C40 - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics: GeneralReturn

The article presents an empirical analysis of the relation between recruitment in the all-volunteer Czech Armed Forces and selected economic indicators, including actual economic performance, situation on the domestic labour market and development of defence expenditures based on data for the period 2005-2019. The relation between military recruitment and economic performance was examined using values of GDP and GDP dynamics (GDP index). General unemployment rate, the economic activity index¹ and the military-to-general average wage ratio were used to analyse the relation of military recruitment and situation on the domestic labour market. The relation between military recruitment and defence expenditures was examined based on general defence burden (share of defence expenditures in GDP), state sector defence burden (share of defence expenditures in state budget expenditures) and year‑on‑year changes in defence expenditures.

In its drive to achieve a high-income country status, Malaysia aspires to attract more private investment into the services sector. However, empirical studies on the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI), especially in the services sector, are sparse, even more so at the industry level. The location theory asserts that FDI inflows into a host country are determined by variables related to resources, infrastructure, market conditions, cost and business environment. This paper investigates the validity of the location theory on Malaysia using a set of panel data for eight services industries from 2003 to 2010. We find that at the industry level, market size, ICT infrastructure and human capital have significantly influenced FDI inflows into the services sector. However, the impact of FDI liberalisation is not significant compared to the dynamic changes of the other variables as progress in FDI liberalization is slow and limited.

The paper highlights the results of the survey of potential retail customers. The survey emphasizes the relationship between their responses to the chosen marketing pricing strategies and the perception of the introduction of the euro and the crisis. The multi-dimensional techniques were used to implement input data concerning perceptions of the euro introduction and the crisis in order to create a segmentation of respondents dividing them into: optimists, pessimists, crisispessimists, euro-pessimists, profiteers. It was subsequently proven that the responses of the members of these segments to the chosen pricing strategies EDLP (Every Day Low Pricing), Hi-Lo (High Low Pricing) and PMG (Price Matching Guarantees) differ significantly. Furthermore, the relation between the found segmentation and the subjective perception and assignment to the social group from the point of financial security is shown. Moreover, further segmentation of respondents according to their subjective anxiety about their future was carried out. Finally, the emphasis is put on the relation between the perception of the euro introduction in the country during the current influence of the world economic crisis on potential retail customers in the East Slovak Region and their subjective anxiety about their future.

This study is a contribution to the empirical literature on the significance of productivity shocks in explaining a high saving-investment correlation, using data from a panel of 21 OECD countries over the period 1970-2003. The study looks at the distributional properties of the productivity shocks in order to test if productivity shocks can relate saving to investment. To this end, we divide the countries into three groups with respect to the distributional characteristics of productivity shocks in each country with an application of the Fuzzy-c-means (FCM) clustering technique. The results provide some support for the productivity shock argument, indicating that the saving retention coefficients are greater for the countries subject to large productivity shocks in magnitude.

This paper employs error-correction representation approach and conditional causality technique to assess the patterns of export-economic growth link in Slovenia. In general, the results support the existence of bi-directional causality between export variables and indicators of domestic economic activity. The evidenced bi-directional causality of exportoutput relation for Slovenia suggests that any characterization of a small country's growth as export-driven may be at least perfunctory. As the results imply, there are no trade-offs between whether to pursue a growth strategy of structural reforms for internal competitiveness with the goal of higher domestic growth and afterwards an increasing exports, or to apply trade policy for improving the international competitiveness and enabling the economy a quick response to foreign demand.