The economies of Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (CEECCA) grew at a varying pace in 2000–2019, with an average rate of 6.5 percent per annum (GDP, PPP). This economic progress was accompanied by some positive changes in environmental performance, but not in all areas and not in all countries in the region.

This book, a philosophical consideration of Soviet socialism, is not meant simply to revisit the communist past; its aim, rather, is to witness certain zones where capitalism’s domination is resisted—the zones of countercapitalist critique, civil society agencies, and theoretical provisions of emancipation or progress—and to inquire to what extent those zones are in fact permeated by unconscious capitalism and thus unwittingly affirm the capitalist condition.

By means of the philosophical and politico-economical consideration of Soviet socialism of the 1960 and 1970s, this book manages to reveal the hidden desire for capitalism in contemporaneous anticapitalist discourse and theory. The research is marked by a broad cross-disciplinary approach based on political economy, philosophy, art theory, and cultural theory that redefines old Cold War and Slavic studies’ views of the post-Stalinist years, as well as challenges the interpretations of this period of historical socialism in Western Marxist thought.

The bond market is a key securities market and emerging economies present exciting, new investment opportunities. This timely book provides insights into these emerging bond markets through empirical models and analytical databases, i.e. Bloomberg, Eikon Refinitiv and the Russian Cbonds.

The book looks at the dynamics of the development of emerging bond markets, their competitiveness, features and patterns using macro and micro level data. It also takes into consideration various securities type i.e. government, corporate, sub-federal and municipal bonds, to identify respective challenges and risks. The book also analyses factors that may inhibit or stimulate a well-balanced financial market. It includes case studies of Asian, Latin American and Russian bond markets, as also as cross-country comparisons.

It will be a useful reference for anyone who is interested to learn more of the bond market and the modelling techniques for critical data analysis.

This publication is the culmination of the 16th International Scientific Conference entitled “Human Potential Development” (HPD). The conference was held in Łódź between May the 28th–30th, 2019, and was patronized by the Associate Professor Tomasz Czapla, the Dean of the Faculty of Management at the University of Łódź, and also by the International Academic Network HPD CEEUS. The international nature of the conference resulted in ten articles in this publication being written in five languages, with English being the leading language of the conference. The aim of the conference was the international exchange of knowledge in the field of HPD in the context of the latest, theoretical and practical solutions, with particular emphasis on the need to create, motivate and develop the driving force of organizational changes – employees and managers. It was assumed that this goal would be implemented within three conference working areas: 1) using and developing human potential, 2) new challenges within the mentioned area, and 3) developing models and practices related to human potential and human resource management. The concept of HPD is common in the international human resource management literature, which emphasises its strategic dimension, and combines organizational and social goals with the promotion of a competitive advantage based on the human capital concept. At the same time, this strategic dimension is inseparably accompanied by the focus on the needs, aspirations, growth and development of people. As a consequence of the implementation of both dimensions, the creation of a learning and development culture has been observed as an inherent feature of training planning and implementation, as well as the creation of personal, employee and citizen development programs. Each of the authors presents different viewpoints within their HPD research, but the common theme of all findings and considerations were the expectations, decisions and behaviors of people in specific contexts of economic reality. The publication opens with an article by the British author William Chambers, a retired professor at Hope University in Liverpool, a longtime charity 12 • Introduction community activist in the UK. He presents examples and types of difficult working conditions, which sometimes lead to dysfunctional behaviors of volunteers, employees and managers of these organizations. The author describes the associated human resource (HR) management practices as well as the context in which they are used. It is worth noting the summary of the article, which is an attempt to answer questions about the specificity of charitable organizations, actors performing their roles, the essence of managing these organizations and the importance of estimating personnel risk. A team of Lithuanian researchers, including Irena Bakanauskiene, Rita Bendaravićiene and Inesa Daugintaite, refers to the important issue of happiness in the workplace and its multidimensionality. This topic is presented using the example of research results from teachers. Although all dimensions and attributes of employee happiness are important for the surveyed employees, reality does not meet employee expectations – especially in the area of motivation and remuneration systems. The importance of employee communication competences for the quality of services in the public and non-profit sectors is presented by Barbara Batko, who indicates some features of socially useful information, the development of which requires specific and universal competences for the purposes of handling the communication process. It is worth noting that these are well known and important components of human capital, that is, adequate knowledge, the ability to think critically or search for cause and effect relationships. Martina Grófová allows the audience to consider the possibility of implementing the principles of a circular economy in Slovakia. This is one of the possibilities of transition from serial production to production based on customer value, but with a more rational use of resources and reduction of the negative impact on the environment of manufactured products. However, it is worth paying attention to the need to build consumer awareness in this new reality and the responsibility of companies in this matter. Shaping customer relationships in e-commerce is a key corporate responsibility. Justyna Majchrzak-Lepczyk is able to highlight the purchasing process of e-customers and presents the results of her own research in this area. It is worth paying attention to the essence of employee competences and their ability to read the needs of e-buyers. A research team consisting of Zdenko Stacho, Katarína Stachová and Martina Grófová draws attention to the importance and openness of communication as an instrument of engaging human resources in order to maintain organizational competitiveness in the context of the speed of market changes and Introduction • 13 their nature. What is interesting is the informal communication and information technology (IT) support highlighted by the authors. Vladimir Šulc and Petr Jedinák take up the subject of the requirement to increase IT security of the information flow in the context of its integration with the legislative environment of the European Union, exemplified by the Czech Republic. The authors emphasize the increased vulnerability of IT systems to dangers in the network and the role of programmers in securing it. Based on two surveys and a series of interviews in the business service sector, Robert Marciniak presents Hungarian experience in the field of the impact of technological progress on the automation of service processes. The author discusses the resistance and expectations of employees towards the described trend. Evgeniy Borisovich Morgunov and Igor Borisovich Gurkov present the results of research on the production plants of foreign corporations operating in Russia. They show the features and processes of human resource management. The context of the described solutions and the indicated tensions between East and West are presented. We conclude with the consideration of Jiří Stýblo, who draws attention to the impact of digitization and automation on HR processes and the work environment which are changing the skill requirements of HR specialists and managers. This publication is intended for readers who want to expand their knowledge of the essence of building the capacity of individuals, teams and societies in a comprehensive and non-trivial way. At the same time, it encourages reflection and a holistic view of the phenomenon of human potential. I encourage you to read the aforementioned conference papers.

