<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper discusses issues of methodological basis of contemporary economic theory, from the perspective of rival research orientations and their conceptual sensitization to the role and impacts of institutional structures. In this regard, the paper presents methodological individualism, research support of economic orthodoxy, based on a consistent interpretation of all social phenomena as outcomes of individual choice. It is shown that even in its most rigid versions this approach has to take to a certain degree into account the social interactions that go beyond the individualist framework. The opposing research orientation, methodological holism, gives explanatory primacy to (different) social collective entities and structures, characteristics of which are autonomous in nature and essential for the explanation of the individual as an entity of a lower order, whose individual properties are not significant. Both approaches are subjected to reductionist tendencies - whether explanations of the socioeconomic reality are individual or culturally over-determined. Integrating institutions in consideration of socioeconomic reality has repercussions on the mentioned methodological dichotomy, given that in conceptual terms it has the potential to bridge the extremely individualistic or collectivist methodological positions. Awareness of the impact of institutions on the socioeconomic reality has produced distinctive methodological orientations. Institutional individualism considers institutions as exogenous mechanism whose explanation is at the service of shedding light on the behaviour of the individuals as the main actors of social dynamics, and in that sense this approach can be considered as a milder variant of methodological individualism. The institutionalist extension of methodological holism, methodological institutionalism, understands individual acting as a product of an integrated institutional framework, whose dynamics takes place independently of the individuals, according to its own regularities. Some kind of balance between the aforementioned orientations is offered by methodological systemism, which affirms the dual nature of the actors of social dynamics - as both product of units of a lower order, but also as entities with autonomous, emergent properties. The contextualisation of relations between institutions and individuals in accordance with a system perspective may be a suitable way, with more tuned reality, theoretical valuation and overcoming differences between opponent methodological traditions.</abstract>

University of Niš, Faculty of Economics, Serbia, Associate Professor

University of Niš, Faculty of Economics, Serbia

The ‘Institutions-Individual’ Conceptual Nexus as a Basis of Alternative Economic Methodologies

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The essential research intention in this work is oriented toward considering the nature of entrepreneurial activities regarding to the volume of representation, according to some stages of the entrepreneurial process for defined groups of countries, different development degree in crisis conditions. The analysis of research data has drawn some conclusions, which have largely confirmed hypotheses. Obtained results, after the application of adequate statistical procedures, emphasize the existence of negative correlation, degree of economic development and the rate of economic growth. They are partly explained by the place and causes of analysed crisis circumstances, the degree of integrity of financial and economic systems, as well as the heterogeneous economic structure, as the main resistance to negative economic trends. The defined groups of countries of different development degrees show different differences in all the degrees of the entrepreneurial process. There is a positive correlation between the volume of entrepreneurial activities and the rate of economic growth, but on behalf of the countries of the lower development degree. Crisis conditions in the least developed countries generate an additional pressure on entrepreneurial activities; while the relatively stable environment of highly developed countries enables some individuals to find business possibilities outside the entrepreneurial sector.</abstract>

University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Economics Subotica, Republic of Serbia

Economic Crisis and the Nature of Entrepreneurial and Management Activities

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">As other countries of Central and Southeastern Europe, the Republic of Serbia at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century entered the process of universal transformation, which in essence represented a powerful political and economic movement for thorough changes in all parts of social and economic life. The central place in total transformational processes was taken by property, that is ownership transformation. The purpose of this research are numerous changes and the effects caused by the ownership transformation, that is privatisation in all economic activities, and in tourism as well. The research methods used in this paper are: analysis method, synthesis method, abstraction method, generalisation method, comparison method, as well as mathematical and statistical methods. The research results show that the effects of the privatisation in the tourism activities of Serbia are rather devastating. Besides, there were no necessary changes in other elements of business transformation (organisational, managerial, personnel, technological and other), what is the decrease in quality of tourist offer in Serbia and its bad position on the international tourism market. Taking into account that the Republic of Serbia has included the development of tourism amongst the priorities of its actual economic policy and development strategy, results of this research should by its originality, scientific approach to the subject of the research, quality and expertise, complete research material in this scientific field, also to point out new possibilities of Serbian tourism development to creators of economic, touristic and investment politics.</abstract>

Privatisation and Investment Activity in the Tourism of the Republic of Serbia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Both in theory and practice, great attention is paid to the analysis of the pension expenditures level, their determinants, as well as the options for their reduction, whereas the analysis of the revenues level and contributions, as the most significant revenue in contribution-based pension systems, is often neglected. The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of the level of contributions for pension and disability insurance in order to identify options for increasing their levels in the pension system of the Republic of Serbia. By using the comparative method, a comparative analysis of data about the trends of the most significant determinants of contribution levels among the European Union Member States and Serbia is performed. Research results have shown that increase in the contribution level for pension and disability insurance in the Republic of Serbia can be achieved by extending the definition of contribution base of employees, increasing the average effective retirement age and increasing the effective population coverage by this insurance. In addition to pointing out the options for increasing the contribution level for pension and disability insurance, the authors also propose the measures which can be applied in order to affect the increase of the contribution level for this insurance and, therefore, the total revenues level of the pension system of the Republic of Serbia.</abstract>

