ISBN online: 978-80-7394-976-1 | DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1
16th International Scientific Conference INPROFORUM vol: 16
DIGITALIZATION. Society and Markets, Business and Public Administration
3.–4. 11. 2022 České Budějovice
- Kolektiv autorů
The International Scientific Conference INPROFORUM is a traditional event held by the Faculty of Economics, the University of South Bohemia, in České Budějovice (USB). It is focused on research achievements in the fields of Innovations, Enterprises, Regions, and Organizations. International Conference offers the opportunity to discuss relevant topics among Academic and practicing Economists. The Conference is organized under the auspices of doc. Dr. Ing. Dagmar Škodová Parmová, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice.
Publikováno: 31. 12. 2022, online: 31. 12. 2022, vydavatel: Ekonomická fakulta Jihočeské univerzity v Českých Budějovicích
 |
Příspěvky konference
Digitalization of sales in the automotive field and changes in customer purchasing behavior
Sandra Arbesová, Kamil Pícha
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.01
As we all have known in recent years, digitalization is a key topic for almost all manufacturing and trading companies. This trend was accelerated not only by the Covid-19 pandemic but also by the ever-increasing demands on the conditions and mutual interactions of all market entities. The need to digitalize production processes, as well as offer and sales activities towards customers, forced even a very traditional field such as automotive to completely change the structure of its production and sales processes. And that in a very short period of time, let's say a couple of years. Producers also had to respond to the global and rapid development of IT by researching and developing new products. The pioneer of digital/online selling worldwide is the used car market, but in recent years producers and sellers have focused on new automotive products. These products, especially electric drive technology, vehicle-connected services, autonomous driving, and car sharing, mean an important change of customers' needs from vehicle ownership to mobility on demand. They bring necessary changes to the automotive market for all subjects. In recent years, the customer has also changed, and his transformation of purchasing behavior will continue. So how has the evolution of customer buying behavior responded to the rapid global changes in business in this field? And what will the "new digital" automotive customer look like? The article deals with differences between addressing traditional automotive customers and the approach and perception of the offer to the modern customer generation, which is daily and aggressively influenced by the offer of the "reborn" automotive market.
Literature Review: Examining Social Media Influencer in Viral Marketing
Ganbolor Orkhon
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.02
The concept of viral marketing has been researched for many years but has earned a new meaning with the intense use of social networks, which have become essential part of our daily lives. The use of social media applications provides not only countless possibilities of advertising and commerce, but also instant communication between marketers and consumers. The new types of ‘opinion leaders’, who spread electronic word of mouth through numerous platforms such as YouTube or Instagram, are labelled ‘social media influencers’. In this paper, we explore the relationship between social media influencers, viral marketing, and bridges between related concepts to better understand and improve online marketing strategies. Although many researchers address various concepts on interrelated topics, the questions of origin of virality remain unclear.
Case study: Sustainable production certification methods
Jan Šalamoun, Hana Volfová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.03
This article describes the linking of different fairtrade programmes and certifications with retailers' own brands. The last two decades have seen a growing share of private labels in both retail and wholesale environments for several reasons. Reasons include difficult to predict socio-economic crises such as COVID 19, the political impact of the war in Ukraine, the current energy crisis and the economic crisis that took place between 2008 and 2012. It could be argued that these crises provide fertile ground for the development and growth of private label, with consumers looking for more cost-effective substitutes for mainstream branded products. However, this article will not look at the growth of private label share due to the crises, but rather at the linking of private labels in the case studies in relation to different fairtrade practices, programs or certifications. The aim of the paper is to analyse market trends at the level of the use of certified sustainable commodities in private label products.
The use of neuromarketing tools in the field of tourism: Discussion of available methodological approaches to understanding the emotions and decision-making process of consumers
Petra Vysušilová, Tereza Waldhauserová , Roman Švec
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.04
In response to changing conditions and growing competition in the tourism sector, there is a growing interest in a deeper understanding of consumer emotions' influence and subsequent behaviour and decision-making. Conventional marketing research methods are often insufficient, as tourists themselves cannot fully verbally formulate their internal preferences. The presented paper aims to provide the field of tourism with alternative research methods. Neuromarketing presents a suitable addition, which with the help of neuroscientific tools, can reveal the mysteries of consumer behaviour in tourism and the individual components of the decision-making process involved in the final choice of destination. For this purpose, a systematic review of existing literature was carried out, followed by a description of development and research trends and the current state of knowledge of neuromarketing in tourism. The records obtained allowed an in-depth insight into how neuromarketing may contribute to understanding the tourists' emotional reactions and how they influence their decision-making. Finally, a discussion of possible methods of future research were proposed.
