The Effect Of Esif Loans On The Performance Of Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises In The Republic Of Croatia

One of the key challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Republic of Croatia is limited access to financial resources due to an underdeveloped financial market. European Union funds may represent a potential solution to overcoming the financing issues that SMEs encounter in Croatia. Financial instruments allocated from European Structural and Investment Funds, such as ESIF loans, are available to SMEs. Given the objectives of the ESIF loan program, it can be expected that this instrument will have a positive impact on the performance indicators of SMEs. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of ESIF loans within the small economy sector from 2016 to 2019, that is, the short-term effects of financial instruments on SMEs. The method of hierarchical linear regression enabled the analysis within the framework of various variables, and the sample included 1,341 small and medium-sized Croatian enterprises. The research results suggest that the amount of allocated ESIF loans did not have a statistically significant impact on the performance of SMEs, although the lack of impact and growth should be considered within multiple limitations, such as the short monitoring period, the age of the companies, the amount of funds, and the way financial resources were used. Further research should take into account a more detailed analysis of other variables, and this study can serve as a guideline for further research of the impact of ESIF loans on business enterprises, particularly in the development of SMEs.