Suchergebnisse

There are still debates in the scientific literature about the factors influencing countries&rsquo ; sustainable socioeconomic development. Therefore, the current article aims at determining the factors of sustainable socioeconomic development and assessing its level in the EU countries. The following methods were employed for the research: an evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). EDAS was used to reveal which countries have the highest level of sustainable socioeconomic development, and which have the lowest. The ranking was done based on the appraisal score, which is an outcome of EDAS. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used for clustering the countries based on the appraisal scores in order to distinguish groups of countries having a similar level of sustainable socioeconomic development. The results revealed that the highest level of sustainable socioeconomic development is in Germany, and the lowest in Portugal. Based on HCA, the countries were divided into three groups. The first cluster&rsquo ; s countries have the weakest sustainable socioeconomic development, and countries assigned to the third cluster have the best. In the current research, the third cluster consists of one country, Germany, which supports the results obtained with the EDAS method, i.e., Germany is the country with the highest level of sustainable socioeconomic development in the EU.

All countries face several issues while running the process of sustainable development&mdash ; the absence of a uniform means of sourcing investment for sustainable development and the lack of a unified index for the evaluation of sustainable development. No doubt, ensuring sustainable development requires constant financial investments. Hence, it is essential to examine the investment sources for sustainable development at the country level and to comprehend if the current financial investment has a direct impact on the results of a country&rsquo ; s sustainable development. The article aims at identifying the financing sources for sustainable development for each of the European Union (EU) countries and assessing their impact on each of the EU countries&rsquo ; sustainable development, which is expressed as the Integrated Sustainable Development Index (ISDI). After the detailed analysis of investment sources for the sustainability of the EU countries, two sources of investment, assignation of budget and the EU structural funds, were selected, and ISDI calculation was applied for twenty-five of the EU member states for the period 2003&ndash ; 2017. Correlation analysis (using SPSS software) helped to identify the strength of the connection and to select countries for the Johansen Cointegration Test (using Eviews software) in order to determine how variables interact. The results show that the combination of the assignation of budget and the EU structural funds has a positive impact on the coherence of five (Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia, and Austria) out of twenty-four countries.

The digital economy and sustainable development are treated as the world?s progress, and there is a vast number of papers investigating the indirect linkage between these two phenomena. However, there is a lack of studies analysing the direct influence. Hence, the purpose of the current paper is to find out if there is an impact of the digital economy, expressed by DESI sub-dimensions, on sustainable development, represented by SDGI. For that issue, statistical data covering 2017-2020 was gathered, and panel regression modelling was applied. The survey covers 28 EU countries (including the United Kingdom because the data was collected before Brexit). The findings revealed that DESI sub-dimensions influence SDGI; however, the impact was negative in most cases. Thus, the current paper showed that standard views on the influence of the digital economy are not always the right ones.

Abstract

Research background: The fact that all resources are not infinite and the needs of society are steadily increasing, new ways of producing, consuming and waste disposal should be adopted. A circular economy as a modern alternative to a linear economy became one of the priorities of the European Union in order to create a modern, resource-efficient and competitive system.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present the concept of a circular economy and the justification of its implementation based on a literature review. The article focuses on determining the factors of a circular economy and evaluating its importance in the Baltic States. In other words, the main aim of the article is to highlight the factors of a circular economy and assess its significance.

Research methodology: A panel regression analysis was used in order to evaluate which indicator of the selected circular economy factors is the most important.

Results: The survey reveals that waste electrical and electronic equipment has the most significant potential for increased circular material use rate in the Baltic States. All electrical and electronic equipment should be designed so that it would be possible to repair and reuse it to extend the product life cycle and reduce the carbon footprint. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in conjunction with increasing the usage of renewable energy could increase resource productivity and domestic material consumption (DMC) and ensure Baltic States' independence in the energy sector through offshore wind farms that have the region's most considerable potential.

Novelty: There is a lack of studies conducted in the Baltic States focused on circular economy development using panel data. Most of the previous studies were focused on the European Union as a whole or individual countries. This study presents a deeper analysis of circular economy development in the Baltic States.

