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V. Hadzhiev
Asymmetric Specialisation of Exports in a Liberal International Trade Environment
Summary:
Asymmetric specialisation in exports is a common feature of modern liberal trade. It is expressed by the fact that most countries export mainly raw materials and low-processed products and a small number of countries export highly processed products. The purpose of this article is to prove that asymmetric specialisation in exports did not change significantly during the operating period of the WTO by ap¬plying hierarchical cluster analysis.
The analysis found that, from 1995 to 2011, asymmetric specialisation in exports did not change substantially. It was concluded that, for both these specific years, a large group of countries fell into the first cluster (76% and 74% respectively of the total number of countries). The rest of them were evenly distributed in neighbouring clusters. It was also found that countries from the first cluster have mainly specialised in the export of raw materials and low-processed products. Based on the results, it can be concluded that asymmetric specialisation in exports is a chronic, long-term problem of liberal international trade.
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Kameliya Bozhinova
OUTSOURCING PRINTING SERVICES IN BULGARIA – PART OF THE GLOBAL OUTSOURCING MARKET
Summary:
The new conditions and the globalization of the business environment in which the management of commercial enterprises operates today require innovative, flexible and adaptive management tools, one of which is outsourcing. It improves the operational efficiency of the enterprises involved in this process and enables the service providers to expand and maintain their market shares. Moreover, it optimizes their resource allocation and improves the profitability of their operations.
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Borislav Emilov Boyanov
EUROPEAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY – CURRENT STATE AND CHALLENGES
Summary:
The European chemical industry is one of the major and most important industrial sectors of the Community economy. The present paper aims to present an analysis of its current state and, on this basis, to highlight the main challenges it must address in the coming years. The presentation of the main characteristics of the chemical industry on a global scale, which gives a clearer idea of the state of the industry as a whole also plays an important role in the study. The following main conclusions are drawn from the analysis made. First, an increase in the share of chemical substances and products in the EU’s total exports and imports, which determines the growing importance of the sector to the European Union. Second, the European chemical industry is still lagging behind China on a global scale due to a variety of reasons, including the country’s industrial policy and sector reforms. Third, in the future, the industry will have to cope with a number of challenges in areas such as the environment, international competitiveness, sustainable development and the circular economy.
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Lyudmil Krystev
Guidelines for Analysing the Financial Statements of Bulgarian Publicly Traded Insurance Companies
Summary:
Financial statements provide information necessary to analyse and assess the financial position of publicly traded companies. Information users include a wide range of entities, such as creditors, suppliers, customers, investors, external control bodies, etc. This paper promotes the thesis that the information disclosed in financial statements helps investors in their decision to invest in the shares of publicly traded companies. A precise analysis of financial statements may result in a decision to purchase, not to purchase, or to sell some of the stocks of the companies which are subject to analysis. The article focuses on publicly traded companies in the insurance sector.
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Momchil Antov
THE NEW EUROPEAN CUSTOMS REFORM – OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Summary:
The customs system of the EU serves as a guardian of the single market, but in recent years, it has been subjected to increased stress due to the rapid growth in trade volume, challenges posed by e-commerce, and the growing number of standards regarding goods that need to be tracked at the borders. As a result, in early May 2023, the European Commission proposed a reform project aimed at simplifying the customs procedures by reducing bureaucracy and increasing transparency while simultaneously strengthening the protection of the EU's financial and non-financial interests. The changes can be described as revolutionary or even too ambitious, but if successful, the reform would mark the beginning of a new approach to customs control without parallel on a global scale. Every change brings new opportunities, but it can also give rise to a range of problems. In this regard, it is important to be well-prepared to maximize the benefits of the former and adequately respond to and even prevent the latter.
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Vera Pirimova, Petar Ilkov Peshev
Comparative Advantages and Competitiveness of Bulgarian Exports
Summary:
The research analyses the comparative advantages and competitiveness of Bulgarian production and exports. The paper consists of two parts. Part one reviews some theoretical concepts about the nature of comparative advantages and interprets the indexes designed by B. Balassa and M. Amir. Part two provides computations of B. Balassa and M. Amir indexes and analyses obtained results to identify the comparative advantages and disadvantages of Bulgarian production and exports for certain commodities and commodity groups in the period from 2012 to 2016. Based on the findings of the analysis, we identify and summarise available opportunities for expanding or limiting the exports of certain commodity groups and raising the competitiveness of Bulgarian economy. The research employs mathematical and statistical methods, mainly the index method, in addition to the methods of analysis and synthesis.
