Search

Vino je oduvijek okupljalo ljude, uz vino se ljudi druže, o vinu se uvijek može razgovarati, vino u ljudima pobuđuje razne emocije. Tako je i ova knjiga nastala kao rezultat dugogodišnje suradnje kolega znanstvenika, a započela je jednim doktoratom. Tijekom tog su doktorskog istraživanja doktorandica, njezine mentorice, članovi povjerenstva i drugi kolege počeli o vinu i vinskom sektoru neobavezno razgovarati u raznim formalnim i neformalnim prigodama. Vinske su rasprave najprije dovele do nekoliko zajedno napisanih i objavljenih znanstvenih radova, dvaju sveučilišnih znanstvenih projekata, a potom i do uviđanja potrebe i želje za zajedničkim radom na knjizi. Urednici su tada pozvali autore da se zajedno upuste u pisanje znanstvene knjige posvećene vinu i vinarstvu. U radu na ovoj knjizi u konačnici je sudjelovalo 15 autora koji su se kroz tri glavna dijela knjige dotakli nekih od prepoznatih izazova vinskog sektora. Iako su vinogradarstvo i vinarstvo poljoprivredna i gospodarska aktivnost prisutna tisućljećima, tek im je u posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća posvećena značajnija istraživačka pozornost iz ekonomske perspektive. Rezultat rada vinogradara i vinara proizvodno je specifičan te podložan emocionalnim i kvalitativnim procjenama, ali je s ciljem dugotrajnog i uspješnog poslovanja potrebno dobro razumjeti i njegovu ekonomsku dimenziju. Promjene u svim sektorima gospodarstva, a posebno u poljoprivredi, koje su rezultat globalizacije, klimatskih i okolišnih promjena, tehničkog napretka, promjena u logističkim i opskrbnim lancima i posljedično kretanjima dobara u globalnoj trgovini, razvoja informacijsko komunikacijske tehnologije, promjena u strukturi i dostupnosti radne snage, značajno i ubrzano utječu na sektor čije je osnovno obilježje dugotrajan proizvodni proces. Tako je i u Republici Hrvatskoj gdje se vinogradarstvo i vinarstvo uspješno razvijaju te su važan dio lokalne tradicije, ali su posljednjih godina pod sve snažnijim pritiskom konkurenata, klimatskih promjena, promjena potrošačkih navika i drugih ekonomskih izazova. U knjizi su kroz ukupno 12 poglavlja sistematizirani i prikazani rezultati istraživanja autora iz različitih područja teorijske i poslovne ekonomije i ekonomske agronomije. Zahvaljujući značajnom trudu autora i ostvarenim istraživačkim doprinosima, ova knjiga je, prema zaključcima recenzenata, zaslužila kategorizaciju znanstvenog uredničkog djela. Autori su, kroz svoja druženja, rasprave, zajednički trud i rad identificirali i analizirali neke od ključnih izazova s kojima se vinski sektor susreće te su, pišući poglavlja u knjizi, predložili potencijalna rješenja.

MOTIVATION COVID-19 presents a perfect stochastic shock that caused severe economic disruptions all over the world. Due to the vast number of measures and restrictions that the national government introduced as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, international trade was particularly negatively affected in the first couple of months of the pandemic. This paper investigates the impact of COVID-19 on unit prices of COVID-19 related medical good, i.e., facemasks. RESEARCH QUESTION The paper investigates the effects of COVID-19 on unit prices of selected, COVID-19 related medical good - facemasks. The question is how much of the covid-19 effects can be attributed to supply determinants, like the share of imports from China in total imports of facemasks, and how much can be attributed to demand determinants like the population size of the particular country. METHODOLOGY Our analysis is based on a monthly trade data for the year 2020 and includes 107 countries. Data comes from UN-Comtrade and Our World in Data COVID-19 dataset. We develop an econometric model with import unit values as the dependent variable and the share of imports from China in total imports of facemasks, the number of total trading partners, the interaction between two variables, and the number of COVID-19 cases in the population as independent variables. We estimate the model using Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator. RESULTS Our results show that both supply and demand variables have a strong and statistically significant effect on the rise of import unit values of facemasks. The coefficient of the interaction variable between the share of imports from China in total imports of facemasks and the number of total trading partners is the only negative, which shows the importance of diversified imports on unit values in the case of significant spikes in demand. CONTRIBUTION Our paper adds to the empirical research of the demand and supply conditions on the value of goods in international trade. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a backdrop, we quantified the effects of a supply glut on the price of a particular good and compared them to demand-side effects. The results can serve policymakers to consider channeling investments toward strategically important goods.

