Abstract

The common problem in the EU countries is a high rate of youth unemployment. Many well- educated young people emigrate from their native countries with the aim to look for better job opportunities abroad. Slovakia and Latvia are the countries with a high rate of youth emigration. The major reason for emigration is the economic situation in both countries - high rate of unemployment and low wages. Usually emigrants from these countries are employed as unskilled workers abroad. Thereby the native countries of emigrants lose well-educated people but the destination countries of migrants do not exploit the skills and knowledge of these people. In this case this problem is a social problem at the EU level. The aim of this research study is to evaluate and to compare the economic situation in Slovakia and Latvia, as well as in the destination countries of migrants. Suggestions referred to the decrease in human capital flight or brain drain from Latvia and Slovakia are presented in this paper. The main sources exploited in the analysis embrace the European statistical database and the statistical databases of the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Latvia. This research focuses on the annual data of two countries covering a period of 2004-2014. The year 2004 for both countries is the year of their accession to the EU. The main research methods employed in this study are as follows: comparison analysis, statistical analysis, content analysis.

Highlights

  • There are substantial differences that exist in European labour markets, welfare systems, and recent migration flows

  • The consequences of emigration of well-educated people from the country are as follows: the country will not return the investments, which are used for the purpose of educating and training the young people who decide to leave the country after graduation; the intellectual potential and human capital of the country decreases

  • Latvia and Slovakia are the countries that are considered to be the countries with the lowest wages in the European Union

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Summary

Introduction

There are substantial differences that exist in European labour markets, welfare systems, and recent migration flows. Migrants frequently look for higher income levels, better personal safety, short distance to home countries, and established immigrant networks as the main reasons for choosing their new host countries (e.g. Kerr, 2013). The aim of this research study is to evaluate and to compare the economic situation in Slovakia and Latvia as well as in the destination countries of migrants, and to develop proposals to reduce the emigration flow from these countries. To accomplish the aim of the research study, several objectives have been defined: to compare the changes in some macroeconomic figures of Slovakia and Latvia with the changes on average in the EU; 192 Latgale National economy research to compare the changes in some macroeconomic figures for Slovakia and Latvia with the changes in figures for host countries of emigrants; to develop proposals to reduce the youth emigration flow from both countries. The main research methods are as follows: the descriptive method was employed to interpret the research results based on the scientific findings and theories; analysis and synthesis were used to examine individual problem elements and identify connections among them; induction was exploited to make scientific assumptions and identify a causal relationship of individual elements or facts; deduction was employed to logically systematise and explain the statistical data

Research results
Years Latvia Slovakia Average in EU
Findings
Conclusion and suggestions

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