The article discusses analytical aspects of the economic approach to the problem of food security. Food security measurement and indicators are analysed and world food security situation is assessed with reference to theoretical and empirical literature, and principles of environmental economics and sustainable development. The first part of this article discusses food security measurement and indicators, and how they are estimated at the national level. There are five methods that can be used to assess food insecurity: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization method, household expenditure surveys, dietary intake assessment, anthropometry and experience-based food insecurity scales. Food insecurity factors can be grouped in four clusters: 1) the socio-economic and political environment; 2) food economy; 3) care practices; 4) health and sanitation. The second part of this article analyzes the current food security situation in the world. W ith reference to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization data it can be stated that the increase of hunger in the world is not a result of poor crop harvest, but rather of insufficient investment in agriculture, high local food prices, lower income and higher unemployment do to economic slowdown witch followed on the heals of food price crises. Rising international cereal prices and drop in national crop production have increased food prices in many countries of the world. The biggest increase in food prices were in developing countries. The third part of this article discusses the causes of world food price crisis. Many factors contributed to resent food security situation and food price rise. Long term trends in agricultural production, population growth, economic growth in developing countries, oil prices have slowed food production growth and strengthened demand.[...].

The article discusses the economic approach to the problem of food security. Food security concept and its impact on economic growth is analysed theoretically with reference to theoretical and empirical literature, and principles of environmental economics and sustainable development. The first part of this article considers the concept of food security. Now food security is defined as “ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food that they need”. This concept was introduced, when it was realized that adequate food availability at the national level did not automatically translate into food security at the household level. A. Sen’s theory on food entitlement, witch was developed to household livelihood approach, had a considerable influence in this change in thinking. Poverty and people’s vulnerability were seen as central to understanding food insecurity. By the mid-1990s food security definition had been broadened to incorporate food safety and nutritional balance. Food security concept involves these dimensions of food security: a) availability of food, b) access to food, c) food utilization, d) stability. First of all, it is necessary that there would be enough food available at the national level. Second, households must also have the necessary resources to acquire that food. Moreover, to achieve nutritional security people need adequate care and a healthy living environment. Finally, they should not risk losing access to food as a consequence of an economic or climatic crisis, or cyclical events. The second part of this article analyzes the impact of nutrition on economic growth. The positive effect of economic growth on nutrition has been amply demonstrated in both the theoretical and empirical literature.[...].

The article evaluates the sustainable development concept and possibilities for assessment of sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development and assessment of it and its dimensions are reviewed from the viewpoint of principles of environmental economics and sustainable development.

The article discusses the assessment of sustainable development. According to the collected theoretical and practical material, the possibilities of assessment of sustainable development are reviewed from the viewpoint of principles of environmental economics and sustainable development.

The article evaluates the process of Lithuanian economic development by sustainability aspect. According to the collected theoretical and practical material, the assessment of Lithuanian economy sustainablity from the viewpoint of principles and systems of environmental economics, strategical management and sustainable development are reviewed.

The article evaluates the process of economic development by sustainability aspect. According to the collected theoretical and practical material, the assessment of economy sustainablity from the viewpoint of principles and systems of environmental economics, strategical management and sustainable development is reviewed.

The article discusses theoretical and practical aspects of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. According to the collected theoretical and practical material, itwas analyzed the concepts of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. The examination how the corporate social responsibility appears in the context of sustainable development and assessment of banks’ practice in Lithuania is done in this paper too. Due to the changes in the global world and business sphere it becomes more relevant to improve business performance when adjusting it to changed customers and society needs. The essential theoretical aspect – corporate social responsibility including the following components (the public workplace, the environment and the market) is directly related to the positive contributions of companies to the public that also helps to reach a greater integration of sustainable development in the society. Research object – corporate social responsibility in the context of sustainable development. Research objective is to examine how the corporate social responsibility appears in the context of sustainable development and to assess banks’ practice in Lithuania. Research tasks: a) To base corporate social responsibility’s relevance to sustainable development according to the scientific literature. b) To examine the concept of corporate social responsibility from a theoretical prospective. c) To evaluate the significant results of the already carried out empirical researches and to point out the novelty and relevance of this study. d) To reveal the characteristics of banks practice on social responsibility in Lithuania: the pros and cons. e) To analyze the empirical results of a study and prove or disprove the raised hypothesis. Research methods. Comparative analysis of scientific literature, information structuring and summarizing techniques was used. [...]

The article evaluates the process of the strategical management of the transformation of the firm to the sustainable firm. According to the collected theoretical and practical material, the process of the strategical management of the transformation of the firm to the sustainable firm from the viewpoint of principles and systems of environmental management, strategical management and sustainable development are reviewed.

The aim of this work is to assess the impact of income inequality for sustainable economic growth in the EU-25 countries in 2005–2012. Research was performed by using integrated sustainable development index (ISDI). It was found that the highest value of ISDI was in the first cluster. The highest value of income inequality and the lowest value of GDP per inhabitant were in the first cluster.

The article discusses impact of sustainable development on quality of life. According to the collected theoretical and practical material, it analyzes conceptions of quality of life and sustainable development and aspects, which connect them. Was formatted the theoretical model of assessment of impact of sustainable development on quality of life. The research supports the hypothesis, that sustainable development has positive impact on quality of life. In assessing the quality of life it is important to pay attention not only to the social, environmental, economic development but also to the system of human’s value, beliefs, ethics, his sense of moral purpose and responsibilities. Quality of life can be achieved by resolving the conflict between nature and society by reducing the use of natural resources, waste disposal and so on. The main problem of the paper is stated as follows: because we don’t have unique system for assessment of sustainable development and quality of life, it is difficult to assess impact of sustainable development on quality of life. Research object – sustainable development and quality of life. Research objective is to assess impact of sustainable development on quality of life. Research tasks: a) to analyze the concepts of quality of life and sustainable development; b) to discuss the aspects bringing together quality of life and sustainable development; c) to explore the empirical research on quality of life and sustainable development; d) to form the model of the assessment of impact of sustainable development on quality of life; e) to measure the impact of sustainable development on quality of life. Research methods. Research methods contributing to this paper are: systematic scientific literature analysis, statistical data and comparative analysis, regression analysis, use of SPSS 17 (Statistical Package for Social Science) and Package Microsoft Excel. [...]