Public service reforms are high on the political agenda in the countries of the European Union; finding a balance between the free market and state intervention in a changing environment is not an easy task. The purpose of simultaneous satisfaction of economic initiative and the welfare state that takes care of a functioning and fair economy always has the hallmarks of politics and sociability. Political debates and election results are strongly influenced by issues related to the responsiveness of public services to user needs, with the forms of public service delivery or the provision of services, the role of the public and private sectors and the distribution of the benefits of these goods and services, with reasons for their (also spatially and temporally) provision, enforcement procedures, etc. The monograph was created in the light of changes in the functioning of individual public institutions, changed legislation and new case law (in both cases strongly influenced by European Union law). The work provides a new insight into the field of public services, with its chapters relating to the influence of the European Union on national public services, the organization, design, regulation and financing of public services, and their division.
C.02 Editorial board of a national monograph
COBISS.SI-ID: 298658304A member of the program group participated in a nationally and regionally important project of preparing a commentary on the Slovenian Constitution, which was published as a scientific monograph in the authorship of over 30 co-authors in 2019. Contributions on Articles 22, 23 and 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia for the administrative field, ie. on equal protection of rights, the right to judicial protection and legal remedy. These constitutional guarantees represent fundamental human rights, without which there is no democratic authority. Addressing thsese topics is thus crucial for good governance and good administration in Slovenia and beyond.
B.06 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 299270144The doctoral dissertation examines the role of public support in research and development (R&D) investment, the full range of its effects on companies, along with the implications it holds for their performance. The overall objective of the doctoral dissertation is to investigate the role of public support for R&D investment in terms of the comprehensive economic and accounting implications it holds for corporate performance. The principal research question concerns the impact of public support for R&D investment on corporate performance. Since public support for R&D investment affects corporate performance indirectly via different channels, it is vital to identify and understand the channels via which companies enhance their performance. Accordingly, firms’ R&D expenditures and their accounting treatment, which may be influenced by various public policy instruments, can be good representatives of the channels through which corporate performance is affected. Firms’ R&D spending as well as their accounting treatment may thus be seen as an intermediate phase on the path from public support for R&D investment to corporate performance. The comprehensive and systematic research presented in the doctoral dissertation aims to contribute to the general economic and accounting literature by providing new and interesting empirical evidence for Slovenia and beyond. It adds to both academic and practical knowledge and may be seen as useful for different stakeholders like policymakers, managers, investors and accounting-standard setters. The obtained empirical evidence may help illuminate certain ambiguities related to public support for R&D investment, R&D investment itself, its accounting treatment and the implications for corporate performance since it is expected that R&D investment will be one of the crucial investments in the future.
D.09 Tutoring for postgraduate students
COBISS.SI-ID: 25303014The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework, which can act proactively as an enabler and driver of progress within the public administration. The framework is operationalized, based on a systematic methodology, encompassing three phases. In the first phase, theoretical starting points were prepared, based on a literature review of over 1,000 WoS, Scopus & Google Scholar indexed publications, the team's inputs and other sources (existing measurement frameworks, questionnaires, experts, etc.). This served as a basis for a comprehensive empirical study, which followed in the second phase. Hence, a questionnaire was prepared, encompassing over 100 elements of administrative organization, tailored to the core principles of public administration, principle subforms and the linkages between the latter. The questionnaire was addressed at selected authoritative and service-oriented PA segments, so as to get information on current & optimum state of operation and governance. Next, a state-of-the art analysis followed, grouping the questionnaire items into administrative principles, and weighting the latter according to their statistically indicated importance for different models of administrative (re)organization. The preliminary results of a pilot study within the Slovenian PA clearly show the proposed conceptual framework’s usability as a tool for the identification of prevailing PA models and model optimisation within a wide range of PA institutions. Moreover, this optimisation can be systematically guided, ranging from the core PA principles, their (inter)relations and, finally, the underlying activities within an institution. A developed conceptual framework for evaluation can be an effective tool for both, decision makers and public managers to evaluate a current state within the public administration and to determine trajectories for further PA reforms.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 5342638The paper explores the principle of the rule of law in the formal sense, as a procedural right to good administration. By means of content analysis, the author analyses the understanding of the rule of law in selected articles dealing therewith in the context of good governance (models). Particular attention is paid to the possible differences between (Western) authors of top cited articles and the authors of articles concerned with procedural reforms and institutions in Central and Eastern Europe published in the scientific journals CEPAR/IPAR and CCPA in Slovenia and Croatia. The analysis reveals some divergences in the region, particularly in terms of stronger dependency of procedures on law and the Weberian doctrinaire elements of understanding good administration, as well as in terms of the articles being focused on the national level. On the other hand, all analysed articles point to the importance of administrative procedure aspects for good administration. This suggests the need for further research in the sense of focusing on the administrative procedure as a tool to confront public and private interests. Central and Eastern Europe, in particular, also present the need for globalisation and greater concern for a balanced and modern codification and thus adequate implementation of administrative procedure law.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 5330606