Purpose This paper aims to explore the effect of sustained high inflation on public procurement participation in the European Union, both in terms of the average number of bids submitted and in the proportion of bids by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) out of all submitted bids. Design/methodology/approach Regression modelling, using contract award notices in the Tender Electronics Daily database between 2018 and 2022, at quarterly intervals. Findings Each inflation point increase is associated with a decline in the average number of offers received per tender by 0.43%. A more marked reduction of 8.6% in the average number of offers and a decrease in 3.4 percentage points in the SME participation rate are observed for firms operating in sectors that experienced very high levels of inflation (>20% year-on-year rate of change), compared with a situation of low inflation (0-5%). Social implications Claims about difficulties in delivering public contracts for the set price should be taken with a grain of salt, unless businesses operate in sectors experiencing very high inflation levels. Measures to foster competition could also reduce price pressures. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to quantitatively assess the association between high inflation and public procurement participation. Two methodological novelties are introduced: the operationalisation of sectoral-level inflation down to two-digit NACE codes, based mainly on producer prices; and a matching between two-digit NACE codes for inflation and the common procurement vocabulary codes to classify calls to bid for public contracts by economic activity.

During the last two decades Lithuania has experienced one of the highest labour emigration rates in the EU. However, during the last few years this trend has changed, and a significant number of mobile workers have returned. In this chapter we analyse the situation of the returning migrants in the Lithuanian labour market and the effect of return migration on labour productivity and utilisation. We use two different methods: a quantitative analysis of data from the Labour Force Survey and machine-based text mining of the news articles on return migration in the main news portals. The two methods cross disciplines and are rarely used together. However, we draw on them in order to address the limitations of the currently available data sets. While individual stories of return are very diverse, our data shows that the 'return of innovation' is currently more prevalent. It is likely to have a positive influence on labour productivity, while the effect on labour utilisation is quite complex: more negative on the quantitative aspect of labour utilisation and more positive on the qualitative aspect.

This paper presents findings of the literature review on the recent developments of digital government transformation. It aims to inform the current debate about the dynamics and potential impacts of such transformation. The review covers the literature on the topic developed in the past decade, with a special focus on the conceptual transition from eGovernment towards Digital Government and the intervening factors that allowed the use of digital technologies to revolutionise public services, policymaking and public governance. The literature reviewed for this paper confirmed that the barriers and preconditions for a successful digital government transformation are complex and often not technology related. In fact, the introduction of new technologies by governments is always mediated by organisational, institutional, legal, ethical and social factors. Digital technologies may transform virtually every process, system and structure of government, resulting into redefinition of responsibilities and work routines of public officials. Nevertheless, they also create issues and trade-offs that merit careful consideration and preparation before a full-blown change is introduced. In conclusion, to enable to move from eGovernment to Digital Government transformation the application of new emerging technologies is the starting point but should not be considered in isolation from other intervening factors, from their possible combination, and from their specific characteristics.

This report presents the results of the conceptual and empirical work conducted as part of the JRC research on Exploring Digital Government Transformation: understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society conducted within the framework of the European Location Interoperability Solutions for eGovernment (ELISE) Action of the ISA2 Programme on Interoperability solutions for public administrations, businesses and citizens, coordinated by DIGIT. Building on the systematisation of the state of the art carried out in the previous phase of the research, the report presents an original conceptual framework for assessing the impacts of Digital Government transformation in the EU and discusses the results of case studies carried out using an experimental or quasi-experimental approach to test and validate it, carried out in different policy areas in various EU countries. The report concludes outlining the final proposal of DigiGov F 2.0, which defines the dimensions and elements of analysis for assessing the effects that can be generated by digital innovation in the public sector and the impacts they have at social, economic and political levels in different policy-cycle phases and governance contexts.

This report provides an overview of the main activities of experts consultation and stakeholder engagement conducted as part of the JRC research on Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU: understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society (DigiGov). The aim of these activities was to validate the results of the study while gaining insights on future research directions and policy developments. To this end, a group of recognised experts and representatives of key stakeholders drawn from a diverse range of academic disciplines and practices in the areas of digital government and data for policy at European and international level were actively engaged. The consultation and engagement activities included a first Consultation Workshop in Ispra, a Policy Lab in Seville and an online Foresight Workshop, as well as the establishment of the DigiGov online community of practice, facilitated by JRC, to further disseminate scientific results and contribute shaping policy recommendations for the future of Digital Government transformation in the European Union.