This book studies complex systems with elements represented by random variables. Its main goal is to study and compare uncertainty of algorithms of network structure identification with applications to market network analysis. For this, a mathematical model of random variable network is introduced, uncertainty of identification procedure is defined through a risk function, random variables networks with different measures of similarity (dependence) are discussed, and general statistical properties of identification algorithms are studied. The volume also introduces a new class of identification algorithms based on a new measure of similarity and prove its robustness in a large class of distributions, and presents applications to social networks, power transmission grids, telecommunication networks, stock market networks, and brain networks through a theoretical analysis that identifies network structures. Both researchers and graduate students in computer science, mathematics, and optimization will find the applications and techniques presented useful.

 

Recent Applications of Financial Risk Modelling and Portfolio Management is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the use of modern data analysis as well as quantitative methods for developing successful portfolio and risk management techniques. While highlighting topics such as credit scoring, investment strategies, and budgeting, this publication explores diverse models for achieving investment goals as well as improving upon traditional financial modelling methods. This book is ideally designed for researchers, financial analysts, executives, practitioners, policymakers, academicians, and students seeking current research on contemporary risk management strategies in the financial sector.

This book explores Russia’s efforts towards both adapting to and shaping a world in transformation. Russia has been largely marginalized in the post-Cold War era and has struggled to find its place in the world, which means that the chaotic changes in the world present Russia with both threats and opportunities. The rapid shift in the international distribution of power and emergence of a multipolar world disrupts the existing order, although it also enables Russia to diversify it partnerships and restore balance. Adapting to these changes involves restructuring its economy and evolving the foreign policy. The crises in liberalism, environmental degradation, and challenge to state sovereignty undermine political and economic stability while also widening Russia’s room for diplomatic maneuvering. This book analyzes how Russia interprets these developments and its ability to implement the appropriate responses. 

Forest ecosystems, their products and services play an important role in achieving ambitious climate change mitigation objectives at the same time requiring profound adaptation to climate change. Forest management schemes to support climate action have to be developed within their regional context but also have to be aligned with national or EU-level climate, forest and sustainability policies. The conference on “Managing forests in the 21st century” is the final conference of the FORMASAM, REFORCE and FOREXCLIM research projects. The conference bringstogether scientific experts on forest management from all over Europe facing very specific management challenges. The aim isto discuss and improve the understanding the role of forests and forest management in the context of climate change. The conference addresses climate change impacts, as well as needs for mitigation and adaptation especially with regard to the following scientific questions: 1. What are the impacts of climate extremes and disturbances? 2. What are the management challenges (and options) for resilient forests? 3. What can we do to increase the contribution of forest management to climate change mitigation?

