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Table 5.4.2 Important cooperation regions for Estonia, % of respondents by group Entrepreneurs Economic policymakers Politicians Cultural figures PhDs Total Baltic Sea Region 77 79 81 66 70 75 EU 69 59 65 51 66 62 USA 38 17 30 17 25 24 Russia 31 52 60 54 41 50 Other CIS countries 38 24 23 26 14 23 China 31 33 44 49 45 42 As can be seen, the Estonian elite as a whole supports the more centralised options for the future development of the EU, whereas the positions of the political elite and economic elite differ somewhat. The economic elite were unanimous in their support for the option, in which, regardless of the centralisation of supplementary functions, the EU would still remain a union of nation-states. Among the political elite, this option is also the most popular, although, one third of them still supports the movement toward a federal state. The upward trend in the attitudes that favour the strengthening of the EU’s authority are corroborated by the results of the last Eurobarometer, which show a shift in the attitudes of Estonia’s general public in the same direction (Public… 2013). However, if we compare the results of the elite survey, which is used here, to the survey of the European political and economic elites conducted between 2007 and 2009, we see that there is a considerable shift. In the European Elite Survey, Estonia stood out for its quite rigid opposition to the centralisation trends inside the European Union (Best et al., 2012), by taking the most critical position among the states under observation along with the United Kingdom. Which states/regions are the ones on which Estonia’s trade policy should focus more in the next 10 years than previously? We gave the respondents a list of states and regions, and asked them to choose the most important ones. The answers are shown in Table 5.4.2. From the results, it can be seen that there is a desire to strengthen the traditional economic relations, as well as to expand the geography of economic relations. The assessments of the various elite groups differ only a little, from each other. Estonia’s neighbouring market – the Baltic Sea Region – was named as the area requiring the most attention (three-quarters of the respondents considered it necessary to concentrate more on economic ties with the states in this region; a quarter of the respondents did not consider this necessary, and therefore thought the focus of economic policy should be shifted to other regions). The rest of the European Union placed second – about 60% of the respondents thought it important to focus on the other EU states. This is logical, because the other EU states, besides the ones in the Baltic Sea Region, are clearly underrepresented in the geography of Estonia’s foreign trade relations. Slightly more than 50% of the respondents thought it necessary to invest in economic relations with Russia. China came in fourth in the list of partners with whom cooperation should be accelerated (mentioned by 42% of the respondents). However, if we combine China, as a target of economic policy, with India and the countries in South-East Asia, East and South Asia move up in the ranking of the focal points for Estonia’s trade policies, outpacing both Russia and the entire CIS region (in addition to Russia, other large states like Ukraine and Kazakhstan). East Asia moving ahead of the CIS region as a priority area for Estonia’s economic policy is definitely a very significant shift. However, what calls for caution, is the fact that the economic elite, as well as the entrepreneurs and economic policymakers, express less support for the development of relations with China, than the sample as a whole. There is hardly any basis to assume that economic relations with China will start to develop rapidly, if the Estonian economic elite do not invest in them. Relatively weak interest is shown towards the states and regions in the CIS outside of Russia, and to the U.S., which is our top geo-political partner. Both lagged behind South-East Asia. It should carefully considered why the U.S. – despite its powerful and high-tech economy – is not seen as being sufficiently attractive (or accessible?) as a partner for Estonian economic policy, to warrant an investment in the intensification of economic ties. Politicians are often thought to be the factor hindering the development of relations with Russia, but the politicians’ answers, in our survey, show that they placed greater value on improved economic relations with Russia than the sample did on average. Based on the answers to the questions about Estonia’s geo-economical perspectives, it can be stated that, on the whole, the future Estonia requires a multidirectional and carefully considered economic policy. Some steps have already been taken in this direction, such as concretising the economic aspirations related to China, and Asia generally. Unfortunately, Estonia’s current foreign policy functions, on the whole, as a “general” foreign policy with a strong defence policy dominant. There is still a lot of work to be done in connection with directing our foreign policy toward the fulfilment of economic policy goals. References 1. Best, E. et al. (eds.) (2012) The Europe of Elites. A Study of the Europeanness of Europe’s Political and Economic Elites. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. 2. Public Opinion in the European Union. Tables of Results. Nov. 2012. 206 Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013
Summary Erik Terk Estonia is part of the world’s most globalised region – the European Union – and is also quite globalised as a state, especially in regard to the economy. A strong dependencev an international economic environment contains great opportunities for economic gowth, but also significant risks. In order to make use of the opportunities provided by globalisation and to reduce the risks involved, more consistent efforts and proactive behaviour are required on the part of our economic policy, incl. foreign trade policy. The Estonian elite clearly stand out for their globalisation-minded and pro-EU attitudes. The latest economic crisis has not weakened these attitudes. The attitudes of the various elite groups do no differ significantly when it comes to these issues. In principle, the attitudes of Estonia’s general public are also the same. There is a clear expectation among the Estonian elite about the need to move towards more focused policies along with an understanding that the role of the state, as the initiator, should be stronger in several spheres of activity. Despite similar expectations