Since its introduction by Jan Tinbergen in the late 1960s, the gravity model has become one of the most widely used models in empirical international trade analysis. The object of research in this paper is the wine trade due to the many changes it has faced in the last two decades, such as the globalization of the wine market and the increased competitiveness caused by the emergence of the "New World countries" in the world wine market. The aim of this paper is to use this proven model to answer some new questions: What are the differences between sparkling wine and still wine with respect to the variables of the gravity model and what are the explanations for these differences. In our paper, we quantify answers to these questions by developing augmented gravity model that includes a set of standard gravity model variables, such as gross domestic products of trading partners and bilateral distance, contiguity, as well as additional variables such as regional trade agreements (RTA), cultural "proximity" represented with a dummy for common/similar language, and historical relations represented with colonial ties. Using the Poisson Pseudo- Maximum Likelihood Estimator, we estimate different versions of gravity models for both exports and imports. The results show that RTA, historical ties and cultural proximity have different effects on trade in sparkling wine compared to trade in still wine. In the paper, we explain the reasons for these differences.

Udžbenik se sastoji od šest poglavlja u kojima se prezentira razvoj teorija međunarodne trgovine od Adama Smitha i klasične teorije, pa do Marca Melitza i "nove-nove" trgovinske teorije. Paralelno s predstavljanjem teorijska, autori prezentiraju empirijske rezultate testiranja teorija međunarodne trgovine. Rad se većim dijelom oslanja na grafičku analizu trgovinskih modela proizašlih iz teorija međunarodne trgovine.

In this paper we investigate firm level activity in Croatian tourism industry. Our analysis is based on the sample of more than 10,000 firms obtained from Bureau van Dijk database for the period 2006-2015. Theoretical basis of our paper is the Gibrat’s law, which states that firm size and growth rate are independent of each other. Within tourism industry, we diJerentiate between supporting divisions and the main industry division (accommodation industry), and test the Law on firms in supporting divisions using modified hybrid estimator. In that way, we add to the existing field of knowledge in two ways: through analysis and quantification of intra-industry links within the Law’s framework and by employing hybrid estimator originally developed by Mundlak, which is a novelty in this field of research. Although, our findings do not confirm the Law, we are able to discern supporting tourism industry divisions whose growth is highly determined by the growth of accommodation industry., U ovom radu analizira se aktivnost poduzeća u turističkom sektoru Hrvatske. Analiza je temeljena na uzorku od više od 10 000 poduzeća preuzetom iz baze podataka Bureau van Dijk za razdoblje od 2006. do 2015. godine. Teorijski temelj našeg rada je Gibratov zakon, koji navodi kako su veličina i stope rasta poduzeća međusobno neovisne. Unutar turističkog sektora razlikujemo sporednu i glavnu sektorsku klasifikaciju (smještaj) te testiramo Gibratov zakon na poduzećima iz potpornih odjeljaka koristeći se modificiranim hibridnim procjeniteljem. Na taj način doprinosimo postojećoj literaturi na dva načina: analizom i kvantifikacijom unutar-industrijskih odnosa unutar okvira Gibratova zakona i primjenom hibridnog procjenitelja koji je izvorno razvio Mundlak, što je novost u ovom području istraživanja. Iako rezultati našeg istraživanja ne potvrduju Gibratov zakon, možemo detektirati koja je od sastavnica sektorske klasifikacije turizma u velikoj mjeri određena rastom smještajne industrije.

This paper examines the variables determining operating revenues (OR) of more than 25, 000 European Travel Agency and Tour Operators Firms across European Union. Using the panel data obtained from BvD Amadeus and spanning the period 2010-2016, our research examines the impact of firm-level (total assets, number of employees, loans) and country-level variables (number of arrivals) on OR. Our results showed differences in OR determinants across different country groups (North vs South, where South countries are Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Croatia while North countries are other EU member states). Using fixed effects estimator we found different sizes and statistical significances of the estimated coefficients of the OR determinants across firms operating in these two groups of countries. In the case of the firms operating in South countries, the estimated coefficient of the variable number of employees is significantly lower than for firms operating in North countries, indicating lower contribution to OR/productivity of employee in the case of firms operating in South. Completely opposite is true in the case of total assets variable, while size of loans is not significant determinant of OR. Finally, we find that number of tourists’ arrival has significant contribution to OR only for firms operating in the South countries.

