Nalazimo se u fazi globalizacije koja je posljedica ponovne pojave nekih prijašnjih problema ojačanih novim izazovima, za koje se zbog njihove dinamike i nestalnosti ne mogu naći sigurna održiva rješenja. Suvremenu globalnu ekonomiju obilježava sve brža digitalizacija koja omogućuje ostvarivanje brojnih prednosti i prilika, no također rezultira i širenjem jaza među zemljama jer nemaju sve zemlje jednake mogućnosti u iskorištavanju tehnologija. Cilj ovog rada je analizirati utjecaj globalizacije na dohodovnu nejednakost među zemljama. Budući da je upravo rastuća nejednakost jedan od najvećih globalnih izazova cilj je istražiti da li globalizacija putem različitih kanala utjecaja doprinosi jačanju konkurentnosti gospodarstva i posljedično, smanjenju nejednakosti među zemljama te koja su potencijalna rješenja za smanjenje nejednakosti.
SOCIAL INNOVATION AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES EU member states are undergoing the process of economic and demographic transformation with significant influence on society and economy. In order to respond to the existing and future challenges, it is necessary to adapt development strategies and policies, as well as to focus on concepts such as innovation, social change, equality and sustainable development. In the new development strategy, EU will focus on creating a society that will function as a competitive, secure and energy-efficient system. Scientists, economic policy makers, nongovernmental organisations and entrepreneurs are showing an increasing interest in the field of social innovation, striving to address a series of contemporary challenges. The aim of this paper is to study the role and ways of fostering social innovations in the European Union. The contribution of this paper is reflected in the systematic review of the importance of social innovation and the measures used to foster them, while pointing out the existing obstacles and needs and recommendations for further development of social innovation in the context of global challenges that the EU is facing. The results of the research indicate the growing importance of social innovation in modern EU policies that actively promote the quintuple helix approach, recognizing sustainable development and innovation as key development priorities during the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Recommendations for further development of social innovation in the EU include the need to coordinate various EU instruments in this area, encourage investment in innovative education, training and employment programs in this area, increase awareness of social innovation, encourage networking and dissemination of information and create an enabling environment for their development. Also, the paper highlights the shortcomings in the field of measuring social innovation, as well as the need to address this challenge, in order to improve the understanding of their role, but also a more efficient allocation of incentives to them. Key words: social innovation, European Union, strategic framework, development strategies.
Food industry has a strategic role in the global economy and it greatly contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, but at the same time it causes significant ecological pollution and resource depletion. Maximizing the benefits and minimizing the costs of the food industry is therefore a challenging task. The subject of this paper are contemporary global trends and factors of competitiveness of the food industry. The purpose of the paper is to determine what contributes to the competitiveness of the food industry and to analyze recent global trends in the food industry in order to draw conclusions about the role and contribution of this industry to sustainable development and competitiveness. The analysis has shown that innovation in the production and processing of food and also diversification of the supply are key contributing factors. The main driver of innovation in the food industry are new consumer expectations and requirements. Consumers are increasingly concerned about their own ecological footprint, which increases the demand for those food products whose production has a minimal negative effect on the environment, and they often choose products of enterprises with socially responsible business practices.
European Union (EU) is fostering the quintuple helix approach as it recognizes sustainable development and innovation as important development priorities. The quintuple helix represents a new framework which includes new knowledge, more stakeholders with sustainable development at its center. The EU has put in place different policy measures, regulations and funds to support designing and implementation of innovation strategies and sustainable development in all Member States. The objective of this paper is twofold as it includes identifying key features of helix innovation model and its evolution over time, and exploring EU efforts to transform to the quintuple helix system. The purpose of this paper is to explain the new context of development where innovation and sustainability should be considered as key elements. Using the example of the European Union, this paper studies policies and measures that the EU has put in place in order to support innovations as well as inclusive, smart and sustainable development, which are significant parts of the quintuple helix approach.
Glavni cilj ovog istraživanja je analizirati trgovinske tijekove roba i usluga Slovenije s ostatkom svijeta od pridruživanja Europskoj uniji (EU) u svibnju 2004. godine. Empirijsko istraživanje provedeno je primjenom Grangerovog testa uzročnosti i Vektorskog modela korekcije pogrešaka (VECM) koristeći tromjesečne podatke od 2005. do 2017. godine. Primijenjeni Hansen i Seo (2002) test potvrdio je pretpostavku linearnosti između promatranih varijabli i prikladnost empirijskog pristupa u radu. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na dominaciju uvoza nad izvozom u trgovinskom obrascu slovenskog gospodarstva i pozitivnu trgovinsku bilancu s ostatkom svijeta od vremena njenog pristupanja Europskoj uniji.
During the 1990s Croatia went through the process of transition to market economy mostly following the Washington Consensus policy guidelines. Since the period before the last global financial crisis, Croatia has shown almost no convergence to developed European Union member states and has been among the least developed ones. This paper examines the causes of Croatian development lag, while providing an overview of contemporary development policies and international production fragmentation trends that affected them. The paper points out to several important factors that shaped the Croatian development path. Expectations from foreign capital were overrated, as the foreign direct investment consisted mainly of brownfield investment in large monopolistic companies and was rarely directed to export-oriented sectors. Accession to the World Trade Organisation was followed by stronger growth of imports than exports and joining the European Union did not bring economic growth as fast as expected. Lack of industrial policy implementation has led Croatia to deindustrialisation and increasing importance of the tourism sector as a form of the Dutch disease.
