Abstract. One of the most important factors in the macroeconomic system of every country is public debt. This is due to the processes of debt forming and its servicing has

Retail companies operating in Lithuania are very important for the national economy. Domestic consumption has remained one of the most important drivers of Lithuania’s economic development. The objective of this article is to investigate the customer preferences and to identify selected factors of shopping centers in Vilnius, Lithuania. The study of Vilnius shopping centers is based on a complex model that integrates the following factors: shopping center goods and services, customer service, image factors, physical factors, situational factors and demographic characteristics of target consumers. Expert interviews aimed to determine the customer preference factors by perception of professional experts in relation to the phenomenon under study. The consumer survey questionnaire focuses on all the identified factors that determine the choice of a shopping center. This article identifies theoretical factors for the selection of retail shopping centers, reviews the market trends and peculiarities of Vilnius shopping centers, evaluates the factors for the selection and assess functional, emotional and communicational consumer preferences for the choice of Vilnius shopping centers.

Research background: COVID-19 pandemic became the global issue in today’s world. Due to the globalized world, the virus had a possibility to spread across the globe and infect people from different nations and continents. However, COVID-19 pandemic is the consequence of globalization that has tremendous social-economic outcomes around the globe. COVID-19 also induced the panic in mass media and governments adopted new policies and precautions in order to minimize the damage and spread of this virus. However, due to the government restrictions, the consumer behavior also had a drastic change and influenced the economy as a whole. Purpose of the article: To investigate the social-economic effects of COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania. Methods: scientific literature analysis, statistical analysis of secondary data and comparative analysis. Findings & Value added: People are well informed about the COVID-19 pandemics in Lithuania. Thread of COVID-19 was seen as real and Lithuanians were in panic that affected their behaviour on purchasing consumer goods and services. Lithuanian economic sectors were affected differently. However, Lithuania has a mild social-economic effects of COVID-19, were more concerned about global issues related to the virus (spreading globally and in Europe, impact on economy and etc.) and less about personal, local and national issues (closure of Lithuanian borders, closure of schools and universities, crisis in tourism and other sectors).

In today's world, as cities compete in the marketplace, strategies for creating a city brand image are often shaped solely to meet the aspirations of profit, business development, and awareness. The preservation of culture, historical, and urban heritage remains important only in urban development strategies and not in actual development actions. The truth is, the image of a city is shaped by different historical, political, demographic, sociological, and economic factors which make up what we perceive as the brand image of a city. However, one of the most noticeable elements of the brand image of a city is the urban heritage based on national traditions. The aim of this article is to evaluate the effects of urban heritage initiatives in the creation of the brand image of the city of Vilnius. Research methods used in this article are qualitative content analysis and expert semi-structured interviews. Main conclusions stimulate debate, hesitation and criticism from communities and city researchers for using new heritage object and culture initiatives in order to create the brand image of Vilnius. The influence of urban heritage is inevitable when modelling the brand image of Vilnius, but there are no effective strategies to deal with the new urban heritage initiatives by creating the brand image of Vilnius yet.

This paper analyses the existing measures of productivity in Lithuanian manufacturing industry. Total factor productivity and its continuous growth are viewed as significant parameter that determine the competitive advantage in manufacturing and depend on changes of significant factors as R&D intensity, international trade and foreign direct investment. Productivity measures indicate the interaction between produced commodities or services and used capital and labour resources. The most common measure is labour productivity, measures the value added per employee and equates the turnover with the costs of commodity. The empirical study provides an analysis of the shifting the labour productivity differentials in manufacturing industries of Lithuania. The paper aims to evaluate the dynamics of productivity of manufacturing industries in the context of economic integration. Economic policies under export growth strategy have been widely argued that export increasing helps to enhance the productivity of exporters.