By using various works of media theoreticians, in the article there are analyzed processes and changes in the constructing of political spectacle (described by Murray Edelman) which appeared in media at the time of postsoviet transition. After disintegration of Soviet Union, new media systems developed in newly independent countries. Those systems are different from their welldescribed analogues in Western Europe or United States because of their individual circumstances. Post -soviet transitionhad three stages: breakthrough, reformation and stabilization, and different circumstances. Different circumstances during the process of those stages formed distinctive relations between media and government in various countries. During these processes two different media models emerged: free model and subordinated mode!. In countries with free model media was concentrated to the profit: quality and trust in media dropped and constructing of political spectacle be came less effective. In countries with subordinated model, power and influence served as a basis for the media; because of that media crisis became insignificant and forrning ofpolitical spectacle was formed to be more effective.
By using various works of media theoreticians, in the article there are analyzed processes and changes in the constructing of political spectacle (described by Murray Edelman) which appeared in media at the time of postsoviet transition. After disintegration of Soviet Union, new media systems developed in newly independent countries. Those systems are different from their welldescribed analogues in Western Europe or United States because of their individual circumstances. Post -soviet transitionhad three stages: breakthrough, reformation and stabilization, and different circumstances. Different circumstances during the process of those stages formed distinctive relations between media and government in various countries. During these processes two different media models emerged: free model and subordinated mode!. In countries with free model media was concentrated to the profit: quality and trust in media dropped and constructing of political spectacle be came less effective. In countries with subordinated model, power and influence served as a basis for the media; because of that media crisis became insignificant and forrning ofpolitical spectacle was formed to be more effective.
By using various works of media theoreticians, in the article there are analyzed processes and changes in the constructing of political spectacle (described by Murray Edelman) which appeared in media at the time of postsoviet transition. After disintegration of Soviet Union, new media systems developed in newly independent countries. Those systems are different from their welldescribed analogues in Western Europe or United States because of their individual circumstances. Post -soviet transitionhad three stages: breakthrough, reformation and stabilization, and different circumstances. Different circumstances during the process of those stages formed distinctive relations between media and government in various countries. During these processes two different media models emerged: free model and subordinated mode!. In countries with free model media was concentrated to the profit: quality and trust in media dropped and constructing of political spectacle be came less effective. In countries with subordinated model, power and influence served as a basis for the media; because of that media crisis became insignificant and forrning ofpolitical spectacle was formed to be more effective.
By using various works of media theoreticians, in the article there are analyzed processes and changes in the constructing of political spectacle (described by Murray Edelman) which appeared in media at the time of postsoviet transition. After disintegration of Soviet Union, new media systems developed in newly independent countries. Those systems are different from their welldescribed analogues in Western Europe or United States because of their individual circumstances. Post -soviet transitionhad three stages: breakthrough, reformation and stabilization, and different circumstances. Different circumstances during the process of those stages formed distinctive relations between media and government in various countries. During these processes two different media models emerged: free model and subordinated mode!. In countries with free model media was concentrated to the profit: quality and trust in media dropped and constructing of political spectacle be came less effective. In countries with subordinated model, power and influence served as a basis for the media; because of that media crisis became insignificant and forrning ofpolitical spectacle was formed to be more effective.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the orientation towards climate change neutrality have fundamentally changed the way we look at competitiveness. Global challenges have increased interest in countries' competitiveness. Thus, in the final master's project the competitiveness of the European Union countries is evaluated according to the most important determinants, ecological footprint and the countries are clustered according to the obtained analysis results. In the literature review the latest concept of competitiveness is presented, 9 groups of competitiveness factors and 52 factors-indicators are identified. The missing values are filled in by MICE method, and after evaluating the correlation, 42 factors-indicators are further used in the study. Three methods are used for clustering - hierarchical Ward linkage method, K-means and machine learning method t-SNE. After the cluster analysis, the countries are clustered into four groups. Neighboring countries have been found to be most similar in terms of competitiveness. Country cluster profiles are interpreted using the results of the PCA method. According to the identified groups of factors, the competitiveness index developed by the author of the project revealed that the most competitive EU countries are Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. The least competitive countries are Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Assessing the link between the ecological footprint and competitiveness, positive progress is seen in the EU. In addition, EU countries are moving from low competitiveness and low ecological footprint to high competitiveness and low ecological footprint.
