Scientific papers (EPF)

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THE SITUATION IN THE LATGALIAN COUNTRYSIDE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE 1920s
(2008)
Malahovskis, Vladislavs
During the first independence of the Latvian Republic, the radical agrarian reform between 1920 and 1937 was the most important attempt to solve the agrarian problem. At the core of the reform was the nationalization of the estates, the buildings, the interior inventory and the cattle, and the distribution of the land which had become property of the National Land Fund (NLF) among landless peasants and small farmers. The objective of the paper is to identify the different factors that cumbered the beginning of the agrarian reform in Latgale and made it more complicated.
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INDEPENDENT LATVIA
(2009)
Malahovskis, Vladislavs
The aim of the paper is to reflect the political activities of the Roman Catholic Church in two periods of the history of Latvia and the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia – in the period of First Independence of the Republic of Latvia, basically in the 1920s, and in the period following the restoration of Latvia’s independence. With the foundation of the independent state of Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church experienced several changes; - bishops of the Roman Catholic Church were elected from among the people; - the Riga diocese was restored the administrative borders of which were coordinated with the borders of the state of Latvia; - priests of the Roman Catholic Church were acting also in political parties and in the Latvian Parliament. For the Church leadership, active involvement of clergymen in politics was, on the one hand, a risky undertaking (Francis Trasuns’ experience), but, on the other hand, a necessary undertaking, since in this way the Roman Catholic Church attempted to exercise control over politicians and also affect the voters in the elections for the Saeima. The status of the Church in the State of Latvia was legally secured by the concordat signed in the spring of 1922 which provided for a range of privileges to the Roman Catholic Church: - other Christian denominations in Latvia are functioning in accordance with the regulations elaborated by the State Control and confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior, but the Roman Catholic Church is functioning according to the canons set by the Vatican; - releasing the priests from military service, introduction of the Chaplaincy Institution; - releasing the churches, seminary facilities, bishops’ apartments from taxes; - a license for the activity of Roman Catholic orders; - the demand to deliver over one of the church buildings belonging to Riga Evangelical Lutherans to the Roman Catholics. With the regaining of Latvia’s independence, the Roman Catholic Church of Latvia again took a considerable place in the formation of the public opinion and also in politics. However, unlike the parliamentarian period of the independent Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church prohibited the priests to involve directly in politics and considered it unadvisable to use the word “Christian” in the titles of political parties. Nowadays, the participation of the Roman Catholic Church in politics is indirect. The Church is able to influence the public opinion, and actually it does. The Roman Catholic Church does not attempt to grasp power, but to a certain extent it can, at least partly, influence the authorities so that they count with the interests of Catholic believers. Increase of popularity of the Roman Catholic Church in the world facilitated also the increase of the role of the Roma Catholic Church in Latvia. The visit of the Pope in Latvia in 1993 was a great event not only for the Catholic believers but also for the whole state of Latvia. In the autumn of 2002, in Rome, a concordat was signed between the Republic of Latvia and the Vatikan which is to be classified not only as an agreement between the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia and the state of Latvia but also as an international agreement. Since the main foreign policy aim of Latvia is integration in the European Union and strengthening its positions on the international arena, Vatican as a powerful political force was and still is a sound guarantee and support in international relations.
ASSESSMENT AND JUSTIFICATION OF REGIONAL POLICY IMPLEMENTATION EVALUATION
(2009)
Liene Amantova-Salmane
A regional policy reflect changes that can be planned or not planned and either be useful or even create new development disparities in regions. To avoid the latter it is necessary to evaluate regional policies, which are a key factor in guaranteeing the quality and rationality of the implementation of a regional policy and are intended to promote regional development.
EVALUATION CRITERIA OF CITY ATTRACTIVENESS IN THE CONTEXT OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
(2010)
Mietule, Iveta
;
Litavniece, Lienīte
Investigation of city development issues and strategic planning issues of spatial development are essential factors of the city growth. Both academic researchers in economy and geography and professionals in the field of city development policy are involved in exploration of these topics. Various city development theories are elaborated and assimilated in a result of comprehensive researches. The current article examines attractiveness criteria of cities modernized in theoretical and practical researches as well as explores methodology of city attractiveness research with the aim to identify attractiveness criteria of cities and towns of Latgale region.
