Governance and Local Economic Development: In Search of an Appropriate Governance Structure for Croatia

Abstract

Fostering local economic development in Croatia is primarily an administrative task of the 21 counties, the current units of regional self-government. However, the big cities alone succeed in attracting population and economic activity, and have therefore more strength and capacity to support economic development than other counties. Also, counties are small regions by European standards. The analysis shows that the existing administrative-territorial setup and functions that derive from the relevant legislation in Croatia do not match the needs of economic growth and development at the local level. The situation could be improved by a clarification in the responsibilities of the counties, the establishment of sound governance mechanisms, a local statistics base and the recognition of the development role of the urban centres.