The prevailing approach in mainstream economic theory is that the role of government should be reduced to ensuring an appropriate institutional framework and political stability for the proper functioning of the (free) market. Although the free market concept has proven (at least in theory) to be an unsurpassed mechanism for the effectiveness of economic decision-making and the reconciliation of production and consumption, there are still disputes about the degree of state intervention in the market, which are being re-actualized (in the post-transition and globalization process) when it comes to solving solvency problem(s) in the shipbuilding industry. Although various methodological approaches are available to study such a complex problematic framework, this paper analyzes the legal aspect, since the empirical debates (on some aspects) on the legal regulation of the maritime domain and insolvency proceedings (as well as the ambiguities that have arisen in the application of existing regulations) clearly show which areas and issues need to be urgently addressed and/or reformed.
U ovom diplomskom radu analizira se provođenje ekonomske politike unutar političkog ciklusa, odnosno pokušava se analizirati način primjene ekonomske teorije u stvarnim društvenim okolnostima na primjeru provođenja politike štednje u zemljama članicama EU koje su to postale od 2004. godine. Ekonomska teorija služi kao smjernica za provođenje određene ekonomske politike, no na njezino provođenje utječu različite okolnosti. Kao najvažnija egzogena odrednica (okolnost) može se navesti izborni ciklus gdje, u demokratskim zemljama, političari, koji su zaduženi za provođenje ekonomske politike, moraju biti ponovno izabrani na svoju dužnost. Stoga izbori predstavljaju svakako najvažniju odrednicu u radu određenog političara. Radi toga izborni ciklus služi kao dobra orijentacija za analizu utjecaja društvenih okolnosti na provođenje ekonomske politike prema danoj teoriji. U tu će svrhu biti pružen povijesni pregled razvoja teorije politike štednje, kao i prikaz njezinog provođenja u ekonomskoj politici. Nakon toga će biti dan pregled teorije javnog izbora i političkih ciklusa koji pružaju teorijski okvir za objašnjenje važnosti samih izbora u životu racionalnih ekonomskih agenata. Na osnovu dane analize moći će se provesti ekonometrijska analiza pomoću koje će se pokušati odrediti značaj političkog ciklusa u provođenju politike štednje, posebno u kontekstu razdoblja Velike recesije. Metodološki, panel analiza čini temelj empirijske analize diplomskog rada i bit će provedena nad uzorkom od 11 novih zemalja članica EU u vremenskom razdoblju 2004.-2019. ; This Master's Thesis analyzes the implementation of economic policy within the political cycle, i.e. attempts to analyze the application of economic theory in the condition of real social circumstances by using the example of the implementation of austerity policy in EU member states that have become so since 2004. Economic theory serves as a guideline for the implementation of a particular economic policy, but its implementation is influenced by different circumstances. ...
Znanstvena monografija sadrži znanstvene radove sudionika međunarodne znanstvene konferencije pod naslovom Economics of digital transformation - Smart Governments, Regions and Cities u organizaciji Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci. Rezultati istraživanja se odnose na razvoj i perspektive pametnih gradova i regija te ostale izazove digitalizacije i digitalne transformacije gospodarstva i društva.
EU funds are all financial and operative programs funded by the European Union, either in the Member States (Union Programs and instruments of the Cohesion, Agriculture and Fisheries Policies), or outside of them (pre-accession funds, other country programmes). In order to develop the regions, cities and villages of Croatia, the programme of strategic investment is established by the regional policy which promotes economic and social growth and improves the living standard. It gives support for less developed areas and rural regions as an expression of solidarity. Regional policy is a strategic investment programme, with aim to develop all regions and cities and villages in Croatia, in order to promote their economic and social growth and improve the quality of living. It is also an expression of solidarity because it gives support for less developed areas and rural regions. Purpose of this research paper is to identify level of knowledge about EU funds in rural area with survey method. There is a practical example of a survey of the respondents on the impact of EU funds on reducing rural regional inequalities as a result of this paper.
People learn their whole life due to acceleration pace of life. Lifelong learning in that sense is all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective. The European Union helps fund projects and organisations which contribute to the implementation of EU programs and policies. About 80% of EU funding is granted through programmes managed in the EU countries themselves. This paper provides more detailed information on Operational programmes 2014 – 2020 in Croatia and relevant EU funds. Within this paper, a survey of young people about getting acquainted with EU funds was conducted. This survey was carried out among 85 students of Polytechnic of Pozega, which intended to establish how familiar people are with the topic of EU funds and possibilities afforded by those funds. The methodology used is questionnaire. The aim of the research is to show awareness of the opportunities that EU funds offer and to emphasize the importance of lifelong learning.
The key objective of the scientific research paper is to identify the key factors of knowledge management that have a direct impact on the economic growth of the national economy within the framework of the European Union. Analyzing named variables through the implementation of primary research in the insurance sector (insurance companies) to create a model of competitiveness in terms of the knowledge economy based on the above research and proven hypotheses in research conducted. Through the analysis of the results is necessary to determine the most important groups of variables that affect the economic growth and competitive advantage. Setting the research is based on three key variables: education, knowledge and human resources. By analyzing the results of research will be determined statistically significant association between elements of the aforementioned variables, and will analyze the mutual influence of key variables on the competitive advantage of the observed insurance companies.
