Research background: Islamic banks appeared on the world scene as active players over two decades ago. Many of the principles upon which Islamic banking is based have been commonly accepted all over the world. Financial institutions driven by Islamic principles acquire new clientele without excessive marketing, due to preservation of conservative values. Contrary to the conventional investment banks, their value is based on real money, and not on virtual activities from swap and derivative assets. Competition between conventional (or traditional) and Islamic banks is increasing every day, moreover, Islamic financial institutions are more resistant to the crisis. Our study contains analysis and comparison of economic efficiency of the conventional and Islamic banks. Besides the fact that traditional and Islamic banks apply inputs differently, the reason of better efficiency of Islamic banks may be connected with different approach to the risk management and control of the banking operations by the Sharia commission. Purpose of the article: The main aim of the article is to compare the economic efficiency of the conventional and Islamic banks in Europe. Methods: To achieve the aim of the paper, firstly the selected financial indicators of traditional and Islamic banks in Europe were compared. The second, the analysis of the economic efficiency of the selected 1460 conventional and Islamic financial institutions using DEA methods was conducted. Findings & Value added: Research results indicated methodological differences in the economic efficiency measuring in the Islamic banks. At the same time, the higher economic efficiency of Islamic banks was confirmed. The results are motivating for the follow-up investigation into the causes of higher efficiency of Islamic banks compared to traditional banks.

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The fashion industry ranks among the most resource-intensive and environment-polluting industries. Circularity has been discussed as a solution to these problems. However, the transition towards a circular economy (CE) requires fundamental changes in the behavior and actions of all market entities. Consumer interest in sustainability and circularity can stimulate businesses to become more responsible and to offer circular solutions, and thus create a significant competitive advantage for these firms in a globalized market. This paper examines consumer attitudes towards the new circular models in the fashion industry (e.g. slow fashion, swapping, clothes rent, etc.). Consumer knowledge of these models, consumer willingness to support them as well as a correlation to selected demographic characteristics will be described along with consumer attitudes towards textile products made of waste and recycled material. Results will be introduced from a questionnaire survey carried out in October and November 2019 using the sample of 468 respondents in Slovakia. The obtained data were evaluated using statistical methods (Pearson Chi-Square, Wilcoxon test, Spearman’s correlation coefficient). While generally a low awareness of Slovak consumers of new models in the fashion industry was confirmed, the willingness of consumers to engage and support circular solutions was shown, especially among the younger generations. These results show that businesses that react to consumer expectations regarding circularity by offering products and services with environmental benefits may increase their competitiveness.

Abstract. The paper deals with the problem of innovation support and economic development at the regional level. The innovation potential still differs significantly among the EU regions. Perhaps the key factor determining innovation potential and performance of a region is R&D expenditure. The main aim of the paper is to test the potential relationship between gross domestic expenditure on R&D and economic development of the regions. Our dataset consists of the data on the regions of four Visegrad countries during the period of 2001-2014. We assume the existence of non-linear relationship and expect that R&D expenditures are significantly lower in less developed regions. Using the panel Granger causality and panel regression analysis based on these data, we provide insight into the potential relationship between regional economic development measured in terms of GDP per capita and investments in R&D controlling for the number of R&D employees. Our results strongly suggest that higher regional GDP per capita is associated with higher regional gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) per inhabitant. GERD per capita appears to be exponentially rising with regional GDP per capita. We have also found significant regional disparities in terms of innovation performance.

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