Background: Based on the results of research on the influence of certain internal and external factors on the profitability of insurance companies in the countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa in the 21st century which were published in a significant number of scientific and professional papers, the present study analyses insurance companies in Serbia in the period from 2015 to 2021. We chose this analysis bearing in mind the previous negative experiences and expressed distrust in the financial system, which greatly affected the readiness of policyholders to invest in life insurance products, as well as affecting significantly the development of life insurance in Serbia. Purpose: The aim of the paper is to present the business results of the insurance companies on the Serbian market in the analysed period and to determine which business performance the management of an insurance company should pay attention to in order to ensure positive business results. Study design/methodology/approach: We applied a fixed effects model on the nine selected variables. In the model, return on assets (ROA) is used as a dependent variable, while operating margin, expense ratio, investment ratio, growth rate of written premium of a company, company size, log (financial leverage), log (liquidity ratio), and market share are independent variables. Findings/conclusions: The results of the research indicate that there is a statistically significant and positive impact of operating margin and liquidity ratio on ROA, and statistically significant but negative impact of expense ratio and financial leverage on ROA. Limitations/future research: The limitation of our profitability analysis is that we were unable to analyse the impact of individual life insurance products on profitability. Bearing in mind numerous and significant social and economic changes over the last two years, the directions of our future research will be focused on their impact on the business operation of insurance companies.

This paper examines the relationship between insurance market development and economic growth in EU member states in the period 1998-2018. Our results indicate that there is no causality between premium per capita and GDP per capita growth in ... This paper examines the relationship between insurance market development and economic growth in EU member states in the period 1998-2018. Our results indicate that there is no causality between premium per capita and GDP per capita growth in ...

Public debt control is one of the most important challenges which global economies face. The aim of this paper is to examine the long-term relationship between public debt and the selected economic variables in the Republic of Serbia by using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. The empirical analysis conducted on the basis of the annual data in the period from 2000 to 2019 includes, apart from the debt-toGDP ratio as the dependent variable, 6 selected economic indicators, used in the model as independent variables. The obtained results indicate that economic growth and gross fixed capital formation have a statistically significant negative long-term effect on the public debt, while general government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) and trade openness (% of GDP) show a statistically significant positive long-term effect on the public debt. The estimated long-run coefficients related to inflation and unemployment have the expected sign, but they are statistically insignificant. The results of the study can be important to policy makers when defining the activities aimed at establishing public debt stability and achieving long-term sustainable economic results.

Increasing the competitiveness of agricultural products, sustainable management of rural resources, and demographic aspects of rural development are issues that unite both science and practice in thinking. The relevance of the topic is confirmed by data on the increase in population and demand for food, as well as changes in consumption habits of agricultural products. Research highlights the importance of applying the principles of the green economy using the example of plum production and marketing in the Republic of Serbia. Observing the average rate of fluctuation and the coefficient of variation of plum production around the calculated average value, we notice an uncertain market placement. The importance of the demographic picture of villages due to changes in rural population is depicted through the constant decrease in the agricultural population in the Republic of Serbia. The process of joining the European Union further emphasizes the importance of the green economy and sustainable development as priority areas for Serbia. Accession to the EU obliges the country to align with European standards, including those related to environmental protection and sustainable development. Thus, sustainable development represents a link between economic policy and environmental protection processes. The process of implementing the green economy in the agricultural sector in Serbia requires an active role of the state, regulatory framework, and support from international partners. Institutional support is the basis for successful implementation of efficient solutions. Additionally, it is important to promote innovation, short marketing channels, and knowledge exchange. Concrete measures involve organizing advisory services, training farmers through the modernization of agricultural holdings.

Tourism represents one of the most important economic activities for the global economy. Over the last several decades, the tourism industry has been achieving substantial growth and development in the global market, as well as a positive direct and indirect impact on other economic activities. The paper aims to examine the connection between five tourism indicators and the growth of gross domestic product on the example of EU countries in the period from 2001 to 2019. The research included a total of six variables; the gross domestic product being the dependent variable, while the selected five tourism indicators were independent variables. The main aim of the paper is to determine which of the researched tourism indicators have a statistically significant impact on GDP growth. The empirical analysis is based on IBM SPSS linear mixed procedures. The main findings are that business tourism spending (BTS) and domestic tourism spending (DTS) can predict in a statistically significant and positive way the growth of the gross domestic product in European Union countries.

The subject matter of this paper is measuring the risk of lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) from the point of view of the existing banking regulations. The paper starts from the hypothesis that an increase in the transparency of the credit risk measurement process would enable the timely detection of problems and leave room for the actions necessary for the management of small and mediumsized enterprises, as well as all creditors, and generate an opportunity for SMEs to provide more favorable sources of financing. In the research study, the well-known Altman Z-Score model was used to assess the probability of default and rank a company. The results of the application of the Z-Score model indicate that, to a certain extent, they can detect the companies in which bankruptcy may occur in the two years following the assessment, on the one hand, but they cannot be considered as reliable for the assessment of the probability of the bankruptcy of SMEs in the Republic of Serbia, on the other.