Hrvatska u gospodarstvu znanja - očemu govorimo?

Abstract

The terms ́knowledge economý and ́knowledge societý have been a part of the political rhetoric and conventionaluse in Croatia since the nineties, while there is littleunderstanding and even less agreement about the meaningof these terms, their origins and the context ofconceptualisation. Understanding the concept of knowledgeeconomy is not only of cognitive and theoretical importancebut it has also practical and political implications becausethe dominant interpretation of this concept and of itsinfluence on social development determines the strategicdevelopment of politics and instruments of policyimplementation. Today in Croatia there is no clear discourseabout what Croatia, as the economy / knowledge societyshould be, so there are no mechanisms to achieve thistransformation. Therefore, the aim of this study is tocontribute to the understanding of the concept of knowledgeeconomy, which starts from the thesis that knowledgeeconomy is based on scientific knowledge which is a result ofinstitutionalized scientific research, related technologies andeducated workforce that knows how to use such knowledge.In order to prove this thesis, the paper discusses five factorsthat condition or determine the knowledge economy as aspecific economic system. It concludes that the performanceof the Croatian economy and research sector suggests thatCroatia is moving away from the knowledge economy asdescribed in the adopted definition, while the main reasonsare thought to be in the socio-cultural and politicalenvironment that does not encourage scientific knowledge asa factor of development.