The Croatian path from socialism to European membership through the lens of technology transfer policies

Abstract

The transition from a socialist economy to one of capitalism brought, to many countries that had previously been socialist, a drastic decline in their technological competences, technological transfers, and research activities after the 1990s. This research seeks to assess whether or not the policy of technology transfer practised during the socialist era improved for these countries following their entry to a capitalist regime and their subsequent joining of the European Union, and whether or not these two processes (which historically coincide for many previously socialist countries) correlate. Croatia is used as an example of a typical transition country possessive of a specific type of market socialism, with controversial outcomes arising from its particular transition process in comparison to its peers. Despite the assistance of the European Union, which helped many new members from socialist backgrounds to recover their economies by upgrading their technological capabilities, this research reveals that technology transfer in less technologically developed countries is unfolding very slowly. Technological transfer occurs as a highly contextual phenomenon, dependant not only on the structure of the economy and technological and research capacities, but also on the political economy and the type of capitalism. This research identifies the three phases of the evolution of university technology transfer: science based models in socialism; endeavours towards an innovation based model throughout the transition period; and the bureaucratic model, driven by the EU cohesion policy and facilitated through access to the European Structural Funds. This research points out that bureaucratic-driven types of technology transfer should be coupled with nationally concerned actions on overall economic and political reforms in order to gain efficient results from their technology transfer efforts.