The problem of the shadow economy exists in the majority of countries and, depending on its scale, affects the economic development of the state, the social well­being of companies and the population and the country's policy. This economy distorts competition, has a negative impact on the country's tax system and its structure and the distribution of state revenue becomes unregulated and distorted. This economic activity alters official statistics so a policy based on it can become simply irrational and ineffective. All this leads to a change in government­funded general budget revenue and slows down the country's economic growth. The purpose of this article is to identify and evaluate the factors that influence the shadow economy in Lithuania and across Europe. Objectives: to analyse the factors influencing the shadow economy after the analysis of the scientific literature, to develop a methodology that will be used for the assessment of the shadow economy factors, based on the presented methodology prepare calculations about the estimation of shadow economy factors. The following methods were used for the research: analysis of scientific literature, correlation, pair regression and multiple regression analysis. The results have shown that average salary, levels of poverty and corruption in the country, compulsory taxes and inflation have the greatest impact on the country's shadow economy. Article in Lithuanian. Šešėlinę ekonomiką lemiančių veiksnių tyrimas Santrauka Šešėlinės ekonomikos problema egzistuoja daugelyje šalių ir, priklausomai nuo jos masto, turi įtakos valstybės ekonominei raidai, socialinei įmonių ir gyventojų gerovei bei šalies politikai. Šešėlinė ekonomika sutrikdo konkurenciją, daro neigiamą įtaką šalies mokesčių sistemos funkcionavimui ir jos struktūrai, valstybės pajamų paskirstymas tampa nesureguliuotas. Tokia ūkinė veikla pakeičia oficialią statistiką, todėl ja besiremianti politika gali tapti tiesiog neracionali ir neveiksminga. Visa tai lemia didelį pokytį vyriausybės surenkamoms bendro biudžeto pajamoms bei lėtina šalies ekonomikos augimą. Šio straipsnio tikslas −išskirti ir įvertinti veiksnius, darančius įtaką šešėlinei ekonomikai Lietuvoje bei visoje Europoje. Iškelti uždaviniai: išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą išskirti šešėlinę ekonomiką lemiančius veiksnius, parengti metodiką, kuria remiantis bus atliktas šešėlinės ekonomikos veiksnių vertinimas, remiantis pateikta metodika atlikti skaičiavimus apie šešėlinės ekonomikos veiksnių vertinimą.Tyrimui atlikti taikyti tokie metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė, koreliacinė, porinė regresinė ir daugialypė regresinė analizė.Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad didžiausią įtaką šalies šešėlinei ekonomikai turi vidutinis darbuotojų atlyginimas, skurdo ir korupcijos lygiai šalyje, privalomieji mokesčiai bei infliacija. Atsižvelgus į šiuos rodiklius ir jų sąsają su šešėline ekonomika, būtų įmanoma mažinti šešėlio mastą šalyje. Pavyzdžiui, tyrime išsiaiškinta, kad vidutinis darbuotojų atlyginimas ir šešėlis turi atvirkščią priklausomybę– didinant šalies vidutinį atlyginimą, mažėja šalyje vyraujantis šešėlis. Reikšminiai žodžiai:šešėlinė ekonomika, nelegali veikla, ekonominio augimo veiksniai, BVP, mokesčiai.

