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The article reports on the results of an economic and sociological study conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with Daugavpils University (Latvia) in 2020-2021. The study aimed to identify the reasons for the disparity in the development of small towns in Latvia. A comprehensive approach was taken to integrate the results of territorial, spatial and socio-economic analyses. By employing the methodology of indexing and ranking large-scale empirical data characterising the development of all small towns in Latvia, the authors attempt to identify the reasons for the disparity in the development rate of small towns in Latvia. The index of territorial development of regions, cities and rural settlements was developed and has been tested by the State Agency for Regional Development of Latvia since 2013. The data collected were then analysed taking into account the geographical location of small towns. The research showed that the main factors influencing the development of small towns are the level of business activity and the role of local authorities in the provision of public funding. The article describes prospects for the polycentric development of small towns and analyses the ways of reducing disparities in their development in terms of the working and living conditions of their residents.

We analyze the effectiveness of a vocational training (VT) programme targeting unemployed youth in Latvia, contributing to the scant literature on active labour market policies in transition countries. The programme we analyse is part of the Youth Guarantee scheme (2014–2020), the largest action launched by the European Union to combat youth unemployment after the 2008 financial crisis. Although the programme was targeted to youths aged between 15 and 29, priority was given to those younger than 25 years of age. We exploit this eligibility rule in a fuzzy regression discontinuity design framework to estimate the impact of VT participation on the probability of being employed and gross monthly labour income at given dates after the training. Using rich administrative data, we find that the age priority rule increased programme participation for the youngest group by about 10 percentage points. However, participation in the programme did not lead to statistically significant positive effects in labour market outcomes. We argue that this result could be due to some specific characteristics of the programme, namely the voucher system (potentially inducing lock-in effects) and the type of training (classroom instead of on-the-job training). Moreover, the programme was targeted at ex-ante low-employable individuals (e.g. without vocational qualifications), a fact that is confirmed by our analysis of the characteristics of the population of compliers with the age priority rule.

Den 11e mars 2020 deklarerades att Covid-19 var en pandemi. Behovet av att snabbt ta fram ett effektivt och säkert vaccin blev en gemensam global angelägenhet. Trots EU-ländernas gemensamma strategi har vaccineringsfrekvensen sett olika ut i olika medlemsländer. I denna uppsats används en kombination av intensiva och extensiva metoder för att belägga ett positivt samband mellan politisk tillit och andelen vaccinerade mot Covid-19 i EUs medlemsländer. Med fokus på de två åren innan pandemins utbrott undersöks politisk tillit med hjälp av en flerdimensionell mätning på strukturell nivå. Detta görs i en jämförande fallstudie av Lettland och Litauen enligt mest-lika-design. Skillnader i korruption och integration framstår som betydande för skillnader i politisk tillit i undersökta fall. Den lägre politiska tilliten i Lettland jämfört med Litauen verkar vara en bidragande orsak till Lettlands lägre andel dubbelvaccinerade invånare fram till den 17e oktober 2021.

Vad avgör Lettland och Moldaviens syn på alliansbyggande, upplevt hot och säkerhet och vilka variabler kan förklara de olika utfallen? Studien är en jämförande explorativ sådan vilken analyserar alliansbyggande perioden 1991-1997 utifrån indikatorerna geografisk närhet, offensiva intentioner, aggregerad makt samt offensiv förmåga som hämtats ur Stephen Walts teori balance of threat. Materialet bygger på böcker och vetenskapliga tidskrifter som anses pålitliga och relevanta. Studiens resultat visar på att Lettland blev avskräckt av Rysslands offensiva intentioner i det geografiska närområdet, medan Moldavien uppfattade ett internt hot med utbrytarrepubliken Transnistrien som faller under geografisk närhet. Lettland ansåg att det mest säkra var att sträva efter medlemskap i NATO medan Moldavien höll sig kvar inom Öst.

När andra världskriget drabbade Baltikum satte tusentals flyktbåtar kurs mot Sverige. Ombord på dessa båtar fanns inte bara människor, utan också väskor och bylten som packats med allehanda saker. Fotoalbum, silverbestick, dopklänningar, böcker och nallebjörnar fick för första gången gunga på Östersjöns vågor, tillsammans med fiskegarn, kompasser och ibland även skjutvapen. I Föremål på flykt får dessa ting, sparade i byrålådor och på vindar runt om i landet, bli vägvisare till vaf som i estnisk och lettisk historieskrivning har kallats den stora flykten. Minnessakerna speglar enskilda människors öden i det ockuperade Baltikum, men också delade minnen och erfarenheter av flykt. De bär på berättelser om hopp och förtvivlan, om vardag och strapatser och om saknad och överlevnad i tider av ofred och uppbrott. Som små men färgstarka pusselbitar utgör föremålen ett viktigt bidrag till förståelsen av migration och bildar ett unikt kapitel i Östersjöns historia., Flyktens materialitet

The article analyses the neighbourhood effect in the voting behaviour of the Latvians at the four recent parliamentary elections, the ethnic and national leaning of parties considered. The study expands a set of electoral geography tools by adding modern techniques of spatial analysis as well as by increasing the knowledge on the position of the Russian speakers within Latvia’s political party landscape. The research aims to evaluate the role of the neighbourhood effect at Latvian elections and identify stable spatial voting clusters. The degree of spatial autocorrelation and changes in it were analysed for each parliamentary party and the non-parliamentary but still influential Latvian Russian Union (LRU). Statistically significant spatial clusters of high and low support were identified and compared; their steadiness over the study period was examined. The structure of these clusters is generally the same for the ‘Russian’ parties (Harmony and the LRU), whilst the ‘Latvian’ parties are characterized by greater spatial diversity. The analysis shows that regions bordering on Russia have clear spatial clusters where election results correspond to the parties’ attitudes towards Russian speakers and the Russian Federation. The ‘Russian’ parties and those more or less favourably disposed to Russian speakers (For a Good Latvia, For Latvia from the Heart) have clusters of high support in the area and the ‘Latvian’ parties of low. This pattern, however, may be due to the high proportion of the non-Latvian population in Latgale (a region with strong historical connections with Russia) and the character of the development of the border area, rather than to the proximity to the Russian border.

After the fall of communism, the healthcare systems of Central and Eastern European countries underwent enormous transformation, resulting in departure from publicly financed healthcare. This had significant adverse effects on equity in healthcare, which are still evident. In this paper, we analyzed the role of government and households in financing healthcare in eight countries (EU-8): Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. A desk research method was applied to collect quantitative data on healthcare expenditures and qualitative data on gaps in universal health coverage. A linear regression analysis was used to analyze a trend in health expenditure over the years 2000-2018. Our results indicate that a high reliance on out-of-pocket payments persists in many EU-8 countries, and only a few countries have shown a significant downward trend over time. The gaps in universal coverage in the EU-8 countries are due to explicit rationing (a limited benefit package, patient cost sharing) and implicit mechanisms (wait times). There is need to increase the role of public financing in CEE countries through budget prioritization, reducing patient co-payments for medical products and medicines, and extending the benefit package for these goods, as well as improving the quality of care.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, and in the fi rst democratic national elections of 1993, voter turnout in Latvia was 89.9 per cent. However, by the late 90s, participation levels had signifi cantly decreased. Scholars have pointed out that this decrease was a result of people gradually learning the limits of democratic governance while tackling the feeling of political powerlessness and decreasing trust in politicians and political institutions – all of which have had negative effects on civil society and democratic ideals. Youths in particular were affected by the sum of all this, seeing, first-hand, income inequality, economic stagnation, corruption, and personal unemployment (or that of their parents). All this, combined with a lack of democratic traditions, has resulted in scepticism and political apathy. This paper shows that, since 2009, Latvia has seen a decrease in all forms of political participation, including a share of its youths who run as MP candidates in elections. The paper aims to clarify what would help bring Latvian youths back into politics.

This article aims to analyse migration from the post-Soviet space to the north-eastern periphery of the EU (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) and examines the hypothesis about these states, once countries of origin, turning into destinations for migrants. A change in the socio-economic paradigm and accession to the EU sped up economic development in the Baltics and Poland. Despite growing welfare and income levels and a decline in the unemployment rate, further economic growth was hampered by the outflow of skilled workforce and resulting labour shortages. In response, the governments of the Baltics and Poland drew up programmes to attract international labour. Soon these countries transformed from exporters of labour into importers. Unlike Western European countries, Poland and, to a lesser extent, the Baltic States are trying to attract migrants from neighbouring nations with similar cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In the long run, this strategy will facilitate migrant integration into the recipient society. The Polish and Lithuanian governments are devising measures to encourage ethnic Poles and Lithuanians to repatriate from post-Soviet republics. To achieve the aim of the study, we investigate the features of migration flows, trends in migration, migration policies of recipient countries, and the evolution of diaspora policies.

