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The current study observes the link between export levels, GDP growth, gross savings, lending interest rates, and real interest rates. This study's evaluation approach combines an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), and Arrellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond estimation to observe the connection among export level, GDP growth, gross savings, lending interest rates, and real interest rate as a component of financial liberalization in the case of Kosovo over 12 years from 2009 to 2020. The findings reveal that GDP growth and lending interest rates have a positive impact on the level of export growth. However, as a component of financial liberalization, real interest rates have a negative impact on the level of exports. Whereas econometric analyses revealed that gross savings were insignificant. The negative relationship between the real interest rate and the level of exports represents that real interest rates restricted the financial possibility for businesses to maximize the level of exports throughout the research period. Due to the limited number of observations, this study is limited to analyzing the long-term correlations between the factors that characterize financial liberalization and export progress in the context of Kosovo. To meet the objective of growing exports, policymakers must design policies to enhance the financial system and invest in infrastructure development to encourage the business sector that exports its products or services.

This research paper aims to investigate the competition in the banking sector in Kosovo. For the research purpose, the secondary data from the Central Bank and commercial banks of Kosovo are used. Besides, the comparison methodology is used to analyse the banking sector for the years 2013-2017. The participation of commercial banks in the banking sector in Kosovo was compared and described, and the competitiveness of the banking sector was measured, using the HHI index and Concentration Ratio (CR4). Based on the research results, we can conclude that the competitiveness in 2017 was at a moderate level, in 2016 at a low level. Whereas, in the previous years, there was no real competition in this sector.

The article explores data security risks and prevention strategies in Latvian enterprises, particularly in the context of global trends and local practices. Topics discussed include the impact of remote work on data security, the effectiveness of existing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) security measures, and the role of data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in mitigating risks.

Numerous factors affect the rate of return that a financial institution earns. Some of these factors include external forces that shape earnings performance and internal elements found in each financial institution. Policy implications are determined by the type of explanation and should be taken seriously. This paper classifies determinants of bank profitability as well as reviews existing literature on bank performance. The second section of this study quantifies how external factors and internal determinants have influenced the profitability of EU banks. This paper constructs fixed-effect models and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), which sheds new light on understanding various factors influencing how the EU banking industry performs. The observation period was from 2012 to 2019, and the findings revealed that EU bank profitability is influenced by both external macroeconomic environment and management decisions. The results of this study suggest that equity to assets ratio (EA), Gap ratio, and GDP have a positive impact on bank profitability, while the loan to assets ratio (LA) and the provision for loan losses to total loans ratio (PLL/TL) hurt EU bank profitability. The empirical findings are consistent with the expected results, although, they are different from those of studies that investigated the structure-performance relationship of EU banks because they found that market share and concentration have a positive effect on bank profitability.

