Tourism is considered to be an essential means of empowering women in the national, regional and global economy, presenting both opportunities for gender equality and women’s empowerment. However, the general lack of women’s empowerment worldwide calls for research. This paper investigates opportunities for women to improve their socioeconomic status through tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia. Its methodology is based on qualitative research. A survey was conducted on a sample of 388 female respondents engaged within the tourism sector from these countries. The results are presented through descriptive methods, comparing the attitudes of women 18 to 65 years of age, their respective levels of education and barriers within entrepreneurship activities in tourism. The data obtained were analyzed in accordance with the objectives of this study and the research questions posed. It is found that training and further education as well as providing financial assistance would significantly assist women in opening their own tourism business within the region. The study also finds that women generally report financial support as a crucial factor in helping support business in the tourism sector.

Years which are encompassed by the research, according to the mean daily air temperatures and precipitation, were characterized by the frequent occurrence of extremely warm and dry vegetation periods. The aim of the research is to estimate the economic viability of the production of maize, potatoes and tomatoes in terms of FI (full irrigation). The assessment of the economic viability of the application of the irrigation system when it comes to maize and potato production is done on the basis of a comparative analysis of the realized profit in the natural water regime and FI, whereas in the case of greenhouse tomato production it is done on the basis of comparative analysis of profit achieved in terms of RDI (regulated deficit irrigation) and FI. The research results indicate a positive economic effect of the irrigation system implementation because in our climate the water needs of a culture cannot be satisfied solely by precipitation, and thus water deficit occurs. This lack of rainfall causes yield reduction because it is the main parameter which increases the production profitability. Therefore, increasing the area under irrigation is very important.

The research objective is to identify causes and alternatives for exiting the loss zone for agricultural enterprises in Serbia. The subject of the research is financial performance of agricultural enterprises in 2010-2014. Economic and financial power of all medium sized agricultural enterprises was determined by applying financial analysis. Based on the sample of least successful entities, the causes and alternatives for exiting the loss zone were identified. The results show that loss appears due to a reduction in operating income or in contribution margin, or due to an increase in financial expenses. The first suggested alternative refers to increasing the volume of production and sales at current global price parity, while the second assumes shifting global price parity in favour of sales prices at current real capacity utilization rate. The effects of proposed alternatives are evaluated by two measures of profitability - return on assets and return on equity.

Self-employment constitutes a significant share of the workforce in Serbia. Due to the equally high poverty as well as self-employment rates in Serbia, this paper aims to examine whether there is any prevalence between the two. Moreover, it also seeks to investigate what detriments exist within self-employment that keep or lead to poverty among self-employed people. The research is based on both longitudinal and cross-sectional SILC data. The main results indicated higher poverty exposure for solo entrepreneurs and those employed in family enterprises. Businesses run by men, low-skilled individuals, and young entrepreneurs are all at a much higher risk of poverty than other entrepreneurs or employees, especially those represented by women and highly educated individuals. The paper provides significant inputs for (1) managing differences within the active population at risk of income poverty and (2) monitoring outcomes of the self-employed, given that more than half of them are involved in the agricultural sector.