„Business World” Library

Most popular articles

• 

  A COMBINED APPROACH TO EXAMINING FOREIGN TRADE IN SERVICES

  TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 9 CHAPTER ONE. THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES 13 1. Specifics of international trade in services 13 2. Main factors stimulating international trade in services 16 3. The determinants in the empirical research of trade in services by using the Gravity model 20 4. Classification and reporting of international trade in services 26 CHAPTER TWO. CONCEPTUALIZATION AND APPROBATION OF THE GRAVITY MODEL IN TRADE IN SERVICES ... TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 9 CHAPTER ONE. THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES 13 1. Specifics of international trade in services 13 2. Main factors stimulating international trade in services 16 3. The determinants in the empirical research of trade in services by using the Gravity model 20 4. Classification and reporting of international trade in services 26 CHAPTER TWO. CONCEPTUALIZATION AND APPROBATION OF THE GRAVITY MODEL IN TRADE IN SERVICES WITH R 30 1. The gravity model and its application 30 2. Methodology for examining the determinants of international trade 32 2.1. Model specification and parameter estimation method 32 2.2. Sources of information and data processing 36 2.3. Description of the dependent and independent variables 37 3. Assessment of the impact of factors on the export and import of services of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia 39 3.1. Results of the gravity model of trade in services of Bulgaria 39 3.2. Results of the gravity model of trade in services of Romania 42 3.3. Results of the gravity model of trade in services of Croatia 45 CHAPTER THREE. MONOLATERAL STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF TRADE IN SERVICES 49 1. Structural analysis of Bulgaria’s foreign trade 49 2. Structural analysis of Romania's foreign trade 63 3. Structural analysis of Croatia's foreign trade 77 CHAPTER FOUR. ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE TREND IN TRADE IN SERVICES OF BULGARIA, ROMANIA AND CROATIA (2000 - 2020) 92 1. Index analysis and evaluation of the trend in trade in services based on balance of payments data of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia (2000 - 2020) 92 1.1. Index analysis methodology of balance of payments positions 92 1.2. Approbation of the methodology for index analysis and evaluation of the trend in trade in services of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia (2000 - 2020) 97 2. Quality indicators analysis in the dynamics of the balance of services in Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia (2000 - 2020) 121 2.1. Possible indicators for quality assessment in the dynamics of the balance of services 121 2.2. Approbation of quality indicators in the dynamics of the balance of services in Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia (2000 - 2020) 122 CHAPTER FIVE. TRADE INTENSITY ANALYSIS AND ASsessment of FOREIGN TRADE POTENTIAL 128 1. Intensity indicators of trade in services and assessment of foreign trade potential 128 2. Bilateral assessment of export and import potentials 131 3. Analysis of the intensity of import and export of services by partner countries 145 CONCLUSION 156 APPENDICES 158 Appendix 1. Functions of Gravity package 158 Appendix 2. List of countries included in the Gravity model 159 Appendix 3. List of countries with a common official or spoken language included in the Gravity model 160 Appendix 4. Potential for increasing the export / import of services 161 Appendix 5. Growth and the lead–lag relatioship of exports and imports of services by type and countries for the period 2000-2020 based on 2000 162 REFERENCES 164 Abstract This paper examines issues related to international trade in services and is exclusively empirical. The foreign trade flows of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia are the object of study and the subject of study - their dynamics and structure for the period 2000-2020. Theoretical and applied aspects of the research involve specifics of international trade in services and the main factors contributing to its growth. The Gravity model is used in order to examine how certain determinants affect the volume of exports and imports with R programming language in RStudio Integrated Development Environment. On the basis of balance of payments data and a set of indicators, the dynamics in the volume and structure of exports and imports is analysed and the potential for expanding trade in services of the three countries is assessed. It is concluded that the market size has a positive effect on trade, while geographical distance negatively affects trade. EU membership contributes to the greatest extent to expanding the trade of Romania, to a lesser extent – of Bulgaria, and almost to no extent – of Croatia.

