Projects / Programmes
SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE SLOVENIAN ECONOMY IN EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
January 1, 2018
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.02.00 |
Social sciences |
Economics |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S180 |
Social sciences |
Economics, econometrics, economic theory, economic systems, economic policy |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.02 |
Social Sciences |
Economics and Business |
Sustainable competitiveness, firm performance, innovation, wage inequality, macroeconomic inequality, sustainable use and management of resources, tourist destination, quality of life, energy efficiency, cost efficiency, healthcare expenditures, incentive-based payments
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 18, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
227 |
7,347 |
7,132 |
31.42 |
| Scopus |
255 |
10,844 |
10,599 |
41.56 |
Researchers (24)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Our research programme focuses on sustainable competitiveness which goes beyond mere economic outcomes to include other important elements that make societies sustainably prosperous by ensuring high-quality and inclusive growth. By placing the Slovenian economy at the core of our research interests, we continue the research group’s long tradition which has already succeeded in contributing to world knowledge by examining national phenomena at all levels and combining interdisciplinary approaches.
We will investigate three pillars of sustainable competitiveness and inclusive growth: 1) firm competitiveness and performance; 2) equality; and 3) sustainable use and management of resources. Each pillar will be considered from multiple perspectives building on the group’s interdisciplinary background, entailing different levels of analysis – macro, industry, firm and individual – and encompassing the WEF’s (2016) modern approach to the structural factors of competitiveness.
The first pillar encompasses several lines of inquiry. The first line builds on firm-level data to examine the impact of labour, internationalisation, innovation and entrepreneurial finance on firm performance. The second line concerns innovation capacity, with a focus on SMEs. The third line extends the analysis of sustainable development from firm to industry level by assessing different sustainability issues in three sectors: tourism, energy and electronic communications.
In the second pillar, we aim to: 1) study the impact of firms’ internationalisation strategy and innovation activity on the evolution of intra- and inter-firm wage inequality; 2) establish the outcomes of size-based inequality among firms on their competitiveness, business performance, and survival; 3) develop and empirically validate a new model of macroeconomic inequality among Eurozone countries that builds on the economic exploitation concept, and which tries to explain the effects of economic policies on the changes in the structure of economic sectors.
In pillar three, we will determine the drivers and barriers of energy efficiency at the level of households and firms. Tourist industry studies will identify indicators of tourist destinations’ sustainable development and quality of life and establish links between resident support for tourism and quality of life. In healthcare, first, the dynamics of various healthcare expenditure categories will be established and growth in spending decomposed into its elements; second, the indirect costs of selected chronic diseases will be studied focussing on the indirect economic costs due to economic inactivity, absenteeism and presenteeism and, finally, stakeholders’ responses to the incentive-based payment mechanisms will be examined.
Significance for science
Our research programme focuses on sustainable competitiveness which goes beyond mere economic outcomes to include other important elements that make societies sustainably prosperous by ensuring high-quality and inclusive growth. By placing the Slovenian economy at the core of our research interests, we continue the research group’s long tradition which has already succeeded in contributing to world knowledge by examining national phenomena at all levels and combining interdisciplinary approaches.
We will investigate three pillars of sustainable competitiveness and inclusive growth: 1) firm competitiveness and performance; 2) equality; and 3) sustainable use and management of resources. Each pillar will be considered from multiple perspectives building on the group’s interdisciplinary background, entailing different levels of analysis – macro, industry, firm and individual – and encompassing the WEF’s (2016) modern approach to the structural factors of competitiveness.
The first pillar encompasses several lines of inquiry. The first line builds on firm-level data to examine the impact of labour, internationalisation, innovation and entrepreneurial finance on firm performance. The second line concerns innovation capacity, with a focus on SMEs. The third line extends the analysis of sustainable development from firm to industry level by assessing different sustainability issues in three sectors: tourism, energy and electronic communications.
In the second pillar, we aim to: 1) study the impact of firms’ internationalisation strategy and innovation activity on the evolution of intra- and inter-firm wage inequality; 2) establish the outcomes of size-based inequality among firms on their competitiveness, business performance, and survival; 3) develop and empirically validate a new model of macroeconomic inequality among Eurozone countries that builds on the economic exploitation concept, and which tries to explain the effects of economic policies on the changes in the structure of economic sectors.