This report presents the final results of the research Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU: understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society, in short DigiGov. After introducing the design and methodology of the study, the report provides a summary of the findings of the comprehensive analysis of the state of the art in the field, conducted reviewing a vast body of scientific literature, policy documents and practitioners generated reports in a broad range of disciplines and policy domains, with a focus on the EU. The scope and key dimensions underlying the development of the DigiGov-F conceptual framework are then presented. This is a theory-informed heuristic instrument to help mapping the effects of Digital Government Transformation and able to support defining change strategies within the institutional settings of public administration. Further, the report provides an overview of the findings of the empirical case studies conducted, and employing experimental or quasi-experimental components, to test and refine the conceptual framework proposed, while gathering evidence on impacts of Digital Government Transformation, through identifying real-life drivers and barriers in diverse Member States and policy domains. The report concludes outlining future research and policy recommendations, as well as depicting possible scenarios for future Digital Government Transformation, developed as a result of a dedicated foresight policy lab. This was conducted as part of the expert consultation and stakeholder engagement process that accompanied all the phases of the research implementation. Insights generated from the study also serve to pave the way for further empirical research and policy experimentation, and to contribute to the policy debate on how to shape Digital Europe at the horizon 2040.

This report presents the findings of the analysis of the state of the art conducted as part of the JRC research on Exploring Digital Government Transformation in the EU: understanding public sector innovation in a data-driven society (DIGIGOV), within the framework of the European Location Interoperability Solutions for eGovernment (ELISE) Action of the ISA2 Programme on Interoperability solutions for public administrations, businesses and citizens, coordinated by DIGIT. The results of the review of literature, based on almost 500 academic and grey literature sources, as well as the analysis of digital government policies in the EU Member States provide a synthetic overview of the main themes and topics of the digital government discourse. The report depicts the variety of existing conceptualisations and definitions of the digital government phenomenon, measured and expected effects of the application of more disruptive innovations and emerging technologies in government, as well as key drivers and barriers for transforming the public sector. Overall, the literature review shows that many sources appear overly optimistic with regard to the impact of digital government transformation, although the majority of them are based on normative views or expectations, rather than empirically tested insights. The authors therefore caution that digital government transformation should be researched empirically and with a due differentiation between evidence and hope. In this respect, the report paves the way to in-depth analysis of the effects that can be generated by digital innovation in public sector organisations. A digital transformation that implies the redesign of the tools and methods used in the machinery of government will require in fact a significant change in the institutional frameworks that regulate and help coordinate the governance systems in which such changing processes are implemented.

Previous studies of policy reforms that were undertaken during the recent global financial crisis mostly focused on fiscal consolidation, with much less attention paid to other structural reforms. Although the impact of such external shocks as crisis or change of government on systemic change is widely acknowledged, little agreement exists on which intervening factors can best account for successes or failures of reform commitments. In this article, we propose an innovative explanation that focuses on the variables of political attention and change leadership, and which analyses temporal political and policy dynamics of reform decision making. We conduct a comparative analysis of the four performance priorities of the 2008–2012 Lithuanian Government led by Prime Minister A. Kubilius. The article concludes that a combination of persistent high political attention to policy reforms and strong reform leadership aimed at mobilising coalition support are essential factors in fulfilling reform commitments.

Siame tekste pristatomas specialusis „Politologijos“ numeris, skirtas grįžtamosios migracijos tematikai. Pirmiausia trumpai aptariamas grįžtamosios migracijos reiskinio teorinis ir empirinis kontekstas. Toliau pristatomas Lietuvos mokslo tarybos finansuotas tyrimas „Savi ar svetimi: grįžusių migrantų integracija į Lietuvos darbo rinką ir visuomene“, kurį įgyvendinant buvo parengti sio numerio straipsniai. Galiausiai trumpai apžvelgiamos svarbiausios straipsnių isvados.