Towards Information society in Africa: obstacles and prospects (summary) One of the main strategic goals for every country in Information age, or probably the main – is building Information society, as achievements in this area are the main, which separate one state from another. Depending on it, all states are divided as most developed, developing and least developed. Therefore underlying goal for every state is not only to catch developing speed, but more – to seek for its own contribution in the work of creating new value society. Recently, Global community initiated building "Information society for all". It means, for all states, regions and individuals. These goals invite to eliminate Digital Divide, helping "information poor" to take advantages of "Digital opportunity". Main purpose of this work is to look at the situation of "information poor" in Africa continent as building of Information society is seen as opportunity to foster their development. Work theme is "Towards Information society in Africa countries: obstacles and prospects". Main goal is to highlight obstacles and prospects of building Information Society in Africa. Tasks: to highlight definition, development trends and priorities of Global Information society; to present Information society building origins and initiatives of Africa countries; to measure present status of Information society in Africa regarding complex Information society concept; to carry a comparative research of Africa Information societies. Hypothesis – Building of Information society will lead to evolution if Africa countries achieve Millennium Development Goals or if start working efficiently in achieving its. Concept of Information society is complex as it integrates democracy principles, human resources and ICT availability with usage status in every country. If one of these parts is missing, Information society will not succeed. Comparative research has shown that some Africa countries are missing one, two or even all of these parts. These finding shows a shortage of harmonic development. The main obstacle to reach harmony is local wars and conflicts. Countries which have experienced local conflicts are least developed in the world. As a result they lack infrastructure, citizens are illiterate, poor, life expectancy is very short (Chad case). Libya case is a bit different. Country is also ruled by autocratic regime, but it has quite high potential of Human resources, in spite of it, country can not become integrated Information society as it falls in guarantying of Human rights. The most harmonized is situation of South Africa, as Human rights are respected in country, but it lacks behind in the development of Human recourses, as life expectancy in country is short. Its situation recently is sharpened by AIDS epidemic. From one point of view, building of Information society in every country depends on local factors, which creates local obstacles and prospects, but, on the other hand, much will depend on the global development perspective: will every country manage to transform "Digital Divide" to "Digital opportunity". This Master work will be useful for researches of society, as it strives to highlight complexity of Information society concept and for researches of Africa countries, as it shows the status of Africa continent in the context of Global Information society, presenting obstacles and prospects for further development.
Towards Information society in Africa: obstacles and prospects (summary) One of the main strategic goals for every country in Information age, or probably the main – is building Information society, as achievements in this area are the main, which separate one state from another. Depending on it, all states are divided as most developed, developing and least developed. Therefore underlying goal for every state is not only to catch developing speed, but more – to seek for its own contribution in the work of creating new value society. Recently, Global community initiated building "Information society for all". It means, for all states, regions and individuals. These goals invite to eliminate Digital Divide, helping "information poor" to take advantages of "Digital opportunity". Main purpose of this work is to look at the situation of "information poor" in Africa continent as building of Information society is seen as opportunity to foster their development. Work theme is "Towards Information society in Africa countries: obstacles and prospects". Main goal is to highlight obstacles and prospects of building Information Society in Africa. Tasks: to highlight definition, development trends and priorities of Global Information society; to present Information society building origins and initiatives of Africa countries; to measure present status of Information society in Africa regarding complex Information society concept; to carry a comparative research of Africa Information societies. Hypothesis – Building of Information society will lead to evolution if Africa countries achieve Millennium Development Goals or if start working efficiently in achieving its. Concept of Information society is complex as it integrates democracy principles, human resources and ICT availability with usage status in every country. If one of these parts is missing, Information society will not succeed. Comparative research has shown that some Africa countries are missing one, two or even all of these parts. These finding shows a shortage of harmonic development. The main obstacle to reach harmony is local wars and conflicts. Countries which have experienced local conflicts are least developed in the world. As a result they lack infrastructure, citizens are illiterate, poor, life expectancy is very short (Chad case). Libya case is a bit different. Country is also ruled by autocratic regime, but it has quite high potential of Human resources, in spite of it, country can not become integrated Information society as it falls in guarantying of Human rights. The most harmonized is situation of South Africa, as Human rights are respected in country, but it lacks behind in the development of Human recourses, as life expectancy in country is short. Its situation recently is sharpened by AIDS epidemic. From one point of view, building of Information society in every country depends on local factors, which creates local obstacles and prospects, but, on the other hand, much will depend on the global development perspective: will every country manage to transform "Digital Divide" to "Digital opportunity". This Master work will be useful for researches of society, as it strives to highlight complexity of Information society concept and for researches of Africa countries, as it shows the status of Africa continent in the context of Global Information society, presenting obstacles and prospects for further development.
