Abstract This study investigates emigration patterns among healthcare professionals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, examining the underlying reasons for emigration and proposing actionable solutions to curb this trend. A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining quantitative data from surveys administered to medical and health studies students with qualitative insights from interviews with governmental officials, language educators, and statistical agencies. The findings reveal significant dissatisfaction with socio-economic and political conditions, prompting healthcare professionals to seek opportunities abroad. Major reasons for going abroad include political instability, low wages, and poor working conditions, while better pay and career opportunities are attracting factors. While the study is limited by the lack of comprehensive official statistics on emigration, the implications of this research emphasize the need for policy interventions aiming to improve local working conditions and reform educational systems. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to effectively address the issue of brain drain.

For any society that strives for growth and development, focus on quality education is of particular importance. With the adoption of the Lisbon strategy in 2000, the European Union (EU) started an upward trajectory towards the most competitive economy in the world. Cooperation in education has become an important instrument for mutual understanding and sharing of European values. This cooperation is supported with numerous relevant policy strategies, action plans, available statistical data, evaluation reports, road maps, thematic working groups and programmes, special network structures and idea exchange platforms within the EU. Key relevant strategies, plans and respective indicators are analyzed in this paper. Special attention is given to progress in candidate and potential candidate countries with regards to recommendations and goals of EU. It is concluded that more effort of the educational authorities is needed in all countries and one of the areas that needs to be further developed is evidence based policy making in education.

The current study investigates how attitudes towards digital transformation and personal innovativeness affect the acceptance of emergency remote learning in the COVID-19 pandemic environment. The pandemic has affected all aspects of societies across the globe, including higher education that was also a significant push-up factor for the digital transformation of higher education. Thus, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting emergency remote learning acceptance among the higher education students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The results presented in this paper gained from a study carried out among higher education students in BiH cover the period of April – July 2020 via the open-source platform. The study focused on the students’ attitude towards a digital transformation is a significant factor in accepting emergency remote learning. Also, the personal innovativeness score has proven to be a crucial factor for adopting this new learning setting, i.e., more innovative students have a greater emergency remote learning acceptance than students with a lower personal innovativeness score. Hence, this study pinpoints the necessity of changing the attitudes towards technology applications in education. It would increase the usage of remote learning services and provide students with knowledge and skills for the new labour market

The relationship between education and labor market is significant and complex. Education increases employment opportunities and reduces the chance of occurrence and duration of unemployment. Earnings, among other things, represent private returns on investment in education and are in the center of the analysis of this article. The main aim of this article is to estimate private and social returns on investment in primary, secondary and tertiary education in selected old and new member states of the European Union (EU) by using two methods (Earnings function and Short-cut method) based on the Mincer equation. Results have shown that there is no statistically significant difference between the estimated private and social returns on investment in primary, secondary and tertiary education in groups of old and new EU members. New members converge towards the old members, at least when it comes to returns on investment in these three education levels. The results also indicate the existence of low and negative returns on investment in education in both old and new EU members. Thus, this article with its new findings contributes significantly to the literature that studies the universality of conclusions on returns on investment in education and the methodology that is used.

PurposeLiterature suggests that open innovation approach of large firms shows different characteristics with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), so this paper tends to shed light on these structural differences. With the aim to gain a deeper understanding of the adoption of inbound innovation practices among firms in one small transition economy, this study is focused on the question of how different dimensions of inbound innovation practices affect the innovative performances of SMEs and large firms and how, eventually, these practices should be framed and managed differently.Design/methodology/approachThis paper develops a research model which analyses inbound innovation practices on a data set of 227 SMEs and large firms operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The data were collected by using a questionnaire specifically designed for this research. Association between the level of innovation of products in firms and inbound practices, between exploit and explore strategies, between types of industry and different types of collaborations with partners outside the firm is assessed by canonical correlation.FindingsThe research results revealed that inbound innovation practices of manufacturing firms in different stages of innovation development process starting from idea generation, experimentation, up to the commercialization, have positive influence on their innovative performances.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing research on open innovation by providing empirical evidences for different dimensions of inbound innovation practices in SMEs and large firms. We offer a very important insight into open innovation practices and challenges beyond well-researched developed countries.