PhD student, University of Niš, Faculty of Economics, Serbia

Determinants of the Level of Contributions for Pension and Disability Insurance: The EU and Serbia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Asia-Pacific (AP) region is the world’s most important region today from the viewpoint of long-term economic growth. It is also the extremely important cite of rivalries or partnerships - or both - between China and the United States. The strong expansion of trade, investment and other economic ties within the AP region has stimulated the process of economic integration. The network of bilateral and regional free trade agreements has increased dramatically in recent years, linking virtually all major trading countries in the region, with one exception: either the US or China have not become members of the free trade arrangements involving the other country. The paper examines the scope, principles and characteristics of economic relations and cooperation in the AP region. The issue of whether Asian efforts for regional integration have been compatible with an open multilateral trading system at the global level is also addressed. The paper also assesses changes in the dynamics of regional integration and its future prospects. In this sense, in the Asia Pacific there are now two tracks which lead to the formation of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP): Asian, based on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and trans-pacific, based on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).</abstract>

Trans - Pacific Economic Integration Processes

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">One of the key steps in the implementation of a public procurement process is the criteria selection that are associated with the bidders, which are intended to ensure that bidders will be able to meet the requirements from the contract. Implicitly, the criteria selection includes their evaluation in situations when the criterion of the lowest price is not applied, but instead the criterion of the most economically advantageous tender. The aim of the paper is to show that decision-makers in the public sector can use multi-criteria analysis for the efficient and fair public procurement process implementation and the establishment of objective conditions for the contract awarding in accordance with the general social interests. In this sense, the paper presents a comparative approach to the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Analytic Network Process as the methods of support in decision making, measurement and evaluation criteria for the selection of the best bids in the procurement process. Hierarchical model with five criteria and nine sub-criteria and the network model, which takes into account the mutual influences of criteria, were developed in a hypothetical public procurement selection procedure for the best performers for the construction of the infrastructure facility. Selection of the best bidder, i.e. bids for the realization of the work, is distinctive, multi-criteria problem which includes both qualitative and quantitative factors.</abstract>

University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Economics, Serbia

Application of Multi-Criteria Analysis in the Public Procurement Process Optimization

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Quality of financial reporting is the precondition for the effective functioning of capital market due to the globalization of business. In the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, during the period of socialism, accounting and preparation of annual accounts was adapted for needs of planned economy. Today, it is necessary to work on harmonization national with international legislation. Also, they need to promote a culture of financial reporting, because economic entities do not understand the essential role and importance of financial reporting for business potential. In this paper, we consider Slovenia’s, Macedonia’s and Serbia’s normative framework of financial reporting system, in order to give the assessment of the current situation and pointed out the possible directions of improvement of this process. The comparative analysis of legal and professional solutions, which regulates financal reporting system in these countries, we learned some inconsistencies of their legislation in relation to international regulations, especially in the part of financial reporting for small and micro entreprises. In Serbia and Macedonia, perceived insufficient engagement of of professional organizations and bodies, which requires the reaction of the country in terms of defining and monitoring the implementation of regulations governing the conditions and responsibility for performing accounting and auditing work. This would allow business entities to access financial sources under favourable terms, raising their competitive advantages to quality financial information within financial reports, as well as further development of entrepreneurial activity, which is the generator of the most developed economies in the world.</abstract>

Normative Framework as the Basis for Quality Financial Reporting in the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The purpose of the research in this paper is to examine the regulation and practices of external segment reporting in the Republic of Serbia. The importance of research stems from a great potential usefulness of segment information for investors and creditors. The analysis of regulation suggests that the Republic of Serbia has high-quality and internationally recognized basis of external segment reporting – IFRS 8. However, there is a room for improvement of IFRS 8. The analysis of practices, conducted on a sample of 500 companies, shows that companies in the Republic of Serbia, in general, do not attach great importance to the disclosure of segment information in financial statements. The practices are quite miscellaneous, which is a consequence of the flexibility of IFRS 8, but also an incomplete compliance with IFRS 8. By applying statistical techniques we have examined whether the practices of external segment reporting are related to characteristics of companies, which makes the originality of the paper. We have found that financial institutions disclose more extensive quantitative segment information in relation to other companies in the Republic of Serbia, and that companies with higher assets disclose more extensive segment information. The research indicates that there is a significant room for improving the practices of external segment reporting in the Republic of Serbia. The research results may be useful for regulators of financial reporting and preparers and auditors of financial statements.</abstract>

External Segment Reporting in the Republic of Serbia

AHEAD OF PRINT

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Economic Themes

 The Faculty of Economics in Niš publishes the journal Economic Themes within the Center for Publishing. According to the categorization of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia the journal is classified as the leading journal of national importance (M51) and is issued quarterly (in Serbian and English). In the upcoming period we wish to implement two important aims: first, to continually enhance the quality of the journal in compliance with generally accepted standards and second, to improve the ranking of the journal in the following years. All articles sent for publishing are anonymously reviewed.  Rejection Rate   App. 28%  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 