„SKATS NO MALAS” (VALDA TĒRAUDKALNA MONOGRĀFIJA „KRISTUS UN CĒZARS. KRISTIETĪBA UN VARA VĒSTURĒ”)
(2010)
Malahovskis, Vladislavs
2010. gada nogalē nāca klajā filozofijas doktora, RA Reģionālistikas institūta vadošā pētnieka, LU profesora Valda Tēraudkalna monogrāfija „Kristus un cēzars. Kristietība un vara vēsturē”. Kā monogrāfijas prezentācijā 9. decembrī Rēzeknē uzsvēra autors, cēzars nav konkrēta vēsturiska personība, bet gan laicīgās varas simbols – tāpēc arī grāmatas nosaukumā uzrakstīts ar mazo burtu. Laicīgās un garīgas varas attiecības – daudzveidīga līdzāspastāvēšana un cīņa par ietekmi – iezīmē plašu problēmloku un diskusiju objektu. Neskatoties uz aktualitāti, atjaunotās Latvijas valsts laikā šai problemātikai veltītu akadēmisku, ārpus kristīgo konfesiju oficiālajām mācībām esošu pētījumu skaits ir nepietiekams. Laicīgās un garīgās varas attiecību aspekti analizēti vien tiesību zinātņu speciālista Ringolda Baloža monogrāfijā (Balodis 2000), vēsturnieces Ineses Runces promocijas darbā (Runce 2008) un atsevišķu pētnieku publikācijās RA Reģionālistikas iznstitūta žurnāla „Via Latgalica” otrajā numurā (Via Latgalica 2009). Tāpēc V. Tēraudkalna monogrāfija vērtējama kā pietiekami nozīmīgs notikums.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CASE OF ECONOMICS RECESSION IN LATGALE REGION
(2010)
Irēna Silineviča
;
Iluta Arbidāne
;
Iveta Mietule
Business survival and development in time of economic slowdown is complicated. The research on business opportunities and threats is carried out with the help of opinion survey of employers and employees of business companies in Latgale. The findings have clarified the main business opportunities against the backdrop of crisis in Latvia.
INVOLVEMENT OF FOREIGN STUDENTS IN LATVIAN UNIVERSITIES: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
(2010-06-30)
Lonska, Jeļena
At the moment, the Latvian higher education sector experiences the period of “crisis”, therefore it is necessary to find new challenges. Higher education institutions sense the influence of state fiscal policy, i.e. reduction of financing, those meanings when near years is to legislate for studious students decrease. For future activity there is pegging of pay students from others states. In Latvian higher education sector and for state economy in total this gives constitutive acquisition increase of students, science and innovation, as well as foreign states financial resources in state economy.
THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF USAGE OF THE SINGLE-ENTRY ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
(2011)
Iluta Arbidāne
;
Antra Ķīkule
In accounting, it is possible to use a single-entry system or a double-entry system, but in order to obtain all the necessary information to analyse the economic processes, the choice of the system shall be evaluated in accordance with the legal requirements and the particular field of entrepreneurship. At present, the application of the single-entry system in accounting is defined most unclearly, because the choice of an accounting system does not always depend on the criterion – turnover (as stated in the legislation); its formation structure is more important.One of the research tasks is to investigate views of practicing bookkeepers in Latvia on the suitability of application of the single-entry system in accounting for individual entrepreneurs. In accordance with the inquiry results and the analyses, the research objective is to state the most problematic issues of accountancy and suitability of application of the single- entry system in accounting of different kinds of economic activity.
INHABITANTS’ EVALUATION OF THE TOWN ATTRACTIVENESS - A CASE STUDY OF BALVI TOWN
(2011)
Lienīte Litavniece
;
Sandra Ežmale
Due to decrease in the number of inhabitants it is very important to realize the aspects of city attractiveness in order to use them successfully and stimulate inhabitants’ positive interest in the city. Within the framework of the project “Linguo-Cultural and Socio- Economic Aspects of Territorial Identity in the Development of the Region of Latgale” inhabitants’ opinion is shown in a form of inquiry about Balvi town. Using Spearman’s correlation analysis, the statistically significant correlations with the probability of 99% were established between ‘satisfaction with life in the town’ and the factors influencing it. Then, using the method of cluster analysis, the findings of the inquiry were analyzed and conclusions about the Balvi town and its attractiveness from the point of view of the respondents were drawn.
