Regional Formation and Development Studies

These papers printed in this journal we can divided to some groups. Some papers are exclusively oriented to solutions of regional problems, like Borisas Melnikas describes transformations in regions economics; Gabrielė Burbulytė-Tsiskarishvili analyzes adaptation of synthetic indicators for Lithuanian regional policy; Audrius Kutkaitis shows sustainable development indicators formation methodology; Vytautas Juščius, Agnė Šneiderienė show influence corporate social responsibility on regional development; Ligita Šimanskienė, Jurgita Paužuolienė did research about migration reasons and consequences. Simona Ereminaitė and Janis Paiders, Juris Paiders describe what kind of public relations problems arise in regions. Economic aspects in world economy analyze Elena Efimova, Natalia Kuznetsova, Rimantas Stašys bei Deimena Kiyak ir Igor Sergeev, Tatiana Ponomarenko. Consumers’ affections for choice to by some products, it is the way how develop better economic growth of region describe Jolanta Žemgulienė, Erika Župerkienė, ir Irma Babičaitė, Inese Aleksejeva, Violeta Grublienė, Lina Šimkuvienė. Tourism sector were analyzed by Eduardas Spiriajevas bei Marija Kučinskienė, Aida Mačerinskienė. So this journal number should be interesting for different field of scientists and business people.

The aim of the study is to analyse new axes of cleavages which came into existence in Poland after 2005. The analysis is presented in the context of generally accepted notions and concepts of political cleavages. The methods used for the analysis are: comparative method and historical method. Findings of the research are presented in the following way. First, the author determines that cleavages in Poland only partially correspond to classical cleavages, then identifies and analyses new stimulators of political cleavages in Poland, which appeared after 2005. A significant role in the consolidation of cleavages played political parties, which instead of translating the existing social conflicts to the level of authority, became the creators of cleavages.

The ability to measure public sector performance is a necessity for policymakers as well as academics and citizens of a country. This article aims to identify ways of measuring public sector performance using the measurement applicable to all countries and outlining opportunities for comparability among them. Thus, the authors highlight opportunities for performance measurement and public sector efficiency using various methods of non-parametric and parametric analysis. The starting point of the analysis considers the concept of performance, encompasses the proposed terms of productivity, efficiency and effectiveness; therefore, the measurement of public sector performance requires an exhaustive analysis in multidimensional terms, covering all core areas of a country. Moreover, understanding and developing robust international comparison possibilities will give in practice a structural framework for measuring the performance of particular relevance. Study findings indicate that performance measurement and implicitly public sector efficiency is a complex and difficult task that goes beyond simply measuring of productivity and efficiency, and requires aggregation of several key areas related to the results of a state. In summary, the analysis framework of the performance and efficiency of public sector is outlined both in terms of relevance of indicators and the methodology used. It demonstrates that methods of non-parametric analysis work at their best when all aspects of the production process can be captured in a limited number of input and output dimensions.

This article briefly presents the history of digitization of public administration in Poland. Statistical data of GUS and Eurostat (especially from 2012 to 2016) is used, based on which the profile of the Internet user and his/her expectations for the authorities and experience with e-government are described. The author attempts to understand why citizens–internet users (including the unemployed) do not use the Internet. The author points out three IT projects that were implemented in the citizen services sector under the supervision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. However, the first attempts at computerization of the administration were not effective enough and – as it could be expected – they were not cheap either. The situation changed in April of 2016 when the family assistance program “Family 500 Plus” was introduced. It turned out that with 2 million applications submitted, almost 0.5 million were received electronically, 95% of which were sent via the Internet banking system. The author concludes that the simplest way to popularise e-government is to combine Internet banking systems with state administration systems.

Straipsnyje analizuojamas gamybos įmonės įvaizdis klientų požiūriu. Teorinė analizė atskleidė, kad gamybos įmonės įvaizdžio struktūrą sudaro: organizacijos vidinis, vadovo, darbuotojų, prekės ir paslaugos, prekių ženklo įvaizdžiai. Kadangi klientas pasirenka prekės ženklą, gamybos įmonės įvaizdis turi išsiskirti iš kitų rinkos dalyvių teigiamu aspektu ir būti kažkuo individualus. Remiantis atlikto žvalgomojo tyrimo rezultatais, išskiriami gamybos įmonės įvaizdžio trūkumai: socialinis atsakingumas (7 %), vadovo išvaizda (3 %), darbuotojų paslaugumas (8 %), paslaugos kokybė (7 %), darbuotojų lojalumas prekės ženklui (7 %). Nepašalinus šių trūkumų, galima susilaukti iš klientų netinkamo požiūrio į gamybos įmonę ir taip prarasti klientus. Klientų požiūris į gamybos įmonės įvaizdį itin svarbus, nes apsprendžia ateities lūkesčius ir galutinius rezultatus.

The paper presents the corruption issue by highlighting the actual situation of corruption in the Slovak society. This problem has a historical background when after 1993 the Slovak Republic was separated from the Czech Republic. The author offers theoretical attitudes which are necessary to apply in practice for to improve situation in Slovakia. Theoretical information was gained from relevant sources. The author tries to apply official results from Transparency International and other institutes. The media has great effect on public opinion and therefore investigative journalism should be developed which could uncover media property and corruption in the whole society. Journalism should be independent of politicians. It should be objective, full of truthful information with verifiable sources. In the last part of the paper some solutions are suggested which should be applied in practise as they can help to address corruption solutions. In other words, necessary measures may support the healthy environment with social welfare and spur development of the society.

Geothermal and hydropower projects tend to be capital intensive and with long repayment periods. These projects can be challenging, especially in developing and emerging countries in transition often characterized by changing and unpredictable political and business environments. Developing and emerging countries are eligible for support from international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank Group and regional development banks and can also receive assistance from bilateral donor institutions. PPPs enable pooling of public, private and donor funds for clean energy investment. A well designed PPP can be a venue for scaling up funding for clean energy investment internationally. However, little point exists in forming PPPs if, for example, the private sector partner captures most or all the benefits, or if the government keeps changing the rules of the game resulting in a non-viable project. The focus of this article is on PPPs, potential benefits and challenges for host governments and various partners, including the private sector, bilateral donors, and multilateral institutions such as IFIs. When disputes occur between the private sector and host governments, IFIs can potentially play an important role in resolving disputes and help ensure the fair sharing of the risks and the rewards of the PPP for all the parties involved. The objective of this article is to review some recent theoretical research recently done on PPP, potential benefits as well as some challenges using this model in developing and emerging countries.

The study presents alternative measures for measuring the welfare of a country in the context of identifying relationships generated by the impact of changes in the income level, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), related to other welfare, measured by the Happy Planet Index (HPI). The analysis was conducted in Romania, during the period from 2012 to 2016. The research methodology involves simple linear regression and welfare descriptive variables such as GDP, GDP/capita, HPI and its subcomponents’ indicators, namely life satisfaction, life expectancy and ecological footprint. Identification of aspects that have an impact on the welfare of citizens allows to compare levels of wellbeing experienced worldwide and to identify the main areas at the national level on which improvements can be made. The results indicate that, although there is no correlation between GDP and HPI, GDP/capita has great influence on both life satisfaction and life expectancy. Also, GDP has influence on the ecological footprint. Given these considerations, the main conclusion of the research is that, although the level of welfare, quantified using GDP, changes positively, this change is due to the increased life expectancy, life satisfaction, reduced ecological footprint rather than to changes in income levels.

Personality profiling nowadays is a common organisational practice aiming to identify a set of traits of an individual, which distinguish him/her among other people. Based on the assumption that personality factors constitute a fundamental indicator of development potential of a particular person, it is possible to depict his/her functioning style in a job position and hence predict professional suitability in performing a given professional role. The research project was conducted by the means of the 2010 Polish adaptation of the NEO-FFI Personality Inventory. The analysis pointed out the differentiating effect of a professional group under the influence of the results obtained in Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience, and Conscientiousness. The major differences between the groups of managers and specialists occurred in Neuroticism, the lesser ones in Extraversion and Conscientiousness and the least in Openness to Experience. However, the analysis did not reveal any interaction effects between professional group and gender. However, it showed a concurrent influence of age and professional group on the level of Extraversion and Conscientiousness.

“Gray customs system” is an illegal practice of getting goods across the border without official customs approval. Such practice makes a negative impact on Russia-China economic relations and is, therefore, considered as a barrier for bilateral economic relations between Russia and China. In this context, the paper examines the problems occurred due to the gray customs system and the action taken to mitigate this problem. The research method used for this article is the case study method referring to secondary data, scholarly literature and reports.