THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC MOTIVES ON THE TREND OF EMIGRATION FROM THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Migrations are nowadays simply inevitable process. The main driver of migration is the escape from the bad and the pursuit of better living conditions, and they were then, as today, predominantly linked to economic, political and geographical factors. Emigration from Croatia was primarily driven by a mix of economic and political motives, and as such, has largely taken on a lasting character throughout all historical periods. Economic motives are one of the dominant ones when it comes to the emigration of Croats to Western countries of Europe. More developed, western, and richer countries receive in this way highly educated workforce or simply the necessary staff, but this process, on the other hand, certainly has demographic and social consequences in Croatia. With every emigrated Croat, the social capital of the country, the capital invested in its education, as well as the possibility of biological renewal of society are lost. But while economic motives are primary, they are not the only ones. In recent years, the emigration from the Republic of Croatia is highly expressed, so the aim of the paper is to show and determine how much economic motives have an impact on current emigration trends. In this research is included a survey conducted on a representative sample of respondents, adults who left the Republic of Croatia. The results of the survey should show which the economic motives for emigration are and whether they are leading motives for leaving. The data were processed with the statistical package STATISTICA 11.0, except for the hi-square test. In addition to the survey, scientific and professional articles, publications, laws and statistics were studied. The results of this research should present how economic motives affects the trend of emigration from Croatia.