Economic and Business Review (EBR)
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Slovenski kulturno-kreativni delavec v času pandemije COVIDA-19
No full textEven before the Covid-19 pandemic, the position of the Slovenian cultural and creative worker was anything but promising. During the pandemic, it has been further deteriorating as showcased in this paper on the basis of a questionnaire survey. Poligon Creative Center in cooperation with the Center for Creativity under the auspices of the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana was instrumental in the process of empirical research design. When developing our questionnaire survey, we aimed to find out how Slovenian workers in the cultural and creative sector (hereinafter CCS) cope with the changed working conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We were not interested merely in the economic aspect of the altered everyday routine. The broader socio-psychological reality of life faced by the Slovenian cultural and creative workers, along with their assessment of the new normality and the government measures’ adequacy in terms of maintaining the CCS at the pre-pandemic stage of development, are also addressed. Selected key findings of our research are presented and discussed in this paper. We also list and critically evaluate preventive measures we think should be put into effect as soon as possible
Identifikacija porabnikov z blagovno znamko: vloga porabnikove potrebe po edinstvenosti in vloga porabniških stereotipov
No full textThe relationship between consumers and brands is an important area of research in marketing. The realisation that consumers form interpersonal–like relationships with brands has changed the course of research in marketing, which has since also focused on the study of consumer–brand relationships. Based on consumers\u27 need for uniqueness and the model of stereotypes from social psychology, our study examines how consumers\u27 need for uniqueness and stereotypical beliefs about typical users of the brand influence their identification with the brand. The results of our study, which focuses on consumers\u27 favourite brands, show that consumers\u27 need for uniqueness and the brand buyer stereotype as reflected in competence are positively related to consumer–brand identification. We present guidelines for nurturing consumer–brand identification and identify future research directions
Determinants of Cash Holdings in Private Firms: The Case of the Slovenian SMEs
No full textThis paper examines the determinants of cash holdings in a large sample of the Slovenian small and medium sized companies in the period 2006-2013. The empirical results provide support for the transactions and precautionary motives in the cash policies of the analysed SMEs. However, we find evidence in favour of the speculative motive as well, by ascertaining that smaller, exporting and more profitable firms hold more cash. The paper also establishes that the net working capital and financial debt can be considered as cash substitutes and that keeping close relationships with banks reduces agency costs and information asymmetries and leads to lower cash levels. In addition, the ability to internally generate funds expressed as higher operating cash flow reduces the amounts of cash held. Finally, evidence shows that longer cash conversion cycles and requirements for mandatory retirement benefit contributions result in higher cash balances, while weaker empirical support is found also for the negative influence of the interest rate level on cash holdings
Optimal Capital Structure and Leverage Adjustment Speed of European Public and Private Firms
No full textIn this research paper, the dynamic trade-off theory is tested by applying European public and private firms, since as much of the existing research remains in the US public firm context only. The results of our research show that European firms, both private and public, follow the optimal capital structure path consistent with the dynamic trade-off theory. We find that above optimally levered firms adjust their leverage towards the optimal capital structure faster than the below optimally levered ones. In addition, the results show that public and private firms seem to make similar leverage adjustment decisions and that not only the size but also the public/private status of the firms account for the differences
Digitalizacija in COVID-19: večja uporaba sistema za upravljanje učenja na primeru Ekonomske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani
No full textWe analyzed Canvas LMS daily usage at School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana, where our focus was on its increase due to COVID-19 lockdown. The use of the LMS by both students and teachers has increased in the past two academic years due to successful adoption, so we tried to differentiate the impact of successful adoption from the impact of measures against COVID-19. ARIMAX models show that the distinction between the two impacts is clear for the daily number of sessions and for the number of students who were active during the day. The number of individual courses accessed by teachers per day increased considerably during the COVID-19 period, however this is not true for students where the increase is steady throughout the adoption of the system. Similarly, the access to quizzes and assignments has a stable growth during the adoption period for students, but teachers developed quizzes and assignments very intensively after the introduction of measures against COVID-19. In COVID-19 situation, the duration of LMS user sessions is significantly longer for students, but not for teachers
Usklajevanje poklicnega in zasebnega življenja podjetnikov v Sloveniji: empirična preverba
