The EU model of market integration, based on financial openness, leads to divergence and sectoral specialization, which makes the convergence of Central and East European EU countries (CEE) in the EU questionable. The idea of the paper is that forms of foreign direct investment (FDI) have a differential effect on the growth and development of countries—i.e., it is assumed that FDI inflows into the manufacturing sector have a greater intensity and impact on economic growth than inflows into the services sector. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the system determinants and transmission mechanisms of the sectoral structure of FDI inflows on the sample of 10 CEE for the period 1995–2019. Following a critical analysis of previous research, a panel model was constructed in the empirical section. A developed credit market and the purchasing power of residents lead to greater capital inflows into the services sector, while a higher GDP growth rate and a depreciated real exchange rate lead to higher inflows into the manufacturing sector. The conclusion of the paper is that changing the structure of the domestic economy based on clear industrial and investment policies is the best way to attract developmentally efficient FDI.

This paper applies the most recently developed autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) co-integration procedure to re-investigate co-integration and the causal relationship between energy consumption and real GDP within a multivariate framework that includes capital stock and labor input for Croatia during the 1952-2011 period. The empirical results fully support a positive longrun co-integrated relationship between production inputs and real GDP and the important role of energy in economic growth. It is found that a unidirectional causality runs from total final energy consumption to real GDP in the long run and that a bidirectional causality in the short run, which means that energy is a necessary requirement for economic growth. Additionally, the reduction in energy consumption could adversely affect GDP in the short and long run. Therefore, Croatia should adopt a more vigorous economic policy aimed toward increasing investments in installed energy capacities and reforming the economic structure towards re-industrialization and more energy-efficient industries.

This paper investigates the causal relationship between economic growth and energy consumption in Croatia for the period 1952-2010. Using Chow breakpoint test we identified a structural break in the year 1989. Therefore, we have conducted our analysis on two sub-samples. The first one refers to the period 1952-1989 while the second one refers to the period 1993-2010. The years between 1990 and 1992 have been omitted from the analysis due to massive damage to the Croatian economy caused by the war at that time. Our findings suggest that there is a bidirectional feedback in the short-run and that causality runs from energy consumption to economic growth in the long-run in the first sub-sample. At that time, especially in mid 1970s, Croatia became a medium developed industrial country with the industry sector as the biggest consumer of energy so energy consumption played an important role in the growth process. After the structural break, we found a unidirectional causality running from economic growth to energy consumption. In this case, energy conservation policies together with the establishment of a competitive energy market may be feasible with little or no detrimental side effects to economic growth and employment.

Ekonomski rast i njegovi uzroci dugo se istražuju u ekonomskoj znanosti. U novije vrijeme kvaliteta institucija prepoznata je kao važna determinanta ekonomskog rasta. Može se reći da je kvaliteta institucija gotovo neodvojiva od ekonomskog rasta suvremenih ekonomija. Koristeći pokazatelje institucijskog razvoja, autori istražuju jesu li i kako institucije djelovale na rast hrvatske ekonomije u usporedbi s odabranim članicama EU-a6. Autori nalaze da je razvijenost institucija imala zapažen utjecaj na rast, u okviru koje se posebno analizira Indeks ekonomskih sloboda i Međunarodni indeks prava vlasništva. Upravo na tim područjima Hrvatska treba napraviti značajan institucijski pomak, odnosno potaknuti institucijsku promjenu. Pritom se ne smije zanemariti ni bitan utjecaj ostalih formalnih institucija, poput stupnja otvorenosti, vladavine prava, ali ni važnost poticanja promjene neformalnih institucija jer je značaj neformalnih institucija u Hrvatskoj relativno visok. Autori zaključuju da će poticanje institucijske promjene potaknuti i dovesti do pozitivnih procesa ekonomskog rasta.

Energy stimulates global economic activity, which is also a key input for almost all goods and services of the modern world. Given the expansion of the population, the improve­ment of living standards and the increase in consumption, the total demand for energy is grow­ing year by year. At the same time, there is great concern about climate change, which encour­ages countries around the world to find solutions for energy supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants that threaten the environment. Energy trends, such as re­newable energy, gas, decarbonization, decentralization, flexibility and blockchain technolo­gy, enable faster and simpler energy transformation, reduce the negative impacts of climate change, enhance energy security and provide wider access to energy. For this reason, the pa­per analyzes the impact of energy trends on the superpowers, i.e. the USA, China and the Euro­pean Union (EU), and on the countries of the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa), which are one of the world’s largest energy producers. The paper also reviews the COVID-19 pandem­ic, which has led to an unprecedented decline in energy demand and slowed the development of the global energy sector.