The role of economic and political measures of the palliation of poverty in Croatia

The paper considers measures for palliating poverty in Croatia. After an introductory account, poverty is defined, and a very brief description of the situation in Croatia is given. In the sequel, attention is devoted to the encouragement of economic growth, the creation of greater opportunities for employment, the enhancement of human capital, an effective welfare system and well-oriented targeting of benefits to groups that need assistance, decentralization, the restraining of corruption and the development of institutions. The paper concludes with some final considerations and proposals.poverty, economic development, welfare, employment

Welfare policy and social transfers in Croatia

This Occasional Paper occurred as the byproduct of preparations for writing the report by Predrag Bejaković and Alastair McAuley “Welfare Policy and Social Transfers in the Republic of Croatia”, The World Bank, Europe and Central Asia Region, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, June 1998. The authors, Predrag Bejaković (Institute of Public Finance, Zagreb, Croatia) and Alastair McAuley (University of Essex, Colchester, England) first published the text in Croatian in the Institute's journal "Financijska praksa", Volume 23, Number 1, (March 1999). This Occasional Paper is the English language translation of the article published in "Financijska praksa"

Croatian Accession to the European Union: Institutional Challenges

The issue of co-ordination in welfare policy in the European Union (EU) has been the subject of many analyses and discussions, but still it has not attained the same level of importance given to the coordination of economic policy. The aim of the paper is to determine the situations and actions in Croatia and the EU in the eradication of poverty and social exclusion. The paper starts with the theoretical and methodological framework, which is followed by an account of the states of affairs in EU member-states. After the description of the situation in Croatia, especially of its advantages and disadvantages as compared to other transitional countries and future members of the EU, the paper ends with a conclusion and proposals for improvement.poverty, inequality, social exclusion, European Union, Croatia

The evasion of retirement insurance contributions in Croatia

The aim of this paper is to investigate the evasion of retirement insurance contributions in Croatia. This problem can be connected to the weakness of the administration and the inefficacy of the competent bodies, to high rates of contributions and a general lack of trust in the public pension system based on intergenerational solidarity. One of the most important determinants of evasion is the benefit deriving from the insurance, that is, the relation between the contributions and the pension. Insured persons who have worked their whole lives and have reached old-age pensions have an unfavourable ratio of contributions paid in and amount of pension received, because funds for pensions have been redistributed to several other categories. After a brief explanation of the pension reform, we draw attention to certain legislative inconsistencies connected with retirement insurance. The paper closes with a proposal for possible measures for the improvement of collection

Welfare Policy and Social Transfers in Croatia

The purpose of this paper is to review the range of social policies that have been adopted by the government of Croatia since independence together with those that have been retained from the socialist past and to ask whether it might be possible to improve them. The paper concentrates on issues of social security and employment. After the Introduction, in Section 2 we provide estimates of the level and composition of social expenditure in Croatia in the last two or three years. These show that the scale of public expenditure has been growing and that it is high compared with a number of other transition economies. This is also true of social expenditure within the overall budget. It is this development that has, in fact, prompted the present report. Section 3 focuses upon the labour market. It assesses evidence on participation and on the level of unemployment. It also examines evidence on inequality and poverty. Finally, it looks at the unemployment benefit to see how far it provides an adequate safety-net for those who lose their jobs. Section 4 concentrates on the structure of social welfare and social assistance programmes provided by the Croatian government. Finally, Section 5 examines possible ways in which the efficacy of the present system might be improved.social welfare, Europe, public policy

Poverty, inequality and social exclusion in the European Union and Croatia

The issue of co-ordination in welfare policy in the European Union (EU) has been the subject of many analyses and discussions, but still it has not attained the same level of importance given to the coordination of economic policy. The aim of the paper is to determine the situations and actions in Croatia and the EU in the eradication of poverty and social exclusion. The paper starts with the theoretical and methodological framework, which is followed by an account of the states of affairs in EU member-states. After the description of the situation in Croatia, especially of its advantages and disadvantages as compared to other transitional countries and future members of the EU, the paper ends with a conclusion and proposals for improvement

How prepared is Croatia for a knowledge-based society?

Knowledge has become the key to economic competitiveness and success. An important part of an economy's overall competitiveness – the ability to achieve success on markets – is labour-force competitiveness. One of the main determinants of the competitiveness of human resources is a country's education system. The paper discusses EU activities related to achieving a move to a knowledge-based society and labour force competitiveness. After the introduction, a short theoretical framework is provided. The third part of the paper analyzes the situation in newly accepted EU members, in future members and in Croatia. After the assessment of some problems in Croatia, some proposals for improvements of the educational system are given