Maja Vehovec

Croatia: Time to Re-evaluate Employment Policy

The current situation on the Croatian labour market does not look very promising. Nonetheless, it seems that the global financial and economic crisis has only emphasised already existing problems. Croatia has the lowest employment rate among all EU countries, which, together with a two-digit unemployment rate, clearly indicates that there are internal structural reasons for this unfavourable situation. The main culprit for the lack of the necessary dynamics in the labour market flows is the labour demand. Faced with the absence of domestic and foreign investments, rigid employment protection laws and high tax burdens, it is almost impossible for firms to create new jobs and expand the overall labour demand. Thus, it seems that employment policies should help in this kind of situation. However, the assessment of employment policies in Croatia reveals that there are more weaknesses than strengths among internal factors, with some positive expectations amid the external factors which are connected with accession to the European Union. However, relying only on accession to the EU in a situation of reasonably unfavourable economic conditions in its member countries does not seem like the best strategy. In order to improve employment potential, Croatia should rely more on its internal strengths and institutional conditions.

Efikasnost nasuprot dostupnosti? O povezanosti troškova i ishoda studiranja u Hrvatskoj

Potreba za ekonomskom efikasnoscu funkcioniranja procesa visokog obrazovanja zajedno s potrebom pravednosti i jednakosti u dostupnosti usluge svima cini osnovno polaziste ovog rada. Na podacima iz anketnog istraživanja na slucajnom uzorku mladih koji su nedavno zavrsili obrazovanje provedena je analiza pomocu tri kriterijske varijable: zavrsavanje studija, studijski uspjeh i brzina zavrsavanja studija. One su izabrane jer sve tri pojedinacno i ukupno ukazuju na efikasnost procesa visokog obrazovanja, ali suceljene s podacima o nacinu studiranja, ostalim troskovima studiranja, socioekonomskom obiteljskom zaleđu studenata, te primanjem neizravne državne financijske pomoci ukazuju i na probleme jednakosti u pristupu javnom visokom obrazovanju u Hrvatskoj. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na cinjenicu da su sanse za zavrsavanje studija prije svega vezane uz socioekonomski status studenata. Zavrsnost je posebno losija kod studenata iz nižeg socioekonomskog stratuma koji ne placaju skolarinu sto sugerira da postojeci instrumenti financijske pomoci za neakademske troskove nisu dostatni ovoj skupini. Na vecu brzinu zavrsavanja studija utjecu troskovi koji studenti imaju za placanje skolarine, niži socioekonomski status studenta, te primanje financijske pomoci uvjetovane dinamikom studiranja (stipendije).