Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

Economic recession in the world economy in 2008 – 2009 influenced the development of the Slovak economy very rapidly. Even though we can identify some general tendencies in the national economy, the impact of worldwide economic recession differs across industries in its strength and timing. In this article we try to reveal the direct and indirect dependencies of particular industries on foreign and domestic demand as well as the indirect effects of changes in sectoral structure of the final demand on the Slovak economy. We use Open Static Leontief Model and Structural decomposition analysis to analyze the changes in production, value added and employment between 2009 and 2008. We have decomposed these changes into the contribution of changes in direct coefficients, production structure, final demand structure, sectoral final demand structure and volume of final demand. Keywords: Leontief model, structural analysis, input-output analysis, Slovak economy, Structural decomposition analysis JEL Classification: C67, D57, L16, L60

The following article presents results of projecting the size of the economically active population in Slovakia until 2025 in three scenarios based on the anticipated age of retirement (62, 65, 70). Using individual data from the Labour Force Survey and a regional demographic forecast for Slovakia and applying the logit model we estimated the probability of economic activity for subgroups of the population. Assuming the retirement age at 62 we estimate the size of the economically active population in Slovakia to culminate in 2013 and decrease onwards rather sharply. Postponing the retirement age to 65 anticipates only a slowdown of the decreasing trend while postponing it to 70 would allow the number of the economically active population to culminate at higher levels earliest around 2020. The share of older age groups and individuals with university education should increase in line with expected trends. Keywords: labour force, retirement policy, projection JEL Classification: J21, J26, C53

This article investigates the role of economic restructuring in the construction sectors in the Czech Republic and Ukraine. Our analysis is based on a unique dataset obtained via questionnaire surveys in Zakarpat’ye region of Ukraine and multivariate models linking prior work experience in the Ukrainian construction sector and the likelihood of working in the Czech construction sector, net of other theoretically important controls. The results of our research show that integration of the Czech and Ukrainian construction sectors has created international “structural channels”, that push migration from Ukraine to the Czech Republic along occupational lines. We draw implications of the analysis for the broader international economic restructuring and integration in the European Union. Keywords: labour migration, occupational channelling, Czech Republic, Ukraine JEL Classification: F22, J21, J24, R23

The paper argues that it would be natural to replace the standard normal distribution function by the logistic function in the regulatory Basel II (Va-sicek’s) formula. In fact, such a model would be consistent with the standard logistic regression probability of default modeling approach. An empirical study based on the US commercial bank’s loan historical delinquency rates from the period 1985 – 2012 re-estimates the default correlations and unexpected losses for the normal and logistic distribution models. The results indicate that the capital requirements could be up to 100% higher if the normal Vasicek’s model was replaced by the logistic one. Keywords: credit risk, Basel II regulation, default rates JEL Classification: G20, G28, C51

The paper examines use of electronic auctions (e-auctions) as an allocation mechanism in public procurement in Slovak public sector. It is based on data from 32 procurement bodies and 725 procurements in the public sector in the period 2008 – 2010. Our findings are that e-auctions bring average savings of 10 – 12% though their implementation is not free. We recommend that future research quantify costs associated with introduction of e-auctions. The paper also demonstrates that the key variables influencing level of savings can be influenced by the procuring body: number of participants and form of auction (open vs closed). Keywords: electronic auctions, public procurement, public sector JEL Classifications: H57, D44