The problem of the shadow economy exists in the majority of countries and, depending on its scale, affects the economic development of the state, the social well­being of companies and the population and the country's policy. This economy distorts competition, has a negative impact on the country's tax system and its structure and the distribution of state revenue becomes unregulated and distorted. This economic activity alters official statistics so a policy based on it can become simply irrational and ineffective. All this leads to a change in government­funded general budget revenue and slows down the country's economic growth. The purpose of this article is to identify and evaluate the factors that influence the shadow economy in Lithuania and across Europe. Objectives: to analyse the factors influencing the shadow economy after the analysis of the scientific literature, to develop a methodology that will be used for the assessment of the shadow economy factors, based on the presented methodology prepare calculations about the estimation of shadow economy factors. The following methods were used for the research: analysis of scientific literature, correlation, pair regression and multiple regression analysis. The results have shown that average salary, levels of poverty and corruption in the country, compulsory taxes and inflation have the greatest impact on the country's shadow economy. Article in Lithuanian. Šešėlinę ekonomiką lemiančių veiksnių tyrimas Santrauka.Šešėlinės ekonomikos problema egzistuoja daugelyje šalių ir, priklausomai nuo jos masto, turi įtakos valstybės ekonominei raidai, socialinei įmonių ir gyventojų gerovei bei šalies politikai. Šešėlinė ekonomika sutrikdo konkurenciją, daro neigiamą įtaką šalies mokesčių sistemos funkcionavimui ir jos struktūrai, valstybės pajamų paskirstymas tampa nesureguliuotas. Tokia ūkinė veikla pakeičia oficialią statistiką, todėl ja besiremianti politika gali tapti tiesiog neracionali ir neveiksminga. Visa tai lemia didelį pokytį vyriausybės surenkamoms bendro biudžeto pajamoms bei lėtina šalies ekonomikos augimą. Šio straipsnio tikslas −išskirti ir įvertinti veiksnius, darančius įtaką šešėlinei ekonomikai Lietuvoje bei visoje Europoje. Iškelti uždaviniai: išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą išskirti šešėlinę ekonomiką lemiančius veiksnius, parengti metodiką, kuria remiantis bus atliktas šešėlinės ekonomikos veiksnių vertinimas, remiantis pateikta metodika atlikti skaičiavimus apie šešėlinės ekonomikos veiksnių vertinimą.Tyrimui atlikti taikyti tokie metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė, koreliacinė, porinė regresinė ir daugialypė regresinė analizė.Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad didžiausią įtaką šalies šešėlinei ekonomikai turi vidutinis darbuotojų atlyginimas, skurdo ir korupcijos lygiai šalyje, privalomieji mokesčiai bei infliacija. Atsižvelgus į šiuos rodiklius ir jų sąsają su šešėline ekonomika, būtų įmanoma mažinti šešėlio mastą šalyje. Pavyzdžiui, tyrime išsiaiškinta, kad vidutinis darbuotojų atlyginimas ir šešėlis turi atvirkščią priklausomybę– didinant šalies vidutinį atlyginimą, mažėja šalyje vyraujantis šešėlis. Reikšminiai žodžiai:šešėlinė ekonomika, nelegali veikla, ekonominio augimo veiksniai, BVP, mokesčiai.

Rinkos ekonomikos sąlygomis veikiančių įmonių veikla yra dinamiška, o tai lemia prognozuojamų rezultatų neužtikrintumą, todėl neišvengiamai susiduriama su veiklos rizika. Siekiant užtikrinti įmonės veiklos plėtrą, sėkmę ir pelningumą, būtina sprendimų priėmimą grįsti rizikos vertinimu, todėl poreikis valdyti veiklos riziką išauga, o kartu išauga ir investicijų į įmonės veiklos rizikos valdymą svarba. Dėl šios priežasties, siekiant išanalizuoti ir suvokti įmonės veiklos rizikos vertinimo ir valdymo procesus bei jų aktualumą, straipsnyje teoriniu aspektu nagrinėjama veiklos rizikos samprata ir jos vertinimo svarba, analizuojama veiklos rizikos valdymo koncepcija ir pateikiama trumpa rizikos valdymo metodika, kuri sieja kokybinius įmonės veiklos rizikos nustatymo ir vertinimo metodus bei rizikos valdymo, priežiūros ir kontrolės metodikas. Praktinėje dalyje pasirinktos įmonės pavyzdžiu analizuojama ir nustatoma įmonės veiklos rizikos valdymo aplinka, nagrinėjami rizikos atsiradimą lemiantys veiksniai, siūlomos rizikos valdymo priemonės ir atliekamas investicijų į konkrečios įmonės veiklos rizikos valdymą kokybinis vertinimas. Kadangi tiriant įmonės veiklos riziką identifikuojami ir vertinami nuostoliai, kurie galėtų būti patirti, jei rizika nepasiteisintų, atliktas tyrimas leis verslo atstovams aiškiau suprasti investicijų į įmonės veiklos rizikos valdymą naudą ir svarbą.

