Abstract. The growth of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the world has been significant in recent years. Between 1990 and 2000 worldwide FDI inflows increased more than five times, and since 2000 they have declined. During the period of FDI expansion, growth was especially strong from 1997 onward. However, most of the FDI transactions were between the developed countries. The distribution of FDI is unequal and less-developing countries face difficulties in attracting FDI. Despite the fact that FDI is increasingly important to developing countries, over the past few years the share of the developing countries in worldwide FDI inflows has been declining. The paper analyses geographical and sector distribution of FDI in the Southeast European countries (SEEC) and compares its amount with that in Central East European countries. According to economic theory, FDI towards developing countries flows for labor-intensive and low-technology production, while towards developed states, it flows for high-technology production. Identification of determining factors of FDI is a complex problem which depends on several characteristics specific for each country, sectors, and companies. All those factors could be grouped in three broad categories: economic policy of host country, economic performance, and attractiveness of national economy. On the desegregated level, FDI depends on size and growth potential of a national economy, natural resources endowments and quality of workforce, openness to international trade and access to international markets, and quality of physical, financial, and technological infrastructure. An important question is how SEEC can attract more foreign investment. To find the answer, this paper uses data on FDI inflows to SEEC to determine the main host country determinants of FDI and provides regression-based estimation of determinants of FDI. Using a sample of SEEC and panel data techniques, the determinants of FDI in this part of Europe are investigated. The paper researches the relationship between FDI, GDP, GDP per capita, number of inhabitants, trade openness, inflation, external debt, and information and communication technology sectors. For SEEC, FDI inflows are largely dependent on the completion of the privatization process and in this paper we include the level of private sector and privatization as explanatory variables. Our findings suggest that certain variables such as privatization and trade regime, as well as the density of infrastructure, appear to be robust under different Transition Studies Review (2006) 13 (2): 359-377

According to the European Innovation Scoreboard metrics Croatia belongs to the group of moderate innovators, i.e. a country with below average innovation performance in comparison to the EU average in the period 2009-2010. Government subsidies are frequently introduced to improve countries' innovation performance. Whether existing R&D tax scheme in Croatia produces expected results is the key research question analyzed in the paper. Based on the microeconometric analysis of individual firms' data, we confirm positive effect of the subsidies on expenditures in research and development as well as on product innovation. However, the significant effect on process innovation is not found.

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The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 1 provides basic information on theoretical framework and empirical strategy used in the analytical segment. Section 2 gives overview of the problem analysed. Section 3 presents results of the empirical estimation and provides discussion. Last section summarizes conclusions. Theoretical Background and Empirical StrategyThe main focus of the paper is related to the factors infl uencing the access to fi nance perceptions. In particular, we want to address the issue whether access to fi nance is different for innovators than for non-innovators, based on their revealed perceptions. Lack of appropriate fi nancing is important issue from the perspective of innovators but also relevant for all enterprises (Savignac, 2008; Tiwari et al., 2007), regardless of their current innovation effort. The growth of fi rms, especially small ones, is frequently seriously limited by internal fi nances (Carpenter & Petersen, 2002). The literature usually fi nds that small enterprises and in particular micro enterprises have more diffi culties in fi nancing their projects (Beck & Demirgüç-Kunt, 2006). Freel (2007) provides evidence that small and innovative fi rms are less successful in obtaining loans in comparison to large fi rms, and the background for this is found in bank concentration (Beck, Demirgüç-Kunt, & Maksimovic, 2004). Financing related problems negatively affect profi tability of startups (Banerjee, 2014). Nevertheless, literature argues that fi nancial constrains to SMEs in developing countries can be alleviated by fi nancial liberalisation (Laeven, 2003). Since fi nancial sector has been underdeveloped at the beginning of transition and recently severely affected by global economic crisis, the legitimate question is how the fi rms in these economies have weathered these unfavourable conditions. Special characteristics of fi rms have also been analysed in the literature with respect to relative access to fi nance diffi culties. Extant literature suggests that gender of fi rm owner or manager determines relative access to fi nance. Female led fi rms experience more problems in obtaining necessary fi nancing (Lee, Sameen, & Cowling, 2015). However, Haines, Orser and Riding (1999) argue that there is no a priori discrimination against female entrepreneurs, but rather that female entrepreneurs are likely to run smaller businesses in risky industries. Furthermore, low proportion of venture capital investment in female owned enterprises can be explained by the dissimilarity in the industry preferences by female entrepreneurs and venture capitalists (Green et al., 2001). However, although it is still at the low level, these authors identifi ed positive trends regarding venture capital investments of female owned enterprises. Also, over time, access of female entrepreneurs to bank loans has improved (Haynes & Haynes, 1999).Another factor infl uencing the relative access to fi nance is education of the entrepreneurs and/ or employees. It has even been found that educ...

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