Suchergebnisse

Competitiveness can be defined in a number of ways. We can think of it as of a successful performance of a company or organization; or we may talk about competitiveness in a macro context such as a favourable exchange rate of a national currency. Can we also talk about competitiveness of a nation? What is it and how can it be evaluated?There does not seem to be a common definition of what the international competitiveness of nations is. Some feel that the very notion of international competitiveness of nations is unfair and unacceptable. They argue that the nations themselves do not compete, their enterprises do. For others the notion of international competitiveness of nations is fair. They believe that creating appropriate measures of international competitiveness is central for tracking and understanding the sources of competitiveness of countries.In this paper I classify and compare the measures developed by various authors. I suggest that the studies on the measurement of competitiveness can be classified into five groups:1. Particular sector studies.2. Competitiveness studies at the regional / country level.3. Particular competitiveness indicator studies.4. Competitiveness studies at an international level.5. Cross-country economic policy studies.Since the competitiveness studies serve a different audience and purpose, we cannot discuss which is best without first asking: best at what? ; Ekonominį konkurencingumą galima apibrėžti įvairiai. Įmonės ar organizacijos kontekstu jį galima suvokti kaip sėkmingos veiklos prielaidą. Šalies lygmeniu apie jį dažnai kalbama, kai analizuojama nacionalinės valiutos kurso svyravimo įtaka į eksportą/importą orientuotų įmonių verslo sėkmei.Nors šalies ekonominio konkurencingumo sąvoka dažnai vartojama, sutarimo, ką jį apibrėžia, nėra. Vieni autoriai tvirtina, kad tarpusavyje konkuruoja ne šalys, o įmonės, ir šalies ekonominio konkurencingumo sąvoka yra nesusipratimas. Kiti teigia, kad ši sąvoka yra prasminga, ir kuria šalių ekonominio konkurencingumo vertinimo metodikas.Straipsnyje autoriaus suklasifikuotos ir lyginamos įvairių autorių metodikos. Suklasifikavus išskirtos penkios metodikų grupės: ekonomikos sektorių konkurencingumo vertinimai; regiono/šalies lygmens konkurencingumo vertinimai; vertinimai pagal konkurencingumo indikatorius; tarptautinio lygmens konkurencingumo vertinimai; ekonominės politikos įtakos konkurencingumui vertinimai.Nors šios metodikų grupės turi skirtumų, naudojamos valstybių konkurencingumui įvertinti ir palyginti jos duoda panašius rezultatus. Kadangi kiekviena metodika pabrėžia skirtingus dalykus, jos viena kitą praturtina ir papildo.

It is often argued that to increase economic competitiveness the role of government in economic affairs should be scaled down, providing freedom to the market mechanism. State involvement is accused for introduction of distortions and inefficiencies in economic management and the allocation of resources.In this vein the most widely used justification for the nco-liberal policy prescriptions to the Central East European countries is the claim that the economic problems in the region are primarily due to excessive state intervention. This justification was readily accepted and quickly became the conventional wisdom because it provided a convenient scapegoat, namely misguided governments meddling too much into economic affairs. Neo-liberals suggest limiting government spending to a minimum size and limiting its role to providing the public services ensuring favorable business environment.In Section 1 of this paper I analyzed the trends of public expenditure. The analysis revealed that in XX century the role of government in advanced market economies increased dramatically. This expansion was caused largely by expenditures normally associated with the "welfare state." Governments increased their provision of social services and income transfers for the unemployed, the sick, the elderly and the poor.In Section 2 I specified nine indicators of public expenditure and compared the values of the indicators for a sample of 30 countries divided into three groups (10 countries in each group): Central East European countries, East Asian countries and Western countries.This comparative analysis, based upon extensive statistical data, revealed that the total government expenditures as a percentage of GDP were the largest in Western countries. It may indicate that the scope of government interventionism in Western countries is the largest.The research failed to produce any evidence to support the conventional view that the governments of Central East European countries interfere extensively into economic affairs. ; Šio tyrimo tikslas-žvelgianti valstybės išlaidų dydį ir prioritetus, nustatyti, ar liberalią ekonominę politiką propaguojantys ekonomistai teisūs, teigdami, kad Vidurio ir Rytų Europos šalyse valstybė vis dar perdaug kišasi į ekonomiką. Šio straipsnio pirmoje dalyje nagrinėjama valstybės išlaidų raida nuo XIX amžiaus iki šių dienų, o antroje dalyje - valstybės išlaidų paskirstymas įvairioms reikšmėms skirtingose pasaulio šalyse, suskirstytose į tris grupes: Vidurio ir Rytų Europos (VRE) šalys, Rytų Azijos šalys bei Vakarų pasaulio šalys. Atliekant šių grupių lyginamąją analizę, valstybės išlaidos nagrinėjamos pagal devynis rodiklius.

Globally, the period from the 1980s to 2006 was characterised by growth in FDIs. Except for 1991, FDI flows increased every year between 1986 and 2000. The period was also characterized by high economic growth in the so-called emerging economies. These economies became strongly involved in the global economy in this period through an increase in inward FDIs. In some emerging economies, like China and the Baltic states inward FDIs increased even after the general setback in 2001. For example, while FDI inflows globally fell by 41 percent in 2001, and another 21 percent in 2002, it in-creased with 18 percent in 2001 and another 64 percent in 2002 in Lithuania (UNCTAD, 2003). These tendencies ask for a closer examination of the role of FDIs in the recent development of emerging economies. The paper deals with the role of MNEs and FDI in emerging economies from about 1990 by especially fo-cusing on Norwegian FDIs in Lithuania.1 This case is special because of two reasons. First, not only is Lithua-nia an example of a new emerging economy. Norway is also an example of a newcomer as a foreign investor, compared to many other industrial countries. It was not only until the mid-1980s that outward FDIs from Norway began to increase substantially (UNCTAD, 2004b), and before 1980 there were only few Norwegian companies that could be characterized as multinationals (Amdam and Hagberg, 2001). Over the last 20 years some Nor-wegain companies have developed into multinationals, among them Statoil and RIMI were among the largest foreign investors in Lithuania in 2006 . Second, the rela-tionship between Norway and Lithuania is of a special kind, since the two countries belong to a greater Nordic-Baltic region with strong cultural, political, and not at least economic relationship for centuries (Scandinavian Journal of History, 2003). They both were attached to the Hanseatic league, an informal collaboration from about 1380 to the beginning of the 17th century between trade cities gathered around the Baltic sea and extending the ...