Central bank independence: The case of Croatia

A trend of increasing role of central bank's independence took place in the most of modern economies. The central bank independence (CBI) is seen as a way of bringing economy to a higher level. It is argued that an independent central bank is more credible and moreover, that the higher degree of central bank independence facilitates central bank to identify signals of financial problems and alert financial markets. Furthermore, an independent central bank is less likely to be exposed to the inflationary bias, inherent in monetary policy, and is more aware of the inflation costs of expansionary monetary policy. This is in line with Friedman’s theoretical concept that the phenomenon of inflation is to be regulated by controlling the amount of money poured into the national economy by the central bank. In order to achieve the main goal; price stability, it is essential for a central bank to be connected to government as little as possible. However, governments generally have a certain influence over central banks, even in the case of banks who claim to be independent. The first part of the paper offers theoretical background for the central bank independence (CBI concept). The empirical evidence on the relationship between central bank independence and economic variables suggests negative relationship between central bank independence and inflation. The strong evidence of central bank independence influence on other macroeconomic variables so far has not been found. The analysis of the independence of Croatian national bank was made using 3 different methods; 1) central bank governor turnover rate (TOR), 2) Petursson G. Thorarinn criterion and 3) Cukierman, Webb and Neyapti (CWN) questionnaire. The obtained results affirm high level of central bank independence in Croatia.monetary policy, central bank independence

Macro & micro aspects of the standard of living and quality of life in a small transition economy: The case of Croatia

Increasing role of quality of life and standard of living took place in countries all over the world, especially nowadays, when numerous effects of the global crisis are felt all over the world. Emerging crisis caused many problems; thereby, in the current situation it is interesting to examine the level of the quality of life and standard of living. The purpose of this paper is to define standard of living and quality of life using objective and subjective indicators. Moreover, special emphasis is on the evaluation of quality of life and living standard in Croatia. After short overview of general development of concepts of standard of living and quality of life, situation in Croatia is analyzed in more details by using different indicators; GDP per capita, shopping basket, GFK basket, households’ expenditures, poverty rate, income inequality, HDI, life satisfaction and happiness, deprivation and optimism about the future. The measures show an increase in the standard of living and quality of life in Croatia, but more importantly, they also show the trend of constant increase in the living costs and the rate of poverty. The level of HDI suggests high level of human development and the results of the level of satisfaction imply that people in Croatia are moderately satisfied with their lives and enjoy a rather high level of happiness. Concerning optimism about the future, Croatian people are mostly optimistic.standard of living, quality of life

Central bank independence: The case of Croatia

A trend of increasing role of central bank\u27s independence took place in the most of modern economies. The central bank independence (CBI) is seen as a way of bringing economy to a higher level. It is argued that an independent central bank is more credible and moreover, that the higher degree of central bank independence facilitates central bank to identify signals of financial problems and alert financial markets. Furthermore, an independent central bank is less likely to be exposed to the inflationary bias, inherent in monetary policy, and is more aware of the inflation costs of expansionary monetary policy. This is in line with Friedman’s theoretical concept that the phenomenon of inflation is to be regulated by controlling the amount of money poured into the national economy by the central bank. In order to achieve the main goal; price stability, it is essential for a central bank to be connected to government as little as possible. However, governments generally have a certain influence over central banks, even in the case of banks who claim to be independent. The first part of the paper offers theoretical background for the central bank independence (CBI concept). The empirical evidence on the relationship between central bank independence and economic variables suggests negative relationship between central bank independence and inflation. The strong evidence of central bank independence influence on other macroeconomic variables so far has not been found. The analysis of the independence of Croatian national bank was made using 3 different methods; 1) central bank governor turnover rate (TOR), 2) Petursson G. Thorarinn criterion and 3) Cukierman, Webb and Neyapti (CWN) questionnaire. The obtained results affirm high level of central bank independence in Croatia

Macro & micro aspects of standard of living and quality of life in a small transition economy: The case of Croatia

Increasing role of quality of life and standard of living took place in countries all over the world, especially nowadays, when numerous effects of the global crisis are felt all over the world. Emerging crisis caused many problems; thereby, in the current situation it is interesting to examine the level of the quality of life and standard of living. The purpose of this paper is to define standard of living and quality of life using objective and subjective indicators. Moreover, special emphasis is on the evaluation of quality of life and living standard in Croatia. After short overview of general development of concepts of standard of living and quality of life, situation in Croatia is analyzed in more details by using different indicators; GDP per capita, shopping basket, GFK basket, households’ expenditures, poverty rate, income inequality, HDI, life satisfaction and happiness, deprivation and optimism about the future. The measures show an increase in the standard of living and quality of life in Croatia, but more importantly, they also show the trend of constant increase in the living costs and the rate of poverty. The level of HDI suggests high level of human development and the results of the level of satisfaction imply that people in Croatia are moderately satisfied with their lives and enjoy a rather high level of happiness. Concerning optimism about the future, Croatian people are mostly optimistic

Central bank independence: The case of Croatia

A trend of increasing role of central bank\u27s independence took place in the most of modern economies. The central bank independence (CBI) is seen as a way of bringing economy to a higher level. It is argued that an independent central bank is more credible and moreover, that the higher degree of central bank independence facilitates central bank to identify signals of financial problems and alert financial markets. Furthermore, an independent central bank is less likely to be exposed to the inflationary bias, inherent in monetary policy, and is more aware of the inflation costs of expansionary monetary policy. This is in line with Friedman’s theoretical concept that the phenomenon of inflation is to be regulated by controlling the amount of money poured into the national economy by the central bank. In order to achieve the main goal; price stability, it is essential for a central bank to be connected to government as little as possible. However, governments generally have a certain influence over central banks, even in the case of banks who claim to be independent. The first part of the paper offers theoretical background for the central bank independence (CBI concept). The empirical evidence on the relationship between central bank independence and economic variables suggests negative relationship between central bank independence and inflation. The strong evidence of central bank independence influence on other macroeconomic variables so far has not been found. The analysis of the independence of Croatian national bank was made using 3 different methods; 1) central bank governor turnover rate (TOR), 2) Petursson G. Thorarinn criterion and 3) Cukierman, Webb and Neyapti (CWN) questionnaire. The obtained results affirm high level of central bank independence in Croatia

Mjerenje nezavisnosti središnje banke

Trend rastuće nezavisnosti središnje banke prisutan je u većini modernih ekonomija tijekom posljednjih dvadeset godina. Smatra se da je nezavisna centralna banka vjerodostojnija, što joj omogućava lakše donošenje odluka i vođenje monetarne politike. Unatoč proklamiranoj nezavisnosti većine banaka, njihova stvarna nezavisnost je manja budući da države obično imaju određeni utjecaj na djelovanje središnjih banaka. Empirijska istraživanja o odnosu između nezavisnosti središnje banke i ekonomskih varijabli sugeriraju negativan odnos na relaciji nezavisnosti središnje banke - inflacija. Čvrsti dokazi o utjecaju nezavisnosti središnje banke na ostale makroekonomske varijable do sada nisu pronađeni. Analiza nezavisnosti Hrvatske narodne banke u ovom radu provedena je korištenjem 4 različite metode; 1) procjenom temeljenom na stopi izmjene guvernera središnje banke (TOR), 2) kriterijem Petursson G. Thorarinna, te dvama mjerama zakonske nezavisnosti središnje banke, indeksima 3) LVAW i 4) QVAW. Rezultati istraživanja potvrđuju visok stupanj nezavisnosti središnje banke u Hrvatskoj

Macro & micro aspects of standard of living and quality of life in a small transition economy: The case of Croatia

Increasing role of quality of life and standard of living took place in countries all over the world, especially nowadays, when numerous effects of the global crisis are felt all over the world. Emerging crisis caused many problems; thereby, in the current situation it is interesting to examine the level of the quality of life and standard of living. The purpose of this paper is to define standard of living and quality of life using objective and subjective indicators. Moreover, special emphasis is on the evaluation of quality of life and living standard in Croatia. After short overview of general development of concepts of standard of living and quality of life, situation in Croatia is analyzed in more details by using different indicators; GDP per capita, shopping basket, GFK basket, households’ expenditures, poverty rate, income inequality, HDI, life satisfaction and happiness, deprivation and optimism about the future. The measures show an increase in the standard of living and quality of life in Croatia, but more importantly, they also show the trend of constant increase in the living costs and the rate of poverty. The level of HDI suggests high level of human development and the results of the level of satisfaction imply that people in Croatia are moderately satisfied with their lives and enjoy a rather high level of happiness. Concerning optimism about the future, Croatian people are mostly optimistic

Mjerenje nezavisnosti središnje banke

Trend rastuće nezavisnosti središnje banke prisutan je u većini modernih ekonomija tijekom posljednjih dvadeset godina. Smatra se da je nezavisna centralna banka vjerodostojnija, što joj omogućava lakše donošenje odluka i vođenje monetarne politike. Unatoč proklamiranoj nezavisnosti većine banaka, njihova stvarna nezavisnost je manja budući da države obično imaju određeni utjecaj na djelovanje središnjih banaka. Empirijska istraživanja o odnosu između nezavisnosti središnje banke i ekonomskih varijabli sugeriraju negativan odnos na relaciji nezavisnosti središnje banke - inflacija. Čvrsti dokazi o utjecaju nezavisnosti središnje banke na ostale makroekonomske varijable do sada nisu pronađeni. Analiza nezavisnosti Hrvatske narodne banke u ovom radu provedena je korištenjem 4 različite metode; 1) procjenom temeljenom na stopi izmjene guvernera središnje banke (TOR), 2) kriterijem Petursson G. Thorarinna, te dvama mjerama zakonske nezavisnosti središnje banke, indeksima 3) LVAW i 4) QVAW. Rezultati istraživanja potvrđuju visok stupanj nezavisnosti središnje banke u Hrvatskoj