SOCIAL VALUES AND CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IN NON-COMMERCIAL ALCOHOL MARKET OF LATVIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.17.4.3015Keywords:
social values, tax revenues, hidden economy, unrecorded, non-commercial alcohol, LatviaAbstract
The objective of the paper is to analyse the mechanisms of the non-commercial alcohol market in Latvia in order to suggest such social and tax policies to government that will limit the harmful influence of non-commercial alcohol and have positive effect on state tax revenues.
The study is based on a quantitative survey representatively sampling general population of Latvia, regular non-commercial alcohol consumers and producers/distributors of non-commercial alcohol. The analysis reveals the patterns related to volumes and frequency of trade / consumption, motivators and enablers to enter the shadow economy. Social Values methodology is applied to explain the human values behind these choices in order to explain the motivation and suggest prevention policies.
Practical recommendations for state policies are issued as the result of the study. Those include priorities for law enforcement bodies, actions to increase the effectiveness of control over the black market and priorities for communication with the consumers in order to prevent them from entering the shadow economy area. As the result of implementation, increasing state tax revenues and better controlled social and economic impact of the issue would be anticipated.
The study thus might represent a value from academic and state policy management perspective, as well as provide valuable insights for legal alcohol industry marketers to build competitive propositions versus both legal and illegal market offers.