METHODS OF BALANCE SHEET ITEMS EVALUATION AND RECOGNITION IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING AND THEIR IMPACT ON LIQUIDITY INDICATORS
(2011)
Mietule, Iveta
;
Liepiņa, Rita
Displaying and evaluation methods of the accounting information in the financial reports influence greatly the authenticity, indicator evaluation and making decisions of the economic nature. In the article the evaluation methods of separate balance items, their influence on the indicators of the companies’ liquidity are interpreted, the problems of the balance item classification in the financial reports are updated. The authors believe that when investigating a specific financial indicator (for example, liquidity) it is important to analyse and evaluate both the methodology of data acquisition in accounting and to evaluate the methods of recognition of these elements in financial reports.
LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY IN THE REGIONS OF LATVIA
(2011)
Daina Znotina
;
Elita Jermolajeva
Labor productivity directly describes return on the labor force or contributed labor and its efficiency. Its calculation is based on the actual output per unit of contributed labor. Labor productivity can be calculated on the level of a company, branch, certain territory, state, etc. As regards the use of human capital Latvia is one of the leading countries in Central and Eastern Europe; however, in case of Latvia employment does not mean high productivity of human capital. In 2008 in Latvia productivity per one employed person was 51.3 % from the respective indicator in the European Union. In Estonia this indicator was 64.7%, in Lithuania – 61.3%. The lowest indicators of productivity in the European Union were among the newest Member States – Bulgaria 36.5%, Romania – 47.7%. In 2008 the highest indicators of productivity were in Luxemburg – exceeding the average rate by 72.8%, Ireland – by 31.5%, and Belgium – by 24.3%. In the context of aging society, which is very topical problem in Latvia, it is essential to pay attention to increase labor productivity timely. As it is emphasized in the Sustainable Development Strategy of Latvia till 2030 aging of society is related to the loss of labor productivity and changes in the structure of the labor force. If in the nearest years the productivity of human capital is not sufficiently improved, further investments in the basic value and use of human capital will be useless. The most significant opportunity for development in Latvia in the context of demographic burden and changes is facilitation of labor force participation and economic activity, as well as investments in education of population of all age groups and increasing productivity of human capital. Along with traditionally involved educational institutions the activities and services of libraries, cultural education institutions and creativity and interest groups can be give a significant contribution in this field. Latvia has significant differences in regional development. Considering GDP per capita and assuming that the average indicator in the state is 100% in the period of time from 2003 to 2007, in Riga region it exceeds the average indicator and fluctuates within the range from 138.4% to 143.5%; in Latgale region in the respective period this indicator significantly lags behind the average indicator and is in the range from 46.4% to 53.4%. Due to the economic crisis GDP in Latvia, including regions, significantly reduced; the most crucial changes were observed in such branches as construction (drop by over 30 % in comparison to 2008), trade and manufacturing industry (drop by over 25% in each), transport and communications industry (drop by over 15%).
SPATIAL PLANNING AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE PLACES: CASE OF LATGALE REGION
(2011)
Lienite Litavniece
;
Sandra Ezmale
According the new concepts of the regional economics and geographical literature, territorial attractiveness is an issue of growing importance for national, regional and local governments during last years. Territorial attractiveness can be defined both as the capacity to attract new residents, visitors, enterprises and investments as well as the ability to retain and develop mobile communities and assets. Medium-sized and small towns play complementary roles and are differently integrated into urban systems depending on the specific features of the country and the historical, institutional and economic development background, but at the same time its attractiveness has been increasingly recorded as a key factor to strengthen the competitiveness of cities in the regional, national and global context. City attractiveness is determined by different elements like the quality of road networks and public transport, effectiveness of infrastructure, quality of life as well as activity of local economy, city image and institutional capacity, which are substantial factors for attraction of new residents, highly skilled workforce, new enterprises and investments. Policy and city development planners have adopted diverse measures like spatial plans and strategies for city development to enhance it. Territories are competing to offer the most productive business environment and to attract new businesses or industries creating jobs and thus providing increased material welfare. There has been a growing interest in academic literature in recent years on creating new paradigms of regional development to introduce new ways of tackling longstanding regional problems. One of these directions is spatial planning being closely related to the regional planning theory, which has sought to explain the causes and consequences of regional economic disparities and regional competitiveness. Political and development planning documents, which take into account spatial perspective, can contribute to many important factors of competitiveness in production and development being essential areas for growth. Winners are those territories which have elaborated their development strategy or other development planning documents with a clear message and vision to potential investors as well as local entrepreneurs regarding the future development of the territory and the mechanisms to achieve it. It reduces doubts and risks of potential investors and territory developers and promotes mutual trust and partnership between policy makers, decision makers and entrepreneurs. The research deals with the analysis of the development planning documents to enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of cities considering the example of Latgale region.
