Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

We study the sovereign credit rating determinants of Visegrad Four countries in the period 1993 – 2012. The ratings come from four major credit rating agencies – Moody’s, S&P, Fitch and R&I. We use linear model with fixed effects. Besides the economic variables inflation, unemployment, broad money to GDP, import to export, openness of the economy, government gross debt, primary balance and size of the government we found out that voice & accountability score of Worldwide Governance Indicators is suitable representative of socio-political situation. Both EU and EMU membership provide additional information to other explanatory variables. The government finance is the most influential de-terminant in the researched dataset. Unlike in other academic papers, the growth of GDP was not significant variable to explain the sovereign ratings. Keywords: sovereign rating, Visegrad Four countries, panel data JEL Classification: F30, G15, G24

There is a large debate concerning the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union in which the direct payments represent the most discussed issue. This paper focuses on the problem of inequality of direct payments distribution that exists between large farms and small farms in the Czech Republic. The paper analyses the impact of proposed progressive capping scenario on the viability of large farms and assesses the effectiveness in reaching the reduction of inequality pursued by this measure. With the use of a CGE model, it is shown that there could be expected significant structural changes that will be accompanied by a decline in number of large farms in favour of smaller groups of farms. This result suggests that large farms in the Czech Republic do not seem to benefit from the economies of scale and they are equally dependent on subsidies as other farms. With respect to the distributional changes, the paper demonstrates that the progressive capping could moderately reduce the inequality in direct payment distribution but it can create another inequality if it comes to the distribution of direct payments per employee. Keywords: direct payments, capping, CAP, structural change, income distribution, CGE model, Czech Republic JEL Classification: Q10, Q18, D58

There are different groups of external users of business information, whose needs are more often in mutual contradiction. As a result, data about the business transactions, events and conditions need to be presented in the form of general purpose financial statements. Since 1946 the accounting rules in Slovakia has been prescribed by the government in a very detailed way. Because the government itself is one of the parties interested in such information, we have been examining whether the current system of business financial reporting could be relevant also for parties, which have not such privileged status. Our study has been focused on the assessment of the impact of available financial reporting data on the decisions taken by the creditors. Keywords: international accounting, financial reporting, accounting regulation in Slovakia JEL Classification: M41

Project teams use different optimizing approaches to find an answer to the question of successful project completion. The paper describes the use of system dynamics for project management simulation. Based on the simulation results, the project team can decide about feasibility of changes and perform measures to achieve project completion successfully and effectively. Suggested model is also an effective communication tool about interconnection of project activities. It is composed to be able to determine, describe and analyse project management variables relations among them. Although simulation doesn’t have to provide optimal solution, it is in line with current trends of making decisions fast and then looking for its optimization. Keywords: project, project management, model, simulation JEL Classification: C630, D290

For assessing the financial performance of companies in Slovakia there are currently used variety of methods and models that have been developed by mainly foreign experts in the field. These models have been tested in companies abroad in different business conditions in different business environment. That is why they are not so useful for Slovak companies. In this article we aimed to show the possibilities for evaluating the solvency of Slovak companies using M – the model created by scoring functions based on the examination of financial data from the financial statements of Slovak enterprises. The basis of M – the model were data from 11 253 Slovak enterprises. Keywords: M-model, scoring functions, company, partner, financial stability, solvency, performance measurement, financial statements JEL Classification: C12, C33, C42, L19

This paper analyses the impact of the construction of the officially planned network of motorways and expressways in the period 2010 – 2030 on tourism development in the Polish-Slovak borderland using potential accessibility approach. Relative changes of the potential accessibility values in the period 2010 – 2030 are most visible in the short-term and medium-term tourism. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the development of the network of motorways and expressways in the Polish-Slovak borderland will lead to intensification of weekend-tourism or several days’ tourism. The impact of investments into the arterial road infrastructure is minor as far of the choice of long-term stays during holiday period is concerned. Keywords: road infrastructure, tourism development, potential accessibility, Polish-Slovak borderland JEL Classification: H54, L83, L92, O18