Odnos između financijskoga zadovoljstva i financijske pismenosti: istraživanje rodnih razlika

The goals of this study were to explore gender differences in the components of financial literacy (financial knowledge, financial attitude and financial behavior) and financial satisfaction, and to explore gender differences in the relationship between financial satisfaction and the financial literacy components. Analyses conducted on a data collected on a large and heterogeneous sample of Croatian citizens (N = 900) showed that men scored higher on some financial literacy variables and were more financially satisfied. Moreover, in the male subsample there were significantly stronger correlations between financial satisfaction and some financial literacy variables (rational financial attitude, self-assessment of financial management and monitoring expenses) when compared to the female subsample. In addition to demographic variables, significant predictors of financial satisfaction in both gender groups were primarily financial behaviors. Financial attitude component explained additional financial satisfaction variance for men but not for women. Financial knowledge as the third component was not a significant predictor of financial satisfaction for either gender.Ciljevi rada bili su istražiti rodne razlike u komponentama financijske pismenosti (financijsko znanje, financijski stavovi i financijsko ponašanje) i financijskom zadovoljstvu te istražiti rodne razlike u odnosu između financijskoga zadovoljstva i komponenti financijske pismenosti. Analiza podataka prikupljenih na velikom heterogenom uzorku hrvatskih građana (N = 900) pokazuje da muškarci postižu bolje rezultate na nekim varijablama financijske pismenosti i iskazuju veće financijsko zadovoljstvo u odnosu na žene. Nadalje, u uzorku muškaraca utvrđene su više korelacije između financijskoga zadovoljstva i pojedinih varijabli financijske pismenosti (racionalni financijski stav, samoprocjena upravljanja financijama i praćenje troškova) u odnosu na uzorak žena. Osim demografskih varijabli, značajni prediktori financijskoga zadovoljstva kod oba roda jesu prije svega financijska ponašanja. Komponenta financijskoga stava objašnjava dodatnu varijancu financijske pismenosti za muškarce, ali ne i za žene. Financijsko znanje kao treća komponenta nije značajan prediktor financijskoga zadovoljstva ni za muškarce ni za žene

Child poverty and household coping strategies in Croatia : policy brief

This policy brief provides a concise summary of research carried out by an inter-disciplinary team of economists and sociologists from the Institute of Economics, Zagreb and the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb between October 2015 and March 2017, funded by Zaklada Adris. It also provides a summary of the main policy recommendations deriving from the study and which merit, we suggest, further discussion

Does Proximity to Conflict Affect Tourism: Evidence from NATO Bombing

Iako sukobi, rat, nasilje i terorizam prirodno utječu na turizam, rijetka su istraživanja koja identificiraju moguće kanale kojima se ti učinci šire. U ovom radu istražujemo šire li se štetni učinci putem kanala blizine području sukoba. Sukob na Kosovu 1999. godine i Hrvatsku, a posebno njezinu specifičnu sjeverozapadno-jugoistočnu orijentaciju jadranskih županija, koristimo kao kvazieksperiment kojim identificiramo učinak bombardiranja NATO-a na Kosovu na turizam u Hrvatskoj kao i potencijalni kanal blizine sukobu. Koristeći podatke o hrvatskim poduzećima u razdoblju od 1993. do 1999. godine i identifikacijsku strategiju razlike-u-razlikama, pronalazimo da su prihodi od turizma bili značajno smanjeni zbog bombardiranja NATO-a, posebice u poduzećima koja pružaju usluge smještaja i u poduzećima s 50 ili više zaposlenih. Analizom heterogenih učinaka s obzirom na udaljenost poduzeća od Kosova—koristeći linearni i fleksibilniji model—tvrdimo da unutar zemlje blizina sukobu nije značajan kanal kojim se širi negativni učinak bombardiranja.Although conflict, war, violence, and terrorism naturally affect tourism, research that identifies possible channels through which these effects propagate is scarce. We explore if the adverse effects are channeled through proximity to conflict areas. We use the conflict in Kosovo in 1999 and the country Croatia as a quasi-natural experiment and take advantage of the specific north-west to south-east orientation of Croatian Adriatic counties to identify the effect of NATO bombing in Kosovo on tourism outcomes as well as the potential proximity channel. Using data on the population of Croatian firms in the 1993–1999 period and the difference-in-differences identification strategy we find that tourism companies’ revenues decreased significantly due to NATO bombing, especially in accommodation services and in companies with 50 or more employees. By analyzing heterogeneous effects with respect to the distance of the firm from Kosovo—using a linear and a more flexible model—we argue that within-country proximity to conflict is not a significant channel through which the negative effect propagates