Technology and trade are driving forces of global economic transformation that started in 1970s. Unilateral, bilateral and multilateral trade liberalization further promoted innovation and technological transformation, thus raising productivity, specially in developed countries. European Union (EU) is one of the key promotors of trade liberalization and since 2006 promotes particularly bilateral trade agreements with other developed and developing countries since multilateral trading system has stalled since Uruguay round of negotiations. EU recognized that in order to increase its global competitiveness, specially with respect to United States and Japan, it needs to push liberalization further through bilateral agreements. The main goal of the paper is to quantify the effects of EU's bilateral trade agreements since 2006 on productivity growth, that is we, indirectly measure the effect of trade liberalization of competitiveness of EU. We group EU member states in clusters according to the size of these effects. We use data obtained from Penn World Table and World Trade Flows bilateral data. We develop both static and dynamic trade models to estimate the beforementioned effects. Our findings show that trade liberalization had heterogeneous effects of EU member states, thus highlighting the problem of Two Speed Europe from trade aspect as well. This implied that current and future EU trade agreements should be carefully monitored/negotiated if the final goal of the agreements is to increase welfare of all EU countries.

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.

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.

According to Gibrat’s law, growth rate of the firm is independent of firm’s size. This paper empirically tests Gibrat’s law on the panel data of Croatian firms during the period from 2006 to 2015. Moreover, we test for any structural differences between full sample and subsample of firms, the subsample comprising the firms that are registered in at least one of the five Slavonian counties. The aim of this paper is to show the importance of taking into consideration regions within countries when testing the Law. Our data comes from Bureau Van Dijk’s Amadeus database and originally included more than 80, 000 firms. We use panel data analysis to disentangle effects of various firm-level variables on the growth rate of the firms. We use sales of the firm and the number of employees as proxies for the size of the firm. Moreover, we include variables such as the age of the firm, growth opportunities (proxied by ratio of intangible fixed asset to total fixed asset) and solvency ratio, in order to control for variables other than the size that affect the growth rate of the firm. Simple statistics showed that average growth rate of the small firms is almost 2 p.p. higher than the one for medium and large firms, econometric model (fixed effects (FE) model) showed that there exists statistically significant negative connection between size of the firms and their respective growth rates. That is, we reject Gibrat’s law for the case of Croatian firms in general. Econometric analysis on subsample of firms from Eastern Croatia showed similar results (size of coefficients and significance) for all variables except the age of the firm. We find that there exist significant structural difference in “age of the firm-growth rate” link between firms in Eastern Croatia as opposed to of the rest of the firms in Croatia. While age of the firm is not significant at all when we estimate the FE model on the whole sample, it is highly significant and positive for the firms in Eastern Croatia. We offer several explanations for that puzzling finding.

The United Kingdom decision to leave the European Union, the so-called Brexit, caused a major economic shock for the U.K. This paper analyses the impact on the Pound, by looking at GBP/USD and GBP/EUR exchange rates. Both these exchange rates were in fact volatile post- Brexit, especially immediately after the referendum held on 23rd of June 2016. Since then however, the pound has become more stable. In the paper we use generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (GARCH) model for modelling monthly and daily returns and forecast volatility of the aforementioned currency pairs. We also descriptively analyse possible influences of exchange rate volatility on the trade of Great Britain with two most important trading partners – European Union and United States. As the process of Brexit develops in the next two years (until March 2019), the pound can be expected to fluctuate again, due to many other factors which are putting pressure on the pound sterling right now, both economic, like domestic and foreign demand, and political ones.

Gibrat’s law states that growth rate of the firm is independent of firm’s size. This paper tests Gibrat’s law on the panel data of Croatian freight transport and logistics firms during the period from 2006 to 2015. The data from Bureau van Dijk’s Amadeus database is used to test the Law. The sample includes 565 firms. The aim of the paper is to analyze whether the growth of the freight transport and logistics firms in Croatia depends of its size. The number of employees and sales of the firm are used as independent variables, while yearly sales growth is taken as the depended variable. In analysis is also included the age of the firm in order to control for variable other than the size that affect the growth rate of the firm. Using econometric model (fixed effects estimator) we find that there is statistically significant proportional connection between size of the firms and their respective growth rates, moreover the results shows the growth in number of employees has a positive impact on the growth rate while the growth in sales and age of the firm have negative impact on the growth rate. It means larger and older firms have slower growth rate. That is why the Gibrat’s law is rejected in case of Croatian freight transport and logistics firms.

