Assessing the transport development of the European Union countries

In their previous publication, the authors proposed to assess the transport development of any territory (but mainly the territories of the world’s countries) according to the following three components: transportization level of a territory, transport internationalization level of a territory and quality of transport in a territory. The authors assessed three components of the transport development of a territory each separately, including them in further empirical analysis. In the course of the authors’ empirical research, it became necessary to improve the methodology for assessing the transport development of a territory. The purpose of this study is to develop a single tool for measuring the transport development of a territory – an index – and to test it on the example of the European Union countries. Methods used in the study: monographic method, logical analysis and synthesis of the conceptual essence of the phenomenon ‘transport development of a territory’, index method – a quantitative technique for assessing the transport development of a territory based on the minimum and maximum values. The information base of the study is the data of the Global Competitiveness Report, as well as data from GlobalEconomy.com and the World Factbook for the EU countries. As a result of the study, the authors developed a new Territory Transport Development Index (TTDI), which includes not three, but four components: transportization level of a territory, transport internationalization level of a territory, quality of the transport infrastructure in a territory, efficiency of the transport services in a territory. These four components of the Index developed by the authors differ from the previously proposed components of the transport development of a territory. This difference is determined by the results of study carried out by researchers of the Riga Technical University (RTU), which confirm the importance of transport infrastructure in the use of a territory’s resources, as well as the results of other comparative studies on the transport infrastructure of the EU countries. Thus, the third component (quality of transport in a territory) was divided into two separate components: quality of the transport infrastructure in a territory and efficiency of the transport services in a territory, including additional indicators in the first of them. The authors tested the new Index by assessing the European Union countries and comparing them both in general transport development and separately in its different aspectspublishersversionPeer reviewe

Measuring multidimensional poverty within the resource-based approach: a case study of Latgale region, Latvia

In modern social science, the concept of multidimensional poverty is considered the most progressive approach to measuring poverty in countries of various development levels, including the developed ones. As an indicator of poverty in the EU, the multidimensional index of the risk of poverty and social exclusion (AROPE) is used, which integrates the indicators of income poverty, material deprivation and exclusion from the labour market. The empirical basis for its calculation is the data of the survey “Statistics of income and living conditions in the EU” (EU-SILC), published by the statistical office of the European Union. Within the framework of this article, the authors tried to contribute to the theoretical and methodological basis for studying the issue of multidimensional poverty by measuring and analysing it within the framework of the resource approach using the empirical data collected by the authors in one of the peripheral regions of Latvia - Latgale, which for many years has had the lowest indicators of economic development in the country. The resource-based approach is founded on the following methodological path: resources available for the people and households can be transformed into capital as a result of its activation and capitalization that, in its turn, can give the person socially economic benefit, i.e., a resource becomes a capital. The methodology of this study involves the application of new concepts: the “resource-poor” (few resources) and the “functional-poor” (low capitalization of available resources), as well as the “resource-functional poor”, who, according to the authors, represent different target groups for the social policy, since they fundamentally differ in terms of both the causes of poverty and the approaches to supporting these groups

Entrepreneurial talent: the Baltics in the mirror of international studies

The aim of this article is to confirm empirically the role of education in shaping and enhancing the role of entrepreneurial talent in the economic development of the Baltic countries. The following tasks were consistently solved: clarifying the relevance of the topic of entrepreneurial talent and reflecting this multifaceted phenomenon in the socio-economic works of contemporary authors, studying the experience of teams of international research projects, where the main or great attention is paid to entrepreneurial talent, then, in a comparative perspective, assessing the role of entrepreneurial talent in the Baltic countries, the most important factors that act both as the most significant positive conditions of its impact on the economic growth of individual countries, and inhibit positive dynamics. The empirical basis for the research was composed of the international research projects, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTGI), the report of the World Economic Forum as well as the authors’ own research into student entrepreneurial potential and entrepreneurial universities. Causal analysis and comparative analysis were used as the main research methods. In the course of the research work, the terminology used is clarified in relation to the main subject of the research - entrepreneurial talent as the most important factor in the economic development of countries and regions. The ranking of factors positively influencing the effectiveness of entrepreneurial talent, especially from the standpoint of opportunities in the field of education, has been carried out. The article includes three sections. The first section is devoted Entrepreneurial Talent as an important element of economic activity, second section - Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial talent as a subject of international research and the third section - Entrepreneurship in the Baltic States in the evaluation of international studies. The research shows both the importance of entrepreneurial talent among other drivers of economic growth and the quality of entrepreneurial education in general education schools and universities. Therefore it is extremely important to expand the practice of entrepreneurial education for students of all specialties, gradually turning educational and research higher education institutions into entrepreneurial universities. Keywords: talent; entrepreneurial talent; entrepreneurial education; talent competitiveness; economic growth; Baltics