INCREASING FUNDING FOR THE REGIONAL INDUSTRY OF KOSOVO AND THE IMPACT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH

Filipos RUXHO

Prof. Ass. Dr., Vice President for Innovation and External Relations, Universum College, Kosovo

filip.ruxho@universum-ks.org

Christos Ap. LADIAS

Professor, Regional Science Inquiry  Journal, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists

ladias@rsijournal.eu

Abstract

All research so far, related to financing the needs of SMEs in Kosovo, show that financing remains among the main problems for starting the growth and development of the country’s economy, especially for regional small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. This phenomenon has created negative consequences in the growth and development of businesses in general, as well as the growth of investment activities in particular. Despite the fact that SMEs affect the generation of new jobs, poverty reduction and economic growth, SMEs in Kosovo still face various and serious challenges in business development. Among other difficulties, there is access to finance, as well as the possibility of investing from external sources, as internal sources of funding are always insufficient. Due to the strategic importance of the manufacturing industry sector in the economy of a country and knowing that for each job contributes 2.3 new jobs in the total economy, we have selected this research which also corresponds to objective 9 of sustainable development and specifically target 9.3 that promotes increased access of small industrial enterprises and other enterprises, especially in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable loans, and their integration into value chains and markets. Referring to this importance, we conducted research in 103 Kosovo regional manufacturing companies in various sectors. The survey was structured with 16 questions which will be presented in detail in this research and which confirm that the increase of financing in the productive sector contributes to the sustainable economic development of Kosovo and to the reduction of unemployment.

Keywords: Financing, Sustainable Development, SMEs, Regional Industry, target

JEL classification: A10, E43, F65, F66, H60, L60, M10, R10

 pp. 117-126

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RELEVANCE OF TYPE OF INVESTMENT FOR GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM EU-10 COUNTRIES

Vladimir ŠIMIĆ

Associate professor, University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Split, Croatia and CERGE-EI Teaching Fellow

vsimic@efst.hr

Lena MALEŠEVIĆ PEROVIĆ

Full professor, University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Split, Croatia and CERGE-EI Teaching Fellow

lena@efst.hr

Abstract

Whilst investment in both theoretical and empirical literature stands out as one of the most prominent determinants of growth, evidence on the importance of different types of investment for growth appears to be missing. This paper aims at filling this gap. The paper, thus, primarily contributes to the empirical literature by investigating the effects of different types of investment on growth in a group of EU-10 economies covering the period from 1995 to 2019. The panel data analysis provides some important and interesting findings. While overall investment is found to be strongly significant and positive, being in accordance with previous studies, the results provide new insights into the importance of different types of investment for growth. Not all types of investment affect growth (positively and significantly), thus sending also important message that it matters in which activities investment goes.

Keywords: Type of investment, Growth, EU-10 countries

JEL classification: E22, O4, O47

 pp. 105-115

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MAPPING CLUSTERS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN REGIONS BASED ON FDI, REMITTANCES AND EMPLOYMENT – A SPATIAL STATISTICS GROUPING ANALYSIS

Cristina LINCARU

Dr, FeRSA, Department of Labour Market, National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection, Bucharest, Romania

cristina.lincaru@yahoo.de

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6596-1820

Speranța PÎRCIOG

Dr Scientific Director, National Scientific Research Institute for Labour and Social Protection, Bucharest, Romania

pirciog@incsmps.ro

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0215-038X

Abstract

Central and Eastern European (CEE) and Visegrad countries transform and develop in different spatial patterns in a global economy. Host labour markets benefit directly from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inward flows through jobs creation or increased productivity. On the other side, the labour force rises its geographical mobility and benefits from jobs in FDI’s source countries, sending personal remittances. Global integration marks that the “receipts of remittances have become an important and stable source of funds that exceeds FDI” (indexmundi.com). Are the CEE /Visegrad countries similar concerning their spatiotemporal pattern of FDI inflows? These countries are identical in their development model, described by the coordinates of FDI, remittances and Employment? We applied for 35 European countries from 2013-to 2019 the Similarity check –Grouping Analysis ARC GIS-tool from the Spatially Constrained Multivariate Clustering (Spatial Statistics) family. The FDI inflow as input proves to be more inertial, according to the categories set by EuroVoc. Simultaneously, the FDI inward as output (employment growth or labour productivity growth) differentiate CEE countries next to labour/ human capital mobility as personnel remittances in more heterogeneous categories.

In conclusion, for CEE countries, capital mobility and labour & human capital mobility create different development patterns globally. Therefore, it is not enough to build policies to attract capital (FDI) and attract high human capital.

Keywords: CEE, inward FDI rates, personal remittances receipt as GDP rate, employment rate, Similarity check –Grouping Analysis, spatial statistics

JEL classification: C23, F21, F22, F24, J21, J24, O52

 pp. 67-104

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