Regional determinants of export competitiveness in Croatian manufacturing industry

Aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of regional determinants on export competitiveness of Croatian companies in the manufacturing industry in the period from 2004 to 2010. Using the spatial econometrics the impact of agglomeration externalities, innovation potential, firm size, foreign ownership concentration and development of regions on the export competitiveness of companies in Croatian counties have been investigated for the first time. Research results indicate changes in the regional distribution of Croatian exports during the period. This trend has a negative impact on export competitiveness of companies in other counties. The basic conclusion suggests the need for revision of the existing and formulation of new measures in order to improve the export competitiveness of non-developed counties and to encourage the balanced regional development.