Regional Formation and Development Studies

The subject of this paper is to present the shape, the legal basis and the prospects for the development of the European Union regional policy. This policy assumes great importance in the face of weakening of state’s structures due to the European Union bodies and decentralization of management of local affairs. The EU regional policy is a very problematic area and requires extensive studies. Thus, I confined myself to analyze the development of basis of the EU regional policy primarily through the prism of treaty law. The analysis showed a rate of development which process still continues. Despite a good legal basis, the EU regional policy still requires constant adjustment, especially when it comes to rationalizing subsidies. The passive regional policy leads to promote only the economically under developed areas. Therefore, it is necessary for the implementation of programs to support the innovation, especially in highly developed regions, which are the engine of the whole European Union economy.

Wherewith actualisation of health promotion as an important aspect in the context of public health maintenance, the questions which are connected to public joint responsibility in their health maintenance and improvement attain even greater importance. Taking into consideration the insufficient health quality of Latvian population which ranks Latvia in one of the last places among the European countries, actualisation and implementation of individual responsibility dimension in the health care financing model, is viewed as a possibility of improvement of the current situation. The research overlooked the approaches of individual responsibility integration in health care models employed by the developed countries, classifying those several parameters, established the insufficient Latvian population involvement level which is characterised by large health influencing harmful habit prevalence and low involvement level in illness prevention measures, as well as marked the main challenges and possibilities, introducing individual responsibility dimension in Latvian health care financing model which are referred to both increasing the payment solidarity and lifestyle and behaviour changes.

Medias make impact on social environment – they influence individual interrelations, communication, approach to oneself and entire world, “insist” on certain stereotypes in different situations. They take active part in socialization of individuals. Socialization is perceived as a continuous lifelong process, in which values, standards, social state, roles and patterns of social behaviour are mastered. The article analyzes impact of media (social agents) in socialization processes of individuals.

In condition of global financial crisis companies and investors pay greater and greater attention to the reliability of financial records. An efficient system of internal control (ICS) contributes significantly to this effect. The aim of the research is to consolidate the international experience in the sphere of the development and regulation of the system of internal control, to assess the feasibility of its application to various Latvian enterprises, and to propose a conception and a model of realisation of ICS in medium and small companies. According to the author, there are two main obstacles to the application of the studied theories relevant to the field of internal control in Latvia. The first one is the insufficiency of legislative framework, intended only for listed companies, and the second one is a start-up phase of business development, when the owner and top management are often combined in one and the same person and, therefore, they may believe that all is under their control and there is no need to create a special system of control. The theoretical and methodological foundation of the research was derived from the study of a wide range of activities in the field of corporate management and internal control as well as provisions of regulatory and legislative acts defining the scope of requirements to ICS. In order to achieve the set aim, several objectives were realised: the regulation of ICS in the area of corporate legislation of the USA and the EU was analysed; the conceptual principles and existing models of internal control were summarised; the concept of development of the ICS for medium and small enterprises was formulated, and the necessity to introduce recommendations to the currently effective legislation of Latvia was substantiated.

Basing on critical analysis of Latvia households’ consumption expenditure structure during the period from 2003 until 2010, the authors have identified the main tendencies of changes and characterized the main macroeconomic indicators, which have seriously influenced the consumption structure during different phases of economic cycle. The authors have applied econometric methods to characterize the correlation of particular consumption expenditure groups’ proportion with households’ consumption expenditure. The analysis enabled the authors to detect, which consumption expenditure groups exactly are the most important for ensuring the welfare level, and E. Engel’s regularity was also discussed in this respect. The analysis of the data obtained in scope of the households’ member survey enabled the authors to identify the main directions of consumer behaviour changes during the economic recession period and present proposals for improvement of consumption as a significant indicator of country’s welfare and sustainable development.

The long-term principle concept is based on setting and achieving a vision for the future of coastal zone management. The vision for the sustainable development of coastal zone management includes utilizing new advances in scientific, technical, social and economic understanding of coastal sustainability. The coastal environment, dunes and beaches are outstanding natural assets. Their wildlife, cultural, historical and archaeological resources should be passed on to future generations in similar or better conditions than they are currently. The principle of long-term management can be analyzed according to these definitions (economics, ecology, ethics) concepts: comprehensive overview of systems, detailed investigation of issues, and the planning development of management practices that have a positive effect on the future.

Economy operates in a broader social system, composed of households and enterprises but also by all institutions created by people. Law and politics is created and introduced in institutions in parallel to educational, administrative activities as well as any other social activities, including those related to the natural environment we live in. These institutions operate thanks to the social capital i.e. interconnected human resources. The quality of the social capital is dependent on mutual trust and relations in the society. For this reason, social capital is of key importance for sustainable development, both as a controller of the impact of the economy on the environment as well as the basis for the future development. The environment evolves continuously, there are rapidly changing economic processes and, in consequence, their impact on the environment is changing rapidly, tool. This brings some specific challenges to the resource and quality of human knowledge and the competence level of the human capital, as the only tool for a possible reduction of all imperfections.

The research was made to identify how the retail strategy of a specialized regional chain should be reshaped in order to meet consumer requirements and satisfy their needs, compete against different store formats and maximize business efficiency. The analysis was made to identify alcoholic beverages consumption and buying habits, reasons and choice criteria of stores, perception, image and expectations of a specialized alcohol store. Also several business development ideas were tested, such as change of the assortment and evaluation of new concept of a retail chain. Sampled respondents were from 18 to 60 years old, who have bought alcoholic beverages last three months. Survey revealed that that consumer’s choice criteria of a retailer format differs considering different buying occasions and several dominant ‘must-haves’ were identified for a specialized retail store, such as location, assortment, price level of a best sellers and image of a store.