The sudden and large increase of interest in questions of distribution of
wealth and economic inequality, arising in recent years, resulted primarily
from the enormous increase in inequality that ...occurred during the last three
decades. The global economic crisis that emerged in 2008 gave a new impetus
to this research because numerous scientific studies appeared in which
inequalities were given as one of the key causes of the crisis from which the
world is slowly recovering. This is especially true in Europe, whose recovery
is barely discernible. This paper analyzes the trends of economic inequality
and points to the impact of inequality on economic growth. The central
question in this paper, however, is whether the economic inequalities caused
the economic crisis. Although opinions differ as to inequality?s impact on
the occurrence of the crisis, the fact is that enormous economic
inequalities, and especially their permanent growth, could have many negative
effects, such as increasing poverty, increasing social stratification and
causing global economic crises. As many authors have pointed out, escalating
inequality is not an inevitable price of progress. On the contrary, it is a
political decision that often has expensive ramifications.
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In this paper, we analyze the highly complex phenomenon of corruption in terms of its impact on economic development. This paper shows how great endemic corruption, which is present in Serbia, is ...especially damaging to the economy and society, destroying the institutions of the system and hindering economic growth. It is analyzing the extent of the negative impact of corruption on investment and growth, as well as the effects of corruption on the business performance of companies that carry out bribery.
In particular, it is conclusively established that corruption reduces tax revenues, increases expenditures of public services and wrongly diverts resources to the private sector. It is established the negative correlation between corruption and growth. If the corruption is put under control of the official state institutions and in that way it works for the benefit of particular rather than the general interest of society, then there is a condition which the World Bank defines as “state capture”.
The paper contains a review of some examples of quantifying economic effects of corruption, which indicate that corruption is an additional tax on that foreign investors are very sensitive. Increase corruption by one point on a scale of 1 to 10, means reduction in foreign direct investment by 16%. One of the questions that this paper deals with is the assessment of the effects of corruption on the business performance of companies that carry out bribery.
In connection with this, corruption is associated with a set of political and regulatory factors such as the size of the public sector, autocratic government, low regulation and low economic competition, as well as a set of cultural variables, such as the low level of public trust, no protestant population, etc.
U radu se ukazuje na dalekosežne promene koje starenje stanovništva izaziva na socijalnom planu ugržavajući socijalnu sigurnosti starih, posebno u uslovima ekonomske krize i značajnih ...promena na tržištu rada. Poseban osvrt se daje na ekonomsku neodrživost postojećeg penzionog sistema u Srbiji, gde je veoma nepovoljan odnos stare populacije i radno aktivnog stanovništva i gde visoka nezaposlenost i nedovoljan ekonomski rast dodatno ugrožavaju staru populaciju terajući je u sve veće siromaštvo. U drugom delu rada razmatruju se prednosti i nedostaci sistema tekućeg finansiranja i sistema akumulacije kapitala, odnosno privatnog penzionog osiguranja. Na kraju se konstatuje da je za penzionu reformu u Srbiji potrebno ne samo napuštanje sistema tekućeg finansiranja i postepeni prelazak na privatno penziono osiguranje, već da je nužno sprovesti već dugo zaostale ekonomske reforme i postići značajniji dugoročni ekonomski rast.
This paper analyzes the far-reaching changes on social plane caused by aging population which endanger social security for old people, especially in times of global economic crisis and major changes ...in the labor market. A special emphasis is given to the economic unsustainability of the pension system in Serbia, where the ratio of the aging population and the working population is very unfavorable, and where high unemployment and weak economic growth threaten an aging population and increase the poverty. The analysis shows that pensions in Serbia in recent years have a real decline, and their relation to average earnings is still unfavorable despite large subsidies from the state budget which last years covers about 50 % of the expenditure for pensions. The second part of the paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of PAYG (pay as you go) pension system and private pension insurance. The advantage of PAYG pension system is that it protects the retired persons' savings which would not be lost due to extraordinary market circumstances, such as wars, high inflation, etc. This system avoids the risk of a failed investment opportunities, which is the biggest weakness of private pension funds. In addition, the population trust this system believing that the government will not allow them to live in poverty when they get old. The key advantage of the private pension system is that this system realizes the economic function of pensions, because contributions paid are saving for their old age. Also, the placement of pension contributions to the capital market increase the return on investment and total government savings, which contribute to higher economic growth. Advantages of one pension system are actually weaknesses of another. Since the system "pay as you go" has proved ineffective to provide pension funding for the elderly population, which is increasing due to longer life expectancy, and its relationship to the working population is more unfavorable, it is necessary to introduce the pension reform, which has already more or less successfully implemented in many countries of the world. Globalization and especially the global economic crisis have made this issue particularly urgent. Finally, it is noted that the pension reform in Serbia should not just include leaving the system "pay as you go" and a gradual transition to a private pension plan. Also, it is necessary to implement the long overdue economic reforms to achieve significant long-term economic growth, because only higher economic growth can create the material conditions for desired changes in the pension system.
This paper analyzes the major demographic changes in our country and the world, which are primarily reflected in the permanent aging population. Aging population is a global trend, present in ...developed countries and around the world. In developed countries, the age structure is much less favorable than in developing countries, which can still be considered as “young” populations. It is expected that these trends will intensify in the first half of this century. The proportion of the working population in industrialized countries should be around 68% in 2050, and it was around 84% in 1950. This trend has the same pattern in developing countries, although the age ratio between young and old population is much more favorable. The proportion of the working population in these countries is expected to be around 82% compared to the total adult population, while it was around 92% in 1950. Economic aspects of the aging population are especially considered. Due to the deteriorating ratio of the number of those who work to those who receive pensions, there is practically the collapse of the pension system. The unfavorable demographic trends in Serbia will reduce the working potential of nearly 8% in this decade, which will have a negative impact on the functioning of the labor market and the employment potential for future growth. Potential and available human capital will decrease, while the aging population will increase the already enormous pressure on the social security system, especially on pensions and health care. In the paper the author point out not only the problems of the current pension system, but also the possibility of overcoming the economic problems caused by the aging population, mainly through necessary pension reform, as well as considering the possibilities for the abolition of the official retirement age, as well as U.S. authorities have done at the federal level, where more than a third of people over 65 years remained at work or transferred to other duties. Researches show that 50% of Americans expect to be active and work when they reach seventy years of age. In Japan, 78% of 55-59 year-olds say they plan to work after retirement. In this paper the author points out other economic aspects of aging population, such as far-reaching structural changes in the economy which are primarily reflected in the reduction of the labor force, that is, in changing capital/labor ratio as the basic factors of production. The shift of the labor supply due to declining fertility rates will increase the price of labor, which will encourage capital to be placed in a capital-intensive activity, that is, the activities with less living labor. As the number of elderly people is constantly increasing, this will cause a change in the structure of demand in the market for goods and services because their needs substantially differ from the needs of young people. Changes in the structure of demand for goods and services will necessarily cause a change in the structures of supply, which must be adapted to demand. All these structural changes caused by the aging population are very important for economic development. At the end of the paper the author points out that the economic effects of aging population are not only negative, but there are also significant positive impacts. There are estimates that the social gains from longer life expectancy in the period from 1970 to 2000 are equal to the overall economic growth in this period. Working potential of older people can be of great benefit to economic development due to the accumulated human capital which they possess if the society finds a suitable way to incorporate it into the economic mainstream.
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