficit on economic growth in the transition economies of South-eastern Europe. The fixed-effects and dynamic linear regression were used to carry out this revision. The data used in this revision are quantitative data annually and cover the period 2005–2019. The outcomes detect that there is a confident and statistically important effect among the fiscal deficit and economic growth for the transition economies of Southeast Europe, supporting the Keynesian theory. Furthermore, the outcomes of this research show that public debt to GDP, foreign direct investment in GDP, exports, and imports in GDP have an important effect on economic growth. Findings have shown that public debt and imports have a positive influence on economic growth, unlike exports and foreign direct investment, which showed an adverse effect on economic growth. Moreover, for other additional factors, the inflation rate, the employment rate, and the real interest rate, the results of the study do not show any significant consequences on economic growth. The research also contributes in the macroeconomic aspect to the opening of discussions among the relevant stakeholders, including those coming from the policy-making area.

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HOW GOVERNMENT OUTFLOW AND PUBLIC DEBT AFFECT INFLATION: EVIDENCE FROM SEE COUNTRIES

Author(s): Erëza A. Arifi / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2021

The study aims to address public debt and government outflow affecting inflation in some of the countries of Southeast Europe, observing a combination of factors both theoretically and econometrically. The investigation included six (6) SEE countries, including the 2006-2020 timeframe, with 90 observations. The dynamic approach, the fixed effect, and the Arellano/Bond estimator were used to check the parameters considered in the study using panel data. Furthermore, the study also applied diagnostic tests such as the Sargan over-identifying restrictions and Pedroni test for cointegration. The results of the fixed effect and Arellano / Bond estimation demonstrate that public debt, current budget outflows, and capital budget outflows affect inflation, while overall budget outflows are insignificant. For further studies, it would be useful to apply other dynamic models by applying other specific factors, which will be considered as a useful contribution to the academic, research, and policy-making structures.

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SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ITS CHANGES IN ARMENIA: CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS

Author(s): Albert Hayrapetyan,Liana Isayan / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

Social capital was the Achilles’ heel of the economic competitiveness of Armenia. In the meantime, the country made significant progress in solidifying it since the Velvet Revolution. In this article, we tried to present and analyze those elements of social capital which demonstrated significant progress in post-revolutionary Armenia, as well as the changes thereof. For that purpose, we have formulated the following research questions: What factors led to this growth, and what factors still lag? What hidden challenges can be observed through factual indicators which probably resulted from the slight decrease in the updated scores? What changes can be expected from the turbulent world and in the post-war society? The applied methodology is quantitative. In particular, to answer the research questions we used index analysis, graphic analysis, and comparison, correlation analysis techniques, pared t-test of the mathematical-statistical significance of changes, and Principal Component Analysis. The results of the analysis showed that a significant increase in the level of social capital was recorded in post-revolutionary Armenia, which was mainly due to the progress in institutional trust. Nevertheless, some revealed anomalies and encountered challenges undermined the archived progress in the growth of trust. Therefore, we put forward several recommendations.

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Smart government in local adoption

Author(s): Christian SCHACHTNER / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

The digital revolution is an issue for local authorities to actively shape the dynamic change of service expectations.The Objectives of the research project are investigations in how AI-support can speed up decisions of authorities in unknown, dynamically changing situations professionally. The scientific interest lies in the question of possible linking options between learning theories of adult human education and deep learning strategies of machine learning approaches. The Prior work serves the element of service optimization for citizens or business concerning the use of AI-applications for direct interaction and for process optimization in the background of processing.The Approach is in addition to an introduction to the basic user scenarios of AI technology in the public task spectrum of local governance. In this respect, it bases on the empirical findings of the study ‘Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration - Fields of Application and Scenarios”.The Results concern the understanding that human and AI-basic technologies are action-oriented learning systems performing in the fields of creating services in the web 4.0, such as the internet of things. Development learning theories, such as transformative learning for Data Scientists and Public Managers, should have an impact on more customer related AI-applications.The Implications of this interdisciplinary projekt should give an impact to academics in the public management and data sciences as well as specialists of learning in the field of human and machine-interaction. For practioners and leaders of local authorities, the possibilities of implementing AI-services should become clear.The Value of the paper lies in the combination of administrative, learn-strategic, technological, and ethical requirements to be proposed in order to get the application scenarios of AI off the ground, also in the sense of acceptance management in the face of persistent innovation blockades of general ‘smart government’ measures.

