Economic Analysis

Introductory Word from the Guest Editors

Petar Mitić — 2024-12-10

The MCDM-based Assessment of Solutions for Transition to Sustainable Industry 4.0: The Case of Serbia

Gabrijela Popović — 2024-11-29

Industry 4.0 implies the transformation of organizations into digital entities (Sony & Naik, 2020). It represents a new level of industrial development that has changed demands, competition, industry structure, and sustainability awareness (Dalenogare et al., 2018). The primary objective of this paper is to use Multiple-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) to identify the principal obstacles and solutions for successfully adopting the technologies that will facilitate a transition of the Serbian industry to sustainable Industry 4.0. The barriers' significance was defined using the Preference Selection Index – PSI (Maniya & Bhatt, 2010). The assessment of the solutions was performed by three decision-makers using the following MCDM methods: PSI, Compromise Ranking of Alternatives from Distance to Ideal Solution – CRADIS (Puška et al., 2022), and Integrated Simple Weighted Sum-Product Method—WISP (Stanujkic et al., 2021). The results revealed that logistics, reverse logistics management, and technology integration are the most significant barriers. The significance of logistics and warehousing management lies in their role as crucial facilitators for the sustainable development of industries, ensuring efficient and responsible movement, storage, and distribution of goods. Also, the application and development of new technologies can improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the Serbian industry. Based on the MCDM methods, the framework enabled the assessment of the barriers and solutions for technology adoption in light of the current business conditions in the Republic of Serbia. The managers and policymakers could easily perceive the main obstacles and optimal actions to fulfill the requirements of Industry 4.0 and promote sustainable operation.

‘Green’ Energy in ‘Red’ Yugoslavia: The Failure of Renewable Energy in Yugoslavia between the 1960s and 1980s

Marko Miljković — 2024-12-02

This research focuses on the positive and negative experiences with renewable energy in socialist Yugoslavia in order to provide suggestions to contemporary policymakers based on a historical experience that is very limited. The fact that the country produced at times up to 75% of its electricity for industry and households in the hydroelectric power plants is an admirable achievement from the perspective of the contemporary EU Green Deal. However, the experiences were sometimes catastrophic, ranging from city blackouts to production stoppages in industry. The existing Serbian or regional scholarship has not yet analyzed this topic except from technological or engineering perspectives. Starting from that point, this research employs a critique of the sources as a standard historical method. It is based on primary and secondary sources, stretching from official Yugoslav policies and statistics, expert analyses, and newspaper articles. Previous experiences with electricity production in hydroelectric power plants in Yugoslavia, are crucial in adequately approaching the EU Green Deal agenda that includes the expansion of renewable energy sources, which is and will most certainly be one of the pressing challenges in the future. At the current level of technological capabilities, transition to renewable energy, whether from hydro, solar, wind, or geothermal sources, faces a challenge in providing a continuous flow of energy to industry and households. Lacking capacities for storage of vast amounts of electric energy, the solutions to this challenge will have to be found in conventional sources, among which nuclear power currently seems to be the best option, despite other environmental and safety concerns it raises.

European Sustainability Reporting Standards: Lack of Progress, Alignment, and Harmonization in Western Balkans

Ivana Ljutić — 2024-12-09

This paper aims to investigate the status of alignment and harmonization of corporate reporting in Western Balkans (WB) countries with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Specifically, the research will focus on understanding the extent to which WB countries have initiated the adoption of ESRS, particularly in the context of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that mandates its use for companies within the European Union (EU) and its branches. The paper will compare the achieved level of sustainability reporting in Western Balkan countries with other countries located in Europe that are not members of the European Union. Despite the mandatory nature of ESRS for companies within the EU, our preliminary analysis indicates a lack of progress in the alignment and harmonization process among the WB countries. Western Balkan countries are also lagging behind, compared to other non-EU member countries, such as Switzerland and Norway, which have been selected for comparative analysis. The research seeks to uncover the reasons behind this lag and to explore the potential challenges faced by companies in the WB region in implementing these standards. It is crucial to understand the current state of sustainability reporting practices in WB countries and the challenges faced in aligning with ESRS. It will provide valuable insights for policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders on the necessary steps to enhance sustainability reporting practices in the region and foster alignment with international standards.