Zdenko Braičić1
Jelena Lončar2
1University of Zagreb, Faculty of Teacher Education, Department in Petrinja, Croatia
2University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, Croatia
DOI:
UDC: 911.3:314.117-057.85(497.5)
Published: August 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Keywords: spatial concentration, human capital, Gini coefficient, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, Croatia
Abstract:
Two key processes are closely connected to highly educated population: continuous growth of their part in the population and the tendency of higher concentration in space. The concentration of human capital is emphasised in the cities which is partially the consequence of the fact that young urban people more frequently decide to take higher education than young people in rural areas. Moreover, people who come to the cities from rural areas for the purpose of further education very frequently become permanent residents (rural ‘brain-drain’). The aim of the paper is to research spatial concentration of highly educated population in Croatia using the data from the 2021 Census. Herfindahl-Hirschman index and classical Gini coefficient were used as the measurements for concentration. Furthermore, the paper suggests the use of modified Gini coefficient which compares the spatial distribution of highly educated population with the distribution of total population. The analysis was conducted on the level of municipalities and cities. The results have confirmed the assumption that highly educated people show the higher spatial concentration level in comparison with the less educated population. The concentration level of people with science doctor’s degree is especially high. The regional analysis detects the highest degree of concentration in the central part of Croatia (the capital city). Additional analysis according to age groups also shows the differences in the concentration of highly educated people according to age.
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