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Abstract. The paper aims to reveal the approach of Lithuanian companies towards innovations. In order to take into account conditions, specific to the considered country an, overview of Lithuanian economy with a closer look at demographic and employment tendencies is presented; analysis of statistically estimated innovation performance and state innovation policy performed. Insight into factors driving innovations into Lithuanian business companies is being made through questioning the randomly chosen 1001 Lithuanian business companies. The performed survey allows us to disclose how companies react to factors fostering and restricting innovations, how they perceive role of state policy in the process of innovative activities. Obtained results provide us with empirical evidences how business companies react to specific economic conditions, and if there is a sufficient correspondence between educational system and supply of know-how susceptible employees demanded by business companies.

This article investigates the effect of various information and communication technologies (ICTs) on labour productivity growth, using a sample of 43 sub‐Saharan African countries. The authors’ findings show significant increasing returns for labour productivity growth from fixed‐telephone and mobile‐cellular penetration, confirming the presence of network effects. Specifically, doubling the current proliferation rate of fixed and mobile‐cellular telephones increases labour productivity growth by approximately 0. 12–0.15 per cent, and 0.05 per cent, respectively. Furthermore, the results point to financial inclusion as one of the possible channels through which mobile‐cellular subscriptions affect labour productivity growth in sub‐Saharan Africa.

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This paper aims to build a Sustainable Development (SD) model that considers ecological threats. We need to identify and measure those threats to prevent them from hindering sustainable regional development. The authors mine the ecological threats' indicators related to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the World Bank database. They found that the ecological threats affect eight SDGs out of the seventeen SDGs, as well as 43 security indicators that measure ecological threats. The obtained results are used to build a Sustainable Development Ecological Security Model made out of selected ecological indicators. The model is instrumental for further constructing an index, which allowed for estimating a level of security of sustainable development from ecological hazards. The study's novelty lies in considering ecological security issues while measuring SD. The obtained results may be instrumental for measuring countries' secure sustainable development and managing the processes through relevant economic policies.