The impact of the economic crisis and obstacles to investments at local level

The global economic crisis had a significant impact on the fiscal stance of local government units. The literature discusses this issue by explaining that financial crises change budget decisions of central state authorities towards the financing of those priorities which could improve the economic situation at national level. The impact of the change in national government’s decisions influences local government units differently depending on the level of their fiscal autonomy. Investments at the local level are below pre-crisis levels in most European Union countries. This article analyzes the impact of the financial crisis on the fiscal imbalance showing that there is a lack of financial resources for investments. Due to fiscal constraints and annual borrowing limits of regional and local public administration authorities, the affordability of projects and investments is limited. Furthermore, the article analyzes the obstacles to investments at local level in Croatia, a country belonging to the group of European Union Member States which was hit hardest by the crisis and experienced a larger drop in investments. The results of the survey conducted among members of regional assemblies have been analyzed with respect to the level of local development and other factors enabling to identify more precisely the obstacles to investment.</p

Decentralization in Croatia : problems and possible solutions

El 2001 Croàcia va posar en marxa la iniciativa destinada a afluixar un alt grau de centralització mitjançant l'ampliació dels mandats de les unitats locals i el canvi de les fonts de finançament de les funcions públiques. No obstant això, els passos inicials en el procés de descentralització no ha estat seguida per altres mesures de descentralització fiscal, i en conseqüència, el seu nivell s'ha mantingut pràcticament sense canvis. El treball es proposa elaborar els principals problemes i obstacles en relació amb l'aplicació efectiva del procés de descentralització i donar tres grups de propostes per a la descentralització: (i) la divisió dels poders obligatoris entre les diferents unitats locals, (ii) el canvi en el finançament i (Iii) modificar la divisió territorial del país.In 2001 Croatian Government launched the initiative aimed at loosening a high degree of centralization by extending the mandates of local units and changing the sources of financing public functions. However, initial steps in the process of decentralisation have not been followed by additional measures of fiscal decentralization, and consequently its level has stayed broadly unchanged. We elaborate main problems and obstacles in relation with actual implementation of the decentralization process and give three groups of proposals for decentralisation: (i) division of mandatory authorities among different local units, (ii) change in funding and (iii) modified territorial division of the count

Determinants of corruption pressures on local government in the E.U.

This article investigates corruption pressures at the sub-national government level by employing a novel approach of empirically assessing the subjective opinions of local councillors about corruption risks they have been exposed to. Based on the large survey data collected in 14 European countries we provide evidence that individual perceptions of corruption risk experienced by local councillors are formed by their personal characteristics, where educational attainment stands as the most significant deterrent to corruption risk. The comparative assessment of non-transition and post-transition countries (PTCs) shows that respondents from PTCs exhibit higher levels of perceived corruption pressures on the local government level (PCL). In non-transition countries, councillors in the local government units with more fiscal power are more exposed to corruption. When government effectiveness is included, the effect of transition process and local fiscal decentralisation loses significance. Government effectiveness appears to be a strong tool to alleviate the corruption pressure at the local government level, in particular for younger councillors in PTCs The findings shed more light on the issues of corruption, which is a striking problem at the sub-national government level in the E.U. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are offered

Innovation in the public services at the local and regional level

Awareness of the importance of innovation in the public sector is increasing. It should create added public value to the citizens and the society. Public sector innovation is a challenge, but it is also increasingly recognized as a solution to growing budgetary pressures. The paper explores the implementation of innovation in public services at the local level in Croatia. Most of the research conducted so far explores the role of the private sector in the implementation of innovation in the public sector. The objective of this paper is to analyse results of a survey that has been conducted on a sample of representatives of local and regional government in Croatia (big cities and counties) and representatives of local action groups (LAGs) and local/regional development agencies (LRDAs) to examine the ability of Croatian local and regional public sector to innovate and identify the barriers that may hinder the process of introduction and implementation of this innovation. It, thus, explores the main barriers for the implementation of innovative activities at the local level from the perspective of different local actors. The results show that three factors that hinder the process of introducing innovation into the Croatian public sector are competence-related obstacles, bureaucratic barriers, and funding difficulties

