This paper analytically presents the factors of entrepreneurial intentions of students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The research problem can be defined by the question whether today a university can be called an “entrepreneurial university” which educates, prepares and encourages students to start their own business as a career option independently? Do economic policies of small countries contribute to their significant role in encouraging entrepreneurship, and what are predictors of entrepreneurial intentions of students? The study was conducted on a sample of 351 students at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Banja Luka in April 2016, based on previously empirically verified questionnaire that measures the support of closer social environment (friends and family), self-efficacy and acceptability of entrepreneurship as a career, as well as the entrepreneurial intention, through three dimensions of time - starting a business immediately after the end of their formal academic education, within 5 years after graduation and in an indefinite moment in the future. The methods of descriptive statistics, factor and correlation analyses have been applied. The aim of the research is to determine the predictors of entrepreneurial intentions of students in small countries in transition in the case ofstudents from BiH at the early stage during their education and whether their entrepreneurialintentions are influenced by the economic policies through the constructionof entrepreneurial infrastructure institutions? The research results indicate theexistence of clearly defined and mutually comparable latent variables that can beidentified as factors of entrepreneurial intentions of students. Personal competenceand motivation of students are predictors of entrepreneurial intentions, which isnot the case with the “entrepreneurial university” and the institutional support forentrepreneurs who are beginners.

In conditions of significant high youth unemployment rates in the transition countries of Southeast Europe, the subject of special interest of public administration and the academic community is researching the connection between stimulating entrepreneurial activity and launching independent entrepreneurial ventures and self-employment. Also, the subjectof research interest is factors influencing the entrepreneurial affinities andintentions of youth, who are finishing the process of formal education andtrying to get involved in the world of work, either as employees or employers.The subject research was conducted on a purposive (deliberate)sample of 448 respondents in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) andSerbia, collected through online questionnaire, with the aim of comparingcareer aspirations of youth towards entrepreneurial and managerial jobs.The research is an extension of the interest of the academic community,complements the previous intense research from the region of SoutheastEurope and gives a scientific contribution by modifying and testingpreviously conducted empirical research in BiH and Croatia (Umihanić,Đonlagić Alibegović & Alfirević, 2018), extending the sample to Serbia,where significant research of this kind has not been conducted. The results,obtained by using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (F-Test) andPost Hoc Fisher’s LSD test for testing research hypothesis, indicate thatthere are significant differences in the career orientation of the surveyedstudents between three observed countries. In Croatia and Serbia, the impactof society and national culture is neither favourable for entering entrepreneurship,nor for a managerial career. Attitudes are somewhat morefavourable in BiH, but not significantly more favourable in comparison toSerbia and Croatia.

The entrepreneurial involvement of educational institutions at the elementary and the secondary educational levels has not been systematically analyzed in the existing body of literature, although the decentralization and autonomy of educational institutions have been emphasized in educational policies since the 1980s. This study provides an empirical analysis of the entrepreneurial orientation, as related to the schools in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina and their principals. The influence of this orientation is analyzed from the perspectives of principals’ personal job satisfaction, perceived contribution to the society and the perception of the social role/influence of principalship. The empirical findings show that the entrepreneurial orientation of schools and their principals in Croatia and B&H are closely inter-related. More enterprising principals are also more satisfied with their jobs, and they feel to be contributing to the society more. However, the same does not apply to their perceived social standing/status, which could be attributed to their intrinsic motivation, but such a conclusion needs to be verified by further research. The results of this study show that the entrepreneurial orientation(s) of schools and school principals should be considered as useful descriptors of individual and institutional behaviour in the educational systems of South-East Europe.

In this study, authors analyze the practices and effectiveness of educational management and leadership, according to the selected psychological and sociological characteristics of school principals in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. The selected psychological traits have been already analyzed in the case of entrepreneurial orientation and proved to be relevant for differentiation of schools and principals, according to their inclination to entrepreneurship. In this paper, more comprehensive, analytic criteria are used to explore the effectiveness of educational management and leadership practices in the sample of Croatian and B&H principals. The objective of the study is to determine the significance of the psychological and sociological variables for the practice of school management and leadership, as well as to suggest potential implications for school leaders’ professional orientation and development.

1. INTRODUCTIONA recent report from the European Commission (2015, p. 6) finds that a minority of SMEs expands their business and the number of employees, with the SMEs creating 58% of total added value and 67% of employment in the non-financial business sector in 2014. Small business is especially important in developing countries (Rao, 2014; Ratten, 2014; Ul Haq et al., 2014 as stated in Hyder and Lussier, 2016). In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH OECD, 2014; Petkovic and Tesic, 2013). At the heart of the transitional process is entrepreneurial supporting institutions building as well as entrepreneurship and SMEs development (Hisrich et al., 2016; Trivic and Petkovic, 2015). Relevant institutions in a number of developed world economies, to a lesser or greater extent, stimulate growth and development of SMEs and entrepreneurship through adjusting business environment to defined needs of the SME sector, the rule of law or through the direct monetary incentives (Erastus et al., 2014).Unfortunately, despite all the institutional support in developed countries, the failure rate of small businesses is high globally. About 50% of new businesses fail during their first five years. Many smaller enterprises are also under increasing pressure from the companies they supply to meet new standards and design requirements linked to improved resource efficiency and recyclability (European Commission, 2013, p.10).The better understanding of reasons for entrepreneurial failure should provide additional assistance in increasing the success of new entrepreneurs, although it has been proved as difficult to predict which ventures will succeed or fail (Hyder and Lussier, 2016, p. 82). One of the main problems that SMEs are facing in transition countries such as BH Balling et al., 2009; Burk and Lehmann, 2006). There is a rather weak recovery in the SME sector, as related to entrepreneurs' access to capital (OECD, 2014). Guaranteed loans remain the most widely used instrument at governments' disposal to ease SMEs' access to finance (OECD, 2015).In the Republic of Srpska (RS), one of two B&H entities, where we have conducted empirical research, in addition to the lack of available alternative external sources of financing for start-ups and existing SMEs, such as angel investors, venture capital funds, factoring, mezzanine financing, crowdfunding, etc., there are a number of other factors, which could cause increasing failure rate of companies (Hisrich et al., 2016). During 2014, in the Republic of Srpska 3,242 new individual entrepreneurs were registered, while 4,965 were shut down. In addition, 839 new SMEs were registered, while 569 SMEs were shut down (Agency for development of small and medium-sized enterprises of the Republic of Srpska, 2015, p. 5).Although enormous efforts are being invested in order to create a conductive business environment for the growth of newly formed and development of existing SMEs, due to the impact of a number of different factors, of both internal and external nature, many companies shut down during the first years of existence (Chittithaworn et al., 2011). The most challenging problems, faced by 4,928 young businesses in the US, which were surveyed by the Kauffman Firm Survey include slow or lost sales (36 percent) and unpredictable business conditions (28 percent) (Robb and Farhat, 2013). Shut down of SMEs results from the inability of the business founders, entrepreneurs and managers to provide the company's operations over the long term in accordance with the relevant legal provisions. …

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the possibilities and limitations of venture capital formation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia where there has been a lack of success and benefits of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from this type of financing. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a rationale for specific methodological choices and justifies its choice. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. The methods section (research design) explains the entry criteria for the study population, specific imaging techniques and methods of data analysis. Findings – Venture capital invest in companies in the beginning to achieve an above average return on investment. Unfortunately, there are no officially registered venture capital funds in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the venture capital funds to operate, it is necessary to adopt regulations governing this area, to create a favorable tax system and introduce a cash basis for VAT calculation for SMEs. The ma...