Lithuania

In the wake of the technological revolution that began in the last decades of the 20th century, labour-market demand for information-processing and other high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills have been growing substantially. Based on the results from the 33 countries and regions that participated in the 1st and 2nd round of the Survey of Adult Skills in 2011-12 and in 2014-15, this report describes adults’ proficiency in three information-processing skills, and examines how proficiency is related to labour-market and social outcomes. It also places special emphasis on the results from the 3rd and final round of the first cycle of PIAAC in 2017-18, which included 6 countries (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States). The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some of these key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in three information-processing skills: literacy, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich environments.

Lietuva nuosekliai didina gyventojų dalyvavimą švietime – plečiamas dalyvavimas ankstyvajame ugdyme ir aukštajame moksle, pasiektas beveik visuotinis dalyvavimas bendrajame ugdyme. Tačiau siekiant didinti šalies ekonomines galimy-bes ir spręsti demografinius sunkumus, reikia užtikrinti geresnius šalies bendrojo ugdymo mokyklų ir aukštojo mokslo įstaigų veiklos rezultatus. Lietuva turi aiškiai apibrėžti ir padidinti lūkesčius dėl švietimo sistemos veiklos, numatyti išteklius šiems lūkesčiams įgyvendinti, pagerinti švietimo stebėseną ir švietimo kokybę, didinti institucijų galimybes siekti geresnių veiklos rezultatų. Veiklos gerinimo tikslas turi būti įgyvendinamas kiekviename švietimo sistemos lyg-menyje.
Šioje apžvalgoje vertinamos Lietuvos švietimo politikos kryptys ir praktika, lyginant su geriausia švietimo praktika Ekonominio bendradarbiavimo ir plėtros organizacijos (EBPO) šalyse ir kitose regiono šalyse. Apžvalgoje aptariami šalies švietimo sistemos laimėjimai ir sunkumai, su kuriais susiduriama – nuo ankstyvojo ugdymo iki aukštojo mokslo. Apžvalgoje pateikiama rekomendacijų, kaip Lietuva galėtų gerinti kokybę ir užtikrinti didesnį teisingumą, kad būtų su-darytos sąlygos sparčiam, tvariam ir integraciniam augimui. Ši apžvalga bus naudinga Lietuvai ir kitoms šalims, kurios siekia gerinti savo švietimo sistemos kokybę, užtikrinti didesnį teisingumą ir didinti veiksmingumą.

This review provides an in-depth analysis of the Lithuanian policy ecosystem in place for social entrepreneurship and social enterprises. It identifies the country’s key strengths and challenges and provides policy recommendations to support the development of a stronger policy ecosystem for social entrepreneurship and social enterprises. Key policy issues analysed include: raising awareness and clarifying the conceptual framework (Chapter 2); coordinating policy and legal frameworks (Chapter 3); enhancing the role of social enterprises in public procurement (Chapter 4); promoting social impact measurement and reporting (Chapter 5); and improving their access to finance (Chapter 6).

The Pensions at a Glance database includes reliable and internationally comparable statistics on public and mandatory and voluntary pensions. It covers 34 OECD countries and aims to cover all G20 countries. Pensions at a Glance reviews and analyses the pension measures enacted or legislated in OECD countries. It provides an in-depth review of the first layer of protection of the elderly, first-tier pensions across countries and provideds a comprehensive selection of pension policy indicators for all OECD and G20 countries.

La Lituanie, qui compte moins de trois millions d’habitants, a réussi la transition qui lui a permis de passer d’une économie planifiée à une économie de marché depuis qu’elle a retrouvé son indépendance en 1991. L’environnement politique et économique est globalement démocratique et respectueux des lois du marché. La hausse du revenu par habitant au cours des 25 dernières années a été supérieure à celle observée dans la plupart des pays de l’OCDE ainsi qu’à celle enregistrée par d’autres pays de la région, facilitant ainsi la convergence vers le revenu moyen de l’OCDE. La Lituanie est très bien intégrée dans la communauté internationale : elle a adhéré à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce en 2001, est devenue membre de l’Union européenne en 2004 et a rejoint la zone euro en 2015. La situation financière du pays est saine, après une période prolongée marquée par des déficits et une augmentation de la dette.

