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EU Enlargement, Conditionality Policy and Prospects for the Integration of the Western Balkans
Get PDFThe EU integration process for the Western Balkans has turned out to be a two-decade-long road to membership with no clear prospects of a conclusion in sight. With or without prospective membership, this has been and is a process of profound legal, economic and societal change. As outlined in the text, there are many obstacles and challenges in the process of joining, but the benefits are far more than merely economic. It is important to note that, bearing in mind the change it brings, there is a significant value in the process irrespective of (prospective) EU membership. The Countries of the region have benefitted and will continue to benefit from close relations with the EU and its member States, from comprehensive association agreements to cooperation in numerous fields such as energy, transport, education and science. However, given the uncertain future of enlargement, the time has come to (re)visit WB integration, including alternative integration scenarios, as recent strategic documents would indicate. Therefore, the debate on the future (non)membership options for the region, which would still afford the Union a transformative power and strong presence in the region, must be continued. Furthermore, concrete proposals and actions on the part of both the EU and the candidate Countries should follow
Demographic Profile of Serbia at the Turn of the Millennia
No full textSerbia, together with most of its neighbours – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, belongs to the world countries experiencing highest population decline. Its total population has been declining since the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia when the rate of natural change turned negative. The rising net emigration speeded up this trend at the turn of the millennia. In addition, Serbia is lagging behind most EU member states in terms of educational attainment of their working age population. The region of the capital city is the only one with a positive population growth in the country exclusively due to a positive balance of internal migration induced by attractiveness of the metropolitan area. Albeit Serbs are dominant majority, demographic profile of the country reveals rich ethnic heterogeneity, particularly in the Vojvodina region, resulted from the multifaceted interaction of historic, geographic and political factors. Yet, there are only four spatially homogeneous ethnic communities, three of which are grouped in the border areas, forming subregional majorities close to their homelands
Lean Tools for Improving the Teaching Process in Serbia - Empirical Research
Get PDFResearch Question: This article identifies the most prominent lean wastes in the education process in primary schools in Serbia and the most efficient lean tools for their reduction. Objective: Lean management has been recognized as a valuable strategy suitable for application in various fields. Its implementation in the field of education has shown a rather slow progress, and the Serbian education system is not an exception. Idea: The idea of the research was to investigate the possible outcomes of the lean management implementation in primary schools in Serbia, and its possible benefits. Data: For this purpose, a specialized questionnaire concerning lean wastes and lean tools was designed intended for class and subject teachers. Tools: Statistical data analyses were used to determine the relationships between variables, and the Weighted Scoring method was applied to identify the most represented lean wastes in the education process, as well as the prioritization of lean tools. Findings: According to the results, the factor of the lean tools impact in regard to the lean wastes reduction was evaluated as “higher than 3” (on a scale of 1-5), which confirmed the efficiency of the considered lean tools in the lean wastes reduction. Also, the significant differences between the public and the private education sectors in terms of the lean application are shown, especially regarding the type of curriculum present (national or international). Contribution: The research has shown that lean management could be successfully applied in primary schools, in order to improve school organization and the teaching process flow, which highly contributes to the school's overall competitiveness. The guidelines for the lean management implementation are given as well as the recommendations to the creators of education policies. Certain limitations should be taken into account, regarding the restricted number of schools involved and specific sample group
The effect of avoidable mortality on life expectancy in Serbia, 2010-2019
Get PDFAvoidable mortality is defined as death that could have been avoided by adequate and timely healthcare and public health and prevention measures. The method measures the efficiency of the health system by quantifying premature deaths (0-74) from certain causes. The analysis of avoidable mortality in Serbia, including both amenable and preventable mortality, covers the period from 2010 to 2019. The results for Serbia have shown that the contribution of specific mortality rates by age is mostly positive and that in the second decade of the 21st century, we can see a trend of increasing life expectancy (LE). The decomposition of life expectancy by age groups, sex, and cause of death showed that most positive contributions relate to the reduction of avoidable mortality (about 70%). Observed by gender, the reduction in avoidable mortality rates is higher in men, especially in middle-aged people, where gains in LE are over 80%. In women, the share of avoidable mortality by age in changes in LE is usually around 70%. Avoidable mortality rates in Serbia remain relatively high compared to the rest of Europe, but there is a positive shift. The fact that the probability of avoidable mortality in the male population at birth in Serbia is about 30% (18% for women) shows that there is much room for improvement. With the hypothetical elimination of avoidable mortality, the increase in LE in men could be 6.3 years, and in women 3.9. Amenable and preventable mortality rates are always higher in the male population, but the reduction in standardised values is more intense in men in Serbia. Standardised preventable mortality rates have been declining faster than standardised amenable mortality rates in Serbia. Since the male population is significantly more burdened with preventable causes of death, the possibility of reduction is higher. Diseases and conditions that can be prevented by adequate healthcare showed a steady decrease in mortality rates by sex in the observed period, while the main difference observed in avoidable mortality is the result of a greater shift in preventable mortality in men. The most significant positive trend in the reduction of avoidable mortality is in cardiovascular diseases and violent deaths. At the beginning of the observed period, cardiovascular diseases had a higher share than cancer, but 10 years later the situation changed, and cancer became the most significant cause of avoidable mortality in Serbia, with an increasing trend. Malignant neoplasm of the trachea, bronchi, and lungs is the most common disease that can be avoided, while ischemic heart disease is in second place. Data from the 10-year period (2010 to 2019) show that respiratory diseases, infectious and contagious diseases, and addiction have a clear growth trend, as does cancer. The most significant positive trend in the reduction of avoidable mortality is in cardiovascular diseases and violent death. Diseases that can be treated and prevented by lifestyle changes and regular check-ups can significantly extend life expectancy in Serbia. Investing in the healthcare system pays off many times over because the costs of treating an individual are reduced in the long run, and that person can potentially contribute more to the community in good health over the years
The Darker Side of Fintech: the Emergence of New Risks
Get PDFThe financial sector has always been recognized as a traditional activity. One of the biggest
challenges facing the financial sector recently is the introduction of new technologies.
