Rok 2015 (ročník 18)

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Application of the competency-based approach in organisations in the Czech Republic
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Fejfarová, Martina; Urbancová, Hana; Ekonomická fakulta
A competency-based approach is one of the important tools of human resource management aimed at achieving strategic organisational goals and a competitive advantage. The article focuses on application of the competency-based approach in organisation in the Czech Republic. The first part of the article concentrates on the theoretical background. The second part evaluates the results of the quantitative survey. The aim of the article is to evaluate the competency-based approach in organisations in the Czech Republic and also to identify areas and activities in which the competency-based approach is applied and test dependencies between selected qualitative characteristics that relate to the issues examined. The results of the survey show that if organisations employ the competency-based approach (35.8%), they do not use individual activities within their frame on an equal basis. This is also valid for individual categories of employees (organisations concentrate in particular on managers and specialists). The results further confirm that the application of the competency-based approach in organisations in the Czech Republic depends on the fact whether an organisation is part of a larger group of organisations (p-value = 0.003, Phi coefficient = 0.238); personnel management arrangements in an organisation (the existence of a personnel department (p-value = 0.001, Phi coefficient = 0.316), processed personnel strategy (p-value = 0.006, Phi coefficient = 0.310), work position analysis execution (p-value = 0.000, Phi coefficient = 0.444), the position of the person responsible for human resource management in top management (p-value = 0.036, Phi coefficient = 0.201)) and the application of knowledge management (p-value = 0.015, Phi coefficient = 0.278). According to the strength of the relationship between the variables, the most important group of factors is that relating to personnel management organisation. No dependency on the size of organisations and sector in which organisations operate has been proven
An approach to measuring website quality in the rural tourism industry based on atanassov intuitionistic fuzzy sets
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Stanujkic, Dragisa; Zavadskas, Edmundas Kazimieras; Tamošaitienė, Jolanta; Ekonomická fakulta
Attracting new customers can be identified as one of the key roles websites play in the tourism and hotels industry that can be of special importance for less known tourist destinations, especially for rural tourism. However, some of current researches indicate that many first-time visitors spend a very short time on a particular webpage when accessing a particular website. Therefore, if we presume that the acquisition of new customers is one of the features of a website, such a website should be designed to obtain the attention of the first-time visitors and to keep them.Various elements of websites essential for obtaining the attention of website visitors and crucial for their satisfaction have been identified in numerous studies. As opposed to these studies, this paper focuses on designing a multiple criteria model that could realistically determine the quality of the website from the first-time visitors’ point of view. In order to form a realistic multiple criteria decision making model, the proposed approach is based on the use of a smaller number of criteria that are evaluated using Atanassov fuzzy sets. Also, in order to create a model which as simple as possible, based on Atanassov fuzzy sets, this approach uses the Singleton Intuitionistic Fuzzy Numbers.The use of the proposed approach for assessing the quality of some websites which promote tourist potentials of the Old Mountain indicates the applicability and efficiency of the proposed approach.Finally, with the proposed, or with some other, set of criteria, while retaining a relatively small number of criteria, the proposed approach can be successfully applied to the tourism and hotels industry, as well as to other areas, with the aim of determining the quality of the websites from the first-time visitors’ point of view.
Attitudes of managers towards disadvantaged groups on the labour market in the Slovak Republic.questionnaire survey results
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Pawera, René; Pazderová, Vladimíra; Šuplata, Marian; Ekonomická fakulta
Discrimination is a serious long-term problem, being faced by all parts of our society, including the labour market. This is particularly a case for some vulnerable groups who in search for an employment are facing serious problems.The aim of this paper is to focus on the current situation of disadvantaged groups on the labour market of the Slovak Republic from the point of view of managers of selected organisations. By the method of questionnaire survey of the managers we were examining their attitudes towards selected disadvantaged groups on the labour market. Furthermore we examined the motives of the managers in relation to the employment of selected candidates pointing to the discriminatory or non-discriminatory behaviour of managers on the Slovak labour market. In our research we also focus on the evolution of the labour market in terms of disadvantaged groups in order to identify whether any change of the situation of selected groups of participants on the labour market occurred. The purpose of our analysis also is to verify whether managers discriminate selected groups of participants on the labour market intentionally and whether there exists any shift in the perception of these groups by the managers.In order to fulfil this objective we conducted a questionnaire survey focused on selected managers of organisations, in two reference periods: 2008 and 2014.The target group of the survey was composed of both public and private companies that carry out their activities on the territory of the Slovak Republic during the period of conducting the research.