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Smart societies, gender and the 2030 spotlight - are we prepared?*

Author(s): Bissera Zankova / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

knowledge. Today this process is driven by the new information and communications technologies. While digitisation is permeating all areas of life, it has become clear that technological revolution is not just a purely technical (or economic) process, but also a social one and it is not gender-neutral. Technology can help women and girls access new opportunities, means of expression and channels for participation. However, technological boom can also cause imbalances in the convergent environment. People will need a variety of skills to be able to contribute on an equal footing to the digital transformations but these skills are not equally distributed across all social groups. Debates nowadays extend even further to encompass artificial intelligence and experts have repeatedly underlined that advanced automation technologies can bring about not only great opportunities for humanity but also risks. Challenges can stem from the accelerated use of artificial intelligence without respecting such categories like gender, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. International bodies raise the admonition that “transparency and accountability for the data behind AI is critical to reducing bias, but very difficult to govern or enforce.” The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [1] embody a human rights’ based roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind. Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is a crucial goal among others in this important set of priorities for humanity. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls across all the goals will we get thriving economies, a sustaining environment now and for future generations and genuine social inclusion for a smart society. The article will present a new elaborated version of the summary of the research on gender issues in the converged environment done in the period 2018 – 2020 within the EC COMPACT project.

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The future of work in the smart city: Managing virtual work by leveraging smart cities to achieve organizational strategy

Author(s): Joshua Olusegun Fayomi,Zainab Abdulqadir Sani / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

The goal of the organization is to maintain and increase productivity of its resources including human capital. A clear assessment of all the available resources to management provides requisite information to enable them to allocate work tasks and monitor and assess outputs. The way work is done is changing across most industries and the future of work is one that has been celebrated and researched by experts and scholars alike. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has opened up the virtual work sphere as a paradigm for all organizations to explore, and many otherwise traditional work arrangements are beginning to innovate around how their work functions are achieved. This paper explores the concepts of smart cities, the future of work and virtual work. And through a mixed method of interviews and surveys identifies how organizations are leveraging on the advantages of smart cities in planning and implementing work arrangements for their employees in order to cope with the current pandemic and what their strategy would be overall when the situation comes back to normal. About 8 top managers were interviewed and 59 employees currently working virtually were surveyed. Responses were analysed and connectivity, flexibility and autonomy were identified as factors organizations considered as they planned and implemented virtual work arrangements. And their outlook for the future certainly included virtual work arrangement for at least a fraction of their employees as working from home, cafes, hotels etc has become a norm today and is generally accepted as a legitimate work arrangement between organizations and their employees.

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MANAGEMENT’S PERCEPTION OF THE DETERMINANTS THAT INFLUENCE SMEs PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM KOSOVO

Author(s): Sokol Krasniqi,Arta Jashari Goga,Ismail Mehmeti / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2022

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now unquestionable contributors to economic development on the one side and employment creation on the other. To promote sustained growth, SMEs must meet specific prerequisites, particularly the leadership structures of this segment. Therefore, this research aims to investigate and identify the determinants that affect SMEs performance. The research employs a qualitative technique, using questionnaires containing 52 questions. The study surveyed 336 SMEs owners or managers from March to April 2022. The Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR) empirical technique explored the influence of education level, previous experience, training attendance, business plan, consultation services, and employees' insufficient competency in SMEs performance. The research has revealed that the level of education and consultancy services positively impact SMEs performance. In contrast, neglect of training and employees' insufficient competence harm SMEs performance. The study encourages SMEs owners and managers to take advantage of professional training opportunities and to invest in existing personnel through training to acquire acceptable competence, which will be reflected in management performance. From the perspective of the contribution, it provides the most recent evidence in the context of Kosovo's economy, employing the logistic regression analysis.