The process of creating a better life in society requires the engagement of all the actors of society. The level of personal readiness to participate actively in the community is a prerequisite for building social responsibilities of all individuals. It also influences the development of social entrepreneurship, which, by integrating economic and social values, offers more sustainable solutions for a variety of social problems and the removal of traditional boundaries between government, business community, academia and civil society. This paper will look into the level of personal readiness of individuals in Croatia, by placing a special emphasis on youth because their energy and potential represent the pillar of future development of the society. At the same time, their inertness and passivity point out that young people are not aware of their important role in society. This paper compares young people's perception of social entrepreneurship in Croatia and its importance in the process of personal and community development. By researching young people (students) from different regions (the City of Zagreb, as the most developed region, and in the City of Osijek, as the centre of one of the least developed regions in Croatia) and with different educational orientation (business, electronic engineering and art) the paper explores whether students recognize social entrepreneurship as a new approach for solving various social problems but also as a possible career option with which they can make a profit.
The prevailing approach in mainstream economic theory is that the role of government should be reduced to ensuring an appropriate institutional framework and political stability for the proper functioning of the (free) market. Although the free market concept has proven (at least in theory) to be an unsurpassed mechanism for the effectiveness of economic decision-making and the reconciliation of production and consumption, there are still disputes about the degree of state intervention in the market, which are being re-actualized (in the post-transition and globalization process) when it comes to solving solvency problem(s) in the shipbuilding industry. Although various methodological approaches are available to study such a complex problematic framework, this paper analyzes the legal aspect, since the empirical debates (on some aspects) on the legal regulation of the maritime domain and insolvency proceedings (as well as the ambiguities that have arisen in the application of existing regulations) clearly show which areas and issues need to be urgently addressed and/or reformed.
Contextualising the lived practices of social enterprises overcomes crude binaries between the idealised views of such ventures as 'heroic' and those which see them as the reproduction of neo-liberal hegemony. When translated into 'transition' contexts in the 'semi-periphery', there is a need for case studies of social enterprises which address the micro-level of lived social practices, exploring the ways in which particular initiatives steer a path, however contradictory and paradoxical, towards an autonomous space for action, even in the face of an inconsistent and unsupportive operating environment. Based on a 'bending and blending' approach, making a virtue out of the fact that researchers on social enterprises inevitably are also enrolled as policy consultants, advisors, advocates, and practitioners, this paper uses qualitative methods to explore the work of ACT Group, a consortium of social enterprises from Čakovec, Croatia. The text explores the hybrid nature of the Group's organisational topography and leadership styles, the complex relationship between informal and formal practices, and the unexpected synergies between charismatic leadership and collective decision- -making. ; Kontekstualiziranje socijalnoga poduzeća kao "življenih praksi" nadvladava krute binarnosti između idealiziranja takvih pothvata kao "herojskih" te onih koji ih vide kao reprodukcije neoliberalne hegemonije. U kontekstu "tranzicijskih" društava s "polu-periferije" potrebne su studije slučaja socijalnih poduzeća usmjerene na mikrorazine življenih društvenih praksi. Takve bi studije istražile načine na koje pojedine inicijative utiru put, ma koliko to bilo proturječno i paradoksalno, prema nezavisnom prostoru za djelovanje, čak i unutar nedosljednog i nepodržavajućeg okruženja. Rad se temelji na bending and blending* pristupu, koristeći se činjenicom da su istraživači socijalnih poduzeća neizbježno uključeni i kao savjetnici u kreiranju politika, zagovornici te sudionici i praktikanti. Primjenom kvalitativne metodologije, rad istražuje djelovanje ACT grupe, konzorcija socijalnih poduzeća iz Čakovca, nastojeći razumjeti hibridnost organizacijske topografije i stilova upravljanja, složene odnose između formalnih i neformalnih praksi te neočekivane sinergije između karizmatskoga vodstva i kolektivnog odlučivanja.
The EU Cohesion policy is based on a complex system of fiscal transfers, their main goal being to accelerate economic and social cohesion. In this paper, the contributions of the Structural funds and Cohesion fund (SFCF) to economic growth on national level while controlling for the institutional quality are tested. Aim of the paper is show whether institutional quality is a bottleneck for effective usage of SFCF. The analysis is based on the country-level data during 2000-2013 period. In the presented econometric models, we emphasize the importance of the institutional quality on the economic growth. The results show that when Institutional Quality Indicator as a regressor is included together with the size of inflows from SFCF, SFCF inflows have no influence on economic growth. Moreover, we found that neither the institutional quality separately or in interaction with SFCF inflows, is a statistically significant factor for economic growth in the EU-27. The results are signifincantly different when we apply the same methodology on two subsamples, where we distinguish between countries with high and low level of institutional quality index.
