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.

The paper provides findings of the research work and scientific discussions under the “Global Sustainability Strategy Forum” (GSSF) that aims to develop evidence-informed judgments on challenges and solutions. It views attaining sustainability as a set of closely-coupled societal and environmental challenges and opportunities that require integration of multiple disciplines, new research methods, and new knowledge sources with sensitivity to regional and cultural diversities. The project is designed to produce innovative insights and strategies to support effective governance of transitions to sustainability of our complex global social-ecological system within its inherent resource limitations, and to develop sustainable lifestyles that are practical and appealing in the different regions and cultures of the world. 

The pocket data book contains main digital economy indicators for the Russian Federation. Contains information on the use of ICT by individuals and enterprises, e-government development, personnel for digital economy, telecommunications and ICT sector development. International comparisons are provided for a number of indicators. The data book includes information of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Bank of Russia, OECD, Eurostat, ITU, World Intellectual Property Organisation, and results of own methodological and analytical studies of the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge.

 

The report addresses the issue of business communication and its role in organizations in the aspects of personnel management. We study how communication influences the retention and good performance of personnel. Communications are an integral part of the activity of organizations. Communications largely determine the effectiveness of personnel management. Well-designed communications reduce the time of problem solving and of adaptation of employees, help in conflict resolutions etc. In spite of obvious importance of the communications in organization the studies of this problem require new approaches and methods. We explore mechanisms that help to keep the staff in organization and to create a desire to continue its activities in this organization. On base of social identity approach (H. Tajfel, J.C. Turner) and business psychology approach (S Benton, N. Ivanova,) we studied the Identity Focused Communication (IFC). This type of communication realizes, through integrated work of organization, the development of cognitive, value-motivational and behavioral characteristics of social identity. IFC can be considered as a human development technology which helps employers in clear understanding of values, professional and social role and pattern of behavior in organization. On this theoretical basis and case studies method in different organizations we observed the role of IFC in the development of organizational culture for rising of personnel engagement and loyalty. Results of this research can be useful for business counseling and business management process, development of personnel identity, loyalty, and performance. The results allow us to see new aspects in communication, develop training programs and staff development, and improve internal communication. Our results can develop the understanding of the semantic core of effective communication’s strategy of organization which include corporate “picture of world” and image of the organization. We can add the knowledge of professional values and patterns of behavioral and social roles. The data obtained can be considered as a pilot to build new hypotheses and further research on a broader sample and with the use of experimental procedures.

In the twenty-first century, universities worldwide have found themselves thrust into a great "brain race" as nations, both developed and developing, seek to enhance their place in the global knowledge economy. As the concept of the de-localized university—one that has radically expanded, perhaps even beyond national borders—grows, competing nations have begun reshaping aspects of their national systems to accommodate global standards and metrics.

In Professorial Pathways, Martin J. Finkelstein and Glen A. Jones consider how academic careers vary in countries that are fundamentally different in their organization and dynamics. Building on 25 years of scholarship, the book confronts major questions: What can we learn from the experience of other nations as they seek to balance the seemingly contradictory imperatives of expanding access and ensuring global competitiveness? What are the implications of this rapidly changing policy environment for the health of the academic professions on which university teaching and scholarship depends? And how can we advance the comparative study of higher education and, in particular, of the academic profession?

The volume brings together detailed case studies of the latest—and ever-changing—educational developments in ten countries across Europe (France, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia), Asia (China, India, Japan), North America (United States, Canada), and South America (Brazil). Essays written by respected scholars in the field identify the major structural features of national higher education systems and academic markets that directly shape academic work and careers. Professorial Pathways will be of interest to anyone who toils in the vineyards of comparative and international higher education.

Workshop concentrates on an interdisciplinary approach to modelling human behavior incorporating data mining and expert knowledge from behavioral sciences. Data analysis results extracted from clean data of laboratory experiments will be compared with noisy industrial datasets from the web e.g. Insights from behavioral sciences will help data scientists. Behavior scientists will see new inspirations to research from industrial data science. Market leaders in Big Data, as Microsoft, Facebook, and Google, have already realized the importance of experimental economics know-how for their business. 

In Experimental Economics, although financial rewards restrict subjects preferences in experiments, exclusive application of analytical game theory is not enough to explain the collected data. It calls for the development and evaluation of more sophisticated models. The more data is used for evaluation, the more statistical significance can be achieved. Since large amounts of behavioral data are required to scan for regularities, along with automated agents needed to simulate and intervene in human interactions, Machine Learning is the tool of choice for research in Experimental Economics. This workshop is aimed at bringing together researchers from both Data Analysis and Economics in order to achieve mutually beneficial results.

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.

In our research, we study what macroeconomic factors drive and influence the credit cycle. Also, our study contains four sections with theoretical and empirical parts, in which we describe how to measure credit cycles for developed  and developing countries, and then we introduce an important indicator credit gap. Our results show the comparative analysis of credit cycles between different countries with various economic growth, and we built up an econometric model, which shows us the impact of macroeconomic factors according to credit cycles  for developing and developed economies.

