Issue 2, 2013

A parallel was made between the rate and the structure of budget revenues of ЕU-27 Member States and Bulgaria. The specific reasons for their differences (tax rates and bases, tax frauds and dynamics of economic growth) are also under consideration. The main relationships of the budget revenues and expenditures, budget balances and the national debts are focused. Some basic conclusions and suggestions are made on this basis.

JEL: H22; H24; H25

This paper incorporates the interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics1 and presents a comprehensive framework for analyzing the risk management in the agri-food sector. First, it specifies the diverse (natural, technical, behavioral, economic, policy etc.) type of agrarian risks, and the (market, private, public, hybrid) modes of their management. Second, it defines the efficiency of risk management and identifies (personal, institutional, dimensional, technological, natural) factors of governance choice. Next, it presents stages in analysis of risk management and for the improvement of public intervention in risk governance. Finally, it identifies contemporary opportunities and challenges for risk management in agri-food chain.

JEL: L25; D81; Q12; O17

The main theoretical aspects of asset management are focused in this article in order to outline the features directly related to the investment portfolios of the pension funds with the largest application and significance. This approach elucidates the causes for the current state of the investment activities of the pension companies in Bulgaria. The dynamics of the investment instruments and the structure of the investment portfolios in the country are studied to identify some of the leading and principal trends in the post EU accession period of Bulgaria under the conditions of global financial crisis. Interesting and contradicting conclusions are made about the changes in the investment structure of the pension funds.

JEL: G23; G30; G31

This is a brief presentation of comparative corporate governance by analyzing the contents of the recognized generations in the international corporate governance (ICG) literature. The studies of the interaction among the individual models, representing ICG in the narrow sense, are classified as a third generation. The indicators applied in the comparative analysis of the national corporate governance systems are pointed out with comments on the results of the achievements in this sphere. The author explains the system of indicators consisting of elements, related to the corporate governance environment – the social norms and values, the legal environment, the financial system and characteristics, belonging to the corporate governance – the main stakeholders, their interrelations, the control mechanisms.

JEL: G30; G34

Public-private partnership has been actively used for the supply of public goods for the past two decades. This paper studies the main factors, influencing the efficient use of public-private partnership, as well as the relevant practice in some countries in Europe, Asia and the United States.

JEL: H44; L32