Describing contemporary problems of coordinationbetween monetary and fiscal policy inthe European Union (the EU) as a whole and ineach particular member state it is easy to noticethat the monetary policy mechanisms are muchbetter protected from biases created by the politicalcycle. The implementation of the conceptof the central bank independence in various nationalmutations and the European Central Bankversion introduced more stability into the Europeanmonetary policy though it did not solvethe problem of transparency of that policy.
The behaviour of woven fabrics for military clothing was evaluated using punch loading investigations under theconditions similar to those during real garment wear; i.e. in which plane material sustains biaxial deformation. Duringthe experiment specially prepared specimens were loaded with the punch up to tearing. They were loaded also with thesame punch for sustained creep process. Creep tests were carried out with dry and wet specimens. Mechanical stabilityof textile materials was evaluated by relative values of creep test parameters. For the evaluation of these parameters thespecial test unit created at Kaunas University of Technology was used. The objects of the investigation were wovenfabrics from cotton – PES blended yarns, with camouflage printing typical for military clothing. Two samples of testedmaterials were water repellent. The water repellent treatment improved mechanical stability of textile material, so waterrepellent fabrics are in preference to outdoor training clothing.
Beyond any doubt, the division of tax charges should be just and, thus, the tax legislation, similarly asthe tax system, should be established so as to meet the standard of justice. However, the ethic standard ofjustice causes significant complications in the legislative practice. These mainly result from the fact thatthere is no confidence in the idea of just taxation. The reasons why the principle of just taxation cannot betrusted are different for the legislator and different for the taxpayer. The legislator's distrust stems, above all,from fear that it might not be possible to connect the just taxation with effectiveness in fulfilling the incomefunction. In the legislative practice a strong wrong belief continues to be shared that the just taxationamounts to the reducing of tax proceeds. Whereas the fear of the taxpayers that the system of tax chargesapplies to results from their awareness which has been developed and enhanced long enough to show thatthe legislator, while referring to the concept of justice, too often carries out reforms that contradict it. The taxjustice – as an argument underlying the structure of the tax system – is employed much too frequently tomask the fiscal interest of the State, that is the effective fulfillment of the income function. What is importantjust as well is the fact that the ethical postulate of just taxation can provide the legislator with groundsto formulate various courses of action and, as a result, various tax law solutions.There is a variety of tax rules that can be deemed to incorporate the postulate of justice [1]. However, amore complicated question arises whether the legislator can put the just taxation into practice by referring tothe idea of justice. This has always raised doubts [2].
The article analyses main features of processes of political/administrative decision initiation and evaluationin Lithuanian municipalities.Demand of development of decision-making process in municipalities was inspired by: a) decentralization;b) changes in the institutional structure of municipalities; c) economic/social partner and municipalitiescooperation in making important to communities municipal decisions. The most relevant areas of decision-making improvement are analyzed using methods of sociological survey and organizational structureanalyses. Results of the research shows that a great number of Lithuanian municipalities strives to ensurehigh quality of decision making and suggestion discussing. Nevertheless, it is very common for municipalitieswhile reacting to the problems to thrust decisions, to form the policy and make decisions instead ofarriving at consensus and decision planning.
The peculiarities of Lithuania's civil service during the first five years after Lithuania regained it'sindependence are analyzed in this article in the light of forming a model of civil service, management of thecivil service and teaching and improving the qualification of the workers. With reference to non-fiction and actsof law it has been shown, that during that period the evolution of the civil service was spontaneous and evenchaotic: loyalty for the nascent democracy had a big role during the first years of independence, hence thequalification and competence of the civil service were not premier; the establishment of the legal acts was late;too little attention was paid to improving the qualification of the officials of the civil service. The material inthe article shows that, except all the shown problems, the experience of that period made a background toforming the contemporary civil service of Lithuania.
The forms of decentralization, focusing on the main features and differences of these forms, are analyzed in thisarticle. It is shown that each type of decentralization - political, administrative, fiscal, and market - has differentcharacteristics, policy implications, and conditions for success. There are defined the main goals of decentralizationreforms and identified the tools for theirs achievement. Decentralization is considered as a sine qua non not only in thedevelopment of local self-government, but with regard to civil society as a whole and the greatest factor of social change.Decentralization can address poverty, gender inequality, environmental concerns, and the improvement of healthcare,education and access to technology. Moreover, decentralization does not only affect government and civil service, but isconditional on the involvement of community organizations, stakeholders in the private sector, international aidorganizations and citizens. The measurements of decentralization are analyzed too. Since, the standard measures fail totake into account the different degrees of decentralization and the true decision-making authority of sub-nationalinstitutions over revenues and expenditures, there are focusing on the search for more impartial and integrated evaluationindicators.
Despite to the ambiguity of the political processes, the fall of the communist system and the re-establishmentof the independence of Lithuania were closely related. Post – Communist transition in 1992–1996 has unexpectedlyreturned the former communists (Labour Democratic Party of Lithuania) to the Olympus of power. They,having controlled the Seimas (Parliament of Lithuania) and the Government, have performed the reasonable domestic and foreign policy, yet drawn – up by the program attitudes of Sàjûdis. The aims of one political party toimpose political dictate to all other political forces was not accepted by society. The complicated relations betweenruling majority and opposition have stimulated the political polarization of society as well as upgrow of the civicenmity, and so prevented social development of civic society.
