Skopje, 27 April 2023

The National Bank has been continuously supporting the research activity and contributing to improvement of the knowledge and encouraging of the scientific and creative thought, which is also the basis for devising and conducting sound economic policies. Our goal is to support young economists to create new ideas and innovative solutions to the challenges in the economy. At the same time, we emphasize the importance of scientific thought among young people who are the future policy makers. This was emphasized by the Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska when awarding the plaque for first prize for best paper in the field of macroeconomics and banking, which this year has been awarded to Aleksandra Daneva for the paper: Stock Returns, Risk, and Firm Characteristics of an Emerging Market: Evidence from the Macedonian Stock Exchange. 

Aleksandra Daneva has obtained an International Diploma in Economy and Business at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Today, she upgrades her knowledge with working experience as a financial analyst in the open-end investment funds management company WVP Fund Management AD Skopje.

The paper examines the firm characteristics that affect stock returns and models the volatility of the index of the Macedonian Stock Exchange. Moreover, the index returns and firm characteristics are compared with the developed country Slovenia.

The Evaluation Board, which this year was chaired by the Vice Governor Ana Mitreska, whose members were Biljana Davidovska Stojanova, Manager and Gani Ramadani, Senior Advisor in the Monetary Policy and Research Department, gave the highest grade to the awarded paper, guided, among other things, by the relevance of the researched area, the appropriateness of the used statistical-econometric approach and the given conclusions and recommendations.

The National Bank undertakes numerous activities to encourage the research thought in the field of macroeconomics and banking. Thus, the Research Club has held 46 sessions so far, where the researchers have an opportunity to present their papers.  In addition, the central bank awards the Annual Prize for Young Researchers, which this year has been awarded for the seventeenth time. With the research paper prize, the National Bank motivates young population to promote and develop research and analytical work in the field of economics.   

The awarded paper is published on the web site of the National Bank and is available here.