This paper aims to assess and compare the relative efficiency of commercial banks in six Western Balkan developing countries (North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), ...Kosovo1, and Albania), using the leading nonparametric methodology Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for the period 2016-2020, and investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemics on the performance of banking systems in these countries. The output-oriented DEA model has been implemented with interest expenses and non-interest expenses as inputs and interest revenue and non-interest revenue as outputs. Our findings show that the average efficiency of the six Western Balkan banking systems differs, and Kosovo's banking system has noted the highest average efficiency in the whole observed period (2016-2020). In contrast, the banking system in Bosnia and Herzegovina noted the lowest average efficiency. The COVID-19 pandemic decreased the relative efficiency of the banking sectors in all six of the Western Balkan countries observed, except Kosovo. However, additional research that includes all pandemic years is recommended to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the banking systems in the Western Balkans. This study provides invaluable insights for academic members, banking management and regulatory bodies, governments, and the interested public. It is the first empirical study that includes a glimpse of the first impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on banking systems in the developing countries of the Western Balkans.
This paper examines the influence of the size and participation of women in the board of directors on the dividend policy of banks in Western Balkans. The research covered 104 banks, observing their ...dividend policy from 2017 to 2019. The dividend payout ratio was measured by the dividend policy. A relatively small number of banks paid dividends during the observation period. By applying the Fixed-Effect model, it was determined that the size of the board of directors has a statistically significant positive impact on the dividend policy of observed banks. Concerning the participation of women on the board of directors, a statistically significant impact on the dividend policy of banks was not identified. In addition to contributing to the existing literature on corporate finances, the research results can be crucial to investors when deciding to invest funds in bank stocks.
The present study aims to determine some common species of genus Alchemilla (Rosaceae) in Osogovo Mt. and West Balkan Mt. in Bulgaria. The ecological conditions in seven habitat types according to ...EUNIS with detected presence of Alchemilla species are compared. According to this classification, the habitats that were found belong to six general types: Transition mires and quaking bogs (D 2.3), Mountain hay meadows (E 2.3), Moist or wet eutrophic and mesotrophic grassland (E 3.4), Acid alpine and subalpine grassland (E 4.3), Subalpine moist or wet tall-herb and fern stands (E 5.5), Evergreen alpine and subalpine heath and scrub (F 2.2). Seven species were reported in the investigated regions: A. crinita Buser, A. erythropoda Juz., A. flabellata Buser, A. glabra Neygenf., A. glaucescens Wallr., A. monticola Opiz and A. viridiflora Rothm. In the paper are submitted some new reports for the presence of A. crinita, A. erythropoda and A. glabra in the investigated areas. Some preliminary results concerning the resources of the examined species are obtained.
V raziskavi smo predstavili nekaj vrst rodu Alchemilla (Rosaceae) na gorovjih Osogovo in Zahodni Balkan (Stara Planina) v Bolgariji. Primerjali smo rastiščne razmere v sedmih habitatnih tipih po razvrstitvi EUNIS, v katerih smo ugotovili prisotnost vrst Alchemilla. Po tej razvrstitvi najdene habitate uvrščamo v šest glavnih tipov: prehodna barja (D 2.3), gorski gojeni travniki (E 2.3), mokrotni mezotrofni in eutrofni travniki ali pašniki (E 3.4), alpinska in subalpinska travišča na kisli podlagi (E 4.3), subalpinska in alpinska visoka steblikovja (E 5.5), arktično-alpinske in borealne resave (F 2.2). V raziskovanem območju smo našli sedem vrst: A. crinita Buser, A. erythropoda Juz., A. flabellata Buser, A. glabra Neygenf., A. glaucescens Wallr., A. monticola Opiz and A. viridiflora Rothm. V članku so prikazana nova nahajališča vrst A. crinita, A. erythropoda in A. glabra na raziskovanem območju. Prikazali smo tudi predhodne rezultate koristne uporabe proučevanih vrst rodu Alchemilla.
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