Building of strong brands with emphasis on branding of tourism destination
Jitka Zikmundová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.05
The topic of this paper is the research of professional journals, reference books, published papers as well as study of best practice of building the strong brands. The key question is how to define a strong brand, from which values the strong brand has been formed and which factors create strong brands. The main point of interest is the branding of tourism destination and how are the standard modern branding strategies useable for it. Destinations brands have very specific characteristics, they are based on historical name of the location and are usually public property. This paper deals with the question which branding factors are most important for the strong brand of tourisms destination. As a example had been evaluated two successful destinations Austria and Upper Austria and their approach to branding management. The research will be used as the basis of analysis of other destinations in dissertation „The marketing of tourism services with the accent of destination branding“.
Exploring the internal and external environment of the Civil Protection institution of Greece in the period of the Covid-19 pandemic
Theodora Blioumi
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.06
The danger of Covid-19 was an invisible enemy for life but also an opportunity both for political consensus on the essence and direction and for the strengthening of basic state institutions (structures and procedures). The General Secretariat for Civil Protection is the body that was called upon to coordinate the management of Covid-19 in Greece and to act within the framework of the operation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. The management of the health risk was a challenge for the organization both for the effective and efficient operation of the body itself and for the implementation of a policy of multilevel governance and European cooperation. The present study attempts to map the internal and external environment of the civil protection institution of Greece with the use of secondary data from the literature, drawing the attention of relevant stakeholders, policy makers and governments, in order for the public policy of governments to find scope and be implemented effectively and efficiently.
Application of green economy principles in the post-crisis period in the EU
Roman Buchtele, Nikola Sagapova, Eva Cudlínová, Antonín Hořčica
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.07
The paper deals with the application of green economy principles within the EU in the post-crisis period. It builds on previously published research on the impact of the economic crisis on a selected set of green economy indicators. The aim is to find out, on the basis of the selected indicators, how the application of green economy principles has evolved in the two periods under study – immediately after the economic crisis and in the present. The study is based on statistical analysis of six indicators in the pre- and post-crisis period: GDP, Unemployment, Productivity, R&D expenditure, Share of RES, CO2 emissions. In all monitored indicators, taking into account EU-wide averages, a shift towards a greener economy can be observed. Correlation analysis clarified the basic relationships between the indicators. Based on the factor analysis, it can be said that countries do not show significant variations and there is no significant tendency to form clusters. This may mean that the current selection of indicators no longer fully explains the changes associated with the green economy.
Public administration reform and regional development in the Czech Republic after twenty years of corrections
Jaroslav Čmejrek
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.08
This paper focuses on public administration reform in the Czech Republic in terms of supporting regional development. The whole system was legislated two decades ago, in 2000. The paper focuses on three issues: (1) territorial public administration and its corrections, (2) institutionalisation of regional development support, and (3) cohesion regions and changes in their institutional set-up. Territorial public administration and regional development in the Czech Republic are closely related to the so-called combined model of public administration, in which the tasks of state administration are taken over at the regional and local level by self-government bodies, which perform them in a delegated capacity. The paper asks to what extent the combined model has been successful in the Czech Republic for over two decades.
The influence of economic disparities of regions on political polarization in Czech Republic
Ondřej Rolník
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.09
The aim of the paper is to prove a hypothesis concerning the causality of economic well-being and political polarization in the state. The causality is proven in all regions of the Czech Republic on the observed data set, from 1993 to the present. The evidence was provided by expressing the economic well-being by three indicators, i.e., gross domestic product per capita, unemployment and disposable income per capita in combination with the development of a created polarization index. This index depends on the left-right ideological party division combined with election results in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for regional districts. Socio-demographic indicators of the development of individual regions were used as control variables. These include, the average state of the population, the share of university-educated people in the average state of the population, age indicators, the population density of a given region, or voter turnout in a given election year. The most important variable of the economic well-being influencing the development of polarization is the disposable income of households. The proof is accomplished by quantitative economic analysis using the Least Squares Method.
Development of passenger transport performance in the Czech Republic - an opportunity for carpooling
Jiří Alina, Miroslava Vlčková, Martina Novotná
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.10
Personal transportation is an issue that deserves interest in research activities. There are plenty of situations necessary to deal with. The first one is transportation modes, and the second trend of so-called “de-urbanisation”, which means moving citizens from cities to small towns and villages. This trend very often causes an increased number of individual car trips and, at the same time, the decreasing trend in using public transportation modes. All mentioned circumstances lead to the necessity of finding new approaches how solving situations. One of them is the carpooling system. The goal of the research and this paper is to analyze passenger transport performance by mode and find possible consequnces with economy performance. The key data used for analyses will be the total passenger transport performance. It was found out that the development of transportation performance corresponded with economic cycles measured by GDP.