This paper explores the changes in trade activity of Croatian firms involved in manufacturing that are attributable to Croatian regional economic integration processes in the 2000-2012 period. During this period, Croatia signed two important free trade agreements: the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union (EU) in 2001 and Central European Free Trade Agreement 2006 (CEFTA). We control for the role of rules of origin in regional trade agreements in view of the fact that Croatia began applying the protocols on the rules of origin which provide for diagonal cumulation (DC) between those CEFTA members involved in the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) and the EU. The results obtained through the industry-level gravity model, using Croatian trade data in the pre-accession period indicate that SAA had a significant impact on trade creation for both Croatian export and import, while the impact of CEFTA is found to be significantly positive only if the diagonal cumulation of rules of origin is taken into account. Moreover, the results confirm that the cumulation system of rules of origin has heterogeneous impact on trade in final and intermediate goods.

This series of papers uses modern trade theories in order to explain development of regional production networks from the point of view of Croatian firms and industries. Moreover, the trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and patterns within production networks are analysed and explained. Croatia, as the Central European Free Trade Agreement 2006 (CEFTA) member, is analysed during 2000-2012 period, because of the unique position which Croatia occupied during this period. On one hand, Croatia signed Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with European Union in 2001, which enabled Croatian firms’ tariff free access on the EU market, but also opened domestic markets for imports from the EU. On the other hand, Croatia in 2006 signed CEFTA 2006 agreement. Although, Croatia became member of “original” CEFTA that was formed back in 1992 by Visegrád Group countries, in 2003, membership in “new” CEFTA was of particular importance for Croatia, since most member countries were ex-Yugoslavia member states. In the first paper, theoretical review of production networks, regional economic integration and FDI flows is given. We merge different strands of these theories, thus creating formal background for empirical research of regional production networks. Moreover, in order to define vertically specialized firms, we combine firm and industry level data and modify existing methodology. We build the empirical model, where we explain trade flows within vertically specialized firms as a function of aforementioned free trade agreements (RTA), FDI stocks and flows, and interaction between RTAs dummies and FDI variables. Estimation results show that CEFTA impact on trade patterns within production networks is stronger that the impact of SAA. Moreover, impact of different FDI variables is relatively subdued. In the second paper we use industry level gravity model in order to estimate impact of adoption of the Rules of Origin (RoO) which enabled diagonal cumulation (DC) between Croatia, other CEFTA 2006 countries and European Union, on the trade flows. We emphasize the importance of the RTA-RoO-DC channel, which affects positively trade within production networks. Our results show that positive effects of CEFTA on trade flows are increased more after enabling of diagonal cumulation between beforementioned integrations. Moreover, we confirm heterogeneous impact of trade liberalization induced by DC on different product groups defined by Broad Economic Categories classification, namely intermediate, consumption, and capital goods. In the third paper the development of intensive and extensive trade margins on product-country level data for Croatia during from 2000 to 2012 is researched. We claim that RTAs-induced trade liberalization will have heterogeneous effects on particular product groups with indirect implications on national welfare. We use static and dynamic gravity trade models on panel data accounting for over 90% of total trade during the observed period. Results show that while SAA and CEFTA arrangements positively affected different measures of intensive and extensive trade margins, specially exports and imports of consumption products, effects on trade in intermediate and capital goods was relatively subdued. This doctoral dissertation contributes to the field of knowledge in several ways. It synthetises and tests theories of production networks, regional economic agreements and FDI flows in the case of Croatian firms. It uses industry, firm and product level data in order the test theoretical predictions of aforementioned theories. This is to the best of my knowledge, the first paper that deals with this topic. Moreover, paper contributes to the existing theory by testing and proving that trade liberalization caused by regional trade agreements has heterogeneous effects on intensive and extensive trade margins and different product groups, classified according to BEC classification. These effects are measured and presented in the dissertation for the case of Croatia during 2000-2012 period.

