The behavior of individuals in developing and making group decisions is analyzed in this study. Behaviour options are identified, taking into account different motivating factors, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of group decisions. Situations are highlighted, where group decisions are appropriate and others, in which they just legitimize a decision, that has already been taken by members of the group.
Lubomir Lyubenov — "Angel Kanchev" University of Ruse
The state and the potential for growth of consumer food and drinks market in Bulgaria is discussed. These markets are grouped in three major market segments – traditional retail, modern retail and public alimentation. Their structure and development trends are studied.
Irena Stefanova — Economic Research Institute аt BAS
In this article, construction of a logistic regression scoring model is presented as a statistical tool to determine the likelihood a borrower to fall into a state of failure. The study is done with Bulgarian real data. The main stages of modeling regression equation are described: sampling data modeling; statistical analysis of the data in terms of quality and completeness; selection of an appropriate logistic regression equation; analysis and evaluation of the performance of the selected regression model. The used data include information about citizens who are borrowers in the banking sector in Bulgaria. The data were processed by means of the statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics v19.
The article provides an overview of the simulations with a general equilibrium overlapping generations model, which is based on the theoretical setups, developed by Gertler and Grafenhofer et al. The model (BG-OLG) is calibrated for Bulgaria and evaluates the long-term effects of ageing on economic growth and public finance sustainability under different scenarios for the retirement age. On the basis of the model-based simulations, policy recommendations aimed at minimizing the macro-fiscal costs of population ageing are drawn.
Nadezhda Kraycheva — Economic Research Institute аt BAS
The paper presents review and systematisation of specificities of use of the Tourism Satellite Account, developed by the international tourism organizations as a statistical tool for tourism sector analysis and for determining the influence of tourism upon economies of separate countries and the world economy as a whole. Analytical review of the concept and summary of the suggestions of the Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework – 2008 for concordance of data on demand and supply in tourism are made. Problems related to the implementation of the National Satellite Accounts in Europe are analysed. Tendencies in the development of the tourism sector in Bulgaria in the period 2008-2013 are analysed and assessed upon data of the National Statistical Institute and the World Travel and Tourism Council.
The goal of this paper is to exhibit computation of minimal variance portfolio and efficient portfolio frontier when there are more than two assets, by using matrix algebra applied on chosen stocks listed on Zagreb Stock Exchange. The research shows that, because of low correlation of underlying assets, it is possible to significantly reduce risks of investments by constructing portfolio of the stocks. It also shows that, if restriction on short selling are imposed this significantly reduces the possibility for diversification.
Henrik Egbert — Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Teodor Sedlarski — Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Alexander Gerschenkron was among the most influential twentieth-century scholars of economic history and economic development. His collection of essays, Economic Underdevelopment in Historical Perspective, occupies a key place in the global literature on economic history. Two of Gerschenkron's major ideas that influenced the evolution of development theory beyond its original European context are systematized here. First, the calculation of the growth rates of the Soviet Union, which posed a challenge to economists at the time. The miscalculations discovered about the Soviet economy are known today as the Gerschenkron effect. Second, some aspects of his central theory of economic underdevelopment are pointed out in relation to industrialization and catch-up processes.
Отзиви
Vasil Todorov — Economic Research Institute аt BAS
Over the last 35 years, there has been a growing interest in political economy around the world. There have been numerous publications, and the term 'political economy' appears in the title of some 20 English-language journals, a third of which have been established in the past two decades. In the period from 1949 to 1989, general economic theory was perceived, studied and taught in Bulgaria as (Marxist) political economy.