related to the need to continue economic openness, and to improve the focus of our policies, the positions of the various elite groups are quite diffused when it comes to what should be focused on, what should be prioritised and in which spheres of activity the role of the state should be strengthened. One could wonder whether the elite’s basic preferences and expectations related to development, are sufficiently reinforced by measures necessary for their realisation. For instance, an increase of economic competitiveness is almost unanimously expected, while the same cannot be said about the increase of innovativeness or improvements in human capital, which should serve as basis for greater competitiveness. This alludes to the need to develop forms of activity that will provide a framework for enabling the various elite groups (politicians, top officials, economic elite, scholars and others) to horizontally discuss and resolve their positions. A good example are the SITRA seminars in Finland that have been organised for complex groups for a long time, enabling the participants to learn from the best foreign development experience, and to discuss how to implement them in Finland. Although we too have searched (especially under the leadership of the Estonian Development Fund) for ways to best help new growth areas to develop in the economy, no clear common positions on these issues have been formulated, and the corresponding changes in economic policy have not been undertaken. One central issue is likely to concern, in the tough competition of the globalising economy, the combining of the striving for efficiency with the need for sustainable use of social resources while maintaining the cohesion of the society, which is particularly important for a small country (income policy, social security, regional policy etc). It seems, that the political discussion concerning these issues will intensify in near future. The elite survey showed that, fortunately, the attitudes valuing economic openness do not rigidly oppose the social attitudes that perceive income differentiations as a problem. This creates the preconditions for overcoming the conflicts caused by the differences related to economic and social policies. Foreign policy is faced with the task of helping to develop and implement a multi-directional foreign trade policy (incl. neighbouring EU regions, more distant EU regions, Russia, China and South-East Asia). Also, considering the attitudes of the decision-makers that participated in the survey, there is very strong support for the implementation of mechanisms for more open and democratic policymaking. This process will not be easy, but it may provide the opportunity to find new development impetuses and opportunities. Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013 207
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ESTONIAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2
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Table of Contents 1 Human Capital /
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Dear Reader Since the moment when E
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1Human Capital Estonian Human Devel
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the HDI’s content has also been h
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Figure 1.1.1 The human development
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Figure 1.1.7 The income sub-index:
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The results of the Princeton Projec
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the hypothetical generation. The to
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Figure 1.2.3 Life expectancy. Eston
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Table 1.2.2 also presents the most
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The new trends that are appearing i
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Figure 1.2.8 Components of populati
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New features were introduced into E
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Initiation of Voluntary Birth Contr
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Table 1.3.1 Best-known educational
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(OECD 2012b). Therefore a certain r
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The reciprocal dependence of the pr
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Figure 1.3.8 Percentage of students
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Table 1.3.4 The quality of educatio
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1.4 Health Raul-Allan Kiivet Change
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Table 1.4.1 Usage of prescription m
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allude to the fact that approximate
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promote healthy lifestyles among th
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Figure 1.5.1 The World Values Surve
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Table 1.5.2 Estonia’s participati
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Figure 1.5.3 The percentage of the
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Figure 1.5.5 Percentage of the Esto
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The fact that Estonia’s position
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Summary Mati Heidmets The global vi
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2People and Society Estonian Human
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Table 2.1.1 Structure of the Bertel
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tioning market economies (15 states
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2.2 Freedom and democracy Martin M
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Table 2.2.1 Democracy indicators Po
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Figure 2.2.2 The distribution of th
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would be something that none of the
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political participation are general
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strongest, while a very small perce
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is concerned, Estonia is one of the
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Figure 2.4.2 Average circulation of
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2.5 Corruption Jüri Saar In accord
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Lithuania, 61%; and in Russia, 69%.
