The role of the nordic dimension for foreign trade relations of baltic states

Baltic Sea Region (BRS) can be seen as one good example of an attempt to integrate countries with different development levels. In the long run the Baltic Sea could be seen as the internal sea of European Union. However, as different are the development stages of BRS countries, different is their co-operation experience with European Union (EU). Foreign trade can be seen as one possibility for facilitating economic cooperation between countries. Foreign trade must have a positive impact on economic development of trading partners, when they are equal in the level of development, and foster economic growth even then, when their are unequal. Nevertheless, the one assumption of the theory is a free trade, but this assumption is not always fulfilled. Baltics as small transition countries have from one side not many possibilities for influencing foreign trade, because we are price and conditions takers. From other side, we are small enough to get more favourable conditions in trading with economic blocks and developed countries. Nevertheless, the better conditions compared to other third and associated countries, that we achieved for trading with EU, do not guarantee automatically higher volumes and more equal conditions in trade with above mentioned countries. Encouraging is the fact that European Union Council has approved the Action Plan for the Northern Dimension with external and cross-border policies of the European Union 2000-2003. The aim of current paper is to analyse the current situation in foreign trade of three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) in the context of fostering economic co-operation in Nordic Dimension. To accomplish this aim: - We analyse the openness or closeness of the trade in Baltic Sea region, find out its positive and negative aspects. -We will look at geographical distribution of foreign trade of three Baltics and analyse it. -We analyse the commodity structure of foreign trade of three Baltics with countries in BSR. -We will analyse the possibilities and risks of current situation in Baltics’ foreign trade in the context of economic globalisation and integration. Data of national statistic bureaus and national banks will be used for comparing the situation in Baltics’ foreign trade. The analysis will not cover transit trade and trade with services.

Industrial and intellectual capital clusters in the Baltic states

Various recent developments, eg the 'new economic geography' as exemplified by say, Krugman, P. (1991) or work originating in the business literature (Porter 1998), point to industrial and intellectual capital clusters as key factors associated with economic development. Indeed recent evidence suggests that multiple clustering leads to higher regional economic development. This leads to the idea that clusters should be encouraged as for example in the Latvian context in Phare (2001), an idea that is explicitly supported by theoretical argument in Norman and Venables (2001). In this paper we explore and describe the geographic concentration of production and human resources in the three Baltic States and attempt to identify its determinants. In particular, we address the issues of industrial and human resource base restructuring in the Baltic States. For the investigation of the regions or districts of the Baltic countries and their industries a variety of statistical methods and measures are used, including cluster analysis and the location quotient method, which may be used to measure the concentration and importance of an economic activity in cluster regions relative to other selected territories. Work is in progress but the aim is to reveal the pattern and dynamics of industrial and intellectual clusters in the Baltic states since independence. Casual evidence suggests that economic activity is less concentrated in Lithuania than in either Latvia or Estonia. The paper seeks to establish more formally whether there are indeed significant differences between the three Baltic countries with respect to i) the extent of cluster formation in general, ii) differences in the extent to which clusters have emerged in particular industries, and iii) how these have changed over time. The territorial units of analysis employed in the research are counties in Lithuania and Estonia (10 and 15 respectively) and in Latvia districts (26 of them). The descriptive part of the paper develops the work of Francis (2000) and Rivza and Stokmane (2000). Having calculated the descriptive statistics the paper combines several theoretical approaches to measure and evaluate clusters. In particular we modify Davis and Weinstein (1998) model to apply it to the case of the Baltic States. Davis, D.R. and D.E. Weinstein (1998) "Market Access, Economic Geography, and Comparative Advantage: An Empirical Assessment"; NBER Working Paper W6787 Francis, I.(2000),"Basic Analysis of Riga's Economy"; 6th Nordic-Baltic Conference in Regional Science. Riga, Latvia, October 4-7 2000. Reports, pp.111-115 Krugman, P. (1991a) Geography and Trade; Cambridge: MIT Press Norman, V.D. and A.J. Venables (2001) "Industrial Clusters: Equilibrium, Welfare, and Policy"; mimeo, London School of Economics Phare project (2001) Support to Industrial Cluster Restructuring; News Letters, Riga, Latvia Porter, M.E. (1998) "Clusters and the New Economics of Competition"; Harvard Business Review, 76:6 Rivza, B. and I. Stokmane (2000), "Economic and Social Analysis of the Baltic Countries"; 6th Nordic-Baltic conference in Regional Science. Riga, Latvia, October 4-7 2000. Reports, pp.293-296

Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe

This thesis examines democratic consolidation in five Eastern European countries. The Baltic States have consolidated their democratic regimes but Romania and Bulgaria have struggled to do so. I attempt to explain why this has happened. In chapter one, I introduce the topic and provide an overview for the next six chapters. In the second chapter, I examine the literature that pertains to this topic. The literature focuses on several aspects of democratic consolidation. I examine how economic growth, privatization, foreign direct investment, modes of transition, violence, initial post-communist political contest winner, electoral laws, and the citizenship law all play an important role in democratic consolidation. In the third chapter, I set up the research design. I use a most similar systems design to guide my study. I first establish the guidelines for a consolidated democracy and use these guidelines to test each country in the study. I find the Baltic States have successfully consolidated their democracies while Romania and Bulgaria have not yet consolidated their regimes. In chapter four, I examine how privatization and foreign direct investment have played roles in the consolidation process. I first examine the economic situations in all five countries and then try to understand why the Baltic States have had considerably more economic success than the Balkan States. I find that rapid privatization has had a positive impact on their economic growth. I then argue that this growth has helped the Baltic States to consolidate their regimes while the stagnant economies in Romania and Bulgaria have hindered consolidation. In chapter five, I demonstrate how transitional factors such as modes of transition, violence and initial post-communist political contest winner have affected democratic consolidation. I find that all three factors have affected consolidation. Chapter six demonstrates how electoral rules and the citizenship law affects democratic consolidation. I examine several aspects of the electoral rules such as which electoral system is employed, are any political parties outlawed, and whether thresholds are used. I find that a mixed proportional representation system exhibits the most desirable attributes. Also, I find that the citizenship law in Estonia and Latvia had a significantly negative impact on consolidation. Finally, in chapter seven, I discuss how all of the factors combined have influenced each countries democratic consolidation efforts. There appears to be two interconnected sets of variables. First, the winner of the initial post-communist political contest affects privatization policy. Second, the mode of transition appears to have an impact on how the electoral rules will be set up. In the end, I find that there is not one variable that leads to democratic consolidation but several

Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe

This thesis examines democratic consolidation in five Eastern European countries. The Baltic States have consolidated their democratic regimes but Romania and Bulgaria have struggled to do so. I attempt to explain why this has happened. In chapter one, I introduce the topic and provide an overview for the next six chapters. In the second chapter, I examine the literature that pertains to this topic. The literature focuses on several aspects of democratic consolidation. I examine how economic growth, privatization, foreign direct investment, modes of transition, violence, initial post-communist political contest winner, electoral laws, and the citizenship law all play an important role in democratic consolidation. In the third chapter, I set up the research design. I use a most similar systems design to guide my study. I first establish the guidelines for a consolidated democracy and use these guidelines to test each country in the study. I find the Baltic States have successfully consolidated their democracies while Romania and Bulgaria have not yet consolidated their regimes. In chapter four, I examine how privatization and foreign direct investment have played roles in the consolidation process. I first examine the economic situations in all five countries and then try to understand why the Baltic States have had considerably more economic success than the Balkan States. I find that rapid privatization has had a positive impact on their economic growth. I then argue that this growth has helped the Baltic States to consolidate their regimes while the stagnant economies in Romania and Bulgaria have hindered consolidation. In chapter five, I demonstrate how transitional factors such as modes of transition, violence and initial post-communist political contest winner have affected democratic consolidation. I find that all three factors have affected consolidation. Chapter six demonstrates how electoral rules and the citizenship law affects democratic consolidation. I examine several aspects of the electoral rules such as which electoral system is employed, are any political parties outlawed, and whether thresholds are used. I find that a mixed proportional representation system exhibits the most desirable attributes. Also, I find that the citizenship law in Estonia and Latvia had a significantly negative impact on consolidation. Finally, in chapter seven, I discuss how all of the factors combined have influenced each countries democratic consolidation efforts. There appears to be two interconnected sets of variables. First, the winner of the initial post-communist political contest affects privatization policy. Second, the mode of transition appears to have an impact on how the electoral rules will be set up. In the end, I find that there is not one variable that leads to democratic consolidation but several

To what extent has Lithuanian energy policy in the gas sector resulted in an increase in Lithuanian energy security during the period 2009 – 2015?

Masteroppgave i Energy management - Nord universitet, 201

INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT COMPANIES IN THE BALTIC COUNTRIES: INTERNATIONALIZATION MOTIVES AND BARRIERS

Internationalization of companies is a necessity on purpose to play an active role in the international market and maintain a competitive advantage. The presented paper aims to reveal barriers and motives for a company‘s internationalization in the Baltic countries. The perceptions of internationalized and non-internationalized firms were assessed. The paper reveals the main motives and barriers of foreign transport and logistics companies for internationalization. All the Baltic countries compete for DFI and seek to demonstrate that they are ideal locations for foreign transport and logistics companies to establish an enterprise or choose another internationalization mode. The authors disclosed why service firms internationalize to the Baltic countries. The main attractiveness factors of the transport and logistics market in the Baltic countries, internationalization motives and barriers were compared. The framework has been approved by Scandinavian and Central European transport companies that have expanded their business in the Baltic countries. Theoretical and empirical results are beneficial for transport companies seeking to internationalize their activities in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia