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The content of this book is intended to contribute to the challenges of managing a smart city, technology acceptance issues, and new, underlying business models. The book provides theoretical and empirical underpinnings regarding the development and current trends of the Smart City concept alongside proposing future research opportunities. Researchers agree that 5G technology and digital transformation are crucial for the development of smart cities and smart public administration. The concept of smart cities derives from the global trend of urbanisation. According to the United Nations Population Fund, the latest figures show that the population share in cities has doubled in the last few years and is expected to reach over 70% of the total population by the end of 2050. Consequently, cities need to cope with related and upcoming changes/challenges, while cities branded as “smart” need to keep or reach a high standard of quality of life for their citizens. With the popularisation of the Smart City concept and through the implementation of digital transformation projects in public administration, information services have radically changed, thus heavily impacting systems in an urban environment. In an effort to identify and explore the challenges as well as the potential and priorities for the implementation of smart city applications, cities often encounter complex problems, assuming considerable uncertainty. Managing digitalisation is becoming increasingly demanding due to rapidly evolving innovations and the difficulty of managing the complexity of related technologies. However, these issues are not challenging only for organizations and individuals but for cities and local communities as well. Cities in particular are faced with major challenges arising from global shifts in the environment, rapid urbanisation and older infrastructure. As a result, several smart-cityrelated initiatives are emerging. Yet not all are successful. The book is thus focused on the analysis of new business models, technological innovations and their use related to the development of smart cities. After all, the spread of technology and the availability of automatically collected data create new opportunities for managing public services and creating new services. The primary audience of this book will be students, academics interested in the Smart City concept, government organizations, managers, policymakers and strategic planners who intend to understand emerging digital technologies as well as their impact and applicability for cities. The book includes strategies for implementing and managing digital technologies together with a discussion on new business models. The chapters in this book are grouped into two parts: part one includes general theoretical and technical discussions of technologies and their benefits for modern cities, and part two includes use cases of different digital technologies and business models.

In order to deal with ongoing and future changes that are difficult to predict, it is important to establish agile city policy and governance. Anticipatory governance seeks to understand and shape the changes that are expected in the future by incorporating knowledge about the future into policies and decision-making.The research discusses the design of anticipatory governance systems that should employ foresight in order to see the future in terms of the results, or governments that can anticipate and adapt to changes.The research discusses how citizens’ involvement can be crucial in helping cities develop a knowledge base about changes that are happening, so that they can be more aware of them and better prepared to deal with them. Some participatory foresight methods (digital and non-digital) are discussed that could be used to help cities launch foresight activities.The aforementioned is important for urban (or smart city) development.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-epn-10.1177_0308518X221118913 for The economic returns of decentralisation: Government quality and the role of space by Andrés Rodríguez-Pose and Vinko Muštra in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space

As required by Art. 29 of the Grant Agreement, each beneficiary must – as soon as possible – disseminate its results by disclosing them to the public by appropriate means (other than those resulting from protecting or exploiting the results), including in scientific publications (in any medium). As part of this obligation, within the SmartCulTour-project, multiple deliverables have been foreseen across work packages, to focus on an open access publication strategy. This deliverable provides metadata and abstracts of the publications residing under Work Package 4: “Assessing the impacts of cultural tourism”. Deliverable 4.3 aimed to provide “A minimum of 3 academic papers on sustainable cultural tourism, resilience, and the TALC model” and therefore focuses on sustainable cultural tourism indicators, the link between cultural tourism development, sustainability and resilience, and the integration of cultural tourism, sustainability/resilience, and the tourism area life cycle. The full papers are available in open access and can be found by following the DOI links provided. The deliverable is a living document that, after initial submission, can be updated in case of additional scientific publications within the scope of Work Package 4.