The business environment of small and medium-sized enterprises in selected regions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Belás, Jaroslav; Demjan, Valér; Habánik, Jozef; Hudáková, Mária; Sipko, Juraj; Ekonomická fakulta
The aim of this article was to define and compare current trends in the business environment of small and medium-sized enterprises in selected regions of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In accordance with the objective, motivational factors, status in the society, levels of corruption, current business risks, approaches to loan financing, the ability to manage financial risks and business optimism in the business environment have been examined. In 2013, research into entrepreneurs’ opinions in the Czech Republic (Zlin Region) and Slovakia (Zilina and Trencin Regions) was conducted. These neighbouring regions have similar economic parameters. According to our findings, the most important motive for starting a business in the Czech Republic was to have a job. In Slovakia, the most important motive for starting a business was money. The results of our research confirmed that the societies in both countries perceived the position of entrepreneurs relatively negatively. In both countries, entrepreneurs negatively noted the approach of the state to their needs and relatively high levels of corruption. Nowadays, the most important business risk was the market risk followed by financial and personal risks. Due to a deterioration of the business environment, the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises has declined by at least 15% in both countries. In the Czech Republic, approximately 43% of entrepreneurs stated that banks accept their needs and behave appropriately to them. The positive perception of banks was significantly lower in Slovakia: 23% of entrepreneurs in the Zilina Region and 35% in the Trencin Region. Many Czech and Slovak entrepreneurs indicated that they are able to manage financial risks in their companies. Despite the significant deterioration in the business environment, SMEs demonstrate business optimism, with about 90% of the entrepreneurs in both countries believing that their company will survive the next five years.
Changes in the financing of municipalities and local governments of selected cities: possible effects on disintegration processes and municipal policy
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Roubínek, Pavel; Kladivo, Petr; Halás, Marián; Koutský, Jaroslav; Opravil, Zdeněk; Ekonomická fakulta
There was significant reduction in number of municipalities in the Czech Republic in the era of socialism. This is a consequence of the application of the central system of settlement, which was based on Christaller's theory of central places. In connection with the changes after 1989, there was disintegration of such integrated communities and the situation has stabilized. Number of small villages were renewed but cities with hundred thousand inhabitants (population of these cities oscillates around hundred thousand inhabitants) did not experience such process. Due to this fact the big cities in the Czech Republic are typical for their larger size because they also administrate smaller residential units of rural character, often many kilometers from the city centers. These administrative parts of the cities are managed in different ways. In connection with the manifestations of suburbanization during the past twenty years, the transformation of the social structure of the inhabitants in these "suburbs" and changes in rules of municipal budgetary allocation of taxes (hereinafter BAT) there is the question of sustainability and stability of thus defined borders of municipalities. The paper presents opinions on the development of financing system and attempts to analyze the motives of the peripheral parts of selected cities with hundred thousand inhabitants to remain part or separate from these cities. In connection with changes in the BAT made on 1st January 2013, the financial motive can have an important role. The main aim of the paper will be a comparison of the current financial income of these municipalities with previous periods in relation to changes in the BAT and assess the impact of these changes on the potential disintegration processes and municipal politics. Process of urban disintegration and creation of a new municipality is not easy and is provided for in the legal system of the Czech Republic. The paper also gives an overview of this legislation. Authors focus on the cities of Olomouc and Pardubice.
