engleski

An Analysis of Research and Innovation in Croatia

Science and innovation are key drivers of economic growth, primarily through the improvements they generate in productivity as a result of technological progress. In this context technological progress refers to both the invention of new or better products and improvements in physical and human capital. Indeed, in the long run, technological progress has been the most important determinant of growth in economies such as Croatia, for which the scope to increase the competitiveness is limited. Consequently, investments in science and innovation underpin technological progress and provide the supply of skills necessary to understand and apply new advances. For small countries like Croatia government policies play a direct role in fostering innovation across the public investment in science and innovation research. In general, Croatia is still in the process of transition, industrial restructuring and integration into the EU economy. Getting closer to the existing European frontiers in terms of technology, R&D and innovation became quite challenging at the national level. In order to track the performance on science, technology and innovation of Croatia a number of indicators are used from domains of research and development (R&D), innovation, human resources in science and technology, across countries and sectors. In this chapter we examine the impact of science and innovation on growth in Croatia. We screen and analyze the volume of financial resources allocated to R&D as an indicator of the level of commitment to the production and exploitation of new knowledge, as well as an indirect measure of a country’s innovation capacity. In the last part we discuss the influence of investing in R&D on macroeconomic and microeconomic performance in the recent years and this serves as a base to understanding economic progress in the future.

Science and research, Croatia, Research funding, Competitiveness, Innovation performance

CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Univerzitetna knjižnica Maribor 658:001.895 ENTREPRENEURSHIP and Innovation / [editors] Marina Dabic, Vojko Potocan. - Maribor ; Zagreb : Faculty of Economics and Business, 2012 ISBN 978-961-6802-09-3 (Faculty of Economics and Business Maribor) ISBN 978-953-6025-52-7 (Faculty of Economics and Business Zagreb) COBISS.SI-ID 69007873