The SmartCulTour project aims "to propose and validate innovative, community-led interventions directed at sustainable cultural tourism development contributing to the EU regions' resilience and inclusiveness". Among several priorities, objective number two strives to "establish an improved indicator framework for cultural tourism impacts on sustainability and resilience and link these to an improved Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model ". Within the work package (WP) 4 tasks dedicated to the fulfilment of this objective were outlined. This Report reflects on Task 4.2., i.e. the Identification of relationships between cultural tourism development and destination's sustainability, resilience and the TALC model, and Task 4.3. on Developing the SRT framework. To deliver the report's conclusions, using the framework of indicators delivered in Report D4.1. (see "Report on the most appropriate indicators related to the basic concepts", DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5336694), the data collection process was performed by six project partners on the level of 35 Local Administrative Units (LAU) belonging to the six Living Labs (see "Sustainable cultural tourism indicators on LAU-level - panel data 2007-2019", DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4734097). In both sustainability and resilience models, the dynamic panel data method was employed, with the regression analysis additionally applied in the sustainability model to deal with the static indicators. The STATA scripts used in these analyses are included here as "STATA scripts for regression and panel data analysis". The obtained research results shed light on the nexus between cultural tourism development and a destination's sustainability and resilience. Additionally, the TALC model demonstrated all LLs were in the stage of demand dependence, tending to reach the saturation stage unless restructuring policies and new products such as cultural tourism are introduced. The Report contains four sections, including the Introduction; the Empirical Analysis section – outlining the data collection process, methods, analysis and main conclusions following each part of the analysis; the TALC modelling section delivering a theoretical foundation for the TALC modelling together with its empirical verification; Conclusion and Reference sections. At the end of the Report, an Annex contains tables and figures to describe the attained results., See "Sustainable cultural tourism indicators on LAU-level – panel data 2007-2019" (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4734097) for the raw data used in the analysis, as well as "Resident survey data for Living Lab regions" (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4993485) for the raw data on resident perception indicators.

Regions and cities worldwide face considerable difficulties in generating sufficient economic progress to maintain and/or improve the quality of life of their inhabitants. The middle-income trap concept allows us to analyze different perspectives of the regions and cities facing development challenges.

The SmartCulTour project aims “to propose and validate innovative, community-led interventions directed at sustainable cultural tourism development contributing to the EU regions’ resilience and inclusiveness”. Among several priorities, the objective number two strives to “establish an improved indicator framework for cultural tourism impacts on sustainability and resilience and link these to an improved Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model“. Within the work package (WP) 4, several tasks dedicated to the fulfilment of this objective have been outlined. This report reflects on Task 4.1. Identification of the indicators related to the basic concepts defined in WP2. To deliver the report's conclusions, a systematic review of relevant literature, related to the concepts of sustainability, resilience and cultural tourism has been conducted. Particular reference was paid to the indicators most often used to measure these concepts. Additionally, the Report contains a review of the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) - related literature. The conclusions of the TALC analysis will have an important role in the delivery of further tasks within this WP. With regard to each analyzed concept, a proposal of the prospective methodology to be used in the Deliverable D4.2 is given, with the aim to create Sustainability-Resilience-TALC framework for cultural tourism destinations. The report contains four sections: The introduction; The methodology section: outlining the process of systematic review; The analysis section: delivering the overview of indicators related to fundamental concepts and guidelines for the selection of relevant indicators, including the conclusion after each part of the analysis, pointing out main findings; The reference section. At the end of the report there is also an Annex containing tables with elaborated sources of literature retained after a primary selection based on relevant databases.

After recent global financial and economic crisis interest in potential effects of especially large economic crisis, called economic disasters has been increased. This study analyzes determinants of size and recovery phase of economic disasters from 1960 up to 2014 among 214 countries. The results reveal differences between scale and duration of economic disasters. Some possible factors shaping these patterns are explored indicating the importance of institutions and investments for scale of disasters, and human capital and financial sectors for duration phase., Nakon nedavne globalne financijske i ekonomske krize, interes za istraživanjem učinaka velikih ekonomskih kriza, nazvanih ekonomskim katastrofama, je porastao. Ovaj rad analizira odrednice veličine i faze oporavka uslijed ekonomskih katastrofa od 1960. do 2014. za 214 država svijeta. Rezultati otkrivaju značajne razlike između intenziteta i trajanja gospodarskih katastrofa, a koji ukazuju na važnost institucija i investicija za intenzitet, te ljudskog kapitala i financijskih sektora za fazu trajanja ekonomskih katastrofa.

This paper constructs the model that links agglomeration economics with information asymmetries. It extends the literature by launching the concept that explains influence of the asymmetric information on agglomeration economies by emphasizing the role of the transaction cost under institutional framework. Consequently, the predictions of the model suggesting that impact of agglomeration economies depends on stages of development highlight the importance of different approach to the agglomeration economies phenomena in developing and developed countries.

After the Great Recession, in the European Union (EU) emerges an heterogenous level of both national fiscal consolidation and regional economics resilience. The paper uses the EUROSTAT database of EU-27 at NUTS 2 level over the period 2000-2009 to test how fiscal consolidation affects the regional economics resilience. We find that the fiscal consolidation and regional economic resilience are negatively correlated. Moreover, we show that the negative effect of taxation is higher than the positive effect of public spending.

