Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

In this paper we construct a new market liquidity index for Slovakia (called the VT index) based on the calculation of using traditional indicators of market depth, resiliency, tightness, volatility and liquidity for four markets (money, foreign exchange, bond and stock market) and back-tested the index for the years 2001 – 2008. The VT index began decreasing in the first half of the year 2008 and continued to fall after Lehman Brothers’ collapse in September 2008. Although market liquidity deteriorated globally, major liquidity problems were avoided by individual financial institutions in Slovakia, due to relatively strong macroeconomic fundamentals of the Slovak economy in the pre-crisis period. Keywords: funding liquidity, global financial crisis, liquidity risk, market liqui¬dity, regulation, Slovakia, VT index JEL Classification: G21, G32, G38

The paper presents the results of a multicultural economic experiment executed in the Czech Republic and Russia. The experiment was focused on studying the behaviour of economic agents in a situation simulating a charitable lottery. From Dale’s (2004) experimental design, we adopted the fixed-prize lottery (raffle) structure, in which tickets are sold for chances of winning a prize. This means that the more tickets one buys, the higher probability to win he gains. We introduced a new scheme – the modified fixed-prize lottery - within which the chance of winning was equal for all contributing individuals. Our results show that such a structure is not effective, that is, that individuals contribute considerably less under the modified fixed-prize lottery than under the classic raffle. Keywords: public goods, experiment, lottery, free riding JEL Classification: C72, D70, H41

The goal of the paper is recognition of the population ageing processes. They are using some new methods and techniques of study long-term trends and regional differentiation of population ageing in Slovakia. Number of many cognitive tools, the focus was mainly on the group of those using comparisons of different age generations – index of potential economic support, coefficient of inflow, outflow and exchange, index of social support, dynamic economic and reproduction ageing index. Applying these methods were obtained new knowledge about trends and regional differentiation of population ageing in Slovakia. Keywords: population ageing, generation substitutions, time trends of ageing, regional differentiation of population ageing in Slovakia JEL Classification: J11

Increasing the role of regional authorities will be a priority in the next stage of the EU's growth and jobs strategy. This is a remarkable moment, when local and regional authorities can directly express their opinions to Brussels about the Lisbon strategy. Regional representatives play a key role in this process. They present the interests of the region and are significant players in the promotion and implementation of the objectives of the cohesion policy. The cohesion policy is among to the most important EU policies according to its meaning and volume of funds. Without underestimating the position of the national level, many problems are best solved at a functional level, whether this is at local, regional or transnational. So the cohesion policy with cooperation of national bodies should retain and indeed reinforce the role of cities, regional and local players. Keywords: region, cohesion policy, interest, representation, decentralization, European Union JEL Classification: L30, L31, L38, H42

Public-private partnerships (PPP) involve private sector in delivering infrastructure assets and services in pursuit of value for money. The aim of this article is to select and analyze value for money drivers, which crucially influence provision of value for money through PPP in the Slovak political and economic environment. According to results of the realized survey there are six primary value for money drivers in public-private partnerships. They stimulate cost reduction, qualitative innovations or create general preconditions of value for money provision. This article highlights differences in value for money potential of PPP across sectors. It also relates primary value for money drivers with the project cycle of PPP. Keywords: economic viability, infrastructure, public-private partnership, value for money JEL Classification: H43, H57, L33