The impact of cluster networking on business performance of Croatian wood cluster members

This paper investigates the link between cluster membership and performance of clustered companies. The object of the study is the Croatian Wood Cluster (CWC). The paper presents the results of a survey of 34 members of the Croatian Wood Cluster operating in wood and furniture industries. The survey was conducted in order to identify and analyse perceptions and attitudes of CWC members towards CWC objectives, activities and performance; the cooperation strength among cluster members and that with the players outside the cluster; the effects of clustering on the operational performance of the clustered SMEs; business and economic setting in Croatia, barriers for the work of the CWC and the relevancy of government policy measures. The empirical results indicate that the economic performance of the clustered companies is significantly predicted by the cooperation with public institutions, financial institutions and professional associations (such as the Agency for Investments and Competitiveness) provided by the CWC and by the access to cluster resources such as horizontal cooperation, fairs, exhibitions etc. Additionally, an access to credit, customers and competitors shows a significant positive effect on finance-based performance of the clustered companies. On the other hand, cooperation among cluster members and cooperation with scientific, high education and research institutions show no significant relationship with the company performance

The Effect of Personality Traits on Online Privacy Concern

U radu se ispituje utjecaj osobina ličnosti kao determinanti zabrinutosti za privatnost u online okruženju. Cilj istraživanja je analizirati na koji način osobne karakteristike internetskih korisnika utječu na njihovu zabrinutost za privatnost. Za ispitivanje varijacija u razini zabrinutosti za privatnost koristi se teorijski okvir tzv. velikih pet osobina ličnosti. Model uključuje i niz drugih varijabli koje mogu utjecati na zabrinutost za privatnost u online okruženju, poput sociodemografskih obilježja, kulturnih vrijednosti i informatičke pismenosti. Empirijska je analiza provedena na bazi podataka prikupljenih anketom u 2016. godini na velikom uzorku od 2.060 internetskih korisnika u Hrvatskoj. Rezultati OLS i probit procjene pokazuju da dvije dimenzije osobina ličnosti, a to su ekstrovertiranost i neurotičnost ispitanika, određuju razinu zabrinutosti za online privatnost. Ekstrovertiraniji korisnici interneta su manje zabrinuti za svoju privatnost, dok su neurotičniji očekivano zabrinutiji za online privatnost. Svijest o privatnosti općenito, strah od računala i prethodno (negativno) iskustvo također su dokazane determinante koje povećavaju zabrinutost internetskih korisnika za privatnost. Rezultati istraživanja doprinose popunjavanju literature u podzastupljenom području radova koji se bave osobinama ličnosti i online zabrinutosti za privatnost.This paper examines personality traits as antecedents of online privacy concern. The aim of the research is to analyze if and how personal characteristics of Internet users affect their concern for privacy. The theoretical framework consisting of the Big Five theory of personality traits has been used to test the variations in online privacy concern. The model includes a range of other variables that might affect online privacy concern, such as sociodemographic factors, cultural values and computer literacy. The empirical analysis is based on survey data collected in 2016 on a large sample of 2,060 Internet users in Croatia. Results of both OLS and ordered probit estimations show that two personality trait dimensions, namely extraversion and neuroticism, significantly determine the level of online privacy concern. The more extraverted, i.e., more energetic and outgoing Internet user is less concerned about his/her online privacy, whilst the more neurotic one is more concerned. Privacy awareness, computer anxiety and previous (negative) experience were also observed as antecedents, all positively affecting the level of privacy concern of Internet users. The results of this research fill the gap in the underexplored area of personality traits and online privacy concern literature

UTJEČU LI FISKALNE VARIJABLE NA PRINOSE DIONIČKIH TRŽIŠTA U ZEMLJAMA EU?