NON-FINANCIAL INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY
(2011)
Inta Kotane
;
Irina Kuzmina-Merlino
INTERPRETATION OF CONCEPTS “OF ANOTHER KIND” AND “DIFFERENT” IN LATGALE REGION FROM TOURISTS’ POINT OF VIEW
(2011)
Iveta Mietule
;
Iveta Graudiņa
Investigation of city development issues and strategic planning issues of spatial development are essential factors of city’s growth. Both academic researchers in economic and geography and professionals in city development policy are involved in examination of these topics. Various city development theories were elaborated and assimilated as a result of comprehensive research. The current article examines cities’ attractiveness criteria updated in theoretical and practical research as well as explores methodology of city attractiveness research with the aim to identify attractiveness criteria of cities and towns of Latgale region.
ETHICAL ASPECTS OF REGIONAL ECONOMY
(2011)
Liene Amantova-Salmane
In the beginning of economic history, economics as a social science was closely related to ethics and had a moral dimension. The works of Aristotle and Adam Smith show that the science of economics has evolved taking into consideration the ethical stand. However, during the twentieth century, ethics was not considered in the economic analysis, but this situation transformed and ethics became a part of economics. Removing ethics from economics also removes social responsibility and critical awareness. This research analyzes the ethical aspects of regional economy. Regional economy has an ethical dimension because its main goal is to reduce the disparities between regions. There is carried out a brief reference to the relationship between ethics and economy. In the following article there are analysed ethical aspects of regional policy.
HIGHER EDUCATION: FUNDING TENDENCIES, OPPORTUNITIES AND SOURCES
(2011-06-23)
Lonska, Jeļena
The issues regarding the funding mechanisms of higher education, their application and efficiency have recently become topical in many countries worldwide. Mobilization and efficient use of resources in higher education policy are the priority patterns all over the world. Society is trying to find answers to the questions considering the state participation in higher education funding. How to determine the impact of the state participation and levels of state regarding higher education funding? Is centralized planning necessary for higher education: does the state or consumers of educational services allocate financial resources at universities? There is an opinion that a consumer group has an effective financial tool for resource allocation. Another significant question is whether a person is able to choose the educational ‘product’, which corresponds to the needs of economics. What should an effective student loan system be like? Should the future students’ loan repayments depend on students' future incomes? This study provides information on the global higher education funding trends and opportunities, looking for the answers to the issues mentioned above.
WAGE TRENDS IN LATVIA DURING THE DOWNTURN IN ECONOMY
(2012)
Mietule, Iveta
;
Liepiņa, Rita
Wage is one of the most important socio–economic factors that determine the rate of employment, quality of labour force, standard of living, as well as purchasing power in the country as a whole. The article provides 1) summary on the wage influencing factors regarding views of various economic schools, as well as 2) analysis of statistical indices that reveal dynamics of wages in the pre– and post–crisis periods in Latvia.
PECULIARITIES OF INTERRELATION OF TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS
(2012)
Lonska, Jeļena
A variety of measurement tools is used to evaluate the territorial development in the world, for instance, indicators, indices, etc. These measurement tools are applied to measure certain regions of a country and to assess the development of a country as well as to compare countries with each other or in relation to the previous years. In Latvia, certain methodology for calculating the level of territorial development has been in place for about 15 years. Parallel to the official methodology, scientists and researchers of Latvia offer use of an alternative methodology and indices for measuring territorial development. Having analysed various theoretical approaches to a relatively new direction of the economic science within the framework of Economics of Development, the author of the research offers her own perception of the conceptual nature of the territorial development: the key indicator of any territorial development is related to People, their material well–being, and health, level of education, spirituality, and overall satisfaction with life. In other words, a developed territory is the one, where the number of people increased, and these people are wealthy, healthy, educated, spiritually developed, and satisfied with their lives, but a relatively more developed territory is the one, where these indicators are higher. In order to understand interrelation between the development elements, the author of this article on the basis of elements of the newly developed methodological model of measurement of territorial development, analyses their correlation, considering the world’s countries as an object and building on the available official statistical information and qualitative research data.