This book addresses the challenges and opportunities of contemporary and future development of Eurasia. The main theme of the first part of the book is examining the reaction evoked in different countries by the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative.” The second part analyses other national and international integration and infrastructure projects in Eurasia. This unique publication brings together in one volume works by leading researchers from different countries, all united by their common interest in the political and economic processes unfolding in the Eurasian continent. By offering various points of view from experts from all over the world, this book provides a multi-dimensional analysis of the Eurasian future and will be of value to a wide range of readers, including scholars, publicists, the international business community and decision-makers.

This book discusses important topics for engineering and managing software startups, such as how technical and business aspects are related, which complications may arise and how they can be dealt with. It also addresses the use of scientific, engineering, and managerial approaches to successfully develop software products in startup companies. The book covers a wide range of software startup phenomena, and includes the knowledge, skills, and capabilities required for startup product development; team capacity and team roles; technical debt; minimal viable products; startup metrics; common pitfalls and patterns observed; as well as lessons learned from startups in Finland, Norway, Brazil, Russia and USA. All results are based on empirical findings, and the claims are backed by evidence and concrete observations, measurements and experiments from qualitative and quantitative research, as is common in empirical software engineering. The book helps entrepreneurs and practitioners to become aware of various phenomena, challenges, and practices that occur in real-world startups, and provides insights based on sound research methodologies presented in a simple and easy-to-read manner. It also allows students in business and engineering programs to learn about the important engineering concepts and technical building blocks of a software startup. It is also suitable for researchers at different levels in areas such as software and systems engineering, or information systems who are studying advanced topics related to software business.

This book presents the main findings of a study on school learning environments and student outcomes, which the World Bank conducted in 2019 in three regions of the Russian Federation. Using data collected through the OECD School User Survey and the pilot “Trends in Mathematics and Science Study” (TIMSS), the book analyzes how a school’s infrastructure and learning environment may affect the progress and success of students in math and science. It also delves into teaching practices, analyzing their impact on learning and highlighting the important nexus between learning environments and teaching methods. The book concludes by recommending areas in which focused attention by educational authorities could improve educational policy and help maintain high-quality learning environments. The book will be useful for educators, school principals, architects, and policy makers who are involved in school infrastructure projects and are interested in increasing their knowledge of school design planning.

This book discusses the role of regional design and visioning in the formation of regional territorial governance to offer a better understanding of (1) how a recognition of spatial dynamics and the visualization of spatial futures informs, and is informed by, planning frameworks and (2) how such design processes inform co-operation and collaboration on planning in metropolitan regions. It gathers theoretical reflections on these topics, and illustrates them by means of practical experiences in several European countries. Innovatively associating ideas with knowledge, it appeals to anyone with an interest in planning experiments in a post-regulative era. It aims at an increased understanding of how practices, engaged with the imagination of possible futures, support the creation of institutional capacity for strategic spatial planning at regional scales.

 

Water Conservation and Wastewater Treatment in BRICS Nations: Technologies, Challenges, Strategies, and Policies addresses issues of water resources—including combined sewer system overflows—assessing effects on water quality standards and protecting surface and sub-surface potable water from the intrusion of saline water due to sea level rise. The book's chapters incorporate both policies and practical aspects and serve as baseline information for future adaption plans in BRICS nations. Users will find detailed important information that is ideal for policymakers, water management specialists, BRICS nation undergraduate or university students, teachers and researchers.

The industrial development of emerging markets has been a powerful driver for mergers and acquisitions. The contributions collected in this book assess major M&A deals in the largest emerging capital markets (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and their role in shareholder value creation in the markets’ specific business environments. In addition, the book explores various dimensions of M&A deals in order to summarize the main trends in corporate control markets in the largest emerging countries, and how they differ from those in developed countries; to identify deal-performance relationships and the determinants of success or failure; to reveal the drivers for the premium in M&A deals; and to capture market responses to different M&A strategies. By doing so, the book makes a significant contribution to the literature, which has to date largely focused on developed markets.

