The Determinants of Financial Euroization in a Post-Transition Country: Do Threshold Effects Matter?

This paper investigates the long-run and short-run determinants of financial euroization (FE) using both linear and threshold models. We model deposit euroization (DE) and credit euroization (CE) in Croatia, a post-transition country recording very high and persistent unofficial FE. The results suggest that only the portfolio view is important for explaining DE and CE. The market failure view does not seem to matter for FE in Croatia. Both nominal and real exchange rate changes have a strong effect on FE in the long run; the former is more important for DE and the latter for CE. In the short and long run CE is also determined by matching behavior of banks’ foreign currency positions. Both DE and CE respond to changes in inflation and exchange rate volatility. Threshold cointegration confirms that FE determination is subject to significant threshold effects, while error correction models suggest that FE adjustment is very slow and asymmetric, partly due to very strong FE persistence.financial euroization, transition, cointegration, threshold

Reconfigurable knots and links in chiral nematic colloids

Tying knots and linking microscopic loops of polymers, macromolecules, or defect lines in complex materials is a challenging task for material scientists. We demonstrate the knotting of microscopic topological defect lines in chiral nematic liquid crystal colloids into knots and links of arbitrary complexity by using laser tweezers as a micromanipulation tool. All knots and links with up to six crossings, including the Hopf link, the Star of David and the Borromean rings are demonstrated, stabilizing colloidal particles into an unusual soft matter. The knots in chiral nematic colloids are classified by the quantized self-linking number, a direct measure of the geometric, or Berry's, phase. Forming arbitrary microscopic knots and links in chiral nematic colloids is a demonstration of how relevant the topology can be for the material engineering of soft matter.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Propagation and antioxidative enzymes of Campanula velebitica Borbás grown in vitro

Background and purpose: Micropropagation possibility for Campanula velebitica Borbás (Campanulaceae), a rare Croatian endemic plant was studied. Additionally, the activity of several antioxidative enzymes, as biomarkers of stress conditions, was investigated in plants grown in vitro. Materials and methods: Shoots from aseptically germinated seeds, collected from natural habitat,were used for culture initiation. Multiplication rate of shoots was monitored after six weeks on half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0, 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 M m6-benzylaminopurine (BA). Rooting was induced on half-strength MS medium supplemented with 2.9 or 5.7 mM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA); or 2.5 or 4.9 mM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Activity of ascorbat (APX) and guaiacol (GPOD) peroxidases as well as catalase (CAT) was determined in shoot extracts spectrophotometrically and in gel. Results and conclusions: The highest multiplication rate, 7.7 shoots per explant, was achieved in the 3rd subculture on the medium containing 1.0 mMBA. Very good rooting (>90%) of excised shootswas achieved on media containing either indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) or indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). On the medium containing 4.9 mM IBA flowering was observed. Activities of APX and GPOD were significantly increased onmedia containing lower concentrations of BA (0.2 and 0.5 mM).Native PAGE analysis revealed one CAT, three GPOD and two APX isoenzymes. We conclude that C. velebitica is easily propagated in in vitro conditions, without substantial stress response. With further studies of plantlet acclimation, this endemic plant species could be efficiently preserved through culture in vitro

Response of Kalanchoe daigremontiana to wounding and infection with Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Background and Purpose: Transformation of plant tissue with Agrobacterium tumefaciens includes wounding of plant and subsequent infection by bacteria. Polyphenol oxidase activity and oxidative stress parameters – the content of H2O2, as well as activity and isoenzymes of antioxidative enzymes catalase, pyrogallol and guaiacol peroxidase were investigated as markers of plant response to wounding and infection. Materials and Methods: Five tissue types – healthy tissue, wounded tissue, tissue in immediate proximity of the wound, tumour tissue and tissue next to the tumourwere collected on 7th, 14th and 21st day afterwounding or infection. Activities of antioxidative enzymes were evaluated spectrophotometrically. Isoenzymes were separated electrophoretically in native conditions. H2O2 content was estimated by measuring the titanium hydro--peroxide complex. Results and Conclusion: All measured parameters were remarkably different in tumour in comparison to healthy tissue. Activities of peroxidases were significantly increased, accompanied with induction of new isoenzymes. After two weeks of the experiment catalase activity was also significantly increased in tumour tissue as well as in tissue next to the wound. H2O2 content was lower in tumour after three weeks. Aside from tumour tissue, polyphenol oxidase activity was significantly increased in tissue next to the tumour. Remarkably increased peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activity in tumour tissue, additional isoenzymes of peroxidases as well as decreased H2O2 content, indicated changes in tissue organisation and induction of defence mechanisms against pathogen, in which these two groups of enzymes are involved.Wounded tissue, as well as tissue next to the wound or infection, did not show significant variation from healthy tissue

History matters: development and institutional persistence of the Habsburg Military Frontier in Croatia

In this paper we explore the effect of the long-gone Habsburg Military Frontier on modern institutions in Croatia. We use the Life in Transition Survey and geographic regression discontinuity design to identify the causal mechanism between historical institutions and attitudes towards trust and corruption. We find that the areas of the former Military Frontier are underdeveloped and poorer with worse economic performance indicators. Our results suggest that respondents living in the former Military Frontier territory have lower levels of interpersonal trust, a higher level of trust in public authorities, but also tend to bribe those institutions more often when they interact with them. We claim that the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s is not just a confounding factor in the analysis but also a potential channel and find evidence that attitudes towards bribery can survive even harsh wars, while trust in public institutions collapses during extreme events of violence