• 

  MARKET BASKET ANALYSIS USING R

  Introduction 9 1. Concept and Tools 13 1.1. Defining the problem 13 1.2. Conceptual framework 15 1.3. Basic concepts 17 1.4. Logical data model 18 1.5. Exploratory analysis of sales transactional data 21 1.6. Transaction-class objects 25 1.7. Descriptive analysis of sales transactional data 27 1.8. Market basket analysis metrics 32 1.9. Association rule mining 40 1.9.1. Identifying common subsets 41 1.9.2. Identifying strong association rules 47 1.10. Visual analysis of ... Introduction 9 1. Concept and Tools 13 1.1. Defining the problem 13 1.2. Conceptual framework 15 1.3. Basic concepts 17 1.4. Logical data model 18 1.5. Exploratory analysis of sales transactional data 21 1.6. Transaction-class objects 25 1.7. Descriptive analysis of sales transactional data 27 1.8. Market basket analysis metrics 32 1.9. Association rule mining 40 1.9.1. Identifying common subsets 41 1.9.2. Identifying strong association rules 47 1.10. Visual analysis of market basket 51 1.10.1. Visualization of absolute and relative frequency 53 1.10.2. Visualization of market basket analysis metrics 54 1.10.3. Visualization of association rules 60 2. Big Data Market Basket Analysis 69 2.1. Analytical approach 69 2.2. Data 72 2.2.1. Import and conversion 72 2.2.2. Overview of transactions, assortment items and product groups 73 2.3. Big Data exploratory data analysis 74 2.4. Generating rules and making recommendations 81 2.5. Visual analysis and interpretation 89 2.6. Extended market basket analysis taking contribution margin into account 98 Conclusion 105 References 109 The digital transformation of business, the emerging customer-centric business models as well as advanced tools and techniques for analysis imply the need for a marketing culture focused on data and analysis. This monograph explores and presents approaches, algorithms, techniques and procedures for analyzing the market basket with data from sales transactions. Although the statement is based on solid theoretical sources, the main emphasis is placed on the methodology and extraction of patterns from large datasets by using association rules. Guided by the understanding of the leading role of transactional data from sales transactions in mining personalized information and patterns of customer behaviour, our goal is to provide the reader with specific practical guidelines and reproducible operating procedures for market basket analysis with the R programming language. The overall approach of the study is based on specific examples, work instructions, program code and guidelines for interpreting the results in the context of supporting marketing decisions in commercial enterprises.

• 

  INVESTMENTS AND INVESTMENT DECISIONS: METHODS AND APPLICATIONS

  Introduction 9 Chapter one. The investment science and methods 13 1. Investments as an economic, social and political phenomenon 14 2. Investment nature of risk and regulation 15 3. Historical overview of investment ideas and risk 18 4. The principles of investing 24 Chapter two. Dimensions of risk and return in the portfolio theory 27 1. Approaches to measuring expected return and risk of investing 28 2. Studying the hypothesis of normal distribution of financial asset returns 34 3. ... Introduction 9 Chapter one. The investment science and methods 13 1. Investments as an economic, social and political phenomenon 14 2. Investment nature of risk and regulation 15 3. Historical overview of investment ideas and risk 18 4. The principles of investing 24 Chapter two. Dimensions of risk and return in the portfolio theory 27 1. Approaches to measuring expected return and risk of investing 28 2. Studying the hypothesis of normal distribution of financial asset returns 34 3. Studying the hypothesis of excess and asymmetry in the return on financial assets 39 Chapter three. Evolution of portfolio theory 44 1. The importance of Markowitz model in the theory of investment 45 2. Evolutionary contribution of the theorem for transformation of investment decisions into financial decisions 54 3. The Capital Asset Pricing Model 58 4. The Arbitrage Pricing Theory 64 5. Portfolio optimization under epistemic and aleatory uncertainty 65 Chapter four. The theoretical basis of investment management 67 1. The nature of investment management 68 2. Formation and management of portfolios 71 3. Evaluation tools for a portfolio’s performance 78 3.1. Characteristics of the Jensen Index 79 3.2. Characteristics of the Treynor Index 80 3.3. Characteristics of the Sharpe Index 81 3.4. Defining asymmetric risk by using the Sortino Ratio 83 Chapter five. Options as instruments for investing in securities 84 1. Essential features of options 84 2. Options markets and investment motives 89 Chapter six. Methodological challenges in evaluating options 94 1. Factors affecting the valuation of options 95 2. Explaing the Put-Call Parity in options 104 3. The binomial valuation of contingent instruments 109 4. Applying the Black-Scholes model in valuation of options 114 5. Real options - a new paradigm in investment decision making 118 6. The essence of real options 119 6.1. Classification of real options 123 6.2. Valuation of real options 124 6.3.Approbation of methodology in valuation of options 124 6.4. Comparing the analysis of real options to the traditional approaches for evaluation of investment projects 127 Chapter seven. Socially responsible investing in response to today's global challenges 132 1. Ethical investing - non-financial criteria in making investment choices 133 2. Islamic investment - ethical principles, investment characteristics and opportunities 143 3. Incorporating the environmental, social and sound management investment principles into the fundamental investment analysis 150 Conclusion 155 References 157 Investments play a key role in the formation of gross domestic product and the functioning of product and factor markets, without which the circulation of cash flows in national and international economies would be impossible. Ever since the dawn of world civilization investing has been related to the ability to accurately calculate what and how much to invest in order to achieve a specific result. The uncertainty of the result introduces the concept of investment risk; its relation to the return makes the structure of society increasingly dynamic. Industrialization, world wars, changes in the monetary systems and the digitalization of economy are all natural sources of investment opportunities increasing at an exponential rate, thus creating the requirement for a professional process management in the form of investment management and proper allocation of investment vehicles in the form of investment portfolio. Coupled with hedging against risk by using contingent instruments, investments have become updated and highly developed.