Unethical behaviour in Australian federal politics
Roberto Bergami
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.11
Whilst it is generally accepted that politics and ethics are an uneasy match at times, there is still an expectation from the electorate that politicians elected to positions of public power behave in the best interest of the nation and its constituents. Such notions have come under attack in Australia during the term of the previous federal government. Between 2019 and 2022 an unprecedented level of unethical behaviour by public officials has been on display, with accountability and transparency featuring very low in decisionmaking processes. A string of scandals that has plagued the previous government have included the questionable distribution of government funding to sporting bodies and the building of car parks in hand-picked electorates, with the aim of strengthening the chances of re-election. Other grants have also come to be questioned, including the award of nearly half a billion dollars to a small foundation after the tender process was bypassed. The latest saga involved the previous Prime Minister (PM) secretly amassing an extra five ministries in secret, in cahoots with the Governor General (the monarchical representative), who himself became embroiled in a controversial financial grant allocation after personally lobbying the PM for the award.Unethical behaviour appears to be on the increase and there is a need to take action to prevent the further erosion of public trust in government officials. This paper highlights major events of concern during the last term of government, and concludes by suggesting a range of remedies, such the establishment of a federal ani-corruption body, the legal codification of the role of the Governor-General, and enhancing ministerial standards through regulations.
Measurement of Digital Performance by Composite Indexes: Analysis of Member States EU
Michaela Krechovská, Pavlína Hejduková, Lucie Kureková
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.12
Digitalization, digital performance and transformation have become remarkable phenomena as of late. Digital transformation helps increase digital competencies and creates an ecosystem with more technologically advanced products and services, thus becoming an important prerequisite for the competitiveness of economies. However, this transformation has an impact not only on economies, but also on society as a whole, and therefore it has become a complex topic that is being addressed by various European and national agendas. Various development policies are being formed, and the effects of digital transformation on the socio-economic sphere are being examined as technological progress brings with it not only great challenges and opportunities, but also threats to society, economies and individual businesses. In order to assess the level of digital transformation, the European Union processes a number of different composite indicators. This paper concentrates on digital performance and its measurement through selected composite indicators (DESI, EIDES). The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between these composite indicators and productivity rate (represented by GDP per capita and Total Factor Productivity). Using this analysis, it is possible to capture the position of the Czech Republic within EU member states and form recommendations for improving its position.
Determinants of economic policy concepts within the implementation of the circular economy
Ivana Faltová Leitmanová, Jaroslav Šetek, Jiří Alina, Petra Edrová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.13
The implementation of the circular economy, as an integral support for sustainable development, is the result of established economic policy in the macroeconomic and microeconomic dimensions. In its essence, the creation of the mentioned policy represents a mix of interlinked goals of economic, social, ecological, global, regional, etc.. For this reason, the basic initial determinants of the conceptual economic-political strategy lie mainly in the sociological and political aspects of the formation of society in developed market economies since the second half of the 20th century until the onset of Industry 4.0. From a sociological point of view, from the mentioned period, this society took on a whole range of attributes, such as consumer, informational, risky, etc. From a political point of view, the concepts of economic policy within the framework of the implementation of the circular economy represent the reduction of undesirable phenomena accompanying this social development. For the reasons cited above, the article is prepared with an interdisciplinary approach of economics, economic policy theory, sociology and political science.
Impacts of COVID-19 on Customer Behavior along Green Logistics Operations: A Conceptual Framework
Thanh Van Luu
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.14
Numerous studies evaluated how customer behavior has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been no studies on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on green logistics operations in the Vietnam context, this study aims to fulfill this gap by exploring the reasons for fundamental change. The main results of this research are a) a literature review in microeconomics and green logistics operations are examined; b) a conceptual framework and its hypotheses to survey the impacts of covid-19 on consumer behavior along with green logistics operations to strengthen the Vietnam economy during and after the pandemic, are developed. The future research agenda is outlined to use structural equation modeling to evaluate and validate the proposed hypotheses of the model.
Cryptocurrencies in terms of tax burden for a specific entity
Kateřina Mazancová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.15
Cryptocurrencies are a modern phenomenon not only in terms of technological advancement, but also as a means of payment or investment. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the impact of dealing with cryptocurrencies in terms of tax burden for a particular entity. To assess the tax burden, personal and corporate income tax and value added tax are selected. The analysis is complemented by recommendations for optimising the tax liability and a list of consequences of not declaring income from cryptocurrencies. The conclusion summarizes the results, including the outstanding legislative issues of further taxation.
Financial literacy in Slovakia – comparative study
Marcel Novák
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.16
With the term financial literacy resp. financial illiteracy, whose low financial literacy of Slovaks we can meet more and more often. The issue of financial literacy also plays an important role in connection with household indebtedness. If households are unable to assess their financial situation or estimate whether it is appropriate for them to seek foreign resources, they can easily become over-indebted without being able to repay debts. The aim of the article is to evaluate the links between the lower level of financial literacy and the growing indebtedness of Slovak households by comparing the results of the personal questionnaire survey and the results of the HFCS household financial behaviour survey. The results suggest the existence of a positive correlation between financial literacy and the level of completed education. Individuals without any form of debt are more financially literate. If individuals are unable to spend their money efficiently and spend it recklessly, it can lead to their debt.