Changes of employee motivation of Slovak enterprises due to global economic crisis
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Závadský, Ján; Hitka, Miloš; Potkány, Marek; Ekonomická fakulta
Nowadays, at the time of economic globalisation and the European labour market formation, it is possible to carry out different analyses which enable comparsions among enterprises from the geopolitical, economical and commercial point of view. In the paper we compare the level of employee motivation in the Slovak enterprises before the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008 and in 2013 when the impact of the crisis has already been felt intensely. The year 2008 was chosen as the starting point of the analyses since the level the level of motivation was not affected by the economic crisis. The reference period was the year 2013 when the crisis, on the basis of the macroeconomic indicators, continues. Basic research sample is formed by employees of the enterprises (manufacturing and non-manufacturing) operating in the Slovak Republic. Considering the size of the basic sample we could not analyse the motivation of each item of the basic sample. The random sampling was used to choose items from the basic sample. The motivation questionnaire was created on the basis of the knowledge acquired through the long-term research and through the communication with personnel clerks in the enterprises. Motivation factors that affect the employee productivity the most were used in the questionnaire. Following the sizes of selected samples and their independence we used a two-sample t-test to determine the significance. The null hypothesis testing about equality of means of individual motivation factors in the particular period of time was carried out at the significance level α = 0.05. Following the results of analyses we state that employees need to stay motivated also from a long-term point of view. However, essential changes occur in order of importance. We can state that in the circumstances of changed motivation factors in the year 2008 and 2013 the motivation was affected by changes in economic situation and employees are focused on monetary incentives and relationship factors more.
A comparison of educational mismatches across Europe
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Urbánek, Václav; Maršíková, Kateřina; Ekonomická fakulta
Research undertaken during the last few years illustrates a major mismatch between educational systems worldwide and occupations in the labour market. The literature focuses both on educational and job mismatches however the aim of this paper is to compare only the situation concerning educational mismatches. For the aim of this paper, two large sets of international data were chosen to show effects of educational mismatch. In the first part, selected results of PIAAC survey are presented. In the analytical part, data from European Social Survey ESS5 collected in the years 2010 and 2011 in selected EU countries were used. The first part of the paper provides a literature background presented so far (e.g. Dolton, Galasi, Hartog, Chevalier, Levels, and McGuinness etc.) as well as methods used to identify this mismatch both by employers and employees. The European Social Survey data were used for modified Mincer's earnings equation in the second part of the paper and regression estimates proved that overeducation is a very important issue in all developed countries. The results also introduce data on returns on investment in education based on the human capital theory which helps to explain overeducation and undereducation differences in earnings taking into account different circumstances as e.g. variation in informal human capital and skill of workers, their abilities acquired in on-the-job training and also other overeducation and undereducation considered as a temporary phenomenon. It is a great challenge to the relevance of more investment in education. Even though the current situation in educational policies supports an increasing number of university graduates, both the graduates and employers have to face a misbalance on the labour market and lower individual satisfaction. The results confirm the findings of some of previous studies and offer a platform for further discussion of educational mismatch across Europe.
A comparison of location factors evaluation in the secondary and tertiary sectors
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Jirásková, Eliška; Ekonomická fakulta
The paper deals with the evaluation of selected current location factors in the individual economical activities of the secondary and the tertiary sectors. These two sectors were chosen because of the increasing importance of appropriate localization and huge costs associated with its change. A review of literature on location theories related to both examined sectors is carried out in the first part of the paper. In the scope of this review, a brief description of location factors can be found. It is followed by a diagram of chosen location factors. 26 factors were divided into four groups – local, business, workforce and infrastructural factors. This classification is used for a better and clearer understanding of the chosen factors. The following part of the paper contains a description of the research methodology, including the appropriate choice of investigative method and a detailed characteristics of chosen respondents. As well as the primary sector, large enterprises were eliminated, as focusing described research to very small, small and medium-sized enterprises is much easier and, in case of SME, it is also possible to presume a stronger emphasis placed on the location factors under examination. The aim of the paper is to verify by means of regression analysis whether the assessment of both sectors can be considered identical. This hypothesis was confirmed in all examined groups and therefore it is not possible to presume a different perception of location factors in the case of industrial enterprises in comparison to enterprises providing services.