Cilj ovog rada je istražiti razvoj intenzivnih i ekstenzivnih trgovinskih marži na razini proizvod-država za slučaj Hrvatske od 2000. do 2012. godine. Hipoteza istraživanja je da će liberalizacija trgovine, potaknuta sklapanjem regionalnih trgovinskih sporazuma, imati heterogene učinke na različite skupine proizvoda, uz indirektne učinke na nacionalno blagostanje. Koristi se statički i dinamički gravitacijski model koji se primjenjuje na panel podatke koji obuhvaćaju preko 90% ukupne trgovine u promatranom razdoblju. Ocjene gravitacijskog modela pokazuju da, iako su SAA i CEFTA sporazumi imali pozitivne učinke na intenzivne i ekstenzivne trgovinske marže, posebice na izvoz i uvoz potrošačkih proizvoda, učinci na trgovinu intermedijarnim i kapitalnim dobrima su relativno ograničeni. To ukazuje da su navedeni sporazumi imali snažniji učinak na zadovoljenje potreba potrošača, a ne na porast učinkovitosti domaćeg trgovinskog sektora. Pri usporedbi rezultata učinaka sporazuma koristeći dinamički model, jasan je snažniji utjecaj SAA sporazuma na potrošačka dobra, dok su učinci CEFTA sporazuma ujednačeni za sve skupine dobara. Zaključak je da bi se, u srednjem roku, nositelji hrvatske vanjske politike trebali izboriti za preferencijalni status Hrvatske na CEFTA tržištu, uzimajući u obzir njegovu važnost za hrvatsko gospodarstvo., The goal of this investigation is to research the development of intensive and extensive trade margins on product-country level data for Croatia during the period 2000–2012. Hypothesis of our paper is that RTAs-induced trade liberalization will have heterogeneous effects on particular product groups with indirect implications on national welfare. Static and dynamic gravity trade models are used on panel data accounting for over 90% of total trade during the observed period. Estimations of the trade gravity model and trade margins showed that while SAA and CEFTA arrangements positively affected different measures of intensive and extensive trade margins, specially exports and imports of consumption products, effects on trade in intermediate and capital goods were relatively subdued. This suggests a tendency for market-seeking rather than efficiency-seeking behaviour of Croatia’s trade sector. When comparing the results for two trade agreements using dynamic model, we find that SAA primarily affected trade in consumption goods while effects of CEFTA are more evenly dispersed across different product groups. Main conclusion of the paper is that Croatia’s policy makers should try to keep the preferential status of Croatia within the CEFTA market in the medium term, focusing on the Croatian economy

This paper investigates the development of intensive and extensive export margins using augmented gravity model on the industry level data for Croatia during the 2000-2012 period. During this period important events on national and global level occurred with the significant implications for trade flows. On the national level: signing of Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) in 2001 and Croatia’s signing of the Central European Free Trade Agreement 2006 (CEFTA). Moreover, in 2011, Croatia began applying protocols on the rules of origin providing diagonal cumulation (DC) between CEFTA parties involved in the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and European Union. Also, during observed time period, financial crisis originating in the United States, spread to the rest of the world and the sovereign debt crisis in European Union resulted in low economic growth in the whole Europe. Sharp drop in economic activity was particularly noticed in Croatia, where manufacturing sector lost more than 50, 000 workers (around 17% of total workforce in manufacturing sector) and the number of firms decreased by 2, 650 (around 11% of all firms in manufacturing sector). We use augmented gravity model, where apart from standard variables used in gravity equations, dummy variables for trading partners under preferential trading systems are included to explain changes in export activity of Croatian firms across industrial divisions during observed period. Separate analysis is carried out for exports of intermediate, consumption and capital goods, defined using Broad Economic Categories classification. Our results show that SAA and DC significantly affected intensive export margin (average exports across industry divisions), specially exports of consumption goods, while the global trade collapse affected negatively intensive margin and the extensive trade margin (number of firms across industry divisions exporting to foreign markets).

Istraživanjem su obuhvaćene potencijalne koristi uključivanja Republike Hrvatske u EU na razvoj Dubrovačko - neretvanske županije.

Main aim of this presentation is to, through before theoretical framework defined by international trade and FDI theories and through empirical research, explain effects of Central European Free Trade Agreement 2006 integration on its member states through trade and FDI patterns and creation/upgrading of production networks. Research interest for this topic stems from the fact that, through complementary interactions between trade and investment enhancing policies, it is possible to obtain maximum welfare gains for signatories of FTAs. Therefore, in order to research existence and development of the aforementioned complementary interaction, focus of the presentation is to present theoretical synthesis of the fragmentation of the production process and efficiency-seeking FDI theories as well as to present methodological groundwork for empirical research of CEFTA countries in this topic.

