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No. 33, June 2016

Insights into innovation and export: current situation and background. Tea Danilov

Migration and politics. Urmas Varblane, Vilve Raik

Immigration culture in a childless country. Rein Taagepera

The next development leap of economy is stuck in social instrument base. Aimar Altosaar

Summaries of articles are in English.

Full articles in Estonian

Editor-in-Chief’s Column

  • To be – no doubt – but how?

    Never before has Estonia been so well-known in the world as now, a hundred years later. The reason is simple: we exist now, we are visible also in the international arena now, and we have been there for quite some time already. The international situation of recent years definitely raises existential questions for us again, but, despite that, the question “to be or not to be?” is beginning to be replaced by the question “how to go on?”

RiTo conversation circle

Focus

  • Insights into innovation and export: current situation and background

    08 June 2016

    Focus

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    Studies have shown that while many indicators qualify Estonian businesses as innovative, they seem unable to convert this innovation into money. This article argues that the main reason why process innovation dominates and product innovation is low in the Estonian businesses is that meeting orders is the predominant business model among them. This means that the businesses have no contact with the end product, while their development methods mainly involve diversification of production opportunities and increase in quality and volumes. The issues of product development, supply chain management, marketing, and sales are largely ignored.

  • Migration and politics

    08 June 2016

    Focus

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    The Estonian migration policy must be managed and forward-looking. This is complicated because the preservation of the Estonian culture as well as managing in international competition must be kept in mind. The migration policy is a sensitive issue. Estonia has a numerous non-Estonian population and, through them, there is a continuous influx of “new immigrants” from the former USSR republics. Integrating them is a demanding challenge and therefore our social opinion is not very willing to listen to rational arguments.

  • Immigration culture in a childless country

    08 June 2016

    Focus

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    It is a basic human right to leave one’s country freely. To enter another country freely is not. Permission is needed. It is common decency to give shelter to refugees when they are few. But one has the right to control one’s borders when there are so many refugees or other would-be immigrants that the society would crumble under their weight, or would change beyond recognition.

  • The next development leap of economy is stuck in social instrument base

    08 June 2016

    Focus

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    Social resources have so far been underestimated in Estonia, but if they were taken into use, it may bring along growth of productivity in economy and better functioning of all sectors of society. Economic activities, production, product development and marketing are actually work with people, involving them, listening to them and explaining your ideas.

  • Product development is inevitable

    08 June 2016

    Focus

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    When analysing the economic growth of Estonia that has slowed down, and the factors that influence the growth of productivity, it is inevitable to pay greater attention to the issues of product development. If product development is scarce, the goods produced and exported remain valued lower, and there is no movement from the raw material based economic model to the innovation model with greater added values.

  • Scientific research in Estonia: a temporal perspective

    08 June 2016

    Focus

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    In twenty-five years, Estonia has become a capable space nation. The intelligent and brave decisions of the 1990s on reorganising the network of research institutions, establishing a competition based system of research grants, introducing international expert analyses in assessing the performance indicators of research, and reshaping the decision making mechanism of higher education and research policy were instrumental in reshaping the Soviet style research system into a Western system in only a short time. Long-term strategic planning and strategic management increased state funding, and also supported the increasing presence of research in the private sector. A strong push towards the development of the research system has come from the EU Structural Funds. This has helped to create a contemporary research environment, improve the quality of research, and increase the overall volumes.

Politics

  • Will we get lost in history? Semiotic knots in a post-modern state. Estonia

    Post-modern technological factors of societal development (Internet, digitalization, sharing economy, etc.) are objectively aimed against the fundamentals of modernistic culture. Globalization sweeps away relative economic advantages, national traditions, languages, cultural codes (rituals, carnivals, etc., as defined by Meletinsky). The migration crisis not only demonstrates this objective tendency, but also the total inability of the European elites to manage new problems of significant magnitude. Neither Merkel nor Hollande are leaders, but bookkeeper types that perform at the mid-managerial level of a mid-size company. Two crises combine to form a perfect storm: objective globalization (or Europeanization), and mediocrity in cabinets.

  • Democratic civic education in times of crisis

    Should democratic civic education produce informed, patriotic, conformist and law-abiding citizens, or critical individuals with a mind of their own, who are capable of democratic participation both in defence of their individual interests and in extension of social justice in the democratic sense? Should all citizens, including future initiators, activists, spokespersons and contesters, first learn the sense of responsibility, conformity and patriotism? How many critical citizens does a democracy need? Do we need critical citizens in larger or smaller numbers during times of crisis?

