Issue 7, 2005

In this article the author justifies the necessity of creating a General theory of utility and value as categories of the value individual economic behaviour. They are constructed on the basis of the economics, and therefore, any comprehensive and fundamental economic exposition should be based on them. Together with the known in the literature theories of value and marginal utility, introduced and justified are notions of value and marginal utility (which at the individual level are subjective value and subjective marginal utility). A theory of the marginal value could not have, for the economic science, a lesser meaning than the theory of marginal utility (constructed by the Austrian subjective school). The creation of a relative theory of utility and value is suggested, in which the relative utility and value are comparable with each other and allow the analysis of the value economic behaviour of the individual. With the help of those relative categories it is possible to construct categories of added utility, added value and added product (as well as marginal added utility, marginal added value and marginal added product), which are totally compatible with the contemporary economics, deriving also the individual curves of product's demand and supply, and the individual supply of labour.

JEL: A10; D11; D20

The purpose of the present study is to substantiate the paramount importance of the strategic market-oriented company policy as an element (important factor) of competitiveness and particularly the powerful effect of that factor in conditions of the forthcoming accession of Bulgaria to the EU; to establish how prepared companies are to meet the challenges, connected with the new conditions; to provide answers to the following questions: Are Bulgarian companies strategically ready for the accession, do they possess analytical and management approaches, market strategies and action programmes and are they prepared to adapt those successfully.
The role of the level and the quality of the market strategy for the successful competitive development of Bulgarian companies is discussed.
Also pointed out is the need to view the requirements, the characteristics, the methods and means of strategic analysis, forecasting, planning and control in the light of the changed conditions in which companies are to operate.

JEL: D21; M21; M31

After the restructuring of agricultural production, among entrepreneurs there arises the need to invest. However, for that purpose there must exist the appropriate investment environment. In that connection, in the present paper there are put forward specific tools which could be used in investment activity. Those concern the consistent development of the environment for demand and supply of investment funds.

JEL: Q18; E22

In the article opportunities and challenges are examined faced by Bulgarian agriculture after the integration into the EU, related to the general membership conditions and the expected CAP development; on this ground conclusions are made for the agricultural country policy in the period immediately before and after the membership date. Long-term and middle-term aspects of agricultural development are examined in view of the globalization processes of the world economy, prognostics for the demand for food products for a 30-years period and the European model of agriculture in construction.

JEL: Q17; Q18

The link between policy and research in the social area, between policymakers and researchers has not been a subject of special studies and evaluations in the Bulgarian literature in the last years. It is still a "blank space" becoming much pronounced against the enlarging and deepening interest of academia outside Bulgaria . Hence, the main goal is to clarify the political context which made feasible the pension reform and thus opened broader "policy window" for researchers and the practical use of their professional expertise and research results.

JEL: H11; J26

This article is an attempt to contribute to the analysis of foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows to the Southeastern countries by examining, on a macroeconomic level, the empirical evidence for attracting capital flows. Since the beginning of the century the interest of foreign investors towards the Southeastern European countries increased and respectively this event provoked discussions concerning the continuity of this process as well as factors influencing the decisions of the foreign investors. Indeed in 2003 the FDI inflows in SEECs constitute 73.03% of the FDI attracted by Central European countries (CECs) and 39.096% of the FDI inflows in Eastern Europe. Using a recent data about the FDI inflows in the SEECs, some factors have been demonstrated related to the host countries. The latter can be seen as reflecting the Dunning theory of determine location-specific advantages. The data and the macroeconomic evidence enable to examine how the FDI activities may change the economic environment in one specific country.

JEL: F02; F21; F34

There are identified and analyzed some major aspects of the quality of economic research. An attempt is made at outlining the possible directions for improvement of its complex assessment. The achievement of that objective involves the performing of the following tasks: summarizing the main points in the nature and the mechanism of assessment; assessment of the content-related aspect of the research; assessment of the relation "analysis-results" of the research process; analysis of the formed traditional negative features of research work.

JEL: Z00; A31

This paper studies recent findings of business and tax administration surveys on the scope and causes of corruption in tax administration in Bulgaria in the context of the theoretical models and empirical tests of corruption and evasion. It is an attempt to shift the current policy focus on sanctions and deterrents in the direction of positive incentives. It studies the specific demand-side and supply-side drivers of corruption for the two broad categories of corruption services supplied by the tax administration: those related to tax evasion and those related to preferential treatment of taxpayers. It is on this basis that policy implications are drawn with a focus on the opportunities and limitations of the use of incentives including pay bonuses in the fight against corruption.

JEL: H26, H83