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ECONOMETRIC EVALUATION OF PUBLIC DEBT ON INFLATION: EVIDENCE FROM KOSOVO AND NORTH MACEDONIA

Author(s): Ismail Mehmeti,Gazmend Deda / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2022

The nexus between public debt and inflation has been continuously investigated, but after the pandemic, it has returned to the center of researchers' courtesy. Consequently, this research examines the influences of public debt, interest rates, trade openness, GDP growth, and foreign direct investments on inflation. The study employs secondary data from 2008 to 2021 and incorporates a mixed econometric technique such as the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Arrellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond approach. The study's findings argue that public debt, interest rates, and trade openness significantly influence inflation, whereas GDP growth has a significantly negative impact. Because of the limited number of observations in the context of the research, we have not been able to evaluate the impact in the long term. The uniqueness and relevance of this research stem from its use of a combined approach, and in recent months, a continuous increase in inflation has been recorded throughout the world. The current findings and arguments inspire a productive discourse among academics, scholars, and policy-making entities.

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ACTUAL CHALLENGE IN INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE TAXATION: SHIFTING THE OBLIGATION OF CONDUCT INTO OBLIGATION OF RESULT

Author(s): Mihaela Tofan / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2022

The research answered whether cooperation in ruling corporate taxation, a traditional obligation of conduct of sovereign states, was undergoing profound transformation into the obligation of result. The analyzed topic was not whether the tax authorities want or should cooperate (which is answered per se), but rather how to appropriately respond to the international taxation requirements for strengthening the multilateral agreements. Tax authorities worldwide have expressed concerns about identifying efficient regulation, and the development of multilateral agreements to combat tax evasion was under long and often unproductive negotiation. The empirical analyses of relevant literature and jurisprudence helped formulate an opinion on the regulation’s efficiency in strengthening multilateral taxation. The need to change the nature of the state’s obligation to negotiate fiscal regulation was not mentioned explicitly in hard law. Still, it was indirectly supported by soft law instruments, such as state representatives’ continuous yet divergent dialogue and the approaches presented in the international courts’ jurisprudence. The consistent influence on the obligation to support developments in international law in corporate taxation was justified, given the limit when considering its conduct nature, compared to potential benefits generated by the obligation of result.

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Развитие на института на концесиите в България (1883–2018)

Author(s): Krasimira S. Valcheva,Ralitsa Veleva,Alexander Valkov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

In recent decades public-private partnerships (PPPs) represent a modern solution for the efficient use of public resources with increasing economic and social importance. The state's ability to structure and stimulate the development of long-term institutionally sustainable relationships with business for the development of key public activities is a sign of the maturity of its economic and social policy. The study applies comparative document analysis. The temporal scope coincides with the promulgation of the first and the lastest legislative act regulating the relations between the state and private initiative, with a focus on one of the earliest forms of PPP applied worldwide - concessions. The paper periodizes and identifies the evolution and functions of the concept of concession in Bulgaria, based on the legislative framework and the adopted practices. The regulation of this form of cooperation solves specific tasks during different stages of socio-economic development in the country. In post- liberation Bulgaria, concessions were aimed at supporting the establishment of a modern market economy. Nowadays, the institutionalisation of PPPs, and concessions in particular, is applied as a tool for good public governance.

