Development and Contemporary Characteristics of Agricultural Cooperatives in the Area of Croatia

Abstract

© 2016, Croatian Geographical Society. All rights reserved. This paper closely examines the fluctuations in development of agricultural cooperatives in Croatia during their 150-year-long tradition, as well as recent development trends, and spatially-differentiated development in the contemporary era. The results show that, despite the long tradition, contemporary Croatian cooperatives have been faced with a series of development problems. The main cause of that situation is inadequate legislation - a poorly adjusted law on cooperatives and correlative laws that are relevant for the functioning of cooperative entrepreneurship. This reflects unfavourably in all cooperative sectors, specifically agricultural cooperatives as its most developed sector. This has resulted in a marginal contribution of cooperatives to the socio-economic development of the nation’s demographically ever more destabilised rural areas.