EFSA

Current Issue

Volume 21, No. 3South East European Journal of Economics and Business

Published August 18, 2026

  1. Fathi Jouini, Ramzi Knani, Ahlem Selma Messai, Abd Elbasset Sabri

    DETERMINANTS OF CO2 EMISSIONS IN G20 ECONOMIES: THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, RENEWABLE ENERGY, AND DEMOGRAPHIC DYNAMICS

    This study examines the long- and short-run effects of financial development, technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, economic growth, and demographic pressure on CO₂ emissions in G20 economies over 1990–2021 using a Panel Mean Group ARDL framework. Panel cointegration tests confirm the existence of a stable long-run relationship among the variables. The results show that renewable energy consumption is the most effective and immediate driver of emission reduction, while financial development and technological innovation contribute to decarbonization primarily in the long run. In contrast, economic growth remains strongly emission-intensive, reflecting persistent scale effects. Population size exerts upward pressure on emissions, whereas the effects of urbanization depend on the stage of economic development. Robustness checks using alternative financial and innovation proxies, CCE/DCCE, CS-ARDL estimators, sub-period analysis, and the exclusion of the United States and China confirm the stability of the findings. The results underscore the need for differentiated climate strategies that integrate renewable energy expansion, innovation-oriented finance, and institutional reforms across heterogeneous G20 economies.

  2. Marco Bonelli

    FROM FRAGMENTATION TO INTEGRATION:A MULTI-PREMIUM VALUATION OF ALBANIA’S EQUITY MARKET IN A WESTERN BALKANS COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

    This paper applies the Frontier Market Valuation Model (FMVM), a multi-premium valuation framework, to estimate equity market risk in Albania, a South-East European economy with persistently underdeveloped capital markets. In environments where equity trading is thin and market-based price discovery is weak, conventional asset-pricing models such as CAPM and CRP-augmented approaches tend to understate the true cost of equity. FMVM addresses this limitation by decomposing the required return on equity into sovereign, liquidity, behavioral, and institutional quality premiums. Using quarterly data from 2015 to 2024, the analysis shows that Albania’s implied equity risk premium averages around 20%, substantially exceeding estimates derived from CRP-based benchmarks. While sovereign risk remains an important component, non-sovereign factors—particularly governance quality and sentiment-driven market frictions—exert statistically significant effects on the required return. Chronic illiquidity, although less influential in time-series regressions, operates as a persistent level constraint that elevates equity financing costs. Comparative evidence from selected Western Balkan peers positions Albania toward the higher-risk end of the regional spectrum. Overall, the findings demonstrate FMVM’s value as a diagnostic valuation tool for frontier markets and highlight policy-relevant reform channels through which equity financing costs can be reduced and capital-market credibility strengthened.

  3. Marija Ileš Kaplan, Ivana Unukić

    BETWEEN SECURITY AND MOTHERHOOD DECISIONS: ECONOMIC SECURITY AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN FERTILITY INTENTIONS AMONG WOMEN IN CROATIA

    Croatia faces demographic challenges, including accelerated population ageing and declining fertility rates, which are characteristics of countries undergoing the second demographic transition. This paper analyses economic predictors of women’s fertility intentions by applying logistic regression models that link predictors of economic security and regional development (N = 1,036). The results indicate heterogeneous economic effects: employment security shows a strong and statistically significant positive association with fertility intentions, financial security shows a negative association, while homeownership is not a statistically significant predictor. As parity increases among women living in regional self-government units with below-average development according to the development index, the likelihood of expressing fertility intentions decreases. The robustness of the results was confirmed by the application of Cook’s distance, Hosmer–Lemeshow tests, ROC analysis, and bootstrap resampling. The findings indicate the necessity of designing public policy measures that will have a targeted effect on increasing economic security and reducing regional inequalities.

  4. Stjepan Mihalic, Tomislav Bakovic, Josip Mihalic

    LINKING QUALITY MANAGEMENT TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE THROUGH INNOVATION: A SEM APPROACH IN THE CROATIAN METAL SECTOR

    Quality management demands standardization. Innovation demands experimentation. How manufacturing firms reconcile the two is not settled in the empirical literature. This paper tests the relationship between quality management practices, innovation types, and company performance using survey data from 200 Croatian metal processing firms. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling is applied to the pathways connecting quality management with product, process, and business model innovation and their respective links to performance. The results indicate that quality management predicts all three innovation types, with the strongest association being with process innovation (β = 0.571). The innovation–performance pathways diverge. Process innovation is the dominant performance driver (β = 0.444). Business model innovation contributes moderately (β = 0.264). Product innovation shows no significant direct link (β = 0.008). In commodity-oriented manufacturing, product novelty is not automatically rewarded in market results.

  5. Ibrahim Sani Mert, Kemal Koksal

    THE COURAGE PARADOX: WHEN NOBLE ACTS FOSTER UNETHICAL PRO-ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

    This study examines how organizational identification relates to unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) in public organizations and investigates the moderating role of courage. Courage is conceptualized in this study as a psychological disposition characterized by persistence in the face of fear, consistent with the operational definition, rather than as a moral virtue per se. Using survey data from 196 public employees in Türkiye, a context characterized by high collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance, the hypotheses were tested through regression and moderation analysis. The results indicate that organizational identification is positively associated with UPB. Courage moderates this relationship such that individuals with higher courage are more likely to engage in UPB across all levels of identification. These findings extend social identity and trait activation theories by highlighting how a dispositional trait—courage as persistence despite fear—can amplify the propensity for UPB by reducing the inhibitory effect of perceived risk. The theoretical contributions and practical implications for organizational management are discussed.

