The assessment of economic indicators of National Park Administrations

In the territory of the Czech Republic there are four national parks managed by their administrators. National parks are areas designed for the protection of nature and landscape, or biodiversity, i.e. rendering of public goods. National Park Administrations (NP Administrations) are specific organizations aimed at the provision of public goods; they are established by Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic and their activities are principally financed from the state budget. Since the main objective of these organisations is not the generation of profit, their economic indicators cannot be compared with those of other types of entities. The paper aims to assess selected economic indicators of organisations engaged in NP Administration. Attention was primarily focused on the most significant financial indicators for non-profit organisations - liquidity, i.e. the ability to pay. Data covered the time span of 2005-2012. The methodology used for research comprises time series modelling, calculation of correlation coefficients in combination with test of their significance, and individual simple indexes (base and chain ones). The results have drawn attention to the differences between national park administrations which are characterised, aside from nature conservation of a territory assigned by the state authorities, also by extensive economic activity, and those which were established purely for the purposes of nature conservation.