Although there are relatively large number of papers investigating the impact of fiscal consolidation on different aspect of economy (e.g. Castro, 2007, 2011, Heim, 2010a, 2010b, Agnello et al, 2016) this paper represent unique attempt of investigating the effects of fiscal consolidation implemented on central and sub-central level on regional inequalities. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to test the hypothesis that implementation of fiscal consolidation on central level has different effects on regional inequalities, then implementation on sub-central level. Therefore, we explore the impact of fiscal consolidation on central and sub-central level on regional inequalities among EU member countries for period 1995-2009. Two groups of variables are particularly important for this study: measure of fiscal consolidation and difference between central and sub-central component of the fiscal consolidation. Due to fact that recent literature recognizes problems with using cyclically-adjusted primary budget balance (CAPB) as a measure for fiscal consolidation we extend regional empirical literature by using a new database of fiscal consolidation, introduced by Devries et al. (2011), that successfully tackles all this issues. For measuring the central and sub-central component of the fiscal consolidation we use the share of the central and sub-central spending and revenues in total public spending and revenues for the years when the fiscal consolidation has been realized. The results indicate that the structure of fiscal consolidation (led by implementation on national or sub-national level) differently influences regional inequalities. Finally, the paper highlights that fiscal consolidation is not only the matter of the public debt levels or economic growth, but also important regional issue.

The endogenous growth models (Lucas and Romer) represent the theoretical basis for the study of the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth. Using their findings, Barro has created a model explaining how fiscal policy can affect the rate of GDP growth. In defining this impact he uses: productive and unproductive expenditures, and distortionary and non-distortionary taxation. The findings on the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth vary depending on the sample of countries, the period under investigation, the methods of analysis used as well as the used fiscal variables. Recent research using panel data shows that the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth is significant, but the direction of this influence is often ambiguous. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to determine the direction and intensity of the impact of public expenditures on economic growth in the post-transition countries of the EU. In order to achieve this goal, an empirical model is estimated using dynamic panel analysis on a sample of eleven countries. Empirical analysis identifies the capital expenditure (public investment) and expenditure on education as productive public expenditures.

Analysis of the framework in which innovations take place in LA Dalmatian Islands. The aim of the paper is to describe the dynamics of environmental and socioeconomic development of HNV innovations.

The most recent global economic crisis and the concerns about long-term (un)sustainability of public finances has supported the implementation of budgetary consolidation measures. Although there are relatively large number of papers investigating the impact of fiscal consolidation on different aspect of economy this paper represent unique attempt of investigating the effects of fiscal consolidation on regional inequalities. We test the hypothesis that in the period of fiscal consolidation, when some spending cut and/or tax hikes, less developed regions are not in position to protect themselves against undesired redistributive policies which put them in more disadvantaged position and increase regional inequalities. In empirical part of the paper we explore the impact of fiscal consolidation on regional inequalities on national levels among 13 EU member countries for period 1995-2009. Two groups of variables are particularly important for this study: measure of regional inequality and fiscal consolidation. Due to fact that recent literature recognizes problems with using cyclically-adjusted primary budget balance (CAPB) as a measure for fiscal consolidation we extend regional empirical literature by using a new database of fiscal consolidation that successfully tackles all this issues. The results indicate that fiscal consolidation led by tax hikes increases regional inequalities and that fiscal consolidation led by spending cuts doesn’t have significant influence on regional inequalities. Finally, the paper highlights that fiscal consolidation is not only the matter of the public debt levels or economic growth, but also important regional issue.

The regional economic resilience (RER) term has become popular recently and tackles the issue of understanding how regional economies are faring due to the consequences of high levels of economic dynamism. In that way RER becomes the focus of the researchers but there is lack of the empirical investigation of its determinants. Therefore, this paper establishes empirical model focusing on the role of smart specialization on RER. Empirical analysis is performed for NUTS 2 regions in EU-27 based on a panel data approach for a 10-year period (2003-2012). The results indicate that smart specialization has significant and positive effect on RER.

This paper investigates the influence of international openness on economic growth in a sample of 32 European economies. The usual approach in the literature on the topic is to observe the impact of trade openness on growth. We, however, broaden this standard approach and analyse not only economic aspect of openness but also socio-political aspect. In our empirical analysis we use the TSLS (two stage least squares) estimator, whereby in the first step we use the standard growth regression that includes, among other variables, openness, and in the second step we include different determinants to instrument openness. Our research, in general, shows that openness is an important determinant of growth in a set of investigated countries. Trade openness and financial openness influence growth positively. The influence of institutions on growth is manifested mainly indirectly – through its influence on trade and financial openness.

