Projects / Programmes
Konkurenčnost, inovativnost, učinkovitost in trajnostni razvoj slovenskega gospodarstva v procesih razvoja EU (Slovene)
January 1, 2009
- December 31, 2013
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.02.00 |
Social sciences |
Economics |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.02 |
Social Sciences |
Economics and Business |
Researchers (19)
Organisations (3)
Significance for science
1. Some research areas deal with topics for which theoretical foundations should be established (a model of entrepreneurial success, development and sustainability of family businesses), various disciplines should be newly connected in studying particular phenomena (e.g. entrepreneurial research in relation to knowledge transformation and economic analysis of efficiency and performance), or empirical evidence is quite scarce (an impact of innovation and the use of ICT on the dynamic competitiveness, efficiency, and growth of Slovenian small and medium-sized companies). Consequently, further analyses are needed to obtain more tangible results. Our research significantly contributes to the empirical validation of the relationship between ICT use and a firm’s export activity since we use, unlike other studies, statistical data on ICT activity and export from several European countries and control for other potential determinants of a firm’s export activity. On the other hand, theories and formulations for understanding aspects of the entrepreneurial process are, for instance, based on other management studies. It is thus important to develop subject-specific basic ideas and concepts. For example, the study area entrepreneurial success/failure has no established theories. Our research findings thus extend existing knowledge in entrepreneurship research that concerns understanding of how personal and psychological characteristics of entrepreneurs can have meaningful impact on a firm’s performance. Similarly in the area of family business we try to understand dynamics of relationships and interactions which are idiosyncratic to family businesses. In these way these parts of the project contribute to new findings in economics and business studies. 2. Other areas of study are based on established global research, be it theoretical or empirical (factors of efficiency, performance in terms of growth, entry and survival, competitiveness, innovativeness and sustainable development at the industry and macroeconomic level). In some cases, theoretical propositions were tested that have not been tested before, which gives the programme general importance for the development of science. The research addresses the relationship between the employment and productivity growth directly and on the firm level, which represents a contribution to the body of empirical literature in this field. In the field of electronic communications the results contributed to the understanding of network effects and factors influencing investments in NGN. For regulated network industries in the field of electricity, gas and water distribution cost efficiency of utilities was estimated in the presence of environmental heterogeneity. Regarding the sustainable development of energy sector factors influencing household willingness to pay for green electricity and, furthermore, barriers and incentives for energy efficient renovations of homes were identified. The consequences of negative demographic trends were also analyzed from the perspective of sustainable development. The findings obtained through the analysis of the Slovene economy therefore contribute to the global store of information and knowledge in these fields. It is noteworthy that in some of these areas Slovenian researchers are pioneers in their work not only in Slovenia, but also among the Central Eastern European and Southeast European countries – a fact confirmed by their publications. The findings are thus even more useful for these countries. 3. The new method of comparative development assessment using time distance represents a new scholarly concept and may be placed side by side with recognized measurements (e.g., statistical differences in a given moment or period, and growth rates) as an alternative approach in various areas. Like every generic idea, the concept of time distances defined in this way has a wide area of potential applicability at the macro and micro levels in various phenomena.
Significance for the country
Our assessment is that the research project is of great importance for Slovenia’s development. This is demonstrated by the fact that it takes into investigation three out of five key Slovenian development priorities set down in Slovenia’s Development Strategy (UMAR, 2005), namely: 1) A competitive economy and faster economic growth, 2) Effective generation, a two-way flow, and application of knowledge for economic development and quality jobs, and 5) Integration of measures to achieve sustainable development. Because Slovenia is lagging behind in areas connected to this research, a pattern for adequately dealing with suitable proposals for economic, demographic, environmental, and social policy were sought, based on experience from other countries, so as to enable Slovenia to break away from the group of countries characterized by slow development and enter the group of developed economies. Research results are directly applicable for the: 1.Establishment of multidisciplinary approaches to teaching these subjects, 2.Establishment of consultancy for family businesses, 3.Formation of the economic policy guidelines and the proposal of the policy measures for economic policy on the micro and macro level of the Slovenian economy: • the analysis of the macroeconomic conditions prior, during and in the exit period of crisis facilitated the analysis of internal reasons for the economic crisis and the formation of the economic policy proposal for crisis exit based on incomes and price policies, • the analysis of firms’ financial constraints determinants shows the importance of the healthy financial environment for business sector, • the analysis of the determinants of firm employment and productivity growth bears important implications for shaping the optimum policy mix of employment, industrial and R&D policies while the investigation of firms’ export performance and trade and FDI interactions provides basis for the internationalisation promotion policy. • the investigation of the role of industry-specific factors for firm growth and survival combined with the analysis of firms’ price setting behaviour offers empirical grounds for competition policy formation, • results provide important insights also for the business sector by enhancing firms’ strategic ability to anticipate the changes in market competition pressures and to adjust their strategic response accordingly; 4.Decision-making at various Slovenian institutions (regulators, ministries and the government, canters for the promotion of entrepreneurship, and the Slovenian Tourist Board), 5.Assistance to state bodies (tourism index of trust; conducting industrial, competitive, development and FDI policies), 6.Transfer of knowledge between the academic sphere and the state, 7.Formulation of decision-making foundations for Slovenian managers (ICT investments, encouraging innovation, knowledge transfer, and its effective use), 8.Management of sector policies (electronic communications, RES with demand-side management, and the formulation of economic tools for encouraging investment in green energy), 9.Changing consumer behaviour patterns, 10.Public utility regulation and pricing policy, taking into account environmental components, 11.Decreasing the development gap between Slovenia and the EU based on alternative indicators of time-lag (the time-distance method), 12.Transfer of Slovenian experience to the EU enlargement process in the Balkans and enlargement’s influence on Slovenian foreign exchange flows and its competitiveness, 13.Transfer to the curriculum of first- and second-cycle programs at the FELU and its partner institutions, and to the joint programs (JMPSE), 14.Promotion of Slovenian researchers and Slovenian scholarship by publishing research in foreign scientific and professional publications, 15.Dissemination of findings to the general public by presenting findings in the media (conferences and workshops, interviews, and professional commentaries in newspapers).
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