The expenditure side of GDP in the crisis period in the EU
Martina Novotná, Tomáš Volek, Antonín Šmejkal
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.17
The reduction of economic activity related to crises is natural. The double-dip recessions are emerging in economies. The article deals with two crises, namely global financial crisis (2008-2009) and the coronavirus crisis (2020-2021). The drivers of these crises are different. The EU states used measures to minimize the consequences of the crises, which manifested themselves with varying intensity in their spending. The paper focuses on the comparison of the impact of the two crises on the expenditure side of GDP in the economies of the EU states. The paper analyses the real effects of factors on changes in GDP in individual EU states. The analysis showed a different response of individual expenditures and economic policies to these two crises. In the crisis period of the coronavirus was found a higher degree of synchronization of the impact on changes in spending in EU countries. A different reaction is evident in the area of fiscal policy and its impact on both crises. It can be expected that the subsequent crisis associated with the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis will affect all components of expenditure side GDP.
Multi-Year Subsidy Titles in Culture
Dagmar Škodová Parmová, Michaela Růžičková, Sophie Wiesinger
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.18
The aim of the paper is to analyze and evaluate the variability of multi-year subsidy titles in the culture sector in a temporal and cross-sectional comparison, to determine the factors influencing the size and dynamics of subsidies, and then to compare the defined problematic areas with selected cities of the Central Bohemian Region. The analytical part shows the development of subsidies in the context of total income. Furthermore, the share of subsidy providers in the subsidy income of municipalities is examined. Subsequently, a comparison is made of the dynamics of non-investment subsidies, investment subsidies and total expenditures of municipalities. This part also includes the recalculation of subsidies per inhabitant and its evaluation over time. The key part of the paper is to find the factors that affect municipalities' spending on culture. The influence of these factors is investigated through established hypotheses.This paper also focuses on the financing of cultural policy and the formation of the concept of cultural development and gives recommendations that the district cities should adopt in the field of cultural policy.
Challenges and opportunities for the Economies
Jaroslav Vlach
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.19
Current economic, social, and political development in the world brings changes in the condition of individual economies as well as their competitiveness, the use of new technologies, and innovations. Thanks to COVID-19 and the Ukrainian conflict, we are even talking about a crisis. The pace of coping with difficulties, i.e., crisis and overcoming obstacles depends above all on the strength of a particular economy, on the innovativeness of its companies and management, i.e., science, research, innovations, and experiences from everyday life. But it also depends on the cyclical phases of the life of the particular society, because the course of history is not just a linear process. The goal of this paper is to search the answers for the following questions with using the secondary data.Can the current emphasis (at least in our conditions) on science, research, innovation be a brake and at the same time a way out of this crisis? Or are they just buzzwords like perestroika and glasnost in the second half of the 1980s? Communists in the former Soviet bloc looked up to them with the hope that they would save that social order. Socialism was supposed to be reformed and consolidated through them. In the end, it ended up in the abyss of history. Is today's overuse of the words – development, research, innovation, science – the realization of our political and economic elites that we are at the end, because nothing grows forever and that we are facing a slow, cascading, or rapid fall, and science, research, innovation, agile management are an attempt to slow down the fall? I believe in a person as a bearer of ideas, not in repeating buzzwords. The EU approved many tools and platforms to support R&D for which it has released large sums of money, but the whole European perspective regarding to its own birth rates isn’t good.
Cloud Computing as Digital Technology – Definition, Models and Use in Enterprises
Diana Bednarčíková
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.20
Cloud computing (CC) is a digital technology of Industry 4.0 and, together with digitalization, they digitally transform business entities. CC consists of many physical computers connected via the Internet, or is a distributed computing technology over a network, and enables the provision of information technology resources such as servers, databases, storage, applications, and others. The technological model of CC includes models of providing services over the Internet (Software as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, and Platform as a Service) and models of various deployment methods (public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, community cloud, distributed cloud, and multicloud). The scientific article contains: a theoretical definition of CC technology and a comparison of its use and adoption in enterprises, pointing out expenses, providers, and advantages of CC.
From living room to boardroom of a multinational company (A note on internationalization of small and medium-sized companies from Central and Eastern Europe)
Soňa Ferenčíková, Janka Pásztorová, Tatiana Hlušková
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.21
Our paper focuses on one way of internationalization of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – their acquisitions by multinational companies. We address the question if the development of the companies established in CEE as start-ups (many of them first as micro-companies created literally in the living rooms) has been developed enough to become attractive acquisition target for multinational companies (MNCs) as open innovation resources. The basis for our work is the literature review of the available research. Unfortunately, conclusive, or large-scale studies about CEE SMEs and startups as open innovation sources are currently not existing. Therefore we have first focused on the single-country studies or research on open innovation from CEE: we use secondary data to draw a theoretical picture, explain the background and relations between the innovations, acquisitions and SMEs´activity based on the experience and studies from CEE.