U elaboratu je izvršena CBA analiza za potrebe izgradnje gradske plaže Starog Grada

U elaboratu je prezentirana recenzija Studije izvedivosti i analize troškova i koristi-Sustav vodopskrbe, odvodnje i pročišćavanja otpadnih voda anglomeracije Split-Solin

This research extends the literature on regional inequalities in the European Union in two directions. First, it confirms the importance of institutions for regional inequalities among 18 EU member countries, and second, indicates which dimension of the institutional quality is important by using the six dimensions of the Worldwide Governance Indicator. The results support standard “rules of engagement” that reduce transaction costs by lowering uncertainty and facilitating the mutual trustworthiness of individual economic agents that spread equally among regions in specific countries. In addition, we interpret empirical evidence to determine that institutions also shape regional inequalities indirectly through political channels

This paper analyzes implementation of IPA Programme and institutional framework for implementation of European Structural and Investment funds in Croatia. It indicates several concerns that are raised, especially the lack of administrative capacity and problems with the monitoring and evaluation processes. The paper indicates that target improvements should enhance the absorption capacity in line with the Strategy on Regional Development that should be followed by sustained and increased efforts required to develop a high quality and mature project pipeline for ESI funds. Also it specifies that special attention should be dedicated to the spatial coordination of the sectoral policies that are, in most cases, missing a clearly indicated regional dimension and that responsible bodies should show interest not only in the absorption criteria of EU funds, but primarily in the efficiency and effectiveness criteria.

This paper investigates the influence of international openness on economic growth in a sample of 32 European economies. The usual approach in the literature on the topic is to observe the impact of trade openness on growth. We, however, broaden this standard approach and analyse not only economic aspect of openness but also socio-political aspect. In our empirical analysis we use the TSLS (two stage least squares) estimator, whereby in the first step we use the standard growth regression that includes, among other variables, openness, and in the second step we include different determinants to instrument openness. Our research, in general, shows that openness is an important determinant of growth in a set of investigated countries. Trade openness and financial openness influence growth positively. The influence of institutions on growth is manifested mainly indirectly – through its influence on trade and financial openness.

This paper uses NUTS3 sub-regional data to investigate the sources of the regional wages differences on the sector level from year 2000 forward in less developed country such as Croatia. The shift-share analysis is used to decompose the spatial variation of wages into productivity effect and occupational composition effect exploring how the spatial variance in wages is attributable to variations in these effects among different sectors. In the last step of the paper we examine the relationship between these two determinants of spatial differences and the agglomeration instrumented by measure of urbanization in the NUTS3 sub-regions.

Throughout history the world has been faced by high debts, with the recent global financial crisis intensifying the issue of increasing indebtedness (with respect to both public and external debts), especially in the light of sovereign debt crisis that some countries have been subject to recently. This paper explores the debt levels in Central, East and Southeast Europe and investigates their relation with growth. We use annual data on debts and growth from the WIIW database (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies) and World Development Indicators (World Bank) on 18 countries. By employing econometric analysis in the form of dynamic panel data analysis our investigation contributes to the literature by covering the recently very hot issue of the dangers of high indebtedness in the region of Central, East and Southeast Europe. Our findings send a strong warning about the need to keep the debts under control.

Fokus istraživanja je na detektiranju prirode odnosa između aglomeracijske ekonomije i regionalnih dispariteta uvažavajući ulogu nove determinante aglomeracijske ekonomije, asimetrije informacija. Nakon interpretiranja teorijskih značajki osnovnih predmeta istraživanja, predstavljen je prijedlog konceptualnog modela kojim se pokušava potvrditi glavna hipoteza, odnosno ukazati da je asimetrija informacija uzrok zbog kojeg aglomeracijska ekonomija determinira pozitivan utjecaj regionalnih dispariteta na gospodarski rast države pri nižim razinama razvijenosti, odnosno negativan pri višim razinama razvijenosti. Empirijska verifikacija glavne radne hipoteze se zasniva na rezultatima provedbe ekonometrijske analize triju pomoćnih hipoteza na uzorku NUTS regija EU i Hrvatske u osnovnom razdoblju od 1995. do 2009. godine. Prvom pomoćnom hipotezom je potvrđeno da pri nižim razinama razvijenosti veće regionalne razlike pozitivno, a pri višim razinama razvijenosti negativno utječu na gospodarski rast države. Veza s aglomeracijskom ekonomijom je utvrđena u sklopu druge pomoćne hipoteze. Empirijska provjera treće pomoćne hipoteze ukazuje na pozitivan utjecaj asimetrije informacija na razinu aglomeracijske ekonomije te pruža empirijsku podlogu za tvrdnju da više razine razvijenosti negativno utječu na razinu asimetrije informacija, čime je zaokružena potvrda glavne hipoteze.

