O10 - Economic Development: GeneralReturn

The widespread use of blockchain technology (BCT) and the growing awareness of the numerous opportunities it offers its users have been the focus of recent research. Digital natives are surrounded by technology from birth and are naturally inclined to embrace it, but previous research has not addressed their attitudes towards BCT. This paper aims to investigate digital natives' attitudes towards the use of BCT in Croatia. The survey method is applied and data from 518 questionnaires are analysed with PLS-SEM. Results show that privacy threat, social influence, trust in BCT and trust in the community of blockchain users have a statistically significant positive effect on intention to use BCT. The study identifies the importance of BCT use from the perspective of users who belong to the digital native category, developing a model to better understand behavioural intentions at the individual level and presenting a starting point for future research on this topic.
Implications for Central European audience: The research findings may be of interest to audiences in other Central European countries, where blockchain technology is an extremely important segment of emerging technologies and Central Europe in particular is experiencing exponential growth in the use of this technology. Policymakers in Central European countries can benefit from the findings of this study to formulate policies that support the growth and regulation of the blockchain industry, including information that can contribute to informed decision-making and policy formulation, ultimately contributing to the growth and success of the blockchain technology sector in the region. From a theoretical point of view, the research results represent a contribution to the study of consumer behaviour, especially from the perspective of the use of innovative technologies. The practical contribution is reflected in the possibility of applying obtained results in the development of adequate marketing strategies that help BCT providers improve the quality of their offer and thus meet the modern demands of the digital natives’ segment.

At the end of 2014, the number of firms with an Italian presence in Romania was 39,556, representing 19.33% out of total registered firms and this number is still growing. This article focuses on answering the following question: what kind of Italian firms are investing in Romania and why? Starting from the empirical observation that the number of Italian firms in Romania grew by 6.82% last year, we have used a PESTEL analysis to find the key points characterizing the country, paying attention also to the concept of country brand. From the point of view of Italian firms, we have also analyzed the shifting paradigm of internationalization from a Vertical Foreign Direct Investment model to a Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment model. This paper can be useful for managers and entrepreneurs who are oriented towards investing in Romania following the path of Italian firms.

The goal of this paper is to analyze main changes in the business performance - as in part of the overall competitiveness - of the Visegrád Group, i.e. Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland and Hungary, in the last ten years, 2004-2014, based on Pearson correlation, Chow and Granger Causality tests. The business performance in the Visegrád Group is defined with the help of five indicators: business density, value added per business entity, investment in fixed capital per business density, inward foreign direct investment stock per business entity and exports of goods and services per business entity. The author finds that the business performance, and hence the business environment, in the Visegrád Group has diverged since EU accession with the exception of internationalization indicators, which indicates the necessity for managers to adjust to the specifics in each particular country.