Regionalni klasteri i novo zapošljavanje u Hrvatskoj

The findings of the first part of the research study illustrate that during transition period in Croatia huge differences in economic development level of single regions has been noticed. This could also be seen in movements of labour market. Increasing problem of aggregate unemployment from year to year points to existence of regional structural unemployment. In the context of this larger discrepancy, regional differences have special position, that have emerge at the unemployment level and employment composition, but also in the context of new employment. Such situation is present in old and new EU members, as well as in Croatia. The analysis of latest trends in employment and unemployment movements illustrate that Croatia has the lowest employment rate between old and new EU members, and that only Slovakia and Poland have higher unemployment rates than Croatia. In circumstances of steady and increasing unemployment higher importance is aimed at labour market institution and policy development which role is particularly elaborated in third and forth part of this research. The institutional system of the labour market consist of social system of protection, flexibility of lay off security, implementation of active labour market policies and level of regional labour force mobility. All institutional forms in transitional countries have become more important in the moment of conversion to market economic conditions. The forth part of the research shows that with unemployment rate increase, duration and amount of unemployment compensation significantly decrease. The main goal was to stimulate job seekers to start look for a job and to reduce unemployment duration. Therefore in transition countries labour market policies moves from passive to active one. Mainly it can be concluded that use of passive labour market policies stimulates unemployed to stay inactive for a longer period, while active ones try to make process of employment or re-employment easier. The majority of transition countries spent less than 1% of GDP on passive and active labour market policies. The last part of the first part of the research study is directed to establishing regional differences at the Croatian labour market and the influence of the Free Business Zone Varaždin (place of biggest greenfield investment in Croatia) on job creation. The average registered yearly unemployment rate in Croatia slightly decreased from 18,0% in 2004 to 17,9% in 2005, but regional unemployment differences still remains. The number of registered vacancies at the Employment Office decreased during 2005 and regional employment in Croatia has been influenced by seasonal employment in tourism again. Setting up of Free Business Zones has more and more considerable influence on job creation in Croatia. The main goal for its foundation, besides the economic development reasons, is in attracting FDI, the new technologies development, export growth according to the export orientation of the total production in the zone, employment growth, GDP growth and increase of citizen's standard in each county. It is expected that in the Free Business Zone Varaždin from 2005 to 2008 export will exceed 500 millions Euro and that around 3500 new jobs will be created. In the absolute quantity that is maybe a small number, but if it is planned that in such way the number of new employment in Varaždinska county will increase for approximately 18% yearly, the importance of Free Business Zone in Varaždin is not questionable. It is expected that unemployment in Varaždinska county will decrease below European average in 2008. Second part of the research study emphasizes a role of regional clusters in increasing regional competitiveness. Regional clusters, which can be defined as geographically bound concentrations of interdependent firms and knowledge/technology suppliers, are seen as an important instrument for promoting competitiveness and new employment growth. In many regions, clusters are enabling firms to overcome internal limitations by joining efforts and resources with other firms, R&D institutions and universities, and public sector organisations. Clusters established at the regional level can form the perfect environment to enhance innovation by allowing firms to take advantage of specialised suppliers, local know-how, information, skills and education. The proximity of customers, competitors, suppliers, universities, and research/innovation organisations favours the growth, the employment, and the attractiveness of the regions. Theoretical foundations of the cluster concept could be found in the different approaches, such as agglomeration, or district theories, but it is mostly based on Porter,s diamond analysis. Regional clusters became the strategic development tool in achieving the Lisbon agenda in Europe. The same is the case in most post-transition economies. The situation in Croatia is different, because the institutional prerequisites for the cluster development are not completely developed. Croatia is still not divided into the regions, according to the EU standards and regional statistical accounts are not realised yet and there is no relevant basis to comparative regional statistics. There is a low level of communication and coordination between national, counties and local authorities. Adequate microeconomic policies that support cluster development are missing, such as educational policy and incentive policy to foreign direct investment. On the national level the Regional development strategy is built up, the same as the regional operational plans in most counties. Regional development agencies also exist in most counties and they are mostly engaged on the SMEs projects and other actions dealing with competitiveness building. In different counties, the various types of business integrations are created, such as districts, business zones etc. Regional clusters are foreseen as the future goals in many documents, but only one internationally recognised cluster in Croatia exists. It is BIOS cluster, in publishing and printing sector.regionalni klasteri, regionalne razlike, kreiranje novih radnih mjesta, slobodne zone

Poljska kultura 1948.-1956. Perspektiva jugoslavenskog veleposlanstva u Poljskoj kao izraz legitimizacije vlastitog režima

U radu se predstavlja odnos jugoslavenskih diplomata akreditiranih u Varšavi prema kulturnoj stvarnosti Poljske u godinama 1948.-1956. To je razdoblje obilježeno konfliktom Jugoslavije sa zemljama Istočnog bloka te ponovnim uspostavljanjem odnosa nakon Staljinove smrti 1953. pa sve do 1955./1956. godine. Analizom diplomatskih dokumenata koji su iz jugoslavenskog veleposlanstva u Varšavi pristizali u Beograd pokušava se prikazati pogled službenih krugova iz Jugoslavije na kulturnu politiku vlasti u Poljskoj te odnos umjetnika prema komunističkom režimu. Prema mišljenju autora članka, pravednost vlastitih rješenja u Jugoslaviji se pokušavala dokazati prikazujući razne poteškoće u zemljama koje zavise o Sovjetskom Savezu. Rad se temelji na neobjavljenoj arhivskoj građi prikupljenoj u Arhivu Jugoslavije u Beogradu, Diplomatskom arhivu Ministarstva vanjskih poslova Republike Srbije, te se poziva na dosad objavljene radove koji se odnose na kulturne odnose Jugoslavije i Poljske

Cd, Hg, Pb, and As in European species of wild growing forest landscape fungi : a review

Kadmij (Cd), živo srebro (Hg), svinec (Pb) in arzen (As) so kovine, ki se naravno ali kot posledica človekove dejavnosti pojavljajo v okolju, tudi v gozdni krajini, kjer so rastišča številnih evropskih vrst gliv. Namen članka je bil pripraviti pregled vrst in količin izbranih kovin v trosnjakih gliv terprimerjati lastne raziskave, opravljene v različno onesnaženih območjih v Sloveniji (Zgornja Mežiška, Šaleška in Poljanska dolina), s podatki evropskih raziskav. Vsebnosti kovin v trosnjakih gliv iz neonesnaženih območij pravilomanajdemo v naslednjih intervalih: <0,5 mg/kg suhe teže (Cd), < 0,5 mg/kg do 10 mg/kg suhe teže (Hg), < 0,5 mg/kg do 5 mg/kg suhe teže (Pb) in < 0,5 mg/kg do 1 (2) mg/kg suhe teže (As). Na podlagi pregleda vsebnosti izbranih kovin v trosnjakih gliv ugotavljamo, da sta problematični kovini predvsem Cd in Hg. Omenjeni kovini lahko dosegata velike vsebnosti celo v glivah, ki rastejo v neonesnaženih območjih. Za vse analizirane kovin je značilno, da v trosnjakih gliv iz močno onesnaženih območji dosegajo velike, celo ekstemne vsebnosti, ki nekajkrat prekoračujejo vsebnosti iz neonesnaženih območij. Upoštevaje primerjavo z evropskimi raziskavami ugotavljamo, da je Zgornja Mežiška dolina obremenjena s Pb in Cd, Šaleška dolina pa s Cd in As.Metals, which originate from anthropogenic and natural activities, frequently occur in forest landscape with habitats of many European species of wild growing fungi. The presented review focuses on cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and arsenic (As) levels in fruiting bodies of wild growing European species of fungi of forest landscape. Furthermore, a comparison with studies of this kind performed in Slovenia was made with the aim to assess themetals levels in fungi from differently polluted areas in Slovenia (the Upper Meža Valley, the Šalek Valley, the Poljana Valley). The usual reported levels for most species grown in unpolluted areas are in the following ranges:Cd: < 0,5 mg/kg - 5 mg/kg dry weight (dw), Hg: < 0,5 mg/kg - 10 mg/kg dw, Pb: < 0,5 mg/kg - 5 mg/kg dw, As: < 0,5 mg/kg -1 (2) mg/kg dw (As), respectively. The presented data reveal that cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) have probably been the most detrimental trace elements in fruiting bodies, which can reach increased levels even in unpolluted areas. It is evident for all analyzed trace elements that values can considerably increase in fungi picked in severely polluted areas. According to data regarding Slovene studies and comparison with other European studies, it is obvious that the Šalek Valley is enriched with Cd and As, while the Upper Meža Valley is considerably polluted with Pb and Cd

Globalna financijska kriza i fiskalna politika u Središnjoj i Istočnoj Europi: Hrvatska proračunska odiseja u 2009. godini

Ovaj se članak bavi dvama glavnim pitanjima: prvo, koje su mogućnosti domaćega i inozemnoga tržišnog financiranja deficita državnog proračuna; i drugo, kakve su mogućnosti provođenja ekspanzivne fiskalne politike u Hrvatskoj. Oba se pitanja razmatraju iz šire regionalne perspektive, u kontekstu ekonomske i financijske krize koja je u listopadu 2008. godine zahvatila Središnju i Istočnu Europu. U radu se istražuje kako se kriza proširila financijskim tržištima regije i kako je utjecala na cijenu i izvore financiranja državnog proračuna. Rad pokazuje da se uzastopnim rebalansima proračuna za 2009. godinu znatno povećalo oslanjanje na tržišno financiranje deficita, unatoč velikom poskupljenju tržišnih izvora financiranja, da je zaduživanje države kod domaćih banaka dovelo do bitno smanjenog kreditiranja privatnog sektora te da je plasman euroobveznica u svibnju 2009. godine bio skuplji od ranijih plasmana u sličnim okolnostima i usporedivih izdanja državnih obveznica u prvoj polovici 2009. godine. Na temelju navedenoga, u članku se tvrdi da ekspanzivna fiskalna politika u Hrvatskoj ne bi bila učinkovita i umanjila bi fiskalnu održivost i financijsku stabilnost

Ecology and diversity of Cricetidae familiy (Mammalia) in Croatia

Porodica Cricetidae vrlo je raznolika i brojna, te je raširena po gotovo čitavoj Zemlji. Postoji 6 potporodica, a u Hrvatskoj nalazimo predstavnike dviju od njih: Arvicolinae (voluharice) i Cricetinae (hrčci). Kroz popis i kratke opise vrsta, ovaj rad je pregled zabilježenih vrsta porodice Cricetidae u Hrvatskoj. Sveukupno je zabilježeno 10 vrsta ove porodice na području Hrvatske, no neki su predjeli slabo istraženi, pa postoji mogućnost da je taj broj veći. Hrčci i voluharice najčešće grade jazbine pod zemljom, herbivori su ili omnivori, te imaju kratak životni vijek. Nastanjuju različita staništa, od suhih travnjaka do močvara i šuma. U Hrvatskoj je prisutan i endem istočnog Balkana, dinarski voluhar, koji obitava na kršu. Pripadnici ove porodice vrlo su važna karika u hranidbenoj mreži, te u očuvanju ekosustava šuma i polja.Familay Cricetidae is very diverse and large, ranging throughout almost whole planet. There are 6 subfamilies, of which we find two in Croatia: Arvicolinae (voles) and Cricetinae (hamsters). This work is, through a list and short descriptions, a review of species found in Croatia. Altogether, 10 species were found there, but some regions are insufficiently researched, so there is a possibility of a bigger number. Hamsters and voles often dig burrows, are herbivorous or omnivorous, and have short lifespan. They inhabit all kinds of habitats, from dry grasslands to marshes and forests. Balkan Snow Vole, endemic to eastern Balkan, also lives in Croatia, where it inhabits karst. Members of this family are an important link in food web and keystone species in maintaining forest and grassland ecosystems