Development and Contemporary Characteristics of Agricultural Cooperatives in the Area of Croatia

U radu je pobliže razmotreno pulsiranje razvoja hrvatskoga zadrugarstva tijekom više od 150 godina duge tradicije njegova djelovanja, recentni razvojni trendovi i prostorno diferencirana razvijenost u suvremenom razdoblju. Rezultati pokazuju da je, unatoč dugoj tradiciji, hrvatsko zadrugarstvo u recentnom razdoblju suočeno s nizom razvojnih problema. Temeljni je uzrok takva stanja neodgovarajuća pravna regulativa – neusklađenost zakona o zadrugama i suodnosnih zakona koji su relevantni za funkcioniranje zadružnoga poduzetništva, što se nepovoljno odražava na sve zadružne sektore, posebno na poljoprivredno zadrugarstvo kao njegov najrazvijeniji sektor. Rezultat je toga marginalan doprinos zadrugarstva gospodarsko-socijalnom razvoju demografski sve više destabiliziranih ruralnih područja države.This paper closely examines the fluctuations in development of agricultural cooperatives in Croatia during their 150-year-long tradition, as well as recent development trends, and spatially-differentiated development in the contemporary era. The results show that, despite the long tradition, contemporary Croatian cooperatives have been faced with a series of development problems. The main cause of that situation is inadequate legislation - a poorly adjusted law on cooperatives and correlative laws that are relevant for the functioning of cooperative entrepreneurship. This reflects unfavourably in all cooperative sectors, specifically agricultural cooperatives as its most developed sector. This has resulted in a marginal contribution of cooperatives to the socioeconomic development of the nation\u27s demographically ever more destabilised rural areas