This paper tests the hypothesis that incentives for renewable energy sources contribute to economic development in Croatia. The aim of the paper is to quantify the total effects of wind power plant deployment on the Croatian economy in terms of employment and gross value. Indirect and induced effects are spread over the value added chain of producers of investment and intermediate goods and services required for wind power plant deployment and operation. The open input-output model is used for quantifying indirect effects. The closed input output model, which assumes endogenous personal consumption, is applied for quantifying total effects, which includes the effects of induced personal consumption. The gross value added and employment type I and type II multipliers related to wind power plants in Croatia were calculated separately for the investment and intermediate consumption channel. The results show positive indirect and induced effects relating to the deployment of wind power plants in Croatia. They are less pronounced in comparison to previous studies due to the undeveloped domestic production of equipment required for wind power plant deployment. Apart from the manufacturing sector, which produces equipment incorporated into wind power plants, the total effects were significant for construction, transport, and other supporting industries.

Over the past two decades, the issue of regional convergence in the European Union has been the subject of a wide range of empirical research. This paper aims to provide more information on the differences in regional growth patterns of new member states (NMS), as well as Croatia, in addition to the factors influencing regional disparities within each country. This research provides an analysis of regional convergence in the period 2001-2008 at the NUTS II and NUTS III level. The most widely used model for testing convergence hypotheses is beta-convergence analysis. Other factors commonly included in the econometric modelling of convergence are demographic variables, labour market conditions, industrial structure, institutional factors and overall government policy. The main hypothesis is that the process of regional convergence in NMS and Croatia is not strong enough to dominate over other factors, influencing regional potential growth (mainly industry structure and quality of human capital). Absolute β-convergence can be found at the national level for EU countries. Convergence also can be found for NMS regions, but the pace of convergence on the regional level is lower in comparison to the national level and the estimated β-convergence parameter is less significant.

The goal of this article is to provide a deeper insight to the overall contribution of the export of food products to the Croatian economy and to estimate the direct and indirect impact of the international competitiveness of food producers on other domestic sectors. The authors measure the importance of the food sector by employing both the constant market share (CMS) and the input-output analysis. The results indicate that a loss in competitiveness in the Croatian food industry was the most important factor that determined the decreasing share of national companies in the period from 2009, when the global recession started, up to 2013, when Croatia joined the EU. EU membership strongly and positively influenced the performance of Croatian food exports. The negative trend regarding the share of the international food market was reversed. Besides having a direct impact on the export performance of the food industry, the international competitiveness of food producers indirectly affects other domestic companies whose products are used as intermediate inputs in the food industry. The study also presents a benchmark of results with previous research for EU countries, which rarely included Croatia before the accession in 2013. As far as output and value added are concerned, multipliers for the food industry are relatively significant and higher than the national average, and the food industry could be assessed as one of the key Croatian economic sectors.

Production processes are becoming increasingly fragmented and dispersed for producers in different geographical areas as a result of international integration and trade liberalisation. The aim of this paper is to estimate direct and indirect import content of Croatian industries and final demand and to compare the results with previous studies for European economies. Direct and indirect import content of final demand is estimated by an input-output model. The updated 2013 input-output table based on the bi-proportional adjustment of the rows and columns of the base technology matrix A (RAS method) is applied in order to account for changes in technical coefficients for domestic output and imports after European Union (EU) accession. The highest import content is estimated for sectors applying production technology that requires raw materials which are not available in sufficient quantities domestically, and sectors that produce high-tech or medium high-tech goods. The import content of public and personal services is low. The highest import content of domestic final demand is recorded for exports and gross fixed capital formation. In comparison to other new member-states, the Croatian economy is less internationally integrated and import dependence is more similar to results found for larger self-sufficient economies. Empirical results on the import content of different economic sectors could enhance the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies.

Cilj je ovoga rada, analizom multiplikativnih učinaka i intenziteta regionalne povezanosti, identificirati sektore s najvećim potencijalom za ublažavanje negativnih gospodarskih posljedica širenja COVID-19 virusa u Hrvatskoj. Hrvatska je podijeljena u dvije regije: Kontinentalna Hrvatska i Jadranska Hrvatska. U izradi regionalnih input-output tablica korištena je metodologija međusektorskih lokacijskih kvocijenata (Cross-industry location quotient, CILQ). Metoda se temelji na specijalizaciji pojedinih regija u proizvodnji određenih skupina proizvoda, a temeljem čega se nacionalni tehnički koeficijenti prilagođavaju na razini pojedinih regija. U istraživačkom smislu doprinos rada temelji se na nepostojanju empirijske literature koja bi se bavila regionalnom input-output analizom za hrvatsko gospodarstvo. Rezultati rada mogu se koristiti i kao podloga za definiranje izlazne ekonomske strategije usmjerene na oporavak gospodarstva i brži izlazak iz recesije. Najveći multiplikativni učinci i najveći intenzitet regionalne povezanosti uočen je u određenim sektorima prerađivačke industrije, poljoprivredi i građevinarstvu. Ova skupina djelatnosti može se uz određene mjere opreza odvijati na dosadašnji način bez velikih rizika za širenje virusa. Poticanje ovih aktivnosti daje pozitivne rezultate već u kratkom roku, a zbog visokih multiplikativnih učinaka, pozitivni poticaj širi se i na ostale djelatnosti i regije. Osim ovih djelatnosti naglasak treba biti i na unapređivanju sektora zdravstva i sektora informacijsko-komunikacijskih tehnologija, kod kojih su neizravni gospodarski učinci nešto niži, ali koji će biti ključni za nesmetano odvijanje gospodarske aktivnosti u budućem razdoblju. Sektor turizma ima vrlo plitke multiplikatine učinke, ali nadprosječno velik udio isporuka za finalnu potrošnju, a time i utjecaj na prihode državnog proračuna.