Changes in the competitive advantages of Croatia’s manufacturing industry

The aim of this research is to analyse the position and detecte competitive advantages of Croatia’s manufacturing industry in foreign exchange trading. The methodology of this research is based on the application of indices of openness to foreign trade and detected competitive advantages, as well as the complete analysis of the manufacturing industry structure of the Republic of Croatia. In order to analyse the competitive advantages of the manufacturing industry in the Republic of Croatia the following quantitative methods were used: Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), as a method for detecting comparative advantages of exporting goods of some countries, Export Competitiveness Indices (XS), as a method for measuring export competitiveness of the observed countries, Export Specialization Index (ES), as a method for comparing export activities of the manufacturing industry in the Republic of Croatia and the European Union, and the Relative Trade Advantage Index (RTA) that incorporates the RCA and the RMA indices. The main results of the research indicate competitive advantages detected by measuring, evaluation of the Croatian manufacturing industry particularly on foreign markets, recommendations and proposals in order to reach a higher level of export competitiveness. The main conclusion of this research is that there is a need to establish prerequisites and to define measures for structural changes in the Croatian manufacturing industry.