To promote the research and analysis of Latvia's and euro area's macroeconomic issues by involving the most talented young economists in this work, Latvijas Banka has announced the annual Competition of Student Scientific Research Papers.
Latvijas Banka organises the competition already for the 18th time. Participation is open to citizens and non-citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as well as foreigners who at the time of the competition are registered as students of higher education institutions accredited as such in the Baltic States, enrolled in Bachelor's or Master's degree programmes.
30 topics related to monetary policy, macroeconomic development and financial stability are proposed for the competition (for a full list, see https://www.macroeconomics.lv/konkursi/latvijas-banka-announces-competition-student-scientific-research-papers).
For the third consecutive year, a special award named after the prominent Latvian economist Juris Vīksniņš will be awarded for the best competition paper where integrated scientific methods in the field of economics and history have been used providing an innovative view on one of the stages of economic development in Latvia, the Baltic States or Europe, or an economic idea in a historical context. Up to now, no papers qualifying for this particular award have been submitted for the competition; however, papers and researchers analysing and studying the history of economics are really necessary for both economic research and a public discussion on the developments of the global and Latvian economy.
The Competition papers shall be submitted to Latvijas Banka from 18 May to 1 June 2020. The competition papers will be evaluated by a committee of economists set up by Latvijas Banka. The papers winning awards will be published on the website www.macroeconomics.lv, and their authors will receive money awards, incl. EUR 2 000 to the first-prize winner and EUR 1 422.87 to the winner of Juris Vīksniņš Award.
14 papers were submitted for the Competition of Student Scientific Research papers organised in the previous academic year of 2018/2019. The authors of the papers were 20 students from four Latvia's higher education institutions. No first prize was awarded in the Competition. Two second prizes were awarded to the following students: Palina Tember and Elza Siliņa, the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, for the scientific research paper "Measuring Fiscal Policy Stance in Real Time and Ex Post in the European Union Member States", investigating the dependence of fiscal policy changes on the business cycle.; and Onufrii Lonevskyi and Kristijonas Klimaitis, the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, for their paper "The Twin Deficits Hypothesis in the Eastern European Group: an Empirical Investigation", examining whether there is a correlation between a government deficit and current account deficit in Eastern European countries.
The Regulation for the Competition, the papers of the previous prize-winners and other materials are available in www.macroeconomics.lv section FOR STUDENTS. Oļegs Krasnopjorovs, economist at Latvijas Banka, describes the competition process and the preconditions for writing an excellent graduation paper: https://www.makroekonomika.lv/atzinas-no-latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-2016, https://www.makroekonomika.lv/atzinas-no-latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-2017, https://www.makroekonomika.lv/latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-atzinas-2018 and https://www.makroekonomika.lv/latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-atzinas-2019 (presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/LatvijasBanka/k-uzrakstt-izcilu-diplomdarbu). Higher education institutions are welcome to apply for Oļegs Krasnopjorovs' guest lecture on how to write an excellent graduation paper.
Being aware of the impact of economic literacy on the quality of life and economic growth, Latvijas Banka contributes systemic support to economic education. Latvijas Banka actively offers teachers of the social sciences, pupils, students and other interested parties different opportunities to learn and understand the regularities of the economy. In partnership with other institutions involved in implementing the National Strategy for Financial Literacy in Latvia for 2014–2020, Latvijas Banka promotes development where people have knowledge of finances and economics and they are capable of using it for ensuring their financial sustainability, enhancement of their competitiveness in the labour market and increase in well-being, thus also providing preconditions for the overall development of the public at large.