Towards Balanced Regional Development in Croatia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strategy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (192 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Paris : Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, 2024.

Summary:

This report assesses the extent to which Croatia's multi-level governance system is supporting its regional development objectives. In particular, it provides an overview of the country's regional development performance on several demographic, economic and well-being indicators. From there, it considers how the regional development reforms adopted since 2014 affect the ability of national and subnational governments to design, implement, fund, monitor and evaluate place-based regional development plans.

Contents:

Intro

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations and acronyms

Executive Summary

Key findings

1 Assessment and recommendations

Regional development trends in Croatia

Croatia's governance framework for regional development

Croatia's regional development planning instruments and practices

Funding and financing of regional development in Croatia

References

2 Setting the scene: Regional development trends in Croatia

Introduction

National trends in Croatia since joining the EU

The governance dimension

Croatia's territorial-administrative structure has remained stable

Progress in governance has been modest since EU accession

The economic dimension

Economic growth has exceeded the EU average

Unemployment has fallen considerably since 2013

The demographic dimension

Croatia's population is both shrinking and ageing

Migration has contributed significantly to population decline

The well-being dimension

Inequality, poverty and life expectancy has remained constant

Household internet access has increased rapidly throughout Croatia

Regional trends

Zagreb City's economic dominance has grown, with other regions falling behind

County trends

Economic changes at county level

GVA is concentrated around Zagreb and coastal counties

Tourism is booming but only in coastal areas

Long-term unemployment has fallen rapidly in all counties and Zagreb City

Demographic changes at the county level

Well-being changes at the county level

Health outcomes are highly uneven across counties and Zagreb City

Crime rates vary across counties, but with no clear geographic pattern

Internet speeds vary significantly across counties.

University graduation rates are broadly consistent across counties

Conclusion

Annex 2.A. Employment by sector and county

Notes

3 Croatia's regional development governance framework

Croatia's legislative framework for regional development

Regional development policies and strategies across the OECD

Implications of top-down versus bottom-up regional development planning

2017-2018 adjustments of the legislative framework for strategic planning

Strength of Croatia's current legislative framework for regional development

Main strategic planning documents supporting Croatia's regional development framework

Croatia's national-level planning documents supporting regional development

Croatia's county and local-level planning documents supporting territorial development

Opportunities to further streamline Croatia's multi-level planning framework for regional development

National and subnational actors supporting regional development

National-level actors involved in supporting Croatia's regional development governance framework

Subnational actors supporting regional development

RDAs are critical to subnational development planning

While RDA human resource capacity has increased sharply, skills gaps remain

Oversight of RDAs is shared between county administrations and the MRDEUF

Croatia's RDAs operate more locally than many of their international peers

Croatia could consider the feasibility and benefits of RDAs working at a larger territorial scale

Cities' and municipalities' planning capacities are strained

Few cities and municipalities have a local development agency to support local development planning.

Additional incentives for inter-municipal co-operation may be needed to build local strategic planning capacities

Regional development co-ordination in Croatia

Croatia's vertical and horizontal mechanisms for regional development

National-level co-ordination mechanisms supporting regional development

Subnational co-ordination mechanisms, supporting exchange across jurisdictions and with the national government

Challenges to the co-ordination of regional development in Croatia

The organisation of the Prime Minister-led regional development co-ordination body could be adjusted to improve its impact

Further institutionalising co-operation across RDAs can improve peer-to-peer exchange

Strengthening communication between the MRDEUF and RDAs

4 Regional Development Planning Instruments and Practices

Croatia's national-level strategic planning guidelines and documents

The National Development Strategy 2030 guides Croatia's regional development policy

Balanced regional development is not fully integrated as a cross-cutting priority in the NDS

The need for a new national-level regional development strategy in Croatia

Croatia's Regional Development Strategy 2017-2020 provides a starting point for designing a new national-level regional development strategy

Policy makers should also ensure that other high-level planning documents include a territorial perspective

Croatia's subnational-level strategic planning guidelines and documents

Strengths in the county-level strategic planning process

Areas for improvement in the design of the county-level strategic planning

Clarifying who contributed to the design of development plans, can increase a sense of ownership of regional development efforts.

Improving the alignment between county development plans and relevant higher-level strategic planning documents

Enhancing clarity about the actors involved in county development plan implementation

More specific objectives and performance indicators can foster targeted policy action and facilitate monitoring and evaluation

Incentives for implementing county development plans

There is a lack of financial incentives for the implementation of county development plans

Areas for improvement in the local-level strategic planning process

Additional incentives for inter-municipal co-operation could strengthen local strategic planning

Opportunities to build the strategic planning skills of local governments

Monitoring and evaluation of regional development in Croatia

Institutional framework for monitoring and evaluation of regional development policy

Croatia has adopted a clear and shared definition of monitoring and evaluation

Legislation provides high-level guidance but the monitoring methodology could be further clarified

Responsibilities for monitoring and evaluation across government are clearly defined in law, but may not always be fit-for-purpose

Quality of regional development monitoring and evaluation

Developing quality assurance and control mechanisms could improve the technical standard of evaluation reports

A lack of access to, or awareness of, timely and granular data in Croatia constrains monitoring effectiveness

Improving the quality of indicators can help policy makers track progress in meeting regional development objectives

The impact of monitoring and evaluation evidence on regional development policy making

Creating feedback loops through decision-making processes

Communication of monitoring and evaluation results can be improved through the creation of a web searchable platform.

Conclusion

Annex 4.A. Legislation guiding the monitoring and evaluation of regional development in Croatia

5 Regional development funding and financing

Sources of regional development funding and financing in Croatia

Croatia's performance on selected fiscal indicators

Subnational governments continue to rely heavily on grants and subsidies, despite increasing tax revenue

Cities and municipalities receive most of their transfers from EU funds

Subnational tax autonomy has gradually increased in Croatia

Driven by EU accession, subnational investment increased by 82.7% over the last decade

Subnational governments have maintained sound fiscal health during crises thanks to national government support

EU and national funding and financing mechanisms for regional development

Integrated Territorial Investments

National Recovery and Resilience Plan

Regional development funding from the national government

Funding for the operation of RDAs

Financing options for regional development

Public finance-related challenges to regional development in Croatia

Making the most of EU funding for regional development

An increasing use of EU funding may pose challenges for policy makers to effectively address local needs

Resource disparities across cities and municipalities can affect equal access to EU funding opportunities

Subnational governments should diversify their revenue streams

Under certain conditions, subnational public-private partnerships could mobilise funding for regional development initiatives

Ensuring that the recent PIT reforms do not exacerbate regional and local disparities

The 2023 PIT reform could reduce city and municipal dependency on inter-governmental grants

A race to lower PIT rates may widen fiscal gaps between cities and municipalities.

Strengthening the Regional Development Index as a tool to encourage territorial development.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9789264493162