Book chapter
The Potential Impact of Foreign Banks on the Russian Banking Market
Up to now, the Russian banking market has not been opened up completely for foreign banks. This refers mainly to the still existing restriction to set up branches in the Russian Federation that will even remain in force after the accession to the WTO. There is a fear by many incumbent Russian banks of being crowded out by foreign banks entering the market with low-interest offers for business and consumer loans. Studies of foreign bank entry in other transitions countries have shown that this fear is reasonable. However, from an economic point of view the entry of foreign banks has increased the overall efficiency of the banking markets in those regions and led to a healthy concentration process. Both effects could also take place on the Russian banking market that is characterised by a comparably low borrowing to the private sector and a very high number of small banks.
This article addresses these questions by reviewing the potential effects of fo-reign bank entry in banking markets of transition countries. This is followed by an analysis of the current situation on the Russian banking market which has some peculiarities in comparison to the banking markets of e.g. former socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This is mainly due to the size of the country and the existence of large state owned banks which are dominating the market.
In book
In the transition to a market economy, the Russian workforce underwent a wrenching period of change, with excess supply of some industrial skills coexisting with reports of skills shortages by many enterprises. This paper uses data from the Russia Competitiveness and Investment Climate Survey and related local research to gain insights into the changing supply and demand for skills over time, and the potential reasons for reported staffing problems and skills shortages, including labor turnover, compensation policies and the inhibiting effects of labor regulations. It discusses inservice training as an enterprise strategy for meeting staffing and skills needs, and presents evidence on the distribution, intensity and determinants of in-service training in Russia. It investigates the productivity and wage outcomes of in-service training, and the supportive role of training in firms’ research and development (R&D) and innovative activities. A final section concludes with some policy implications of the findings.
A sustainability perspective is a practical today's goal for collaboration of state, business and society. The special role within this triad belongs to business companies, which integrate the sustainability principles into their strategies to improve organizational processes and long-term growth. Quality management system (QMS) is an important tool to ensure sustainability through business performance. According to the International standard organization survey of QMS, more than 1 million certifications issued in 178 countries by 2010. The position according to which corporate management of sustainability by the help of QMS, which corresponds to international standard ISO 9000 is presented in the paper. The aim of the paper is to examine the factors, which affect organizational decision of the companies in the emerging countries to implement QMS ISO 9000. The impact of internal and external factors which influence managerial decision of QMS implementation is analyzed in the paper. Specifically, the similarities and differences between the motivations of companies from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), new members of the EU countries and countries of the Southern Europe (which aren’t the members of the EU) within the implementation of the QMS ISO 9000, are discussed. The empirical cross-country analysis is based on 2002–2009 data from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), conducted by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The study identifies the role of economic development and institutional environment in the QMS ISO 9000 implementation. There are highlighted three “portraits” of companies, which implemented QMS: (a) from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries; (b) from the new EU members countries; (c) from the Southern Europe countries, which aren’t the members of the EU. The results show that QMS ISO 9000 implementation leads to increase of competitive ability and investment attractiveness of the company, to improvement of product quality and stakeholders communications, to human resources development. These business processes improvements, as a QMS implementation result, can potentially activate the company’s sustainable effects and then - national and global sustainability transformations.
This paper addresses state participation in the financial sector. We take the example of the Russian banking industry to suggest criteria for a more accurate definition of public sector boundaries and an assessment of the actual scale of state presence in the national banking market.
The historical changes in Central and Eastern Europe demanded suitable paths for the transition from centrally planned to market based economies. The lack of relevant experience added to the challenge, giving rise to the incalculable risks of implementing untested policies. By focusing on monetary policy, trade, and convergence, this volume addresses some of the most urgent economic policy issues in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.
Identity of citizens in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in particular those who joined the EU, has changed a lot since the enlargement. Ideas of constructed identity (through theory of constructivism), role of political institutions in the process of identity formation as well as concepts of center-periphery are discussed in this article.
There are over thirty million disabled people in Russia and Eastern Europe, yet their voices are rarely heard in scholarly studies of life and well-being in the region. This book brings together new research by internationally recognised local and non-native scholars in a range of countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It covers, historically, the origins of legacies that continue to affect well-being and policy in the region today, discusses disability in culture and society, highlighting the broader conditions that construct disability and in which disabled people must build their identities and well-being, provides in-depth biographical profiles that outline what living with disabilities in the region is like, and examines policy interventions, including international influences, recent reforms and the difficulties of implementing inclusive, community-based care. The book will be of interest both to regional specialists, for whom the problem of declining standards of health and well-being is a crucial concern, and to scholars of disability and social policy internationally
Various forms of dictatorship have been a context in which SBS have been developing through most of the 20th century. Nazi and fascist regimes in Europe, Communist single-party states, military juntas in Latin America and elsewhere in the post-colonial world accompanied the crisis of tradition and development of modernity as an alternative to liberal democracy. Dictatorships have thoroughly affected the history of SBS pursuing a policy of repression and control and, sometimes, encouraging a growth of various social science disciplines. The lack of intellectual and institutional autonomy is generally endured, though to different degrees and in different aspects, by SBS under dictatorship.
The present book is the result of the project International Comparative Study on Education, Career and Migrant Strategies of School Students from Rural Areas in Transition Countries initiated by UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED) and the Center for Applied Economic Research, National Research University Higher School of Economic (HSE) of Russia in 2010.
In order to remain competitive, firms need to keep the quantity and composition of jobs close to optimal for their given output. Since the beginning of the transition period, Russian industrial firms have been widely reporting that the quantity and composition of hired labour is far from being close to optimal. This paper discusses what kinds of firms in the Russian manufacturing sector are unable to optimize their employment and why. The main conclusion is that the key issue is an excess of non-viable firms and a shortage of highly efficient firms because of weak selection mechanisms. The major solution is seen in creating institutional conditions that stimulate a more efficient reallocation of labour. The analysis presented in this paper is based on data from a large-scale survey of Russian manufacturing firms.