Lobbying is a vital and permanent process of every open society and is recognized in every modern country with open market economy. Therefore it is only natural that lobbying has great significance in Bruxelles. According to some estimations the number of professional lobbysts has long passed 10, 000. They represent the interest of big business and industries. Some industries are more prone to lobbying than other. Sugar industry has particular strong lobbyist, not only in EU but also in USA. Sugar industry in EU is regulated under Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) since its beginnings under Single Common market organisation. Croatia as a future member country needs to adapt itself to the EU rules and has done so since beginning of negotiations with EU, where lobbying had great importance, not only in sugar sector but in general. Specifically lobbying for before mentiond sector began in Bruxelles began in 2005. Croatian sugar firms, because of the reform of EU sugar industry, under Stabilisation and Association Agrement faced quota for exporting to EU and the case study in this paper will present results of lobbying activity of firms in Croatia sugar industry.

Classical theory finds impulse for international exchange in different relative prices of production, i.e relative abundance of different factors of production. Intra-industry trade concept means trade between similar products of different countries (economic integration). Applying classical concept in practice would mean that the trade between states at similar stage of development will decline through time. However, the fact is that developed countries (this especially applies to the EU) exchange more despite the fact that their relative costs of production, i.e. relative wealth of the factors of production are more similar. Statistically it is just possible to substantiate the fact that the most developed countries in the world exchange between more than half of total world trade (OECD, 2010). This fact has led to the development of alternative theories, opposite to classical theories of international trade. Thereby, it took into account entirely new assumptions. These assumptions reflect the actual conditions in which international trade takes place, such as economy of scale, product differentiation, monopolistic (oligopolistic) competition, multinational companies etc. Croatia is a small open economy that will join the EU on July 1st, 2013. Nominal Copenhagen criteria are fulfilled, but the real question is where Croatia stands when real convergence is concerned (if we take into account that intra-industry trade could be a significant indicator of real convergence of national economy), i.e. the extent which Croatia trade/exchange is inter-industry and intra- industry. The increase in the share of bilateral intra-industry trade would mean that Croatia managed to differentiate production, and that is able to compete in the EU market by selling similar products. In other words, it leads to a smooth adjustment hypothesis, according to which the adjustment costs of particular country or sector, when entering the economic integration will be low if there is a relatively high level of intra-industry trade. Aim of this paper is to analyze intra-industry trade of Croatia between year 2002 and 2012 and section of 10 European countries with biggest share of bilateral trade flows: eight from the EU (Italy, Germany, Slovenia, France, Great Britain, Austria, Hungary and Netherlands) and two countries from CEFTA 2006 (Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia).

The main topic of the paper are finding factors with greatest impact affecting divergence of utilisation of IPA funds in Croatia NUTS2 regions, picutre is also given about divergence inside NUTS2 (NUTS 3 regions, e.g. counties)

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.

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.

Matematički model izračuna agencijskih troškova postavljen u radu potvrdio je postavke agencijske teorije o utjecaju vlasničke strukture na zaduživanje, te negativnoj korelaciji između financijske poluge i agencijskih troškova. Model je razvijen na uzorku skupine poduzeća Velike Britanije, te unatoč njegovim nedostacima, od kojih je najočitiji stavljanje u uzorak poduzeća s velikom razlikom u prosječnim agencijskim troškovima, isti je predložak korišten i kod izračuna agencijskih troškova u poduzećima Republike Hrvatske. Zbog istaknutog ograničenja, model je u jednom svom dijelu modificiran, a u analizu je uvedena bazna i ciljna skupina poduzeća. Pretpostavka da bazna skupina poduzeća nema agencijskih troškova jer su u vlasništvu malog broja vlasnika, trebala je omogućiti procjenu istih kod ciljne skupine poduzeća. Nakon provedenog izračuna izabranih varijabli uključenih u model te ocjene ovisnosti nezavisnih varijabli modela sa zavisnom, potvrđene su hipoteze agencijskih troškova o utjecaju kapitalne strukture na agencijske troškove poduzeća, kao i postojanje agencijskih troškova u poduzećima kod kojih je vlasnička struktura raspršena na više vlasnika i interesnih skupina.

