Energy productivity indicates the efficiency of energy use in production. Investment in energy efficient solutions, technologies and practices lead to increased energy productivity. It is often used as a suitable measure to compare the results of economic, energy and climate policies. In 2006, the Republic of Serbia became a member of the Energy Community, thus taking on the obligation to accept the energy acquis of the European Union. By this move, it also accepted the obligation to increase the use of renewables, its final energy consumption and energy services' efficiency. Energy productivity in Serbia has increased by 66.94%, in the period from 2000 to 2019. This growth was primarily driven by the national GDP high growth rate, but not by the reduction of energy consumption. Given the still extremely high Serbian energy intensity levels compared to the European and world average, the aim of this paper is to examine the expected future trends of this indicator. The inverse function econometric model best describes the energy productivity trend in Serbia. The paper concludes that its trend will most likely continue to move upwards, primarily because no significant changes in the Serbian economic and energy policy are expected and because, at least according to official statistics, the country's economy has not been largely affected by the global coronavirus pandemic COVID-19. Since the energy productivity improvement determines the competitiveness and performance of the economy, it is extremely important for Serbia to apply energy efficient technologies, and to implement its further structural changes.

Knowledge is one of the key factors of economic growth, as well as of sources of competitiveness in the global marketplace. Educational policy directly shapes and creates human capital that is the backbone of the future development of each country. Therefore, there is a need for planning, good design and comprehensive financing this important social field. The purpose of this article is to determine the trends of public expenditures on education in the Republic of Serbia (RS), as well as their impact on the development of Serbian society. The article first provides a detailed analysis of the higher education system in Serbia, monitoring the trends in the share of education expenditures in gross domestic product (GDP) and total public expenditures in the country. The paper applies the desk research methodology as it analysis the professional literature, articles, relevant reports and databases of leading international institutions such as the European Union, OECD, Statistical Office of RS, UNESCO, World Bank, UNDP and Eurostat. The article studies the evolution, values and Human Development Index (HDI) ranks of Serbia, Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) in the Serbian higher education sector, as well as their correlations with Serbian public expenditures for education, in the period from 2009 to 2019. The article also applies linear regression analysis between the observed variables. Finally, it concludes that public expenditures on education could not contribute to social development in Serbia due to the small regression coefficients and weak correlations among these indicators. Therefore, Serbia should invest continuously and more intensively in its higher education if it wants to prosper. This article is useful for policy makers, but also for a wider readership who want to be acquainted with the education and social development trends in Serbia.

The aim of this paper is to explore the motives of Serbian farmers for introducing innovations from the aspect of Rogers' main attributes of innovations. The outcomes of the applied method of binary logistic regression show that these agricultural producers are not so much driven by personal motives in introducing innovations, especially not by their observability and compatibility with farmers' adopted values. The findings also point out that there are impulses and desires of Serbian farmers for introducing innovations, but that the still unfavourable and uncertain market environment hinders them. Since there is no economic progress without innovations and technological progress, the state should provide them with a favourable environment by actively investing in appropriate legal, financial, rural, corporate, educational, and research infrastructure. In addition, it is necessary for farmers to adopt the principles of market orientation and entrepreneurial activities that would help them to increase their productivity, innovations and competitiveness.

Healthcare system has an important role in the contemporary countries' economic development. Health expenditures are affected by many economic, as well as noneconomic factors. The importance of health and health system financing is particularly evident in the circumstances of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which caused a significant increase in unforeseen heath expenditures, as well as the emergence of fiscal deficit in many countries around the world. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the trend of the most important health spending indicators in Serbia in the period from 2012 to 2017. The paper concludes that in addition to the reform of the national health financing system, the Serbian Government should implement austerity measures to make health expenditures more sustainable.

GRAY ECONOMY IN SERBIA IN LIGHT OF TENDENCIES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES