41. Estonian eVikings (with Archimedes Foundation)

Estonian eVikings (with Archimedes Foundation)

Thursday, 01 February 2001 | 4327 hits

42. The preparation of state programme „Integration in Estonian Society 2008-2013”

The preparation of Estonian state programme „Integration in Estonian Society 2008-2013” was provided by consortium consisting of PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies, University of Tartu, Institute of Baltic Studies, Hill & Knowlton Estonia, Geomedia. Consortium was assigned to support the development of integration program by research, strategic consulting, communication program and study tours. Consortium activities were funded by the European Union. See more: Estonian Integration Strategy 2008-2013 (pdf) Integration Strategy Implementation Plan 2008-2010 (pdf)  

Friday, 01 February 2008 | 4968 hits

43. „Minorities in Transition: A Force Forward Rather than Backward.“

Rahvusvaheline projekt, milles IBS oli Eesti poolseks partneriks. IBS juhtis märtsis 2007 Tallinnas korraldatud rahvusvahelist ümarlauda ning koostas raporti; osalemine ettekandega vähemusrahvuste olukorrast endise NSVL riikides projekti lõppkonverentsil mais 2007 Budapestis; poliitikasoovituste koostamine vähemusrahvuste olukorra kohta endise NSVL territooriumil. Teostamise aeg: 2007

Thursday, 01 February 2007 | 4677 hits

44. Creating an Online Database System of Civil Society Funding Opportunities

"Creating an Online Database System of Civil Society Funding Opportunities" is a project financed by the Open Estonia Foundation’s ’Fund for Non-Governmental Organisations’, aiming at creating online database system of foundations that finance the activities of civil society organisations. The foundations listed in database will be mostly from outside Estonia and their area of activity will cover the development of democracy and civil society, social integration, minority protection, equal treatment and antidiscrimination. Access to database is free of charge and will be online in March-April year 2010. See more: Open Estonia Society NGO Fund     This project is supported by the Open Estonia Society NGO Fund

Tuesday, 12 January 2010 | 4753 hits

45. Globalization of R&D and Developing Countries

Globalization of R&D and Developing Countries Proceedings of the Expert Meeting, Geneva, 24-26 January 2005 Download

Saturday, 01 April 2006 | 3877 hits

46. Competitiveness and Future Outlooks of the Estonian Economy

Competitiveness and Future Outlooks of the Estonian Economy R&D and Innovation Policy Review Marek Tiits, Rainer Kattel, Tarmo Kalvet, Rein Kaarli (2003) Download   Foreword In the last few years lively discussions have been held in Estonia about what the country’s hitherto economic growth has rested on and how to speed it up in order to catch up with the average living standard of the European Union. Knowledge-based economy is increasingly the key term used in the discussions about the strategies of future economic development in Estonia, Europe, Asia as well as in America. The Estonian Research and Development Council, as strategic advisor to the Government, has substantial contributions to make in these discussions. In general terms, the Regular Report on Estonia’s progress towards accession to the European Union, as well as the World Economic Forum and several other organisations estimate Estonia’s economic situation and its future perspectives to be promising in the global competitiveness setting, pointing out, however, a few dangers that need to get the Government’s careful attention in the near future. The current Review synthesises the results of various international surveys about Estonia. In their analysis the authors relied on widely accepted economic approaches. The Review aims to give a maximally objective and pragmatic view of the Estonian socio-economic conditions and foundations of development. The issues related to specifi c aspects of research policy, which are traditionally the main concern of the Research and Development Council, will only receive a cursory glance. The terms innovation policy, economic policy, or public policies in general used in this report do not represent any particular political party’s policies. The authors use them, proceeding from the classical public administration perspective, thus proposing a certain universal foundation that does not depend on the political leanings of the parties that form the Government or fi ll the seats in Riigikogu [Estonian parliament].

Monday, 25 August 2003 | 3579 hits

47. Technology-Intensive FDI and Economic Development in A Small Country: The Case of Estonia

  Technology-Intensive FDI and Economic Development in A Small Country – The Case of Estonia Marek Tiits (2007) Download   Abstract. This article reviews the role of foreign direct investment in industrialisation of various catching-up economies and draws based on this lessons for policy-making in small countries. The author states that the introduction of proactive foreign investment strategy is one of the most effective means in a small country to rapidly increase the knowledge intensity of the economy. However, the Estonian innovation policy, similarly to most of the EU new member states, has underestimated the power and role of such proactive strategies. The author calls for much better focusing of the activities of foreign investment agencies and closer co-ordination of FDI strategies with education, research, employment and other policies.  

Sunday, 25 November 2007 | 4232 hits

48. Intra-Industry trade in the Baltic Sea region

Intra-Industry trade in the Baltic Sea region Working Paper 2/2006 Marek Tiits, Juhan Jüriado (2006) Download   Executive summary The purpose of this paper is to analyse economic integration in the Baltic Sea Region as it has emerged from mid-1990s. More importantly, we seek to assess the quality of integration as conferred by the development of intra-industry trade between the two groups of countries in the Baltic Sea region: Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany at the Western coast, and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland at the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The change of several variations of the Gruber Lloyd index over the last decade indicates an increase in intra-industry trade between the above two groups of countries, but the increase is not huge. The analysis of intra-industry trade within the top 25 commodity groups reveals a remarkable increase of the share of intra-industry trade from the East to the West in a number of modern industries, such as metal and machinery, and automobile production, production of electrical equipment and telecom equipment, etc. The share of intra-industry trade has remained, at the same time, largely unaltered in traditional resource- and/or labour-intensive industries, such as wood processing and furniture or textiles and apparel production. The analysis of the change in the quality of the traded goods reveals, however, that the economic intergration in the Baltic Sea Region has so far not led to a vast increase of the competitiveness of industry at the relatively less developed Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The equalisation of market prices has predominantly taken place in the trade of raw materials, whereas the Eastern countries continue to trade with deficit in the majority of manufactured goods where the equalisation of unit prices has actually taken place. The above seems to support the results of our previous research, in which we have concluded that the economies of the Baltic States and Poland continue to act as lower value-added parts of the cross-border clusters in the Baltic Sea Region. Consequently, if catching up in living standards with the northern and western neighbours is envisioned, much more systematic investment into education and technology is needed in the Baltic States and Poland.

Wednesday, 25 October 2006 | 3610 hits

49. Industrial and trade dynamics in the Baltic Sea region

Industrial and trade dynamics in the Baltic Sea region – the last two waves of European Union enlargement from a historic perspective Working Paper 1/2006 Marek Tiits (2006) Download   Executive summary The aim of this paper is to review the dynamics of economic development in the Baltic Sea region surrounding the last two waves of European Union enlargement, i.e. the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden in January 1995; and the Baltic States and Poland joining the EU among 10 new member states in May 2004, assessing the quality of economic change and prospects for future development. We believe that economic development is path-dependent and therefore, to understand properly the observed developments, one should study carefully both the macro-economic trends and the evolution of the specialisation patterns as characterised by the changes in the structure of industry and trade – the emergence of new higher value added industries at the expense of the gradual ceasing of mature industries. Longer-term economic development is rarely smooth and sustained. The ever increasing competition stemming from the globalisation of trade, capital markets and technology leaves policy-makers therefore with a complex task of handling the Schumpeterian creative destruction. In the following working paper, we take the beginning of the 1990s as the starting point of our review, as it appeared to be an important turning point in time for many of the countries in the region, which denoted in many ways an end of an era and a start of a new one. It was the time that brought about the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it was also a point in time when several Nordic countries suffered from a severe economic crisis followed by a miraculously rapid recovery. In contrast, the crisis in the former USSR endured longer and was also much deeper. The Baltic States were the first to manage to stabilise their economies, yet at the cost of the loss of previously overwhelmingly dominant Eastern markets and a large part of the inherited industrial assets. The growth resumed in Russia only after the 1998 crisis. Even though the events were triggered by a set of fairly different events, we notice that both the public policy responses to the crisis and the outcomes of the resolution of the crises varied significantly. While the Nordic countries employed rather pro-active approaches for upgrading the existing competitive assets, the Baltic States, Poland and Russia focused predominantly on the stabilisation of the macroeconomic framework, paying relatively little attention to the actual capability of the industry to cope with rapid changes. As could be easily expected from a common-sense point of view, the above developments led to a strengthening of the industry in the Nordic countries and to the demolition of a large part of inherited, although largely uncompetitive, industries in the Baltic States as in the majority of the rest of the former Soviet block.

Saturday, 25 March 2006 | 3463 hits

50. Catching up, forging ahead or falling behind? Central and Eastern European development in 1990-2005

Catching up, forging ahead or falling behind? Central and Eastern European development in 1990-2005 Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research Marek Tiits, Rainer Kattel, Tarmo Kalvet, Dorel Tamm (2008) Download   Abstract This paper aims to assess the economic development and development policies in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries in 1990-2005, from the collapse of the USSR to the enlargement of the European Union. A great number of authors have generally seen the transition as a very positive process. They have concluded that the reform policies focusing on macroeconomic and price stability have been the key to success for CEE economies. A reliable economic environment is, of course, instrumental for longer-term economic success, as exemplified by the prolonged crisis in most of the former Soviet Union. Our analysis of the economic development and competitive advantages in the region, however, leads to the conclusion that the specific approach to transition that the Central and Eastern European countries followed came at a rather high cost. Comparative neglect and weakness of a set of policies crucial for longer-term development, such as science, technology and innovation policies, has led to deterioration in the last decade rather than the strengthening of the competitive advantages of Central and Eastern European economies. Furthermore, we argue that, in most cases, CEE countries have unfortunately overlooked or misjudged a number of development challenges, and have thus implemented policies that have generated growth at the cost of rapidly increasing risks. This is how the financial fragility of several Central and Eastern European countries has recently increased drastically, and the region seems to have virtually arrived at the brink of economic collapse. Since the CEE countries joined the European Union, the CEE governments have gradually moved towards acquiring a more active role in economic development. These policies need, however, to be strengthened considerably and reinforced by macroeconomic policies that curb current excessive dependence on foreign-financed growth.

Tuesday, 25 March 2008 | 4861 hits