XXX

By the establishment of agency relationship between the principal and agent, assuming that both principal and agent are acting with the goal of utility maximization, and due to appearance of asymmetric information, moral hazard and wrong choices, it comes to the emergence of agency costs. Dichotomy of interest between owner and manager of company, theory tries to control by different mechanisms, but the most common solutions have been developed in terms of monitoring and various incentives by which the principal tries to control and direct the behavior of agent.

XXX

U radu se istražuje je li BDP po glavi stanovnika povezan s promjenom novih slučajeva Covid-19 na tisuću stanovnika. Istraživanje je provedeno korištenjem podataka za zemlje članice EU. Odabrane su određene makroekonomske determinante te su napravljene regresijska analiza i modeli. U prvom dijelu rada, provedena je analiza utjecaja makroekonomskih varijabli na broj potvrđenih slučajeva COVID-19, a u drugom dijelu je istražen isti taj utjecaj varijabli ali ovaj put na broj umrlih od COVID-19. Modelom je dokazano kako na povećanje broja zaraženih tijekom pandemije značajan utjecaj imali su upravo odabrani ekonomski pokazatelji poput BDP-a po stanovniku, izdvajanja za zdravstvo i javni dug. U daljnjem tijeku istraživanja uzeti su i pokazatelji poput HDI i Gini indeksa međutim oni nisu pokazali statističku značajnost iako treba imati na umu da je istraživanje provedeno na nedovoljno velikom uzorku od 27 zemalja unutar vremenskog okvira od jedne godine., The topic of this final paper investigates whether GDP per capita is related to the change in new cases of Covid-19 per thousand inhabitants. The research was conducted using data for EU member states. Certain macroeconomic determinants were selected and regression analysis and models were made. In the first part of the paper, an analysis of the influence of macroeconomic variables on the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was carried out, and in the second part, the same influence of variables, but this time on the number of deaths from COVID-19. The model proved that the increase in the number of infected people during the pandemic was significantly influenced by precisely selected economic indicators such as GDP per capita, allocations for healthcare and public debt. In the further course of the research, indicators such as the HDI and Gini index were also taken, but they did not show statistical significance, although it should be kept in mind that the research was conducted on an insufficiently large sample of 27 countries within a time frame of one year.

