Regional Formation and Development Studies

The purpose of the article is to present the results of an empirical study on the level of social integration of internally displaced persons in the host community. Social integration is seen as an active process involving both parties: migrants and the host population. The process is continuous, so the focus is on the degree of integration of internally displaced persons, reflected at three levels, high, medium and low. The degree of social integration of IDPs in the local community is an aggregate indicator of socio-economic, socio-psychological, cultural-communicative and socio-political elements. The study applied a set of standardised methods, as well as correlation, factor and variance analysis (Fisher’s criterion). The results show a positive tendency for integration by the vast majority of internally displaced persons who participated in the study: only 26 respondents (12.9%) had a low level, 121 respondents (60.2%) had a medium level, and 54 respondents had a high level (26.9%).

This article aims to review economic advantages of the one of the most modern cutting edge technologies, namely blockchain for eProcurement. As eProcurement (including its part – Supply chain) is a concept consisting of plenty of different processes, therefore specific advantages per such major different processes are explained. Assumptions and pre-conditions of Blockchain application are explained. Article‘s main conclusion is that due to the main characteristics of Blockchain technology (safety, transparency, reliability, speed and cost efficiency) payment settlement and products‘ shipping tracking/inventory management are eProcurement‘s phases that could benefit from this technology the most, among others (such as analysis – requirements‘ gathering, sourcing/vendors‘ selection and contract management cycle).

Straipsnyje pateiktas naujas požiūris į ekonominių procesų valdymą, akcentuojant grįžtamąjį ryšį ekonomikoje. Požiūris grindžiamas nauja holistine bendrųjų procentų idėja ir iš jos kylančiu soties (užpildymo) fenomenu. Parodoma, kad viena silpniausių vietų ekonomikoje yra neteisingas finansinio burbulo supratimas, teigiamo grįžtamojo ryšio nepakankamas ištyrimas ar netinkamas jo taikymas. Nustatyta, kad neigiamas grįžtamasis ryšys virsta teigiamu esant soties efektui, kurį lemia rinkos finansinis prisotinimas. Parodoma, kad atsiradus teigiamam grįžtamajam ryšiui formuojasi ekonominis burbulas. Pateikiamas patikslintas finansinio burbulo apibrėžimas. Taikant fenomenologinį metodą daroma prielaida, kad minios efektą gali paaiškinti susiformavęs soties efektas ir teigiamas grįžtamasis ryšys. Atliktas tyrimas atskleidė, kad ekonominių procesų valdymo analizėje, orientuojantis į bendruosius procentus (bendrąsias palūkanas), atsiskleidė nauji jo aspektai, leidę geriau paaiškinti teigiamą grįžtamąjį ryšį, prisotinimą, soties paradoksą, finansinius burbulus, infliaciją ir kitus ekonominius reiškinius. Darbe taikyta sisteminė ir lyginamoji mokslinių šaltinių analizė, modeliavimas, ekonominė logistinė analizė ir sintezė, fenomenologinis tyrimų metodas.

Since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, the Kurdish question has been the biggest ethnic issue of Turkey which became one of the important subjects in the agenda of Turkey and international organizations. The question has certain impacts on the stability of the country that is today being associated with security and terror issues. Consequently the Kurdish question challenges the state and the country in the aspects of ethnic problems, human rights, democracy, as well as socio-economic and political. The aim of this article is to uncover how the Kurdish question challenges the stability in terms of Turkish state and the Kurds. In this regard, the research engages several objectives; evaluations of approaches toward Kurdish issue, analyzing historical background, and evaluation of the issue in the present time. Research methods of the paper consists of comparative analysis of decision, document analysis on the reports and agreements, descriptive method on the developments, and media analysis to engage relevant news. The main results of the research are concluded on variety aspects of the Kurdish question, such as security, terrorism, minority issue, human rights, and so on. Thus, it creates certain impacts on the stability in Turkey both in terms of state and the Kurds regionally and internationally.

Countries and businesses focus on processes optimization aiming to cut cost and increase profit. The main keyword for achieving it is usually “innovations”. Innovations is one of the most popular trends in most economies and businesses. The paradox is that there is the lack of understanding the concept both in business and science. The term of innovations is not a new topic in the research literature. However, the problem is that the definition of the concept of innovations is constantly evolving and there is no clear definition. The paper aims to define the concept of innovations and identify the changes in the concept by reviewing the scientific literature.Literature analysis revealed that the development of innovations concept started in 1934, approaching the concept from the novelty perspective. Later new perspectives were introduced such as interaction processes, value creation and social progress. Today the concept can be defined as following: innovation is a company or consumer-initiated economic, managerial, psychological or technological process of renewal within a company, which results in greater added value and a competitive advantage.