Satisfaction with the policy of commercial banks concerning SMEs is one of the most important factors affecting the success of commercial banking activities. This paper analyses the scientific approaches to importance of SME satisfaction with the commercial banks. The analysis of scientific publications revealed that one of the most important factors affecting the satisfaction of small and medium-sized enterprises with banks is the policy concerning SMEs. Comparisons of the results of two studies, analysing satisfaction of small and medium-sized enterprises with the policy of commercial banks concerning SMEs, are presented in this article. One study was conducted in Canada in 2002, another one – in Lithuania in 2011. These studies identified and investigated the factors influencing satisfaction of small and medium-sized enterprises with the policy of commercial banks concerning SMEs, i.e., granting of loans corresponding business needs, offering appropriate financial services to business, creating favourable loan conditions, flexible response to changing business needs, business support by a bank during successful company activities period, business support by a bank in the critical moments of company activities, making timely financing decisions. It was found that all relationships between the factors and the satisfaction with the policy of commercial bank are linear and the correlation coefficients are quite high, indicating that the relationship between the factors is strong enough. However, these studies did not reveal statistical significance of the elements and their possible impact on the satisfaction with commercial banks policy. The current study includes all previously investigated factors and was conducted using the questionnaire method. The respondents were employees of Lithuanian small and medium-sized companies. Statistical analysis shows that only granting of loans corresponding business needs, offering appropriate financial services to business, creating favourable loan conditions, flexible response to changing business needs are statistically significant elements for satisfaction of small and medium-sized enterprises with the policy of commercial banks concerning SMEs. In addition, it was found that there is no multi-colinearity, there are no outliers among investigated factors. The regression equation of satisfaction of small and medium- sized enterprises with the policy of commercial banks concerning SMEs indicating the weight of each statistically significant factor to the overall satisfaction with the commercial bank policy was created. In other words, the equation shows how satisfaction with the policy of commercial bank varies changing one of the most important factors and helps predicting changes in satisfaction. ; Smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo įmonių pasitenkinimas komerciniais bankais yra vienas iš svarbiausių veiksnių, darančių įtaką sėkmingai komercinių bankų veiklai. Straipsnyje analizuojami mokslininkų požiūriai į smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo įmonių pasitenkinimo komerciniais bankais svarbą. Analizuojant mokslines publikacija nustatyta, kad vienas iš svarbiausių veiksnių, darančių įtaką smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo įmonių pasitenkinimui banku, yra komercinių bankų vykdoma politika smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo įmonių atžvilgiu. Straipsnyje yra lyginami smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo įmonių pasitenkinimo komercinių bankų vykdoma politika SVV įmonių atžvilgiu dviejų tyrimų rezultatai. Vienas tyrimas buvo atliktas Kanadoje 2002 m., kitas – Lietuvoje 2011 m. Šiuose tyrimuose išskiriami ir nagrinėjami veiksniai, darantys įtaką SVV įmonių pasitenkinimui komercinių bankų vykdoma politika jų verslo atžvilgiu, t. y.: kreditų, atitinkančių verslo poreikius, teikimas; kitų reikiamų finansinių paslaugų verslui teikimas; palankių paskolų sąlygų sudarymas; lankstus reagavimas į kintančius verslo poreikius; verslo rėmimas sėkmingu įmonės veiklos laikotarpiu; verslo rėmimas kritiniais įmonės veiklos momentais; finansinių sprendimų priėmimas laiku. Nustatyta, kad visi ryšiai yra tiesiniai ir koreliacijos koeficientai gana aukšti, kas parodo, kad ryšiai tarp veiksnių yra pakankamai stiprūs. Tačiau šiuose tyrimuose nebuvo nustatyta, ar visi elementai yra statistiškai reikšmingi ir ar jie tikrai turi įtakos pasitenkinimui komercinių bankų vykdoma politika. Į dabartinį tyrimą įtraukti visi veiksniai, kurie buvo tirti ankstesniuose tyrimuose. Tyrimui atlikti taikytas anketinės apklausos metodas. Respondentai buvo Lietuvos smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo įmonių darbuotojai. Atlikus statistinį tyrimą, buvo nustatyta, kad tik kreditų, atitinkančių verslo poreikius, teikimas; reikiamų finansinių paslaugų verslui teikimas; palankių paskolų sąlygų sudarymas; lankstus reagavimas į kintančius verslo poreikius yra statistiškai reikšmingi elementai SVV pasitenkinimui komercinių bankų vykdoma politika. Be to, buvo nustatyta, kad tarp šių veiksnių nėra multikolinearumo, nėra išskirčių, todėl, buvo sudaryta smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo įmonių pasitenkinimo komercinių banko vykdoma politika SVV įmonių atžvilgiu regresinė lygtis, kuri parodo, kokį svorį kiekvienas iš statistiškai reikšmingų elementų turi pasitenkinimui komercinio banko vykdoma politika. Kitaip tariant, lygtis parodo, kaip pasikeičia pasitenkinimas komercinių bankų vykdoma politika pasikeitus lemiančiam veiksniui, kas leidžia prognozuoti pasitenkinimo kitimą.