No full textDue to the nature of work-life balance, entrepreneurs cope greater challenges – the boundary between the two areas is heavily blurred in terms of time and responsibility. Understanding the mechanisms of balancing all entrepreneurial roles (at work and in the family) and the factors that influence the success of balancing is crucial for entrepreneurs and all those who think about the entrepreneurial path, as well as for those who form public policies to support and promote entrepreneurship. The main aim of the paper is to investigate the impact of the variables identified in the theoretical verification on satisfaction with work-life balance of entrepreneurs. Variables self efficacy and social support are emerging as the key factors. The main research question is how workplace social support and social support by family and the entrepreneur\u27s self-efficacy affect satisfaction with work-life balance. The results of our study show that there is a statistically significant and positive association between self-efficacy and satisfaction with work-life balance. This means that entrepreneurs with a higher level of perceived self-efficacy are more likely to feel a higher level of satisfaction if they put more effort into work-life balance. Furthermore, there is a positive link between social support by co-workers and satisfaction with work-life balance, a positive link between social support by partner and satisfaction with work-life balance, and a negative link between social support by family and satisfaction work-life balance. There is a negative link between social support by co-workers and self-efficacy, a positive link between social support by partner and self-efficacy, and a positive link between social support by family and self-efficacy
Posledice socializma in tranzicije v Sloveniji za premoženjsko stanje oseb v starosti 50+
No full textDuring socialism, savings forms were limited, while in certain periods some forms were devalued by high (or hyper) inflation. This period was characterized by a reduced need for savings as pensioners, the sick, the unemployed, the disabled, etc. were provided for by the state. Based on survey data from SHARE, the article compares the specifics regarding the size and form of wealth in Slovenia. Among the 14 countries analyzed, Czech Republic and Estonia, as the other two post-socialist countries, are at the bottom of the country ranking by wealth expressed in the number of average net monthly wages, while Slovenia is in the high third place, with wealth almost exclusively in the form of real estate
Vpliv izobrazbene strukture razvojnega oddelka na uspešnost organizacije
No full textThe aim of this paper is to examine how the educational structure of the research and development department (R&D) is linked to organizational performance. The main purpose of the paper is to help companies to set up a successful R&D, which will have a positive impact on organizational performance. Based on the theoretical background, we developed hypotheses revolving around the main idea that the educational diversity of R&D is positively associated with organizational performance. For empirical research, we collected data from 433 organizations from Slovenia, Austria, Italia and Croatia. We then analyzed the collected data in SPSS with a series of linear regression and mediation analyses using the »PROCESS«. The results of the analyses could not support the conceptualized hypotheses. However, the results did not contradict the theory that claims that diversity in groups and R&D departments is positively linked to individual or group creativity, or company innovativeness, or, nevertheless, the company performance and profitability. In the study, we did not include all dimensions of employees’ diversity, rather we were focused just on the educational diversity of employees in R&D. The results of our analysis open new perspectives about R&D, especially the educational structure of employees in R&D and their impact on organizational performance. The conducted analysis showed that the education of R&D employees is more homogeneous in larger companies than in smaller ones. Moreover, we concluded that higher educational homogeneity in R&D leads to higher innovativeness and profitability of an organization
Long-Term Auditor-Client Relationships: Conscious Misjudgements or Unconscious Biases?
No full textThe aim of our study is to shed light on auditors’ cognitive drivers of bias inherent in long-term personal relationships with clients. We examine whether a long-term personal relationship invokes a conscious misjudgement because of a mutual long-term financial interest, or an unconscious bias invoked by affective motives and unconscious needs. The paper combines two theories, the first being the incentive based motivated reasoning (Kunda, 1990) and the second the need based motivation theory (McClelland, 1987). We analyse the problem with a two-player perfect-information sequential game within the framework of game theory, involving an accounting choice task. We find that the positive effect of a personal relationship on biased decision-making is mediated by a long-term financial interest rather than by an affective motive such as friendship. Unconscious needs are also found to influence subjects’ decisions. In other words, the need for achievement and the need for power reinforce auditor independent opinion and help them resist the pressure from clients, whereas the need for affiliation is accentuated in a personal relationship and positively affects auditor bias. The study provides an original empirical investigation of the drivers of behaviour in the auditing setting, while its results indicate that both conscious financial incentives and unconscious needs influence subjects’ decisions simultaneously
Analysis of Horizontal Price Transmission: The Case of Mexico–United States Dry Bean Trade
No full textDry bean is the leading source of plant-based proteins in Mexico, yet the country’s self-sufficiency shows an eroding tendency after the enforcement of NAFTA. During this period, the United States became Mexico’s principal supplier of dry beans. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the price transmission for black and pinto dry beans in Mexico in the period between 2012 and 2019. The research results however reveal only a very limited relationship between the analysed prices in the two countries. It is established that price dynamics are predominantly governed by domestic market interactions rather than those transmitted across the border, hence the erosion of Mexico\u27s self-sufficiency in dry bean cannot be entirely attributed to the trade liberalization