Regional Formation and Development Studies

This study explores the determinants of tax revenue in eight post-transition European Union (EU) economies: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary. Despite the shared institutional trajectories and simultaneous EU accession in 2004, these countries continue to display significant variation in tax-to-GDP ratios. Using panel data from 2004 to 2022, and applying a fixed effects model with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors, the study examines key macroeconomic and structural variables shaping tax revenue outcomes. The results indicate that financial inclusion and openness to trade proxied by debit card usage are positively associated with tax revenue, while rising public debt has a significant negative effect. Other variables, including foreign direct investment and inflation, show weaker or model-dependent relationships. The findings highlight the role of the financial infrastructure and macroeconomic openness in explaining tax revenue performance in post-transition economies. The paper contributes to the literature by offering region-specific empirical evidence and informing fiscal policy in structurally evolving EU member states.

European Union support for Lithuania undoubtedly makes a positive impact on economic growth and it structure. But there is even more important that a considerable funds flowing to different regions of Lithuania, and are focused to their economic development, the promotion of cohesion and human resources development. From the beginning of Lithuania’s independence the territorial differences of regional development began to emerge, which progressively deepened over time. These differences affected the sector of human resources: the economic activity of the population, education, knowledge, skills and other areas.The development of human resources is one of the objectives of European Union’s regional policy. Therefore, the aim of the study – to analyze the changes in use of European Union funds in Lithuania’ municipalities over the 2007–2013 period.

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%.

This study aims to reveal the evolution of the EU-Japan relations towards a comprehensive and fully formalized strategic partnership, the main determinants of that process, as well the importance of the political and economic alliance. In the evolution of the EU-Japan relations, there were identified four stages – 1960–1990, 1991–2000, 2001–2010, 2011–2018 – which had led up to a strategic partnership regulated under the framework of political and economic agreements. In future, the Strategic Partnership Agreement and the Economic Partnership Agreement might enhance the regional and global influence of the EU and Japan.

The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 to 2010 increased the size of the public debt and decreased the fiscal space. The problem stems from the fact that fiscal resources are limited. Many OECD countries had used a substantial part of their limited fiscal space. Researchers suspected that higher levels of public debt in the future could slow down GDP growth. The first attempts to detect the tipping point at which GDP growth stalls or loses steam were made right after the GFC. However, the discussion was left open. The Covid-19 crisis required the further use of unprecedented amounts of fiscal stimulus resources to stabilise the economic situation. The objective of this paper is to establish whether new data of elevated public debt levels in relation to GDP confirms that higher levels of debt to GDP have an impact on future GDP growth and future financial stability. Debt and GDP data from OECD countries for the years 2000 to 2026 was used in order to carry out multilinear regression analysis, establishing the relationship between debt and future GDP growth. The results provide compelling evidence that the accumulation of higher debt levels slows down GDP growth, and require more fiscal resources in the future to stabilise the economic situation, compared with countries with lower accumulated public debt levels. Hence, higher inflation will require even more resources to service the debt.