Political unrest inevitably has consequences for a national economy. International trade in a globalised world has great importance for countries. Unfortunately, due to various political events, countries apply some restrictions to each other. In 2014, Western countries imposed sanctions on trade with Russia, due to the annexation of Crimea. As a response, Russia announced an embargo on importing of some goods from European and North American countries, as well as Australia. The current study investigates the economic impact on EU countries due to the mentioned embargo. The EU countries were grouped according to the average for 1998-2018 exports of products to Russia using a cluster analysis. After the clustering, the gravity model was employed to develop the equations representing the international trade between each cluster and Russia. Although Russia declared an embargo on countries associated with the same group of goods, the economic impact on their economies was different. This study has a couple of limitations. The research reflects only the impact of the embargo on exports regardless of some possible indirect effects; the study assesses the export of all sectors due to limited data; and because the restrictions are applied only to the food sector, the research shows only relative changes in exports.

All countries face several issues while running the process of sustainable development— the absence of a uniform means of sourcing investment for sustainable development and the lack of a unified index for the evaluation of sustainable development. No doubt, ensuring sustainable development requires constant financial investments. Hence, it is essential to examine the investment sources for sustainable development at the country level and to comprehend if the current financial investment has a direct impact on the results of a country's sustainable development. The article aims at identifying the financing sources for sustainable development for each of the European Union (EU) countries and assessing their impact on each of the EU countries' sustainable development, which is expressed as the Integrated Sustainable Development Index (ISDI). After the detailed analysis of investment sources for the sustainability of the EU countries, two sources of investment, assignation of budget and the EU structural funds, were selected, and ISDI calculation was applied for twenty-five of the EU member states for the period 2003–2017. Correlation analysis (using SPSS software) helped to identify the strength of the connection and to select countries for the Johansen Cointegration Test (using Eviews software) in order to determine how variables interact. The results show that the combination of the assignation of budget and the EU structural funds has a positive impact on the coherence of five (Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia, and Austria) out of twenty-four countries.

Political unrest inevitably has consequences for a national economy. International trade in a globalised world has great importance for countries. Unfortunately, due to various political events, countries apply some restrictions to each other. In 2014, Western countries imposed sanctions on trade with Russia, due to the annexation of Crimea. As a response, Russia announced an embargo on importing of some goods from European and North American countries, as well as Australia. The current study investigates the economic impact on EU countries due to the mentioned embargo. The EU countries were grouped according to the average for 1998–2018 exports of products to Russia using a cluster analysis. After the clustering, the gravity model was employed to develop the equations representing the international trade between each cluster and Russia. Although Russia declared an embargo on countries associated with the same group of goods, the economic impact on their economies was different. This study has a couple of limitations. The research reflects only the impact of the embargo on exports regardless of some possible indirect effects; the study assesses the export of all sectors due to limited data; and because the restrictions are applied only to the food sector, the research shows only relative changes in exports

All countries face several issues while running the process of sustainable development— the absence of a uniform means of sourcing investment for sustainable development and the lack of a unified index for the evaluation of sustainable development. No doubt, ensuring sustainable development requires constant financial investments. Hence, it is essential to examine the investment sources for sustainable development at the country level and to comprehend if the current financial investment has a direct impact on the results of a country's sustainable development. The article aims at identifying the financing sources for sustainable development for each of the European Union (EU) countries and assessing their impact on each of the EU countries' sustainable development, which is expressed as the Integrated Sustainable Development Index (ISDI). After the detailed analysis of investment sources for the sustainability of the EU countries, two sources of investment, assignation of budget and the EU structural funds, were selected, and ISDI calculation was applied for twenty-five of the EU member states for the period 2003–2017. Correlation analysis (using SPSS software) helped to identify the strength of the connection and to select countries for the Johansen Cointegration Test (using Eviews software) in order to determine how variables interact. The results show that the combination of the assignation of budget and the EU structural funds has a positive impact on the coherence of five (Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia, and Austria) out of twenty-four countries.

Political unrest inevitably has consequences for a national economy. International trade in a globalised world has great importance for countries. Unfortunately, due to various political events, countries apply some restrictions to each other. In 2014, Western countries imposed sanctions on trade with Russia, due to the annexation of Crimea. As a response, Russia announced an embargo on importing of some goods from European and North American countries, as well as Australia. The current study investigates the economic impact on EU countries due to the mentioned embargo. The EU countries were grouped according to the average for 1998–2018 exports of products to Russia using a cluster analysis. After the clustering, the gravity model was employed to develop the equations representing the international trade between each cluster and Russia. Although Russia declared an embargo on countries associated with the same group of goods, the economic impact on their economies was different. This study has a couple of limitations. The research reflects only the impact of the embargo on exports regardless of some possible indirect effects; the study assesses the export of all sectors due to limited data; and because the restrictions are applied only to the food sector, the research shows only relative changes in exports