Impact of COVID-19 on Croatian island tourism: a study of residents’ perceptions

The COVID-19 pandemic, which marked the whole of 2020, caused numerous difficulties in the economies and the health systems of all countries and led to a global economic and health crisis. This paper explores citizens’ attitudes towards tourism on Croatian islands during the COVID-19 pandemic using survey data from over 200 islanders. The results reveal that almost one-third of the citizens considered the islands overcrowded with tourists in the pre-pandemic period. The survey results indicate a link between the expected impact of the development of tourism, citizens’ attitudes towards tourism, and their willingness to take a larger health risk due to the pandemic. The results also show that islanders’ attitudes toward economic measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic were not homogenous and were significantly different depending on the size of the islan

UPRAVLJANJE KAMATNIM RIZIKOM I FINANCIJSKE IZVEDENICE ZA UPRAVLJANJE RIZIKOM U HRVATSKIM BANKAMA

Upravljanje kamatnim rizikom je ključno za ostvarivanje što boljih rezultata poslovanja banke. Jedan od načina za zaštitu od kamatnog rizika je korištenje financijskih izvedenica. Banka se ne može izolirati od utjecaja kamatnog rizika, ali može razvijati sustav upravljanja rizicima kojima je izložena. Cilj rada je ustanoviti koliko su hrvatske banke upoznate s kamatnim rizikom i mogućim oblicima zaštite. Uz to, analizirat će se u kojoj mjeri hrvatske banke upravljaju kamatnim rizikom, primjenom kojih metoda, te tko je zadužen za njegovo upravljanje. Nadalje, rad će pokazati da u Hrvatskoj postoji nedovoljan stupanj korištenja financijskih izvedenica za zaštitu od kamatnog rizika, te će se identificirati temeljni problemi s kojima su banke suočene

UPRAVLJANJE KAMATNIM RIZIKOM I FINANCIJSKE IZVEDENICE ZA UPRAVLJANJE RIZIKOM U HRVATSKIM BANKAMA

Upravljanje kamatnim rizikom je ključno za ostvarivanje što boljih rezultata poslovanja banke. Jedan od načina za zaštitu od kamatnog rizika je korištenje financijskih izvedenica. Banka se ne može izolirati od utjecaja kamatnog rizika, ali može razvijati sustav upravljanja rizicima kojima je izložena. Cilj rada je ustanoviti koliko su hrvatske banke upoznate s kamatnim rizikom i mogućim oblicima zaštite. Uz to, analizirat će se u kojoj mjeri hrvatske banke upravljaju kamatnim rizikom, primjenom kojih metoda, te tko je zadužen za njegovo upravljanje. Nadalje, rad će pokazati da u Hrvatskoj postoji nedovoljan stupanj korištenja financijskih izvedenica za zaštitu od kamatnog rizika, te će se identificirati temeljni problemi s kojima su banke suočene

Theoretical Concepts of Consumer Resilience to Online Privacy Violation

Resilience is a multifaceted concept used to explain both system and individual behavior across disciplines. Although definitions and research concepts of resilience vary significantly, resilience has become a boundary object in diverse academic fields calling for a holistic approach. This work aims to elaborate the theoretical concepts that might be applied in the research of consumer resilience to online privacy violation, a new and unexplored aspect of consumer behavior in the digital environment. The purpose of the research is to develop the future research frontiers in investigating consumer resilience to online privacy violation. It contributes to the privacy resilience debate and lays the groundwork for developing a conceptual model of online consumer resilience that would explore how individual behavior is affected after online privacy violation occurrence. Developing a conceptual model of consumer resilience to online privacy violation that would include a set of individual and environmental variables, will contribute to the existing understanding of resilience at the intersection of psychology, economics, and privacy studies. Furthermore, it will also contribute to the understanding of adaptive responses of resilient individuals to privacy breaches in an online environment, as well as to the understanding of processes by which resilience affects adaptive responses of consumers in the specific context of online privacy breaches