showing 20 related works from this author
Availability of alternative financial resources for SMES as a critical part of the entrepreneurial eco-system: Latvia and Italy
2015
Abstract The importance of non-traditional alternative/innovative financing is gaining recognition in both developed and emerging economies throughout the world (OECD, 2012; EC, 2013; ECB, 2013; ECB, 2014). SME financing in Europe remains primarily bank based, in spite of the many policies proposed to develop alternative financing instruments (e.g. adopting directives on venture capital, improving the transparency and visibility of SMEs on capital markets, etc.) The paper aims at understanding the availability of alternative resources for SMEs by analyzing them rigorously, understanding the obstacles for the development of non-bank finance and developing recommendations to overcome them. Th…
Expenditure on public services in the countries of the European Union. Determinants of fiscal policy and public governance
2018
The aim of the article is to present the General Government expenditure on public services in the European Union countries, including selected aspects of fiscal policy and public governance. In order to achieve this aim, the varius research methods are used. The data used in the study comes from the following databases: Eurostat, OECD, PORDATA. The survey covers the period of 2007–2016. We note that expenditure on public services is an important determinant of fiscal policy and public governance. The originality of the analysis presented in the article is intended to emphasize the importance of GG spending on public services such as health and education spending in the socio-economic develo…
The phenomenon of family business and taxation
2021
Our research aims to explore and understand specifics of taxation for family business. We have to appreciate the potential of small-scale entrepreneurship, social business, family sustenance farming, mutual support within communities considering neglected policy options, finding ways to reduce obstacles built by conventional conceptualizations of economics. Survivability - the necessary step to sustainability in hard times; taxation policy should have its say. The authors believe that small-scale entrepreneurship, family business is the one of the most important economy development factors political and social condition stabilization.
Bank Stability: The Case of Nordic and Non-Nordic Banks in Latvia
2018
The banking industry is facing huge challenges due to technology-enabled innovation, to changes in customer preferences, to bank de-risking and to new regulatory initiatives. To go through all these changes, banks need to be stable. The present study contributes to the empirical literature by identifying the determinants of stability of banks in the Latvian Banking Industry. This study covers both bank-specific (endogenous) factors and macroeconomic (exogenous) factors that impact the stability of banks. The data set used in this study is the annual financial statements of Latvian banks operated in the period 2003-2016. Using multivariate regression analysis techniques, we found evidence th…
The Impact of Population Ageing and Social Stratification: The Case of Latvia
2019
Population ageing and social stratification is widely assumed to have detrimental effects on the economy yet there is little empirical evidence about the magnitude of its effects. The aim of this article is to investigate the relationships between population ageing and social stratification and the state of economy of a small and post-transition economy. We are looking for these relationships and their strength of influence; at what time after shocking these variables reach their original levels. We apply standard Granger (non-) causality tests, VAR (Vector Auto-Regressive), IRF (Impulse Response Function) and the prediction error variance analysis by using quarterly data from 2000 to 2018.…
<p>A Country Pandemic Risk Exposure Measurement Model</p>
2020
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a Pandemic Risk Exposure Measurement (PREM) model to determine the factors that affect a country’s prospective vulnerability to a pandemic risk exposure also considering the current COVID-19 pandemic Methods: To develop the model, drew up an inventory of possible factor variables that might expose a country’s vulnerability to a pandemic such as COVID-19 This model was based on the analysis of existing literature and consultations with some experts and associa-tions To support the inventory of selected possible factor variables, we have conducted a survey with participants sampled from people working in a risk management environment carrying o…
FinTech in Latvia: Status Quo, Current Developments, and Challenges Ahead
2021
FinTech has been in the focus of discussion for quite some time. However, the market share of FinTech companies is still relatively small compared to that of more traditional financial services. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the status quo, current developments, and challenges ahead for the Latvian FinTech sector. We combine three analyses: a political and legal, economic, social, and technological environment (PEST) analysis
Access to Finance: Baltic Financial Markets
2014
Abstract Access to finance is considered one of the main obstacles to successful financial market development. Access to finance was second-ranked most pressing problem faced by companies in the Euro Area and one of the main barriers to company's innovation capacity. The study results highlight the need to recognize that countries require sound and well-functioning financial markets. Only in this case financial markets can provide much needed sources of investments such as sound banking loans, properly regulated securities exchanges, venture capital, and other resources.
Financing in SMEs: Case of the Baltic States
2014
Abstract Access to finance represents one of the most significant challenges for SMEs’ entrepreneurs. To ensure SMEs creation, existence and growth it is vitally important to understand the financing needs of SMEs and entrepreneurs, the main obstacles to finance availability and accessibility. The study indicates the difficulties in SMEs financing for the three Baltic States and provides the governments and other stakeholders with a tool to understand SMEs’ financing needs. The study results highlight importance of alternative resources of external financing for small developing countries such as the Baltic ones and the need to support the design and evaluation of policy measures and to mon…
Business models of FinTechs – Difference in similarity?
2021
Abstract The FinTech industry is gradually maturing and offers a wide range of financial services on the global stage. Still, the understanding of FinTech business models remains at its infancy with a shortage of cross-country comparisons. This paper aims to determine the differences in business model attributes of FinTechs in five rapidly emerging FinTech hotspots in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Survey results from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, accompanied by cluster analysis, enable us to provide unique in-depth evidence on FinTech business models. Across the selected countries, we observe significant differences in the attributes of FinTech business models: key act…
ASSESSMENT OF LATVIAN PENSION SYSTEM IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN PILLAR OF SOCIAL RIGHTS
2021
Latvian pension system is considered to be one of the most sustainable, but it should be mentioned that financial sustainability may be achieved in different ways and sometimes the aspects of sustainability are estimated without considering system’s ability to provide equity, equality and adequacy of retirement provision. The European Pillar of Social Rights has been proclaimed in 2017. According to this statement delivering on the principles and rights defined under the Pillar is the joint responsibility of the EU institutions, member states, social partners and other stakeholders. The 3rd chapter devoted to social protection and inclusion establishes the key approaches to determining the …
SMEs Digital Journey Report : Latvia 2021
2021
This research is funded by the Latvian Council of Science, project DIGISMES, project No. LZP-2020/2-006
The Challenges Faced by Life Insurance Companies in the Baltic States
2020
The Baltic life insurance market is a young steadily growing market. It began its development in the early 1990s when all three Baltic States, specifically Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have regained their independence. The Baltic life insurance market is limited due to a relatively small size with approximately six million inhabitants in all three countries. Additionally, the operations have deteriorated due to the low interest rates and the negative fluctuations in the financial market. The lessons learnt by the life insurers in the Baltic States are useful to other small countries in the European Union (EU) as well as to the larger States, to help bring to light the challenges of those …
FinTech Study Latvia 2020
2020
This study provides an overview of the current state and the developments in the Latvian FinTech environment. This is also the first attempt of the research team at the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics of the University of Latvia to explore the Latvian FinTech landscape and increase the visibility of Latvian FinTechs and is part of a larger European survey targeting FinTechs in Eastern Europe.
Assessment of bank financial health in Latvia
2019
Financially strong, trustworthy and reliable banks form the basis of every economy and are a vital precondition for the stable economic development of every country. The financial health of banks is important for different stakeholders, including bank clients, correspondent banks, state and others. Therefore, lack of appropriate measures for bank financial health can cause a number of risks for the bank stakeholders. Traditionally the assessment of bank financial health and reliability is done by the international rating agencies as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch. These ratings are widely recognized worldwide; however, due to different reasons ratings assigned by the international rat…
Latest trends in assessing pension reforms
2019
Old age pension provision constantly creates an increasing financial pressure on most of the EU countries, therefore some of European countries are in a further stage or reforming pension system, others already completed transformation and became an object of analysis and surveillance for researchers and policymakers. Over the years attitude towards the role of pension system in economy changed significantly from simple provision of retirement benefits and income distribution to indisputable contribution to a very wide range of economic, social and other processes. Nowadays pension system is supposed to be the instrument of impact and all reforms, even parametric, have a consequent effect o…
Liquidity Synchronization, Its Determinants and Outcomes under Economic Growth Volatility: Evidence from Emerging Asian Economies
2021
This study investigates the country-level determinants of liquidity synchronization and degrees of liquidity synchronization during economic growth volatility. As a non-diversifiable risk factor, liquidity co-movement shock spreads market-wide and thus disrupts the overall functioning of the financial market. Firms in Asian markets operate in legal and regulatory environments distinct from those of firms analyzed in the previous literature. Comprehensive analyses of liquidity synchronicity in emerging markets are limited. A major knowledge gap pertaining to Asian emerging markets serves as the primary motivation for this study. Seven Asian emerging economies are selected from the MSCI emerg…
Alternative Financing of SMEs in the Baltic States: Myth or Reality?
2014
Abstract Alternative financing for small business can help companies whose owners can’t get traditional financing resources as small business loans, overdrafts and personal credit cards. New companies typically seek alternative financing when their companies have not been in business long enough to establish credit profiles with financial institutions. Access to alternative financing together with traditional financial resources represents one of the most significant challenges for new SMEs not only in the Baltic States but all over the world. Ensurance of new SMEs creation, existence and growth asks understanding of SMEs’ financing needs and alternative funding is one of them. Alternative …
Digital Banking in Northern India: The Risks on Customer Satisfaction
2021
The widespread use of digital technologies and the current pandemic (COVID) have fueled the need and call for digital transformation in the banking sector. Although this has various benefits, it is a disruption to the norm to which a bank customer has to become accustomed. This variance means that customers would have to make some changes to their routine. This can constitute risks in terms of maintaining customer satisfaction at previous levels. These risks are associated with customer retention because a service or product needs to be aligned with customer expectations to avoid them switching to other service providers. Moreover, it can also have an effect on reputa- tion. Offering digita…
Main factors of emotionally attached customers in retail banking of Latvia
2019
How the banking strategy in Latvia is changing? How can banks increase the number of active clients? Are banks in Latvia focusing to attract new clients or prefer to work with the existing client portfolio? How can the retail banking sector in Latvia impact the customer loyalty? The regulation developed by the Basel Committee and the regulations of The Financial and Capital Market Commission impacted the number of banks in Latvia and the number of active clients in retail banking. Latvian banks are getting more flexible in customer services and actively working to increase customer loyalty. If previously banks actively attracted the new clients to increase the number of customers, now banks…