Gertrude Enderle-Burcel, Dieter Stiefel, Alice Teichova (Hrsg.): Sonderband 9. „Zarte Bande” – Österreich und die europäischen planwirtschaftlichen Länder / „Delicate Relationships” – Austria and Europe’s Planned Economies (2006)

Damir Jelic: “Living in the neighbourhood” - Economic Relations between Capitalist Austria and Socialist Croatia in Historical Perspective

“Living in the neighbourhood

Chart 5:

National structure of individual merchants Croatia 1919

Skiled trade Capital International Smal trade

intensive trade

The chart above presents the results of the analysis. Subsistence agriculture was a limited factor for the development of human capital and the accumulation of financial capital in less “marketised” regions. That was one reason why immigrants from developed areas of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy - usually with small amounts of seed capital but with very good trade connections and working experience - were more prominent in sectors that needed capital or skills. In Croatia, there was an obvious inability of domestic merchants as far as taking over trade in sectors that required a higher level of knowledge or capital was concerned.

Trade

While analysing the pre-socialist period, we indicated the lack of economic dependency between Austria and Croatia, but we pointed out a much higher level of economic development and human capital on the Austrian market than on the Croatian market. This difference created an enduring characteristic of trade relations between Austria and Croatia.

Its geographical position provided Croatia with good connections to external markets. The international trading activities of Croatia were not directed only to one trade centre but rather to several. However, trade direction depended very much on the political and economic situation as well as on monetary conditions and circumstances regarding the balance of payments etc. For Croatians, Vienna was

export-import agencies. Group II - Intensive capital trade based on wood, wood products and building material. Group III - Trade that requested good international contacts, such as trade with leather, manufactures and agricultural products. Group IV - Other small-scale trade - such as small shops, trade with animals and drinks - that did not have need huge capital sums or special skills.

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