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Purpose: In the last 10 years, wine consumption in Croatia has increased and consumer habits and expectations have changed. Understanding consumer behavior in relation to wine consumption is important for wine-producing countries where wine is an important component of economy. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that influence the frequency of wine consumption in Croatia, where wine production is an important agricultural activity in terms of the number of people employed in the sector and an important factor in the development of tourism. Methodology: Empirical research was conducted by means of a questionnaire filled out by 169 wine consumers who visited a wine fair in the Croatian Adriatic region. Based on the collected data, we developed and estimated a multinomial logit model. Results: The results indicate that wine is consumed more frequently by men, married people, people in long-term relationships, and older people. In addition, people with high levels of education tend to drink wine less frequently. The paper explains the reasons for somewhat puzzling results and suggests future avenues of research. Conclusion: Behavioral differences were confirmed in this study between subsample groups in accordance with four demographic characteristics, i.e., gender, age, marital status, and education criteria. Our analysis showed that males are more likely to consume wine than women, older than younger and less educated than more educated participants. Our results help wine marketers to segment and target wine consumers.

A side effect of economic globalisation and new information and communication technologies is the increasing fragmentation of the production process across different countries and continents, contributing to the rise of trade in intermediate goods, which has increased to almost 2/3 of total world trade. Most of this trade, i.e., intermediate goods, are transported by sea. Maritime trade is one of the most economical but also complex ways of trading and transporting goods, requiring good coordination, various stops and controls, transhipments, storage, ICT technology to track the cargo, etc. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to quantify the impact of trade facilitation on trade in intermediate goods on the sample of EU28 countries, using biennial data for the period 2010-2018. We estimate augmented gravity model on bilateral trade data using a Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator. Our results suggest that, as expected, logistics, and in particular ICT development, has a significant and positive effect on trade in intermediate inputs, when controlling for other variables in the gravity model such as GDP of trading partners, distance, contiguity, existence of a free trade agreement, exchange rate, and common cultural proxies. Our results support the global trend of development and investment in logistics, and, in particular, new ICT technologies, which can not only contribute to the continued growth of trade in intermediates, but also help mitigate the negative effects of recent global economic shocks.

Cilj je ovog rada istražiti determinante izbornih pobjednika u Republici Hrvatskoj. Temeljna hipoteza rada jest da u Republici Hrvatskoj događaji iz 1990-ih godina, odnosno Domovinski rat, imaju snažniji utjecaj na pobjednike parlamentarnih izbora u odnosu na gospodarske performanse jedinica lokalne samouprave (JLS). Zbog raspoloživosti podataka usredotočujemo se na parlamentarne izbore održane 2016. godine te procjenjujemo pobjedu dviju vodećih stranaka u Republici Hrvatskoj – Hrvatske demokratske zajednice (HDZ) i Socijaldemokratske partije (SDP) – na razini jedinica lokalne samouprave (JLS). U radu razvijamo model logističke regresije s varijablom "pobjednik izbora" na razini JLS-a kao zavisnom varijablom, koju objašnjavaju sljedeće varijable: gospodarska razvijenost JLS-a, Domovinskim ratom obuhvaćene JLS, transparentnost proračuna JLS-a, izlaznost na izborima te financijska pomoć JLS-a iz državnoga proračuna. Rezultati pokazuju da određena općeprihvaćena mišljenja, poput onoga da glasači u gospodarski razvijenijim JLS-ima u prosjeku više glasaju za SDP, da u ratom pogođenim JLS-ima glasači u prosjeku više glasaju za HDZ, imaju empirijsku potvrdu., The aim of this paper is to investigate the determinants of election victory in the Republic of Croatia. The main hypothesis of the paper is that in the Republic of Croatia the events of the 1990s, i.e., the Homeland War, had a stronger impact on the winners of the parliamentary elections in terms of the economic performance of the local self-government units (LSGs). Due to the availability of data, we focus on the 2016 parliamentary elections, and we model the victory of the two leading parties in Croatia – the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) – at the level of LSG. We develop a logistic regression model with the variable "election victory" at the LSG level as a dependent variable explained by the following variables: economic development at the LSG level, Homeland War covered LSGs, transparency of LSG budgets, election turnout, and government budget support to the LSGs. The results show that certain commonly accepted opinions, such as that voters in more economically developed LSGs vote more for the SDP on average, and that voters in war-affected LSGs vote more for the HDZ on average, have empirical confirmation.

