The aim of this paper is to examine performance of pension funds in Croatia, or more precisely, to measure the technical efficiency of mandatory pension funds. The main role of the pension funds is to collect and invest the money contributed by the employer or the employee during working years until retirement. Therefore, development of pension funds as institutional investors is especially important for capital markets as well as for the whole economy. By applying the methodology of data envelopment analysis on a sample of 12 DMUs, i.e. four mandatory pension funds divided into three categories (A, B or C) for 2015-2018 period, we provide further evidence on their efficiency level. The results have shown very small differences among relative inefficient pension funds.

The capital market is an important source of financing for viable investment projects and further economic development. Development of long-term financial markets is particularly important for transition EU countries, taking into account that stock markets in these countries did not start to operate until the mid-1990s. Despite legislation infrastructure quality, functional training and significant progress in market effectiveness, the capital market in many transition economies may be regarded as shallow, illiquid and nontransparent. At the same time, one can observe the strong development of 'institutional saving' , i.e., financial development related to financial institutions like pension funds, investment funds, and insurance companies. The phenomenon of growth of institutional investors is especially important for capital markets in CEE transition countries, including the Republic of Croatia. The goal of this paper is to test the impulse of non-bank financial intermediaries' development, and also the influence of implementing the above-mentioned structure reform on capital markets development in the selected transition countries. By applying a panel data approach on a sample of six CEE countries over the period between 1995 and 2010, we provide further evidence on the specific determinants of emerging European capital markets.

The behavior of market participants often does not rely on market signals, but replicates the investment decisions of other parties. The convergence of their investment behavior leads to the emergence of herd behavior with negative implications for financial stability. Moreover, this phenomenon may be even more pronounced in times of crisis. Although herding is an interesting topic which invites the interest of academic researchers, it still has not been sufficiently studied in terms of comparing the herd effect between differently developed stock markets. The first objective of this research was to determine the herd behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic using static and rolling regression analysis. The second objective was to investigate whether the herd behavior was triggered by the pandemic, while the third objective was to compare the differences in herd behavior between differently developed European stock markets. The results show that this phenomenon is most pronounced in emerging markets, followed by frontier markets and developed markets. Therefore, the results of this study are of particular importance for individual and institutional investors to achieve efficient risk diversification and for financial authorities to establish rules and avoid an increase in herd behavior.

In the past few decades, the concept of corporate social responsibility has been at the centre of interest in many areas of economic research, studies using different levels of analysis. This paper analyses corporate social responsibility at the level of organisation within the banking system, where the issue of corporate social responsibility disclosure comes under the spotlight with the emergence of the global economic crisis. The purpose of the study is twofold: to examine whether Croatian banks' online corporate social responsibility reporting depends upon their market share, and whether it focuses on community related information. Using website content analysis of all twenty-eight banks currently operating in the Croatian banking sector, corporate social responsibility disclosure is categorised in terms of themes (environment, human resources, customers and products, and community involvement). The research findings reveal that the level of Croatian banks' online CSR disclosure is largely dependent on banks' market share. On the other hand, results indicate that Croatian banks are mainly reporting on activities related to customers and products, followed by those, which imply community involvement. Human resources and environmental initiatives receive the least amount of attention. The results of the study can be used to more deeply comprehend and understand banks' corporate social responsibility as a business philosophy that contributes to organisational performance and building trust between market participants.

Procesi financijske intermedijacije imali su važnu ulogu u transformaciji zemalja CEE-a u tržišne ekonomije. Intervencije države u mobiliziranju i alociranju financijskih resursa prepoznate su kao efikasan i brz put k razvijanju financijskih sustava. Stoga su nositelji ekonomske politike usmjerili svoje napore k osiguranju bazičnih zakonodavnih okvira i potrebne infrastrukture, kao i dizajniranju i implementiranju primjerenih strukturnih reformi. Uz navedeno, razvoj sustava potaknut je i adekvatnim institucijskim okvirom. Institucijskom promjenom može se smatrati proces koji dovodi do rasta institucija i njihovog kvalitativnog razvoja. U početku tranzicijskog procesa, gospodarstva CEE-a i institucije bili su značajno određeni tradicijom i nasljeđem bankocentričnog sustava, kao i izostankom ostalih financijskih institucija i tržišta, a ujedno je razvoj institucija dosegnuo različite razine napretka. Razvoj financijskih tržišta i institucijskih investitora kao alternative klasičnom i dominirajućem bankovnom financiranju, u zemljama CEE-a u velikoj mjeri bio je potaknut strukturnim reformama od kojih se posebno ističu privatizacija i uvođenje mirovinskog sustava kapitalizirane štednje, jačanje supervizorskih struktura i različitih modaliteta fiskalne konsolidacije. Cilj rada je ukazati na važnost odabira i implementiranja strukturnih reformi koje pridonose razvoju financijskog sustava i napretku ekonomija CEE-a.