This article analyses whether the human capital gained abroad helps returning migrants to integrate into the Lithuanian labour market. The analysis focuses on highly qualified migrants, defined narrowly as people with higher education who held qualified jobs when working abroad. The article found that for this group of returnees professional aims were important when taking a decision to return, together with other motives such as family reasons and home-sickness. Most of the returnees were able to find employment and pursue their careers without major difficulties, although a significant minority signalled an intention to emigrate again. The article examines the key factors that sometimes helped and sometimes hindered integration of the returnees and discusses the role of the public policy.

This article offers a theoretical framework and sets several hypotheses for analysing the process of implementing performance priorities of the Lithuanian government and achieving their results. It argues that public policy decisions can be best explained by the interaction of advocacy coalitions in different policy subsystems. This process is affected by various external factors and events which are usually an important but not sufficient condition for realising policy commitments. Moreover, any assessment of the Lithuanian policy implementation should address such country-specific issues as fragmentation in the Lithuanian party system and competition between two blocs of political parties, the influence of the EU and Russia on the public policy process and reform constraints imposed by decisions of the Lithuanian Constitutional Court. This theoretical approach will be employed for explaining the implementation of six major performance priorities of the Lithuanian Government 15 led by Prime Minister A. Kubilius: (1) preparations to build the Visaginas nuclear power plant; (2) the higher education reform; (3) the civil service reform; (4) restructuring the network of personal health care organisations; (5) the structural reform of the social sector, and (6) execution of the housing renovation programme. rewards rewards system this and public sector the public sector executive’s reward system in economic and court

Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjama, ar užsienyje įgytos žinios ir įgūdžiai padeda į Lietuvą sugrįžusiems aukštos kvalifikacijos specialistams įsitvirtinti Lietuvos darbo rinkoje. Aukštos kvalifikacijos terminas gali turėti daug reikšmių; šiame tekste aukštos kvalifikacijos asmenimis vadinami tie, kurie turi aukštąjį išsimokslinimą ir užsienyje dirbo jų kvalifikaciją atitinkančius darbus. Turint omenyje, kad išvyksta ir grįžta labai skirtingų profesijų asmenys, santykinai daugiau dėmesio skirta tiems, kurie sugrįžo į verslo sektorių (ypač – informacinių technologijų ir finansinių paslaugų sritį), mokslininkams ir užsienyje studijas baigusiems asmenims, dalyvavusiems „Kurk Lietuvai“ programoje. Siekiant atsakyti į pagrindinį tyrimo klausimą, išnagrinėta, ar profesiniai motyvai buvo svarbūs priimant sprendimą dėl sugrįžimo, ar užsienyje įgytos žinios ir įgūdžiai buvo naudingi susirandant darbą ir dirbant Lietuvoje ir kokie struktūriniai veiksniai padeda sugrįžusiesiems įsitvirtinti arba kelia daugiausia nusivylimo. Išvadų dalyje pateikiami pasiūlymai dėl valstybės politikos siekiant paskatinti aukštos kvalifikacijos asmenų sugrįžimą.

Vyriausybių įsipareigojimų įgyvendinimas yra vienas aktualiausių viešosios politikos proceso tyrimų klausimų. Atotrūkis tarp rinkimų kampanijos metu deklaruojamų, vyriausybių programose įtvirtinamų prioritetų ir praktinio jų įgyvendinimo yra tapęs nusivylimo šaltiniu daugelyje demokratinių šalių ir susilaukęs išskirtinio tyrėjų dėmesio. Šiame straipsnyje pristatomi viešosios politikos prioritetų tyrimo klausimai, teorinis analizės pagrindas ir hipotezės, skirti Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės veiklos prioritetų įgyvendinimo procesui ir jų rezultatams analizuoti. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad geriausiai viešosios politikos kaitos sprendimus gali paaiškinti viešosios politikos posistemiuose vykstanti palaikymo koalicijų sąveika. Jai įtaką daro įvairūs išorės veiksniai ir įvykiai (jie pristatomi straipsnyje), taip pat tokie tarpiniai veiksniai kaip viešosios politikos kaitai reikalingo sutarimo laipsnis ir politinis dėmesys. Be to, analizuojant viešosios politikos įsipareigojimų įgyvendinimą Lietuvoje, reikia atsižvelgti į specifinius veiksnius, kaip antai partinės sistemos fragmentaciją ir konkurenciją tarp dviejų politinių partijų blokų, taip pat Europos Sąjungos ir Rusijos įtaką viešosios politikos procese ar Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinio Teismo sprendimų apribojimus reformoms. Šiame straipsnyje pristatoma viešosios politikos proceso tyrimų darbotvarkė gali būti taikoma analizuojant įvairių (prioritetinių ir neprioritetinių) viešosios politikos įsipareigojimų įgyvendinimo procesą ir aiškinant jų sėkmes bei nesėkmes. Tam gali būti naudinga pasitelkti priežastinį proceso sekimą, kuris gali būti taikomas tiek analizuojant pavienius atvejus, tiek kartu nagrinėjant visus pasirinktus atvejus.

