Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

The paper applies concepts of population dynamics on evolution of communication technologies. The Lotka-Volterra equations are applied to examine dynamics of communication technologies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1948 – 2006. Fixed lines and mobile phones are considered predatory technologies hunting for their ‘prey’ – voice service subscribers. Cohabitation of two technologies is modelled within faramework of full competition. Each technology squeezes out carrying capacity of its competitor. The mobile phones, however, exert considerable larger impact on the number of fixed telephone lines than vice versa. The paper also considers some limitations of population dynamics approaches in economic modelling and discusses different growth strategies by particular types of technologies. Keywords: evolutionary economics, technology change, population dynamics, Lotka-Volterra models, communication technologies JEL Classification: B25, L86, O33

The paper analyses the direction and intensity of causal relationship between exporting and performance of Slovenian firms. Based on individual company data for the entire population of Slovenian firms in 1994 – 2004, the analysis confirms the existence of self-selection into exporting. Using propensity score matching methodology, we also estimate the effects of exporting on the evolution of productivity, total sales, employment, and average wages in new exporters. With respect to growth rate premia, the improvements in productivity and other performance measures are far form permanent and tend to dissipate in a couple of years after export entry. On the other hand, evidence suggests that exporting significantly improves performance of new exporters in terms of levels and that the acquired premium over non-exporters persists over medium term. Keywords: exporting, exporter premium, TFP, matching, learning-by-exporting JEL Classification: D24, F14

The paper presents labour market developments and labour market reforms in Slovenia in 1996 – 2006. Slovenia recorded rather favourable labour market developments. However, some problems still persist. Adopted labour market reforms were not radical and some of them were adopted rather late. Several indicators of labour market flexibility show rather rigid labour market. Due to high employment protection the share of temporary employment in total employment is big. The weak response of employment and wages to stronger economic activity indicates the rigidity of labour market. Therefore, the search for flexicurity model is a challenge for Slovenia. We stress several obstacles for adoption of Danish flexicurity model in Slovenia and estimate the Slovenian approach towards flexicurity. Keywords: labour market reforms, flexicurity, Slovenia JEL Classification: J40, J64

Public procurement is an important tool used for distribution of significant part of public expenditures. The size of public procurement market presents more than 10% GDP. That is the reason why it is important to focus on para-meters of public procurement, such as transparency, openness and professionalism. This article focuses on the degree of transparency and openness of public procurement in Czech Republic and Slovakia, operating with three indicators – index of transparency of public procurement market, the index of non-transparent procurement and the index of international openness. At the same time we are pointing at legal frameworks of public procurement in these countries and formulating conclusions and recommendations. Keywords: Czech Republic and Slovakia; efficiency; openness; public expendi-tures; public procurement; transparency. JEL Classification: H57

In this study, our aim is to measure public sector efficiency and to evaluate the efficiency of public sector economic interventions. We use the rule of law & bureaucratic quality, allocation, economic stability, economic growth and income distribution as outputs; public expenditure and regulation as inputs. In the study, we compute public sector efficiency scores by using a non-parametric, relative efficiency measurement technique, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), for 51 counties between 1995 and 2000. The study finds that overall public sector efficiency increases from 1995 to 2000 and there is a positive relationship between the efficiency of public sector and the level of economic development. Furthermore, we also find that a negative relationship between public sector intervention and the efficiency scores. Finally, it is found that the regulation tool is wasted in comparison with the expenditure tool. Keywords: public sector interventions, efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) JEL Classification: C14, H50, O11