The use of Smart Technologies in Enterprises
Martin Pech, Drahoš Vaněček
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.22
In the fourth industrial revolution, more and more things and devices are considered smart or intelligent. Smart technologies have applications in homes and cities as well as in businesses. This paper aims to examine the use of smart technologies in enterprises. Through statistical methods, enterprises were compared by size and industry branch. A questionnaire survey of 102 enterprises was conducted in the research. The most used smart technologies in enterprises were quality, machine consumption monitoring and maintenance management. The pressure on the efficiency of intelligent technology use also strains enterprises’ long-term and systematic development and management.
The sustainability of the activities of food banks in the Czech Republic with regard to the planned strategic changes of the EU agri-food sector
Oksana Dubanych, Jan Vavřina
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.23
The review type article aims to identify key aspects for sustainability of activities of food banks in the Czech Republic, in connection with currently given objectives of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy for the agri-food complex in the programming period starting from 2023. In this context, there are taken into account identifiable impacts on current best practice of food banks.
Financial ratios and profitability prediction
Daniel Kopta, Jana Lososová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.24
The presented article deals with the possibility of using financial ratio indicators to predict the profitability of agricultural enterprises. The Albertina database was used as a data source. A total of 701 agricultural enterprises were selected, with sales of more than one million crowns. Companies from the manufacturing industry were used for comparison. The correlation between the value of the financial ratio and the company's profitability in the following years was calculated. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used. Research shows that the success rate of agricultural enterprises is relatively stable. The correlation between ROA value and subsequent profitability is 0.41 to 0.48 (for year t+1). In the following years, the correlation decreases. These values are approximately 5 – 10 percentage points below the importance of the manufacturing industry. However, correlations can be increased by dividing businesses into categories of similar size or according to similar altitudes. The usability of other financial ratios is lower. The correlation between indebtedness and future profitability is approximately -0.25, and the correlation between liquidity and future profitability fluctuates around the value of 0.20. These values correspond to values from other industries as well. A significant difference is the usability of activity indicators. For manufacturing, correlation values range from 0.21 to 0.24, but for agricultural enterprises, the correlation is considerably lower. The reason is the high dependence of the indicator on the altitude and the production orientation of the agricultural enterprise.
Is There any „Farms´ Productivity Rule“?
Eliška Svobodová, Radka Redlichová, Gabriela Chmelíková, Ivana Blažková, Karel Vinohradský
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.25
This article aims to explore the relationship between productivity of farms in different locations, of different size, with different production orientation and their subsidies. The share of agricultural subsidies on the agricultural revenue is 20% using the total sample of farms. When focusing on the size groups, this share is 19% in very large farms, 28% in the middle sized and 30% in small sized. Regarding the production orientation this share is 1.5 times higher in the medium and small farms (compared to the very large ones) in all the production orientations (field, milk, mixed, cattle breading). Taking the above-mentioned information into account, the paper gives some insights in the subsidies’ development in the relation with the Czech Republic agrarian structure and economic efficiency of farms.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Agricultural SMEs of Central Europe: A Forecast Study to Evaluate the Performance Indicators
Ali Sufyan, Ali Imran, Ayesha Tajammul, Petr Novák, Beáta Gavurová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.26
COVID-19 is a global pandemic that has tangible effects on the agricultural economy. This study investigated the effects of COVID-19-related events in Central European agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, as well as the future of the economy of agricultural Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs. The data for agricultural SMEs in Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Switzerland was obtained from the Eurostat database, and the duration of the data was from 2011 to 2021. The number of employees, labour force input, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), wages and salaries, value-added, and agricultural output was the performance metrics considered in this study. Data from this study revealed that agricultural SMEs in Poland, Switzerland, and Germany produced less employment than in the other Central European countries, although Hungary's labour force input was more affected. During the COVID pandemic, GDP in Hungary and Slovakia dropped significantly. Wages and salaries in Germany and Poland fell, while value-added and agricultural output fell in Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia. Employment in Poland and Germany is expected to fall until 2025, while labour force input in Germany, Poland, and Hungary may drop. Wages and salaries, as well as agricultural output in all of the addressed countries, may rise, while GDP may fall. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic had a detrimental impact on agricultural output, labour force input, employment, GDP, value-added, earnings, and salaries in SMEs of Central European countries. The pandemic regulations and restrictions disrupted the market distribution network, causing a stop in production, transportation, and a scarcity of labour and materials.
