The purpose of presented study is to find out main issues of development of eco-innovation in the Baltic States and to outline the main directions for further research, where the tasks of study are: to clarify the concept and definition of eco-innovation; and to estimate the current situation regarding eco innovation's development in the Baltic States. The research methods used, depending on the task: literature review, descriptive and inferential statistics, comparative method, as well as content analysis and systematization. European eco-innovation index (countries' performance) shows that in general the Baltic States are lagging behind both other EU Member States and Baltic Sea Region countries. Although Estonia is the leader among Baltic States, Lithuania shows faster growth but Latvia lags behind.

The paper presents the results of studies devoted to clarifying the role of social capital, and its relation to innovations and development, particularly in rural areas. The latest insights in types and forms of social capital in economic context are described. The development of agricultural cooperatives as an example of social capital has been evaluated. Conclusions suggest that agricultural cooperatives are developing successfully and perform innovative activities. Keywords: social capital, cooperatives, agricultural, Latvia.Straipsnyje analizuojami mokslinių tyrimų rezultatai, siekiant išsiaiškinti socialinio kapitalo vaidmenį ir jo ryšį su inovacijomis bei vystymąsi kaimo vietovėse. Pateikiamos naujausios socialinio kapitalo tipų ir formų įžvalgos ekonomikos mokslo kontekste. Straipsnyje atliekamas žemės ūkio kooperatyvų, kaip socialinio kapitalo pavyzdžio, vystymosi įvertinimas. Išvadose teigiama, jog žemės ūkio kooperatyvai vystosi sėkmingai ir užsiima inovacine veikla. Raktiniai žodžiai: socialinis kapitalas, kooperatyvai, žemės ūkis, Latvija.ligita mElEcE

Ammonia emissions reduction possibilities from dairy farms, where liquid manure is produced, have been investigated. For comparison five technological versions have been selected that differ by the type of dairy cattle handling as well as manure management, particularly removal. Besides, also three ammonia emissions reduction options have been evaluated: usage of straw litter, usage of liquid manure chemical and bacteriological additives and pasturing of dry cows. For every production version the possible exploitation costs, euro per year, and the specific costs calculating per the amount of nitrogen left in manure, euro per kg, have been determined. In the research it has been found that the most effective way of reduction of ammonia emissions is replacing of high boxes with deep boxes with straw litter. In this case, comparing with usage of high boxes, the manure removal costs as well as the specific costs that are referable to the amount of nitrogen left in manure are reduced by 30-35 %. Adding of chemical or bacteriological additives to liquid manure and pasturing of dairy cattle reduce the specific costs by 5-7 %. Nevertheless, in the calculations it has not been included that adding of these additives in manure collection canals that are installed in the barn reduces ammonia emissions not only in the barn, but also in the manure storage. Therefore, the obtained cost-effectiveness is even greater.

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There has been a growing interest in assessing the attractiveness of territories, especially rural ones, from the perspective of stakeholders, such existing exiting rural populations, potential newcomers and new entrants. As part of the PoliRural project, the aim of the presented research was determined-to create the initial vision (i.e. definition) of rural attractiveness by considering factors that influence people's desire to live and work in rural areas. To that end, a mixed method approach combining qualitative and quantitative techniques was used. The overall research framework was executed in several sequential steps: brainstorming, literature review, survey questionnaire, data analysis, and evaluation. In defining rural attractiveness, two different but interrelated perspectives were considered, one focusing on people, the other on the entire rural ecosystem. During internal survey of project participants-respondents prioritized definitions by assigning points or scores on their preferred definition. Accordingly, an initial vision's definition of rural attractiveness was created based on the highest assessment score.