Computer literacy and use of ICT as key factors of micro-enterprise success
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Werber, Borut; Rajkovič, Uroš; Urh, Marko; Žnidaršič, Anja; Ekonomická fakulta
The objective of this paper is to emphasize issues connected with micro-business financial success and adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) as possible factors to determine further organisational growth. This understanding is based on the results of an investigation conducted in Slovenia between May and December 2009 in 134 Slovene micro-enterprises. Data for the main study were collected via structured interviews with owners or top managers of micro enterprises. We used some demographic questions about the business annual turnover, computerisation, owner’s characteristics and some questions about the financial investments in ICT. To visualize and define factors we proposed a research model of annual turnover dependency in micro enterprise. The research focused on characteristics of owners of the enterprise, investments in ICT and characteristics of enterprises’ usage of available ICT in correlation to business annual turnover. The results indicate that adoption, the number and type of hardware and software are positively associated with the micro- enterprise success. An important factor is also formal education of the manager and/or owner and his or her computer and ICT knowledge and skills. We also found out that use of internet, eBusiness and number of used business software contribute to enterprise’s success. We can confirm that micro-enterprise informatisation can be the basis for a healthy economy growth if adequate knowledge and skills are present. To increase growth in micro-businesses we can use this and additional factors (intentions to growth, size, annual turnover, industry type, …) as filters to separate potential growing micro-enterprises from others that represent more than 94% of all enterprises in country. When we defined target group we can start to encourage growth with knowing methods from best practices all over the world. Based on our survey and on the review of literature, recommendations have been given how to be more effective and efficient in encouraging the growth of micro-enterprises.
Cost and reimbursement analysis of selected hospital diagnoses via activity-based costing
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Popesko, Boris; Papadaki ,Šárka; Novák, Petr; Ekonomická fakulta
Accurately estimating the cost and reimbursement of individual patients and groups of diagnoses has featured in numerous research studies in recent decades. The ever increasing cost of healthcare services, in contrast with the limited resources available, means hospitals have to utilize more advanced management and economics tools in order to boost their efficiency. Detailed and accurate cost-related information could result in superior decision-making and better resource utilization. The accuracy of calculating costs depends on the costing method used, with traditional methods often giving rise to inaccurate cost allocation. The study presents analysis of the costs and reimbursements of selected DRGs and patients within three particular departments at a Czech regional hospital (ENT, Dermatology and Neonatology). The costs of the given samples of patients were calculated by a custom Activity-Based Costing (ABC) application, comprising a more appropriate approach than a traditional costing method. The ABC methodology applied enables more accurate cost estimation for individual patients and DRGs, also generating a variety of additional cost-related information which could potentially inform any decision-making process. The study discusses the differences between the cost and reimbursement of individual diagnosis groups and cost variances between distinct patients within the each diagnosis, along with the managerial implications of the information obtained.
Cost-benefit analysis: too often biased
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Vejchodská, Eliška; Ekonomická fakulta
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is widely applied in many countries in evaluating public projects and regulatory instruments. It is employed, for example, as a basis for decisions within the European Union’s subsidy policy. CBA enables to express the comprehensive effect of a project or a governmental regulation on social welfare and thereby to introduce expertise to political decision-making. However, its practical applications face many problems. Different methodological choices in performing CBA enable to obtain diametrically opposite conclusions. Moreover, the way how investors apply for EU Fund subsidies encourages CBA performers to adjust CBA results to requirements of subsidy applicants. The unavoidable consequence is frequently mendacious, unreliable and misleading CBA. The paper brings an overview of the flexibility in CBA methodological choices. It further focuses on analysing the CBA performance practice in the area of CBA project appraisal for the purposes of applying for EU funding. We examine the reasons for manipulating results using a theoretical analysis and support our findings by our own empirical survey among CBA performers. As our survey among commercial CBA performers uncovers, many entities performing CBA lack expert background for CBA performance and performed CBA are often biased and misleading. Our theoretical analysis shows its main reason: The person choosing and remunerating the CBA performer for the purposes of a project appraisal for EU funding is at the same time the subsidy applicant and thus with a clear interest in the optimistic result of the CBA. CBA performers are happy to oblige their customers. The remedy to this situation is to get rid of this unintentional alliance among CBA performers and subsidy applicants.
