Published: 17.05.2021

As of today, the students of higher education institutions established in the Baltic States are invited to submit their papers for the annual Competition of Student Scientific Research Papers announced by Latvijas Banka by 31 May.

Latvijas Banka organises the competition already for the 19th time. Participation is open to the citizens and non-citizens of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as well as foreigners who at the time of the competition are registered as students of higher education institutions accredited as such in the Baltic States, enrolled in Bachelor's or Master's degree programmes, as well as to the students of the Baltic States studying abroad.

The submitted papers shall discuss subjects currently relevant for the Baltic and euro area economies (suggestions for topics and a list of the previous years' award-winning papers).

The competition papers shall be submitted on the website www.macroekonomics.lv, section FOR STUDENTS, as of today (17 May–31 May). The competition papers will be evaluated by a committee of economists set up by Latvijas Banka. The award-winning papers will be published on the website macroeconomics.lv by 30 June, and their authors will receive money awards (incl. EUR 2000 to the Excellence Award-winning paper, EUR 1500 to the first-prize-winning paper, EUR 1250 to the two second-prize-winning papers each and EUR 1000 to the three third-prize-winning papers each; if a paper has several authors, the prize will be equally divided among them).

23 papers were submitted for the Competition of Student Scientific Research Papers organised in the previous academic year of 2019/2020. The authors of the papers were 40 students from seven higher education institutions in Latvia and abroad. No first prize was awarded in the Competition. Two second prizes were awarded to the following students: Sorina-Sofia Solonaru and Iuliana Tornea, the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, for the scientific research paper "You get what you pay for! Evidence on how research unbundling under MiFID II impacts the quality of stock analyst forecasts" and Krišjānis Oskerko and Toms Henšelis, the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, for their paper "Returns to skills in Latvia: What can we learn from job adverts?".

The Regulation for the Competition, the papers of the previous prize-winners and other information is available in www.macroeconomics.lv section FOR STUDENTS. Oļegs Krasnopjorovs and Kārlis Vilerts, Economists at Latvijas Banka, describe the competition process and the preconditions for writing an excellent graduation paper:  https://www.makroekonomika.lv/atzinas-no-latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-2016, https://www.makroekonomika.lv/atzinas-no-latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-2017, https://www.makroekonomika.lv/latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-atzinas-2018, https://www.makroekonomika.lv/latvijas-bankas-diplomdarbu-konkursa-atzinas-2019 and https://www.makroekonomika.lv/atskanas-no-2020-gada-studentu-zinatniski-petniecisko-darbu-konkursa.

Being aware of the impact of economic literacy on the quality of life and economic growth, Latvijas Banka contributes systemic support to economic education. Latvijas Banka actively offers teachers of the social sciences, pupils, students and other interested parties different opportunities to learn and understand the regularities of the economy. In partnership with other institutions involved in implementing the National Strategy for Financial Literacy in Latvia for 2014–2020, Latvijas Banka promotes development of a financially and economically literate society, where people have knowledge of finances and economics and they are capable of using it to ensure their financial sustainability, enhance their competitiveness in the labour market and increase their well-being, thus also providing preconditions for the overall development of the public at large.

During this academic year, the schools have already been using the digital teaching aid "My Economics", created as a joint effort between Latvia's leading education experts and Latvijas Banka's economists. The teaching aid will provide students with a more comprehensive and up-to-date view on the economic issues discussed within the framework of the social and civil society subjects of the general education curriculum. "My Economics" will provide the opportunity to view social, public administration, international relations and business issues through an economics lens, thus giving a more comprehensive insight into various processes on individual, corporate, national and global levels. "My Economics" includes both economic theory and its real-life applications as well as exercises to help reinforce the learning process. In light of the new "School 2030" or the competency-based approach which takes a holistic view of the world and promotes an interdisciplinary approach which is becoming more prevalent at schools, this teaching aid will help teachers to incorporate the economic subjects into other disciplines of the curriculum.