The overall aim of this article is to explore the effect of governance parameters on gross domestic product (GDP) in the 15 countries of the European Union (EU15) as well as the 6 countries of Southeast Europe (SEE6). The research employed the dynamic methodology generalized methods of moments (GMM) to explore the data gathered from the World Bank and the Global Economy database stretching 2000 - 2022, correspondingly 2008 - 2022. Our analyzed result for EU15 confirms that regulatory quality (RQ), government effectiveness (GE), and rule of law (RL) positively influence GDP; instead, control of corruption (CC) negatively influences GDP. The results obtained for SEE6 reveal that GE and CC positively influence GDP, but instead, the RL negatively influences GDP. Additionally, RQ in the SEE6 instance has shown an insignificant influence on GDP. Unfortunately, the study could not cover every country in both panel groups because of data limitations. Regarding the study's conclusions, increased dedication to applying and undertaking reform measures for the key governance indicators for SEE6 countries would be helpful. These insights may raise the need to create specific mechanisms for the RL and CC. Compared to other research, the novelty and originality of the present research lies in the fact that it used panel data via the dynamic GMM approach to explore the role of improving government quality metrics in GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to identify and empirically analyze the impact of direct tax and indirect tax revenues on economic growth in the transition countries of Southeast Europe, based on panel data for the period 2005-2019. Factors that are included in the study as independent variables are direct tax and indirect tax revenues. In contrast, the dependent variable is defined as the annual GDP growth in percentage, an indicator of economic growth. The econometric approach is OLS regression analysis, random effects regression, and fixed effects regression. The model's reliability has been tested by applying diagnostic tests, such as autocorrelation, normal distribution, and heteroscedasticity. Moreover, the result of the Breusch and Pagan Lagrangian multiplier and Hausman test suggests that the adequate model is a regression with fixed effects. Therefore, the findings with a regression with fixed effects confirm that the revenues from indirect taxes resulted in a positive and statistically significant effect. In contrast, direct tax revenues did not significantly affect economic growth but resulted in a positive sign. The analysis through the econometric model enabled the achievement of the aims set in this paper and the achievement of the final goal, providing observed evidence that the role of tax policy is crucial to encouraging economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have succeeded in being the main and dynamic pillar of national and international economies. Education and work experience is essential in increasing SMEs? efficiency and competitiveness. The changing business environment has created fierce competitiveness among SMEs, requiring active interaction between managers/owners and stakeholders. As a result, this study aims to explore the influence of education, experience, using a business plan, and barriers on the success of small and medium-sized businesses. This research employed an online questionnaire for scientific research. Through ordered logistic modeling, we observed 336 answers from businesses using the qualitative approach. The study's findings reveal that education and work experience have a statistically favorable influence on the performance of SMEs, whereas barriers have a substantial adverse influence. Findings on barriers are noteworthy in the context of this study since the governing institutions throughout the pandemic and later situations experimented with the measures adopted. The study also benefits SMEs and legislation authorities in understanding the critical concerns that are perceived as barriers to the growth and expansion of SMEs, resulting in the creation of even more sophisticated infrastructures to support sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the effectiveness of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations in measuring banking sector stability in Western Balkan countries, as well as to explore the possibility of enhancing banking sector policy and performance. The study employs a quantitative methodology created on secondary data from 2012 to 2021. The data analysis methodology incorporates static and dynamic approaches to examine the banking sector stability using OLS and 2SLS. The results of the study show that the tight A M L i , t implementation of both approaches has a positive and statistically significant impact on the banking sector stability ( B S S ). The value of the paper is unique in that it applies the most recent data in this field for Western Balkans countries, and it brings benefits for a better understanding of the effectiveness of A M L regulations. The research will encourage fruitful discussion among policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and financial institution executives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the relationships between corporate governance instruments on the wealth of financial intermediaries in wide-ranging. The data employed in this study are secondary data from nine (9) commercial banks and covered the years 2013-2020. The approach used in data processing is a 2SLS estimation and multilevel mixed-effects for the dependent variable natural logarithm of total assets. The results provided by the econometric analysis show that board size, sovereign committees, Net Interest Margin (NIM), Non-Performing Loans (NPL's), and equity to liabilities have an important impact on the protection of the assets of financial institutions. While surprising results have been generated in the composition of the board structure in terms of gender diversity, they have turned out to be insignificant. The originality and value of this study lie in the approach of including the characteristics of the board, as well as the combination of some financial indicators different from previous studies, which makes more comprehensive the study of the impact of board composition on increasing the wealth of banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies and assesses the impact and effect of corporate governance (CG), as a good practice mechanism, as well as some specific financial indicators on the performance of the banking sector in Kosovo. The data used in the research are defined as secondary data that include nine (9) commercial banks and cover the period 2013-2020. The analysis applied to data processing is the dynamic approach through 2SLS estimation for the dependent variables ROA, ROE, and NIM. The results obtained at the end of the study show that all variables applied in this research, depending on the variable defined for evaluation, have a significant impact on the performance of the banking sector. The results also show that the most adequate measure for assessing a bank's performance is the net interest margin (NIM). This research paves the way for debate and discussion on the governing structures of financial institutions and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze variables that influence access to bank loans by SMEs in Kosovo and North Macedonia. Research methodology is compound by primary and secondary data. We hypothesized that the age of the SMEs, business size, written business plan, collateral type, and business experience before starting as an owner, owner education, and owner gender influence access to bank loans for SMEs. Econometric model results revealed that age of the SMEs, business size, and written business plan has a significant influence on bank loans borrowed by SMEs, while, collateral type, business experience before starting as an owner, owner level of education, and owner gender have no significant influence on bank loans borrowed by SMEs in the Republic of Kosovo. Furthermore, from the results obtained we revealed that age of the SMEs, business size, written business plan, and owners' level of education has a significant influence on bank loan borrowed by SMEs, whereas, collateral type, business experience before starting as owner and owners gender have no significant influence on bank loans borrowed by SMEs in the Republic of North Macedonia. The findings suggest some future lines of research at the end and provide recommendations for the main stakeholders of this field of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a vital position in the international economy. The study aims to examine the compulsory financial reporting requirements set by the Kosovo Council for Financial Reporting (KCFR) as well as SMEs requirements for reviewing the current classification in the Kosovo context. This study, like most relevant studies, employs ordinal probit regression to examine the relationships among the requirements defined as dependent variables and other control variables such as necessary reclassification review under KCFR, preferred reclassification review under KCFR, experience knowledge of accountants and auditors, continuously education concerning financial reporting, and assessments of business owners. According to the reported conclusions, the application of these requirements in the Kosovo context does not create any opportunities for SMEs. On the contrary, the findings point to a thorough review of the reporting requirements for microbusinesses, as the current classification appears to be a burden for these businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the relationship between macroeconomic variables that influence inflation. Through our research, we will analyze the influence of GDP growth, remittances, level of exports, level of imports, and foreign direct investments on the inflation rate for the Western Balkan. The research has applied panel data using dynamic approaches such as fixed effects, and Arellano–Bover/Blundell–Bond estimation to determine relationships between variables and their impact on inflation. The research used annual series data from 2003 to 2019 provided by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Likewise, to test a stationary of data was applied three estimations for the unit root test and Johansen cointegration. The research results reveal that in the short run, all variables influence the inflation rate, except for foreign direct investment, which has insignificant influence. Moreover, the analyses through the Arellano–Bover/Blundell—Bond estimation reveal that GDP growth, imports, and foreign direct investments have a positive influence on the inflation rate, while, working remittances and exports have a negative influence on the inflation rate. These conclusions provide sufficient information for future debates and examination on macroeconomic variables that potentially affect inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to study the implication of R&D and Innovation in Entrepreneurship with particular meaning in the SME sector in Kosovo. The research is grounded on a review of the literature in this area and R&D applies and innovation actions of the SME development sector. This paper practices a variety of research methods to explore the development of Kosovo SMEs. In this research, we used a sample of BSCK (Business Support Centre Kosovo) last research, which tells us that most SME managers agreed that a number of activities undertaken are the result of efforts to apply R&D, or innovation occurs within the SME growth orientation. The results of the paper suggest that enterprise success and SME development are conditioned by SME ownership, financial sector conditions, internal and external business environments, and access to regional markets. The paper will also support most aspects of managers' needs to achieve business performance, as well as decision-makers at different levels in developing SME development procedures and regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]