This paper analyses value-added tax (VAT), with special emphasis on efficiency in the EU-28 Member States and Turkey, over the period from 2009 to 2013. From the results of the analysis, we concluded that, the highest efficiency ratio (50.8) was recorded in Croatia in 2013. This indicates that Croatia’s value-added tax revenues as percentage of gross domestic product in the state budget were very high (12.7) in comparison to Turkey’s (9.0) in 2013. As such, VAT is one of the most important taxes in the EU-28 Member States and many countries worldwide, like Turkey. The current VAT system in EU-28 Member States and Turkey is quite complex for the growing number of businesses operating cross-border. To increase investment, competitiveness and growth, an action plan on VAT is proposed for the creation of a single VAT area. The VAT system needs to be more efficient and simpler for businesses to use.

The implementation of fiscal rules has been the central point of economic debates in the European Union institutions and Member States. They indicate the direction in which policymakers aim to improve public finances in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The aim of this paper is to analyse the efficiency of the fiscal rule index and fiscal rule strength index in the European Union Member States, with special emphasis on Croatia. The methodology and data of the European Commission’s DG ECFIN were used to analyse the efficiency of the fiscal rule index and fiscal rule strength index by type and government sectors in the European Union Member States during the 2007-2014 period. Our analysis shows that trends in the values of the fiscal rule strength index and standardized fiscal rule index indicate that fiscal rules are becoming more important and efficient as policy tools compared to the pre-crisis period, and that the situation in Croatia has been continuously improving since its accession to the EU in mid- 2013.

Public sector efficiency has undergone much scrutiny in literature, especially because of limited public resources for financing public needs at national and sub-national levels. Studies on public sector efficiency usually include country comparisons or analyse the efficiency of public expenditures in a particular sector (e.g. education and health care) (Afonso and Aubyn, 2004 ; Lockheed and Longford, 1989 ; Hollingsworth, et al., 1999). There are a number of studies which look at public expenditure efficiency of local and regional governments (Melkers and Willoughby, 2005 ; Afonso and Fernandes, 2008 ; De Borge and Naper, 2006 ; Afonso and Scaglioni, 2005). The main conclusion from the conducted research is that cost efficiency increases parallel to the size of local government units. The objective of this paper is to explore the efficiency of local government expenditure, with special emphasis on Croatian counties in the period 2005 2014. Croatia consists of twenty counties. Most of the existing public functions in Croatia remain under the jurisdiction of the central state. This is the case even with public functions that are partially decentralised (education, health care and social welfare), since responsibility and financing are divided between the central, regional and local levels of government. The majority of public resources in local budgets is spent on providing a range of public services and ensuring access to education, health care and social welfare to citizens. These three public functions account for almost two thirds of total sub-national government spending. To evaluate the efficiency of public expenditures and the average deviation level in Croatian counties in the period 2006 2015, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology was used to process data. Farnell laid the foundations for the DEA model in 1957, which was later developed by Charnes, et al. (1978). This method identifies the most efficient units in a given set, without assuming any type of functional relationship between inputs and outputs. Our analysis covered twenty Croatian counties (Zagreb, Krapina-Zagorje, Sisak-Moslavina, Karlovac, Varazdin, Koprivnica-Krizevci, Bjelovar-Bilogora, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Lika- Senj, Virovitica-Podravina, Pozega-Slavonija, Brod-Posavina, Zadar, Osijek-Baranja, Sibenik- Knin, Vukovar-Srijem, Split-Dalmatia, Istria, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Medimurje) and three public functions (education, health care and social welfare). The DEA model inputs comprised total expenditure for education, health care and social welfare of each county, while outputs consisted of population density and gross domestic product per capita in each county. To obtain meaningful results, additional input and output variables were used in this analysis. We expected the DEA model to identify significant differences in the efficiency of expenditure on education, health care and social protection between Croatian counties. This analysis contributes to research evidence that show that larger counties are more efficient in public spending than smaller ones. Finally, this paper identifies some of the main causes of existing inefficiencies in overall public spending at county level, inefficiencies in public expenditure in each of the examined sectors (education, health care, social welfare), and gives recommendations aimed at increasing the efficiency of public spending at county level.

The paper provides empirical insights about the existing practice and the effects of using tax incentives for R&D in Croatia¨s large companies. In order to determine the current situation and analyze the effects from applying tax incentives for R&D, a survey was developed. The research methodology includes descriptive methods of statistical analysis of the data from the survey conducted in 85 Croatian large companies.