U ovom se radu istražuje utjecaj regionalnih trgovinskih sporazuma (RTS) na razvoj intra-industrijske trgovine (IIT) za slučaj osam zemlja Srednje i istočne Europe (SIE) od 1997. do 2019. godine. Cilj rada je usporediti i objasniti mogući heterogeni utjecaj različitih RTS na IIT, kontrolirajući za razliku u ekonomskoj razvijenosti između zemalja partnera. Analiza se temelji na razini podataka zemlja-proizvod, a izvor podataka su UN Comtrade i CEPII baza podataka koja sadrži varijable gravitacijskog modela. Hipoteza rada je da CEFTA i EU ekonomske integracije imaju snažniji (pozitivni) učinak na IIT u usporedbi s ostalim RTS, ali snaga utjecaja varira između zemalja, s obzirom na razvojne nejednakosti zemalja, koje su u ovom radu mjerene kroz razliku u BDP po glavi stanovnika. U radu je razvijen i procijenjen model koristeći PPML procjenitelj. Doprinos rada jest uključivanje interakcijske varijable između RTS i razvojne nejednakosti. Rezultati rada su ukazali da je hipoteza rada validna, kao i da razvojne nejednakosti između zemalja članica integracije imaju negativan učinak na IIT, što potencijalno znači povećanje troškova prilagodbe zbog ekonomskog integriranja. Rezultati podupiru EU pred-pristupne i post-pristupne politike koje imaju za cilj smanjiti razvojne nejednakosti između zemalja članica integracije., This paper investigates the impact of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on the development of intra-industry trade (IIT) for eight Central and Eastern Europe countries (CEE) from 1997 to 2019. The aim of the paper is to compare and explain the possible heterogeneous impact of different RTAs on IIT across countries while controlling for differences in development levels between economic integration member states. Our analysis is based on country-product level data obtained from UN Comtrade. The main hypothesis of the paper is that the CEFTA and EU integration agreements have a highly positive effect on IIT in comparison with other RTAs. However, the scope of the impact varies across countries, primarily depending on the economic development asymmetries that are in this paper proxied by the GDP per capita. We developed and estimated an augmented structural gravity model using Pseudo-Poisson Maximum Likelihood Estimator. The main contribution of our paper is the inclusion of the FTA-economic development gap interaction term, which enabled us to enrich the empirical findings of the research. Our results show that the main hypothesis holds, but also that an increase in economic asymmetries between integration members negatively affects IIT, thus indicating potentially increasing trade adjustment costs for new member states of an integration. These results go in favor of EU pre-integration and post-integration policies that have the goal of diminishing the economic development gap between future and present integration members.

Even though trade tariffs have generally fallen since the GATT agreement, non-tariff trade barriers still exist and show an upward trend. An important type of non-tariff trade barrier is logistics service related to the transport of goods to foreign markets. Efficient logistics is of great importance for small and open economies such as the Central and Eastern European EU member countries that became EU members in 2004 or later and are in the process of economic convergence with the old EU member countries, mostly through trade. On the other hand, logistics is important for old EU member countries because it influences competitiveness in global supply chains. The aim of this paper is to examine the homogeneity of the two blocks of EU countries in terms of logistics performance, i.e. to examine the impact of logistics performance on the international bilateral trade of the EU15 and CEMS with the rest of the world in the period 2010–2018. We develop and estimate a structural gravity model with Poisson pseudo-maximum probability estimator, using the LPI and its subindices as the main independent variables of interest. Our results show that differences in LPI values have heterogenous impact on bilateral trade, especially when considering trade in different classes of goods and different groups of country pairs.

Even though trade tariffs have generally fallen since the GATT agreement, non-tariff trade barriers still exist and show an upward trend. An important type of non-tariff trade barrier is logistics service related to the transport of goods to foreign markets. Efficient logistics is of great importance for small and open economies such as the Central and Eastern European EU member countries that became EU members in 2004 or later and are in the process of economic convergence with the old EU member countries, mostly through trade. On the other hand, logistics is important for old EU member countries because it influences competitiveness in global supply chains. The aim of this paper is to examine the homogeneity of the two blocks of EU countries in terms of logistics performance, i.e. to examine the impact of logistics performance on the international bilateral trade of the EU15 and CEMS with the rest of the world in the period 2010–2018. We develop and estimate a structural gravity model with Poisson pseudo-maximum probability estimator, using the LPI and its subindices as the main independent variables of interest. Our results show that differences in LPI values have heterogenous impact on bilateral trade, especially when considering trade in different classes of goods and different groups of country pairs.

