Estonia in transition under the restrictions of European institutional competition

After the fundamental changes of the early 1990s and before Estonia joined the EU, many neo-liberal economists regarded Estonia as their model student - due to the country's economic principles. Economic growth has been positive from 1995 on (except in 1999) until 2007, and above the EU average. During this period, GDP per capita and productivity have grown from just under a third of the EU average to 70 per cent of it in 2007. Today the attitude towards Estonia has slightly changed, because Estonia has involved into global economic crises and in decline stage of local trade cycle simultaneously. The transformation process in Estonia is an extreme case within a number of similar cases in Central and Eastern Europe. After regaining its political independence, Estonia established a liberal and democratic society. Since 1992 Estonia has pursued one of the most liberal trade policies in the world. The state budget is subject to the balanced-budget principle. In as early as 1998, 85% of companies were privatized. The currency board system tied the Estonian currency, the Eesti kroon (EEK), to the German mark (DEM) at a rate of about 8:1. To round the picture off: agricultural subsidies were abolished and a flat income tax rate was introduced. This article seeks to analyze Estonia's transition under the restrictions of European institutional competition in more detail. The first and second part analyses some areas of transition macro- and micro-policies that have been suggested that Estonia applies in order to a) join EU and b) catch up within the EU. The third part deals with Estonia's position in international economic competition up to the present time. We define Estonia's strong and weak points in system competition today as result the transition policy. As can be shown, there is still a great need for convergence in economic performance compared to the EU average. --Institutional economics,transformation,economic integration,Estonia

Raamatupidamislik käsitlus ülikooli teaduskonna sotsiaaltulemuse arvestuseks Tartu Ülikooli näitel

Alati ei ole võimalik teha parimaid ja piisavalt ulatuslikke järeldusi kommertsarvestuse põhjal sellistes tegevusvaldkondades, kus kaasnevad välismõjud. Teadus- ja haridusasutuste puhul võivad ainult finantsarvestuse põhjal tehtud juhtimisotsused jääda liiga piiratuteks, sest arvestamata jäävad eelkõige nende asutuste tegevusest tulenevad positiivsed välismõjud, aga ka põhjustatud negatiivsed välismõjud. Seega jääb kokkuvõttes sotsiaaltulemus arvestamata. Sotsiaaltulemuse arvestus on laiem paradigma võrreldes traditsioonilise finantsarvestusega ja on välja kujunenud püüdlustest traditsioonilist finantsarvestust laiendada kaugemale finantstulemuse mõõtmise eesmärgist. Seda paradigmat on arendatud viimase 40 aasta jooksul erinevates tegevusvaldkondades, kuid hariduse ja teadus-arendusasutuste näitel siiski mitte piisavalt. Seejuures puudub sotsiaaltulemuse arvestamiseks ning sellest tulenevalt sotsiaalse edu hindamiseks integreeritud mõõtmissüsteem. Käesolev töö püüab hariduse valdkonnas seda lünka täita pakkudes välja integreeritud periooditulemuse tagasivaatava analüüsi põhjal mõõtmiseks käsitluse, mis põhineb heaoluökonoomilisel lähenemisel raamatupidamise arendamises. Doktoritöös leiab väljatöötatud käsitlus rakendamist Tartu Ülikooli teaduskonna näite põhjal. Sellesse on kaasatud nii raamatupidamisarvestuse kui ka aruandluse komponendid ja indikaatorid, mis aitavad organisatsiooni sotsiaaltulemust mõõta tulenevalt uuritava reaalobjekti ülesannetest ühiskonnas. Integreeritud käsitluse monetaarvormis analüüsitulemus pakub edasiseks analüüsiks enam võimalusi (k.a ajaline dünaamika ja erinevate samalaadsete üksuste võrdlus) kui erinevates ühikutes esitatud indikaatorite võrdlus, näiteks ülikoolide ning nende teaduskondade puhul kasutatav tasakaalustatud tulemuskaardi meetod. Töös esitatud käsitlus võimaldab anda rohkem informatsiooni juhtimisotsuste tegemiseks, avardab võimalusi organisatsiooni tegevuse arendamiseks ja sotsiaalse vastutuse tõstmiseks hõlmates nii otseseid kui ka kaudseid kasusaajaid. Empiirilise juhtumi tagasivaatav analüüs sisaldab sotsiaalarvestuseks vajalikku raamatupidamissüsteemi ning sotsiaaltulemuse bilanssi, mis lisaks kommertsraamatupidamisele sisaldab täiendavat sotsiaalset bilanssi, Tartu Ülikooli matemaatika-informaatikateaduskonna näitel.Social accounts give information to highlight the performance of an economic unit. Therefore, social accounting approach is relevant for a university accounting to assess social success, because of social objectives and reasons of its activities. In general, non-market benefits and externalities of education are complicated to identify, but even more complex to measure. Therefore, education non-market benefits which are measured by willingness to pay show scant evidence of availability in the literature. Exist many different approaches to social accounting, but there is the research gap concerning the social accounting for a university and concerning methodology which considers the welfare change in form of ex-post analysis with a related bookkeeping system accounting periodical social success of a university faculty. Usual approaches to social accounting such as social audits, human resource accounting and corporate social accounting do not offer an integrated bookkeeping approach. Therefore, it had to be evolved. The development of this kind social accounting for a university is based on welfare theory and the evaluation methods of benefit-cost analysis. Basic decision on how to identify social success of the university faculty and the requirements of a bookkeeping approach determine the structure of the social accounting approach. An adequate bookkeeping system comprising the commercial and an additional social one has developed. A chart of an additional social bookkeeping and appropriate bookkeeping rules are suggested, and assessment of social success, social balance and total social balance has taken place. The attempt is verified by bookings of stocks and flows relying on actual receivable data in the case of the faculty of the University of Tartu, Estonia. Social benefits and costs stem from operations of the university faculty, which are due to the main tasks. There are considered main groups of tasks as teaching, research, consulting and management. Presented bookkeeping approach opens the way to identify social capital and the current net-benefit in terms of net-benefit. In the future this approach might be used to formulate a normative welfare oriented management theory of faculties or universities. This approach creates possibilities for further developments in extension towards dynamic and comparative analysis

Competition policy's role in network industries: Regulation and deregulation in Estonia

The article analyzes the competition policy's role in network industries (energy, telecommunication and railway sector) from points of view regulation and deregulation and institutional aspects of the competition policy in Estonia taking into account the particular developments in some transition countries and practices, which seem to be relevant for further regulating developments in Estonia. The main objective of the article is to find out, what type of institutional arrangement is suitable for regulating network industries in Estonia. Under the observation are institutional and organizational aspects of competition in abovementioned sectors. The article has two parts: First part focuses on particular law, which regulates network industries in Estonia; the second part analyzes institutional and organizational aspects of regulation and competition policy. Considering possibilities for regulation in network industries there are analyzed three different models: single sector-specific regulators and competition board; integrated multi-sector regulatory institution and separate competition board; and unitary competition supervisory and regulatory institution. --Estonia,competition policy network industries

Public Value under Chaotic Conditions

Economic interpretation of public value was elaborated in welfare theory and public choice literature. Nowadays public value describes the value that an organization contributes to society (Moore 1995). The authors discuss this definition and look for a more focused concept of value. The chaotic conditions can be defined according to chaos theory or as conditions of disorder. The authors show conditions for chaos’ situations. Even in situations that are characterized by deterministic model, the model solutions and public value may become unpredictable because of non-linear relations between variables or of initial conditions prevailing. Disorder situations occur in case of natural disasters, extreme population changes, economic crises, transformation situations and a breakdown of unions and national states. The difficulty to formulate public values are discussed for different kinds of disorders and evaluation scheme

A STANDARD FRAMEWORK OF SOCIAL ACCOUNTING – THE POSSIBILITIES OF INTEGRATION INTO TRADITIONAL ACCOUNTING SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

U radu se obrađuju teorijski pristupi društveno odgovornom računovodstvu kroz pregled njihovog razvojnog tijeka, obilježja i ograničenja. Informacije tradicionalnog računovodstvenog sustava nedostatne su za obuhvat društvenih koristi i društvenih troškova proizašlih iz djelovanja poslovnih subjekata u privatnom i javnom sektoru. Njihovim obuhvatom, procjenom, priznavanjem i prezentiranjem dobivaju se vrijedne informacije koje su od značajne koristi u efikasnoj alokaciji i upravljanju resursima te podizanju razine blagostanja u društvenoj zajednici, stoga je u ovom radu predložen okvir sustava društveno odgovornog računovodstva te mogućnosti njegove integracije u tradicionalani sustav računovodstva i izvještavanja. Predložene su njegove mogućnosti implementacije u računovodstveni sustav institucija visokog obrazovanja kao proračunskih korisnika, čime su ujedno prezentirane mogućnosti uvođenja i integracije sustava društveno odgovornog računovodstva s tradicionalnim proračunskim računovodstvom.The paper provides an overview of theoretical approaches to social accounting, discussing its developments, features and limitations. The traditional accounting information is not sufficient to cover social benefits and social costs made by private or public entities. Their measurement, recognition and disclosure provide valuable information significant for efficient allocation and management of resources, contributing in such a way to the social wealth growth. That is why this paper provides the social accounting framework exploring the possibilities of its integration into the traditional accounting and reporting system. These possibilities are discussed through the high education institutions’ accounting system, thus suggesting how the social accounting system could become integrated in the governmental accounting system which is applied by those institutions