Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

The future of collective investment sector in the Slovak Republic is analyzed in the article. In the first part the authors compared selected criteria of the sector from the Slovak Republic, from the Central and Eastern European region, and worldwide, and defined main specifications of the local collective investment market. Next, perspectives of further development of the sector after the crisis is dealt with, mainly from the point of view of expected changes in customer behav-ior, simplifications of product portfolio, changes in legislation, tightening of regulation, and subsequent changes of business models of the collective invest-ment companies as their reaction on the changes. There are analyzed possible alternatives of the sector development after the implementation of the UCITS IV directive in the year 2011 in Slovakia. The article also includes evaluation of questionnaires related this issues, which were completed by senior managers from asset management companies and banks. Keywords: financial crisis, asset management industry, investment products, mutual funds, UCITS, concentration, globalization JEL Classification: G01, G23

In this paper I examine the interrelation between monetary and non monetary incentive measures and the performance of a betting firm in the Czech Republic. Previous studies have focused either solely on monetary measures in order to examine the positive and adverse monetary incentive effects or on measuring the effect of certain non monetary managerial objectives and often on the level of top managers. I argue that the monetary and non monetary incentive measures should be analyzed separately as they influence the final outcome in a methodol-ogically different way and that the analysis on lower level of organization can bring more reliable data. The evidence from unique set of medium term data from the Czech betting firm shows the possible positive effect of increased wage variability on its performance while the effect of trainings and nonmonetary rewards were proven as insignificant. Keywords: monetary incentives, trainings, knowledge dispersion, wage dispersion JEL Classification: M21, J30, L25

An important aspect of examining the standard of living is the differentiation according to the territorial (regional) of the studied populations. In this article we focused on characterizing the standard of living based on variable net cash expenditure and net cash income households converted to 1 household member in the individual regions of Slovakia (NUTS 2). The main benefit is the lesser known application methods in relation to the topic used in quantifying Gatev´s coefficient of dissimilarity of structures of selected indicators of living standards. The aim of this contribution was to show the possibility of using methods for measuring the similarity of structures, as well as application possibilities correspondent analysis for measuring regional disparities, which are reflected in varying levels of cash income and differentiated structures of net cash expenditure of households. Keywords: regional analysis, net cash incomes and expenditure of households, the similarity of structures of expenditure, Gatev´s coefficient, correspondent analysis JEL Classification: R29

The paper looks at implications of introduction of flat tax in Slovakia in 2004 and the Czech Republic in 2008 from the point of view of labour taxation. The overall level of labour taxation decreased in both countries, but the distribution of gains was uneven between various income groups. Comparing the two countries after the reform, the absolute level of labour taxation is higher for most income groups in Slovakia. After the reform, the upper income brackets had an even bigger advantage in the overall labour taxation compared to the middle class. At the same time, neutrality of labour taxation vis-à-vis various legal forms of employment did not improve. On the contrary, differences in tax wedge at the same income level depending on the legal form of payment (employment, self-employment, limited liability company owned by 1 person) have increased. Keywords: Czech Republic, flat tax, Slovakia, labour taxation, tax wedge JEL Classification: H21, H24, J20

The main objective of this paper is dynamically to outline the evolution of Foresight in the 2th and 3rd phase of Globalisation. The key mission here is to characterize partial determiners and circumstances that have conducted the evolution of this pervasive R&D planning method, together with broader par-ticipation and changing focus of Foresight over the time. The general hypothesis is that Foresight has evolved like the consequence of increasing uncertainties that bring Globalisation and technical progress, and it is the specific form of strategic participative planning. The new discoveries are analysed here by an extensive literature review and comparisons, and also based on the Bibliometri-cal analysis of the European Foresight Monitoring Network database. The scope of this theme and the diversity of specialists’ opinions do not allow performing too specific analyses. The main approach here is to identify the main development of Foresight in relations to several key historical events in the 2th and 3rd phase of Globalisation as well as to outline several mutual linkages. Keywords: phases of globalisation, generations of foresight, forecasting JEL Classification: N01, N70, O11, O20, O30