ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes to deal with the Croatian case-study of youth entrepreneurship (YE) and self-employment (SE). It describes the entrepreneurial deficit in Croatia and thus defines the setting in which YE and SE operate. The chapter concentrates on YE, first by discussing the demography as a supply of YE, and then by studying the institutional and policy framework it faces. It deals with SE, by first determining its scope, and then studying policy support. The chapter discusses the central aspects of YE and SE: namely some political economy aspects that determine their size and future development. In spite of relatively favorable initial conditions in 1989, Croatia started the transformation with an 'entrepreneurial deficit'. This deficit could be seen with respect to the number of entrepreneurs and their innovative behavior and, even more importantly, with respect to the social capital relevant for entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurs form one of the specially targeted groups in the pro-active government policy towards entrepreneurship.
