This paper explores how the increasing professionalization of the short-term rental market (previously dominated by individual hosts) fosters the implementation of formal quality standards in the ...sector. It is based on 36 in-depth interviews conducted with different stakeholders of the short-term rental industry in six European countries, namely, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK, and at EU level. The article maps different initiatives that outline some quality standards for short-term rentals. We found first, that to implement quality standardisation, it is important to distinguish between private and professional hosts; and, second, that consensus must be reached on: (1) whether quality would be standardised at national or EU level; (2) which governing body should be responsible for quality certifications (e.g., governments or private institutions as in the case of ISO standards); and (3) identification of practices that should be certified (e.g., property facilities/amenities, size, health & safety protection, etc.).
•Initiatives to provide quality standards for short-term rentals emerged in Europe.•Transition from self-regulation towards quality accreditations of short-term rentals.•The professionalisation of the short-term rental market fosters quality standards.•Distinction between private and professional hosts needed to assure quality.
Contingency plans and crisis management strategies have been implemented by the short-term rental industry to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the strategies adopted by three key ...groups of stakeholders: short-term rental platforms (e.g. Airbnb, Booking.com), service providers (represented by property management companies and short-term rental associations) and policymakers/tourism experts. The professional service providers, in particular, constitute a significant share of the short-term rental industry, but have not received much scholarly attention. In this respect, our study fills this gap by bringing attention to unexplored segments of the short-term rental industry. By examining and comparing the responses from these key groups, the paper contributes to the ongoing research about the workings of the short-term rental industry and its responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
•The study examines short-term rental industry response to COVID-19 pandemic.•The short-term rental industry lacked preparedness for a long-term global crisis.•Short-term rental platforms adopted high level of communication with stakeholders.•Ambivalent reactions from stakeholders to short-term rental platform responses.•Temporary short -term rental switch to long-term rental market in some countries.
Nowadays, more than ever, stakeholders are demanding that additional information are disclosed in addition to financial information as part of corporate reporting. This need is being recognized by ...regulators, who have begun to enact laws requiring large companies to disclose at least the required information and financial information. This study aims to examine some of the possible company characteristics that may influence the extent of information disclosure, particularly the direction of their influence and significance. The study was conducted on twenty (23.53%) listed companies operating in the real sector (non-financial sector) on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. Initially, the content analysis method was used to analyze the reports. In addition, multilinear regression was conducted to measure the influence of specific company characteristics. The research results revealed that the type of auditor, ownership structure, and size of the board of directors have a statistically significant positive influence on the quality of published financial and non-financial information. In contrast, the quotation days have a negative but not statistically significant influence at the 5% significance level. Finally, even though the overall results regarding the disclosure quality can be interpreted as satisfactory, there is room for further improvement regarding financial and non-financial reporting transparency.
The Company Law universally requires shareholders to participate in meetings in order to formulate a set of corporate acts. Although provisions allowing the possibility for virtual shareholder ...meetings have already been implemented in many legislations, the COVID-19 crisis has given this relative legal novelty a status of paramount regulatory importance. The post-crisis regulatory development of the field in light of the process of digitalisation is the subject of this paper. The paper firstly gives an overview of the academic debate on the subject with a focus on the pandemic. Then, it continues to produce a comparative overview of virtual general meetings regulations in selected jurisdictions, namely Switzerland, Italy, Germany, U.S. state of Delaware and the European Union Company Law. Prior to the pandemic, the Croatian Company Law encompassed the possibility for hybrid virtual general meetings of shareholders if stipulated in company bylaws. The aforementioned possibility was used in Croatia for the first time during the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. The conclusions of the paper produce general recommendations for regulatory policy in this field with an emphasis on the European and the Croatian Company Law de lege ferenda.
Cilj ovog rada jest ukazati na važnost koncepta otvorene znanosti te istaknuti povezanost i primjenu te globalne ideje unutar sektora visokog obrazovanja. U radu će se istaknuti brojne europske ...inicijative koje se razvijaju među različitim organizacijama s ciljem zagovaranja otvorene znanosti. Naglasak u radu stavit će se na ideju otvorenosti u znanosti te važnost vrijednosti koje promiče inicijativa Europsko sveučilište u odnosu na zadanu temu.
