Social Security and Economic Integration

peer reviewe

International Companies Withdrawal from Lithuania: Problematics and Alternative Solutions

The main attention in this article is focused on the problematic of international companies’ withdrawal from Lithuania and presentation of alternative solutions of this problem. The macro(Sweden, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland) level analysis and micro (“Coca-Cola”, “Nordea” and DNB, “Orkla”) level analysis showed that competitiveness, business conditions, employment relations, institutional environment and innovation should be improved and the corruption should be reduced in Lithuania. It is advisable that current Lithuanian Labour Code should be revised in order to increase the efficiency of labour relations. It is found out that the significance of “Coca-Cola”company is the highest in the context of the withdrawing companies from Lithuania. It is assumed that the most rational solution for each company is to move from Lithuania to another country. Santrauka Straipsnyje nagrinėjama tarptautinių kompanijų pasitraukimo iš Lietuvos problematika ir alternatyvūs problemos sprendimo būdai. Atlikus makrolygmens (Švedijos, Austrijos, Latvijos, Lietuvos, Estijos, Lenkijos) ir mikrolygmens („Coca-Cola“, „Nordea“ ir DNB, „Orkla“) analizes, išsiaiškinta, kad Lietuvoje reikėtų didinti konkurencingumą, gerinti verslo sąlygas, darbo santykius, institucinę aplinką ir inovacijas, mažinti korupciją. Darbo santykių efektyvumui gerinti patartina koreguoti dabartinį LR darbo kodeksą. Išsiaiškinta, kad pasitraukiančių kompanijų kontekste „Coca-Cola“ kompanijos reikšmingumas yra palyginti didžiausias. Manytina, kad racionaliausias sprendimas būtų tarptautinėms kompanijoms perkelti veiklą iš Lietuvos taip: „Coca-Cola“ – į Lenkiją, „Nordea“ ir DNB – į Estiją, „Orkla“ – į Austriją, Švediją, Latviją. Reikšminiai žodžiai: tarptautinė ekonomika, tarptautinis verslas, tiesioginės užsienio investicijos, konkurencingumas, darbo santykiai, institucinė aplinka, korupcija, makrolygmens analizė, mikrolygmens analizė, atvejo metodas

Contemporary evolution of immunity during range expansion of two invasive rodents in Senegal

Biological invasions provide unique opportunities for studying life history trait changes over contemporary time scales. As spatial spread may be related to changes in parasite communities, several hypotheses (such as the evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) or EICA-refined hypotheses) suggest immune changes in invasive species along invasion gradients. Although native hosts may be subject to similar changes in parasite selection pressures, their immune responses have been rarely investigated in invasion contexts. In this study, we evaluated immune variations for invasive house mice Mus musculus domesticus, invasive black rats Rattus rattus and native rodents Mastomys erythroleucus and Mastomys natalensis along well-characterised invasion gradients in Senegal. We focused on antibody-mediated (natural antibodies and complement) and inflammatory (haptoglobin) responses. One invasion route was considered for each invasive species, and environmental conditions were recorded. Natural-antibody mediated responses increased between sites of long-established invasion and recently invaded sites only in house mice. Both invasive species exhibited higher inflammatory responses at the invasion front than in sites of long-established invasion. The immune responses of native species did not change with the presence of invasive species. These patterns of immune variations do not support the EICA and EICA refined hypotheses, and they rather suggest a higher risk of exposure to parasites on the invasion front. Altogether, these results provide a first basis to further assess the role of immune changes in invasion success

Contemporary variations of immune responsiveness during range expansion of two invasive rodents in Senegal

Biological invasions provide unique opportunities for studying life history trait changes over contemporary time scales. As spatial spread may be related to changes in parasite communities, several hypotheses (such as the evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) or EICA-refined hypotheses) suggest immune changes in invasive species along invasion gradients. Although native hosts may be subject to similar changes in parasite selection pressures, their immune responses have been rarely investigated in invasion contexts. In this study, we evaluated immune variations for invasive house mice Mus musculus domesticus, invasive black rats Rattus rattus and native rodents Mastomys erythroleucus and Mastomys natalensis along well-characterised invasion gradients in Senegal. We focused on antibody-mediated (natural antibodies and complement) and inflammatory (haptoglobin) responses. One invasion route was considered for each invasive species, and environmental conditions were recorded. Natural-antibody mediated responses increased between sites of long-established invasion and recently invaded sites only in house mice. Both invasive species exhibited higher inflammatory responses at the invasion front than in sites of long-established invasion. The immune responses of native species did not change with the presence of invasive species. These patterns of immune variations do not support the EICA and EICA refined hypotheses, and they rather suggest a higher risk of exposure to parasites on the invasion front. Altogether, these results provide a first basis to further assess the role of immune changes in invasion success

Digital piracy: an update

This note summarizes and updates our previous survey of the economics of digital piracy (Belleflamme and Peitz, 2012)