Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.46672/aet.9.2.5
ORGANIZATIONAL OPTIMIZATION OF THE SUBNATIONAL LEVEL OF CROATIA – ANNEX TO INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS GUIDELINES
Davor Žmegač
orcid.org/0000-0002-1847-6133
; Libertas International University
Sažetak
This paper explores and analyzes the indicators of subnational level organization of Croatia and the European Union. Based on the conducted comparative analysis, the aim of the paper is to identify current EU trends in subnational level organization and, in accordance with the results, to make recommendations, or in other words, guidelines for institutional reforms at the national level. The emphasis in both the research and analysis is placed on the fragmentation of the regional level of EU Member States compared to Croatia, but also on trends in the optimization and regional competitiveness of the subnational level in the EU. The paper also emphasizes the importance of institutions, since they are the ones carrying out the activities the aim of which is improvement and development of regional and local level, which is a basis for social and economic development of each national system. The research is based within the theoretical framework of regional economics. Methodologically, first were explored the macro indicators of Croatia and the EU in the regional level segmentation, on the grounds of research objective, after which a comparative analysis of the organization of Croatia and similar EU countries (according to the population criterion) was performed. In the last part of the paper, an emphasis was given on the importance of institutions in management and economic growth and development policies, and regional and local level competitiveness. We have used the latest publicly available data related to selected indicators of regional economics of Croatia and the EU and relevant OECD data. Compared to the EU-27
Member States and especially to selected countries that have similarities with Croatia (by population criterion), the research results indicate that the organization fragmentation in Croatia is more significant than in compared countries. It also shows that competitiveness of NUTS 2 regions is about 20% lower than comparable regions of the EU- 27, with particular emphasis on the fact that the institutional framework is one of the fundamental problems because subnational level competitiveness of Croatia is running behind. The research results and the recommendations made lead to concluding considerations, which determine potential guidelines for institutional reforms and appropriate policies of regional economics of the Republic of Croatia, which is also the main contribution of this paper.
Ključne riječi
regional economics, fragmentation, institutions, subnational organization
Hrčak ID:
311468
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.12.2023.
Posjeta: 245 *