"Scientific research" Almanac

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  NEOCLASSICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL SYNTHESIS OF HOUSEHOLDS

  The paper presents a study on households as subjects of economic relations in terms of the institutional and neoclassical synthesis. Households are considered a pri-mary component of the economic system, as well as objectively necessary and relatively autonomous economic entities. The neoclassical synthesis deals with two main charac¬teristics of ... The paper presents a study on households as subjects of economic relations in terms of the institutional and neoclassical synthesis. Households are considered a pri-mary component of the economic system, as well as objectively necessary and relatively autonomous economic entities. The neoclassical synthesis deals with two main charac¬teristics of both individuals and households – their rationalism and sovereignty – as key factors of their behaviour in a market economy. In response to the shortcomings of the neoclassical theory, the institutional approach focuses on the norms, rules and stereo¬types that govern human behaviour in real life. The analysis of households as functional socio-economic entities requires a combination of the concepts of neoclassical and in¬stitutional approaches.

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  OFFSHORE ZONES – PLACES FOR IMPLEMENTING CRIMINAL INITIATIVES OR ECONOMICALLY JUSTIFIED INVESTMENTS

  An intensive dispute about the role of the offshore zones in modern global economy is taking place among researchers, politicians and financial specialists. What are the reasons for investors to transfer their savings to such offshore zones – are they motivated by economic reasons or are they just realizing their criminal intentions using the ... An intensive dispute about the role of the offshore zones in modern global economy is taking place among researchers, politicians and financial specialists. What are the reasons for investors to transfer their savings to such offshore zones – are they motivated by economic reasons or are they just realizing their criminal intentions using the offshore status? According to Zhixiang Sun investors will transfer their savings to offshore zones until the ratio between return in the home country towards return in the offshore zone is higher than the ratio between unity minus the tax rate in the home country and unity minus the tax rate in the offshore zone. In our research we calculate these ratios for a US investor towards a possible transfer to 9 Caribbean offshore zones. For all cases we find that there are strong economic reasons for investors to transfer their savings to offshore zones. The same conclusions refer to Bulgarian investors, too. It is only for Panama that we did not find economic reasons.

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  INFLUENCE OF FINANCIAL DERIVATIVES ON THE CAPITAL MARKET OF MAJOR EUROPEAN EXCHANGES

  There are still opinions in professional circles about the danger of financial derivatives and their blame for the current crisis. At the same time there are isolated studies regarding the specific effects of derivatives and they have a narrow focus – a separate tool, limited market and time. The current study looks for arguments about the actual ... There are still opinions in professional circles about the danger of financial derivatives and their blame for the current crisis. At the same time there are isolated studies regarding the specific effects of derivatives and they have a narrow focus – a separate tool, limited market and time. The current study looks for arguments about the actual influence of financial derivatives on the capital market in terms of studying the biggest West European exchanges with options and futures based on their instruments. An analysis is made of the most fundamental market indicators: exchange turnovers – in a premium value and number of contracts, open positions, movement of indexes, volatility, etc. The results of the correlative, comparative and traditional investment analyses lead to the fundamental findings: derivative trading improves market liquidity of the basic capital instruments and aids their risky management, the activity of derivative exchanges is more stable in years of crisis than that of the stock exchanges, which indicates a better risk-return correlation; an analogous analysis of the Russian markets for the same period corroborates some findings and shows some interesting differences in investment behaviour. In terms of methodology the parallel analysis between main indicators such as: exchange volumes, option rate and open positions enable the indication of fundamental changes in investment behaviour and of occurring financial and economic cataclysms.