Since the early 1990s, the European Union (EU) and its Member States have been committed to promoting social inclusion and to sustaining and modernizing Europe's social protection systems. The recent global financial and sovereign debt crises have once again demonstrated — both positively and negatively — not only the critical importance of modern welfare states, but also the need for the EU to play an active role in coordinating and supporting national responses aimed at both economic recovery and social equity (Hemerijck 2013).

Like other OMC processes in employment, education, R&D, information society, and youth, the Open Method of Coordination in Social Protection and Social Inclusion (the Social OMC in SPSI) was created as a framework for policy learning and coordination, and had a complex institutional design, which evolved over time. Its institutional features have been explored in detail elsewhere (see Chapter 2; also Marlier et al. 2007; Heidenreich and Zeitlin 2009; Armstrong 2010). In a nutshell, during 2006–2010 the OMC functioned through a set of common objectives adopted jointly by the Member States, commonly agreed indicators to monitor progress, regular national and EU reports (overviewing the current challenges, identifying successful policies, and pointing the way forward), and various exercises (such as peer reviews) aimed at fostering exchange of experience and mutual learning. In 2005, the EU under-took an ambitious revision of its policy coordination mechanisms by focusing its flagship Lisbon Strategy on growth and jobs while moving social cohesion into a parallel process (the Social OMC), albeit with some commitment to ensure mutual interaction. Meanwhile, the coordination of social policy was streamlined by bringing together the OMC in social inclusion (SI) with younger OMCs in the fields of pensions (P) and health/longterm care (H-LTC) with the aim of decreasing reporting burdens and encouraging synergies.

The European integration process has long been described as ‘asymmetrical’, prioritizing economic over social objectives (Scharpf 1996). Although it is certainly true that market-making ‘negative integration’ has made remarkable strides, the European integration process has always had a social dimension. Already the Messina Declaration signed in 1955 laid the foundation for the European Community to regulate various social issues (including, for instance, the mobility of workers) and to provide funding for social concerns, including labour market training, through the European Social Fund (ESF). The commencement of the Social Action Programmes in 1974 was a political confirmation that the member governments perceived social aims as an integral part of European integration (Faikner 2010).1 Only in 1989 did the European Community adopt — albeit without the UK — the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, which is often identified as a political ‘turning point’ for EU social policy (Pochet 2005). This Charter outlined a common labour law model (for example, the right to strike), gender equality, and anti-poverty programmes, while affirming in its preamble that ‘the same importance must be attached to the social aspects as to the economic aspects, and […] they must be developed in a balanced manner’ (cited in O’Connor 2005).

Įvadas / Egidijus Barcevicius, Dovilė Žvalionytė -- 1. Emigracija ir grįžtamoji migracija Vidurio ir Rytų Europoje: sėkmės istorija ar žlugusi svajonė? / Egidijus Barcevicius – 2. Grįžtamosios ir pakartotinės migracijos tendencijos / Dovilė Žvalionytė – 3. Grįžtamoji migracija ir žmogiskasis kapitalas / Dovilė Žvalionytė, Mažvydas Jastramskis – 4. Makroekonominiai migracijos veiksniai / Žilvinas Martinaitis, Justina Ivanauskaitė – 5. Politiniai grįžtamosios migracijos veiksniai: politikos priemonės ir jų sėkmė / Irma Budginaitė – 6. Visuomeniniai grįžtamosios migracijos veiksniai: grįžusių migrantų įvaizdis viesojoje erdvėje ir visuomenės požiūris / Irma Budginaitė -- 7. Isvados: ar nustos suktis užburtas migracijos ratas? / Egidijus Barcevicius, Dovilė Žvalionytė – Literatūra -- Priedas. Tyrimo metodologiniai sprendimai – Rodyklė