Abstract. The purpose of this article is to compare the methods of income taxation in the two neighbouring states -the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic after more than a quarter century since the disintegration of their previous unified state. The article also focuses on the question of which of the two tax systems is more socially just and whether there is a realistic assumption that there will be reintegration of the principles of income taxation of both states within the European Union in the future. Several research methods were applied, dominated by the method of analysis and the comparative method. The selection of income taxes was not arbitrary. The method and rate of taxation plays a vital role in the social status of citizens of a particular state. Income taxes, on which both global and European coordination and harmonization processes have had very little impact, have become more important. Due to this fact, and also because of the free movement of labour, the applied way of income taxation within various territories may become an essential factor in tax competition between countries. Based on the analysis and comparison of individual tax practices related to the taxation of income, it can be stated that the income taxation between the two states does not differ fundamentally even after a quarter century of their independence. We assume that the Slovak Republic is committed to looking for ways to develop more efficient methods of taxation of income even at the cost of some of the measures which have not been justified in practice yet. The Czech Republic is more conservative in this direction. It does not make radical changes and plays a waiting game to carry out the relevant measures later. Based on our analysis of the income tax systems both in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, we conclude that the income tax system in the Slovak Republic is more effective, less costly and more socially just than the income tax system of the Czech Republic.

The aim of this article is to analyse the Croatian economic diplomacy model to identify the model, revealing its effectiveness and providing possible recommendations for the future research in the area of economic diplomacy. Literature review for Croatia indicates an overall lack of national research on the subject matter from the empirical point of view. Such situation is partially a result of economic diplomacy being a new phenomenon in Croatia and with Croatian political structure struggling many years with internal public administration reorganisation, privatisation process and joining the European Union. Occasional theoretical approaches are presented with analysis coming from the questionnaire surveys. The empirical research contribution of the article highlights the Croatian volume of export of goods and its connection with diplomatic actors. The research is based on the gravity model of international trade and presents empirical findings in the analysis of Croatian economic diplomacy and its effectiveness regarding the Croatian export of goods. The research model confirms positive relationship between Croatian total exports and three independent variables: GDP, distance and staff employed in diplomatic mission.

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Nowadays in the globalization era countries are forced to pay considerable attention to the integration aspects of development, regionalization processes ensuring their own competitiveness in order to enhance the competitive position in the market, which increases the scientific interest in the study of these issues. The purpose of the article is to consider competitiveness as the basis of EU regional policy and to determine the possibilities of applying such experience in Ukraine. A number of scientific research methods have been used: the method of deduction and induction, analysis, synthesis and comparison, a graphic method. Globalization contributes to the creation of new conditions of the world economic development, which forces economic actors to reconsider their role in the economy. Competitiveness provides them with a reliable competitive positions today and in the future. The high competitiveness of the region testifies to the effective organization and optimization of economic processes. EU regional policy takes into account that the competitiveness of the region is formed in the conditions of competitive relations at the national and international levels. The EU regional policy experience can be implemented in the Ukrainian regional policy. The competitiveness of the region allows to respond in time to market changes. EU regional policy takes this into account, so the category of regional competitiveness is paid much attention on as confirmed by the RCI calculation. The possibilities of increasing the competitiveness and sustainability of regions through the development of smart specialization and implementation of smart projects are outlined. The advantages of implementing European experience in the development of competitiveness of regions on the basis of smart specialization in Ukraine are proved.

Culture is one of the main tools for developing regions and reducing regional disparities. It is a significant job creator; it participates in social cohesion representing a catalyst for economic growth. In practice, when boosting the potential of cultural and creative industries, we encounter an insufficiently developed approach to evaluating the initial conditions for the allocation of financial resources for its development. This paper’s objective is to identify, map, and analyse spatial concentration of cultural institutions in Slovakia. The intention of the analysis was the identification of regions and districts with the potential for full use of cultural capital as a tool for sustainable regional development as well as the setting of cultural policy. The cluster analysis pointed out significant differences in the representation of cultural institutions in individual regions and districts of Slovakia. The regions with the most desirable results (e.g., Bratislava, Trnava, or Nitra) have some common characteristics linked to the local context, such as historical development, good infrastructure, concentration of educational institutions. The results also confirmed the assumption that within the regions, cultural institutions will be concentrated in larger district cities, specifically in the case of Bratislava even inside the city. From the cluster analysis it is possible to observe a “belt of districts” of Southern, Central, and Eastern Slovakia, which do not have sufficient cultural infrastructure. Since the process of shaping the supportive policy for cultural industries is now ongoing in Slovakia, we consider mapping the situation as one of the key elements in the policy-making process.