EFSA

Volume 17, No. 2South East European Journal of Economics and Business

Published September 22, 2022

  1. Olkan Budak, Nurgül Erdal

    THE MEDIATING ROLE OF BURNOUT SYNDROME IN TOXIC LEADERSHIP AND JOB SATISFACTION IN ORGANIZATIONS

    Today, leaders who contribute positively to businesses, as well as leaders who contribute negatively to businesses are increasing day by day. This study was conducted to investigate the mediating effect of burnout syndrome (BS) on toxic leadership (TL) and job satisfaction (JS) in businesses. The results of the SEM analysis, using a sample of 412 participants working in public hospitals in the Marmara region of Turkey in İstanbul, show that toxic leadership (TL) has negative effects on burnout syndrome (BS) and job satisfaction (JS). Although there are studies investigating the direct effect of toxic leadership on job satisfaction, there are limited data testing the burnout syndrome subcomponents on the effect of toxic leadership on job satisfaction. This research is critical in showing the mediating role of personal achievement burnout (PRS_Scc) dimension in the effect of toxic leadership (TL) on job satisfaction (JS) sub-components.

  2. Ammar Khader Almasri

    THE USERS’ BEHAVIORAL INTENTION TO USE MOBILE HEALTH-TECH APPLICATION TO PREVENT THE SPREADING OF CORONAVIRUS

    The emergence of mobile health applications (MH-Apps) has enhanced the healthcare field’s services, particularly in the treatment, diagnosis, and follow-up. AMAN Mobile Health Application (AMAN MH-App) is one of the health-tech solutions used to fight the Coronavirus pandemic. It has a built-in feature to track users’ activities to protect users from contacting an infected person. However, the acceptance of AMAN MH-App in Jordan is still in an early stage, and the number of users has reached 15% of the country’s population. Therefore, this study aims to assess the use of AMAN MH-App among young people using the quantitative method. A total of (450) valid samples participated in the study after removing 33 invalid samples. Smart- PLS 3.2.7 was used for data analysis. The findings showed that all independent variables (Perceived useful- ness, Perceived ease of use value, Subjective norms, Perceived behavioral control, Information Credibility, and Optimism) positively impact on the dependent variable (Behavioural Intention to use AMAN MH-App). We believe that AMAN MH-App’s information’s credibility (i.e. providing up-to-date, authoritative, accurate, and trustworthy information) will increase the number of the App’s users. The results of this research can be ap- plied to similar context and applications in different countries.

  3. Željko Požega, Marko Markić, Boris Crnković

    THE IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ON THE ECONOMIC INDICATORS OF THE COMPANIES

    This paper analyzes the impact of knowledge management on the organizational performance of compa- nies measured through previously defined economic indicators. Knowledge management in the company is observed through the factors that make up a knowledge management system, namely: business processes, people (employees), and information technology, while the same has been done for economic indicators through indicators of liquidity, indebtedness, activity, economic efficiency, and profitability. Knowledge management as a variable is described by ordinal data, while the business indicator variable is described by quantitative, real data. Research shows that most large companies have built-in elements of knowledge management, some medium-sized companies are involved in this process, and most small companies have not developed management strategies in which knowledge management exists as an important factor. The research also proves that there is a positive correlation between knowledge management and economic in- dicators, i.e., in other words, the research shows that knowledge management has a positive impact on reducing indebtedness and increasing liquidity, activity, economic efficiency, and profitability.

  4. Barbara Frey, Bruno Škrinjarić, Jelena Budak

    PERCEPTIONS OF CORRUPTION AND INFORMALITY AMONG BUSINESSPEOPLE

    This research assesses perception of corruption in business-to-business and business-to-government inter- actions by using empirical evidence from Serbia. Based on the survey data, it captures the perceptions of corruption of business owners and managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and examines their attitudes towards informal, licit, or illicit, business practices. The typology of SMEs according to their opinion on corruption- and institutional-related obstacles resulted in three different clusters, based on several variables. Moreover, empirical findings show that business is not much hindered by regulations but with a common lack of trust in institutions, crime, and perceived corruption. SMEs are perceived as particularly affected by a negative corrupt environment where large companies are seen as the source of corruption. The findings allow for the creation of lawful and incorruptible business policies, as well as ideas on preventing the common practice of illicit trading with job positions in the public sector.

  5. Magdalena Petrovska, Jasna Tonovska, Miso Nikolov, Artan Sulejmani

    EVALUATING MONETARY POLICY EFFECTIVENESS IN NORTH MACEDONIA: EVIDENCE FROM A BAYESIAN FAVAR FRAMEWORK

    This paper has adopted a Bayesian FAVAR approach to examine the monetary transmission mechanism in North Macedonia. The model is based on a broad data set that encompasses 140 monthly time series spanning between January 2010 and January 2019. In particular, the impact of policy on bank portfolio variables, and the impact of policy on economic activity variables have been evaluated. Our findings show that monetary tightening, causes a fall in output, inflation rate, employment, bank lending, the stock of government securities held by banks, and equity prices. On the other hand, it increases short-term money market rates, lending rates, deposits, and only in the immediate aftermath of the key policy rate rise, the share of non-performing loans in the loan portfolio. The study is expected to provide useful input to monetary policy implementation in North Macedonia. The study as well enriches the literature in this domain by discussing the challenges facing monetary authorities of small open economies with fixed exchange rate regimes in understanding how their policy instrument work through the economy.

  6. Colin C Williams, Ardiana Gashi

    FORMAL INSTITUTIONAL FAILINGS AND INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT: EVIDENCE FROM THE WESTERN BALKANS

    Institutional theory has explained informal employment to result from formal institutional failings. The aim of this paper is to identify the formal institutional failings associated with informal employment so that action can be taken by governments. Using the Tobit model for econometric analysis and reporting conditional and unconditional marginal effects of the 2021 Balkans Business Barometer survey conducted in six Western Balkan economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), the contribution of this paper is to reveal that the perceived incidence and share of informal employment is significantly associated with businesses perceiving governance, public integrity and corruption as very negative or negative, the perception that the government does not consider business concerns and business dissatisfaction with public services. However, the perceived incidence and share of informal employment is not significantly associated with the views of business on tax rates and tax administration, or the perceived instability and lack of predictability of government. The theoretical and policy implications are then discussed.

  7. Sümeyye KUŞAKCI, Fahri Dede

    AN UP-TO-DATE OVERVIEW OF THE MOTIVATION-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP: A STUDY ON THE BOSNIAN BANKING SECTOR

    This study aimed to examine the effect of motivation on work performance. A quantitative research was conducted with the participation of 188 employees working at Ziraat Bank of Bosnia-Herzegovina through a questionnaire consisting of demographic information form, performance, and motivation scales.
    The study concluded that gender, age, and duration of service in the current institution did not significantly affect performance and motivation. However, education level, marital status, income level, and total work experience made a significant difference in task performance, motivation, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation, respectively.
    Moreover, while a moderately positive relationship was found between task performance and intrinsic motivation, contextual performance was determined to be associated with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation moderately and weakly, respectively. On the other hand, work performance had a moderate positive relationship with job motivation. According to the result of regression analysis, job performance is affected positively by intrinsic and negatively by extrinsic motivation.

  8. Ercan Özen, Sabina Hodžić, Ahmet Eren Yildirim

    THE LINKAGE BETWEEN FISCAL POLICY AND NON-PERFORMING HOUSEHOLD LOANS IN TURKEY

    Frequent changes in fiscal policies are the main cause of credit risk. To prevent households from increasing their non-performing loans, the government can use various policies and instruments. One of these tools is tax regulations, with a particular focus on the value-added tax. This paper examines whether tax poli- cies have affected non-performing household loans in Turkey over the period from 2017 to 2021. To acquire meaningful empirical results, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration model have been ap- plied. The results of analysis indicated that the effect of tax regulations on non-performing household loans is quite strong. It can be demonstrated that the strength of the income effect generated by tax cuts might be robust.

  9. Maria Panteli, Sofia Delipalla

    THE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONS ON ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM EUROPE

    Within the Environmental Kuznets Curve framework, we investigate whether the effect of institutions on environmental quality differs among the Western Balkans, the other European post-socialist states, and Western Europe. We estimate both direct and indirect effects of institutions on air pollution for each respective sub-sample and for the whole European region (45 countries during 1996-2014). The negative direct effect is greater for non-post-socialist states, compared to post-socialist ones. Regarding the indirect effect, improving the quality of economic institutions induces an increase in the scale of economic activity, leading to an increase in CO2 emissions per capita. Estimated elasticities of CO2 emissions with respect to institutions, for all sub-groups, uncover a total positive effect, which is larger for Central-eastern and South-eastern European states. Improving the quality of institutions should go hand in hand with stricter formation and implementation of policies designed to decouple economic growth from CO2 emissions.

  10. Irena Raguž Krištić, Lucija Rogić Dumančić

    EURO AREA PRODUCT MARKET INTEGRATION

    The goal of this paper is to determine if there is product market integration in the euro area (EA). The paper employs LM and RALS-LM unit root tests with two breaks on the relative price series, constructed using the seasonally adjusted monthly Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), from 1996:01 to 2017:05. The analysis shows EA-accession related breaks in price series for most of the EA11 countries, but, apart from Malta, no such breaks for the later-EA-joiners. However, there are breaks in both EA and non-EA countries at the time of EA formation. There is also evidence of greater product market integration and less adverse effects after negative shocks in the EA12. However, unit root analysis points to a conclusion that EA membership is not a sufficient condition for product market integration and integration is not necessarily related to being an EA member.

  11. Van Bon Nguyen

    DOES DIGITALIZATION WIDEN INCOME INEQUALITY? A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT FOR ADVANCED AND DEVELOPING ECONOMIES

    The paper raises two questions: (1) Does digitalization contribute to wealth and income inequality? (2) Does it affect inequality differently between advanced and developing economies? For the answers, the paper investigates the impact of digitalization on inequality for a balanced panel dataset of advanced economies and a balanced panel dataset of developing economies from 2002 through 2020. It applies the system- GMM and PMG estimators for estimation and robustness check. Some exciting results it provides. First, digitalization narrows inequality in developed economies and widens in developing economies. Second, the economic growth – income inequality relationship is U-shaped as real GDP per capita increases from low (developing economies) to high (advanced economies). Third, unemployment enhances inequality in two groups. The results note some necessary implications to develop digital technology and reduce income inequality in these economies.

  12. Nikola Levkov, Irena Bogoevska Gavrilova, Milica Trajkovska

    PROFILE AND FINANCIAL BEHAVIOUR OF CRYPTO ADOPTERS – EVIDENCE FROM MACEDONIAN POPULATION SURVEY

    Regulators and policymakers in many developing countries are facing challenges on how to create opportunities for the crypto industry to grow, but at the same time protect investors and consumers. This study aims to better understand the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of crypto adopters and their financial behavior. Our study advances the knowledge within an array of recent contributions to the token economy and covers the geographical and contextual research gaps through survey data from a developing country in South Eastern Europe. We use descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis and we find that Macedonian crypto-adopters are more men of younger age, employed, with higher education and living in their own apartments in an urban area, and are mainly passive investors. We compare the findings with studies from other countries to provide valuable insights for policymakers and regulators.