Working Title: From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Social Liability

Subtitle: A Socio-Legal Study of Corporate Liability in Global Value Chains

Series: N/A 

 

The title of the book refers to the sociological survey, conducted by the "Public opinion" Fund in 2000. It is focused on the representation of Internet as a complex phenomenon in modern Russia. First, the Internet is considered as part of the media system that not only rapidly developing, but also significantly transforming the system as a whole. Second, it contains the analysis of main online markets in Russia. Thirdly, the Internet is analyzed in political, social and cultural contexts.

Understanding the connections between climate change policies and sustainable development is critically important for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Well-designed climate mitigation policy can lead to significant co-benefits for a range of development priorities, including enhanced energy security and safety and reduced indoor air pollution; however, if not properly managed, mitigation can also lead to trade-offs. Maximizing synergies and avoiding trade-offs thus requires an integrated strategy based on a new generation of technological and socio-economic pathways that includes climate-resilient adaptation strategies. Over the last four years, CD-LINKS brought together an international team of interdisciplinary researchers with both global and national expertise. Funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union, the project applied cutting-edge scientific tools and models to explore the linkages between climate policies and sustainable development. Major achievements of the project include the development of globally consistent national low-carbon development pathways, and the formation of a research network and capacity building platform to leverage knowledge exchange among institutions. The project also improved understanding of the linkages between climate change policies and multiple sustainable development objectives and greatly enhanced the existing evidence base on policy effectiveness. A particular asset of the project are the insights related to policy designs that adequately account for mitigation trade-offs across sectors, actors, and objectives. We invite you to learn more about this ground-breaking work in the pages that follow.

According to theories on moral balancing, a prosocial act can decrease people’s motivation to engage in subsequent prosocial behavior, because people feel that they have already achieved a positive moral self-perception. However, there is also empirical evidence showing that people actually need to be recognized by others in order to establish and affirm their self-perception through their prosocial actions. Without social recognition, moral balancing could possibly fail. In this paper, we investigate in two laboratory experiments how social recognition of prosocial behavior influences subsequent moral striving. Building on self-completion theory, we hypothesize that social recognition of prosocial behavior (self-serving behavior) weakens (strengthens) subsequent moral striving. In Study 1, we show that a prosocial act leads to less subsequent helpfulness when it was socially recognized as compared to a situation without social recognition. Conversely, when a self-serving act is socially recognized, it encourages subsequent helpfulness. In Study 2, we replicate the effect of social recognition on moral striving in a more elaborated experimental setting and with a larger participant sample. We again find that a socially recognized prosocial act leads to less subsequent helpfulness compared to an unrecognized prosocial act. Our results shed new light on the boundary conditions of moral balancing effects and underscore the view that these effects can be conceptualized as a dynamic of self-completion.

We systematically investigate prisoner’s dilemma and dictator games with valence framing. We find that give versus take frames influence subjects’ behavior and beliefs in the prisoner’s dilemma games but not in the dictator games. We conclude that valence framing has a stronger impact on behavior in strategic interactions, i.e., in the prisoner’s dilemma game, than in allocation tasks without strategic interaction, i.e., in the dictator game.

The article describes research into the Russian entertainment ticketing market. The aim of this work is to identify the most effective methods of events promotion that affect demand and the decision to purchase tickets for a particular type of open event. The study is based on 10 in-depth interviews with experts on the events industry and an online survey of 290 respondents of different age groups, conducted to identify consumer preferences for method of ticket purchase for entertainment events, the main sources of information about events of interest and their attitude to advertising of these events. On the basis of an analysis of consumer preferences, the experience of the target audience of various events and the expert opinions of event managers, the authors made conclusions regarding the effectiveness of various methods to promote entertainment in online and offline formats among visitors of different ages. In addition, a tendency towards a complete transition of the Russian ticketing market to the Internet was forecast.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, comparison of transition strategies of China versus those in Central and Eastern Europe raised controversies in the economic and political science literature. However, differences between China and the countries of the former Soviet bloc in their transition strategies resulted not necessarily from a deliberate political choice but from different initial conditions. Low-income and largely rural China, after its first radical step (de-collectivisation of agriculture in 1978), could move more gradually due to its under-industrialisation and retaining administrative control over the economy. The over-industrialised Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and former Soviet Union (FSU) countries where the previous command system of economic management spontaneously collapsed at the end of 1980s, did not have such an option. They had to conduct market-oriented reforms as quickly as they could, with all the associated economic and social pain. Regardless of speed and strategy of transition, almost all previously centrally-planned economies, including China, completed building basic foundations of a market system by the early 2000s although the quality of economic and political institutions and policies differ between the sub-regional groups and individual countries.