Abstract. Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of national economies, they face many barriers and constraints towards innovations, particularly eco-innovations. In the European Union (EU) eco-innovations had been recognized as an important contributor for sustainable and green growth. The aim of the study is two-fold: 1) to determine the main barriers of eco-innovations' development in Latvia; 2) to compare the state of the main identified barriers among the EU countries. The main barriers of eco-innovations are identified via statistical analysis of SMEs managers' attitudes, using the Eurobarometer survey questionnaire. Performing the statistical analysis two factors are extracted, which account 81.7 % of the common variance, and are indicated as the main barriers for eco-innovation. These factors are financial resources (72.3 % of total variance) and human resources (9.4 % of total variance). Latvia and Lithuania score similarly both factors, but Estonia rates the environment as the most important, leaving human resources on the second position. Using the factors as dimensions all EU countries show differences in the rates between the four clusters.Keywords: eco-innovations, factor analysis, barriers, SMEs, survey. IntroductionThe European Union (EU) strategy and policy, which is supported by legislation package, strongly turns the economic development towards sustainability. Sustainable growth is one of the priorities of the EU strategy; and is based on three pillars: economic, environmental and social. It contains initiatives supporting the green growth (e.g., circular economy), resource efficiency, zero waste programs, including the support of eco-innovations [1][2][3][4]. The resource-efficiency is a key strategy of eco-efficiency and considerably the main target of eco-innovations [5][6].At the same time, the measures related to the "green" development of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), for instance "Green Action Plan for SMEs", are also created [4]. Furthermore, it is confirmed worldwide that SMEs are the economic backbone, as well as of the EU [7][8]. SMEs represent over 90 % of all EU businesses and account for two out of three jobs; and in 2014 accounted for 67 % of total employment and 58 % of total value added in the EU average (EU-28) non-financial business, but in Latvia -79 % of total employment and 69 % of total value added [9].Although, the common concept and definition of eco-innovation being still in the developing stage [10], the shortest and the latest version has been given by the Eco-Innovation Observatory as -"…any innovation that reduces the use of natural resources and decreases the release of harmful substances across the whole life-cycle" [6]. The Eco-innovation index, which represents ecoinnovation performance across the EU Member States, shows that the level of eco-innovation capacity of Latvian enterprises among the EU-28 is rather low, because Latvia is on the 20th position with the eco-innovation index 75 (EU average -100) [11].Despite eco-inno...

The productivity and its performance is one of the core topics of economics studies. The growth of productivity is an indicator of competitiveness, as well as a possible way to achieve economic growth and wellbeing. After joining the EU, the agriculture of the Baltic countries faced increasing competition of the EU Single Market, while having relatively lower productivity indicators. Since 2004, significant structural changes have taken place in the agriculture of the Baltic countries, and it is a topical question whether these changes and overall trends in the agricultural sectors of the Baltic countries have facilitated to increase productivity. Therefore, the objective of the study is to evaluate the productivity growth of the main production factors and the total factor productivity growth in the agriculture of the Baltic countries between 2004 and 2015, in relation to the changes in the use of the production factors. The paper focuses on the value added as output, and land, labour and capital as individual inputs to obtain partial productivity measures. The evaluation of TFP is based on the Index number approach, where TFP growth is a ratio of the Output index to the Input index. The calculations and analyses show that since 2004 both the agricultural output and value added have increased in the agriculture of the Baltic countries, and also productivity performance has improved.

Abstract. The article presents the research in the most typical technologies of liquid manure transportation, spreading and incorporation using mobile aggregates. The technological versions are compared in terms of the consumption of work of the workers, exploitation costs and the possible reduction of ammonia emissions. In the research it was stated that the specific consumption of work for transportation and incorporation of liquid manure as well as the specific costs calculating per one hectare depend on the distance where the liquid manure is transported. If, for instance, this distance increases from two to five km, the specific costs increase by approximately 50 %. The least liquid manure transportation and incorporation specific costs are in the case, if the manure that is spread on the field is incorporated at once simultaneously with cultivation. Plowing in or incorporating manure with special aggregates (in the depth of 15-30 cm or 4-6 cm) these costs increase by approximately 10 %. In terms of the possible reduction of ammonia emissions deep incorporation of manure is economically more efficient (in the depth of 15-30 cm). Still, analogous results can be obtained if the spread manure is plowed into the ground immediately.