Journal of Economics - Obsahy ročníkov

In this paper, we examine the dynamics of paper industry, its productivity, the capital-labour ratio, as well as the connections between the development of employment, labour costs and its competitiveness. An extended Leontief model with induced effects is used. We show that the Slovak paper industry grew faster than in most of the European countries. However, compared to the manufacturing sector or the whole Slovak economy, it experienced a slower growth. The final demand for the products of the paper industry generated in 2013 more than 18 thousand jobs and more than EUR 650 million of value added. The final use of paper for EUR 1 million generates value added in the Slovak economy directly and indirectly for EUR 630 thousand. One employee in the production of paper generates 3.6 jobs in the remaining industries. Keywords: paper industry, Slovak economy, input-output analysis, Leontief model; JEL Classification: C67, O14

Pension policy and issues relating to the life of the elderly in an ageing Europe is one of the major areas that cannot be ignored. The severity of the pension issues is enhanced by the long-term demographic development and the associated question of financing the pension system. The paper is aimed at tax allowances, which are intended to support the old-age security in the form of voluntary and individual savings. In addition to their description, the ways of how these options are used by tax entities are clarified, too. The aim of the research is to assess the use of legislative tax tools leading to the increase in the effectiveness of the given measures. Methodically the research is based on the evaluation of secondary statistical data of the Czech Statistical Office and Financial Administration of the Czech Republic. The data are statistically backed up by primary research, which was carried out in 2016. Keywords: tax policy, retirement policy, tax reliefs, individuals; JEL Classification: H20, D14, E62

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the effects of public R&D subsidies on the innovative activities of private firms in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Portugal. We investigate whether public R&D subsidies make firms’ activities more innovative. We measure these effects using firm-level data from the 2010 and 2012 Community Innovation Survey and estimated the effects by propensity score matching. We find that the subsidies do not fully crowd out private sources of R&D expenditure in any of these countries. However, there is a substantial heterogeneity in the impact of the subsidies on firms’ innovativeness. R&D subsidies do support true innovations in the Czech Republic and Germany, but they enhance only imitations in Bulgaria and Portugal. Keywords: R&D subsidies, CIS, innovation output, crowding out; JEL Classification: O38, H32, L20

The current macro-economic and financial conditions remain extremely challenging for the European insurance sector. Due to the ongoing low-yield environment and competitive pressure from new players, in particular technology-focused start-ups entering the markets, insurers are changing their business models and looking for new investment and business opportunities to improve their profitability and overall solvency positions. This is also reflected in increasing interest in mergers and acquisitions to achieve sufficient returns. However, there is no clear answer in the literature as to whether this strategy brings the anticipated positive results. This study empirically tests the effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on the share prices of European insurers via an event study. Our results do not confirm the positive impact of such strategies on acquirers’ share prices delivering abnormal returns for shareholders. Keywords: mergers and acquisitions, abnormal return, event study, insurers; JEL Classification: G14, G22, G34

Market liberalization in the countries of South East Europe (SEE), which was a consequence of free trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the countries of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), led to changes in foreign trade flows of these countries’ agri-food products. As agri-food products are a significant part of total foreign trade in these countries, the objective of this paper is to analyze the liberalization effects established by CEFTA and EU integration. A gravity model for panel data was estimated for the agri-food sector of all SEE countries for the period 2005 – 2015, and databases from UN Comtrade and the World Bank were used to create an empirical base for this study. The results confirmed the importance of CEFTA integration, which made a significant contribution to imports and exports within this sector in most SEE countries. Additionally, the results showed that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU had limited effects on the import and export of agri-food products in SEE countries. Keywords: agri-food products, foreign trade, gravity model, SEE countries, EU, CEFTA; JEL Classification: Q17, Q18, F15