Current and future use of management tools
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Nedelko, Zlatko; Potocan, Vojko; Dabić, Marina; Ekonomická fakulta
This paper examines the use of management tools among Slovenian and Croatian employees, with the main focus on linkages between the current use of management tools and patterns of its future use. The authors developed and tested a model for predicting the future use of management tools based on the current use of tools by employees in organizations, underlying assumptions of the theory of planned behavior and the information-perception-behavior link. Descriptive statistics suggest that there are differences in management tools use patterns among Slovenian and Croatian employees. Among the most used tools, employees in both countries significantly and differently use (especially) outsourcing, mission and vision statements, knowledge management, total quality management, and customer segmentation. Using structural equation modeling for testing the proposed relations in the developed model on samples of Slovenian and Croatian employees reveals that the current use of tools plays an important role in predicting the future use of tools in Slovenian organizations, while linkages for the Croatian sample are rather insignificant. More specifically, the current use of management tools has a positive influence on the future use of management tools, while the impact of the current percentage of satisfied users with management tools is very weak. Further, a comparison of results with international data reveals differences in the patterns of management tools use between former catching up countries (studied are two former transition economies) and economies with a longer tradition in the market economy. Based on the current state of management tools use, linkages between their current and future use, and patterns of tools use in high-developed economies, the authors speculate about the future pattern of management tools use in catching up countries based on experiences from high-developed market economies. Those assumptions represent a building block for boosting the use of management tools in organizations in catching up economies, and thus helping those organizations to reduce the gap between them and most developed organizations.
Czech wine consumers: maturing with age?
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Anchor, John R.; Lacinová, Tereza; Ekonomická fakulta
The purpose of this study is to identify the most important motivations for drinking wine and the factors influencing wine purchase in the Czech Republic and to ascertain if there are significant differences between genders and age groups. An online survey was conducted, using e-mail and social networks, of wine consumers in one of the 14 regions of the Czech Republic. This resulted in a sample of n=237. Spearman’s correlation test was conducted to find correlations between wine consumption and age and the chi-square test for differences between genders. Four motivations were found to be significantly correlated with age – to be sociable, to be respected, because wine is considered healthy and because it belongs with a nice meal, as well as seven factors affecting wine purchase – label, provenance, brand/producer, vintage, design of the bottle, recommendations of salesperson and a preference for the lowest priced wines. As the majority of respondents came from one of the 14 Czech regions, generalizations for the whole Czech Republic cannot be made. It is recommended that future work should include more complex segmentation. This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the Czech wine market, where very little research has been conducted so far, as well as by exploring the influence of age on the motivation for wine consumption.
A debt sustainability analysis of the czech republic and the slovak republic: a non parametric approach
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Farkašovský, Vlastimil; Lawson, Colin William; Zimková,Emília; Ekonomická fakulta
Surging public debt since the Great Recession has focused increasing attention on the issue of debt sustainability. This paper provides debt sustainability analyses for the Czech Republic and Slovakia by estimating their public debt to GDP, and primary balance to GDP ratios up until 2022 under three different projections. The first, labelled the baseline projection, predicts their debt ratios to 2022, if neither their public debt to GDP ratios nor their primary balance to GDP ratios change. This projection uses the official forecasts of the key variables. The second projection answers the question of how much the two counties have to consolidate, measured by their primary balance to GDP ratios, if they want to hold their public debt to GDP ratios at their current levels. The third projection answers the question of how much the countries have to consolidate if they aim to re-attain their December 2008 pre-crisis public debt to GDP ratios. All three projections are made for the same five scenarios, which cover a status quo case, where official forecasts are realized, and both optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for growth and consolidation outcomes. The paper`s novelty lies in its development of an existing non-parametric methodology to encompass iterative numerical solution methods to assess public debt sustainability. This allows a richer set of results to be obtained, for example estimates for the required level of the public debt to GDP ratio, and the primary balance to GDP ratio, taking account of variables such as nominal interest rates, yields to maturity on public debt, inflation rates and average maturities of debt.