In pillar three, we will determine the drivers and barriers of energy efficiency at the level of households and firms. Tourist industry studies will identify indicators of tourist destinations’ sustainable development and quality of life and establish links between resident support for tourism and quality of life. In healthcare, first, the dynamics of various healthcare expenditure categories will be established and growth in spending decomposed into its elements; second, the indirect costs of selected chronic diseases will be studied focussing on the indirect economic costs due to economic inactivity, absenteeism and presenteeism and, finally, stakeholders’ responses to the incentive-based payment mechanisms will be examined.
The proposed research programme connects economic and business issues with topics in law, ecology and sociology. We expect to make theoretical contributions by addressing research gaps in all fields of inquiry:
in economics: by connecting labour market issues to the performance of firms by addressing sociological issues of inequality and diversity from the economic viewpoint;
in entrepreneurship: we will add to better understanding the so far unexplained: 1) relationships between characteristics of an entrepreneur and the firm's outcomes like creativity, market orientation, social networks, different types of knowledge, improvisation and so on; 2) interplay of various sources of finance (especially acquisitions) in fostering young firms’ growth and innovation;
in tourism: we expect the findings to initiate a new research agenda for destination competitiveness studies linking productivity, destination competitiveness and quality of life;
in energy efficiency: we will establish and empirically verify the barriers and drivers of energy-efficient investments in firms, with a stress on behavioural and organisational factors, and establish determinants of energy-efficient renovations together with the role of
Significance for the country
Achieving the research goals in all suggested research areas will help ensure and maintain sustainable competitiveness at the level of individuals (entrepreneurs), companies and the country. The results could be used by companies to shape their strategic responses to constantly evolving competitive pressures in their respective markets by enhancing their ability to anticipate changes in market competition in domestic and global markets, acquiring alternative financial sources, and seizing opportunities emerging from ICT advances and new innovation sources.
The findings will also provide guidelines for governments and regulators for the efficient decision-making of institutions and shaping the sustainable development and inclusive growth policy agenda by:
devising the optimal policy mix of employment, industrial, R&D and competition policies based on analysis of the relation between labour dynamics, technological change and firm performance and taking account of the explicit considerations of firm and worker heterogeneity;
designing the internationalisation promotion policy together with the skilled migrant worker regime;
developing economic policy measures for the fair distribution of the economic benefits stemming from technology and trade developments;
elaborating economic policy measures that promote energy-efficient behaviour and investments at household and firm levels;
considering measures to broaden and deepen the range of financing options available to young innovative firms;
setting a regulatory pricing policy for utilities which provides incentives for their efficient operation;
accelerating the growth of mobile broadband in Slovenia following the EU Digital Agenda goals and objectives of the Connectivity for a European Gigabit Society strategy; and
responding to the challenge of evaluating healthcare programmes and policy measures from the economic perspective and thus addressing the problem of the healthcare system’s increasing unresponsiveness to patients’ new needs and to the new technological opportunities and provider ambitions.
The results of the research programme will be disseminated among various communities:
Research community and academia: members’ active attendance at the international scientific conferences; organisation of international scientific conferences (e.g. European IAEE 2019 conference, annual EBR conference), domestic scientific conferences intended to disseminate research results among wider business and other stakeholders' community(biannual scientific conference on energy economics by SAEE); regular weekly scientific research seminars at the FELU organised through the wide network of partner universities and social media channels (e.g. Research gate profiles of the research group members);
Students: inclusion of the proposed programme’s research design and critical reflection on the research outcome in the curricula of postgraduate and doctoral programmes (in particular double/triple degree international graduate programs EMTM (European Master in Tourism Management) and JMPSE (Joint Master's in Public Sector and Environmental Economics); AMBA accredited MBA programme, organised by the CPOEF and the FELU's Doctorate Program in Economics and Business);
Business sphere and public institutions: 1) dissemination of the managerial implications in business education (via business academies, in-company courses, seminars, workshops and roundtables organised by the CPOEF and other external institutions (Energetika.NET, SAEE, Slovenian Energy Chamber, WEC, Slovenian Tourist Organisation (WTO), Slovenian Energy Agency, Slovenian marketing association, etc.); 2) public presentations of scientific and professional monographies, 3) application of the research findings in consulting work of researchers conducted for the Slovenian government, ministries, other institutions, companies etc.; 4) transfer of research-based knowledge to business accelerators (e.g. ABC Accelerator);
Promotion of
Most important scientific results
Interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Interim report
