Zaiga Krisjane | University of Latvia (original) (raw)
Papers by Zaiga Krisjane
Ersa Conference Papers, 2014
Tourism management literature in the last decades has paid much attention to the study of residen... more Tourism management literature in the last decades has paid much attention to the study of resident perceptions and attitudes towards tourism development. Results of empirical research have variously linked such perceptions and attitudes to issues of socio-economic growth and socio-environmental impact. This leads to different and often contradictory attitudes, sometimes strongly depending on geographical contexts and specificities, and generally linked to perceived trade-offs between economic and infrastructural development opportunities on the one hand, and socio-environmental effects (in terms, for instance, of crime levels, traffic, pollution) on the other. However, studies attempting at investigating the structure of perception building and interdependencies in a deep way have been rather few, the majority of them being based on simple regression analyses, not fully able to grasp the complexity of such issues and evidence causal chains. Besides, the role of attitudes and perceptions about quality of life have not been adequately taken into account as factors behind tourism perceptions. The present paper is an attempt at overcoming some of these shortcomings, by approaching the issue of tourism perceptions among residents through a path analysis and structural equation modelling-based approach, investigating the impact of residence place quality perception on tourism-related attitudes. In our model, the intermediate key endogenous variable is the perception of tourism as source of possible economic benefits, supposed both to be affected by quality of life assessment and to affect positive and/or negative perceptions related to life change opportunities and risks, and impact on the environment. The analysis is carried out among residents of Lake Engure area, a rural region characterized by recent tourism increase, located in western Latvia. Results are tested against several socio-demographic and socio-spatial control variables, with a specific focus on differences between coast and hinterland inhabitants. Age, gender, employment status, and years of residence in the area are also taken into account. Results support to a large extent the relation between quality of life assessment and perceptions towards tourism, and the complex pattern of relations among perceptions. Besides, they also evidence a very high sensitivity to control variables, in particular those related to the coast / hinterland divide, employment, and place-rootedness.
Baltic Region, 2014
Migration processes are amongst the most relevant issues in the geography of the Baltic States. T... more Migration processes are amongst the most relevant issues in the geography of the Baltic States. The authors analyse the changes in migration patterns from the early 1990s until today. The focus of the study is the recent trends of migratory movements in the case of Latvia. Due to the country's economic recession, migration has accelerated in the recent years. Empirical results show the response of the migration system to the changing internal factors and external influences in the times of transition and global crisis. Long-term emigration exacerbates the problem of demographic change in Latvia.
Geographical review of Japan series B, 2009
Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences., 2014
Migration has key importance in explaining the spatial distribution of the population in Latvia. ... more Migration has key importance in explaining the spatial distribution of the population in Latvia. The study contributes to an understanding of population shift towards coastal areas affected by amenity-driven migration, beach-oriented tourism and land development. This research explores characteristics of the inhabitants of the Engure coastal area, with special attention to individual attitudes on specific life quality attributes. Using a survey of local residents conducted in 2010, we found statistically significant correlations between groups of the research population. The results show that in-migrants differ from long-term residents with regard to most socio-demographic and attitude variables studied. Similarly, differences were found by out-migration intentions of residents. The area selected for the case study serves as a prominent and instructive laboratory for our analysis due to its suburban location, comparatively stable population growth rates and richness in natural ameni...
Intra-EU mobility is a multifaced process, entailing various forms of mobility, including cross-b... more Intra-EU mobility is a multifaced process, entailing various forms of mobility, including cross-border commuting, seasonal and other short-term migration, as well as circular and more permanent migration. Indeed, contemporary migration patterns in Europe show an increase in, and diversification of, migrant flows as a result of differences in wealth levels, the removal of restrictions on the free movement of labour, reduced transportation and communication costs, the expansion of formal and informal labour recruitment networks, and initiatives by governments and employers to recruit labour into specific economic sectors. Besides, all of these mobility forms coexists in a rapidly changing landscape of European migration. All across Europe young people are among the most mobile groups and intra-EU mobility has been composed of a high share of youth. Since the first EU enlargement towards the East in 2004, both rural regions and urban areas of Latvia have witnessed the large-scale emigr...
