INVESTMENT EFFICIENCY AND FDI - OLD STORY, NEW CIRCUMSTANCES

In this paper, the authors have analyzed growth rates, share of the gross fixed capital formation in GDP, and investment efficiency based on the ICOR concept for the 11 transition economies. Special attention has been paid to the analyses of determinants and investment efficiency in Croatia for each individual sector of the economy. By using Spearman coefficient of the rank correlation, the authors have empirically proved hypothesis that growth rate primarily depends on the investment efficiency (ICOR) and much less on the share of total investment in the GDP. It has been confirmed that in Croatia, as well as in other economies, the most efficient investments are located in the service sector, while the most inefficient investments are located in the general government and public enterprises sector. Using Spearman coeffi cient of the rank correlation and Kendall W coefficient, it has been established that countries with the highest growth rate among transition economies,
in 1993-2002 period, (Baltic countries and Croatia) have had average investment ratio, averaged FDI/GDP ratio, but above the average ratio of FDI invested in the service sector (nontradable sector). But, despite high growth rates, all these high growth countries
(except Estonia) also recorded declining share of exports in GDP, since FDI were located in nontradable sector. As a result, most of foreign indebtedness indicators have deteriorated substantially.