The Relationship between Working Capital Management and Profitability: a Latvian Case
(2012)
Iluta Arbidane
;
Svetlana Ignatjeva
In order to ensure the financial sustainability of companies under current economic conditions successful management of current assets is crucial. In practice it is quite often observed that the decisions related to current assets management in Latvian companies are made in the short-term aspects without making analysis. Efficient management of working capital is an essential condition of increase in profitability of a company. Potentialities of working capital management in the context of efficient running of business have not been studied in Latvia up until now. The main aim of this article is to examine the effect of working capital on profitability of Latvian companies. The results of the research that has been performed in relation to Latvian manufacturing enterprises confirm the existence of a correlation [tie?] between components of working capital and profitability. The developed regression equations meant for forecasting profitability of a company applying working capital management methods can be used by Latvian manufacturing enterprises. It follows that managers of an enterprise can forecast indices characterizing profit, managing components of working capital and maintaining it on the optimum level.
CURRENT ASSETS STRUCTURE AND EXPLORATION OF BUSINESS IN LATVIA
(2012)
Iluta Arbidane
;
Elvira Zelgalve
In order to ensure the financial sustainability of companies under current economic conditions successful management of current assets is crucial. In practice it is quite often observed that the decisions of current assets management in companies are made in the short-term aspects not making analysis. The aim of the article is to explore and analyse the structure of current assets and their indicators in business in Latvia. In order to reach the aim the author solves the following tasks in the research: to explore and analyse the structure of current assets, its changes and trends in the companies of Latvia; to perform calculations and analysis of the indicators characterizing the effectiveness of current assets; basing on the analysis to evaluate the development tendencies of the structure and indicators of current assets at various stages of economic development and to determine the correlations between these indicators. The research is based on the data obtained by the Central Statistics Bureau. The research covers the period of 1995–2010. The research is based on the analysis and evaluation of special literature and scientific publications about current assets management; research involves the use of generally accepted economic and statistical analysis methods, logically-constructive method of qualitative research methods: monographic method, Latvian and foreign industry literature, legislation content analysis, quantitative research methods: economic statistics and financial analysis techniques using Microsoft Excel software, data graphical display techniques. The article is focused on the exploration and analysis of the Latvian statistical data describing the amount, structure of current assets in business and its changes at various stages of economic development. Performing the analysis of current assets in the national economy of Latvia in general there are calculated and analysed various indicators, for example, liquidity, turnover of current assets, working capital. The research does not deal with the analysis of current assets in the aspect of branches. The calculations let estimate the changes of these indicators and their correlations as well as trends in the companies of Latvia. The current assets of companies in Latvia, their structure and indicators to a large extent are influenced by the economic situation in Latvia. Under conditions of a stable and flourishing economic situation companies have stable development indicating balanced increase of financial indicators. Upon increase of net turnover the amount of current assets also increases. When the national economy and business indicators improve, the proportion of assets flexibly reacts by increasing the proportion of current assets in the total structure of assets. However, when business activity decreases, the proportion of assets in the total structure of assets reduces. As a result of analysis there can be observed a correlation that the amount of stock and debts of debtors are interrelated with the net turnover of companies. The dynamics of cash and short-term securities shows that in the economic recession period it even increases. The economic situation in the state does not change very significantly the indicators of the current assets structure. Slight changes in the proportion of stock and cash prove that under condition of recession the managerial staff of Latvian companies pays attention to introduction of effective current assets management. The changes of current assets and their decrease in the recession period indicate that economic processes influence this indicator. The analysis of liquidity indicators did not reflect significant correlation between economy and changes of these indicators; however, the companies of Latvia typically do not have high liquidity indicators which shows some problems, but which cannot be identified not knowing certain conditions. The analysis of the structure and indicators of current assets using a maximally longer period of time enables to make timely and effective managerial decisions.

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