Dependency of return on equity and use of finance sources in building companies in v4 countries
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Růčková, Petra; Ekonomická fakulta
The aim of the paper is to evaluate whether there is a functional dependency between the used financial sources and reported rate of return on equity in the selected sample of companies from the area of building of the Visegrád Group, and to do such evaluation on the basis of a performed analysis. We will also examine the reverse relation, i.e. how the rate of use of external finance sources affects the return on equity. The research is performed at two levels. In the first level, the data are mutually compared on the basis of average values of ratio indicators in individual countries. From the methodological view, there are mainly two commonly-used ratio indicators used. The use of return on equity as well as debt/equity ratio comes from studies which are listed below in the text. The other level of research is focused on data of concrete companies, which is the basis for panel data regression processing. The attention is paid to the area of building. From this business branch, there were gained data for individual companies in categories: very large, large and middle-sized companies from the Amadeus database. From the view of the studied topic, the text will be focused on the dynamic theory of the capital structure – the pecking order theory. The reason for using just this theory is the fact that measurability of tax savings from the debt in context with financial distress costs, which is the core of static trade off theories, is problematic in conditions of the Czech Republic.
Determinants of bank social responsibility: case of Croatia
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Ivanisevic Hernaus, Ana; Stojanovic, Alen; Ekonomická fakulta
Recently fi nancial sector and its responsibilities have come under great scrutiny. This has led to putting more emphasis on social responsibility of fi nancial institutions, primarily banks, due to their powerful and infl uential position. Banks have an impact not only on fi nancial and economic system, but on a wider community as well. Their socially responsible practices in particular may have important social implications, what is even more emphasized within bank-centric fi nancial systems, typical of CEE countries. Due to a lack of existing research, the aim of the paper is to assess social responsibility of banks at individual and industry level in a specifi c CEE context. At bank individual level, focus is put on factors of bank size, ownership status and fi nancial performance, while at the bank industry level the structure of granted loans is included in the analysis. The framework for assessing bank social responsibility is derived and adapted from previous research conducted by Cuesta-Gonzalez, et al. [23] and Scholtens [81]. It is applied to Croatian banking sector, while the level of social responsibility is empirically related to factors at bank individual and industry level. Research fi ndings offer an overview of social responsibility of Croatian banks. The results demonstrate that bank social responsibility is related to factors of bank size and ownership status at the individual level, and to the structure of granted loans at the industry level. However, the nature of the link between bank social and fi nancial performance did not prove signifi cant. Such findings offer a wider lesson of what factors are associated with social performance of fi nancial sector. Additionally, they may serve as a useful reference point for further investigation of socially responsible practices in Croatia and other CEE countries.
Determinants of the European Union’s Trade - evidence from a panel estimation of the gravity model
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Pietrzak, Michał Bernard; Łapińska, Justyna; Ekonomická fakulta
The article is focused on the issue of trade exchange between European Union member states. The trade exchange volume noted an increase after the new members had joined the European Union. That may be observed while analysing statistical data on the trade exchange volume in specific states as well as in the whole of the European Union. A simple index analysis of the trade volume enables researchers to observe changes over time; however, it neglects the causes of these changes. With a view to identifying theses causes, an econometric tool – the panel gravity model – was used for the purposes of the present paper. The research objective of the paper is to evaluate the impact of selected factors on the development of bilateral trade in the European Union in the years 1999–2010. The group of potential factors describing the size of trade exchange includes the following: the Gross Domestic Product per capita, foreign direct investment per capita and the geographical distance between trading partners. The research outcome enabled us to draw a conclusion on a positive dependence between a member state’s GDP and its export and import volume. In the case of foreign direct investments, their positive impact on the improvement of member states’ exporting potential was identified. Moreover, a negative dependence between the geographical distance and the size of their trade exchange was proved. Also, the paper discussed the impact of EU membership on increasing trade exchange volume. The research found an essential increase in exports from the new EU-12 countries to the EU-15 countries and inversely.
Does concentration of ownership and family control affect specialisation/diversification business strategies?
