There are various mechanisms that ensure corporate governance efficiency. Along with legislation and other control mechanisms which are used by participants in corporate governance (shareholders, ...creditors, etc.), external auditing and audit committees, as a subcommittee of the supervisory board, are gaining more importance in everyday practice. Even though the role of external auditing and audit committees can be more active they have become an inseparable part of good corporate governance. Due to the increasing importance of external auditing and audit committees in ensuring corporate governance efficiency, this paper examines the impact of the audit committee on higher efficiency of both external auditing and the supervisory boards. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
VALUE RELEVANCE OF BANKS: EVIDENCE FROM CROATIA Bartulovic, Marijana; Filipovic, Ivica; Kandzija, Tomislav
Economic and Social Development: Book of Proceedings,
04/2013
Conference Proceeding
The purpose of this paper is to analyze value relevance of accounting information for Croatian banks. Most of researches conducted in the area of value relevance are focused on nonfinancial companies ...and therefore it is interesting to analyze accounting information published in bank's financial statements value relevance. The usefulness of accounting information in the process of decision making is also examined through value relevance analysis and information about usefulness and quality of bank's financial statements are interesting not only to investors on the capital markets but also to bank supervisors. Therefore research was limited only on a sample of 12 banks, meaning that sample included 37.5% of banks that operated in the Republic of Croatia at the end of year 2011. Research results indicate that book value was positively and significantly related to share prices while earnings were not related to share prices. More precisely, regression coefficient on book value amounted 0.617 and regression coefficient on earnings was 0.359.
Harmonization with EU legislation has brought changes in Croatian financial system regulation. Among other, Law on Credit Unions was enacted, as well as Act on Amendments to the Banking Law. These ...laws inaugurate new types of financial institutions in Croatian financial system: savings banks and credit unions. Consequently, by inaugurating these institutions into financial system savings and credit cooperatives became history. This paper shows basic characteristics of the transformation of savings and credit cooperatives in other types of financial institutions, i.e. in savings banks or credit unions. The ultimate goal of this paper is to identify basic characteristics of transformation process and to identify which financial variables are relevant within the meaning of differentiation between savings and credit cooperatives that terminated their business activities and those that managed to transform in other organizational forms. The results of conducted research show that following information were relevant during the transformation process of savings and credit cooperatives: capital and reserves, total assets and free cash flow. Based on the previously mentioned information, it is possible to distinguish savings and credit cooperatives that were transformed into savings banks or credit unions and those that terminated their business activities i.e. that were put into liquidation. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
This empirical research focuses on analyzing the relationship between external auditing and the supervisory board in order to determine the current state of this relationship in the Republic of ...Croatia, and it also attempts to suggest the possible guidelines for its improvement in the business practices of Croatian publicly traded companies. Furthermore, this research analyses the relationship between external auditing and the supervisory board which can lead to maximum efficiency of both external auditing and the supervisory boards by testing this relationship in real life trading companies in Croatia. The analysis and synthesis methods as well as the induction and deduction methods were used in order to examine the theoretically relevant and methodological aspects of external auditing. Additionally, the relations between external auditing and the governing structures are analyzed. The empirical research based on a survey tests the developed hypothesis which states that "the optimal relationship between external auditing and the supervisory board can improve work efficiency of both the external audit and the supervisory board." PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Cereal products, such as flakes and snack items, are frequently consumed as part of everyday diets, encompassing ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, flakes, and snacks. The utilization of extrusion ...technology is crucial in the manufacturing process of cereal-based flakes or snack products. When it comes to cereal-based flakes or snacks, different types of corn, such as white corn, yellow corn, red corn, and black corn, have garnered attention from scientists, consumers, and experts in the food industry. This paper investigates the simultaneous effects of different types of corn (white corn, yellow corn, red corn, and black corn) addition and different screw speeds (350, 500, 650 rpm) on the physical, technological, and functional properties of flake products. An increasing screw speed had a positive influence on the physical and technological characteristics of corn flakes, while different types of corn had a positive influence on the mineral composition and antioxidant properties. Black corn flour and a screw speed of 350 rpm positively influenced the physical and technological characteristics, mineral composition, and antioxidant properties of flake products, with a best total Z-score analysis of 0.59. Overall, the combination of Tukey's HSD test and PCA enabled a comprehensive analysis of the observed corn products and allowed us to identify satiating and significant differences between attributes and create a classification of the samples based on those differences. Corn flakes from black corn flour on a screw speed of 350 rpm is a new product with good physical-technological and functional properties due to a higher level of antioxidant activity. The last three samples have a significantly higher percentage of free radical inhibition compared with the other samples according to TPC and TFC. This product has the potential to be found on the market as a new product with functional properties.
