The article discloses the perception of market, which is important talking about e-commerce. E-commerce is a phenomenon without borders. This global dimension of e-commerce proposes different themes such as taxation, jurisdiction, consumer protection, and market perception. One of them (the perception of market) is investigated from different perspectives in this paper and the perspective of e-commerce as well. The analysis of economic scientific literature on e-commerce published by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Harvard University Press, Springer, M. E. Sharpe, Routledge, etc. show that 35% of the authors (from 0,54 mln. in total) give attention to the issues of markets. Most of these authors investigate e-market (virtual market), business-to-consumer market and only some of them define the market. In the literature on marketing published by leading world publishers 53% of the authors (from 0,9 mln. in total) analyse the issues of markets. Most of the authors discuss the issues of market segmentation, market potential, and market entry (by ranking order). From all of the authors only 0,17% of the authors investigate the perception of relevant market. It is also interesting that topics about market are also popular between authors published books on trade: 49% of authors (from 1,62 mln. in total) give their attention to selling markets. From all of authors only some of authors (0,11% of authors) give the introduction to the terminology of market. In the literature on competition (published by the same publishers) discussion about market is provided by 35% of authors (from 0,35 mln. in total) and the theoretic aspects of market – by 1,1% of them. So, the results of such analysis show the importance of research, which combines both: the perception of market and e-commerce. This also shows that the perception of market is discussed more often in the literature on marketing, trade and competition than in the literature dedicated to e-commerce. The paper presents the results of investigations in such context. The scientific problem can be formulated – there is the lack of perception about market in modern theories, theoretical generalisations and solutions on the theme of e-commerce. The study presented in the paper contains three different aspects. First, the perception of market is disclosed. The terminology of market is investigated in different literature and the presentation of methods and main criteria, which are used for the comparison of markets, is provided. Second, the new model, which can be used for the comparison of export markets, is presented. Third, in the paper the developed profile is applied to case study looking up for practical evidence. The article is based on comparative and multi criteria analysis. For the comparison of export markets, a set of criteria and the multi criteria evaluation method (COPRAS) is used. Several groups of criteria: the positive criteria and negative ones are defined and used for the comparison of export markets. The results of the study can be used by on-line sellers when they choosing export markets, which are the most attractive for selling products in European Union. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.5.1094

Many experts have recently noted that cloud computing is a key driver of digital technology and ubiquitous revolution. Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid. In the paper we concentrate on “clouds” in the context of universities. The aim of paper is to create the conceptual framework of the cloud university platform. The concept of European Cloud University is a new idea to make universities to be more competitive in a global setting and provide a broad set of educational services to customers. It provides a large-scale platform for exchange of information, views, mutual learning and practical cooperation between innovation policy and innovation support actors with an interest in, and willingness to contribute to the improvement of the design, implementation and delivery of innovation policies and support measures.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.5.1074

In theoretical reviews, a land reform and an agricultural reform might cause different consequences, creating various possibilities. The consequence of a reform is directly shaped and determined by its goal. The goal of the forth land reform in Latvia was the restitution of property rights on land, which were granted during the previous (third) land reform. During the third land reform, Latvia was mostly an agricultural country and the land was distributed in a way that every family could have a piece of land for their own subsistence. Small subsistence farms were especially characteristic of Latgale. The paper presents research results on the development of agriculture impacted by the fourth agricultural reform in the most problematic region of Latvia, i.e. Latgale, as the rate of unemployment increased and incomes of the population substantially decreased in Latgale after the reform was implemented. The research aim of the paper is to analyse the changes in the structure of farms in Latgale, which were caused and impacted by the agricultural reform, the commercial orientation and output capacity of farms, and to ascertain the dynamics of value added in farms of various economic sizes. It was found in the research that the structure of small subsistence and semi-subsistence farms, which emerged as a result of the land and agricultural reform, constantly and significantly changes; the number of small and very small farms decreases, and the land resources are concentrated in large and largest agricultural enterprises. The research revealed that the largest part of farms in Latgale (85%) do not produce agricultural commodities for sale or sell a small part of them, but irrespective of it, the number and share of farms producing all their agricultural products for the market gradually increased over the researched period. An analysis of total standard gross margin showed that half of it in Latgale is derived from small and very small farms, but the total standard gross margin per ha of utilised agricultural area constantly rises with an increase in the economic size of farms, and the efficiency of large farms is almost three times higher than it is for small and very small farms. Therefore, the dominance of small and very small farms in Latgale significantly hinders an increase in the productivity of farms. An analysis of output of the key agricultural industries (crop, livestock, and dairy farming) showed that the total output of agricultural produce after the fourth reform is several times behind the level it was in the beginning of the agricultural reform. The output of meat is dramatically low.An analysis of value added showed that the amount of value added in Latgale region is directly related to the consolidation of farm land and the concentration of production: with an increase in the economic size of farms, a net value added per ha of actually utilised agricultural area, per lat of total output, and per annual work unit rises.