In order to achieve the best results, many businesses in the service sector are seeking to understand the needs of consumers and involve them in the process of new services development as well. The formation of individualized consumer portrait allows business entities to get to know their target clients and identify their needs. Meanwhile, the management symbiosis is made by this involvement process and business entities have a perfect opportunity to improve their services according to suggestions and experiences of consumers. All companies, that allow their consumers to involve in the process of new services development, can create an enabling environment for the easier generation of ideas and testing of conceptual services. Such companies can be prepared for new services implementation in a more effective way as well. According to the opinions and theories of different authors, this article analyzes the impact of consumers on the process of new services development. In order to evaluate the object of the research more closely, the research was carried out from the perspective of the business subject also. In order to carry out the results of this research, the methods of comparative analysis and synthesis were used.

Šiandien susiduriame su situacija, kai turizmo sektorius nuolat sparčiai auga. Skaičiuojama, kad bendras tarptautinių turistų skaičius iki 2030 m. sieks 1,8 milijardo. Šiuo tyrimu siekiama įvertinti turizmo poveikį ekonominiu, sociokultūriniu, aplinkosauginiu aspektais dabartinės turizmo apimties tendencijų kontekste. Taikomi mokslinės literatūros analizės, sintezės, statistinių duomenų analizės, situacinio modeliavimo metodai. Tyrimo apimtyje teigiamas ir neigiamas turizmo poveikis analizuotas išskiriant tris pagrindines dimensijas: ekonominę, sociokultūrinę bei aplinkosauginę. Neigiamo poveikio persvara ypač ryški aplinkosauginiu aspektu. Nuolat augantys turizmo mastai lėmė perteklinio turizmo sąvokos apibrėžtį. Daugelyje labiausiai lankomų pasaulio šalių metinis turistų skaičius viršija gyventojų skaičių. Pernelyg didelė turizmo apimtis stiprina neigiamą turizmo poveikį. Be abejo, siekiant išsaugoti palankią ekonominę, sociokultūrinę ir gamtinę aplinką, paskatinti turizmo teikiamą naudą ir minimizuoti neigiamą poveikį, turizmo reiškinys turi būti kontroliuojamas.

Bibliotherapy is used in children’s day centers in order to provide assistance to children and adolescents from social risk families. There is evidence found in scientific literature that the application of bibliotherapy at day centers is useful for strengthening self-sufficiency, and if applied purposefully, it enables to cope with psychological problems, promotes spiritual growth and qualitative development, raises self-esteem, self-knowledge, understanding, and frees from perceptions that prevents from recognizing personal unpleasant feelings. The professional application of bibliotherapy at day centers, by working with children and adolescents, creates assumptions to strengthen the motivation regarding self-cognition, self-development and learning. The aim of this research is to answer to the question of how bibliotherapy can be applied in social pedagogical activities at children’s day centers (CDC). After a qualitative research had been accomplished (of social educators, parents whose children attend CDC), it was found that the application of bibliotherapy is justified in solving various social-pedagogical problems of children and youth (especially those associated with dealing with motivation problems of adolescent learning).

Income inequality has received widespread attention in the scientific literature. Income inequality has a significant impact on the health and education levels of the population, as well as increases social tension and crime rates, however there is less research on the impact of income inequality on people`s overall life satisfaction. In Lithuania and Latvia, income inequality expressed by the Gini index of disposable income is among the highest in the EU, whereas in Estonia, income inequality is slightly higher than the average in the EU. Similar results are also found for the Lithuania and Latvia regarding overall life satisfaction, which is among the lowest in the EU, while overall life satisfaction in Estonia is somewhat lower than the average in the EU. The aim of the research is to assess whether income inequality has a negative impact on people`s overall life satisfaction and to evaluate how fiscal policy has affected income inequality and overall life satisfaction in the Baltic States. The results of the research show that income inequality and life satisfaction are negatively correlated, and that fiscal policy has reduced income inequality in the Baltic States, expressed by the Gini index based on market income, on average by 30%.