Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

The discussion about the impact of financial development on economic growth is still relevant for economists. However, in recent years, after the financial crises of the first decade of the 21st century, there has arisen certain scepticism about the positive impact of the growing financial sector on economic growth rates. Moreover, specific cases of negative consequences of such a connection or its absence have become known. The 2008-2010 crises, certainly, played an important role in rethinking the nature of the impact of the financial sector on the real sector in the economy, which led to new arguments in favour of a relatively more cautious approach to stimulating the financial sector, given the potential negative effects on the country’s socio-economic security. The aim of the research is to determine the nature of the relationship between financial development and economic growth and its direction in Latvia in the period 1995–2017.

In terms of sustainable development, various forms of partnership are an important prerequisite for the development of companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Clusters are considered to be an effective form of support and innovation development for SMEs. Thus, enterprises working as a part of clusters are more efficient, flexible and resistant to external influences than large and hierarchical organizations. Clusters often arise spontaneously through the activities of local stakeholders who want to benefit from the synergy of the factors in the region, such as the existence of suppliers and customers, skilled labour force, specific resources and infrastructure. There are more than 20 clusters operating in the Slovak Republic. The majority of cluster members are SMEs. SMEs have many specificities and their engagement with clusters is influenced by various factors. For instance, many SMEs are often not sufficiently innovative or find it difficult to implement the results of their research and development into practical and successful innovation in the market. Bearing in mind the conditions of sustainable development, the authors examined the reasons why SMEs got engaged with clusters and enhanced their further development in terms of competitiveness. Moreover, the authors placed emphasis on their ability to innovate their products, technologies and/or services. Attention was also paid to the increased number of joint projects in the field of business, new market placement options and access to new information, as well as the acquisition of new partners, and employment growth in the regions in which these enterprises operate. The purpose of the paper was to identify the most relevant reasons why SMEs got engaged with clusters in terms of sustainable development. In order to achieve this purpose, an empirical study was carried out. The results were evaluated by quantitative tools of statistics (percentage, average values, standard deviation, chi-square test and Cramér’s V). The results showed that the most important reasons that made SMEs’ engage with clusters were entry to new markets and getting new partners.

The scientific literature points out that cooperation increases the capability of an enterprise to engage in innovative activities. Besides, due to a change in the concept of regional development, much greater focus in growth in territories is placed on human capital, and the essential role of education and knowledge in innovation is stressed as well. Sustainable innovation is not only an economic category, and it mainly involves a social process where cooperation plays a great role. The research aim of the paper is to assess cooperation as a factor influencing sustainable innovation in the regional aspect based on the case of the bioeconomy industry in Latvia. The development of the bioeconomy represents transition from fossil to renewable sources, and it encompasses important industries of the economies of the regions of Latvia: forestry and agriculture. In Latvia, bioeconomy industry enterprises were quite cautious in their innovative activity and mainly focused on existing innovations that they adapted to their needs, and their innovative activity was observed only within their region. A positive fact is that most of the enterprises highly rated their cooperation with scientific and research institutions in developing innovations. The promotion of cooperation is one of the objectives that specialists of the Entrepreneurship Centres of the planning regions of Latvia have to deal with, yet their capacity is not sufficient for the promotion of cooperation among innovative enterprises in the region in the context of sustainability.

The article is dedicated to the research and assessment of trust and partnership impact throughout the main authors of innovation cooperation - universities, business and state. This impact is put on the innovative cooperation’s development of the border region (Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus) and production of innovative products and services in that region. The research region is consisting of the regions of Latvia (Latgale region), Lithuania (Vilnius region, Alytus region, Utena region, Panevezys region, Kaunas region), Belarus (Vitebsk, Grodno region, Minsk region, Mogilev region). Lack of attention to the above issues, related with border region, stresses the importance of the article. Innovations are key factor in long-term economic development of the region. The main condition for development is a purposeful formation and effective functioning of the territorial innovation system, in which one of the factors of its successful development is trust between participants of the system. The information base of the research is survey of 620 entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises in the border region.

Drawing on policy variation across European countries this study analyses the differences, similarities and the best practices in officers and serviceman reintegration into labour market after their early retirement. The success of reintegration depends on national labour market policy towards employability and specific measures in employment assistance for officers and serviceman. The search for sustainable approach toward employability of retired officers and serviceman fostered to conduct institutional survey. The survey was conducted using set of connections of military attaché and the network of CEPOL1. Analyzing retirement practice of the police and the military in EU countries, it is noted that the police officers retirement is organized 5-10 earlier than full retirement; their pension is worth a substantial part of previous salary. For that reason, reintegration programs are not needed and in majority of countries do not exist. The situation in military is different. Military rejuvenation forces to cut middle-age people into early retirement. It means that they will have to reintegrate into the labour market in order to maintain a similar level of well-being for themselves and their families. Results reveals four different types of reintegration programmes for serviceman in EU member states.