Ersa Conference Papers, 2014
Tourism management literature in the last decades has paid much attention to the study of residen... more Tourism management literature in the last decades has paid much attention to the study of resident perceptions and attitudes towards tourism development. Results of empirical research have variously linked such perceptions and attitudes to issues of socio-economic growth and socio-environmental impact. This leads to different and often contradictory attitudes, sometimes strongly depending on geographical contexts and specificities, and generally linked to perceived trade-offs between economic and infrastructural development opportunities on the one hand, and socio-environmental effects (in terms, for instance, of crime levels, traffic, pollution) on the other. However, studies attempting at investigating the structure of perception building and interdependencies in a deep way have been rather few, the majority of them being based on simple regression analyses, not fully able to grasp the complexity of such issues and evidence causal chains. Besides, the role of attitudes and perceptions about quality of life have not been adequately taken into account as factors behind tourism perceptions. The present paper is an attempt at overcoming some of these shortcomings, by approaching the issue of tourism perceptions among residents through a path analysis and structural equation modelling-based approach, investigating the impact of residence place quality perception on tourism-related attitudes. In our model, the intermediate key endogenous variable is the perception of tourism as source of possible economic benefits, supposed both to be affected by quality of life assessment and to affect positive and/or negative perceptions related to life change opportunities and risks, and impact on the environment. The analysis is carried out among residents of Lake Engure area, a rural region characterized by recent tourism increase, located in western Latvia. Results are tested against several socio-demographic and socio-spatial control variables, with a specific focus on differences between coast and hinterland inhabitants. Age, gender, employment status, and years of residence in the area are also taken into account. Results support to a large extent the relation between quality of life assessment and perceptions towards tourism, and the complex pattern of relations among perceptions. Besides, they also evidence a very high sensitivity to control variables, in particular those related to the coast / hinterland divide, employment, and place-rootedness.
Baltic Region, 2014
Migration processes are amongst the most relevant issues in the geography of the Baltic States. T... more Migration processes are amongst the most relevant issues in the geography of the Baltic States. The authors analyse the changes in migration patterns from the early 1990s until today. The focus of the study is the recent trends of migratory movements in the case of Latvia. Due to the country's economic recession, migration has accelerated in the recent years. Empirical results show the response of the migration system to the changing internal factors and external influences in the times of transition and global crisis. Long-term emigration exacerbates the problem of demographic change in Latvia.
Geographical review of Japan series B, 2009
Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences., 2014
Migration has key importance in explaining the spatial distribution of the population in Latvia. ... more Migration has key importance in explaining the spatial distribution of the population in Latvia. The study contributes to an understanding of population shift towards coastal areas affected by amenity-driven migration, beach-oriented tourism and land development. This research explores characteristics of the inhabitants of the Engure coastal area, with special attention to individual attitudes on specific life quality attributes. Using a survey of local residents conducted in 2010, we found statistically significant correlations between groups of the research population. The results show that in-migrants differ from long-term residents with regard to most socio-demographic and attitude variables studied. Similarly, differences were found by out-migration intentions of residents. The area selected for the case study serves as a prominent and instructive laboratory for our analysis due to its suburban location, comparatively stable population growth rates and richness in natural ameni...
Intra-EU mobility is a multifaced process, entailing various forms of mobility, including cross-b... more Intra-EU mobility is a multifaced process, entailing various forms of mobility, including cross-border commuting, seasonal and other short-term migration, as well as circular and more permanent migration. Indeed, contemporary migration patterns in Europe show an increase in, and diversification of, migrant flows as a result of differences in wealth levels, the removal of restrictions on the free movement of labour, reduced transportation and communication costs, the expansion of formal and informal labour recruitment networks, and initiatives by governments and employers to recruit labour into specific economic sectors. Besides, all of these mobility forms coexists in a rapidly changing landscape of European migration. All across Europe young people are among the most mobile groups and intra-EU mobility has been composed of a high share of youth. Since the first EU enlargement towards the East in 2004, both rural regions and urban areas of Latvia have witnessed the large-scale emigr...