Development of the Serbian sugar industry in the European context
Martin Vaněk, Věra Bečvářová, Nina Pavlovič
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.27
The paper deals with the development of the sugar industry in the Republic of Serbia in the context of changes in the business environment, which are largely related to the application for accession to the European Union submitted on 19 December 2009. Serbia was granted candidate status on 1 March 2012. This is the period when the European Union (EU) Member States had to apply measures within the sugar beet-sugar commodity vertical resulting from the Common Market Organisation (CMO), which aimed to increase the competitiveness of the European sugar industry, in particular through a quota regime and minimum purchase prices. The analysis consists in the evaluation of the basic production indicators of the different phases of this commodity vertical in Serbia. The indicators found are then compared with the trends of the EU Member States. On the basis of this comparison, Serbia's approach to the individual reforms applied under the EU Common Agricultural Policy, which as a country in the pre-accession period it has to integrate into its national legislation, is also assessed.
Integration of the Czech Republic’ Food Industry in the Global Value Chains
Ivo Zdráhal, Ivana Blažková, J. Matthew Fannin
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.28
The food and beverages market has undergone dynamic development in recent decades. Among other fundamental changes, the current food system is characterized by changes which tend to put a growing concern on coordination (both horizontal and vertical), integration and competition. The long-term competitiveness and dynamic efficiency of food companies is affected by the way in which the company is embedded in food chains and networks, at present spread globally over multiple countries. Given that integration into global value chains (GVCs) provides opportunities for economic growth and development, the research on firm GVC participation and position has experienced a rapid rise in recent decade. This article investigates the effects of fragmentation of production on the food processing industry in the Czech Republic between 1995 and 2018 using data from Trade in Value Added database. The participation index and the position index are used to evaluate the form of integration of the food processing industry in the Czech Republic. The findings in this study can help inform industrial, agriculture and trade policy makers when assessing the nature of liberalization and structural transformation of agribusiness sectors in their countries as well as when assessing the potential benefits and risks.
Efficiency of public transportation in the Czech Republic during the start of the crisis of 2020 studied by the DEA methods
Jiří Alina, Michal Houda, Tomáš Roskovec, Jan Fiala
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.29
Public transport companies play a key and irreplaceable role in the field of transport services for cities and urban agglomerations. The operation of transport companies is a highly demanding economic activity that is directly related to the strategy chosen by city representatives. The concern is primarily so-called subsidies for the operation of individual companies, that is, demonstrable loss always covered from the budget of municipalities. In a narrower economic context, however, a transport company is an economic entity that uses production factors (inputs) to generate outputs (typically transported persons, here). The efficient use of resources and the efficient functioning of companies is undoubtedly the goal of all cities. In the presented contribution, we make use of quantitative data envelopment analysis to verify relative economic efficiency of 12 Czech public transport companies in two particular years, 2019 and 2020, with the aim of demonstrating their ability to deal with the arrival of the crisis period of the covid-19 pandemic.
Subcontracting process as a chain of transactions in the information system SAP
Milan Cepák, Petr Hanzal
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.30
Today, subcontracting (or outsourcing) represents standard process used widely in manufacturing companies. It is based on production of several parts which are then provided to the external company creating new products from them. These products are then delivered back to the manufacturing company where they are used as subcomponents for the target product. Monitoring of the state related to the original parts as well as the delivered ones could be very demanding because there are permanently changes of their numbers in company warehouses. The effort can be decreased by the use of suitable information system enabling the description of the subcontracting process. This article shows how to implement individual steps of subcontracting in the system SAP. It presents how to create bill of materials (BOM) for delivered product, how to send and account parts to the external company and how to deliver them back as assembled subcomponents. Straightforwardness of the scheme is supported by an example from technical praxis.
How accurate are macroeconomic forecasts of Slovakian commercial banks?
Ádám Csápai
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.31
In this paper, we examine the accuracy of the forecast models of the selected commercial banks in Slovakia. We focus on GDP and inflation forecasts in three different forecast horizons. The data is taken from an ongoing survey administered and regularly updated by the National Bank of Slovakia. The sample consists of nine of the largest commercial banks in Slovakia. Firstly, we see how well the banks compare to each other based on RMSE. Secondly, we estimate different baseline models, namely random walk and ARIMA models, for each horizon and compare each bank’s accuracy to the accuracy of these baseline models. Data is taken from the OECD revisions database, Eurostat and the database of the National Bank of Slovakia. Thirdly, we take different types of averages of the individual banks’ forecasts, as forecast averaging should increase accuracy based on contemporary forecasting scientific literature. We find that the models of these commercial banks are generally more accurate than our baseline models, except for one bank, which systematically provides less accurate forecasts in the survey. What is more, we find that individual models are capable of being more accurate than the averages for each and every horizon.
Short sequence iterated prisoner’s dilemma in simulations and applications
Tereza Čapková, Tomáš Roskovec
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.32
We focus on the model of iterated prisoner’s dilemma, by this we mean the game of two players deciding in prisoner’s dilemma repeatedly and deciding based on the knowledge of previous decisions of their co-player. In the classical one-round model, it is suggested that players should and will tend not to cooperate. But when the game is repeated, players may build trust by collaborating and profit out of this cooperation in the game with many rounds. Several models suggest that building up trust is the winning strategy and that players using it would profit. However, as the strategy for one round and the model for many rounds do not coincide, we focus on the breaking point where the choice of strategy is not clear.