Millennials and Early Retirement: An Exploratory Study

The article explores the extent to which working conditions and health factors shape Millennials’ preferences to retire early in the European context. On the one hand, Millennials’ approach to life and work potentially implies a preference to retire early. Yet, on the other hand, the ongoing trend of tightening conditions and penalizing early retirement, as well as the expected decrease in living standards in old age for Millennial cohorts, restricts options and discourages early retirement. The results indicate that Millennials across Europe do not explicitly express a wish to retire early. This holds true most prominently for Millennials who are healthy and satisfied with their job. The analysis employs a classification decision tree model as the main method

Tko razgovara u Kalnovečkim razgovorima Ivana Goluba? Analiza nositelja iskaza i lirskog višeglasja

Ivan Golub\u27s Kalnovečki razgovori (Kalnovec discussions) (1979) are a comprehensive poetic structure composed mainly of monologues and dialogues. The speakers can be detected only from certain parts of expressions. To a large extent it is little Ivica, who presents childhood memories from his native village of Kalinovac (in Kajkavian dialect: Kalnovec) in Podravina region. Certain members of his close family, along with some neighbours and villagers can also be identified as speakers of certain statements. However, for a large number of statements it is not at all clear who articulated them. Therefore, after reconstruction of those speakers, for whose identity there are more or less reliable indicators, there is an attempt on one side to figure out who could be the speakers, where there are no such indicators, and on the other side to explain why the identity of the speakers was not mentioned.Kalnovečki razgovori (1979.) Ivana Goluba opsežna su pjesnička struktura, sačinjena uglavnom od dijaloških i monoloških iskaza. Pritom je tek iz dijela iskaza jasno vidljivo tko su njihovi nositelji. Najčešće je to mali Ivica koji u djelu iznosi svoje reminiscencije na djetinjstvo u rodom podravskom selu Kalinovcu. Kao nositelji pojedinih iskaza mogu se identificirati i pojedini članovi njegove uže obitelji te pojedini susjedi i mještani. No, u ne tako malom broju iskaza nije niti izdaleka jasno tko ih izgovara. S obzirom na to, nakon rekonstrukcije onih nositelja iskaza za čiji identitet postoje više ili manje pouzdani pokazatelji, pokušava se s jedne strane nazrijeti tko bi mogli biti nositelji onih iskaza u kojima takvih pokazatelja nema te s druge strane objasniti zašto se identitet nositelja tih iskaza ne navodi

Utječe li blizina sukobu na turizam: Slučaj NATO bombardiranja

Although conflict, war, violence, and terrorism naturally affect tourism, research that identifies possible channels through which these effects propagate is scarce. We explore if the adverse effects are channeled through proximity to conflict areas. We use the conflict in Kosovo in 1999 and the country Croatia as a quasi-natural experiment and take advantage of the specific north-west to south-east orientation of Croatian Adriatic counties to identify the effect of NATO bombing in Kosovo on tourism outcomes as well as the potential proximity channel. Using data on the population of Croatian firms in the 1993–1999 period and the difference-in-differences identification strategy we find that tourism companies’ revenues decreased significantly due to NATO bombing, especially in accommodation services and in companies with 50 or more employees. By analyzing heterogeneous effects with respect to the distance of the firm from Kosovo—using a linear and a more flexible model—we argue that within-country proximity to conflict is not a significant channel through which the negative effect propagates.Iako sukobi, rat, nasilje i terorizam prirodno utječu na turizam, rijetka su istraživanja koja identificiraju moguće kanale kojima se ti učinci šire. U ovom radu istražujemo šire li se štetni učinci putem kanala blizine području sukoba. Sukob na Kosovu 1999. godine i Hrvatsku, a posebno njezinu specifičnu sjeverozapadno-jugoistočnu orijentaciju jadranskih županija, koristimo kao kvazieksperiment kojim identificiramo učinak bombardiranja NATO-a na Kosovu na turizam u Hrvatskoj kao i potencijalni kanal blizine sukobu. Koristeći podatke o hrvatskim poduzećima u razdoblju od 1993. do 1999. godine i identifikacijsku strategiju razlike-u-razlikama, pronalazimo da su prihodi od turizma bili značajno smanjeni zbog bombardiranja NATO-a, posebice u poduzećima koja pružaju usluge smještaja i u poduzećima s 50 ili više zaposlenih. Analizom heterogenih učinaka s obzirom na udaljenost poduzeća od Kosova—koristeći linearni i fleksibilniji model—tvrdimo da unutar zemlje blizina sukobu nije značajan kanal kojim se širi negativni učinak bombardiranja

Corporate income taxation and external balances in the European Union

This study examines the impact of corporate taxation on the external balances of 27 European Union member countries from the late 1990s to 2021. Using an ARDL process and a 2-stage least squares estimation procedure, we find that, in the short term, higher corporate taxation is positively and significantly related to the current account balance and the trade balance for the whole sample. There are considerable differences in the effects in the euro area and non-euro countries, with the latter experiencing a much stronger short-term impact. In the long term, there are no critical differences in the results between the two groups, and the impact of corporate taxation is positive but statistically significant only for the trade balance. The size of the impact of corporate taxation on net exports and current account balances is of similar magnitude, which likely implies that the international profit shifting via manipulating intrafirm prices in international trade does not strongly affect the external balances in our sample. Our results imply that initiatives to increase global tax rates could be justified from an international trade perspectiv