Soil and water loss due to traditional intensive types of agricultural management is widespread and unsustainable in Croatian croplands. In order to mitigate the accelerated land degradation, we ...studied different cropland soil management strategies to obtain feasible and sustainable agro-technical practices. A rainfall simulation experiment was conducted at 58 mm h–1 over 30 min on 10 paired plots (0.785 m2), bare and straw covered (2 t ha−1). The experiment was carried out in maize cultivation (Blagorodovac, Croatia) established on Stagnosols on slopes. Measurements were conducted during April (bare soil, after seeding), May (five-leaves stage), and June (intensive vegetative growth) making 60 rainfall simulations in total. Straw reduced soil and water losses significantly. The highest water, sediment loss, and sediment concentrations were identified in tillage plots during May. Straw addition resulted in delayed ponding (for 7%, 63%, and 50% during April, May and June, respectively) and runoff generation (for 37%, 32%, and 18% during April, May and June, respectively). Compared with the straw-mulched plot, tillage and bare soil increased water loss by 349%. Maize development reduced the difference between bare and straw-mulched plots. During May and June, bare plots increase water loss by 92% and 95%, respectively. The straw mulch reduced raindrop kinetic energy and sediment detachment from 9, 6, and 5 magnitude orders in April, May, and June, respectively. Overall, the straw mulch was revealed to be a highly efficient nature-based solution for soil conservation and maize cultivation protection.
Infraorbital nerve constriction (IoNC) is an experimental model of trigeminal neuropathy. We investigated if IoNC is accompanied by dural extravasation and if botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A) can ...reduce pain and dural extravasation in this model.
Rats which developed mechanical allodynia 14 days after the IoNC were injected with BoNT/A (3.5 U/kg) into vibrissal pad. Allodynia was tested by von Frey filaments and dural extravasation was measured as colorimetric absorbance of Evans blue-plasma protein complexes. Presence of dural extravasation was also examined in orofacial formalin-induced pain. Unilateral IoNC, as well as formalin injection, produced bilateral dural extravasation. Single unilateral BoNT/A injection bilaterally reduced IoNC induced dural extravasation, as well as allodynia (lasting more than 2 weeks). Similarly, BoNT/A reduced formalin-induced pain and dural extravasation. Effects of BoNT/A on pain and dural extravasation in IoNC model were dependent on axonal transport through sensory neurons, as evidenced by colchicine injections (5 mM, 2 µl) into the trigeminal ganglion completely preventing BoNT/A effects.
Two different types of pain, IoNC and formalin, are accompanied by dural extravasation. The lasting effect of a unilateral injection of BoNT/A in experimental animals suggests that BoNT/A might have a long-term beneficial effect in craniofacial pain associated with dural neurogenic inflammation. Bilateral effects of BoNT/A and dependence on retrograde axonal transport suggest a central site of its action.
Intensive agricultural practices increase agrochemical pollution, particularly nitrogen (N) based fertilizers, which present an environmental risk. This study aims to evaluate long-term (2009–2020) ...data on soil water regime and nitrate dynamics at an agricultural experimental site on fine-textured soils and to better understand the implications of N management in relation to groundwater pollution. The field site is located in the Biđ field (eastern Croatia), in the proximity of the Sava river. Zero-tension lysimeters were installed at six selected locations. Lysimeters were used to monitor the water regime, i.e., outflows in which nitrate concentration was measured, while additional soil-water samples were collected via 4 and 15-meter-deep monitoring wells. Soil hydraulic parameters were estimated by combining the laboratory measurements, and estimation in RETC software. Water regime and nitrate leaching in lysimeters were simulated using HYDRUS-1D for each year to allow crop rotation and to evaluate their effects individually. The HYDRUS-1D model successfully reproduced lysimeter outflows and nitrate dynamics, which was confirmed with high R2 values (water: 93% above 0.7, and nitrate: 73% above 0.7) indicating the good performance of the model simulating nitrification chain reactions. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the relationships among all soil properties and environmental characteristics. The results showed the complex interaction of soil hydraulic properties, precipitation patterns, plant uptake, and N application. All locations have a decreasing trend of nitrate leaching over the investigation period. Most of the lysimeter outflows and elevated nitrate concentrations were connected to the wet period of the year when the soil was saturated, and evapotranspiration was low. The results of this study show that it is important to optimize N fertilizer applications for each particular environmental condition to reduce nitrate loss. The study indicates the importance of long-term field studies, key for agro-hydrological modeling and the improvement of agricultural practices.
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•Interaction of soil hydraulic parameters, rainfall, crops, and nitrogen is presented.•HYDRUS-1D successfully reproduced long-term lysimeter outflows and nitrate dynamics.•Field conditions and evapotranspiration affected outflows and nitrate concentrations.•Long-term field data is key for modeling and improvement of agricultural practices.
•Dynamic model of an electric arc furnace (EAF) was developed in Matlab/Simulink.•Model is based on simulating varying resistance of the electric arc taking into account its stochastic behavior.•The ...model was applied for estimation of voltage flicker in power transmission network at the point of common coupling.•Calculations of voltage flicker were compared to measurements obtained from various operating conditions of the EAF.•Influence of short circuit power and switching operating condition of the transmission network on flicker levels.
This paper presents a dynamic model of an electric arc furnace (EAF) developed in Matlab/Simulink environment. Model is based on simulating varying resistance of the electric arc in time-domain while taking into account its stochastic behaviour. The model was applied for estimation of voltage flicker in power transmission network at the point of common coupling caused by operation of EAF. Modelling and simulation of an International Eletrotechnical Commission (IEC) flickermeter were also performed in order to calculate voltage flicker from the simulated EAF voltage. In order to verify the developed EAF model, calculations of voltage flicker were compared to measurements obtained from various operating conditions of the EAF such as boring, melting and refining. Influence of short circuit power and switching operating condition of the transmission network on flicker levels at point of common coupling was investigated.
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