  6. Mimoza Pira, Bujar Pira

    THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CYNICISM IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ICT HASSLE AND POOR COMMUNICATION WITH EMPLOYEE INTENTION TO QUIT AMONG HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

    This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of ICT Hassle (recurring frustrations and disruptions, such as technical problems, employees experience when using digital technologies at work) on one hand and poor communication on the other hand on healthcare professionals’ intention to quit, with cynicism examined as a mediating factor. Grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework, this study examines how digital and communicative demands influence retention.

    Data were collected from 319 healthcare professionals in Kosovo using a stratified cluster sampling approach across primary, secondary, tertiary care, and support services. Analysis revealed that ICT hassle was directly associated with reduced intention to quit, contrary to the hypothesised direction, suggesting that ICT-related disruptions may be perceived as routine or manageable in this context rather than as a primary driver of turnover intention. On the other hand, poor communication significantly increased intention to quit both directly and indirectly through cynicism, highlighting the critical role that organisational communication plays in this aspect. Cynicism emerged as a key variable linking communication breakdowns to turnover intention.

    Interventions aimed at improving communication practices and fostering supportive digital environments are essential for reducing burnout and ultimately retaining skilled healthcare
    professionals.

  7. Petar Mišević

    FINANCIAL RESILIENCE AND INNOVATION INVESTMENT IN TIMES OF CRISIS

    This paper investigates how financial resilience influences the intensity of innovation investment among firms that are already innovative. Using firm-level data for more than 32,000 Croatian enterprises with positive innovation records between 2014 and 2023, we estimate random-effects panel models linking innovation intensity—proxied by intangible asset investment—to liquidity, leverage, and crisis conditions. Results show that both liquidity and leverage positively affect innovation under normal circumstances, reflecting the enabling role of financial depth. During the COVID-19 crisis, however, leverage turned from a facilitator into a constraint, as indebted firms significantly reduced innovation, while liquidity retained its positive but stable influence. These findings contribute to the crisis–innovation literature by showing that liquidity and leverage play asymmetric roles during periods of systemic stress, revealing resilience as a conditional capability shaped not only by access to finance but also by the structure and flexibility of financial resources. The study provides new micro-level evidence from a small open economy and highlights policy implications for promoting balanced, crisis resilient financing systems.

  8. Ardit Gjeci, Andromahi Kufo, Athina Tori, Monika Kolleshi Syziu

    COVID-19 OUTBREAK: IMPACTS OF BANK DEPOSITS ON BANK LENDING

    We examine the effect of deposit growth on bank loan growth during COVID-19 in the Western Balkan countries. Our analysis employs a panel dataset comprising bank-level and macroeconomic data from 2012 to 2021, using the fixed effect estimation method. Our main finding is that deposit growth has a significant positive effect on banks’ lending during the pandemic. Drawing on the credit channel of monetary policy transmission, we contextualise these findings within the structural constraints of Western Balkan banking systems and the regulatory forbearance measures including loan repayment moratoria deployed during the pandemic. The results reveal that deposit growth, primarily due to increased savings and government stimulus efforts, led to an increase in banks’ lending activities during the early stages of the pandemic. The results also indicate that the impact is positive and significant during both subperiods: before and during COVID-19. Overall, our findings suggest that fostering deposit growth may be a feasible approach for policymakers to encourage economic recovery during crises. Further, the results provide useful guidance for banks in utilising their liquidity and lending policies.

  9. Romario Marijanović, Ljerka Cerović, Dario Maradin

    REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN PRICE DYNAMICS IN THE FAST-FOOD SECTOR IN CROATIA

    Following the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2023 and a period of high inflation, Croatia has recorded notable price changes across sectors and regions. This paper analyzes regional differences in price growth in the Croatian fast-food sector, comparing tourist and non-tourist regions. The analysis relies on an original dataset of product prices collected at the micro level via the Google Reviews platform. Multiple regression models and a series of robustness checks, including robust regression, quantile regression, alternative data transformations, and a treatment-effects (IPWRA) estimator, were used to examine regional differences. The results do not provide robust evidence that price growth differed systematically between tourist and non-tourist regions. In contrast, products with lower initial prices experienced stronger subsequent price growth, and price growth differed across initial price segments. No evidence was found that the relationship between tourist-region status and price growth varied across initial price segments.

  10. Indira Randall, PhD, Amra Kožo, PhD, Lejla Turulja, PhD

    INDIVIDUALIZED CONSIDERATION, INTERPERSONAL JUSTICE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL UNCERTAINTY AS PREDICTORS OF JOB PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

    This study examines the relationships between individualized consideration (IC), interpersonal justice (IJ), psychological uncertainty (PU) and job performance (JP) among non-managerial employees in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s public and private sectors. It investigates whether IC positively influences JP and IJ, with IJ mediating the IC-JP relationship and whether PU negatively affects JP. Data from 449 employees were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and multi-group analysis (MGA). Results show that IC directly positively affects JP in the public sector but not in the private sector, with a statistically significant difference. IJ positively influences JP in private but not public sector, also with a statistically significant difference. PU negatively affects JP in public but not private sector, though sectoral differences are not significant. These findings underscore the contextual nature of leadership and justice perceptions in shaping JP, emphasizing the need for sector-specific strategies.