The key objective of the Long -Term Development Strategy of the Republic of Lithuania, as formulated in this Strategy is to create an environment for the development of the state’s material and spiritual welfare that is generally described as knowledge-society, secure society and competetive society. While implementing these objectives it is crucial to do the best in order the country’s quality of life would rise.Recently, in the European Union considerable attention has been devoted to the enhancement of social solidarity. An importance of social solidarity has already been emphasized in the Lisbon Strategy. If there is no social solidarity, the fields of social tension inevitably occur. Quality of life makes a rather considerable influence on the assurance of social solidarity. Consequently, an investigation of the quality of life proves to be an unquestionably topical issue.The quality of life to a large extent depends on the country’s economical and social state. Nevertheless, at the current societal development stage, it also depends on the implementation and mastering of the new technologies, information and knowledge society development. Modern information and communication technologies and, first of all, the global computer network Internet has created preconditions and conditions to establish the information society. Further development of information and communication technologies is unquestionably directly affecting the development of information society, and at the same time makes a considerable contribution to the development of the country’s or region’s economy, is directly making a strong impact on it. At the same time it is also indirectly affecting the quality of life.This paper aims at analysing of the indices that characterise the quality of life and the indices that characterise the development of information society – for Lithuania and separate countries of various development level. At the same token, dynamics of these indices, their objective growth for Lithuania and objective dynamics for some chosen countries should be highlighted.

Various researches show that venture capital supports higher-risk investments in young, potential start-ups by reducing existing financing gap for companies without performance history, reinforces dynamic entrepreneurial spirit by producing innovative and cutting-edge technology and products for knowledge-based economy, boosts economic strength by creation of jobs and revenues in venture-backed companies. Considering the total impact venture capital could make on the long-term economic growth, most of the EU countries have pointed the development of venture capital as one of the major priorities as venture capital. Insufficient market of investors for venture capital funds do not allow to reach significant level of venture capital investments in EU countries. The higher level of venture capital investments can be achieved by stimulating investments of institutional investors into venture capital funds. Investments of well capitalized pension funds to venture capital could be very important source of long-term financing, which might ensure sustainable and continuous venture capital growth. From other side, pension funds stimulation is important not only to venture capital funds creation and development, but also to overall social insurance and pension systems in European countries, because of negative demographic Europe tendencies like aging society with increasing life expectancy, declining birth rates. Private pension systems creation and development, which would allow to get higher individual pensions, as financial stability for retired people, become one of the major priorities of governments. In many EU countries, there are quite many various legal restrictions for pension funds investments and assets allocation, which reduce the potential higher financial return from invested assets. This raised question, are there any research for pension funds investments into venture capital funds, how pension funds investments are related to venture capital, why pension funds do not invest into venture capital, what kind of instruments can be created and implemented in EU countries for stimulating investments of pension funds to venture capital.The aim of this paper is to provide main obstacles and stimulating instruments of venture capital investments development through pension funds, by explaining the relation between venture capital funds and pension funds investments and the features of pension funds activities in EU countries and main problems. Theoretical analysis of the scientific works, research papers, practical fields in this research field, statistical data analysis allowed highlighting the problematic positions concerning pension’s funds investments into venture capital funds. Though main investors in venture capital funds in EU countries in 2003-2007 periods are pension funds, there are still problems in legal environment, pension funds assets allocation, geographical investments limitation. Main obstacles and stimulating instruments of venture capital investments development through pension funds and overall situation improvement are presented in this paper.

At present the gender equality and its policy is an important element and a priority in labour market of European Union (EU) and European Employment Strategy (EES). The right to equality opportunities in the labour market to all women and men is one of the most fundamental principles of a modern society in European Union (EU), including Lithuania labour market. Different theoretical approaches to equality in the society are based on culture, political, social values and economic development in the country. The paper analyzes the gap between women and men in labour market. The gap in one fi eld of life (labour market) is related with other fi elds (education, services) and might have an impact on them. The effects of these gaps may be passed from one generation to the next.The article discusses the relationships between labour market and economical growth and later checks how the theory proved itself in the case of Lithuania. Economical growth is one of the main concerns of nowadays economical science, because the economical growth of any country increases the welfare of its citizens.The aim of the research is to determine and characterize women and men equality in Lithuania labour market and to show its relationships with economical growth in the context of European integration.Research methods applied are the comparative analysis of women and men equality in labour market in European Union and Lithuania based on the synthesis of offi cial European Community publications, scientifi c literature and systematic data analysis as well as identifi cation of gender equality dimensions using questionnaire in Lithuania.