The objective of this paper is to reveal the main directions of changes in Russian agribusiness caused by the food embargo through the lens of interfirm relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative research in the form of focus group was conducted. The focus group consisted of 9 participants, representatives of the senior management of Russian agribusinesses.

Findings and implications

The study reveals that the Russian food embargo contributes to the development of interfirm relationships in the Russian agribusiness. Both retailers and manufacturers tend to use a relational approach and to develop interfirm relationships in order to build sustainable value chains and long-term relationships with partners. The resulting conclusions represent important changes in interfirm relationships between different actors of agribusiness: (1) retailers tend to interact with providers toward building sustainable value chains; (2) at the same time the criteria imposed by retailers to their suppliers are gradually changing. The possibility to change the supply conditions plays a significant role as does as the ability to operate in a turbulent environment.

Originality

Despite the large number of empirical studies exploring the impact of the embargo from different angles, there is still a lack of research concerning the consequences of embargoes in terms of interfirm relationships. This study extends the literature on the impact of embargoes and fulfills an identified need to study the consequences of embargoes in terms of developing interfirm relationships. This is the first Russian study to empirically examine the impact of the embargo on Russian firms’ interfirm relationships.

Games involving virtual worlds are popular in several segments of the population and societies. The online environment facilitates that players from different countries interact in a common virtual world. Virtual worlds involving social and economic interactions are particularly useful to test social and economic theories. Using data from EVE Online, a massive online multi-player game simulating a fantasy galaxy, we analyse the relation between the real-world context in which players live and their in-game behaviour at the country level. We find that in-game aggressiveness to non-player characters is positively related to real-world levels of aggressiveness as measured by the Global Peace Index and the Global Terrorist Index at the country level. The opposite is true for in-game aggressiveness towards other players, which seems to work as a safety valve for real-world player aggressiveness. The ability to make in-game friends is also positively related to real-world levels of aggressiveness in much the same way. In-game trading behaviour is dependent on the macro-economic environment where players live. The unemployment rate and exchange rate make players trade more efficiently and cautiously in-game. Overall, we find evidence that the real-world environment affects in-game behaviour, suggesting that virtual worlds can be used to experiment and test social and economic theories, and to infer real-world behaviour at the country level.

This paper presents a public procurement transaction cost evaluation using a large-scale survey of procurers and suppliers. The study was conducted in Russia in 2017. The results of the survey confirmed that the lower the contract value, the more expensive the procurement procedure. An empirical analysis of factors impacting public procurement cost evaluation also revealed considerable differences between respondents with and without experience in complex procurement procedures. The paper makes an important contribution to the academic literature by elaborating a new approach to public procurement cost evaluation, as well as providing an empirical evaluation of direct transaction costs of public procurement.

The survey-based approach to the evaluation of public procurement costs described in this paper can be used by other countries and regions. Although the average overall transaction costs for public procurements in the case study country amounted to about 1% of the total value of concluded contracts, this figure was 6.6% to 8.1% for small purchases. This figure exceeds the budget saving from competitive procurement and calls for a need to simplify regulations around smaller procurements. This analysis of the procurement costs on Russian data will allow other developing countries to avoid the mistakes made in Russia, as well providing a way to realistically and affordably measure their procurement transaction costs.

Forecasting and analyses of the dynamics of financial and economic processes such as deviations of macroeconomic aggregates (GDP, unemployment, and inflation) from their long-term trends, asset markets volatility, etc., are challenging because of the complexity of these processes. Important related research questions include, first, how to determine the qualitative properties of the dynamics of these processes, namely, whether the process is stable, unstable, chaotic (deterministic), or stochastic; and second, how best to estimate its quantitative indicators including dimension, entropy, and correlation characteristics.

These questions can be studied both empirically and theoretically. In the empirical approach, researchers consider real data expressed in terms of time series, identify the patterns of their dynamics, and then forecast the short- and long-term behavior of the process. The second approach is based on postulating the laws of dynamics for the process, deriving mathematical dynamical models based on these laws, and conducting subsequent analytical investigation of the dynamics generated by the models.

