EconPapers

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the vulnerabilities of Critical Energy Infrastructures’ systems in the event of cyber-attack. The global tendency of cyber-attacks puts Critical Energy Infrastructures on one of the first places for targets. Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) has become an increasingly relevant topic in the global industrial environment, as the consequences of cyber-attacks toward ICS can result in physical disruption and loss of human lives. The analysis presented in the paper will take into consideration three different case scenarios of cyber-attacks to Critical Energy Infrastructures, and will evaluate the outcomes and the tactics used by the organizations’ response and recovery.

Critical thinking is one of the most significant skills and abilities, which have direct impact on individual success and society’s welfare. Especially loud is the voice of employers drawing attention to the need for critical thinking skills in the labour market and in a rapidly changing world in general. The World Economic Forum (2018) indicated the ten most wanted and needed skills in the labour market of 2020: critical thinking was placed at number two, following problem solving at number one. The American Management Association (AMA) Critical Skills Survey (2010, 2012) revealed that, according to employers, employees need to think critically, solve problems, innovate, collaborate, and communicate more effectively – they must excel at the “four Cs”: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. The goal of this article is to find out what and how employers with different managerial experience see critically thinking employees in today’s labour market. The research is based on phenomenography methodology and is the first such type of research about critical thinking in Lithuania. The phenomenography study revealed three hierarchically interconnected categories: A- decision to act here and now; B- verified and assured decision to act. C- innovative decisions for operational improvement. Empirical data allows identifying critical thinking related expectations of employers who anticipate that their employees could deal with emerging situations and are able to reason chosen decisions. Employers state that the critically thinking employee could give innovative suggestions; research participants describe critical thinking as higher order reasoning which gives added value to an organisation. Such understanding reflects the definition of critical thinking as a cognitive endeavour, directed to functionality in making decisions and solving particular problems. Employees’ critical thinking manifests at personal, interpersonal and societal levels.

Studies looking at the links between corruption and quality of life have begun to take place recently, as until now the quality of life has not traditionally been associated with political decisions. Corruption may be defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, which in one way or another affects the quality of life and satisfaction of others. The aim is to bridge the gap between the nexus of corruption and the quality of life in the EU. EU countries were divided into groups of countries according to the year of accession and cover the years 2004-2017 period. The EU has been selected as a geographical region with the aim of uneven economic development of the countries and the lack of research in the region. The aim of the article is to determine the interdependencies between corruption and quality of life indicators in EU countries. Multivariate regression models revealed that the prevalence of corruption among individual groups of six countries had the highest impact on mortality rates, unambiguously showing how well countries are managing their health care systems, population density, birth rate and population aging, GDP per capita, economic situation, life expectancy, serving as an indicator of quality of life and the number of people with primary education. The results of empirical research allow to form insights that in order to reduce corruption it is necessary to focus on the following spheres reflecting the quality of life: education, health care system and general economic situation of the country. The article used the following methods: comparative and systematic literature analysis, multiple regression analysis.

Research background: Export is an important part of economics not only in a country’s, but also in international level. Over the last two decades, development of export has been one of the fastest and most acceptable strategies of economic progress. Export is also one of the ways to improve a country’s balance of payments, reduce trade deficits, and raise the general life standards. Scientific literature does not contain any unambiguous models developed for evaluation of the impact of the influential factors on the volumes of exports in the countries with similar economic conditions. Hence, the scientific problem for this research is formulated as follows: which factors have the most significant impact on export and how does this impact manifest? Purpose of the article: is to conduct evaluation of the influential factors affecting Lithuanian export leaning on the theoretical aspects of export determinants. Methodology/methods: The methods of the research include comparative and systematic analysis of the scientific literature, correlation and regression analysis. Findings: Mathematical estimations have revealed that GDP per capita and general state’s revenue from taxes and social contributions can explain the trends of Lithuanian export by 99.1 percent over the period 2007 – 2015. Crediting of private sector also showed a very strong correlation with Lithuanian export; the negative medium-strong correlation was estimated between the export and general tax level, while the positive medium-strong correlation was captured between the export and minimum wages.