The Cohesion policy has been one of the objectives of the European Union since the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Although, convergence is an essential goal of the European Union, investigating the dynamics of the convergence process has provided mixed and contradictory results. The potential explanation is the fact that European regional strategies have overlooked one of the significant determinants of the growth process. Taking into consideration that the unsuccessful recipe for greater economic and social cohesion in Europe has included greater investment in infrastructure, education, innovation and industrial activities, we test the role of institution quality, as a new determinant, for regional growth imbalances. The research extends the literature in two directions. First, it tackles the importance of institutional quality for regional inequalities in EU and second tries to recognize which dimension of the institutional quality is important for pattern of regional imbalances by using index proposed by World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicator (WGI). The results confirm the importance of institutions for inequalities in the EU and expose that key dimensions important for regional growth imbalances are presented by Voice and accountability indicator, Rule of Law indicator and Control of Corruption indicator. Confirmation of the these indicators shows that for regional growth inequalities are the most important processes that elevate the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them Process which boots the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies has showed not significant for regional growth inequalities pattern.

Regional disparities within the countries appear to persist or even to grow. One of the most important indicators of the disparities is regional wage level. It is widely accepted that spatial effects have a different impact among sectors in developed countries. The traditional core-periphery pattern of manufacturing is weakening which tends to work towards regional convergence. On the other hand, service industries continue to concentrate in high-density areas thus reinforcing divergence. Compared to developed, less developed countries have different economic path. Thus, it is reasonable to test the influence of spatial effects among sectors for a less developed country such as Croatia. This paper uses NUTS3 sub-regional data for Croatia to investigate the sources of the regional wages differences on the sector level from year 2000 forward. The recent literature recognizes two main determinants of spatial differences in wages ; namely, the productivity and occupational composition. Therefore the paper uses shift-share analysis to decompose the spatial variation of wages into productivity effect and occupational composition effect exploring how the spatial variance in wages is attributable to variations in these effects among different sectors. In the last step of the paper we examine the relationship between these two determinants of spatial differences and the proximity to economic mass instrumented by different measures of urbanization in the NUTS3 sub-regions. The aim of the paper to explore a new role of government and institutions in regional policy making, taking into account different paths of influence of government and public institutions on productivity and on occupational composition among different sectors.

Regional inequalities are a striking and persisitent feature of many economies, developed and less developed. One of the most important indicators of the inequalities is regional wage level. This paper uses NUTS3 sub-regional data for Croatia to investigate the sources of the regional wages differences in Croatia. The literature recognizes several determinants of spatial differences in wages ; productivity, occupational composition and non-human endowments. We try to follow the more recent literature which shows that a non-human endowment does not have significant role in the explanation of these inequalities. Thus we drive our attention to other two sources and decompose the spatial variation of wages into productivity effect and occupational composition effect. During the process of decomposition we use a model that will take into consideration the fact that these two indices are positively correlated. Regarding the existing of the several papers that fully investigate sources of the productivity we pay particular attention to the role of occupational composition effect, mainly exploring how the spatial variance in wages is attributable to variations in occupational composition effect. Such decomposition gain attention in the light of exploring a new role of government and institutions in economic policy making, taking into account different paths of influence of government and public institutions on productivity and on occupational composition. Later is particularly emphasized in the last step of our work in which we examine the relationship between the occupational composition and the proximity to economic mass instrumented by different measures of urbanization in the NUTS3 sub-regions. Abovementioned should be observed not only as a possible new set of instruments for cohesion policy in Croatia but also as an important instrument for other countries in the process of achieving higher levels of efficiency in public sector. Namely, the issue of efficiency in public sector is recognized in the light of the recent economic crisis as one of the most important.

U ovom radu analizirano je telekomunikacijsko tržište u Hrvatskoj te su utvrđene mjere liberalizacije i deregulacije.