Abstract One of the biggest challenges facing the education system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is bridging the gap between the current state of higher education and the demand for research, innovation and a robust STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum. Higher education instiutions (HEIs) face poor R&D infrastructure while companies struggle with limited resources and the lack of internal researchers, all of which affect their capabilities to utilize university knowledge and research that will lead to further collaborations and innovations in STEM. Universities are primarily seen as a source of future employees as well as as a source of knowledge and innovation. This study aims to provide an overview and systematic analysis of the current state of scientific and research infrastructure and human resources in public and private universities located in the Sarajevo Canton region. This is done by using primary data collected through semi-structured interviews and a self-reporting comprehensive questionnaire in order to identify areas where further reforms and investments are needed. An analysis of the secondary data sources, such as current strategic documents and the existing assessments of education, was conducted. Consequently, this study offers several practical implications, including policy recommendations in areas such as higher education, research infrastructure and academic excellence, cooperation with the private sector, and IT infrastructure improvements.

Abstract Employment has been identified at the top of the list of young people’s concerns across Europe. Given the fact that in Bosnia and Herzegovina youth is one of the most vulnerable group, mainly due to the high unemployment rate, the main goal of this paper to determine the key individual and household characteristics of young people that influence their employment probability in order to support further development of decision-making policies in the labour market of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By using the USAID MEASURE-BiH National Youth Survey data set we analyse the effects of various individual and household characteristics on the probability of youth employment in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The analysis has revealed that education, age, gender and certain household characteristics have an impact on the probability of youth employment. The paper is expected to produce useful pieces of information that might be helpful for government decision-makers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of creating employment policies to support young people.

Continuous investment in education is a key factor in economic growth and development. Investing in education is an investment with a returns on investment and with multiple positive effects at the private and social levels. Earnings in the labor market represent private returns on investment in education and their measurement is in the center of the scientific literature. The main objective of this paper is to analyze modern theoretical and methodological approaches to measuring returns on investment in education, while analyzing the measurement methodology, indicators used and data sources. The scientific contribution of this paper is based on a concise and critical review of the scientific literature and trends in this field, with reference to the methodology used and indicators in measuring returns on investment in education.

Analysis of the interdependence of education and economic development is a subject of interest of researchers for many decades. A large number of published studies, papers and books on the impact of education on the process of economic development has given us the necessary foundation of a multidisciplinary approach in research process of link between education and development. Objectives were as follows: elaborate educational system of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its institutional framework; present the benefits and costs of education and define the challenges and obstacles in the field of educational policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Assessment of the educational system and educational policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as an overview of the educational system are given based on the findings of primary research and data from secondary sources. Secondary data used in research was obtained from reports and publications of domestic governmental and nongovernmental institutions, international organizations and others, while the primary data and analysis were obtained as a result of structured group and individual interviews. The study results suggest that education is an important factor of economic development and as such should be part of the economic policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Education should also be used as a factor of competitiveness, human development, integration and transition processes. This paper also presents recommendations for education policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina in which applicative contribution of the paper is reflected.

Znacaj obrazovanja za ekonomiju poput Europske unije je nemjerljiv. Ulaganje u obrazovanje, istraživanje i razvoj, promocija suradnje obrazovnih institucija i gospodarstva samo su neki od strateskih ciljeva EU-a. No, nejednakost i heterogenost, nezaposlenost, evidentno smanjenje povjerenja u institucije, sveprisutna korupcija i dr., prijetnja su daljem povecanju jaza i nejednakosti. U skladu s tim, ovaj rad imao je za cilj analizirati trenutne strateske pravce razvoja obrazovanja, trendove u koordinaciji i harmonizaciji specificnih politika obrazovanja u zemljama clanicama Europske unije. Pored navedenih, u radu su kriticki analizirani drustveni i ekonomski ciljevi obrazovanja definirani u strateskim dokumentima EU-e. Zakljucuje se da su kljucni izazovi koji predstoje pred EU-om: ogranicena nadležnost u podrucju obrazovanja i osposobljavanja te potreba za kontinuiranom pilagodbom specificnim potrebama nacionalnih obrazovnih sustava.