This paper focuses on the determinants of wine production in the European wine industry. In the last two decades, the European wine industry has undergone many changes due to the entry of new countries into the world wine market. Although increasing competitiveness became the priority of the European Common Agricultural Policy, wine production and consumption in the EU have decreased in the last two decades, and therefore the aim of this research is to analyse and identify the macroeconomic determinants of wine production, i.e. what factors besides the price influence wine production in selected EU countries and in how they can be controlled. Empirical research was conducted using data for EU member states traditionally engaged in wine production. Panel data on wine production, wine consumption, average wine price, wine imports, wine exports and EU support to the wine sector were collected from secondary sources for 15 wine-producing EU countries and for the period 2009-2018. We estimated the econometric model using pooled OLS, as diagnostic tests indicated that this estimator was the best fit for our data. Our results suggest that domestic demand and domestic (EU) subsidies are the main drivers of wine production. To keep up with New World wine producers, even more emphasis should be placed on promoting the wine drinking culture., Fokus ovog rada su faktori koji utječu na proizvodnju vina u vinskoj industriji zemalja članica Europske unije. U posljednja dva desetljeća europska vinska industrija je prošla kroz brojne promjene uzrokovane ulaskom novih zemalja na svjetsko tržište vina. Iako je povećanje konkurentnosti postalo prioritet Europske zajedničke poljoprivredne politike, proizvodnja i potrošnja vina se smanjila, stoga je cilj ovog rada identificirati i analizirati makroekonomske determinante proizvodnje vina, odnosno faktore, osim cijene vina, koji utječu na proizvodnju vina u EU. Empirijsko istraživanje provedeno je na podatcima država članica Europske unije koje se tradicionalno bave proizvodnjom vina. Podatci o proizvodnji vina, potrošnji vina, prosječnoj cijeni vina, uvozu vina, izvozu vina i potporama iz EU fondova za vinski sektor, prikupljeni su iz sekundarnih izvora za razdoblje od 2009. do 2018. godine. Razvili smo i procijenili ekonometrijski model koristeći POLS, koji se pokazao najprikladnijim za procjenu nakon provedbe dijagnostičkih testova. Rezultati procjene ukazuju da su domaća potražnja i EU potpore glavne determinante proizvodnje vina. Osim toga, vidljivo je da postoji još prostora za povećanje značaja domaće potrošnje te da bi EU poljoprivredna politika, između ostalog, trebala promicati kulturu pijenja vina.

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., Kohezijska politika Europske unije predstavlja složen sustav fiskalnih transfera kojima se želi ubrzati ekonomska i socijalna kohezija. U ovom radu provedeno je empirijsko istraživanje na temelju ocjenjivanja više regresijskih jednadžbi ekonomskog rasta s ciljem utvrđivanja doprinosa Kohezijskog i strukturnih fondova ekonomskom rastu zemalja članica EU u razdoblju od 2000. do 2013. godine. Za nezavisnu varijablu, između ostalih, odabran je indeks kvalitete institucija. Rezultati analize na cjelokupnom uzorku zemalja ukazuju na to da, iako se potvrđuje postojanje konvergencije, strukturni i Kohezijski fond nemaju utjecaj na ekonomski rast. Jednako tako, utvrđeno je da kvaliteta institucija zasebno, niti u interakciji sa sredstvima strukturnih i Kohezijskog fonda nije statistički značajan čimbenik ekonomskog rasta u skupini EU27, ali se rezultati značajno mijenjaju ako se osnovni uzorak razdvoji na zemlje s visokom i niskom razinom kvalitete institucija.

Credit rating agencies are an important part of the globalized financial system and thus influence the global economy. Their role is to assess the level of credit worthiness of debt issuers for potential investors in private and public sector. Yet, after every financial crisis and/or defaults of particular companies and sovereigns, the credit rating agencies become the focal point of criticism by economists, politicians, media, etc. The reason for this lies in the inability of the credit rating agencies to do the job they are supposed to do i.e. risk signaling. This paper builds on that assessment, while focusing on three biggest credit rating agencies – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings and their influences on spreading the financial crisis on the Eurozone., Agencije za kreditni rejting su važni dio globaliziranog financijskog sustava, te stoga i utječu na globalnu ekonomiju. Njihova uloga je procijeniti razinu boniteta emitenta duga za potencijalne investitore u privatnom i javnom sektoru. Ipak, nakon svake financijske krize i/ili neispunjenja ugovornih obveza određenih tvrtki i suverenih država, agencije za kreditni rejting postaju žarište kritike ekonomista, političara, medija, i td. Razlog tomu leži u nesposobnosti agencija za kreditni rejting da obavljaju svoj posao, a to je upozoravanje na rizike. Ovaj rad se temelji na toj ocjeni, s naglaskom na tri najveće agencije za kreditni rejting – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, i njihovim utjecajem na širenje financijske krize u Eurozoni.