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Volume XXI |

An ecological study of vulnerability to COVID-19 in Serbia – using Hotspot Analysis for Evidence-Based Population Health Policy

Abstract: The risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 is associated with specific demographic characteristics or composition of the population within geographic areas, and the spatial relationship between these areas. The aim of this paper is to identify areas with a higher concentration of population vulnerable to COVID-19, relying on the concept of spatial dependence. Hence, we focus on the share of vulnerable populations using several salient proxy measures at municipality level data for Serbia. The degree of vulnerability at the municipality level was determined by hotspot analysis, specifically the Getis-Ord Gi* statistics. The results indicate heterogeneity in the spatial patterning and typologies of clusters across Serbia. This spatial heterogeneity reveals potentially differing degrees of risk across municipalities. The results can inform decision-makers in the fight against COVID-19 by helping to identify those areas with vulnerable populations that if exposed may stress the local health care system.

Volume XV |

Foreign Direct Investments in Serbia as a Form of Cross-border Cooperation

Abstract: The forms of foreign direct investments that represent the instrument of cross-border cooperation are Greenfield and Brownfield investments. On the territory of the Republic of Serbia, during the 2000-2016 period, there were established 151 Greenfield and 15 Brownfield companies. The sum of investments of these 166 companies was near € 7,000,000,000. the capital is from 18 European countries, then from United States, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Canada and India. The largest number of the investments is from Italy (30), Germany (29), Austria (17) and Slovenia (16). Most Greenfield and Brownfield companies belong to the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy, while 22 companies belong to quaternary sector (real estate, tourism, finance, insurance and pension, telecommunication, film industry, software and ICT). The analysis, synthesis, comparative and mapping methods were used in this paper. The data were collected from domestic and foreign scientific papers, as well as from the official electronic database. Given data are connected to the traffic network of Serbia, and the goal was to realize its influence on choosing locations for foreign direct investments.Favourable geo- traffic position of the towns, where the company seats are located, has great significance in the work of these companies due to the reduction of transport costs. This paper analyzed the companies’ selection of location and their position in relation to the main roads in the country – Corridor X. The zonation of companies and towns where they are located, depending on their distance from the corridor 10, were processed in GeoMedia program. Results showed that most of the companies (102) were located at a distance of 10 kilometres from the highway.