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Digital competences and disability: a contribution to a more inclusive digital society
No full textThe paper presents empirical data on the perceived level of general digital competences of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Serbia (n = 250) using an established methodology to ensure international comparability. The paper aims to answer the following research questions: What is the perceived level of digital competences of PWDs? What demographic and socioeconomic factors determine PWDs perceptions of digital competences at different levels?. The study followed a quantitative approach. The survey was designed to collect information on the perception of digital competences of PWDs. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman’s correlation coefficient, and binary logistic regression. The results reveal that while a significant proportion of PWDs consider themselves sufficiently competent to perform digital tasks, there are still significant differences, particularly in access to key information and e-services. In addition, key variables such as gender, age, education, employment status, regularity of monthly income and health status were identified as influential factors in the perception of digital competences among PWDs. Finally, men with disabilities of younger age and with walking impairments were found to be several times more likely to consider themselves sufficiently competent to complete tasks independently compared to the other categories of PWDs observed. The findings underscore the urgency of addressing digital inequalities holistically and make the case for targeted digital training and inclusive initiatives that consider gender differences, age and market dynamics
Inclination Towards Applying Different Evaluation Approaches to Provide Inputs for Evidence-Based Policy Design
No full textThis chapter deals specifically with the application of evaluation in relation to the implementation of cohesion policy in Greece. This country has been particularly affected by its own economic and political crisis in recent years, in addition to the global crises to which no country is immune. This chapter answers the question of the extent to which evaluation has been incorporated into the system of evidence-based policy design in this country and how effective and accountable the public administration is in implementing the policy in question. The example of the implementation of cohesion policy in the previous programming period is used to analyse the extent to which evaluation has been used as a tool for planning and analysing the impact of public policies in this country. Evaluation as such is certainly more technical in nature, but it is meant to be an integral part of the process of planning, adopting, and implementing policies and assessing their impact. For this reason, an evaluation question cannot be separated from the question of what the desired goal is, i.e., the expected effect of implementing a given policy
Intellectual capital as a driver of value creation in Serbian entrepreneurial firms
No full textPurpose – This paper analyses the role of intellectual capital (IC) as a factor of the financial performance of
entrepreneurial firms, which are recognized as the main drivers of economic growth and employment.
Design/methodology/approach – The sample consists of 188 business owners from Serbia. The primary
data are collected using the questionnaire, while the secondary data come from the annual financial statements
of their companies. The elements of IC as independent variables are grouped into three components: human,
structural and relational capital; sales revenue and operating profit CAGR (5y) are used as dependent
variables, while company size and industry type are used as control variables. Statistical analysis involves
factor and regression analyses.
Findings – The results reveal that IC components contribute to the long-term financial performance of
entrepreneurial firms. Specifically, the following elements have positive effects on financial performance:
knowledge of the entrepreneur, process improvement and organisational culture. On the other hand,
entrepreneurs’ social skills and tenacity were found to have a negative impact on revenue and operating profit
growth, while support from informal networks had a negative effect on the growth of sales revenue.
Originality/value – This study aims to fill a gap in the literature on the impact of IC on the financial
performance of entrepreneurial firms
How do socio-demographic factors affect green finance growth?
Get PDFHitherto, green finance provides lower returns as com-pared to their “plain” counterparts, and as such, might be less attractive to financial markets. This study aims to analyse the impact of sociodemographic factors on green finance growth at the national level. We employ a panel-pooled mean group-autoregressive distributive lag (PMG-ARDL) model to assess the long-term influence of selected sociodemographic indicators on government budget allocations for R&D (GBARD) with environmental objectives as a proxy for green finance spanning 21 Euro-pean countries from 2000 to 2021. Specifically, we inves-tigate the impact of the unemployment rate, population density, gender ratio, ratio of education expenditure to GDP, proportion of the population aged 15–64, and the Gini coefficient on the GBARD with environmental objec-tives. The core results demonstrate that all the examined indicators exert a positive and statistically significant long-term impact on the allocation of government budgets for the GBARD with environmental objectives, highlighting the critical role of sociodemographic contexts in shaping environmental investment strategies
Yugoslav self-management: The forgotten anti-capitalist seeds of degrowth
Get PDFThis research investigates the historical significance of self-management
practices in Yugoslavia as inherently anti-capitalist and anti-colonial, contributing to the discourse on degrowth. The primary argument posits that Yugoslav self-management embodies unwritten historical elements that resonate with contemporary degrowth theory. Employing a theoretical and methodological framework that encompasses desk research, historical methods, and institutional analysis, this study utilizes Erik Olin Wright's anti-capitalist strategic framework to delineate the unique characteristics of
Yugoslav self-management in contrast to other forms. The findings suggest that the Yugoslav model offers relevant insights for future provisioning systems in a post-growth and post-development context
Managing and possible improvement of energy efficiency of sports buildings: case study Serbia
Get PDFThe majority of sports buildings in Serbia were constructed between 1960 and 1980, a period when energy efficiency was not a top priority. Even if energy efficiency was considered, the technology and materials used during that time have become outdated in terms of efficiency. These buildings primarily rely on traditional, fossil fuel-based energy sources. With increasingly strict regulations on energy efficiency, it is crucial for these
facilities to undergo renovation and subsequent maintenance to reduce energy consumption. Sports buildings are naturally well-suited for the integration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), given their spacious open areas and outdoor surfaces. However, this paper investigates the implementation of passive solar technologies in these manmade structures
as a means of achieving energy savings. The case studies involve sport center built in Belgrade during the 1980s. Various passive measures, as zenithal lighting, are applied to the building structure, along with the measures resulting benefits in terms of reducing total annual energy consumption for space heating and improving indoor environmental
comfort. Gained conditions were simulated using the software package Integrated Environmental Solutions Virtual Environment (IES VE 2016).
Finally, bearing in mind the need to raise awareness about the sustainable aspect of all structures, including such facilities, among management, basic recommendations in maintenance and decision-making will be given as a foundation for future steps in understanding such an important context