The decline of civic engagement has been an issue for several EU Member States. To promote civic engagement, digital tools have been perceived as one of the possible solutions both at the EU and national levels. Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that has intensified digitalisation in many forms and sectors, the issue of digital solutions for civic engagement has regained its relevance and topicality. In the last decade, Latvia has been among other EU Member States in which civic engagement has become a concerning and long-term challenge. For instance, as opposed to Estonia, voter turnout in the most recent national and European parliamentary elections has gradually declined in Latvia. There are also limited digital possibilities through which Latvian society can participate and influence the political agenda daily. Therefore, this article provides an overview of the provisions and guidelines at the EU level to address the issue of civic engagement by promoting digital democracy tools. Secondly, it analyses what digital tools exist in Latvia to promote civic engagement. Thirdly, by comparing the digital civic engagement solutions implemented in Estonia and Latvia, the lessons learned are drawn. Finally, using data from quantitative (polls) studies (before and during the COVID-19 pandemic), the article provides recommendations for Latvia in the context of I-voting.

This study explores whether the diffusion of gender-equitable attitudes towards female employment is associated with fertility. We argue that any positive effect on fertility requires not only high levels of gender-equitable attitudes overall, but also attitude convergence between men and women. We analyse 27 countries using data from the World Values Surveys and European Values Studies. We find support for a U-shaped relationship between changes in gender role attitudes and fertility: an initial drop in fertility is observed as countries move from a traditional to a more gender-symmetric model. Beyond a certain threshold, additional increases in gender egalitarianism become positively associated with fertility. This curvi-linear relationship is moderated by the difference in attitudes between men and women: when there is more agreement, changes are more rapid and the effect of gender egalitarian attitudes on fertility strengthens.

Post-Soviet nations exhibit a variety of regime types, from democracy, as in Estonia, to dictatorship, as in Belarus. Some nations have undergone transitions from democracy to dictatorship, while others the reverse. New time series data on regime institutions reveal in more detail the post-Soviet dynamics of these transitions and the way in which the Soviet legacies and the geopolitical dominance of Russia remain critical. In this chapter we study the evolution of governmental institutions in post-Soviet former republics and compare their transitions and institutional sequences from Soviet times, relying primarily on the unique data set MaxRange on political institutions in nations of the world. In pioneering analyses it is shown how improved methods of comparative politics and use of categorical data in evolutionary tree analyses can help us understand why and how post-Soviet nations differ in transitional dynamics.

In this study we analyze the convergence of GDP per capita from 2000 to 2013 (current prices and euro exchange rates) for eight countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) of the European Union (CEE8). Some convergence indicators are also calculated for the CEE8 as a whole. The main purpose of this study is to shed some light on the impact of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) on regional convergence in advanced emerging countries, like the CEE8. The main result of random effects panel regressions for unconditional beta-convergence is that significant convergence is found for the whole period from 2000-2013, but not for sub-periods on either end of the sample, except for Hungary and Poland. This means that convergence in most CEECs is only significant if the GFC is included in the estimation period. The role of capital regions for the convergence process is an item for future research.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals appoint that all Member States have agreed to try to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030. This includes financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines for all. The World Health Organisation has defined the Universal Health Coverage as a priority, which means that all people can use the preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health care services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship. The classic approach of the unmet medical needs is defined as the total self-reported unmet needs for medical care for the following three reasons: financial barriers, waiting times, too far to travel. According to the Eurostat data, overall range of unmet medical needs in Latvia is the highest of the European Union countries, however, the accessibility of health services depends on a multitude of factors that relate to the health system and also to the patients themselves. Therefore the Multi-criteria decision analysis approach could be acceptable for assessment of the unmet medical needs. The data on unmet medical needs for Latvia should be additionally evaluated, taking into account the “therapeutic need”, which refers to the need for a better treatment than the treatment currently reimbursed, from the perspective of the patient. Apart from therapeutic need, the concept of societal need should be investigated, which refers to the need for a better treatment than the currently available treatment for societal reasons.

This article addresses the question of willingness to defend one’s own country and a similar notion of resistance, should Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia be attacked. The study principally relies on quantitative data from a dedicated nationally representative survey across all three countries. The data acquired thereof reaffirm findings from previous studies concluding that the highest level of willingness to defend one's own country is in Estonia, while it is lower in Latvia and in Lithuania. Asked if and how respondents would resist in case of an attack, more willingness to resist either non-violently or violently was expressed by respondents in Lithuania, ahead of the number of willing to do so in Estonia and more so in Latvia. Demographic background of the respondents visualized and discussed in the article provides further nuances of both research questions. While situation with the willingness to defend Estonia is relatively comfortable, this should not be treated as a reason for complacency. There is still room for progress within some groups of the society. Meanwhile, valuable lessons could be drawn for policies of Latvia and more so of Lithuania to avert some of the less flattery trends identifed in this study.

The Bologna Process indicates that preparation for living as active citizens in a democratic society is one of the main purposes of higher education. Moreover, other relevant European strategies postulate that social competences development in HE graduates as well as the European Qualifications Framework should comprise the pillar of 'competences: autonomy and responsibility'. The United Nations and OECD emphasise the role of education and developing social competences, too. Higher Education Institutions' (HEIs) educational mission involves the transfer of knowledge and skills, as well as shaping the social competences of students. This article aims to show good practices in the development of students' social competences by different HEIs. Based on the cases the findings were formulated that the development and assessment of social competences in HEIs is possible, however, one standardised solution cannot be developed. Diversity is crucial in the presented programmes. Our main recommendation is to create room for debates about social competences in the researched countries and in the whole EHEA.

This article seeks to describe the dynamics of COVID-19 in the Baltic States and to analyse the ways of communicating the threat and its consequences. Particular attention is paid to the media strategies pursued in the study area. The research is based on Russian and English texts from the Baltic media, WHO official documents and datasets, as well as initiatives of the Baltic Sea region organisations (2020) counteracting COVID-19. A combination of these sources builds up an objective view of the situation and demonstrates how the pandemic and its consequences are represented in public consciousness given a certain pragmatic goal. The pandemic is a new type of threat; its consequences demonstrate a tendency towards negative synergy and a category shift from soft threats to hard ones. The research shows that several key strategies - counter-active, projective, conservative, mobilising, resilient, and reflective - are used to communicate the threat and its consequences in the media.

This paper aims to shed light on work-life balance in Latvia during the state of emergency. The COVID-19 outbreak has led many governments to introduce lockdowns. While the restrictions imposed may help to contain the spread of the virus, they may also result in substantial damage to the well-being of the population. The COVID-19 outbreak in Latvia demonstrates the extent and ways in which socio-demographics has determined different patterns of behaviour, attitudes, employment changes and harmonised work and life balance. The study describes the development of COVID-19 in the country chronologically. It shows labour migration to and from Latvia before the COVID-19 outbreak, and then discusses geographical features of the distribution of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The extent of the COVID-19 threat is assessed focusing on the global, national, regional and intra-family levels. Finally, types of employment and work-life balance are analysed according to the geography and age groups.

Background: Public awareness and engagement are among the main prerequisites for protecting the rights of research participants and for successful and sustainable functioning of research biobanks. The aim of our study was to analyse public awareness and attitudes towards research biobanks in Latvia, and to compare these data with the results of the 2010 Eurobarometer study. We also analysed the influence of awareness and attitudes towards biobanks on willingness to participate in biobank studies and on preferred type of informed consent. Methods: We developed a 12-question survey repeating seven questions about biobanks from the 2010 Eurobarometer questionnaire and adding five others. After describing the study variables, we performed a two-stage analysis of the results. In the first stage we analysed differences between the answers from 2010 and 2019 and conducted univariate analyses of relationships among particular variables, and between those variables and the socio-demographic characteristics of participants. In the second stage we investigated multivariable associations of willingness to participate and type of consent with awareness, trust and the socio-economic characteristics of participants. Results: According to our study, the general public in Latvia is still not well informed about research biobanks. Fewer respondents have heard about research biobanks than in 2010. At the same time, the number of respondents who are willing to donate biological samples and personal data to a biobank has increased, e.g. the number of respondents who would definitely or probably be willing to provide information about themselves has increased from 25.8.% to 40.7 since 2010. Overall, concerns about the donation of different types of biological samples and data to a biobank have slightly decreased. Conclusions: Public awareness about biobanks is important for their sustainability. It needs to be increased not only by traditional methods of informing the public, but also by

