In the first paper in the Finance section, Ž. Jović examines the evolving role of commercial banks in the context of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), comparing the Chinese digital yuan and the European digital euro. It focuses on how CBDCs alter the structure of financial intermediation through the substitution between bank deposits and CBDC. The findings suggest that CBDCs do not eliminate the role of banks but significantly reshape it.
The second paper in the Accounting and Financial Forensics section written by S. Miletić and N. Popović deals with the mechanisms through which interconnected corporate entities generate fraudulent VAT refunds, conceal the origins of illicit proceeds, and facilitate their circulation through coordinated financial flows based on an investigation in Serbia. The authors demonstrate that forensic reconstruction is essential for identifying economic substance and revealing concealed operational control.
In the International Economics and Business section, I. Domazet, D. Marjanović, and J. Vujadinović evaluate the motives driving foreign direct investments into Serbia, analyzing variations based on the total amount of the investment. The results show that foreign investors’ decisions to invest in Serbia depend mainly on two predominant motives: the price of labor in Serbia and the desire to conquer a new market. In the second paper in this section S. Janković, E. Janković, D. Dživdžanović, and J. Purtić analyze the impact of global uncertainty on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in Central and Eastern European countries. The authors confirm that an increase in global uncertainty significantly reduces FDI inflows across the region. The third poaper by Đ. Kocka, A. Lazevski, G. Radosavljević, and M. Babin investigates the relationship between military expenditure and external debt in Southeast European countries. The findings reveal a statistically significant and positive correlation, indicating that higher military spending contributed to the growth of external debt in the region.
In the Management and Strategy section B. Mihailović, V. Popović, and G. Radović analyze the link between corporate board diversity and corporate financial performance. The authors find substantial proof that board gender diversity, board independence, and the existence of an audit committee have a statistically significant and economically measurable positive influence on corporate performance. Conversely, CEO duality is consistently associated with significantly poorer financial results .
In the last paper, S. Zdravković examines the effects of traditional value orientation, xenocentrism, and personal innovativeness on Serbian undergraduate students’ intention to pursue postgraduate studies abroad. The author demontrates that traditional value orientation exerts a significant negative effect on students’ intentions to study abroad, while xenocentrism and personal innovativeness demonstrate significant positive effects.
We trust that the selection of papers in this edition will stimulate further academic debate, provide valuable empirical data for policymakers, and contribute meaningfully to the existing literature.
