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Most entrepreneurs have adequate knowledge and skills, however, they lack internal resources for commercialization of products on foreign markets. This group of entrepreneurs recognizes the chance through collaboration with other organizations, ensuring the engagement of new technologies that contribute to fast and early commercialization on the global market. The focus of this research is related to the analysis of the influence of entrepreneurs' competences on cooperation with the other organization as well as on the internationalization of a new business venture. In order to provide deeper insight, the subject of research is also expanded with the field of new technology usage, as a moderator variable, to consider its role of strengthening the relationship between cooperation with other organizations and internationalization of a new venture. This paper aims to analyse the impact of entrepreneurial competences based on knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) on cooperation with the other organization as well as mediating influence of cooperation with other organizations on internationalization of a new venture, in the South East Europe region. The main source of data in this study is the GEM research database for 2013. For this research, the authors included six countries in the research sample of the South East Europe region: Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and FYR of Macedonia. The results of path analyses of Structure Equation Modelling indicate a positive direct and indirect impact of entrepreneurial intentions on cooperation and internationalization of a new venture. Results also indicate that the usage of new technologies, as a moderator variable, strengthens the relationship between cooperation and internationalization of a new venture.

The paper investigates the main micro-specifi c profi tability determinants of the insurance industry in Serbia, covering the period 2008-2016. Data set includes accounting ratios for 19 universal insurers, offi cially reported by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS). We have estimated the fi xed effects model using the OLS and GLM estimation procedures, with return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on total premium (ROTP) as the response variables. The estimated results from different models are quite consistent, with some minor deviations related mainly to the magnitude of the effects. Specifi cally, there is a trade-off between liquidity and profi tability, and the insurance companies exploit economies of scale extensively. Loss and risk exposure have signifi cant adverse effect on profi tability, while productivity proved to be not signifi cant. In addition, the relative market power (market position) and size have signifi cant positive impact on profi tability, while business specialization favors insurance over reinsurance, particularly the life-insurance business, as well as the business specialization dummies (insurance vs. reinsurance, life vs. nonlife insurance). Consequently, an optimal profi tability strategy should be based on mergers and acquisitions, appropriate risk-taking and risk-management practices, and business sophistication through specialization. In addition, the companies should weight costs and benefi ts of keeping an excess of liquid reserves. The results also indicate further market concentration due to the size effects, and it could result in higher prices and lower quality of the services. This in turn imposes the new regulatory challenges in terms of the optimal antitrust strategy and appropriate quality control. The implications of these fi ndings are applicable to other Western Balkan countries, especially to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia.

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This paper aims to investigate the main drivers of sustainable profitability trends in the Serbian insurance industry over the years 2008–2019 (inclusive). Our study is motivated by the fact that insurance companies contribute to economic growth, and thus it is essential to understand the factors that contribute to their financial strength and stability. We use a set of standard panel regression models, including the mixed-effects model, followed by a more robust GMM estimation to uncover the linkage between selected micro-specific, macroeconomic, and institutional factors, and return of assets (ROA) and return on total premiums (ROTP). The present paper constitutes a significant contribution to the existing literature on the account of its comprehensiveness both in terms of the institutional datasets that we use, and in terms of the methodologies we apply (in particular, mixed effects and the generalized method of moments (GMM)). The estimated parameters are model-specific, and we find that firm size, GDP, the population growth rates, political stability, and the degree of specialization (in some empirical models) all lead to higher profitability. On the other hand, we observe that excessive risk-taking and inflation (in some specifications) are inversely related to profitability. Finally, we note that regulatory quality, average wage, and life expectancies are found to be not statistically significant. Accordingly, we argue that a profitability-centric managerial strategy should be based on expanded market share and stringent risk management protocols. At the macro level, we conclude that pro-growth and pro-population policies, combined with a well-oiled institutional setting that ensures political stability, constitute the best possible prescription for strong operational performance and profit sustainability in the Serbian insurance industry.