A strong link between citizen preferences and public policy is one of the key goals and criteria of democratic governance. Yet, our knowledge about the extent to which public policies on specific issues are in line with citizen preferences in Europe is limited. This article reports on the first study of the link between public opinion and public policy that covers a large and diverse sample of concrete public policy issues in 31 European democracies. The findings demonstrate a strong positive relationship and a substantial degree of congruence between public opinion and the state of public policy. Also examined is whether political institutions, including electoral systems and the horizontal and vertical division of powers, influence the opinion‐policy link. The evidence for such effects is very limited, which suggests that the same institutions might affect policy representation in countervailing ways through different mechanisms.

Nation-states and national identities are a product of European history and have been the most salient framework of spatial identification since the nineteenth century. In the past decades, however, the EU has attempted to foster a supplementary European sense of identity, embodied in the notion of European citizenship. Moreover, the European continent encompasses various macro-regions that have been presented as having certain historical significance and that play a role in identity politics. Two prominent examples are the Baltic and the Mediterranean regions. This study reconstructs through interviews the overlapping identifications of Latvian and Greek migrants, respectively – migrants who have moved to Sweden in different time periods after the Second World War up to the present. The interviews focus on issues related to integration, feelings of belonging and spatial identification with the countries of origin (Latvia, Greece) and residence (Sweden) in order to understand the significance of the nation in the current European context. Another aim is to examine how the idea of a common European identity, as an aggregate based on national and regional affiliation, works in practice. Furthermore, the interviews executed in this study give an account of how migrants position themselves in relation to the Baltic Sea region and the Mediterranean as well as to alternative macro regional spaces. The study of immigrants’ narratives about their social and everyday life, and their personal experience of coping with public authorities seeks to improve our understanding of the current phenomenon of internal European migration, which is still an under-researched field. The analysis shows that the nation, both that of origin and of residence, remains the most significant space of identification for the interviewed EU-migrants. It is obvious that the EU has not brought forth a European identity parallel to the national one. However, elements of European identification and belon, Nationalstaten och nationell identitet är produkter av europeisk historia som sedan 1800-talet är den viktigaste utgångspunkten för individers upplevelse av rumslig identifikation. Under de senaste decennierna har EU också försökt att aktivt utveckla framväxten av en kompletterande europeisk identitet, uttryckt i idén om ett europeiskt medborgarskap. Förutom det rymmer den europeiska kontinenten olika makroregioner som presenterats som historiskt viktiga och som spelar en identitetspolitisk roll. Två centrala exempel är Östersjöregionen och Medelhavsregionen. Genom intervjuer med lettiska och grekiska migranter som kommit till Sverige under olika tidsperioder, från andra världskriget fram till idag, syftar denna avhandling till att rekonstruera intervjupersonernas överlappande identiteter. Frågan om vilken betydelse identitet kopplad till nationen har i dagens europeiska kontext utforskas genom att intervjuerna fokuserat på frågor som handlar om integration, känslor av tillhörighet och rumslig identifikation med ursprungsländerna (Lettland eller Grekland) och till det land där de nu bor (Sverige). Avhandlingen bidrar även till att undersöka hur strävanden att åstadkomma en gemensam europeisk identitet, som en kombination av nationell och regional tillhörighet, kan fungera i praktiken. Intervjuerna som genomförts för denna studie ger vidare en inblick i hur migranterna positionerar sig i relation till Östersjöregionen respektive Medelhavsregionen och till andra möjliga makroregionala rum. Migranternas berättelser om bland annat sociala nätverk, vardagsliv och personliga erfarenheter av att hantera offentliga myndigheter, bidrar till att ge insikter om inom-europeisk migration, ett fält där forskningen för närvarande är begränsad. Analysen visar att nationen, både ursprungslandet och vistelselandet, är den viktigaste rumsliga enheten för identifikation hos de intervjuade EU-migranterna. Det är tydligt att EU för dessa mig