Ovom radu je cilj definirati važnost uloge transparentnosti u kvaliteti institucija i istražiti utjecaje veličine jedinice lokalne samouprave na transparentnost proračuna lokalnih jedinica na otocima u Republici Hrvatskoj. Prvo što se definiralo su same institucije te njihova uloga u subnacionalnom kontekstu. Zatim se fokusiralo na transparentnost i njena obilježja, kao jednu od ključnih odrednica kvalitete institucija. Zatim je prikazan institucionalni okvir lokalne samouprave u Republici Hrvatskoj te socio-ekonomska obilježja jedinica lokalne samouprave koja su značajna za određivanje stupnja razvijenosti regija i jedinica lokalne samouprave u određenom razdoblju. Empirijski modeli koji su formirani istražuju utjecaj veličine jedinica lokalne samouprave na transparentnost lokalnog proračuna, utjecaj veličine jedinica lokalne samouprave na upravljačke kapacitete te utjecaj veličine jedinica lokalne samouprave na angažiranost civilnog društva i to sve na specifičnoj lokaciji hrvatskih otoka. The aim of this paper is to define the importance of the role of transparency in the quality of institutions and to investigate the effects of local government unit size on the transparency of local budgets on islands in the Republic of Croatia. The first thing that was defined were the institutions themselves and their role in the subnational context. The paper then focused on transparency and its features, as one of the key determinants of the quality of institutions. After that, the institutional framework of local self-government in the Republic of Croatia is presented, as well as the socio-economic characteristics of local self-government units that are important for determining the level of development of regions and local self-government units in a certain period. Empirical models formed in this paper investigate the impact of the size of local governments on the transparency of the local budget, the impact of the size of local governments on management capacity and the impact of the size of local governments on civil society engagement, all in a specific location of Croatian islands.

U ovom radu cilj je bio definirati determinante regionalnog rasta i istražiti potencijalne utjecaje veće apsorpcije Europskih strukturnih i investicijskih fondova i institucionalne kvalitete na regionalni rast. Prvo su se prikazale teorijske odrednice regionalnog rasta, odnosno osnovni teorijski modeli regionalnog rasta, nakon čega je prikazan pregled empirijskih istraživanja regionalnog rasta u EU. Zatim je prikazan razvoj regionalne politike Europske unije i njene implikacije za budućnost te su definirane teorijske odrednice EU fondova, njihova glavna obilježja i uloga. Formirana su tri empirijska modela o utjecaju apsorpcije ESI fondova na regionalni rast preko kvalitetnih institucija, o utjecaju veće apsorpcije ESI fondova na regionalni rast te model u kojem se mjerio utjecaj apsorpcije ESI fondova na regionalni rast. Zaključak je da u promatranim NUTS 2 regijama veća apsorpcija ESI fondova vodi većem regionalnom rastu, kao što i kvalitetne institucije pozitivno utječu na regionalni rast. Radi boljeg razumijevanja ovih relacija kao i njihove povezanosti, potrebno je u budućnosti precizno definirati mehanizme preko kojih ove varijable utječu na regionalni rast. In this paper, the aim was to define the determinants of regional growth and to explore the potential impacts of greater absorption of European Structural and Investment Funds and institutional quality on regional growth. First, the theoretical determinants of regional growth, i.e. the basic theoretical models of regional growth, were presented, after which an overview of empirical research on regional growth in the EU was given. After that, the development of the regional policy of the European Union and its implications for the future are presented, and the theoretical determinants of EU funds, their main features, and role are defined. Three empirical models were formed on the impact of absorption of ESI funds on regional growth through quality institutions, on the impact of higher absorption of ESI funds on regional growth, and a model in which the impact of absorption of ESI funds on regional growth was measured. The conclusion is that in the observed NUTS 2 regions, higher absorption of ESI funds leads to higher regional growth, as well as quality institutions have a positive impact on regional growth. To better understand these relations as well as their connections, it is necessary for the future to precisely define the mechanisms through which these variables affect regional growth.