Metodologija. Ovim radom nastoji se kroz studiju slučaja Knjižnično-dokumentacijskog centra Ekonomskog fakulteta Zagreb (EFZG) pokazati kako je moguće, slijedeći primjere dobre prakse, približiti se integrativnom pristupu otvorene znanosti unutar akademske zajednice.
Ograničenje rada je u tome da je riječ o studiji slučaja jedne organizacije – Ekonomskog fakulteta Zagreb i Knjižnično-dokumentacijskog centra – na temelju čega se ne mogu izvoditi valjani zaključci za ukupan visokoškolski prostor u Hrvatskoj, s obzirom na pristup i djelovanje vezane za koncept otvorene znanosti.
Originalnost. Originalnost ovoga rada u tome je što koristeći recentnu literaturu stranih i hrvatskih stručnjaka o otvorenoj znanosti i visokom obrazovanju donosi prikaz teme s aspekta jedne visokoškolske knjižnice.
Društveni utjecaj i praktična primjena ovog rada očituju se u potrebi promoviranja koncepta otvorene znanosti u visokom obrazovanju navodeći trenutnu praksu na Ekonomskom fakultetu Sveučilišta u Zagrebu i pripadajuće mu visokoškolske knjižnice koja nastoji usvojiti model „otvorenosti“ kroz različite aktivnosti i brojne projekte.
This paper examines a linkage between consumer and producer prices within European countries. The research sample in this paper includes 23 European countries and monthly data between February 2000 ...and March 2023 for the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) and producer prices index (PPI). Using a wavelet coherence approach country country-specific linkage was provided for each of the considered countries. Empirical findings suggested diverse relationships. However, the most frequently observed linkage is the one with producer prices as leading and consumer prices as lagging variables and a positive correlation between the two. Furthermore, the relation is more prominent at higher scales or lower frequencies. Conclusively, monetary policy needs to monitor producer prices while targeting inflation rates.
Autorice u tekstu obrađuju pitanje neovisnosti i nagrađivanja članova nadzornih odbora i neizvršnih direktora u upravnim odborima. Pitanje neovisnosti razvija se kao jedno od temeljnih pitanja ...korporativnog upravljanja. Članovi organa društva trebaju imati odgovarajuće kvalifi kacije, specifi čna znanja i vještine kako bi razborito i nepristrano prosuđivali o poslovima društva i donosili odluke u najboljem interesu društva, članova društva i ostalih imatelja interesa. Kako bi mogli djelovati u skladu s tim pretpostavka je da budu neovisni. U posljednje vrijeme, nakon financijskih kriza, upravo se neovisnost članova nadzornih odnosno neizvršnih direktora smatra temeljem za borbu protiv oportunizma uprave i većinskih dioničara u društvu. Autorice u tekstu analiziraju Preporuke o neovisnosti i nagrađivanju članova nadzornih i upravnih odbora Europske unije, te njihovu implementaciju u hrvatsko pravo i praksu.
Economic convergence and divergence are important topics in economics and finance because they offer insights into how economies develop and grow over time and can offer policymakers better ...understanding of underlying factors. The main research question of this paper is whether there is clear trend of convergence and divergence tendencies for most Eurozone countries. Variables used in this paper are Maastricht convergence criteria variables, so firstly we examine these criteria as an important legal framework that help ensure the stability and sustainability of the Eurozone. Secondly, we examine convergence and stability in 18 Eurozone countries from 2015-2022 by analysing changes in cluster memberships and then by analysing trends of convergence and divergence tendencies. Cluster analysis with Ward method is used based on Squared Euclidean distance metric. The fact that are no perfect clustering results, our results point out that there are some changes in the members of the groups, but there are 4 clusters in all years. From 2015 to 2022, based on Squared Euclidean distance metric, convergence tendencies can be seen for Germany, Greece, Spain and Slovenia and divergence for Ireland. Based on our research question, the results show that there is no clear trend towards convergence or divergence for most Eurozone countries.
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