  • Parliament in the media society – crossing of parliamentary and media arenas

    The weakening of parliaments that has been diagnosed in political science is associated with the changes in the society and structural changes in the political decision-making process. The structural change in the general public, mainly the emergence of the mass media, is an essential challenge for parliamentarianism, as the vital power resources of parliaments lie in functioning external communication.

Studies

  • Administrative reform within the context of urban planning (theories) *

    08 June 2016

    Studies

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    This article is a contribution to the discussions pertaining to the Estonian administrative reform, analysing the issue from the urban planning point of view and making proposals as to how the administrative borders could be changed in urban sprawls. Based on the development of the urban region of Tartu in the context of theoretical urban models, discussed in depth in a Master’s thesis by Kertu Anni, the authors try to point out if and to what extent the general principles of urban planning should be taken into account when changing the administrative borders in urban regions in the course of the implementation of the administrative reform. We also discuss the reasonability of taking whole administrative units as “units” in the “merging and dividing”, and what the alternatives are. On the example of the urban region of Tartu, a more detailed insight is provided into what directions and to what extent the development of the city could go in the perspective of the next 30 years, and a theoretically suitable border solution. As a result, the authors identify the “third stage” (the first was the leasing of the manorial lands surrounding the city, and the second was the transfer thereof to the city) mechanism of extending the city lands in the more general context of Estonia.

    * Peer-reviewed article.

  • Impact of diversity on the efficiency of Estonian companies *

    08 June 2016

    Studies

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    The Praxis Centre for Policy Studies conducted a study in Estonian companies to establish the existence of data that describe diversity, to describe the diversity in the management boards of Estonian companies, and to evaluate the links between diversity and economic performance.

    * Praxis study “Diversity in Estonian Enterprises” was a part of the Law School of Tallinn University of Technology project of promoting equal treatment.

  • The role of regional universities in local development *

    08 June 2016

    Studies

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    In 2011–2014, a study of the role of regional higher education institutions in local development was conducted within the framework of research and innovation policy monitoring programme TIPS. The head of the work group was Garri Raagmaa, Associate Professor of the University of Tartu. The report analysed what role of the units of public universities that are located outside Tallinn and Tartu have in regional development, and gave recommendations on enhancing the regional innovation system and making better use of the potential of universities.

    * Peer-reviewed article.

Varia

  • Higher education institutions as drivers of regional development

    08 June 2016

    Varia

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    In the globalising and increasingly knowledge-based economy, higher education institutions (HEI) are becoming ever more important in transferring, sharing and applying knowledge and skills. Regional HEIs may function as global pipelines, gathering knowledge from around the world and creating a buzz by translating, adapting and spreading this knowledge; all this is creating a forum for discussing crucial developments of regional strategies.

  • Natural resources should be managed

    08 June 2016

    Varia

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    With the Natural Resources Strategy, Estonia has set itself the aim to get more added value from its natural resources, using as an example the natural resources strategies of Finland, Sweden and other countries. The situation of Estonia is unique because we know of several natural resources with significant economic potential that the state has not seriously studied after the restoration of independence. The state has also contributed rather little to the studying of other natural resources. The problems of the oil shale sector are a serious challenge that are accompanied by social and economic challenges. Construction materials and peat have problems of their own that have to be solved, taking into account the social, economic and environmental aspects. A dynamic country constantly has to adapt to the changing circumstances.

  • Estonia needs a systematic approach to bowels of the Earth: academic summary with practical conclusions

    08 June 2016

    Varia

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    The economic potential of Estonian geology and mineral resources is much greater than is put to good use daily. One obstacle has been the inadequate organisation of geological research and survey.

  • Questionable moments of the estonian legislation, on the examples of limitation period and unjustified enrichment

    08 June 2016

    Varia

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    German law has been an important example in the formation of the modern Estonian civil law. However, the German legal regulations have not been mechanically copied, they have also been amended, taking into account the peculiarities of Estonia. It still seems that the in some cases the reasons for changes are not clear. For example, there are questionable moments in the legal regulation of expiry of the limitation period and unjustified enrichment, which complicate the understanding of these issues.

  • Islamic impasse in Middle East

    08 June 2016

    Varia

    RiTo No. 33, 2016

    For several years, Middle Eastern Islamic states have been in the grips of a devastating war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, and forced millions of men, women and children to flee their homes. Last year, the conflict reached Europe in the shape of 1.3 million illegal immigrants, and Islamic State terrorists.

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