Mario Pečarić

The study investigated the extent to which sustainable development and finance are embedded in teaching and research activities and examined the attitudes of finance teachers and the perceived institutional support for improving sustainability education in economics faculties and departments of universities in Croatia. The results of the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics, categorical frequency analyses, Mann-Whitney test, t-test and correlations: Non-parametric Spearman correlation and parametric Pearson product moment correlation. The research findings confirm the importance of human capital - the role of teachers in implementing and enforcing the concept of sustainable finance/development. The effective implementation of the concept of sustainable finance in the teaching process is linked to an institutionally clear concept of sustainable development, scientific work and study abroad. The introduction of sustainable finance courses is more present at the graduate level than at the undergraduate level, where sustainable finance topics are gradually introduced into existing courses.

Purpose : The research examines the factors influencing university students’ intention to use the digital euro, problematising the role of privacy concerns and the effectiveness of security measures Methodology: The research is based on survey data from 150 students at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, University of Split, Croatia. Binary logistic regression, ROC curve analysis and chi-square independence tests were used. Results: The results show that privacy concerns compared to other payment methods, preference for cash payments, belief in lower transaction cost, and familiarity with the digital euro significantly influence students’ intention to adopt this digital currency. In particular, it was found that a high concern about privacy and a strong preference for cash had a negative impact on the intention to adopt the digital euro. On the other hand, a higher level of belief in lower transaction costs and better familiarity with the digital euro had a positive effect on their willingness to adopt. Additionally, the analysis showed that technical security measures, such as a digital signature, biometrics, encryption and pseudonymisation, did not significantly mitigate students’ privacy concerns. Conclusion: The research highlights the need to tackle privacy issues and strengthen trust in institutions and the legal framework, indicating that technical solutions alone are not enough to encourage adoption of the digital euro. Implementation of the digital euro as a means of payment requires broad strategies that pair technological progress with strong institutional protection, thereby reducing privacy risks and increasing trust of the digital euro as a payment instrument.

Aim: Financial globalisation is a process that involves the liberalisation of capital flows and the deregulation of finan-cial markets. Under these conditions, however, financial crises are more easily transmitted between countries, and the issue of financial stability is once again gaining topicali-ty, with independent monetary policy playing an important role. The aim is to define the concept and meaning of mone-tary policy independence and to examine whether it is pos-sible to achieve a certain degree of independence.Methods: Through a critical analysis of the theoretical con-cepts of “trilemma”, “quadrilemma” and “dilemma” and an insight into the “original sin hypothesis” in previous research, the interrelationship between monetary policy, capital flows and exchange rate regimes was explained to form an empir-ical research model. The study was conducted for a group of six Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. A dynamic panel model was used in which monetary policy indepen-dence is estimated by the β1 coefficient. The higher the coef-ficient with the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR), i.e. the closer its value is to 1, the greater the influence of foreign interest rate movements on the domestic interest rate and the lower the country’s degree of monetary policy independence.Results: The coefficient β1 with the EURIBOR variable was 0.72 and was statistically significant at all significance lev-els, which means that there was a significant transmission of the foreign interest rate to the domestic interest rate in the observed countries and the degree of monetary policy independence is low.Conclusions: Financial openness affected the reduction and accumulation of reserves, the growth of the degree of mone-tary policy independence, while the choice of exchange rate regime was not statistically significant. The study thus con-firms that monetary policy independence in the era of capi-tal account liberalisation is limited regardless of the type of exchange rate regime.Keywords: monetary independence; trilemma; quadrilem-ma; dilemma; capital account freedom; panel model

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.

Croatia is characterised by a foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow, mainly in the service sector, which is partly understandable owing to the country's orientation towards tourism. On the other hand, theoretical and empirical research indicates a weak impact of FDI in the service sector on the economic growth of the recipient country. Following the theoretical framework and critical analysis of previous research, the paper, on the example of Croatia in the period q1/2000 - q3/2020, uses the VAR model to analyse the mutual influence of GDP growth rate and FDI in the service sector. The results show that the impact of the GDP growth rate on the FDI inflow into the service sector is more significant and longer lasting than vice versa. The paper emphasises the importance of the adopted growth model for the type of FDI inflows into the recipient country, which in this case is characterised by the appreciation of the real exchange rate as an indicator of the country's competitiveness, whose impact on FDI inflow into the service sector is positive and long lasting.

The aim of this paper is to find alternative method of executing reimbursement loan, as a form of documentary loan, that is, to investigate new digital technology methods (fintech) to improve the efficiency of the international exchange. Reimbursement loans are often used to credit the trade of overseas goods. The reason of such case is that the shipment of goods by the maritime transport requires a significant amount of time and those trades are often associated with high financial amounts. Since international trade (exchange) is a kind of a generator of society’s progress, it is necessary to explore the possibilities for making international payment cheaper, more efficient and more secure. In this case, we based our research on the implementation of modern technologies, more precisely “blockchain”/DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and “smart contracts”. The new reimbursement loan model presented in the paper is based on the aforementioned technologies. It could potentially change not only the documentary lending techniques, but also, eventually, overall financial paradigm. The effectiveness of the application of modern technologies is proven comparing the results of the so called conventional and unconventional reimbursement credit model on a real case involving two companies in Indonesia and Singapore. The paper also tackles on the further implementation of “smart contract” technology and “blockchain”/DLT, thus considering the potential impact of these technologies on overseas trade, credit markets and financial institutions. Finally, the paper argues on the limitations in implementing this new technique (e.g. legal, political and technical challenges).

This paper analyzes how fiscal policy convergence impacts the business cycle synchronization between Croatia and Eurozone countries and consequently indirectly affects the costs of monetary integration using panel data analysis. The main...

The paper argues that it is impossible to resolve the public debt problem within the existing economic policy model without changing the conceptual relationship between monetary and fiscal policy, i.e. without reconfirming the...

Institucionalni investitori, kao financijske institucije koje najviše ulažu u utržive vrijednosne papire, uvelike doprinose razvoju financijskog tržišta na strani potražnje. Fenomen rasta institucionalnih investitora posebno je važan za financijska tržišta novih zemalja članica EU uključujući i Republiku Hrvatsku, koja evoluiraju i poprimaju konfiguraciju zrelih financijskih sustava. Specifično, najveći utjecaj na oblikovanje financijskih sustava novih zemalja članica EU imale su reforme vlasničkih struktura i sustava mirovinskog osiguranja odnosno demografske promjene povezane s poteškoćama državnih, međugeneracijskih mirovinskih sustava. Cilj rada je ukazati na determinante i pokazatelje razvoja najvažnijih institucionalnih investitora odnosno investicijskih fondova, mirovinskih fondova i društava za osiguranje u odabranim novim zemljama članicama EU. Metode privatizacije izdavanjem dionica vodile su povećanju ponude na tržištima kapitala, dok se je utjecaj mirovinskih reformi manifestirao u jačanju potražnje za vrijednosnim papirima. Ključne riječi: institucionalni investitori, mirovinski fondovi, investicijski fondovi, društva za osiguranje, mirovinska reforma JEL: G22, G23