Purpose –Regional and local governments have recognized the importance of tourism for the regional economy, especially when it comes to budget revenues and expenditures. Efficiency is crucial for making sure beneficiaries receive the best-possible services in a given tourist destination. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of regional government expenditures in 20 Croatian counties in the 2011-2016 period. Methodology – A data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to analyze the efficiency of regional government expenditures in smart tourist destinations. This is a non-parametric linear programming method for assessing the efficiency and productivity of decision-making units. For the purpose of this empirical investigation, 20 Croatian counties were observed, along with their average budget expenditures, in the 2011-2016 period. Findings – The results of the empirical analysis showed that there are an equal number of coastal and inland Croatian counties when it comes to regional government expenditure efficiency. This is interesting to mention, since more international tourists are gravitating towards smart tourist destinations located on the Croatian coastline, especially in the summer season. The results may provide regional and local governments with more information on the concept of “smartness” when it comes to tourist destinations, and their potential for sustainable development and economic growth. Contribution – This paper provides an empirical analysis on the efficiency of regional government expenditures in 20 Croatian counties in the 2011-2016 period. Its theoretical contribution consists of presenting the “smartness” concept and its importance for tourist destinations.

The aim of this paper is to examine the roles of the Islamic voluntary sector in two jurisdictions –one is representing an Asian country, Malaysia, and the other is the newest Member State of European Union, Croatia. The investigation undertaken in the research is purely library-based, engaging in secondary data including written rules, guidelines and reports in both jurisdictions. The preliminary findings reveal that there are numerous voluntary efforts being carried out by numerous organizations in both jurisdictions (Malaysia and Croatia), in sectors such as public finance, education, quality of life and health. The research further found that these efforts could potentially bring huge impacts to the development and well-being of the society, in four different dimensions: social, finance, organizational, and legal. This research will contribute to the body of knowledge on voluntary sectors especially on the roles and implications of the voluntary sectors towards shared prosperity of the people and economy in Malaysia and Croatia.

The significant contribution of R&D to economic development and sustainability has been shown by various studies. Therefore, governments offer different fiscal instruments to attract R&D, especially regarding multinational entities (MNEs). One of the fiscal instruments are tax incentives for R&D. Furthermore, the EU has been working on the switch from Separate Taxation (ST) to Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) for longer than a decade, which will lead to harmonized R&D tax allowances, however without harmonizing the tax rates. Hence, this study aims at analyzing how ST and CCCTB impact the location of MNEs' R&D activities, tax burden and countries' tax revenue through a case study. The results show that, under ST, tax jurisdictions can stimulate MNEs' R&D activities by means of attractive tax allowances and lower tax rates. Especially for high-tax countries, the tax allowances represent an important tool for attracting R&D activities. However, under CCCTB, the location of R&D activities additionally depends on the Formula Apportionment (FA) factors of the tax base, where the countries cannot exert a direct influence. Hence, the reduction of tax rates remains the only tool left to Member States, which can lead to revenue loss on the whole. Furthermore, the FA of the tax base under CCCTB mitigates the impact of any dislocation of R&D to a low-tax country, which, under ST, leads to larger tax savings of MNEs and its impact on jurisdictions' tax revenue is greater.

Editorial for the Special Issue: “Advances in Statistical Modelling for Economic PolicyMaking” in Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics