Human capital and life satisfaction among circular migrants: an analysis of extended mobility in Europe

This article extends understandings of circular migration among young migrants (aged 16–35) by focusing on the two key concepts of human capital and life satisfaction. Drawing on a large-scale quan...

Socio-spatial polarisation and policy response: Perspectives for regional development in the Baltic States

Based on a relational understanding of socio-spatial polarisation as a nested, multidimensional and multi-scalar process, the paper applies a comparative perspective on current trends of socio-spatial development in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Comparing current scholarship and data on demographic and economic processes of centralisation and peripheralisation, we also examine political debates around issues of polarisation in different scholarly national perspectives. Despite variations in national discourses, our comparative perspective conveys strong similarities between the three Baltic countries in terms of socio-economic and demographic concentration in the capital regions to the di…

Social determinants of identity in communities: A social capital- and social categorization-based approach – findings from Latvia

The article investigates the relations, in the light of new paradigms of economic development, between trust and economic wealth at the micro level in the Republic of Latvia, by means of a structural equation modelling-based approach and a framework combining social capital and social identity theory, in a rationale of cross-fertilization between social and cognitive science. Results are also tested against control dimensions reflecting relevant divides in Latvian society (residence place dimensions; ethno-linguistic belongings; educational differences). General results support the hypothesis of the existence of a causal path connecting personal wealth, institutional trust, social engagemen…

Environmental learning in regions: a social capital based approach. The case of Latvia

AbstractHow do people learn about the environment and behave accordingly? What is the cognitive process at the base of this learning mechanism? The present paper is a pilot work investigating the dynamics of individual environmental knowledge on the basis of social capital theory. Using Tsai and Ghoshal’s findings, a well known framework widely accepted in organizational studies which supports the existence of a relationship between structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital, and between social capital and knowledge exchange, these dynamics are then tested in the context of environmental behaviour studies. The quantitative analysis is carried out by means of a structu…

Generation of social assets and sharing knowledge in a hybrid intentional community: pilot analysis from Latvia

Generavimas socialinių lėšų ir iš anksto apgalvotų žinių dalinimas mišrioje bendruomenėje: bandomasis tyrimas Latvijoje. The present paper is an attempt to investigate the dynamics of social assets building and knowledge exchange among the members of an intentional community (the National Library of Latvia users’ community) based on a hybrid social infrastructure consisting of online and offline (face-to-face) links and communication channels. Although the theoretical framework is primarily based on the social capital theory, knowledge management studies and the theory of social categorization, insights from applied epistemology are also included. The proposed model hypothesizes a positive …

Residential Change and Socio-demographic Challenges for Large Housing Estates in Riga, Latvia

Large housing estates from the socialist era are a characteristic feature of the built environment in the cities of Central and Eastern Europe. Many urban researchers are increasingly interested in residential changes in these areas, showing how demographic and socioeconomic processes interact with the decline or upgrading of this distinct type of housing. In Europe, the debate concerning large housing estates is largely related to a declining and ageing population, as well as to housing conditions. In Latvia, the underdeveloped housing market and the massive privatisation of the housing stock to sitting tenants have contributed, since the late-Soviet period, to inherited socio-spatial stru…

The gender-specific examination of migration decision-making and remittance behavior among Latvian emigrants

This article stems from a gender-specific examination of migration decision-making and remittance behavior as a proxy for the creation of gendered transnational spaces when faced with macro-economi...

Socio-spatial differentiation in transition: a preliminary comparative analysis of post-soviet St Petersburg and Riga

Research into the socio-spatial dynamics in Central European cities is an important area of contemporary transition studies. Open issues in this domain range from defining a theoretical framework to data availability and methodological approaches. As to the former aspect, recent literature focuses on the hybrid nature of the post-socialist urban space, which underwent modernization in the conditions of globalization and economic liberalization; the earlier model of spatial development changed dramatically as a result. The multi-scalar and comparative approaches may shed new light on the complex patterns of urban socio-spatial differentiation and its post-Soviet dynamics. Growing regional so…

The Impact Of Hybrid Infrastructure On Trust, Motivation And Knowledge Sharing In An Intentional Community: A Latvian Case Study

The role of ICT infrastructure in enhancing innovation processes through fostering knowledge and information exchange is a controversial topic in regional science. Opposing views exist, in particular, with regard to two topics: a) the persistence of a specific role of geographical proximity in knowledge exchange processes in the age of global virtual networking; b) the capability of virtual networking to recreate the social assets of a physical community (trust, solidarity?). Existing studies primarily focus on aggregated data, rely on doubtful epistemological assumptions (e.g. the equation of information with knowledge), and neglect several epistemological principles of social cognition (e…

KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND ENRICHMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA: THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL VS VIRTUAL COMMUNITY LINKAGES

The role of ICT accessibility in enhancing regional innovation through knowledge and information exchange is a recently popular and controversial topic in regional science. Opposing views exist, related to the bigger or lesser importance of geographical proximity in knowledge exchange in an age dominated by virtual global channels. Existing studies primarily focus on regions (macro level) as units of analysis, without investigating socio-cognitive dynamics in detail, and rely on doubtful epistemological assumptions (i.e. the equation of information with knowledge). It may be hypothesized that the debate would benefit from: a) analyses focused on the micro (individual) level; b) a more compl…

Perceptions of institutions and social capital accumulation: A social categorization and shared agency‐based approach. Evidence from the Russian Federation