Service industries are the most intensive users of information-communication technology (ICT) and some developed countries have already displayed noticeable productivity gains due to ICT use in services. The pattern of intensive use of ICT in services tends to be replicated in transition economies, however the evidence of ICT impacts on growth and productivity is lacking at the aggregate and industry level owing to deficient data and methodological problems. To overcome some of the problems in estimating the effects of ICT use we pursue firm-level analysis and apply production function approach to estimate the impact of ICT on the performance of service firms in Slovenia. The results suggest that service firms are more intensive ICT users than manufacturing firms and that ICT use significantly influences the productivity of service firms. The positive impact of ICT use on productivity applies to all service firms irrespective of their size. The links are stronger for service firms with above average ICT use. Due to the absence of data on complementary expenditures for training and organisational change related to ICT adoption the results might overemphasise the effects of ICT investment.

Tourism is the most important export sector in Montenegro, with a share of 22% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a strong tendency toward growth. Tourism revenues contribute substantially to both the current account balance and employment. However, the current level of the tourist sector suffers from serious limitations. The switch from the current approach to tourism in Montenegro to a more sustainable tourism is only possible by becoming more innovative. Highlighting the importance of innovation in all its forms has been the motivation for our research. The application of the organizational, marketing, and design innovations of the Montenegrin tourism industry actors was examined in a survey, based on the Community Innovation Survey (CIS), with some necessary adaptations. The sample covered more than 70% of available tourism actors. The authors also analysed the experience from Slovenia, in particular the Slovenian example of the Bank of Tourism Potentials, finding this innovation potentially suitable for transfer to Montenegro. Based on the survey and analysis, the team designed certain recommendations for policy action that can be used as guidelines for policy makers.

Performance of the public sector is at the core of long-term wealth creation and welfare improvement. Yet, its measurement remains inadequate and flawed with data deficiency. In this paper we propose an extended framework for the assessment of public services performance that accounts for long-term impacts on welfare and empirically evaluate it across twenty-five European countries on the basis of a wide set of proxy indicators. We relate the performance scores to input costs indices and propose a coherent typology of countries that corresponds to the patterns of economic effectiveness of public services. The empirical analysis reveals that, because of differences in input costs across the enlarged EU, the economic effectiveness of public services varies to a much larger extent than the performance, with some relatively large-sized governments (Sweden, Denmark, Austria) being the most effective ones.