This paper investigates the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns on the EU countries dataset. The link is explored between stock market returns and the set of fiscal and macroeconomic variables, including government debt, government expenditures, inflation rate, broad money supply, money market interest rate, foreign currency reserves and foreign direct investments. We used panel data models on developed and emerging EU markets to explore the difference in impact of macroeconomic variables on stock market returns depending on the level of market development. The empirical evidence showed the existence of relationship between inflation and money market interest rate on the one side and developed EU stock market returns on the other. On the other hand, emerging markets prove to be more vulnerable to fiscal developments. In particular, we found only a fiscal variable to be statistically significant in affecting stock market returns on emerging EU markets.Rad istražuje vezu između makroekonomskih varijabli i prinosa na dioničkim tržištima u zemljama članicama Europske unije. Ispituje se veza između prinosa na tržišne indekse i odabranih fiskalnih i makroekonomskih varijabli koje uključuju javni dug, rashode konsolidirane središnje države, stopu inflacije, ukupna likvidna sredstva (M4), međunarodne devizne rezerve i izravne strane investicije. Koristi se panel analiza na podatcima za stare zemlje članice Europske unije i za tranzicijska tržišta zasebno, kako bi se ispitao utjecaj makroekonomskih varijabli na prinose na dioničkim tržištima ovisno o razini razvijenosti tržišta. Empirijski dokazi su ukazali na postojanje veze između inflacije i kamatne stope na novčanom tržištu s jedne strane i prinosa na indekse na razvijenim dioničkim tržištima EU s druge strane. Zasebna analiza tranzicijskih tržišta pokazuje da su ista osjetljivija na promjenu fi skalnih varijabli od razvijenih dioničkih tržišta u EU. Točnije, rezultati su pokazali da samo javni dug ima statistički značajan utjecaj na dioničke indekse na tranzicijskim tržištima Europske unije

Choosing Right from Wrong: Industrial Policy and (De)industrialization in Central and Eastern Europe

Tijekom protekla dva i pol desetljeća ekonomski krajobraz zemalja središnje i istočne Europe prošao je nekoliko valova transformacije. Propast tradicionalnih industrija i uspon uslužnog sektora tijekom 1990-ih usmjerili su ekonomsku strukturu prema procesu deindustrijalizacije. Događaji narednih godina u nekim zemljama regije otvorili su prostor za rađanje novih industrija dok je u drugim nastanak novih industrija bio slabijeg intenziteta. Ovakav razvoj događaja može se pripisati procesu industrijskog restrukturiranja i industrijskim politikama. Recentni porast svijesti o važnosti industrijskog razvoja za rast i blagostanje nacija zahtijeva razumijevanje uzroka promjena u ekonomskoj strukturi zemalja središnje i istočne Europe. Istraživanjem su identificirane dvije skupine zemalja označene kao reindustrijalizirajuće i deindustrijalizirajuće. Promjene konkurentnosti identificirane su kao ključni pokretač takvog ishoda. Rezultati istraživanja ne pružaju potporu horizontalnom pristupu ekonomske politike. Reindustrijalizacija je uglavnom pokretana poboljšanjem proizvodnosti izvoza u sektorima slabijeg intenziteta znanja i tehnologije u skladu s položajem analiziranih zemalja u globalnom lancu dodane vrijednosti.Over the past two and a half decades, the economic landscape of Central and Eastern European economies went through several waves of transformation. The demise of traditional industries and the rise of the service sector during the 1990s inclined economic structure towards deindustrialization. The events over the next years paved the way for the rise of new industries in many of these countries and embarked them on the route of reindustrialization. However, in some countries the rise of new industries was more modest and took place at a much slower pace. Such development can be attributed to the process of industrial restructuring as well as industrial policies. The recent rise of awareness about the importance of industrial development for the growth and well-being of nations makes it relevant to investigate the sources behind changes in the economic structure of Central and Eastern European countries. Our findings reveal two groups of CEECs, defined as reindustrializing and those going through deindustrialization. The research identifies loss of competitiveness as the principal driving force of such an outcome. No support was found for horizontal policies. The reindustrialization mainly takes place through productivity improvements in less knowledge and technology intensive activities. Such findings are in line with those on the position of CEECs in global value chains

Do Financial Incentives Alter Physician Prescription Behavior? Evidence from Random Patient-GP Allocations