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Hernández-Trasobares, Alejandro; Galve-Górriz, Carmen; Ekonomická fakulta
The impact of family ownership on strategic decision-making and diversification in public corporations is an important but not clearly understood aspect of modern corporate governance. In many cases, large-block family owners of public corporations may have a great deal of input in strategic decision-making in large corporations. Previous literature investigates how ownership structure and diversification are connected, but conclusions are not homogeneous. Agency theory suggests that professional managers are fundamentally self-interested, and the public corporation diversifies because managers pursue their own interests, rather than the interest of shareholders. However in family firms, ownership and control use to coincide and family diversification decisions which causes a lower diversification. In this paper authors analyzes the impact of ownership concentration and the influence of ultimate owner’s nature of business group (family or non-family) in diversification's decision: specialization, related diversification, unrelated diversification and mixed diversification (when a company uses both related and unrelated diversification) Based on a sample of ninety-nine Spanish listed companies during the years 2000–2005, and using the listed company an their subsidiaries (pyramidal group) as unit of analysis, this research finds: firstly, the highest ownership concentration increases the adoption of specialization strategies and reduce the mixed diversification; Secondly, attending to ultimate owner’s nature, family firms adopt more strategies of specialization and related diversification, and less diversification strategies than non-family firms; Finally, results also show behaviour differences in family firms according to ownership concentration’s degree: an increasing ownership concentration’s degree in family firms rises the probability of diversification.
Economic deglobalization – from hypothesis to reality
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Postelnicu, Cătălin; Dinu, Vasile; Dabija, Dan-Cristian; Ekonomická fakulta
Lately, a new term is used in international economic literature, namely “de-globalization” which has already sparked off numerous debates. As expected, some economists were quick to adopt it unhesitatingly, but others have labelled it as “absurd”, “superfi cial”, “simple”, “anachronistic” and even “counterproductive”. In fact, there are two diverging processes opposed to each other, both worth mentioning. First – globalization – with its multiple meanings and defi nitions, and the second – deglobalization – which is just beginning to fi nd a place within the confi nes of concepts used in international economics literature. The issue is not to treat them only as antonyms, but rather to demonstrate the causal relation between them. We consider trying to measure deglobalization as an important step in determining the true meaning of such a phenomenon, or if it is real. Also, would be interesting to fi nd out if deglobalization is really a long lasting trend, or just a short term turn in the evolution of the world economy. Using the “globalization index” and its components as a tool in this direction could be one of the potential solutions in defi ning the meaning of the new and complex changes which tends to shape the international economic relations and, after all, the international business environment. Although it is admitted not being a perfect tool, it could be a starting point in studying such a vast change. Therefore, the motivation of this article is to contribute to theoretical debates that bear on this new term, given that, as in the case of globalization itself, economists have not yet reached a consensus on the defi nition.
The effect of the exchange rate on industry-level trade flows in Czechia
(Technická Univerzita v Liberci, ) Šimáková, Jana; Stavárek, Daniel; Ekonomická fakulta
This paper is the first study to use the disaggregated data of the Czech foreign trade to examine the effect of exchange rate levels and volatility on trade flows. Czechia is the appropriate economy to study this phenomenon because it is heavily involved in foreign trade predominantly owned by international investors and has been applying a floating exchange rate arrangement for many years. We analyze the period from 1993 to 2013 and disaggregate the data according to trading partner and product category. While the effect of exchange rate level is examined by a modified vector error correction model the effect of exchange rate volatility is analyzed through an extended gravity model. The detailed results obtained from empirical estimations clearly show that the relationship between exchange rates and foreign trade in Czechia does not completely correspond with the theoretical assumptions. We revealed that domestic currency depreciation worsens in the long-term trade balance in substantial parts of the Czech foreign trade, such as in the trade of machinery and transport equipment with Germany, Austria and France. The classical J-curve effect was confirmed only for the trading of beverages and tobacco with Italy and for the trading of manufactured goods with Slovakia. We also found that an increased exchange rate volatility does not necessarily reduce foreign trade turnover, as the results for crude materials, fuels, chemical and manufactured products indicate. By contrast, the theoretical expectation of negative impact of volatility was validated for machinery, transport equipment, food and animals. Therefore, although Czechia is a small, open economy, the exchange rate effects on foreign trade significantly differ in magnitude and direction across the trading partners and product groups.

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