This paper aims at analysing the role of central banks in enhancing smooth operation of payment systems towards an integrated EU fi nancial infrastructure. The research is based on a number of views regarding the signifi cance of payment systems for the implementation of the central bank’s monetary policy and improvement of the fi nancial market development process. The novelty of this research is the assessment of the launch of TARGET2 in the EU countries, including Latvia. Regarding TARGET2-Latvija, the authors have evaluated its objectives, tasks, legal framework and launching within the fi rst wave of migration to TARGET2, and have conducted the analysis of indicators determining the operation of payment systems. In the context of large value euro payments, the single shared technical platform, uniform legal framework and similar services across the EU are the advantages of TARGET2. Smooth integration into TARGET2 is the basic condition for the convergence of EU12 with the euro area countries in the payment system area.

In contemporary stage of European integration the topic of the book comes “just in time”. Looking fromoutside the topic seems multidisciplinary. It is great value of the book. After reading the book it becomesevident that delivery of ideas is essential interdisciplinary. It is next great value for the book about Europeanintegration. Integration is a complicated process, therefore request retrospective analysis. The book deals withorigins of the European Union and evolution from the Treaty of Rome to the Treaty of Lisbon. Enlargementhas been taken into consideration in the book as well.After studies of the fi rst part of the book the reader is involved into most sophisticated analysis of Europe’ssustainability in the dramatically competing world. Competitiveness of the European Union is analyzed step bystep in the book. From overview of member states geopolitical situation other factors of competitiveness hasbeen identifi ed and discussed. Emerging economies as well as enlargement countries have been disemboweled.The statement: The European Union is successful in some high-tech industrial sectors and can compete inmature, quality-based markets, but it ranks behind the US in terms of R&D investments and patent registrationsin the end of eight chapter invites the reader to look after what should be done. Further author gives the answerto the previous remark: Finland and Sweden are investing in research more than any other Union country (andmore than the average of the US) and in this way they are laying the ground for long-term prosperity.The issues discussed in the book are laid down constructively and consecutively. Third part of the bookthrows the seriously prepared reader into the jungles of Knowledge based economy and donates him the visionof Knowledge based Society. Objectives and Results of the Research as well as Institutions and Researchprogrammes are analyzed. The vision of European Institute of technology is described. It is diffi cult not toagree that Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Competitiveness are the main factors for success of EuropeanUnion in the World economies being developed towards Knowledge based society.Summarizing the values of the book which are not mentioned yet it is important to say the book is greatfor the European integration studies, written consecutively, understandably and interesting. The data given inthe book are fresh and refl ects the text supportively.I hope, the book will become the table-book for everybody - politician, clerk, teacher and student – whoare interested in the complicated topic of European Integration.

The aim of the EU regional policy is to increase the level of social and economic cohesion of the Community. The effectiveness of this policy is not unanimously agreed upon. There are regions in Europe which took maximum advantage of the Structural Funds and considerably decreased the gap between them and the average EU level (Lisboa e Vale Do Tejo), or even went beyond it (Ireland). However, there are also regions that, despite huge transfers from the EU budget, are stagnant (southern Italy) The negative examples are exploited by the opponents of the current policy. According to them, the policy’s achievement in its current shape is too expensive for the entire Union (too high opportunity cost). The same transfers used to support innovativeness in the well-developed regions would lead to an increased innovativeness and modernization of the Member States’ economies in general. The article’s aim is an attempt to answer the question about the policy’s future shape. It will depend on many factors (social and economic situation in the entire Europe, catch-up processes, political situation, etc). A different shape of regional policy could, however, mean a return to the idea of two-speed Europe, which would not be advantageous to the new Member States.

This paper discusses the efficiency of the central banks in the field of the integration process of the European System of Central Banks. The authors have based their research on a number of opinions regarding the effectiveness of expenses of central banks and the analysis of efficiency indicators of the EU central banks and the European Central Bank. The innovative aspect of this paper lies in finding trends for the efficiency indicators and policy developments of the central banks of the EU countries. Some differences have been detected for several indicators of the central banks of the EU15 countries and the central banks of the other EU countries, which prove that there is still room for improving the accountability and transparency of the European System of Central Banks.