engleski

Regional governance in Croatia in times of crisis

European regions have been very differently affected by the recent economic crisis, depending on the region's level of resilience to external shocks, sectoral structure and national and regional governments’ responses. There are countries in which downturns lead to narrower interregional disparities while in some this can trigger regional divergence. Empirical studies indicate that there is a tendency for regional disparities to grow during recessions, and diminish in the period of economic growth (Dunford and Parron, 1994 ; Evans and MacCormic, 1994, Audas and Mackay, 1997). Also, a significant role plays leadership in enabling sustainable regional development (Soterauta, Horlings, and Liddle, 2012), and contributing to resilience in particular territories in times of crisis. In this paper we investigate negative impacts of the global crisis that became evident throughout Croatia, coupled also with negative demographic trends, growing unemployment trends and high youth unemployment, especially in the least developed counties. With its complex administrative-territorial structure there are 556 units of self-government, including 20 counties, the city of Zagreb, 126 cities/towns as urban centres, while the remaining units are municipalities representing rural centres. However, even in such circumstances, it can be expected that certain regions have the ability to withstand such negative pressures. We might expect that adequate leadership might have a strong impact in such cases. A combination of various aspects of the crisis is reflected in the Regional Development Index (RDI) values. The RDI guides policy makers in taking decisions on implementing specific development measures within the context of the current Regional Development Policy in Croatia. Also, key development indicators like GDP per capita, unemployment, and productivity provide proof of the social and economic difficulties faced in particular by the less developed regions (i.e. counties, NUTS III level) in Croatia. Though, the reduction of regional disparities represents one of EU as well as Croatian regional policy priorities, regional disparities persist within Croatia. As a result of the slow transition process, some areas are still coping with structural changes due to de- industrialization and lack adequate political leadership, as well as effective social, economic and industrial policy. In this paper, we question if existing regional imbalances within Croatia have been enhanced by the current crisis going on since 2008, compared to period before the crisis? Also, the existence of resilient regions will be investigated and key aspects presented. In this context, political, economic, and social factors will be analysed in conjunction with cases of good practices of regional and local leadership in times of crisis. In the analysis, we will take into account regional differences in economic and social development of the counties. It will be based on data at NUTS II (two regions) and NUTS III (21 county) level. Changes in the regional variability of the regional composite development index, which is based on five indicators: personal income per capita ; county budget revenues per capita ; unemployment rate ; change in number of population (change between the censuses) and educational structure of the population (educational attainment rate), will be analysed. The index is calculated as a weighted average deviation from the national average of the five indicators (unemployment rate with 30% weight, income per capita 25% and other three indicators 15% weight each). It is used for ranking and categorization of Croatian counties, towns and municipalities in comparison to their relative positions to the national average. The analysis will also include investigation of possible correlations between the development index and various independent variables like ruling political structure/party, changes of crime rate and changes of EU funds absorption rate at the county level. The findings, results and recommendations contribute to improvements in Croatian regional economic policy, governance and leadership practice.

regions ; governance ; disparities ; crisis ; Croatia

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