Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

The paper brings analyses of the transitions between employment, unemploy¬ment and inactivity during and after the period of the financial and economic crisis, using longitudinal micro-data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions. The empirical analysis consists of two steps. An overall picture is obtained by computing transition probabilities and Shorrocks’ summary mobility index. Effects of personal and household characteristics are explored through multinomial logit models. Our results confirm the low level of labour market mobility in Slovakia and the role of some determinants highlighted by previous research. In addition, analysis takes into account several new determinants that have not been included in the previous analyses. Keywords:labour market transitions, economic and financial crisis, longitudinal data, EU-SILC, multinomial logit regression; JEL Classification: J01, J60, J64, J82

This paper explores the role spatial heterogeneity in the EU regions’ convergence income process. For this purpose we tested income convergence hypothesis of the 245 NUTS 2 European Union regions during the period 2003 – 2014. We used spatial econometric approach which allowed an explicit modelling of both spatial effects: spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation. Our results showed an appropriate consideration of the role of spatial effects. First, we found that the rate of economic growth in the region is not only affected by the exogenous characteristics of the region, but also potentially by the rate of economic growth in neighbouring regions. Secondly, estimated spatial regime model identified two spatial regimes – convergence clubs. The regions under the first spatial convergence regime included economically „weaker” regions (mainly regions of post-socialist countries, regions of Portugal, Spain, Greece and southern regions of Italy) and these regions are converging separately from the rest of regions of the EU. Keywords: club income convergence, spatial heterogeneity, spatial econometric models, NUTS 2 regions; JEL Classification: C21, R11

The paper is devoted on the wage differences between men and women in Baltic countries. It aims to estimate the unexplained gender pay gap cleaned at least partially by effect of intra household specialization on wage. To estimate the unexplained gender pay gap, we use European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data and apply the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition accompanied by matching procedure. The results show that to take intra-household specialization into account led to a decrease in the unexplained gender wage differences however wage differences between men and women persists. The unexplained gender pay gap, which could be due to wage discrimination against women reaches approximately 11 percent in Latvia and Lithuania. It is significantly higher in Estonia where it amounts about 21 percent to disadvantage of women. Keywords: gender pay gap, wage differences, wage discrimination, Oaxaca-Blin¬der decomposition, Baltic countries; JEL Classification: J31, J71, M5

The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of different focus in customer management strategy on business performance. Strategies investigated in the paper are IT-focused strategy, data warehouse-focused strategy, and integration-focused strategy. The effect of the strategies is examined in relation to both short-term and long-term performance. Combination of questionnaire and individual interviews was used to explore the particular dimensions of strategy focus. The sample for empirical research consisted of 195 companies from seven industry sectors in Slovakia. The findings show that different focus in strategy may bring different effects in performance outcomes. We also find that combining certain management styles may generate performance advantage. Keywords: customer management, business performance, data warehouse, value creation, customer engagement and integration; JEL Classification: M30, M10, M20

The aim of this paper is to explore the basic features of consumption of 50+ population in Croatia by using the data from Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe – SHARE (SHARE, 2017). Thereby we use an extended model of consumption that includes basic consumption determinants that are stipulated by the economic theory and empirical research, namely income and wealth which are retrieved from SHARE database and augment it with other economic and socio-demographic features of „50+“ population that may exhibit an influence on consumption decisions. In order to model household consumption, we use ordinary least squares (OLS) method when estimating the baseline regression equation. Additionally, control variables labour status, gender and marital status are used in order to explore whether the household consumption is more responsive to changes in household income and wealth for specific groups of respondents. The results of the analysis indicate that retired individuals have higher marginal propensity to consume compared to the employed individuals, which is in line with the life-cycle theory. Keywords: household consumption, 50+ population, regression analysis, life-cycle theory, SHARE survey; JEL Classification: C21, E21, J14