SECTORS AND ENTERPRISES

The transition of the Croatian economy into a market economy in the last thirty years has involved changes within sectors and enterprises. For enterprises, the transition meant a higher level of competitiveness against peer companies on the local and international markets, as well as accepting new business practices which led to their restructuring. For sectors, the transition meant strengthening market competition within sectors and changing the legal framework and regulations in sectors with domineering market players in order to boost market competition.

As a result of liberalization of the Croatian market, in the last twenty or more years, enterprises have become of smaller average size in all sectors. Consequently, small and medium-sized enterprises predominate on the Croatian market, accounting for over 99 percent of all enterprises. In terms of sectors, the researchers at the Institute of Economics, Zagreb have mostly focused on the manufacturing industry, transport and energy sector. Particularly interesting for our researchers is the manufacturing industry, where their focus has been mainly directed at analyzing the efficiency of enterprises and their business strategies. The energy sector and trade have been analyzed to a large extent in the context of their liberalization. In addition to these topics, our researchers have explored the internationalization of SME business operations, primarily of those enterprises with high growth rates on the local and international markets.