Financial innovations, and especially the development of financial technologies (FinTech),
contribute to changing the way the entire financial system, including the banking sector,
changes in the digital economy. The changes brought about by financial innovations
and technologies condition all market participants, and especially banks, to continuously
improve their business in order to keep up with the competition. FinTech enable easier
access to financial services, improvement of traditional services, provide greater efficiency,
lower costs and automation of regulatory reporting. They have changed the way we
perceive financial institutions. Banks can increasingly be seen as an application on the
phone and computer through which financial services can be performed, less and less as a
grand building that instils confidence. However, it should be borne in mind that the application
of financial innovations, in addition to the advantages, carries with it many risks, in
a way that it can be said that digital technologies change existing ones, but also bring new
risks in the field of financial services. The key risks caused by these technologies include
strategic, operational and cyber risk, the risk of business compliance with data protection
regulations, as well as liquidity risk. The importance of outsourcing risk is not negligible.
It is precisely because of the speed of change and innovation that new risks are constantly
emerging. With the growing importance and number of these firms, as well as the speed of
their cross-border transactions, the fact is that it is necessary that these firms must adjust
the way they measure risk in accordance with the speed and pace of their development.
The importance of risk management must be one of the key points for FinTech companies,
both now and in the future. Due to the observation of advances in financial technologies
and the assessment of the risks that financial innovations bring, there is a need to harmonize
regulatory frameworks, in order to ensure that none of the financial service providers
would be at a disadvantage. However, regulatory bodies must carefully consider the dynamics
and manner of regulation, bearing in mind that in a rapidly changing environment,
excessive and rapid regulation carries the risk of undesirable outcomes in a way that does
not exploit the full potential of innovative technologies. The development and increasing
use of financial technologies affects the activities of all participants in the financial market,
which imposes the need for continuous learning and adaptation of users and providers of
these services, as well as supervisors and regulators. An additional challenge for financial
institutions is the fact that competition in the provision of financial services comes from
IT companies, which necessarily imposes the need to adapt its business models. Financial
institutions are facing one of the biggest business challenges. All this brings special challenges
for the creators of regulatory standards (RegTech) and the development of supervision
based on new technologies (SupTech)
Društvena getoizacija kao tačka preseka
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Savremeni društveni procesi u aktuelnoj, digitalnoj-informacionoj eri, vode i ukrštanju proizvodnih
procesa različitih društvenih sfera i ljudskih aktivnosti, poput oblasti komunikacija
i arhitekture. Izvorne ideje i očekivanja u pogledu rezultata njihovih veza, međutim, doživljavaju
svojevrsno „izokretanje” u aktuelnoj stvarnosti, jer se umesto punog nestanka
granica, realizacije oslobađajućih potencijala kroz nove oblike komunikacija i unapređenja
kvaliteta življenja, formiraju savremeni oblici zatvorenosti i nove, fizički često nevidljive,
razlike i granice. Analiza ukrštanja arhitekture i komuniciranja u novoj društvenoj realnosti
je zato usmerena ka primeni novih komunikacijskih okvira u savremenim arhitektonskim
projektima – na taj način – i ka funkcionisanju arhitekture kao svojevrsne parakomunikološke
discipline u kontekstu korišćenja novih medija, stapanja virtuelnog i realnog prostora i
njihove upotrebe od strane građana. Ovaj rad, stoga, ispituje da li novoizgrađena naselja
i oko njih formirane zajednice podstiču nestanak granica i nastanak nove javne sfere u
kojoj se revitalizuju i kategorije javnosti i javnog mnjenja, ili pak novu vrstu getoizacije
kao rezultata savremene dehumanizacije životnih sredine, koja znači izolaciju pojedinacaali i čitavih zajednica – na taj način i osnov za nove vrste podela i dalje nekontrolisanih i
nedovoljno poznatih razmera