Upravljanje i otpornost opskrbnog lanca u krizama sve je važnije u modernom poslovanju budući su rizici postali sve prisutniji unutar sustava lanaca opskrbe. Na globalno gospodarstvo utječu mnogi čimbenici koji posljedično mogu izazvati poremećaje u procesima, a jedan od elemenata koji se očitovao vrlo negativno na gospodarstva cijelog svijeta je pandemija virusa COVID-19 koja se pojavila krajem 2019. godine u kineskom gradu Wuhan. Pandemija ovakvih razmjera utjecala je na sve segmente ljudskog života te uzrokovala niz poremećaja od zdravstvenih, ekonomskih i socijalnih. Zbog smanjenja širenja virusa države su uvodile različite restriktivne epidemiološke mjere koje su utjecala na život i rad ljudi te na opskrbne lance, a mnoga poduzeća morala su zatvoriti ili se prilagoditi novom poslovanju i ponašanju potrošača. Najviše problema dogodilo se tijekom „lockdowna“ u Kini u siječnju 2020. godine budući da za mnoga poduzeća u svijetu opskrbni lanac upravo tamo počinje. Pojedina poduzeća tražila su alternativne dobavljače, a druga su čekala daljnji razvoj. Predmet ovog završnog rada je analizirati utjecaj pojave pandemije COVID-19 na opskrbni lanac prehrambenih proizvoda u Europskoj uniji, a pozornost će posebno biti usmjerena na važnost otpornosti lanaca opskrbe prehrambene industrije u zemljama Europske unije. Na primjeru prehrambene industrije pojasnit će se kako izostanak proizvodnje u jednom segmentu opskrbnog lanca može dovesti do poremećaja u čitavom opskrbom lancu. Cilj ovog rada je definirati opskrbni lanac i upravljanje opskrbnim lancem, pojasniti rizike u opskrbim lancima i promjene nastale pojavom pandemije COVID-19 u Europskoj uniji te prikazati otpornost opskrbnog lanca prehrambene industrije za vrijeme pandemije u Europskoj uniji. Istraživanje je ukazalo na činjenicu da se radi o nesvakidašnjoj pojavi na koju svijet nije bio spreman, ali i ukazao na važnost otpornosti opskrbnih lanaca u rizičnim kriznim pojavama koje mogu značajno poremetiti poslovanje diljem svijeta. Testiranjem hipoteza(H1) i (H2) potvrđuju se značajni poremećaji u opskrbnim lancima prehrambene industrije u Europskoj uniji. Ovaj rad doprinosi boljem razumijevanju potrošača u kriznim situacijama, kako bi poduzeća pravovremeno u budućnosti mogla prepoznati i postati otpornija na ovakve i slične vrste krize., Crisis supply chain management and resilience is becoming increasingly important in modern business as risks have become increasingly present within the supply chain system. The global economy is affected by many factors that can cause disruptions in processes, and one of the elements that has manifested itself very negatively on economies around the world is the COVID-19 virus pandemic that occurred in late 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan. A pandemic of this magnitude has affected all segments of human life and caused a number of health, economic and social disruptions. To reduce the spread of the virus, states have introduced various restrictive epidemiological measures that have affected people's lives and work and supply chains, and many companies have had to close or adapt to new business and consumer behavior. Most problems occurred during the "lockdown" in China in January 2020, as for many companies around the world the supply chain starts right there. Some companies were looking for alternative suppliers, while others were waiting for further development. The subject of this final paper is to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food supply chain in the European Union, and attention will be paid to the importance of resilience of food supply chains in the European Union. The example of the food industry will explain how the lack of production in one segment of the supply chain can lead to disruptions in the entire supply chain. The aim of this paper is to define the supply chain and supply chain management, to explain the risks in supply chains and changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the European Union and to show the resilience of the food supply chain during the pandemic in the European Union. The research pointed to the fact that this is an unusual phenomenon that the world was not ready for, but also pointed out the importance of resilience of supply chains in risky crises that can significantly disrupt business around the world. Hypothesis testing (H1) and (H2) confirms significant supply chain disruptions in the European Union. This paper contributes to a better understanding of consumers in crisis situations, so that companies can identify and become more resilient to these and similar types of crises in a timely manner in the future.

Zajednička poljoprivredna politika je jedna od najvažnijih skupina politika i mjera Europske unije o kojima ovisi blagostanje poljoprivrednika i 40 milijuna radnih mjesta povezanih s poljoprivrednim sektorom. Poljoprivredni dohodak niži je i nestabilniji u usporedbi s ostalim sektorima gospodarstva, potpore dohotku pomažu stabilizaciji prihoda dok istovremeno nagrađuju poljoprivrednike za isporuku javnih dobara vezanih uz okoliš, klimu i održavanje ruralnih područja. To se posebice odnosi na manja poljoprivredna gospodarstva te ona koja vode mladi poljoprivrednici jer ona imaju niži prihod i uz nedostatak izravnih potpora dohotku dokazano je da bi se njihovo blagostanje pogoršalo. U ovome radu analizira se financijski sektor poljoprivrednih gospodarstava, fokusirajući se na razinu, razvoj i raspodjelu prihoda. Istražuju se učinci mjera izravnih potpora Zajedničke poljoprivredne politike na dohodak i životni standard europskih poljoprivrednika. Objašnjava se važnost Zajedničke poljoprivredne politike na varijabilnost dohotka te na konkurentnost europskih poljoprivrednika. Definirani su neki od čimbenika koji utječu na realizaciju blagostanja europskih poljoprivrednika. Slijedeće razdoblje Zajedničke poljoprivredne politike (2023.-2027. godine) podupirat će poljoprivredna gospodarstva u unaprjeđenju svoje klimatske i ekološke izvedbe primjenom utvrđenog modela, većim fokusom na rezultate i bolje korištenje podataka i analitike, poboljšanjem obveznih ekoloških standarda. Njezin cilj i dalje ostaje osiguranje stabilnosti prihoda poljoprivrednim gospodarstvima koji će im omogućiti da prehrane svoje obitelji, imaju dostojan život i prežive sve vrste kriznih situacija. EU ne želi izgubiti vodeći položaj u svijetu u pogledu prelaska na održivi način proizvodnje ; štoviše, želi pokazati kako se pri tome mogu i moraju usporiti procesi gubitka bioraznolikosti, uz istovremeno iskorištenje suvremenih metoda.