Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

This paper investigates the purposes for overpricing of public procurement for construction works in the Czech Republic. We tested two potential factors influencing final process – the level of competition and the level of transparency. According findings, each additional bid decreases the final price by 2.19%. In reality this means that the chance for cost savings increases with the number of competing suppliers. The final price also depends on the type of procedure. Our recommendation is to organise public tenders for works in manners allowing for the highest possible level of competition, to do as much as possible to motivate potential suppliers for participation. Keywords: public procurement, overpricing of public procurement for construction works, competition in procurement JEL Classification: H44, H57

Recently, the importance of the regional innovation system issue has grown considerably, especially because many regions are currently working on the implementation of an innovation strategy that would create and support innovation activities and processes. In this context, it should be noted that extensive support for the processes of a regional innovation system (or strategy) is frequently associated with the use of public funds. To ensure maximum efficiency for the allocation of resources, it is necessary to have a method that is able to analyze regional innovation systems and their level of development. Such a method has not yet been published. The aim of this paper is to use the weighted sum method to evaluate the effects arising from the existence of regional innovation systems as well as to determine their level of development. This is a completely new approach for determining how developed a regional innovation system is in practice. This case study applies this method using four Czech regions. Keywords: regional innovation system, region, innovation, weighted sum method JEL Classification: O18, O31

The article shows the need to assess a capital structure in a discount rate within income business valuation consistently with the financial plan and the final business value. It analyses mistakes resulting from simplified estimates of a capital structure. The article also points out importance of a choice of the appropriate reagent function for equity cost calculation according to a firm’s leverage and it presents proposals for modification of the leveraged beta function and for analytical calculation of equity cost that provide the same firm’s value as the direct recalculation of equity cost by the iterative method. Keywords: value, business valuation, equity cost, capital structure JEL Classification: G30, G32

The issue of financial and capital structure of SMEs hasn´t been researched yet. The research in this area focused mostly on the impact of business factors on financial and capital structure. Lately the orientation of research has gradually begun to change. Excluding the effects of business factors, the research into influence of country factors and industry factors on financial structure of enterprises has already had a start. The aim of this paper is to analyse, judge and quantification relative impact of selected factors on financial structure of these enterprises. We divide these factors into three groups: business, industry and country factors. Keywords: financial and capital structure, small and medium-sized enterprises, determinants of financial structure, business factors, industry factors, country factors JEL Classification: G30, G32

Establishment of voluntary approaches in the OECD and EU represented one of the most striking environmental developments of the 1990s. The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS, 1993) is a management instrument to improve environmental performance of organisations. The EU Ecolabel (1992) is a part of the EU sustainable consumption and production policy, which is also one of ten themes in the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Usage of these voluntary schemes can affect the Resource productivity, which is a headline indicator in this theme, and ultimately lead to sustainable development. However, the positive effects in the EU countries take place with time lags after their introduction. The longer lags are typical of the EMAS. The aim of this Paper is to assess the usage of the voluntary instruments in the EU countries and to evaluate their contribution to sustainable development on the basis of examining their relations to resource productivity. Keywords: sustainable development, the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), the EU Ecolabel, the EU Sustainable Development Strategy, resource productivity JEL Classification: Q51, Q56