This paper represents an initial step in testing the correlation between corruption and state capture on the one side and emigration as a consequence on the other. The study is based on our qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Germany on a sample of 1734 recently emigrated Croatians from 2016 to 2020 and on our new research on corruption and clientelism as a push factor for emigration from Croatia. The primary hypothesis is that migration and corruption trends are correlated and that with the growth of the emigration of young workers from Croatia, the corruption rate in the country increases even more. The second part of the research was conducted on a sample of small, medium and large companies throughout Croatia. Requests to participate were sent to 2500 companies in all Croatian counties, and 178 companies responded. The questions intended to assess so-called “state capture” in Croatia according to a concept developed by Hellman et al. (2000). We measured the capture of the judiciary, the executive and the legislature in the Republic of Croatia and the perception of bribery, corruption and clientelism in companies. Results: nepotism 71%, bribery 66%, rigging
public tenders 93% significantly disrupt business. Companies rate the Government, Parliament and the judiciary as the worst public services. As many as 59% of companies believe that the Croatian judiciary is corrupt. Among the measures that companies unconditionally support are the revision of transformation and privatisation (82%) and the examination of the origin of assets (76%). The study results undoubtedly show that Croatia is even more corrupt today (2022) than it was as a
non-EU member. The opening of borders has certainly facilitated emigration from Croatia, but this paper shows that emigration would not be so intense if the state and the society were not “captured”.Ovaj rad predstavlja početni korak u ispitivanju korelacije između korupcije i zarobljavanja države s jedne strane i iseljavanja s druge kao posljedice. Studi-
ja se temelji na našem kvalitativnom i kvantitativnom istraživanju provedenom u Njemačkoj na uzorku od 1734 nedavno iseljenih Hrvata od 2016. do 2020. te na našem novom istraživanju o korupciji i klijentelizmu kao poticajnom faktoru iseljavanja iz Hrvatske. Primarna hipoteza je da su migracijski i korupcijski
trendovi povezani te da s rastom iseljavanja mladih radnika iz Hrvatske, stopa korupcije u zemlji još više raste. Drugi dio istraživanja proveden je na uzorku
malih, srednjih i velikih poduzeća diljem Hrvatske. Zahtjevi za sudjelovanje upućeni su na 2500 tvrtki u svim hrvatskim županijama, a odazvalo se 178
tvrtki. Pitanja su bila namijenjena procjeni takozvanog “zarobljavanja države” u Hrvatskoj prema konceptu koji su razvili Hellman et al. (2000). Mjerili smo
zarobljenost pravosuđa, izvršne i zakonodavne vlasti u Republici Hrvatskoj te percepciju mita, korupcije i klijentelizma u tvrtkama. Rezultati: Nepotizam 71
%, mito 66 %, namještanje javnih natječaja 93 % značajno remeti poslovanje. Kao najgore javne službe tvrtke ocjenjuju Vladu, Sabor i pravosuđe. Čak 59
% tvrtki smatra da je hrvatsko pravosuđe korumpirano. Među mjerama koje tvrtke bezuvjetno podržavaju su revizija pretvorbe i privatizacije (82 %) te is-
pitivanje podrijetla imovine (76 %). Rezultati studije nedvojbeno pokazuju da je Hrvatska danas (2022.) još korumpiranija nego što je bila kao nečlanica EU.
Otvaranje granica svakako je pospješilo iseljavanje iz Hrvatske, ali ovaj rad pokazuje da iseljavanje ne bi bilo tako intenzivno da država i društvo nisu bili
“zarobljeni”
