The concept of sustainable tourism development is imposed as an inevitable way of improving the tourism industry as a whole. This study tries to offer an adequate inclusion of sustainable factors in overall tourism development efficiency results. Through the detection and estimation of potential sources of efficiency, the paper will do the efficiency benchmarking of tourism services on the level of countries as destinations. In order to complete the task, data collection was focused on 27 EU countries and five Western Balkan countries over the period from 2011 to 2017. This paper utilized an output-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) procedure to estimate efficiency scores for each country, and a panel data Tobit regression model to emphasize the (in)significance of each individual tourism development indicator. The results in the first stage show relatively high-efficiency scores, particularly in the case of EU 15 countries and with room for improvement in the case of the others. The second stage reveals positive and significant effects on relative tourism efficiency by the sustainability of tourism development, the share of GDP, tourist arrivals and inbound receipts, as well as visa requirements and rate of use. Policymakers should gradually take control of the mentioned variables to protect the interests of all relevant stakeholders involved in the tourism development process.

Since the beginning of the application of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model in various areas of the economy, it has found its wide application in the field of finance, more specifically banks, in the last few years. The focus of this research was to determine the sustainability of the intermediate function of banks, especially in recent years when interest rates on deposits have been at a minimum level. The research was divided into two parts, wherein the first part determined the efficiency of the intermediate function of banks in the countries of the Western Balkans in the period from 2015 to 2019. The second part approached the regression analysis in which we determined the influence of the bank size, type of bank, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity on the defined efficiency. In the first stage we applied the output-oriented DEA model using deposits, labor costs, and capital as input variables; on the other side, we used loans and investments as output variables. We used data from the revised financial statements of the banks operating in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania. The results of our study showed that there is a difference in efficiency levels between countries and within countries in the considered time period. Furthermore, Tobit regression analysis showed a significant and negative influence of the bank type and M&A on relative technical efficiency of banks, and a positive and significant relationship between bank size and relative efficiency. These findings suggest that large commercial banks can sustain on the West Balkan market. It is to be expected that less efficient small banks will be taken over by large and more efficient banks.

This study aims to determine whether the same bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants affect banks’ profitability and liquidity. To achieve the set goal, panel data regression analysis was applied with fixed effects or random effects depending on the results of the Hausman test, as explained in the Results. The research is based on the use of aggregate data on bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants of banks’ profitability and liquidity in West Balkan countries during the period from 2007 to 2022. The dependent variables in the study are ROA, ROE used as proxies for banks’ profitability, and banks’ liquid reserves to banks’ total assets as a proxy for banks’ liquidity. The findings confirm that the bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants affect both banks’ profitability and liquidity in the same direction, except for a few variables. The main contribution of this research is a comprehensive and parallel view of banks’ profitability and liquidity determinants that enables a guide for bank management to better understand the significance of bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants’ effects on their business. The obtained results can improve the balance between the two important principles of banking business.

The financial systems of the West Balkan countries are mainly based on banks. For an efficient financial system, it is of immense importance that the banks operating in it do so with high levels of efficiency. Furthermore, efficiency is needed when it comes to involving banking institutions in the financial flows in order to maintain sustainability of the financial construction. The aim of this paper is to determine whether there is a difference in efficiency between the considered countries and thus to show which changes the decisionmakers have to make in order to improve the efficiency of their banking systems. We analyze data from the revised financial statements of all banks operating in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia for the period from 2015 to 2019, using loans and investment as input variables and interest income, non-interest income and net income as output variables. The results obtained from the output-oriented DEA model with a variable return to scale have shown higher efficiency levels in North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, while Serbia and Albania show lower efficiency. The individual analyses have shown that in order to improve efficiency levels, improvement is needed more in the correction of the investment amounts then in loan placements.

The circular economic system concentrates on closing the loop for resource flows by imitating the function of natural ecosystems in order to achieve sustainability. The aim of the paper is to introduce a comprehensive approach to assessing countries' performance in municipal waste management and utilization. The change in the efficiency of circular economy in the period from 2016 to 2019 has been analyzed using Data Envelopment Analysis model. Furthermore, Tobit regression model examined the influence of macroeconomic factors on achieved efficiency scores. Results indicate that the performance of the circular economy has an admirable level of efficiency level, as the average score is above 70%. Belgium, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden obtained the highest efficiency levels, while Greece and Cyprus experienced the lowest efficiency scores. The positive observation is that countries efficiency mainly has an ascending trend. Furthermore, the second stage analysis showed that resource productivity, private investments, jobs and gross value added related to the circular economy sector and GDP per capita significantly influence the efficiency of circular economy performance.

Background: Widely used in efficiency analysis, data envelopment analysis (DEA) found its use in country efficiency measurement concerning the achievement of desired values of macroeconomic indicators, most often the goals from the category of economic growth. Purpose: The objective of the paper is to examine the possibility of DEA application in sustainable development research. Methodology: The analysis was conducted using a non-oriented DEA model with variable return-to-scale in a group of 26 EU countries and Serbia, as a membership candidate. Four variables were used as input variables: inflation rate, unemployment rate, poverty rate and ecological footprint per capita. Three variables were used on the outputs side: inequality-adjusted human development index, GDP per capita and ecological deficit or reserve per capita. The annual data was collected for the time period of eight years, form 2010 until 2017. Findings: Results show that Finland is the only country efficient throughout the entire period. Average efficiency close to maximum was achieved by the Netherlands. Significant efficiency was achieved by Luxembourg, Germany and Sweden among countries that were EU members before 1995. Among other EU countries, Slovenia and Hungary achieved efficiency on a nearly maximum level. Also, efficient in more than half of the observed years were Cyprus and Romania. The most inefficient countries were the three Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Among the EU member countries before 1995, Italy and Portugal were the most inefficient. Concerning EU candidate Serbia, the efficiency achieved was generally close to average. Limitations: The performed analysis can answer the question of which country is the most efficient on the way to sustainability. However, the DEA method cannot show whether a country is developing absolutely sustainably or unsustainably, because DEA is a relative method and can only measure efficiency compared to the other units.