Rezistentnost tržišta rada može se smatrati mogućnošću prilagodbe i odgovora tržišta rada na razne nepredviđene šokove. S obzirom da se radi o prilično neistraženoj problematici u Republici Hrvatskoj, nastojat će se ponuditi uvid u stanje hrvatskog tržišta rada sa stajališta rezistentnosti. Cilj istraživanja ovog rada je razjasniti obilježja rezistentnosti tržišta rada u Republici Hrvatskoj kroz dimenzije otpornosti i elastičnosti na regionalnoj, odnosno županijskoj razini u razdoblju od 1998. godine do 2018. godine. Analiza je provedena za Grad Zagreb i 20 županija Republike Hrvatske. Testiranje osnovne hipoteza potvrdilo je kako je tržište rada na županijskoj razini u Republici Hrvatskoj obilježeno niskom rezistentnosti. Prva pomoćna hipoteza koja tvrdi kako je tržište rada na županijskoj razini u Republici Hrvatskoj obilježeno niskom otpornošću je odbačena, dok je druga pomoćna hipoteza koja tvrdi kako je tržište rada na županijskoj razini u Republici Hrvatskoj obilježeno niskom elastičnošću prihvaćena. Labour market resilience can be considered as the ability of labour market to adapt and respond to the various unforseen shocks. Given that this is a rather unexplored issue in the Republic of Croatia, an insight into the state of the Croatian labor market from the point of view of resilience will be offered. The aim of the research of this paper is to clarify the characteristics of labor market resilience in the Republic of Croatia through the dimensions of resistance and recovery at the regional, namely county level in the period from 1998 to 2018. The analysis was conducted for the City of Zagreb and 20 counties of the Republic of Croatia. Testing of the basic hypotheses confirmed that the labor market at the county level in the Republic of Croatia is marked by low resilience. The first auxiliary hypothesis, which claims that the labor market at the county level in the Republic of Croatia is marked by low resilience, was rejected, while the second auxiliary hypothesis, which claims that the labor market at the county level in the Republic of Croatia is marked by low recovery, was accepted.

Rad ne sadrži sažetak.

Cilj ovog rada bio je ustanoviti postojeći stupanj razvoja ruralnog turizma u Hrvatskoj te opisati značaj kojeg daljnji razvoj ovog turizma ima za Hrvatsku. Cilj rada također je bio proučiti mogućnosti financiranja razvoja ruralnog turizma u Republici Hrvatskoj putem Europskih strukturnih i investicijskih fondova. Istraživanjem se pokazalo kako ruralni turizam potencijalno ima brojne koristi za Hrvatsku, kako za njen kontinentalni, tako i za njen Jadranski dio. Postojeća statistika koja se vodi o ruralnom turizmu u Hrvatskoj nije dovoljno kvalitetna, ali se moglo ustanoviti kako u posljednja dva desetljeća raste broj turističkih seljačkih obiteljskih gospodarstava u Hrvatskoj. Nadalje, istraživanjem provedenim u ovom radu spoznalo se kako Hrvatska ima značajna sredstva unije na raspolaganju za ulaganje u ruralni razvoj i posebno razvoj ruralnog turizma, ali da je dosada uspjela ugovoriti tek 40% od maksimalnog iznosa koji joj je dodijeljen za razdoblje 2014. do 2020. godine iz Europskog fonda za poljoprivredni razvoj, a koji iznosi 2,38 milijardi eura. This paper aimed to establish the current level of development of rural tourism in Croatia and to describe the significance of the further development of this type of tourism for Croatia. The aim of the work was also to study the possibilities of financing the development of rural tourism in the Republic of Croatia through the European structural and investment funds. The research showed that rural tourism has many benefits for Croatia, both for its continental and its Adriatic part. The current statistics on rural tourism in Croatia are not sufficiently high-quality, but it could have been seen that in the last two decades the number of tourism family farms in Croatia has been growing. Croatia has significant funds from the EU, available for investment in rural development and in particular the development of rural tourism. However, Croatia has only been able to contract 40% of the maximum amount allocated for the period 2014.-2020., from the European agricultural fund for rural development, which amounts to 2.38 billion euros.

Rad ne sadrži sažetak.

City managers are increasingly more aware of technology advancements and invest more efforts in the development of smart solutions that contribute to solving relevant issues in the cities. To successfully prioritise, design and develop smart city solutions, it is good practice to provide and ensure the possibilities of active participation of those who build the city - its citizens. Although such a concept is still not widely adopted, it is becoming more popular with the proliferation of new technologies and services for smart cities. Numerous cities, from those with a population of millions to those with population of just a few thousand, are becoming polygons for citizen action and engagement through digital platforms with the aim to improve the environment and communities they live in. This paper analyses this specific potential and brings forth international and national examples of successful active citizen participation scenarios. To support the secondary data analysis, a study on a local level was conducted in Split, Croatia, with a view to explore the awareness and the potential for employing active citizen participation methods and tools with over 500 citizens. The results provide valuable insights into needs and preferences in terms of active participation in a city that recently started its transition to becoming a smart city.

