Ekonomska misao i praksa, , 2026.
Prethodno priopćenje
https://doi.org/10.17818/EMIP/2026/23
COST STICKINESS IN CROATIAN MANUFACTURING SMES: EVIDENCE FROM PANDEMIC AND POST-PANDEMIC PERIODS
Jan Musil
; Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic, Faculty of Business and Management
*
Alena Kocmanova
; Tehnološko sveučilište u Brnu, Češka Republika, Fakultet za poslovanje i menadžment
* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
This study analyses asymmetric cost behaviour in 3,399 Croatian manufacturing SMEs from 2018 to 2024 using an extended Anderson–Banker–Janakiraman model within a two-way fixed-effects panel with firm-clustered standard errors. Total operating costs show clear stickiness (β₂ = −0.165, p < 0.01), rising by 0.70% for a 1% increase in revenue but falling by only 0.53% for an equivalent decrease. Material costs exhibit the strongest asymmetry (β₂ = −0.214, p < 0.01). Personnel costs do not display systematic stickiness (β₂ = 0.015, p = 0.764), suggesting that labour market factors such as minimum wage increases, emigration-related shortages, and eurozone accession shaped their dynamics independently of revenue changes. Larger SMEs show lower cost rigidity than smaller ones. Sectoral analysis indicates that labour-intensive industries have the highest stickiness, resource-intensive industries show near-symmetric behaviour, and capital-intensive industries fall in between.
Ključne riječi
Cost stickiness; SMEs; Manufacturing; Croatia; COVID-19 pandemic
Hrčak ID:
347158
URI
Datum izdavanja:
14.5.2026.
Posjeta: 0 *