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The goal of the study is to compare the reflection of Latvias and Russias transition to the market economy in economic texts. The object of the research is Latvian and Russian textbooks on economics (N = 61) of three generations (1990s, 2000s and 2010s) in the Daugavpils University library. The first such textbooks were published in 1993, and the last ones - in 2015. Although the starting point of the analysis is the translation of Samuelsons textbook (1964), which is beyond the time scope of the research, this book is necessary for a deeper analysis of the textbooks on economics. The research was conducted with the descriptive analysis and case study method applied in the framework of the linguistic discourse analysis based on Webers methodology of cultural determinism. The results of the research showed that in the 1990s, the economic discourse of the USA was actively borrowed in Latvia and Russia; however, the business culture of the USA differs significantly from the business culture of our countries. The linguistic discourse analysis allowed to reveal the conceptual challenges of the contemporary economic science in Latvia and Russia: despite as if the existence of some general economic theory, in reality even basic economic processes are often explained in different conceptual systems depending on the beliefs of the economic texts authors. Considering the social-economic transformations in the past thirty years and earlier periods, the authors emphasize the special importance of critical thinking in the creation, translation and perception of economic texts. This is especially important since there are no reasons to believe that in the 1990s, the cultural component of the economic discourse of Latvia and Russia changed significantly to the market-oriented. Today readers of economic texts have difficulties in their critical assessment, especially of those texts whose authors use emotional terminology.

The relevance of the subject matter is conditioned by the need to fully justify the implementation of modifications to the structures of transport aircraft from an economic standpoint, in order to save money during their construction and improve the functioning of the system for planning further design developments in this line. The purpose of this study is to establish a coherent model of the economic feasibility of aircraft modifications, which allows effectively solving the issues of cost savings in their design and subsequent launch into mass production and operation. The leading approach in this study is a combination of analytical research of the issues of transport aircraft modification with empirical research of the economic feasibility of such measures, in the context of creating a coherent concept of the need for a set of measures to improve the structure of air transport. The findings indicate the presence of a clear relationship between a wide range of parameters that determine the indicators of economic feasibility of modernizing transport aircraft, as well as significant economic advantages of a high-quality modification of the aircraft design.

This article is aimed at empirical establishment of the role of territory marketing in strategic development of Latvian regions from the point of view of regional stakeholders – population, entrepreneurs and the heads of local governments. The potential of regional development is characterized by the flows of strategic resources, which on the basis of resource approach concept form methodological base of strategic, i.e. long-term, development of regions instead of the short-term one. The results of the author’s empirical research showed that the significance of marketing factors, i.e. factors which were created by people in the course of purposeful market activity, was much higher than the significance of non-marketing factors. At the same time, non-marketing factors were much better developed in Latvian regions than marketing factors and it was a practical economic problem, which hindered strategic development of Latvian regions. The authors offer to use a new index, i.e. real marketing force of the factor, and have developed a new scientific product which is an assessment of real marketing force of some factors for Latvian regions. It can be used by specialists and practitioners in the sphere of regional policy and development to assess, monitor and use such tools of territory marketing, which are based on regional stakeholders’ opinion as the framework of legitimacy of these tools.

Modern trends in the formation of urban development are based primarily on the extent to which the territory of a city can be attractive for investors, interested people in general and public administration systems. When regarding programs for the development of urban areas in the structure of sustainable development, it is necessary to highlight the methods of forming an attractive image of a city, which is considered a marketing tool. Understanding the possibilities for the development of an urban area requires the formation of tools for spatial marketing and opportunities for the establishment of measures for the development of individual tools of communication between city authorities and the external environment. The novelty of the research is determined by the structural feature of the formation of an integrated method of using marketing tools to promote the image of a city in the informational, social, and cultural aspects. The authors show the tools for implementing the marketing strategy of the urban area as elements of sustainable development. Stakeholders of sustainable development are shown not only local management structures but also global investment funds and transnational corporations. The practical significance of the study is determined by the possibility of forming based on an urban area, which is marked by the presence of sustainable development markers, innovative and science-intensive centres, and analytical corporations. The formation of development centres is also possible through the creation of smart cities.