Functional cluster regression for commodities and the representatives of stock indexes
Gabriela Hlásková, Tomáš Mrkvička
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.33
While using external variables as potential predictors, one might be challenged by numerous possible variables, which while used once-on-time might devalue the predictive ability of individual ones. Thus, the pre-selection of relevant possible predictors should be used. For purpose of risk prediction of exchange rate changes, many external variables (time series) are available, thus most commonly traded ones were selected in the final number of 32 variables. Only a fraction of those should be in fact used while proceeding with the computation. Thus, out of many possible methods of selection of finding the relevant variables, the functional cluster analysis would be used. In this paper, we describe a case study of the functional cluster analysis application on time series as one of the possible methods of explanatory variable selection for the exchange rates.
Expansion of cloud computing in V4 countries
Jiří Homan, Ladislav Beránek
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.34
Currently, the trend of information technology transformation towards cloud computing is becoming increasingly apparent. This trend brings with it a number of advantages, but also concerns and limitations for end customers. The question therefore arises as to how Czech small and medium-sized enterprises react to this trend and whether they embark on the implementation of applications based on cloud computing. If they are already starting to implement it, then what types? Are only basic applications that do not require complex implementation of interest to businesses, or are they also starting to implement more complex applications? This article looks at the dynamics of cloud computing development in Czech small and medium-sized enterprises and compares them with developments at the level of the European Union and the Visegrad Four countries.
Consumer prices forecasting based on ARIMA models
Ondřej Šimpach
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.35
High consumer prices and high inflation afflicted many countries in the world recently. The cause is the Covid epidemic and Russian aggression in Ukraine, which primarily led to an increase in energy prices. In the Czech Republic, the inflation reached 17.5% in June 2022. The rapid increase of consumer prices has consequences. The number of poor people that depend on social benefits is growing. Government prepares measures and subsidies and for low income households. For policymaking and planning, a projection of the consumer prices development in the future is needed. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to project the prices of basic food: bread, butter, milk, poultry, potatoes, sugar, and eggs. The data were taken from Czech Statistical Office with monthly frequency for the period of 2010–2022 in order to have long time series. We applied Box-Jenkinson methodology – SARIMA and ARIMA models and modelled the development of the time series and forecast to the future 12 months. For bread prices forecast, an ARIMA model is preferred. In case of butter, both models forecast slight decrease of price. and we cannot clearly conclude which model is better. In case of milk projection, SARIMA is in contrast with ARIMA, but both models could be realistic as the price of milk is very volatile throughout the whole period. For price of chicken and potatoes, both forecasts are in contrary, but ARIMA is more probable. SARIMA model projects more realistic development of sugar price. In case of eggs price, both models project stabilization, so it cannot be concluded which model is preferred.However, econometric correctness and the best fit of the model is not a guarantee that projected values would meet the expectations based on the theory and practical experiences.
Energy-Efficient Application Programming for Green Cloud Computing
Tomáš Zeman, Jan Fesl, Ludvík Friebel
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.36
Green Cloud Computing is a very interesting area that deals with different ways to reduce the energy consumption of clouds and data centres. Software solutions (native applications or those running inside containers) whose optimization (especially at the binary code level) can achieve a significant increase in computational performance or a reduction in computational time and thus directly reduce power consumption have a significant impact on the power consumption in these environments. In our study, we focused on the optimization of programming code in the C++ programming language, both in terms of the syntactic constructs of the programming language and the code generator itself. Our findings show that the difference in the efficiency of the resulting binary form of the program can be as much as tens of percent lower in terms of energy consumption.
Public Accounting in France
Richard Bartes
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.37
The article deals with the public accounting in France. Therefore, the article pays the attention to the explanation of this concept, its legal regulation, crucial principles, functioning in practice and presentation of basic subjects of this concept However, the contribution also contains a critical evaluation of this model, as well as its historical genesis. The author is based on French publications mainly by Professor Michel Bouvier and the FONDAFIP association created by him. The author also draws on other professional publications devoted to French public accounting.
