Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Adam Markus Title: Disappearing Borders in the Visegrad Countries Abstract: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the trade integration process of the Visegrad countries from a special point of view, namely by estimating border effects in the countries. The regressional analysis run with two different estimators (OLS vs. PPML) on two different model specifications suggests that between 1995 and 2011 the V4 countries were integrating continuously into the Single Market of the European Union. The results also show that the size of border effect is fairly sensitive to the estimator and particularly to the specification chosen by the researcher. According to the country-level estimation, Hungary seems to be the most integrated country getting the lowest home bias parameters followed by the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, respectively. Keywords: Visegrad countries, gravity model, border effect, market integration, PPML Classification-JEL: F14, F15 Pages: 149-168 Volume: 2018 Issue: 2 Year: 2018 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=635.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/635 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2018:y:2018:i:2:id:635:p:149-168 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/635 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Aleksandra Halka Author-Name: Grzegorz Szafrański Title: What Common Factors are Driving Inflation in CEE Countries? Abstract: We investigate commonality and heterogeneity of inflationary processes in ten Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries over the period 2001-2013. The research is important for the analysis of monetary policy as it helps understand the origin of price formation from both sectoral and country perspective. With a multi-level factor model we decompose productlevel inflation rates into the CEE region-wide, sector, country, country-sector, and idiosyncratic components. The outcomes indicate that CEE region-wide and country specific components are more persistent than sector and product-level components, which is in line with similar studies for core EU countries. Regional factors explain about 17% of variance in monthly price changes, which is more than any other factors (below 10% each). This result is at odds with the assumptions of many sectoral DSGE models and empirical evidence on the importance of sectoral price shocks in developed economies. The difference may be related to the conclusion that the first regional factor is associated with common disinflationary process that occurred in CEE economies in the 2000s, whereas the second one reveals significant correlations with global factors, especially commodity prices and euro area price developments. Keywords: CEE economies, product-level inflation, multi-level factor model Classification-JEL: C38, C55, E31, E52, F62 Pages: 131-148 Volume: 2018 Issue: 2 Year: 2018 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=640.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/640 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2018:y:2018:i:2:id:640:p:131-148 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/640 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Umut Ugurlu Author-Name: Oktay Tas Author-Name: Celal Barkan Guran Author-Name: Aysun Guran Title: SSD Efficiency at Multiple Data Frequencies: Application on the OECD Countries Abstract: The second order stochastic dominance (SSD) has become exceedingly popular in recent years, due to its ability to determine the dominance of one asset over another for all risk-averse investors without a strict requirement in asset distribution. In this study, 33 OECD country indexes and their enriched set of assets, which consists of some combinations of these indexes, are investigated and compared between 2007 and 2015 by utilizing pairwise SSD comparisons, with different data frequencies, such as daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. This paper contributes to the literature in three points: Firstly, a serious portion of the best performing OECD countries has the lowest GDP (PPP) per capita level. Secondly, the SSD efficient set depends on data frequency. Thirdly, when the data frequency is lowered, the difference between two SSD pairwise efficiency tests decreases. Keywords: data frequency, second order stochastic dominance, SSD pairwise efficiency, pairwise comparisons, OECD indexes Classification-JEL: C61, G11, G14 Pages: 169-195 Volume: 2018 Issue: 2 Year: 2018 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=649.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/649 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2018:y:2018:i:2:id:649:p:169-195 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/649 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lukáš Malec Author-Name: Alžbeta Kiráľová Title: Evaluating Competencies of Graduates in Tourism as a Prerequisite for Future Employability Abstract: This study attempted to evaluate the differences between bachelor and master requirements in the field of tourism regarding sixteen communication as well as sixteen managerial competencies explored in a wide range of employers in the Czech Republic. The questionnaire survey data were processed using a multivariate approach of the Fisher linear diskriminant analysis (LDA) and its partial least squares algorithm (plsLDA) considering two-set cases and the functional relation of both methods depending on a parameter. It was revealed that although the differences between bachelor and master requirements in communication competencies are more pronounced considering the results of the classical approach to discriminant analysis, this is not the case in its partial least squares variant. The differences are to a great extent variable, filling the whole set of individual competencies. However, the most significant competencies demanded from master graduates are: providing a complex view - summary, providing feedback, time management, leadership and planning, considering both boundaries of eigenvalues with corresponding eigenvectors analytical (resp. smooth) path. The practical implication of the results can serve as a target for modern educational systems preparing students for success in the current competitive environment. Keywords: tourism, Fisher discriminant analysis, partial least squares variant, eigenvalue paths, communication and managerial competencies, employability of graduates Classification-JEL: C30, C50, J20 Pages: 196-214 Volume: 2018 Issue: 2 Year: 2018 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=651.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/651 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2018:y:2018:i:2:id:651:p:196-214 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/651 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Tham Siew Yean Author-Name: Andrew Jia-Yi Kam Author-Name: Nirwan bin Noh Title: The Determinants of Inward FDI in Selected Service Industries in Malaysia Abstract: In its drive to achieve a high-income country status, Malaysia aspires to attract more private investment into the services sector. However, empirical studies on the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI), especially in the services sector, are sparse, even more so at the industry level. The location theory asserts that FDI inflows into a host country are determined by variables related to resources, infrastructure, market conditions, cost and business environment. This paper investigates the validity of the location theory on Malaysia using a set of panel data for eight services industries from 2003 to 2010. We find that at the industry level, market size, ICT infrastructure and human capital have significantly influenced FDI inflows into the services sector. However, the impact of FDI liberalisation is not significant compared to the dynamic changes of the other variables as progress in FDI liberalization is slow and limited. Keywords: foreign direct investment, panel data, Malaysia, services sector, services liberalisation Classification-JEL: C40, F14, F23, L80, O19 Pages: 215-231 Volume: 2018 Issue: 2 Year: 2018 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=652.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/652 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2018:y:2018:i:2:id:652:p:215-231 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/652 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Štěpánka Křečková Title: Using Economic Value Added in Ex-Ante Profitability Calculation of Bank´s Medium-Sized Clients Abstract: This article deals with the calculation of bank´s medium-sized enterprises clients´ ex-ante profitability and the possibility to use Economic Value Added (EVA) tools in such calculation instead of, currently in bank sector, widely used measure of Risk Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC). Using a sample of medium-sized enterprises clients to whom a credit exposure was approved in one of the banks operating on the bank´s market within a country belonging to the European Union, the expected profitability of these clients was compared by using firstly RAROC and then compared the results to the profitability calculation using EVA tool on the same set of data. Although both measures (RAROC and EVA) are based on the same initial variables, the results of profitability measure show different outcomes in terms of clients´ profitability level and thus their contribution to the total clients´ portfolio profitability. Using EVA tool instead of RAROC measurement thus could help bank´s relationship managers and branch managers focus on those clients creating larger value added than others. Keywords: economic value added (EVA), Risk Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC) Classification-JEL: G29 Pages: 232-247 Volume: 2018 Issue: 2 Year: 2018 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=653.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/653 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2018:y:2018:i:2:id:653:p:232-247 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/653