Baltic International Academy

About: Baltic International Academy is a education organization based out in Riga, Latvia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Logic synthesis & Parametric statistics. The organization has 81 authors who have published 96 publications receiving 231 citations. The organization is also known as: Baltic Russian Institute.

Cryptocurrency market development in latvia and the baltic states

Abstract: The use of digital money creates not only threats, but also opportunities for economic development, but in Latvia and the Baltic countries, they are not sufficiently researched and not widely spread. The paper aims to identify the reasons for the lagging behind of the Baltic countries and Latvia in the development of the cryptocurrency market and to develop recommendations for improving its regulation and functioning. Based on the methods of cross-country, statistical and sociological analysis, the national factors of differences in the functioning and regulation of cryptocurrencies in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania have been identified and the risks of its use for illegal activities have been assessed. It is shown that the role of cryptocurrencies in the financial markets of the Baltic States is determined by the degree of their use for payments and investments, which depends on their recognition by the state and investors. It has been revealed that the definition of the concept of cryptocurrency in the EU and the Baltic countries, primarily in the money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) directives, does not stimulate the use of its positive features. A correlation between the restrained attitude towards cryptocurrencies in Latvia and its large-scale business relations with the CIS countries with a higher proportion of shadow economy, caused by the peculiarities of its history and geographical location, has been revealed. The Latvian banking system, under the influence of international regulators, has become less appropriate for operations of non-residents from the East, which increases the risk of using cryptocurrency for ML/FT purposes. The factors of motivation, advantages and difficulties of the businessmen of the Baltic countries they face when dealing with cryptocurrency have been identified, and a discrepancy in the regulation of taxation of transactions with cryptocurrency and the respective activities in Latvia has been revealed. Recommendations are given to the state and private investors pertaining to the integration of cryptocurrencies into the economic space, the implementation of which will contribute to the development of the digital economy and growth of wealth of Latvian residents. The results of the study can be used to improve government regulation and private investments in the cryptocurrency market, as well as in the study and further research of this problem

Long-distance truck drivers coping strategies and hardiness: self-assessment procedure and implicit association test

Abstract: The activity efficiency of long-distance truck drivers is determined not only by professional knowledge and skills, but also the psychological features, such as hardiness and coping strategies to cope with stress The relationship between coping strategies and hardiness measured with implicit methods has not been studied enough The research aim is to study the relationship of hardiness measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and self-assessment procedures with coping strategies among long-distance truck drivers Research questions focused on the study of this relationship Participants: 40 males, long-distance truck drivers, M=296, SD=69 years Implicit method: Four experimental procedures of the IAT on the basis of two-categories were developed (IAT1 - Commitment, IAT2 - Control, IAT3 - Challenge, IAT4 - Hardiness) Explicit methods: "Dispositional Resilience Scale, DRS-15" (Bartone), Strategic Approach to the Coping Scale (Hobfoll) Positive and negative implicit effects for assessments of Hardiness, Control and Challenge were revealed The greatest number of negative effects found in Challenge The regression equation for the dependent variable Hardiness (implicit) contains predictors Control and Commitment, measured by the IAT There is a difference in the relationship between coping strategies and implicitly and explicitly measured hardiness and its components

Intelligent Constructing Efficient Statistical Decisions via Pivot-Based Elimination of Unknown (Nuisance) Parameters from Underlying Models

Abstract: The big question in statistics is: How can we eliminate the unknown (nuisance) parameter from an underlying model? Eliminating unknown (nuisance) parameters from an underlying model is universally recognized as a major problem of statistics and has been formally studied in virtually all approaches to inference. A surprisingly large number of elimination methods have been proposed in the literature on this topic. The classical method of elimination of unknown (nuisance) parameters from the model, which is used repeatedly in the large sample theory of statistics, is to replace the unknown (nuisance) parameter by an estimated value. However, this method is not efficient when dealing with small data samples. The Bayesian approach is dependent of the choice of priors. In this paper, a new method is proposed to eliminate the unknown (nuisance) parameter from the underlying model. This method isolates and eliminates unknown (nuisance) parameters from the underlying model as efficiently as possible. Unlike the Bayesian approach, the proposed method is independent of the choice of priors and represents a novelty in the theory of statistical decisions. It allows one to eliminate unknown parameters from the problem and to find the efficient statistical decision rules, which often have smaller risk than any of the well-known decision rules. To illustrate the proposed method, some practical applications are given.