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2.6.2 Intentional homicides in Esto
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crime. And thirdly, there was a wis
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References 1. Ahven, A. & Tabur, L.
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states included in the EU Kids Onli
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2.8 Public assessments of the state
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Figure 2.8.4 Changes releated to tr
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of the state’s development are en
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Table 2.9.1 The positions of Estoni
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3. IEP (2011). Structures of Peace.
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3Welfare and the Quality of Life Es
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choices made, not what people say t
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Figure 3.1.5 Public social spending
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tion agreed upon the social contrac
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References 1. Aidukaite, J. (2006).
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hand, to the “inequality of acces
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and explanations of the extent of i
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5- much more than I deserve. Some d
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people in Estonia consider the inco
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Table 3.3.1 Experienced Well-Being
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at about 70%. In Latvia and Lithuan
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sign. It seems that the usual view
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3.4 Quality of life Anu Toots 3.4.1
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a uniform composite indicator has n
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3.4.6 The components of life qualit
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Figure 3.4.4c Perceived quality of
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Figure 3.4.5 Changes in the depriva
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3.5 Environment dimension of well-b
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Figure 3.5.1.b Estonia’s position
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3.5.4 Energy intensity The energy i
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productivity, which is defined as t
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perceive themselves as worse off th
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4The Economy Estonian Human Develop
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vide a valuable connection for maki
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Figure 4.1.3 Components of economic
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Page 159 and 160: References 1. Acemoglu, D.; Robinso
Page 161 and 162: Development Report employs generali
Page 163 and 164: and pasture land, and this was capi
Page 165 and 166: Basing the total and net savings re
Page 167 and 168: 4.3 Labour market Reelika Leetmaa,
Page 169 and 170: The problems include the very limit
Page 171 and 172: • Expenditures for active labour
Page 173 and 174: who lose their jobs. These ensure i
Page 175 and 176: 4.4 Productivity and the economic s
Page 177 and 178: labour costs at the company level r
Page 179 and 180: Table 4.4.4 Comparison of the produ
Page 181 and 182: Figure 4.4.1 Annual average increas
Page 183 and 184: 4.5 Innovation Erik Terk, Katrin M
Page 185 and 186: Table 4.5.2 Comparison of innovatio
Page 187 and 188: Table 4.5.4 Comparison of the indic
Page 189 and 190: in order to make the R&D potential
Page 191 and 192: It is characteristic of the South K
Page 193 and 194: mechanisms for increasing their sta
Page 195 and 196: Globalisation and Policy Patterns 5
Page 197 and 198: When Estonia regained its independe
Page 199 and 200: 5.2 The impacts of globalisation an
Page 201 and 202: Table 5.2.2 Support of the differen
Page 203 and 204: 5.3 Development policies Erik Terk,
Page 205 and 206: • C -the “Estonia-centred” su
Page 207: Figure 5.4.1 Support for the possib
Page 212 and 213: ehavioural patterns. Therefore, it
Page 214 and 215: EDR 2012/2013 authors Clemens Buche
Page 216 and 217: EDR 2012/2013 authors Alari Purju i
Page 218: Editor-in-Chief: Mati Heidmets Prod
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