Organisational work compliance and budgetary dysfunctions in an emerging economy
Gifty Kenetey, Ashish Singh, Boris Popesko
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.38
Political pressure for budgetary compliance and the lack of competitive markets characterise public sector organisations. As a result, preventing budgetary dysfunctions is a key component of budgetary performance in public organisations. One factor that sets local Government's budgeting apart from the national level is its prominence as a public institution. Subsequently, all Government divisions budget for their operations, but the local government budgeting has a unique structural arrangement. The three most significant pieces of local legislation intended to enforce reform in Ghanaian local governance are Ghana's Local Government Act 462, composite budgeting, and the Functional organisational Assessment (FOAT) system. However, compliance with high statutes seems complicated for local governments to adhere to strict laws due to internal and external constraints. The aim is to investigate and explore organisational work compliance concerning budget dysfunctions and their effect on work performance. The paper offers insight into local Government Budgetary regulations and compliance and brings to bare the shortcomings (Budgetary dysfunctions) in abiding by these regulations. This study used the general interdisciplinary research strategy as the foundation for its methodology, and the documentary analysis style was adopted. A conceptual model that describes and analyses the study's assertions are offered. Finally, Future empirical testing will be conducted by the study's offered structure.
Identification of tax fraud and analysis of their impact
Michal Kozieł, Martina Krügerová, Michaela Bučková
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.39
One of the ways in which entrepreneurs try to gain an unjustified advantage within economic relations is by committing tax fraud. Tax fraud is an integral part of today's economy, and as the ways of committing tax fraud evolve, so do the ways of detecting it. Entire chains of domestic and foreign companies are often involved in tax fraud. In this way, more and more pressure is exerted on the authorities that are supposed to serve to uncover these frauds. The aim of the article is to identify tax fraud as such, as well as the ways in which it is committed, and to analyze how these frauds affect business activities. In cross-border transactions, it is always much more difficult to prove that tax fraud has occurred. Authorities investigating tax fraud at the national level are limited by their national jurisdiction, and international cooperation at the bilateral and European level is therefore very essential in this area. We will probably never get rid of tax fraud completely. However, thanks to consistent cooperation, it is possible to significantly reduce their occurrence.
Identification of current financial bubbles on the global real estate markets
Monika Matušovičová, Sandra Matušovičová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.40
The article relates to the topic of speculative price bubbles which arise on the real estate markets. High property prices, historically high inflation and rising construction interest rates have lately brought attention to the question whether a real estate bubble is currently present on the respective markets and if a housing market crash is coming. In order to develop an understanding of this, a theoretical basis of the phenomenon of financial bubbles is crucial. The main aim of the article was to then conduct a quantitative calculation of price valuation indicators of housing affordability and subsequently construct a comparative ranking table for the world real estate markets. Leading up to timeline of first half of 2022, the results indicate an occurrence of a possible financial bubble on the real estate markets of China, Western and Central Europe. Within the present effects of the so-called "bubble in everything", the results were justified by current investment conditions, limitations of the used indicators were considered and preventive measures were proposed.
Digitization of tax administration
Jarmila Rybová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.41
The article deals with electronic communication in the field of tax administration between financial or customs authorities and tax subjects. Tax authorities report electronically filed tax claims and, in contrast, the costs of information technology for tax administrators. It is evident that electronic communication is increasingly common between tax subjects and tax administrators. The epidemiological situation in connection with the disease Covid-19 recorded this growing trend. Future developments may rather slow down this trend due to rising energy costs. On the other hand, the state supports the establishment of data boxes for most tax subjects.
The issue of ensuring the participation of accused legal entities
Martin Slobodník
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.42
The author of the article is dealing with the issue of securing the participation of accused legal persons in criminal proceedings, which in comparison with securing the participation of physical persons shows significant differences. The author deals in detail with the issue of bringing to court, summons and imposition of a fine on a person who performs acts on behalf of a legal person pursuant to Section 34 of the TOPO.
Reporting expenses and revenues according to IFRS and Czech accounting legislation in the energy sector
Jaroslav Svoboda, Jana Lososová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.43
Energy companies present a segment that is currently being watched very closely. The record energy prices created by the stock market generate multifold profits for these types of companies. Building on historical traditions, customs, and the economic and legislative environment, accounting regulation in different countries takes place in different forms and bodies. Currently, the primary accounting standards dominating not only the territory of the European Union are International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The contribution will attempt to analyze the profit and loss statements in this industry for selected companies that report according to International Financial Reporting Standards and Czech accounting legislation.
Physical stock inventory – the possibility of applying audit procedures of the COVID-19 pandemic period to the future
Marie Vejsadová Dryjová
DOI: 10.32725/978-80-7394-976-1.44
The obligation of the assets and the liabilities inventorying of the accounting units is based on Act no. 563/1991 Coll., On Accounting. The accounting units which have the obligation to verify the financial statements by the auditor must provide unrestricted access to all information relevant to the preparation of the financial statements to the auditor. In this context, essential requirements are places on the auditor regarding the obligation to attendance at the physical stock inventory counting, if the inventories are material to the financial statements. The auditor conducts audit procedures that provide the sufficient and appropriate audit evidence. The assessment of the information obtained in this way is always dependent on the professional judgment of each auditor. The paper presents the application of the audit procedures at the physical stock inventory especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period in accordance with regulations, and offers possible views on usage of these procedures to the future.