This review of Corporate Governance in Lithuania was prepared in the context of Lithuania’s accession process to the OECD. It assesses Lithuania’s corporate governance arrangements – the laws, regulations and institutions that shape company oversight – for listed companies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) against the standards of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. The report reaches a positive overall assessment of Lithuania’s willingness and ability to implement these corporate governance standards and makes a number of recommendations to address remaining weaknesses. With respect to listed companies, the report notably recommends that Lithuania give priority to monitoring implementation of recent legislative reforms to strengthen corporate boards of directors and, in the medium term, consider further strengthening and clarifying their legal responsibilities. With respect to SOEs, this report recommends that Lithuania give priority to further strengthening the effectiveness of the state’s ownership coordination function, ensuring that the state’s requirements on board composition and disclosure practices are fully implemented by the SOEs for which they are mandatory and moving forward with plans to convert commercially-oriented statutory SOEs to limited liability companies.

In the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis, large shares of working-age individuals in Lithuania either do not work or only to a limited extent. By 2013, several years after the start of the labour-market recovery, 21% were still without employment during the entire year, and a further 11% had weak labour-market attachment, working only a fraction of the year, or on restricted working hours. This paper applies a novel method for measuring and visualising employment barriers of individuals with no or weak labour-market attachment, using household micro-data. It first develops indicators to quantify employment obstacles under three broad headings: (i) work-related capabilities, (ii) incentives, and (iii) employment opportunities. It then uses these indicators in conjunction with a statistical clustering approach to identify unobserved (“latent”) groups of individuals facing similar combinations of barriers. The resulting typology of labour-market difficulties provides insights on the most pressing policy priorities in supporting different groups into employment. A detailed policy discussion illustrates how these empirical results can inform people-centred assessments of existing labour-market integration measures and of key challenges across different policy areas and institutions. The most common employment obstacles in Lithuania were health limitations, limited work experience, and scarce job opportunities. Although financial disincentives and care responsibilities were less widespread overall, they remained important barriers for some groups. A notable finding is that just over one third of jobless or low-intensity workers face three or more simultaneous barriers, highlighting the limits of narrow policy approaches that focus on subsets of these employment obstacles in isolation.

The report analyses the performance of Lithuania’s health system which has been long characterised by its institutional stability and the steady pursuit of a policy agenda aimed at adapting it to the evolving burden of disease. Today, even if total spending on health is low and out-of-pocket payments represent nearly a third of it, the system ensures fairly equitable access to care. The main challenge to the system is that health outcomes still place Lithuania among the lowest ranked in the OECD. Efforts need to be geared more systematically towards strengthening public health and improving the quality of the services delivered at primary and hospital care levels.

Lithuania has undergone major economic and social change since the early 1990s. Despite an exceptionally deep recession following the global financial crisis, impressive economic growth over the past two decades has narrowed income and productivity gaps relative to comparable countries in the OECD. But Lithuania faces a massive demographic challenge, mostly as a result of large and persistent emigration driven primarily by low wages and poor working conditions. Income inequality is also very high, and households at the bottom of the income distribution have recently benefited very little from the recovery. Major reforms of the labour code, the unemployment insurance system, employment policies and pensions were recently undertaken within the New Social Model to improve labour maket adaptibility and income security. This report provides comprehensive analysis of Lithuania’s policies and practices compared with best practice in the field of labour, social and migration from the OECD countries. It contains several recommendations to tackle key challenges facing Lithuania. This report will be of interest in Lithuania as well as other countries looking to promote a more inclusive economy.

The Pensions at a Glance database includes reliable and internationally comparable statistics on public and mandatory and voluntary pensions. It covers 34 OECD countries and aims to cover all G20 countries. Pensions at a Glance reviews and analyses the pension measures enacted or legislated in OECD countries. It provides an in-depth review of the first layer of protection of the elderly, first-tier pensions across countries and provideds a comprehensive selection of pension policy indicators for all OECD and G20 countries.

This report looks at the state of health in Lithuania.