U završnom radu je pobliže objašnjen pojam turizma i naglašena je njegova značajnost za gospodarstvo Hrvatske. Objašnjeno je koji su njegovi proizvodi i kakva mu je infrastruktura. Problematika rada je u nedovoljnoj iskorištenosti mogućnosti financiranja putem europskih strukturnih i investicijskih fondova. Radi se o fondovima koji stoje na raspolaganju zahvaljujući ulasku Hrvatske u Europsku uniju, a pomoću kojih je moguće financirati aktivnosti vezane uz turizam. Svakako su navedene i sve javne politike Europske unije te njihovi fondovi, a u radu je fokus usmjeren na vezu između turizma i kohezijske politike. Cilj rada je sagledati sve mogućnosti korištenja europskih i strukturnih fondova za potrebe razvoja turizma u RH. Sagledani su operativni programi koji stoje na raspolaganju. Od svih programa su izabrani za promatranje oni koji su najuže povezani s turizmom kao gospodarskom granom, dok je naglasak stavljen na one prioritetne osi iz kojih se ista može financirati. Nadalje, nastojano je da se odgovori na pitanje zašto je u Hrvatskoj prisutna nedovoljna iskorištenost financiranja koje se nudi. U empirijskoj analizi veze između Kohezijske politike i turizma, sagledani su operativni programi Konkurentnosti i kohezije te Učinkovitosti ljudski potencijala, s obzirom da su u ovom slučaju oni u najvećoj mjeri povezani s financiranjem turističkih aktivnosti. Iznesene su mogućnosti iskorištenja financija, te su navedeni primjeri dobre prakse, odnosno projekti koji su uspješno provedeni. Na temelju svega poznatog, u zaključnom dijelu je iznesen osvrt na rješavanje problematike. Navedeni su načini pomoću kojih bi se iskorištenost sredstava mogla povećati i na taj način doprinijeti razvoju turizma i povećanju konkurentnosti gospodarstva Hrvatske, a samim time i europskog gospodarstva na globalnoj razini. In this work, the concept of tourism is explained more closely and its significance for the Croatian economy is emphasized. It is explained what its products are and what its infrastructure is. The work issue is inadequate use of funding opportunities through European Structural and Investment Funds. These are funds which are available for use because of Croatia's accession to the European Union, and it is possible to finance tourism-related activities through them. Of course, all the public policies of the European Union and their funds are also mentioned, focusing on the relationship between tourism and cohesion policy. The goal of this work is to consider all the possibilities of using European Structural and Investment Funds for the needs of tourism development in the Republic of Croatia. All operational programs that are available are explained and between them is chosen to look closely at those who are most associated with tourism as an economic branch, while emphasis is placed on those priority axes from which the same can be financed. Furthermore, it was attempted to answer the question why there is insufficient funding utilization in Croatia. In the empirical analysis of the relationship between Cohesion policy and tourism, the operational programs of Competitiveness and Cohesion and Human Resources Efficiency are considered, because in this case they are largely related to the financing of tourism activities. Also, funding opportunities were presented, as well as examples of good practice. On the basis of everything known, in the final section were mentioned problem solving options. The ways in which resource utilization could increase are listed in that part. That would help for the development of tourism and to increase the competitiveness of the Croatian economy, and the European economy on a global scale.

U postojećem globalnom svijetu prisutne su velike razlike po pitanju gospodarskog rasta i razvoja, a u čemu ljudski kapital i tehnološki napredak imaju značajnu, a nedovoljno istraženu ulogu. Nakon teorijskih prikaza relevantnih istraživanja vezanih uz ljudski kapital i tehnološki napredak, rad se nastavlja formiranjem ekonometrijskih modela te procjenom istih primjenom dinamičkog modela panel analize. Pretpostavka je bila da će navedene determinante ljudskog kapitala i tehnološkog napretka imati pozitivan utjecan na gospodarski razvoj promatranih zemalja. Rezultati analize, unutar uzorka od 37 zemalja svijeta u razdoblju od 1999. do 2009. godine, dokazuju prethodno navedenu pretpostavku kako ljudski kapital i tehnološki napredak imaju značajnu ulogu u gospodarskom razvoju. Izuzetak je veličina zemlje mjerena gustoćom naseljenosti. In the present global world, there are great differences in economic growth and development, where human capital and technological progress have a significant and insufficiently researched role. After the theoretical background of relevant human capital and technological progress literature, this research continues by forming econometric models and evaluating them using dynamic panel analysis model. The assumption was that the stated determinants of human capital and technological progress would have a positive impact on the economic development of the observed countries. The results of the analysis for the sample of 37 countries in the period from 1999 to 2009, prove the above-mentioned assumption that human capital and technological progress play a significant role in economic development. The exception is the size of the country measured by population density.