U radu se obrađuje hrvatski pravni okvir za sprjecavanje izbjegavanja placanja poreza. Poseban je naglasak stavljen na ulogu tzv. opceg pravila (GAAR-a) kao jednog od kljucnih instrumenata protuevazijske porezne politike. Autori ukazuju na postojece nedostatke hrvatskog pravnog okvira u ovom podrucju te isticu da je postojanje veceg broja posebnih protuevazijskih odredbi (tzv. SAAR-ova) vise posljedica „normativnog lutanja“ nego jasnih porezno- politickih ciljeva. Posebna je pozornost posvecena i međuodnosu između relevantnog domaceg pravnog okvira i zahtjeva koji proizlaze iz prava Europske unije. U tom smislu autori ukazuju, između ostaloga, i na odredbe Zakona o porezu na dobit kojima su implementirane protuevazijska pravila propisana Direktivom o spajanjima i Direktivom o maticnom i zavisnom drustvu. U svjetlu najnovijih zakonodavnih prijedloga institucija EU-a, posebno preporuke Europske komisije o borbi protiv „agresivnog poreznog planiranja“, autori zauzimaju jasan stav kako uvođenje opceg pravila u hrvatsko porezno pravo predstavlja nužnost te bi se pokazalo svrsishodnim iz perspektive vise željenih ciljeva porezne politike.

The aim of the present study was to explore the perspective for entrepreneurship among PhD students coming from variety of disciplines. More precisely, to identify the most important entrepreneurial competences for succeeding in the entrepreneurial venture, to explore whether these competences are being developed during the 3rd cycle studies, and to explore the entrepreneurial intentions of the future doctors. In order to choose the most important entrepreneurial competences, individual semi-structured interviews with ten entrepreneurs from different fields were conducted. In addition, the importance of each competence was evaluated in form of the questionnaire, by seventeen entrepreneurs. After the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the interviews and the questionnaire, 20 competences were selected as the most important entrepreneurial competences. These 20 competences were then evaluated by 50 PhD students from different fields of study. They evaluated the importance of each entrepreneurial competence, the level of its development during their PhD studies, and indicated their entrepreneurial intentions after finishing the PhD. The most important and the most developed competences are presented in the results. In addition, the results showed relatively high entrepreneurial intentions in case of not finding a job after the PhD and in general. These results imply the need for incorporating some sort of entrepreneurial training and the development of entrepreneurial competences adapted to each subject area during the PhD studies. Published online : 06 June 2016

Organizational citizenship behaviors are not directly rewarded by organizations. However, they seem to contribute to excellent performance at work. The aim of this study is to test quality of working life’s (QoWL) mediating role in the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). 203 French adults working regularly in teams completed validated self-report measures corresponding to each construct. The collected data showed that in the studied sample, a high quality of working life was associated with Sportsmanship behaviors. However, mediation was not observed for the other OCB subscales: Altruism, Helping, or Civic virtues. These behaviors tend to occur in individuals with high emotional intelligence scores, unrelated to their quality of working life. Theoretical background, practical implications, and limitations of the study are discussed.

The current study aims to examine the moderating effect of different dimensions of Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS) in the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction and mental health. We believe that the three TMMS dimensions (emotional attention, clarity and repair) will have different moderating effects. 835 university students from Spain, Portugal and Brazil participated in the investigation completing the short version of the trait metamood scale (TMMS24), Perceived Stress Scale, Satisfaction with life scale and General Health Questionnaire. The hierarchical regression analyses indicated different interactive effects of different TMMS-24 dimensions and stress in predicting life satisfaction and mental health. The only TMMS-24 dimension found to interact significantly with stress in predicting life satisfaction was emotional repair. When students perceive increased stress, the ones with lower emotional repair reported less satisfaction with life.

In order to protect environment, some states use different fiscal and parafiscal instruments that can be financially significant. One of these instruments are enviornmental taxes, which have a positive influence on the environment. The aim of this paper is to analyse types, importance and financial impact of environmental taxes in EU and Croatia. Analysis of an average revenue share from environmental taxes in GDP had shown that in the period between 2000 and 2013 the biggest average was recorded in Denmark (4.52%) and Netherlands (3.45%), and the lowest in France (1.97%) and Spain (1.82%). In Croatia there are eight different types of environmental taxes and charges. Their total share in revenues in the state budget was 3.45 % of gross domestic product in 2013 .In the period between 2008 and 2012 budgets of the Republic of Croatia collected the highest amount of tax revenue from energy tax, while natural resources taxes were negligible.

