Determinants of investment decisions in a crisis: perspective of Croatian small firms/Determinante investicijskih odluka u krizi: perspektiva malih hrvatskih poduzeca

The aim of the paper is to determine the investment activity of small firms in Croatia during the crisis year 2012 and further analyse the effect of selected factors on capital investment decisions. For this purpose, an on-line survey of small businesses was conducted. The research sample consisted of small firms in Primorsko-Goranska County that earned the highest revenue in 2011, because it was assumed they would have greater investment potential in 2012. Research results show that almost half of the firms invested in new fixed assets in 2012. Their investment decisions were primarily motivated by mere 'survival' purpose, since the investment activities were mostly oriented toward the replacement of worn-out assets. Keywords: investment, small enterprises, crisis, managers, Croatia. Cilj ovog rada je utvrditi investicijsku aktivnost malih poduzeca u Hrvatskoj tijekom 2012., kao krizne godine te analizirati efekte izabranih cimbenika na odluke o kapitalnim investicijama. U ovu je svrhu provedena internetska anketa malih poduzeca, s uzorkom malih poduzeca Primorsko-goranske zupanije, koja su u 2011. godini imala najveci prihod (uz pretpostavku veceg investicijskog potencijala u sljedecoj godini). Rezultati istrazivanja pokazuju da je gotovo polovina poduzeca investirala u nova stalna sredstva u 2012. godini. Njihove su investicijske odluke bile utemeljene na usmjerenju prema prezivljavanju, odnosno zamjeni dotrajalih stalnih sredstava.
UDC 330.322:005.71-022.51>(497.5) 1. INTRODUCTION Investments significantly affect the intensity of overall economic activity and growth in general. Changes in size, structure and purpose of investment may indicate forthcoming conjuncture changes, [...]