Regional Formation and Development Studies

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.

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 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.

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.

Audit activity is a variety of service industries, and cannot be developed independently of the major trends in this area. A strategicdirection in the development of audit is creation of the international market of auditing services with unified rules and standardsregulating audit, and creation of uniform quality criteria. This article examines the concept of quality audit service, analyzes themain problems of legislative and methodological character in the area of external and internal audit control in Latvia, and considersopportunities and ways of improvement based on international experience. The research results can be applied to construction anddevelopment of the systems of external and internal audit control, which will be providing the most reliable information about thestate of business of companies-customers, their performance and prospects for sustainable development. The financial stability ofa company, confirmed by the independent, objective opinion of an auditor, increases the growth of investments, the price of shares,improves the company’s reputation in the financial market and ultimately contributes to the stable development of a region.

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.

The methodological approaches of determining of living standard in regions are presented in this article. Studies of living standardare complex, and in order to compare regions, multivariate statistical methods are suggested for use. Other approaches may specifyand clarify the regional features of living standard. The regional cost of living surveys in Lithuania studies are not prevalent, but themethodology can be adapted to the Lithuanian case.

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.

The paper deals with the situation of entrepreneurship in three rural cross-border regions of Lithuania bordering on Kaliningrad Region and Poland, i.e. with Jurbarkas, Šilutė, and Vilkaviškis districts. The entrepreneurship factors in rural areas have been summarised, the outcomes of the research in the entrepreneurship factors of the rural areas of Lithuanian cross-border regions have been presented, and the factors impeding business development in the region have been named. In the contemporary society, the significance of the impact of entrepreneurship in economic, social, and psychological processes of the society development has been increasing. The direction of the society progress and the trajectory of its development is related to its members’ entrepreneurship abilities and opportunities. Individual’s entrepreneurship contributes to the perception and identification of the new opportunities of activity development, thus increasing the social welfare.

Convergence is one the main targets of enlarged EU. According to the analysis of the main sustainable consumption and productionindicators, except domestic material consumption, convergence has been taking place in new EU member states over the period ofeconomic growth in 2000–2007. However, as indicated by the results due to the global economic crisis in 2009 differences betweenthe countries have increased: the convergence rate – the coefficient of variation – increased. In overall terms, countries in CEE haveimproved in most cases and converged to the average of the group. However, in terms of sustainable development, convergencenot always indicates positive changes. New EU member states while striving to reach higher economic level should maintain lowerlevels of consumption, waste generation and pollution. Much more attention to energy and resource efficiency and decoupling ofeconomic growth and resource consumption is to be paid.