Regional differences of economic development in Lithuania during post soviet period

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Ekonominė raida; Posovietinis laikotarpis; Postsovietinė Lietuva; Regioniniai ekonomikos vystymosi skirtumai; Regioniniai skirtumai; Regioniniai skirtumai, eckonominė plėtra, posovietinis laikotarpis, Lietuva; Economic development; Lithuania; Post soviet period; Post-soviet Lithuania; Regional differences; Regional differences of economic development; Regional differences, economic development, post Soviet Lithuania.

ENThe main aim of this article is to find out main spatial trends of economic development in Lithuania in the post-Soviet period. The article analyses the general trends of economic development without trying to observe structural changes in Lithuania's economy or its regions, though of course these two processes are mutually dependent. GDP per capita is usually supposed to be the best indicator for measuring economic development; however the statistical services do not calculate this indicator for the municipal level. Trying to solve this problem, the author has elaborated a methodology for calculating this indicator. The calculations are based on the adjustment of existing data concerning GDP per capita at state and county levels according to differences in employment and average earnings in different municipalities. The same methodology was employed in earlier studies and is described in articles published earlier (Burneika, 2004). The received data has a certain bias and can be used only for comparative purposes. Though previous researches indicate that these inaccuracies cannot have a decisive impact on the final results, some disturbances must be considered. For this reason, in measuring and comparing the general economic development of municipalities, the author employed data from the State Tax Inspection. Profit comprises the second important part of GDP (calculating it according to income method), so the data from the State Tax Inspection concerning gathered profit taxation were also analysed in the article. [Extract, p. 88]