Expert Estimation of the Ways for Creating Energy Security Potential in Latvia

Abstract: Object of the research is the condition of energy supply in Latvia. Goal of the research-analysis of data on electric energy production in Latvia and assessment of the ways of creation of the energy security potential of the country. Methods of the research are analysis of statistical data, methods of expertise. The leading producer and supplier of electric energy and heat in Latvia is JSC Latvenergo. One of the main aims is diversification of ways of energy resource supply to Latvia. The Ministry of Economic Affairs of Latvia plans by the year 2030 to decrease the volume of imported energy resources by 2 times and produce half of the energy by using own renewable energy sources. At present there is a discussion in Latvia about construction of another large hydro power plant with the output about 200 MW on river Daugava in the Daugavpils region. In the discussions the new HPP is considered as more ecological and economic alternative than construction of Visaginas Nuclear PP. The part of Latvenergo in the project of VNPP will correspond to 1 billion euro or 20% that will guarantee supply of not more than 275 MW of energy to Latvia. In Latvia there is a wide scatter of opinions about possible ways of development in future production of electric energy in the country. For analysis and elaboration of recommendations concerning the ways of forming the energy security potential in Latvia a method of expertise was used. The estimates obtained from the expert query show large difference in their opinions. Fuzzy Set Theory was used. The conducted analysis and the obtained results of mathematical processing by various methods of expert opinion make it possible to conclude the following: the most promising directions for electric energy industry development in Latvia and for creation, on this basis, of energy security potential of the country is construction of a HPP and heat power plants using the own energy resources. The direction of wind power energetics development is recognised as important. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.26.2.3327

Socio-economic problems and disparities of the Latvian labor market

Abstract: In the article main tendencies of the Latvian labor market development in 2008 to 2014 are investigated with identification of contradictions in its development in the conditions of the European integration. The objective of the survey is to study and analyze issues of labor market performance in Latvia in the conditions of its EU membership as well as to development recommendations on its improvement and regulation. Main trends and statistics of labor demand and supply structures of the Latvian labor market across different professions/spheres are analyzed. Its main contradictions are investigated by means of the Beveridge curve and labor market tension coefficients. Primary conclusion is that the main reason for current trends and contradictions in the Latvia labor market lies in the relatively low level of economic development of the country compared to more developed EU countries. The survey confirmed existence of a positive correlation between the development of the labor market (in terms of the labor demand) and the level of economic development of the country. A conclusion is drawn on the existence of disparities between the professional structure of labor demand and labor supply in the national economy. In Latvia today level of hidden unemployment remains high and the regional differentiation of unemployment is considerable. The labor force is characterized by high mobility due to problems with employment and wages, as well as the low level of socio-economic development of Latvia. Аnalysis of the main tendencies in the development of the labor market allows for a conclusion that the employment policy in Latvia does not correspond to the priority directions of economic policy of the EU in the field of employment, therefore the majority of measures for accelerated of the human resources development included in the development programs of Latvia do not bring desirable results. Following the vector set by external circumstances (and, first of all, by the EU guidelines, member of which is Latvia), will lead to yet greater disbalance of the Latvian economy, and, first of all, to deformation of its labor market, because of the loss of human resources and to yet greater load on its social system. To overcome the negative phenomena in the employment sphere, a set of measures for forecasting the general needs of the state in the workplaces is proposed using of systemic approach. The set of measures is also proposed to improve the employment policies for economically active population and regional policy of labor distribution, carrying out the balanced investment and tax policy, and also growth of enterprise activity of small and medium-size business as the basis for the well-being of Latvia inhabitants.