As of 1 July 2013, i.e. with Croatia’s accession to the European Union, the number of Member States of the European Union rose to 28. The diversity of tax systems among the Member States causes interferences in cross-border activities of tax firms. That encourages transfer of income to countries with lower tax rates. The aim of this paper is to present the main points of view on the implications of the introduction of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) in Croatia. This paper also estimates the effects of the prospective apportionment procedure on corporate group entities in Croatia. The acceptance of the CCCTB system will make Croatia attractive to foreign investors. It will also enable foreign multinational companies to do business in Croatia, which will contribute to its economic growth. Keywords: Fiscal policy, corporate income tax, common consolidated corporate tax base, formula apportionment

De nombreuses etudes ont montre que l'intelligence emotionnelle (IE) permet de predire differents comportements cognitifs emotionnels et sociaux (Di Fabio, Palazzeschi, Asulin-Peretz et Gati, 2013; Fugate, Kinicki & Ashfort, 2004; Joseph & Newman, 2010; Salovey et Mayer, 1990; Van Rooy & Viswesvaran, 2004) le bien-etre psychologique et physique ainsi que la sante mentale (Martins, Ramalho & Morin, 2010; Schutte, Malouff, Thorsteinsson, Bhullar & Rooke, 2007). En outre, les recherches etudiant les effets des formations en Competences Emotionnelles (CE) montrent que ces dernieres permettent d’ameliorer certaines dimensions cognitives, emotionnelles et comportementales liees a la sante (Schutte, Malouff & Thorsteinsson, 2013). Notre recherche examine si (a) les CE peuvent etre developpee chez les adultes chomeurs, (b) si ces effets de formation sont moderes par la duree du chomage et (c) si les changements en CE contribuent aux changements de bien-etre physique et psychologique (etude 1). Nous faisons par ailleurs l’hypothese que les perspectives d'employabilite des chomeurs adultes peuvent etre ameliorees apres la formation (etude 2). La recherche d'emploi est testee, comme un possible facteur determinant des effets de l'intervention, de meme que nous examinons si les changements en CE sont associes aux des ressources et des strategies d'adaptation (etude 3). Les resultats montrent un impact differentiel de la formation en fonction de la duree du chomage et de la recherche d'emploi. En outre, le changement dans la CE predit de facon significative des changements dans le stress percu, les plaintes somatiques, la sante mentale, les deux dimensions de l'humeur, la satisfaction avec la vie, l'optimisme, la qualite des relations sociales ainsi que les strategies d'adaptation orientees vers les problemes. En outre, l'intervention a eu des effets positifs sur l'employabilite percue, l’employabilite reelle et l'auto-efficacite entrepreneuriale. Les resultats sont discutes au regard du potentiel de developpement des CE et de l'efficacite de l'intervention en CE pour les chomeurs.

BACKGROUND The present study aimed at analyzing whether training in emotional competences (EC) would increase the level of perceived EC among unemployed adults, whether the unemployment duration would moderate the effects of the training and whether the changes in EC would predict changes in the levels of perceived stress, somatic complaints, mental health, and mood states. METHODS Seventy-five participants were randomly allocated to an EC training program, or a control group. Following a controlled experimental design, the participants completed all the measures prior to the intervention (T1), one month later (T2) and six months after the first data collection (T3). RESULTS The results showed that change in EC after the training depended on the duration of unemployment. The difference between the experimental and control groups in EC after the training was significant when the participants had been unemployed for less time. In addition, the results indicated that changes in EC were found to be significant predictors of changes in perceived stress, mental health, somatic complaints, and vigor and confusion (mood dimensions) six months after the intervention. CONCLUSION The data suggest that unemployment duration plays a crucial role in determining the range and intensity of intervention effects.

Fiscal rules have been the centre of economic debate in European Union Member States. They indicate the direction in which policymakers aim to evolve public finances. In recent years the public finances of European Union Member States have been affected by two major changes in economic and institutional settings. These are the establishment of Economic and Monetary Union and progressive fiscal decentralisation in a significant number of European Union Member States. In order to support the fiscal decentralisation process European Union Member States need to have appropriate fiscal policy rules. They can stimulate policy coordination between different levels of government depending on their institutional coverage. The aim of this paper is to present an analysis of the fiscal rule index and fiscal rule strength index in European Union Member States, with special emphasis on Croatia. The Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs methodology was used in analysing the fiscal rule index and fiscal rule strength index by type and government sectors in the period from 2003-2013 in European Union Member States. Based on our results, the fiscal rule index for Croatia, from the period 2003-2013, is continually on the rise from -1.01 in 2008 to a high 1.43 in 2013.