The influence of global crisis on distributive trade in the countries in the SEE region
Although the global crisis started in the economically leading parts of the world (primarily in the USA), due to the domino effect it has progressively spread to the rest of the world, including the SEE region. Besides, although the sources of global crisis can primarily be found in the financial markets, the faltering of world economy was very fast and systematically transferred to other sectors, particularly the significant sector of trade and retail. Thus, the subject of the paper is the analysis of the influence of global recession on retail in the SEE region countries. The goal is to view the global crisis influence on distributive trade recession, on business performances and competitiveness of players in trade, by analyzing the indicators of the effect of distributive trade at the individual country level (share in GDP, employment, turnover in retail, number of retail stores, etc.). The paper will also attempt to analyze the influence of global crisis on the process of trade internationalization within the region. The significance of this research is in its empirical contribution to better understanding of the conditions the distributive trade sector in these countries is, hit by the effects of crisis, as well as in considering possibilities of efficient functioning in given circumstances. Besides, the research is significant in that the obtained results may serve as a basis for future studies, and for a number of conclusions essential in a practical sense, and needed to define prospects of a way out of the crisis.