Reagiraju li liječnici na financijske poticaje? Odgovaramo na ovo pitanje analizom propisivanja lijekova liječnika kojima je dopušteno prodavati lijekove u sklopu ljekarne u ordinaciji. Koristeći administrativne podatke koji obuhvaćaju više od 16 milijuna medicinskih konzultacija između 2008. i 2012. godine u Gornjoj Austriji, obična usporedba pokazuje da postojanje ljekarne u ordinaciji rezultira 33,2% većim troškovima lijekova. U svrhu procjene kauzalnog efekta ljekarne u ordinaciji, koristimo identifikacijsku strategiju koja počiva na sljedećim temeljima: prvo, koristimo širok skup kovarijata u kombinaciji s multidimenzionalnim fiksnim učincima koji kontroliraju heterogenost pacijenata i liječnika, kao i sortiranje liječnika u ordinacije s ljekarnama. Drugo, koristimo novi pristup koji nam omogućuje da ograničimo uzorak na nasumično spojene parove pacijent-liječnik što isključuje endogeno sortiranje pacijenata kao principala i liječnika kao agenta. Za razliku od deskriptivne analize, nalazimo da ljekarne u ordinaciji zapravo imaju negativan utjecaj na troškove lijekova. Iako liječnici koji rade u ordinaciji s ljekarnom u prosjeku propisuju skuplje lijekove, ukupni učinak na troškove je negativan jer spomenuti liječnici imaju mnogo manju vjerojatnost propisivanja bilo kojeg lijeka.Do physicians respond to financial incentives? We address this question by analyzing the prescription behavior of physicians who are allowed to dispense drugs themselves through onsite pharmacies. Using administrative data comprising over 16 million drug prescriptions between 2008 and 2012 in Upper Austria, a naïve comparison of raw figures reveals that self-dispensing GPs induce 33.2% higher drug expenses than others. Our identification strategy rests on multiple pillars. First, we use an extensive array of covariates along with multi-dimensional fixed effects which account for patient and GP-level heterogeneity as well as sorting of GPs into onsite pharmacies. Second, we use a novel approach that allows us to restrict our sample to randomly allocated patient-GP matches which rules out endogenous sorting as well as principal-agent bargaining over prescriptions between patients and GPs. Contrary to our descriptive analysis, we find evidence that onsite pharmacies have a small negative effect on prescriptions. Although self-dispensing GPs seem to prescribe slightly more expensive medication, this effect is absorbed by a much smaller likelihood to prescribe in the first place, causing the overall effect to be negative

Regionalna konkurentnost u kontekstu “Nove industrijske politike” na primjeru Hrvatske

The purpose of this paper is to do research on regional conditions that are most conducive to maximising the positive effects of the implementation of “New industrial policy” (policy based on Smart specialisation strategy) to regional competitiveness in Croatia. Rather than using the standard but fragmented system of counties, this small post-transition economy is first mapped into five regions following the concept of regional innovation systems (RISs). Essentially, RIS concept rests on an idea that interactions among regional agents lead to the creation of optimal innovation output, while policy based on Smart specialisation strategy in Croatia is a national policy that promotes creation of innovative products and services in five promising domains and 13 sub-thematic areas. Analysis is carried out in two steps, firstly using a data-driven approach employed in a multidimensional framework for assessing regional accessibility, absorptive capacity and diffusion of knowledge in the context of Smart specialisation strategy (S3) implementation. In the second step, the assumption of post-transition reliance on the external knowledge and technology in producing innovation output is examined via regional presence of high-technology firms, GDP per capita and international trade and investment variables and patents per 100.000 inhabitants using cluster analysis (Ward method). The results show that highly internationalised regions with higher density of hightechnology firms already produce relatively more innovation output per capita. With already favourable conditions in place, these progressive regions are most likely to reinforce their competitive advantages through the transformation of their economic structures enabled by implementation of S3.Regionalna konkurentnost u kontekstu “Nove industrijske politike” na primjeru Hrvatsk

Child poverty and household coping strategies in Croatia

Project goals: - What are the most important trends and causes of risk of poverty among children in Croatia? - How do public policies, including income support programmes, impact on rates of child poverty in different types of households in Croatia? How important are the discretionary practices of social workers and other professionals - What are the most common coping strategies, use of assets, and intra- and inter-household distributional strategies used by different types of households in Croatia? - Which public policies should be advocated to support positive coping strategies and contribute to the reduction of the risk of child poverty in Croatia? Expected results/outputs: - Final research report, - Summary policy paper, - Advocacy activities. Activities: - Consultative round table, - Conference, - Empirical research. Methodology: The research involves a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including: Review of existing studies on child poverty in Croatia, in a European comparative perspective; Quantitative analysis of trends in child poverty in Croatia over time, and correlations between rates of child poverty and diverse causal factors; Quantitative study of the impact of income transfers on a number of ‘model’ household types in Croatia; Survey of a number (n=c.200) of model household types in Croatia examining in broad terms coping strategies, use of assets, and intra- and inter-household distributional patterns. The survey will be administered face to face amongst households across Croatia and will gather information from all adult household members and from dependent children aged 13 and over; In-depth interviews and/or focus groups and diary completion by a small number (up to 15) of households with children at risk of poverty; Semi-structured interviews with policy makers, professionals and advocates concerned with issues relating to child poverty