During the last decade Baltic countries experienced a full economic cycle – slow recovery, fast growth and sharp deterioration of whole economy. On the growth period the portfolio of mortgage loans and real estate market developed extremely rapidly, thus, since 2007 - 2008 there was discussions about the overheating of economies and bubbles of the real estate prices in the Baltic countries. However, the majority of the citizens were still taking advantage of easy accessible mortgage loans for the acquisition of desired real estate even prices were going upwards. Unfortunately, doubts about overheating of the separate parts of economies were reasonable and economies of the Baltic countries contracted the most among all EU. Therefore, with a full picture of economic cycle the analysis of portfolio of mortgage loans is being developed. Identification of the main factors that are determining growth of the portfolio of mortgage loans is important for developing a strategy to avoid possible economic crises in the future or to ease the negative effects of economic downturn. The aim of the paper – to find out the most important macroeconomic factors that are determining the dynamic of mortgage portfolio in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The object of the paper – the mortgage portfolio of the three Baltic countries and macroeconomic factors of the mortgage portfolio. To reach the aim of the paper such tasks were developed: 1) Examine the theory and the models that are analyzing the mortgage portfolio. 2) Determine the macroeconomic factors of the mortgage portfolio. 3) Study dynamics of the mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. 4) Build up a most suitable model for analyzing the factors of the mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. 5) Find out the most influential factors of mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. The paper consists of 52 pages, 22 graphs and 12 tables. The research was based on 52 references. The paper is split into 3 main parts. In the first part of paper the main economic factors of mortgage portfolio are indentified, and various authors and theoretical models are analyzed. Such factors as fluctuation of the inflation, negative growths of GDP, the growth of real interest rates, swings in real estate market, over leverage of the government and private individuals, should be closely monitored in order to maintain a sustainable development of the mortgage portfolio. In the second part of the paper, the current situation of the Baltic countries during period 1999 – 2009 is analyzed. The focus is on the rapid development of the mortgage portfolio during the credit boom times. Also, a sudden stop of the growth of loan portfolio and a rapid increase of the provisioning levels for non-performing loans are being discussed. The main causes of the artificial and unsustainable growth of mortgage portfolio are described. Afterwards, the model for factors of mortgage portfolio of the Baltic counties is build up. In the third part, the research of the Baltic countries mortgage portfolio is done based on correlation and regression analysis of the macroeconomic factors. Results of the research confirmed that real GDP is the main factor determining the development of mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. Analysis of the real estate market prices and real GDP growth showed that growth of economy is more sustainable when the main driver of mortgage portfolio is real GDP growth, but not growth of the real estate prices. Also, the results showed that changes of real interest rates did not have any significant correlation with mortgage portfolio. However mortgage portfolio showed significant negative correlation with nominal national interbank interest rates - Vilibor, Rigibor and Talibor. When average income was analyzed – it showed no significant relation to the mortgage market – and that could be one of the main reasons of the unsustainable growth of the mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries.
During the last decade Baltic countries experienced a full economic cycle – slow recovery, fast growth and sharp deterioration of whole economy. On the growth period the portfolio of mortgage loans and real estate market developed extremely rapidly, thus, since 2007 - 2008 there was discussions about the overheating of economies and bubbles of the real estate prices in the Baltic countries. However, the majority of the citizens were still taking advantage of easy accessible mortgage loans for the acquisition of desired real estate even prices were going upwards. Unfortunately, doubts about overheating of the separate parts of economies were reasonable and economies of the Baltic countries contracted the most among all EU. Therefore, with a full picture of economic cycle the analysis of portfolio of mortgage loans is being developed. Identification of the main factors that are determining growth of the portfolio of mortgage loans is important for developing a strategy to avoid possible economic crises in the future or to ease the negative effects of economic downturn. The aim of the paper – to find out the most important macroeconomic factors that are determining the dynamic of mortgage portfolio in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The object of the paper – the mortgage portfolio of the three Baltic countries and macroeconomic factors of the mortgage portfolio. To reach the aim of the paper such tasks were developed: 1) Examine the theory and the models that are analyzing the mortgage portfolio. 2) Determine the macroeconomic factors of the mortgage portfolio. 3) Study dynamics of the mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. 4) Build up a most suitable model for analyzing the factors of the mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. 5) Find out the most influential factors of mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. The paper consists of 52 pages, 22 graphs and 12 tables. The research was based on 52 references. The paper is split into 3 main parts. In the first part of paper the main economic factors of mortgage portfolio are indentified, and various authors and theoretical models are analyzed. Such factors as fluctuation of the inflation, negative growths of GDP, the growth of real interest rates, swings in real estate market, over leverage of the government and private individuals, should be closely monitored in order to maintain a sustainable development of the mortgage portfolio. In the second part of the paper, the current situation of the Baltic countries during period 1999 – 2009 is analyzed. The focus is on the rapid development of the mortgage portfolio during the credit boom times. Also, a sudden stop of the growth of loan portfolio and a rapid increase of the provisioning levels for non-performing loans are being discussed. The main causes of the artificial and unsustainable growth of mortgage portfolio are described. Afterwards, the model for factors of mortgage portfolio of the Baltic counties is build up. In the third part, the research of the Baltic countries mortgage portfolio is done based on correlation and regression analysis of the macroeconomic factors. Results of the research confirmed that real GDP is the main factor determining the development of mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries. Analysis of the real estate market prices and real GDP growth showed that growth of economy is more sustainable when the main driver of mortgage portfolio is real GDP growth, but not growth of the real estate prices. Also, the results showed that changes of real interest rates did not have any significant correlation with mortgage portfolio. However mortgage portfolio showed significant negative correlation with nominal national interbank interest rates - Vilibor, Rigibor and Talibor. When average income was analyzed – it showed no significant relation to the mortgage market – and that could be one of the main reasons of the unsustainable growth of the mortgage portfolio in the Baltic countries.
Nowadays, a change of climate is a global issue. According to the fact that the sector of energetics emits the major part of CO2, the solution of problems related to climatic change is a concurrent of all countries' energetics policy. Now, European Union (further called-ES), the Republic of Lithuania (further called-LR) and other countries of the world (though not all) are obligated to contribute to discontinuation of global warming of the atmosphere,and they have to prompt renewal of energetics resources. There was accepted convention of general climactic change by the United Nations in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), where industrial countries of the world posed the aim to stabilize the amounts of greenhouse gas. After some time these countries came to a conclusion that this objective can be achieved only when the developed countries have strict juridical obligations.According to this,in 1997 in Kiot (Japan) the representatives of the developed countries raised the specific objective to reduce the amounts of greenhouse gas in 2008-2012,which affects global warming,on the average of 5,2% comparing with the level which was in 1990. According to this reason,manifold encouragement of the objectives,which were established in Kiot's protocol,and shifting energetics reservours began in ES.However,the main problem is that the effective and suitable implementation of law instruments,which were accepted according to the base,is and was limited by political economy, economical rate, fixed tariff,energetics resources and others.
The problem addressed by the dissertation, namely, the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and method for optimisation of government expenditure in view of greater welfare of society. Dissertation object – government expenditure effect on welfare of society, aim – to develop the methodology for assessment of the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and conduct an empirical study to determine the government expenditure size that maximises welfare of society, following comprehensive analysis of theoretical approaches towards the phenomena of welfare of society and government expenditure and the links between them. The first part of the work deals with analysis of theoretical interpretations of the phenomenon of welfare of society, expands the concept of welfare of society, comparison of the methods applied in practice for assessment of the level of welfare of society, and provides the summary of theoretical link between welfare of society and government expenditure based on the previous research works in this field. The second part of the work provides the research assumptions, key principles, concepts and provisions, identifies research logic of the dissertation that forms the basis for further development of the research methodology, presents the method for assessment of welfare of society based on its expanded concept, and the model for assessment of the scope of government expenditure effect on the level of welfare of society. The third part of the paper provides assessment of the level of welfare of society in the EU countries by application of the developed Welfare of Society Index, verification of the new model for assessment of welfare of society, and the study of the effect of functional government expenditure on welfare of society. Following determination of the nonlinear character of the government expenditure effect, general and functional government expenditure have been optimised in view of the developed methodology for assessment of the optimised level of welfare of society. Conclusions of the work summarising theoretical and empirical results of the dissertation are presented at the end of the dissertation.
The problem addressed by the dissertation, namely, the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and method for optimisation of government expenditure in view of greater welfare of society. Dissertation object – government expenditure effect on welfare of society, aim – to develop the methodology for assessment of the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and conduct an empirical study to determine the government expenditure size that maximises welfare of society, following comprehensive analysis of theoretical approaches towards the phenomena of welfare of society and government expenditure and the links between them. The first part of the work deals with analysis of theoretical interpretations of the phenomenon of welfare of society, expands the concept of welfare of society, comparison of the methods applied in practice for assessment of the level of welfare of society, and provides the summary of theoretical link between welfare of society and government expenditure based on the previous research works in this field. The second part of the work provides the research assumptions, key principles, concepts and provisions, identifies research logic of the dissertation that forms the basis for further development of the research methodology, presents the method for assessment of welfare of society based on its expanded concept, and the model for assessment of the scope of government expenditure effect on the level of welfare of society. The third part of the paper provides assessment of the level of welfare of society in the EU countries by application of the developed Welfare of Society Index, verification of the new model for assessment of welfare of society, and the study of the effect of functional government expenditure on welfare of society. Following determination of the nonlinear character of the government expenditure effect, general and functional government expenditure have been optimised in view of the developed methodology for assessment of the optimised level of welfare of society. Conclusions of the work summarising theoretical and empirical results of the dissertation are presented at the end of the dissertation
The problem addressed by the dissertation, namely, the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and method for optimisation of government expenditure in view of greater welfare of society. Dissertation object – government expenditure effect on welfare of society, aim – to develop the methodology for assessment of the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and conduct an empirical study to determine the government expenditure size that maximises welfare of society, following comprehensive analysis of theoretical approaches towards the phenomena of welfare of society and government expenditure and the links between them. The first part of the work deals with analysis of theoretical interpretations of the phenomenon of welfare of society, expands the concept of welfare of society, comparison of the methods applied in practice for assessment of the level of welfare of society, and provides the summary of theoretical link between welfare of society and government expenditure based on the previous research works in this field. The second part of the work provides the research assumptions, key principles, concepts and provisions, identifies research logic of the dissertation that forms the basis for further development of the research methodology, presents the method for assessment of welfare of society based on its expanded concept, and the model for assessment of the scope of government expenditure effect on the level of welfare of society. The third part of the paper provides assessment of the level of welfare of society in the EU countries by application of the developed Welfare of Society Index, verification of the new model for assessment of welfare of society, and the study of the effect of functional government expenditure on welfare of society. Following determination of the nonlinear character of the government expenditure effect, general and functional government expenditure have been optimised in view of the developed methodology for assessment of the optimised level of welfare of society. Conclusions of the work summarising theoretical and empirical results of the dissertation are presented at the end of the dissertation.
The problem addressed by the dissertation, namely, the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and method for optimisation of government expenditure in view of greater welfare of society. Dissertation object – government expenditure effect on welfare of society, aim – to develop the methodology for assessment of the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and conduct an empirical study to determine the government expenditure size that maximises welfare of society, following comprehensive analysis of theoretical approaches towards the phenomena of welfare of society and government expenditure and the links between them. The first part of the work deals with analysis of theoretical interpretations of the phenomenon of welfare of society, expands the concept of welfare of society, comparison of the methods applied in practice for assessment of the level of welfare of society, and provides the summary of theoretical link between welfare of society and government expenditure based on the previous research works in this field. The second part of the work provides the research assumptions, key principles, concepts and provisions, identifies research logic of the dissertation that forms the basis for further development of the research methodology, presents the method for assessment of welfare of society based on its expanded concept, and the model for assessment of the scope of government expenditure effect on the level of welfare of society. The third part of the paper provides assessment of the level of welfare of society in the EU countries by application of the developed Welfare of Society Index, verification of the new model for assessment of welfare of society, and the study of the effect of functional government expenditure on welfare of society. Following determination of the nonlinear character of the government expenditure effect, general and functional government expenditure have been optimised in view of the developed methodology for assessment of the optimised level of welfare of society. Conclusions of the work summarising theoretical and empirical results of the dissertation are presented at the end of the dissertation.
The problem addressed by the dissertation, namely, the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and method for optimisation of government expenditure in view of greater welfare of society. Dissertation object – government expenditure effect on welfare of society, aim – to develop the methodology for assessment of the government expenditure effect on welfare of society and conduct an empirical study to determine the government expenditure size that maximises welfare of society, following comprehensive analysis of theoretical approaches towards the phenomena of welfare of society and government expenditure and the links between them. The first part of the work deals with analysis of theoretical interpretations of the phenomenon of welfare of society, expands the concept of welfare of society, comparison of the methods applied in practice for assessment of the level of welfare of society, and provides the summary of theoretical link between welfare of society and government expenditure based on the previous research works in this field. The second part of the work provides the research assumptions, key principles, concepts and provisions, identifies research logic of the dissertation that forms the basis for further development of the research methodology, presents the method for assessment of welfare of society based on its expanded concept, and the model for assessment of the scope of government expenditure effect on the level of welfare of society. The third part of the paper provides assessment of the level of welfare of society in the EU countries by application of the developed Welfare of Society Index, verification of the new model for assessment of welfare of society, and the study of the effect of functional government expenditure on welfare of society. Following determination of the nonlinear character of the government expenditure effect, general and functional government expenditure have been optimised in view of the developed methodology for assessment of the optimised level of welfare of society. Conclusions of the work summarising theoretical and empirical results of the dissertation are presented at the end of the dissertation
