Friday Sessions
February 12, 2016
Education Specific Corruption in Higher Education” by Venera Demukaj and Edona Maloku
This project was part of a regional project (RRPP) on Education Specific Corruption in Western Balkans which was implemented during 2012-2013. Countries involved in the project are Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Macedonia while RIT Kosovo was the partner institution representing Kosovo. This research project assesses the perceived levels of corruption in various public and private universities in different disciplines and it measures the significance of possible differences across countries, types of universities, and identifies cases and consequences of such differences. The main finding which was discussed in more detail during the presentation was that in institutions of higher education in Kosovo, bribing is perceived as a stronger form of corruption in comparison to favoritism/networking, although the latter is equally prevalent.
November 11, 2016
Dr. Venera Demukaj presents her co-authored paper: “Regional Integration, Trade and Development in the CEFTA Region: A Gravity Approach”
Dr. Demukaj presented her recent (co-authored) winning paper: “Regional Integration, Trade and Development in the CEFTA Region: A Gravity Approach “. The paper is written together with Luca J Uberti (PhD Candidate at University of Otago NZ and a former RITK Faculty) and it won the 1st prize for the Best Paper Competition: “CEFTA 10 years on: its contribution to the CEFTA Economies”. The paper competition was launched by the Research Unit on South Eastern Europe at the London School of Economics and Montenegro as the CEFTA Chair in Office.
November 11, 2016
Dr. Besnik Bislimi presents his work as part of the Enhanced Youth Employment (EYE) Project
This project was part of the Enhanced Youth Employment Project. The main objective of the research was to provide a scientific elaboration of the amount of investments needed for job creation. The project studied the relationship between investments and job creation and addressed both the public involvement and the costs of job creation in the private sector, focusing particularly on agriculture, food processing and packaging industry; ICT sector and Construction.
November 11, 2016
Dr. Fadil Sahiti presents his research findings on firm demographics
Dr. Fadil Sahiti presented research findings on firm demographics and patterns of firm survival with empirical evidence from Kosovo firms. He provided an overview in relation to his research interests, by noting that his research interest lie in entrepreneurship and new venture creation, with the principal streams focusing on entrepreneurship, innovation and growth.
April 14th, 2017
Prof. Fadil Sahiti presented the paper: The Impact of Social Conditions on Firm Innovation: with evidence from Kosovo firms, presented at The Annual Conference of the UCL Centre for Comparative Studies of Emerging Economies
Theme of conference: Exploring Technology Upgrading in Emerging and Transition Economies: From “Shifting Wealth I” to “Shifting Wealth II”?’
Dates: Monday/Tuesday, June 26-27, 2017
Location: UCL, London
Abstract
This paper utilizes the theory of social conditions of innovative enterprise to investigate factors that enable and/or constrain the emergence of innovative firms operating in low-income economies, particularly those operating in Kosovo. The theory argues that the emergence of firms possessing high innovation capabilities is a function of achieved levels and types of strategic control, organizational integration, and investment commitment.
The data used in this research are obtained from various sources. Social conditions at national level are analyzed using data provided by national and international institutions. Social conditions at the firm level are analyzed using data generated from two different research surveys. The first survey included a sample of 500 firms while the second one included 32 manufacturing firms. Exporting has been used as a proxy for innovation, hence the analysis is conducted by comparing findings of two groups of firms which originated from the above samples (exporting firms and non-exporting firms) Innovation is treated as a product and all processes which are new to the firm, aren’t necessarily new to the national or international market. In other words, innovation is considered as firm and market driven activity, while in the case of Kosovo, as a rule, does not involve a major R&D effort.
Findings suggest that Kosovo has managed to establish an institutional framework, which to a great extent is compatible with those of the developed countries. The applicative and practical aspects still remain a major obstacle. As far as social conditions at firm levels are concerned, from the total interviewed firms, the number of firms possessing innovative capabilities is significantly low – 5, 9 percent. This percentage is the outcome of external conditions, as well as of strategic control and organizational integration factors at the firm level.