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EFFECT OF CORRUPTION ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT INFLOWS IN COUNTRIES OF THE WESTERN BALKANS

Author(s): Artan Hajdini,Lum Collaku,Safet Merovci / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of corruption on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Western Balkans countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Albania. Secondary data from The World Bank, Transparency International, and International Monetary Fund databases were utilized to complete this study for 2012-2020. The built model of multiple linear regression included four independent variables, namely: Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Western Balkan Corruption Ranking (WBCR), Exchange Rate (EXG), and Inflation Rate (INFL), as well as FDI as a dependent variable, and data effects were analyzed through the SPPS scientific research software program. The results found that if CPI and WBCR were to increase by one unit, FDI would decrease by 0.088, namely 0.624, while if EXG and INFL were to increase by one unit, FDI would increase by 0.165, namely 0.236. In order to fight corruption and potentially attract more foreign direct investment, the governments of these countries should work to harmonize their anti-corruption laws with those of the European Union. In order to prevent the negative consequences of FDI inflows, they should also maintain a balanced rate of inflation, which entails stabilizing exchange rate fluctuations.

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Application and Challenges of Web 3.0 in Smart Cities

Author(s): Joshua Olusegun Fayomi,Zainab Abdulqadir Sani / Language(s): English Issue: 01/2023

Citizens are becoming more directly involved in the advancement of sustainability in smart development in areas where web 3.0 promises to transform urban cities into advanced smart cities and where ICTs are integrated in strategies for participation and co-production. This study's aim is to investigate and pinpoint the applications and difficulties in using Web 3.0 technologies in smart cities in Lithuania. A systematic questionnaire with open-ended questions was created after a thorough study in order to elicit 250 replies from citizens, managers, and online workers in Lithuania. The information gathered was examined. Our research findings in this paper offer a multidisciplinary understanding of web 3.0's applications and difficulties in smart cities, as well as insights into the chances for citizen participation in decision-making and service delivery. Future cities will likely need a stronger technological connection with smart technology, with an emphasis on the rising role of the digitally "empowered" citizen. In order to improve surroundings in web 3.0 contexts, this study examines the difficulties and applications of implementing such a futuristic idea. It will be said that although much of the technology needed to realize the vision of Web 3.0 applications in smart cities is already available, further research is still required in several important areas.

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BANK PROFITABILITY DETERMINANTS: EVIDENCE FROM KOSOVO AND ALBANIA

Author(s): Vesë Qehaja-Kekaë,Skender Ahmeti,Muhamet Aliu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

This research aims to examine the factors that impact the profitability of commercial banks in Kosovo and Albania. Profitability is crucial in the financial sector as it directly affects policymakers, regulators, and bank management. The study focuses on several determinants of bank profitability, including the number of employees, loan interest rate, non-performing loans, and total loans. The study employed quarterly secondary data spanning from 2010 to 2020, resulting in 400 observations. The analysis used multiple linear regression, influenced by the huge number of observations and the applicability of ordinary least squares (OLS) for such studies. This method allowed for a thorough examination of the interactions between the dependent and independent variables, providing a more in-depth understanding of the factors driving bank profitability. The statistical significance was determined using software such as STATA and SPSS. The dependent variables in the analysis are return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The findings reveal that the loan interest rate, total loans, and non-performing loans significantly influence the profitability of the analyzed banks in Albania and Kosovo. Furthermore, the total number of loans and employees are statistically significant determinants of ROE. These findings provide valuable insights for bank management and policymakers in enhancing bank profitability and stability.

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Употреби на смартфон за производство на журналистическо съдържание. Практика и обучение в България

Author(s): Nikolai Kolev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 16/2024

Mobile Journalism is often the subject of debate - is every journalistic assignment outside a studio or newsroom Mobile Journalism and whether the mobility of devices makes journalism mobile? This study presents another angle to the topic of Mobile Journalism, namely focusing on Smartphone Journalism. Why does one particular device stand out among the many technological innovations? The revolution in the field of journalism comes precisely from smartphones due to a specific reason – the liberalization of content distribution channels. These are the first devices in such a wide-scale use, where traditional media systems no longer control the channels for content to reach audiences. The article presents data, collected as part of the International Project: “Mobile Journalism Practice and Education in Central-East European Countries”

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