The objectives of the study were (a) to identify the reasons and concerns of those public administrators and marketing scholars who do not accept the usefulness of marketing in the public sector; (b) to deconstruct, comprehend, interpret, and critically appraise the current conceptualization of public sector marketing from the viewpoint of negativists identified in step (a); and (c) to reconstruct, redefine, reinterpret, and reoperationalize the current controversial conceptualization of public sector marketing into a new conceptualization in the context of park and recreation services. The critical theory approach to the study primary used non-empirical procedures data collection and analytic procedures which included investigative research, negative case analysis, and theoretical triangulation. These procedures were supplemented with empirical data collected from in-depth interviews with five scholars and with three parks and recreation managers. Results of the non-empirical procedures revealed the biased selective nature of the current conceptualization of public park and recreation marketing and the existence of alternative conceptualizations which have been ignored. The existing and alternative models were discussed with scholars and park and recreation managers. Support was found for the alternative models. From these data an alternative conceptualization of public park and recreation marketing was developed and named the concept of administered marketing. Implications for park and recreation managers are discussed. Directions for future research into the administratively managed park and recreation marketing concept are suggested.

The paper suggests a classification of Russian commercial banks for the purposes of empirical analysis. While most of the literature on comparative bank performance in transition identifies three broad categories of banks (state, domestic private and foreign), in the Russian case it may be proper to consider separately the core state-controlled banks that jointly account for over 40 percent of total assets. Among all foreign-controlled banks we identify foreign subsidiary banks whose parents are financial institutions and whose core business in Russia is commercial banking. This paper complements previous papers on Russian bank data (Schoors, 2000; Karas and Schoors, 2005; 2010; Vernikov, 2007; 2009; 2012; 2014). We attach a list of state-controlled banks and foreign subsidiary banks that have been active during the period up to 2014.

This paper adds to the literature on banking in transition with regard to the comparative efficiency of different bank groups. We conclude that, to prevent the distoring effect of currency and securities revaluations, a refined definition of bank revenue is proper in comparative bank efficiency computations for countries with substantial volatility in financial markets.

This empirical paper adds to competition and industrial organization literature by exploring the interplay between industry structure and competitiveness on local, rather than nation-wide, markets. We use micro-level statistical data for banks in two Russian regions (Bashkortostan and Tatarstan) to estimate Herfindahl-Hirschman index, Lerner index, and Panzar-Rosse model. We estimate Panzar-Rosse model in two ways: via the widely used price-equation that accounts for scale effects and then via a revenue-equation that disregards scale effects as suggested by Bikker et al. (2009). We find both regional markets to be ruled by monopolistic competition, although estimation by revenue-equation does not reject monopoly hypothesis for Tatarstan. Existence of sizeable locally-owned and operated institutions does not necessarily lead to higher competitiveness of the given regional market, and the results from non-structural methods of estimation suggest that bank competition in Bashkortostan is stronger than in Tatarstan. Going further away from aggregated analysis we compute Lerner indices in two product segments of Tatarstan – retail and corporate loans – and find that retail segment is significantly more competitive. Local banks exert more market power in corporate loans, while federal branches – in retail loans.

This paper is devoted to the explanation of selected bureaus’ behavior patterns in the soviet type of totalitarian dictatorships with the command economic model. It is a proven fact that the plan figures in the soviet economy were fabricated as a consequence of intrigues and secret negotiations between different interested parties. Generally, bureaus, as rational agents that minimize risk and maximize slack, should have been interested in reducing the plan figures, nevertheless, they strived to increase them. As examples, mass repression under dictatorships and overexpenditure of an administrative leverage at elections in non-democratic and quasi-democratic countries can be observed. In the article we develop a simple model of coordination between principal (dictator) and his agents (bureaus), which explain the mentioned paradoxical situation.

The choice of appropriate model for estimation of cost of equity in emerging markets is still a very challenging problem. Market inefficiency, limited opportunities for diversification, as well as liquidity issues inspire researches to look for risk characteristics beyond the usual mean variance framework of the classical capital asset pricing model. Various models were developed for the past several decades proposing new ways of risk assessment, however, controversial empirical evidence of these models requires careful consideration. We tested empirically how different risk parameters, including those entropy based, explain the rate of return on Russian equities. We compare different models to choose the best suiting one for each period of economic cycle.

We discuss efficiency of the quadratic bridge volatility estimator in comparison with Parkinson, Garman-Klass and Roger-Satchell estimators. It is shown in particular that point and interval estimations of volatility, resting on bridge estimator, are considerably more efficient than analogous estimations, resting on Parkinson, Garman-Klass and Roger-Satchell one.

The author deconstructs the prevailing conceptualization of non-profit marketing and concludes it rests on three principles: voluntary exchange, an open system organization, and self-interest motivation. A review of the genesis of these principles revealed that alternative principles were ignored in the social science literature. Based on a qualitative analysis and critical hermeneutic approach a revised conceptualization of non-profit marketing was suggested which incorporated the principles of reciprocity, the features of a contingency-choice organization, and altruistic interest motivation. A revised definition of non-profit marketing is offered based on these principles.