Differentiation is a way for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage or achieving a market position which enables companies to satisfy customers' needs better than the competition. Differentiation can manifest itself through four dimensions: product, services, personnel and image. Nature parks, national parks, strict reserves and special reserves are categories of protected areas of national importance. Nature parks and national parks have exceptional potential for visiting system development, but are also responsible for the management of these activities. There are numerous nature protection restrictions arising from legislation and management documents. The principal task is to protect and preserve the natural and landscape values and ecological characteristics. Creating and realizing visiting activities as a part of tourist services supplied trough Public institutions are also specific. These services must be differentiated on the market in relation to the competition. Income generated from tourist services in the income structure of nature parks, will be even more important in the future, because of self-financing development and central budget dependency reduction. It must be emphasized that nature parks help the larger community through development of complementary economic activities. This paper is based on market research conducted in the period from 16 May to 10 June 2016 in Nature Park Kopački rit, which is one of the most visited nature parks in the Republic of Croatia. A poll survey was carried out among 300 randomly selected visitors. The research results may be used for policy suggestions for how to create adequate products, services and promotional activities, ensure quality education for visitors about natural, historical and cultural protected area values and minimize visitors' impact on natural resources.
In the past two decades, managing and raising the general level of environmental awareness on all levels of society has become one of the main social goals that has reached a level of social and political consensus unseen ever before. Considering that only things that can be measured can actually be managed, the measuring of environmental awareness based on scientific criteria is becoming increasingly interesting to scientists working in different disciplines. As these disciplines developed, numerous laws were discovered, models were developed and limitations which should be taken into consideration were defined. However, there is a lack of literary sources that could offer a review of scientific knowledge acquired so far and provide a certain "check list" for researchers. The purpose of the present research is to determine and discuss the key issues that should be considered while creating measurement instruments, conducting analysis of research results and interpreting them. Based on the analysis of relevant theoretical cognitions and empirical research results, the paper provides an overview of key issues and categorises them in three groups: issues in measuring different components of attitude, issues concerning the attitude – behaviour gap and issues concerning the influence of social desirability and research sample. By considering all of these issues it is possible to account for and minimize their negative influence and to contribute to the quality, universality and comparability of the obtained results, as well as of the developed models and the defined laws.
Danas je kompletno društvo pod snažnim utjecajem globalizacije i zbog toga je zahvaćeno globalnom ekonomskom krizom i usporavanjem privredne aktivnosti. Globalna ekonomska kriza manifestirala se i u Hrvatskoj, zaustavljanjem gospodarskog rasta i značajnim smanjenjem proizvodnje i potrošnje te padom bruto društvenog proizvoda. Razvijene poduzetničke kompetencije pojedinca i društva u cjelini, a u uvjetima globalne ekonomske krize predstavlja temeljnu pretpostavku za uspješan rast i razvoj. Upravo sektor malog i srednjeg poduzetništva ima ključnu ulogu u rastu i razvoju gospodarstva sa svrhom konkurentnosti na tržištu zemalja regije i Europske unije. U radu ćemo prikazati da je glavni pokretač razvoja svakog modernog gospodarstva upravo MSP sektor te da se ekonomska kriza može prevladati razvojem i ulaganjem u malo i srednje poduzetništvo. ; Today is an entire society strongly influenced by globalization, and therefore affected by the global economic crisis and a slowdown in economic activity. The global economic crisis has manifested itself also in Croatia, stopping economic growth and a significant reduction in production and consumption, and the drop in gross domestic product. Developed entrepreneurial competencies of individuals and society as a whole, and in light of the global economic crisis is a fundamental precondition for the successful growth and development. The sector of Small and Medium Entrepreneurship play a key role in the growth and development of the economy, with the purpose of market competitiveness, the region and the European Union. In this paper we show that the main engine of growth of any modern economy's SME sector, and that the economic crisis can be overcome development and investment in the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship.
In this paper we empirically test the importance and the effects of labour taxation on employment in Croatia. The motivation for this analytical inquiry stems from the fact that Croatia is one of the countries with the lowest employment rates in the European Union while at the same time it has relatively high labour tax burden compared to peers and ranks among the countries with most negative perceived effects of taxation on incentives to work. As fiscal policy is the main economic policy instrument in Croatia, it is important to analyse whether fiscal measures can directly affect labour market performance. Our results show that tax policy has significant effect on employment in Croatia which has important policy implications.
We use data for 24 European countries, spanning from 1994 to 2015, in order to examine how changes in macroeconomic conditions influence country risk premium volatility proxied by sovereign spreads variance. In the first part of the empirical analysis, we estimate the univariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model in order to obtain the conditional variance of sovereign bond spreads. We show that an increase in this variance coincides with economic and financial crisis occurring either in the country or globally. In the second part of the empirical analysis, we estimate the panel vector autoregression (panel VAR) model in order to model the interplay between macroeconomic fundamentals (inflation, output gap, public debt and interest rates) and the country's risk premium volatility. We show that overheating of the economy, along with an unexpected increase in public debt, inflation and interest rates, increase the country's risk premium volatility. We also show that a sudden increase in the country´s risk premium volatility depresses the economy, exerts deflationary pressures on consumer prices, and is followed by a strong and permanent increase in public debt.