The article discusses a successful rearrangement of the economy which was carried out in German FederalRepublic. It's "godfather" became Professor Liudwig Erhard whose personality combined whose theoretical knowledgeand an experience of a head leader of economy. Drastic reforms were performed on his initiative and underhis command. Thanks to these reforms defeated, ruined and disgraced during 10 postwar years Germany threw outideological stereotypes and all schemes of planned economy into the dump of history. Besides that it presented tothe world "an economic miracle" which made Germany a prosperous and powerful state.Socially orientated conception of market economy, always showing its best result during a short period of time,was raised into the rank of official GFR doctrine and become the basis of economic programmer or ChristianDemocrats Alliance.The article tells about the neoliberalism credo's founder – Freiburg's School.Particular attention is paid to Professor Walter Eucken and his social notions. Besides that it discusses thetransformational problem of classical liberalism and shows social guides produced by Erhard.The article pays attention to the role of the state in the terms of social market economy. It discusses the threatsof father state.The article presents Erhard's conception of "formed community" and discusses it's parallels with the opencommunity and legal state.
Seit den 1990er Jahren stossen viele der 2'842 Schweizer Gemeinden, bei der Erfüllung ihrer Aufgaben anLeistungsgrenzen. Als Antwort auf dieses Problem sind im Alpenland mit 7 Millionen Einwohnern durch dieGemeinden unterschiedliche Reformen eingeleitet worden. Der Beitrag fokussiert auf die interkommunaleZusammenarbeit (IKZ) und Gemeindezusammenschlüsse, welche in der Schweiz zu den am Häufigsten verbreitetenReformen gehören. Eine postalische Befragung aller Schweizer Gemeinden und 13 Fallstudien zeigen, dassGemeindezusammenschlüsse tendenziell in leistungsschwachen und in kleinen Gemeinden durchgeführt werden.IKZ ist hingegen bei allen Gemeindetypen verbreitet. Reformwillige Behörden, intensive soziale Kontakte zwischenden Einwohnern der Gemeinden, eine günstige topografische Lage und die Politik der übergeordneten Staatsebenenfördern die Reformfreudigkeit. Nach Zusammenschlüssen und Kooperationen steigt in der Regel dieDienstleistungsqualität. Hingegen findet nur selten eine Entlastung des Gemeindehaushaltes statt. Obwohl dieGemeinen in der Schweiz um einiges kleiner sind als in Litauen, lassen sich auch für den baltischen StaatSchlussfolgerungen ziehen
The Internet intelligence of the Lithuanian government and governmental information accessibility to the wider public are analysed and comparedwith the situation in the EU countries. Based around a standard for EU countries questionnaire, the different Internet activities of the Seimas, thePresident office and Lithuanian ministries are investigated and compared with findings of West European countries. The findings show, that the Seimasand the President office closely approach EU countries average level according to Internet intelligence. The analysis shows however most of Lithuanianministries poorly use Internet feedback from society.
The article covers the project management problems, which will be especially important for the Lithuanianpublic sector after joining the European Union and trying to use the Structural and Cohesion funds investmentssuccessfully. The article provides management principles of Structural and Cohesion funds, typical programmerstructure in national and regional levels, the features of preparation and implementation of programmers and projects.It is necessary to provide more intensive training on project management for all levels of Lithuanian publicadministration.
The design of exoskeletons is a popular and promising area of research both for restoring lost function and rehabilitation, and for augmentation in military and industrial applications. A major practical challenge to the comfort and usability for exoskeletons is the need to avoid misalignment of the exoskeletal joint with the underlying human joint. Alignment mismatches are difficult to prevent due to large inter-user variability, and can create large stresses on the attachment system and underlying human anatomy. Previous self-aligning systems have been proposed in literature, which can compensate for muscle forces, but leave large residual forces passed directly to the skeletal system. In this paper we propose a new mechanism to reduce misalignment complications. A decoupling approach is proposed which allows large forces to be carried by the exoskeletal system while allowing both the muscle and skeletal joint force presented to the user to be compensated to any desired degree. ; Biomechanical Engineering ; Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Marie Curie programme under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / Career Integration Grant n. PCIG10-GA-2011-303728 (CIG Grant NBHCHOICE, Neighbourhood choice, neighbourhood sorting, and neighbourhood effects). Studies of neighbourhood effects typically investigate the instantaneous effect of point-in-time measures of neighbourhood poverty on individual outcomes. It has been suggested that it is not solely the current neighbourhood, but also the neighbourhood history of an individual that is important in determining an individual's outcomes. Using a population of parental home-leavers in Stockholm, Sweden, this study investigates the effects of two temporal dimensions of exposure to neighbourhood environments on personal income later in life: the parental neighbourhood at the time of leaving the home and the cumulative exposure to poverty neighbourhoods in the subsequent 17 years. Using unique longitudinal Swedish register data and bespoke individual neighbourhoods, we are the first to employ a hybrid model, which combines both random and fixed effects approaches in a study of neighbourhood effects. We find independent and non-trivial effects on income of the parental neighbourhood and cumulative exposure to poverty concentration neighbourhoods. ; OTB ; Architecture and The Built Environment