We consider a model of an on-line software market, where an intermediary distributes products from sellers to buyers. When products of sellers are vertically differentiated, an intermediary, earning a proportion of sales, has an incentive to hide the worse product on the second page, and only keep the better product on the front page: that weakens the competition, allowing the seller with the better product to charge a higher price. With heterogeneous visiting costs to the second page, the platform's revenue might improve, but the outcome will become socially suboptimal.

  The paper aims at analyzing the role of various legislative and policy sources in delineating the conceptual and regulative frameworks for transnational employment relations. This type of employment relations is still perceived as a novelty in Russia and is not actually reflected in the Russian legislation. However while during the last decades the legislature has not provided for a consistent approach to the understanding  of this phenomenon, the perception of it is now being formed - more or less successfully - on the international/interregional and corporate levels, as well as in contemporary research and in everyday practice. The paper offers an outline of recent academic studies defining particular groups and categories of transnational employment relations proposed by the Russian scholars, explaining problems that arise in the legal regulation of this phenomenon and suggesting possible ways of their solution. Apart from this the paper summarizes principles for the transnational employment relations regulation provided in interregional and bilateral treaties (mostly of the Commonwealth of Independent States and of the EuroAsEC levels). The author describes commonalities and variations of approaches that can be found in these documents, makes an effort to explain the reasons that have brought them about and gives some assumptions of their possible effect and productive usage at the national and enterprise levels. These speculations are supplemented with an analysis of enterprise level developments in regard to transnational employment relations – both national and multinational – that embrace introduction of new concepts and instruments, bringing to light new aspects of the phenomenon and spreading good practices on sectorial or inter-sectorial levels. Among other issues discussed in the paper there is an assumption that the time has come to give a more serious recognition of the so called “soft law sources” which can now be found on both international/interregional and enterprise levels. While these sources are widely used in practice they still lack official recognition and any particular status in the Russian legal doctrine.  This abundant data demonstrates some clear similarities and differences. Therefore it is argued that the field has been developed to the point where particular generalization and systematization can be performed to make the legislative amendments possible in the nearest future. The author provides several examples of such generalizations and amendments and makes an inference of their effect onto the policy and practice of all the stakeholders involved in transnational employment relations or responsible for their regulation in the Russian context.

The paper investigates the influence of outside options on the predatory behavior of autocrats. An outside option is referred to as the opportunity of an incumbent ruler to continue his career outside his current territory of control. The paper uses data on the effectiveness of tax collection and the repressiveness of tax jurisprudence for Russian regions in 2007-2009 and finds that regions ruled by governors with substantial outside options are characterized by more repressive behavior of tax authorities. However, surprisingly, the same tax authorities collect less additional revenues for the public budget. It conjectures that the presence of an outside option induces autocrats to behave like ‘roving bandits’: they use tax audits to establish control over regional companies, but exploit this control to extract private rents rather than revenues for the regional budget used for public goods provision.

In this study we test how the level of school financial resources and relative teacher wages affect educational outcomes. Russia provides a good opportunity for testing this relationship due to its high regional heterogeneity. We use two measures of educational outcomes at different levels of the school system. We find no significant effect of the school financing level. However, the level of relative teacher wages has significant positive effect on both test scores. This result is robust to instrumenting relative teacher wages with regional minimum wage levels. We also provide some evidence on the possible channels of this effect.

This paper tries to assess some of the effects from industrial policy of growing state-controlled "national champions" in the Russian banking industry. We look at market concentration and competitiveness and average bank efficiency. A modified method of calculating the indicators of market concentration suggests that main segments of the market have crossed the threshold of high concentration, whereas household deposits market became close to a monopoly situation. High market share of core public banks enhances their market power and explains their higher profitability as compared to other groups of market players. Replacement of direct state control by indirect control and the comparative efficiency of banks representing different forms of ownership are also discussed.

  Studies on mobbing and harassment in Russia, - whether from a legal, sociological, psychological or economical viewpoint, - are sporadic and usually included into more general research projects devoted to discrimination, gender issues and human rights. Doctrine does not provide consistent terminology. Legislation does not address these issues consistently in their entirety, recognizing only specific instances of their manifestation. Collective agreements contain only general provisions on this subject if any, and enterprise regulations have mostly superficial clauses unenforceable because of the lack of essence and relevant procedures. Russian legislative landscape also lacks stakeholders seriously interested in establishment and promotion of anti-mobbing and anti-harassment culture in the workplaces. Both government and public demonstrate a “we have more urgent questions to address” attitude. In this context absence of landmark cases and court decisions is a logical consequence and a natural result of the general disregard. Thus it is all the more important to highlight the circumstances in which a judicial protection can now be provided. This analysis and further research, - including comparative studies, - may help to reveal possible directions for the policy development in this field both in doctrinal and regulatory aspects. This paper attempts to outline the state of the art and the major tendencies in legal regulation of mobbing and harassment phenomena in Russia nowadays and to suggest possible explanations and solutions to the problems revealed.