To implement these approaches, either numerical or analytical methods can be used. While numerical methods make it possible to study dynamical models, the possibility of obtaining reliable results using them is significantly limited due to the necessity of performing calculations only over finite time intervals, rounding-off errors in numerical methods, and the unbounded space of initial data sets. Analytical methods allow researchers to overcome these limitations and to identify the exact qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the dynamics of the process. However, effective analytical applications are often limited to low-dimensional models (in the literature, two-dimensional dynamical systems are most often studied).

In this paper, we develop analytical methods for the study of deterministic dynamical systems based on the Lyapunov stability theory and on chaos theory. These methods make it possible not only to obtain analytical stability criteria and to estimate limiting behavior (to localize self-excited and hidden attractors and identify multistability), but also to overcome difficulties related to implementing reliable numerical analysis of quantitative indicators such as Lyapunov exponents and the Lyapunov dimension. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods using the mid-size firm model suggested by Shapovalov.

The Article Studies The Predictive Capabilities Of Qualitative Assessments Of Employment Expectations Obtained From Business Tendency Observations Of Entrepreneurial Activity, Which Are Currently A Widespread Source Of Economic Information Both In National And International Practice. The Study Is Based On Market Surveys Conducted By Rosstat, Which Characterize The Expected Level Of Business Activity In The Segment Of Small Enterprises From The 1st Quarter Of 2008 To The 2nd Quarter Of 2019. The Aim Of The Study Is To Prove The Existence Of A Stable Statistically Significant Relationship Between Predicted Estimates Of Employment With The Dynamics Of Growth Rate Cycles Of The Corresponding Quantitative Statistical Macro-Aggregates In Various Sectors And, Therefore, The Relevance Of Predictive Models Of Employment Change Based On The Results Of Business Surveys. It Is Shown That Entrepreneurial Assessments And Expectations Are Effective Predictive Indicators For Predicting Employment Dynamics In The Short Term (Two To Four Months) And Identifying Turning Points In Employment Dynamics In The Small Sector. Small Business, As One Of The Most Sensitive Segments, Is One Of The First To React To The Current Changes, Which Makes Forecasting In This Segment Especially Important.

The shadow of trade protectionism is hanging over the growth of world economy, affecting both developed and emerging economies. Motivated by anti-globalization rhetoric policymakers in the emerging and transitioning countries are increasingly using trade protectionism and other restrictive measures to shield domestic producers from foreign competition and strengthen own countries’ position in the global trade. Obviously, such interventions have impact on marketing strategies of firms domiciled and hosted in such markets. However, firm’s marketing and brand responses to trade protectionism have not been studied in the prior marketing literature. We aim to address this gap in two empirical studies, which utilize food embargo (as trade protectionist action) imposed by Russian government in 2014 as context of our study. For the first study, we surveyed marketing managers of 178 Russian and international brands and assessed differences in dimensions of brand strategy. We find that owners of the domestic umbrella brands put more emphasize on brand orientation, differentiation, and creation strong image than firms owning foreign brands. Alternatively, brand strategy of the foreign individual product brands focuses more on communicating functional benefits. The second study will adopt natural experiment design and use secondary data (trademark filings, financial information, and consumer attitudinal data) to measure impact of trade protectionism on brand differentiation and extension in a large sample of domestic and foreign firms/brands.

Inflation in advanced economies is low by historical standards but there is no threat of deflation. Slower economic growth is caused by supply-side constraints rather than low inflation. Below-the-target inflation does not damage the reputation of central banks. Thus, central banks should not try to bring inflation back to the targeted level of 2%. Rather, they should revise the inflation target downwards and publicly explain the rationale for such a move. Risks to the independence of central banks come from their additional mandates (beyond price stability) and populist politics.

Since the Euromaidan protests (2013-2014), Ukraine has had two presidents and four governments. In a difficult environment of external aggression, they have initiated various reforms aimed at bringing the country closer to the European Union and boosting growth. Progress has been partial and relies on international backing, with limited domestic appetite for reform.

This paper represents a review of strategic level S&T policies in several leading (mostly OECDmember) countries. How are science and technology leadership being targeted and realized in most developed economies? What are the composition and drivers of such policies? How do the S&T policies and corresponding challenges transform over the last decade? These and some other questions constitute a discussion based on desk research comprising strategic documents, adopted in Germany, Sweden, China, Korea, and Japan. The outcomes provide certain S&T strategic options for further discussion, in terms of both, policy coordination and meeting the future challenges.

