This issue of Economics of Enterprise opens with a discussion on the structural constraints to economic growth in Serbia. The paper by J. Atanasijević and M. Danon examines the dominant patterns of economic growth in Serbia since 2001, taking into account global circumstances, prevailing domestic policies, and the spontaneous development of the private sector.
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The authors argue that future policies should focus on the promotion of a more diverse and competitive financial sector, improved inter-firm coordination, more generous and proactive government support for domestic SMEs, enhancement of the quality of education, and the continued advancement of anti-corruption activities. Without such multidimensional efforts, Serbia risks remaining locked in a cycle of low productivity and limited innovation.
In the Accounting, Auditing and Forensics section, M. Pantelić, M. Živanović,
S. Radić and T. Ostojić expand existing empirical research on the ECL model by including recent conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Their findings reveal a significant migration of loans from Stage 1 to Stage 2, with no substantial increase in Stage 3 loans. The average cost of risk tripled during these global disruptions, underscoring the substantial impact of global crises on credit risk and loan loss provisions. The authors show that higher proportions of unsecured household loans and investment-related corporate loans are strongly associated with increased loan loss provisions. These findings underline the need for more resilient credit risk management practices, especially during times of geopolitical instability.
In the Finance section, D. Stojković and M. Savićević analyze the developmental potential of crowdfunding in Serbia. The study offers initial insights into the applicability of crowdfunding in Serbia, indicating that both the ‘keep-whatyou-raise’ and reward-based models may be well-suited to the local context. Their analysis provides a useful basis for further exploration of crowdfunding as a complementary funding mechanism.
In the Sustainability and Climate Risks section, M. Vasilić and O. Gavrić investigate the quality and determinants of environmental disclosures in the annual business reports of companies operating in Serbia’s most polluting industries, within the broader context of ecological transition. Using a manually collected dataset and a disclosure scoring framework, the authors assess how firmspecific characteristics, such as size, legal form, ownership structure, industry, and international presence, relate to the substance and extent of environmental reporting, providing a foundation for understanding disclosure patterns within the ecological transition context.
The first paper in the Management and Strategy section by T. Vujović, I. Aleksić and J. Đorović explores the relationship between two key behavioral constructs: willingness to pay and customer engagement. By analyzing the motives that drive consumers to engage in sports/physical activity and their influence on the willingness to pay for exercise programs and allocate time to travel to sports facilities, the authors aim to offer actionable insights for managers of sports facilities seeking to tailor service offerings to user preferences. The study contributes to a growing body of research that links behavioral economics with service design in the wellness and leisure industries. The following paper in this section, authored by I. Vodeničarević, provides an overview of the modern methodologies for evaluating research and development projects. The analysis highlights the specific characteristics of pharmaceutical research and development projects from both business and financial perspectives, including their extended duration and phased structure, key sources of uncertainty, relevant economic and regulatory aspects, and the potential for managerial intervention throughout the project lifecycle. By doing so, it underscores the importance of adaptive project management tools in high-risk, innovation-driven sectors