Game-theoretic models of learning are hard to study even in the laboratory setting due to econometric and practical concerns (like the limited length of an experimental session). In particular, as the simulations by (Salmon, 2001) show, in a cross-model (or "blind'') testing of several models, the data generated by those models does not correspond to the estimated parameters correctly. Thus, even when the real data generation process is known we cannot distinguish correct models from incorrect ones by looking at the estimates. However, we demonstrate that under the same conditions, models are clearly distinguishable if we compare predictions that the models make instead of comparing the model parameters. We also provide a rationale for why this cross-model predictive quality is a particularly relevant way for improving learning models.

Communities of practices (CoPs) are groups of people with a common area of expertise or professional practice who interact to exchange, share, and learn from one another. CoPs play a crucial role in distinguishing, memorizing, and exchanging novel effective practices within the organization, enabling the organization to improve its performance. In ―normal‖ circumstances, CoPs rely on channels with high media richness (i.e., personal meetings in informal settings, short- and long-term visits to sister subsidiaries, participation in joint task forces) that transfer tacit knowledge. We demonstrate how it is possible to preserve effective functioning of CoPs using communication channels with lower media richness.

This paper studies the convergence in per capita gross regional products (GRPs) across Russian regions in the period from 1996 to 2017. We estimate growth equations, which are directly derived from a neoclassical growth model, augmented with human capital and migration. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that explicitly applies a neoclassical model to analyze regional convergence in Russia. We also take into account possible spatial effects and do a series of other robustness checks. Our main estimates establish a convergence rate of around 2% per year. While we fail to find any role of human capital for regional economic growth, we find that interregional migration and the interdependencies of the growth of Russian regions contribute to the economic convergence between them.

How much did the telegraph improve market integration in imperial China? We exploit differences in the timing of telegraph construction in different prefectures in the late 19th to the early 20th centuries to show that telegraph presence in both prefectures decreased the monthly grain price difference by nearly 20%. Also, the telegraph boosted economic development and had a mitigating effect on rice prices when disasters occurred. The effect was also stronger for prefectures less accessible to waterways. Merchants’ trade levels, political connections, human capital, and social capital all played a role in the telegraph’s promotion of market integration.

The article focuses on individual income mobility among Russians in the years 2009–2017, as measured objectively and subjectively. As in previous periods of post-Soviet development, income mobility in Russia remains high. In comparison to member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) , income mobility in Russia is higher, while the level of persistent well-being is lower. Subjective assessments of one’s income situation are even more volatile than objective positions on an income scale, with persistent subjective well-being almost non-existent. Furthermore, subjective mobility does not correlate closely with its objective counterpart. Persistent well-being in terms of objective and subjective income is determined by a combination of class and non-class factors, including, above all, labor market position, dependency burden, and health status. JEL Classification: I3, Z13.

According to UNCTAD, the global number of foreign direct investment projects in manufacturing announced in 2018 reached 8049 (UNCTAD, 2019: 9-10). Although the real number of realized projects will be much smaller in 2020-2021 because of the global fall of foreign direct investments (UNCTAD, 2020: xi) the overall number of newly installed factories will be still counted in thousands. In many developing and emerging markets, especially in South-East Asia, Latin America and Russia, ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new facilities opened by foreign investors are mandatory. We ran a study identifying all videoed ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new facilities opened by foreign investors in Russia in 2012- 2018. Using a detailed analysis of the content of speeches delivered by representative of foreign investors and representative of local authorities at those ceremonies, and information obtained through personal observations and interviews, we were able to discover the surface and deeper level meaning attaching to these ceremonies, to propose the definition of efficient plant-opening ceremonies and to demonstrate how it is possible to amend the design of such ceremonies to increase their effectiveness and also to increase mental coherence between the corporate center and oversea subsidiaries.

This paper aims to assess the role of migration as an adjustment mechanism device to favor convergence across states and regions of Russia. In contrast to previous studies, we use variations in the population of a region as a proxy of its net migration rate and apply spatial econometric methodology in order to distinguish the effect from the neighbouring regions. We provide descriptive statistical evidence showing that Russia has more/less/the same intense migration flows than the USA and EU. The econometric analysis shows that migration flows are sensitive to both regional income and regional unemployment differentials. Nonetheless, we find that internal migration is sensitive to regional unemployment and income differentials of neighbouring regions. Dependent on the welfare, pre- or after-crisis period, income in neighbouring regions can create out- or in-migration flows. The relatively high degree of internal mobility coupled with the low sensitivity of migration flows to the local unemployment rate of distant regions might explain why migration flows tends not to generate convergence, but rather divergence across Russian regions.

State-owned banks tend to increase lending before elections for the purpose of boosting the reelection odds of incumbent politicians. We employ monthly data on individual banks to study whether Russian banks increased their lending before presidential elections during 2004–2019, a period covering four presidential elections. In contrast to the literature, we find that both state-owned and private banks increased their lending before presidential elections. This result stands for all loans, as well as separately for firm and household loans. The pre-election lending surge is followed by a deterioration of loan quality the following year, indicating the lending increase was not driven by higher growth prospects or some positive economic shock. The effect is substantially greater for large banks and banks more involved in lending activities. Our main finding that all types of banks in Russia increase their lending before presidential elections supports the view that the authorities in an electoral autocracy like Russia can influence lending of both private and state-owned banks for political reasons.

We use the nearest neighbour propensity score matching to link dwellings holding Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) in the Italian province of Treviso with information on the socio-economic characteristics of households most likely to inhabit them. We construct a database of 17,405 dwellings for which information on standardized energy needs is matched to data on (potential) inhabitants and their imputed income, based respectively on census records and survey data. Our analysis shows that EPC registers can be exploited to investigate how income and housing conditions affect fuel poverty and to identify municipal areas with higher fuel poverty risk. Our findings highlight that when designing interventions to reduce fuel poverty, policymakers should target households based not only on their income but also on type of heating fuel, and on efficiency and the size of their accommodation.

Numerous studies have shown that public service motivation (PSM) is higher among public sector employees, particularly in western countries. But whether these trends result from high-PSM individuals selecting into public sector employment or from on-the-job socialization remains subject to debate. We address this question utilizing novel panel data on Russian university students. Examining the relationships between PSM and sectoral employment both before and after students enter the labor force, we find that: (1) high-PSM students are more likely to prefer public sector employment; (2) high-PSM students are more likely to be employed in the public sector following graduation; and (3) PSM increases upon entry into the workplace at approximately the same rate in both the public and private sectors. These findings suggest that at least during early career stages, the association between PSM and public sector employment results largely from an attraction-selection process, rather than a socialization process. Our analyses additionally provide evidence that theories of PSM based on the western experience may generalize to the context of developing or post-communist countries, despite the prevalence of corruption and a less pronounced public service ethos in many of these countries. 

Moulin (1981) has argued in favour of electing an alternative by giving each coalition the ability to veto a number of alternatives roughly proportional to the size of the coalition and considering the core of the resulting cooperative game. This core is guaranteed to be non-empty, and offers a large measure of protection for minorities (Kondratev and Nesterov, 2020). However, as is the norm for cooperative game theory the formulation of the concept involves considering all possible coalitions of voters, so the naive algorithm would run in exponential time, limiting the application of the rule to trivial cases only. In this work we present a polynomial time algorithm to compute the proportional veto core.

Recently, many matching systems around the world have been reformed. These reforms responded to objections that the matching mechanisms in use were unfair and manipulable. Surprisingly, the mechanisms remained unfair even after there forms: the new mechanisms may induce an out come with a blocking student who desires and deserves a school which she did not receive. However,as we show in this paper, the reforms introduced matching mechanisms which are more fair compared to the counterfactuals. First, most of there forms introduced mechanisms that are more fair by stability: when ever the old mechanism does not have a blocking student, the new mechanism does not have a blocking student either. Second,some reforms introduced mechanisms that are more fair by counting: the old mechanism always has at least as many blocking students as the new mechanism. These findings give a novel rationale to there forms and complement there cent literature showing that the same reforms have introduced less manipulable matching mechanisms.We furthers how that the fairness and manipulability of the mechanisms are strongly logically related.

Given the final ranking of a competition, how should the total prize endowment be allocated among the competitors? We study consistent prize allocation rules satisfying elementary solidarity and fairness principles. In particular, we axiomatically characterize two families of rules satisfying anonymity, order preservation, and endowment monotonicity, which all fall between the Equal Division rule and the Winner-Takes-All rule. Specific characterizations of rules and subfamilies are directly obtained.