In the last decade Russia has searched for new alternative policies to compensate for its political deficiencies and to balance its rivals in one of the key areas of the approaching geopolitical rivalry, the sea. The Russian assertiveness seen in the Black Sea-Mediterranean basin has recently been a real concern for the international community. In the six chapters of this book, contributors explain Moscow’s newly perceived assertive foreign and security behavior in the Black Sea and Mediterranean basin from their own perspectives, and reach a conclusion about the limits and validity of this new Russian ascendance in the region.

This book is an anthology of essays penned by distinguished experts from around the world to commemorate life time contribution of Sanjaya Baru to the discipline of Geo-economics in India and globally. Curated and published by CUTS International, the book contains 20 essays from 21 distinguished authors,who amongst others include, noted economist Jagdish Bhagwati, two former foreign Secretaries Shyam Saran and S Jaishankar, former US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill, Secretary General CUTS International Pradeep Mehta, Director NMML Shakti Sinha and former DG, WTO Pascal Lamy. In the current times when the world order is being rapidly reconfigured, this book is a useful resource for the government, think tanks, academia, civil society and all those interested in strategic affairs.

Is it possible for Russian energy companies to develop an effective business strategy based on the restrictions and rules of strategic documents of national scale? Today Russian Energy Strategy sets the benchmarks for business. The set of methods allows for the analysis of open sources and materials for the development of national and corporate strategies. Scenario conditions of development are one of the areas of analysis. The CGE model is used by the World Bank, IMF, OECD and the European Commission for studying economic scenarios, but it has not found applicaton in the Russian energy strategy. Other management technologies in demand by Russian companies are not used in the energy strategy either (e.g.balanced scorecard).

World experience confirms the possibility of adjusting corporate strategies for the benefit of society. Danish Energy Strategy prescribes a smooth transition to alternative energy sources and active implementation of smart energy resources. Experience of Norway in this area is also important. The third energy package of the EU defines the rules of the game in the European market influencing the business models, strategies and long-term deliveries of external counterparties.

Taking into account not only the world trends: slower growth in demand, diversifying energy structure, increasing competitiveness of renewable energy sources, increasing supply from developing countries, tightening climate norms, but also other factors (e.g. Russia being under sanctions, etc.) will allow the company to act as a partner of the state in some issues, and at the same time as an independent entity: its strategy is determined by the board of directors. Modern management technologies allow us to specify and quantify the characteristics of the national energy strategy, and to reflect the priorities in the development strategies of companies. The conditions of the state policy and the parameters of the companies' strategies will have more points of contact and reduce the risk of deviation from the declared goals. The adjustment of the restrictions and rules of the national energy strategy will reduce the risks of imbalance in the actions of society and business. Revision of the program document is possible due to organizational design and methodological support.

This edited volume examines the relationship between economic ideas, economic policies and development institutions, analysing the cases of 11 peripheral countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

It sheds light on the obstacles that have prevented the sustained economic growth of these countries and examines the origins of national and regional approaches to development. The chapters present a fascinating insight into the ideas and visions in the different locations, with the overarching categories of economic nationalism and economic liberalism and how they have influenced development outcomes.

This book will be valuable reading for advanced students and researchers of development economics, the history of economic thought and economic history.

Urban population is growing worldwide. Our societies are facing grand challenges like climate change and growing inequalities between people. There is an increasing need to develop cities that are environmentally and socially sustainable, functional and supporting well-being of their inhabitants. When striving towards these goals, transportation and mobility play a crucial role. Easy and environmentally sustainable mobility options are called for in most cities. For these to attract users, they need to be safe and pleasant, providing positive experiences and well-being in addition to efficiency in time or cost.

NECTAR conference is organized with a title “Towards Human Scale Cities – Open and Happy” to reflect the new requirements of urban transportation. This 15th NECTAR conference, organized in Helsinki 5th - 7th June 2019, provides presentations by world-class keynotes Mikael Colville-Andersen and Professor Tim Schwanen, who approach human scale mobility from the viewpoints of a designer and a researcher. More than 140 scientific presentations explore advancements in the field of transport, communication and mobility, with a particular focus on good quality mobility options for people. The focus of the conference is urban transportation and the new possibilities that open data and digital technologies provide for mobility solutions and their research. Presentations provide food for thought concerning mobility choices and quality, new mobility solutions like MaaS, and policies that are implemented to support them.

Helsinki offers an interesting environment for the 2019 NECTAR conference. It is the home of the busiest passenger harbor in Europe with a twin-city development with Tallinn across the bay, and a major air transportation hub between Europe and Asia. It is one of the fastest growing capital regions in Europe, with large densification developments taking place in old logistic centers: harbor areas of Jätkäsaari and Kalasatama and a train depot in Pasila. Public transportation is valued high by citizens, as well as politicians and planners making investment decisions for the future. First robotized buses are in operation and MaaS solutions are emerging. New bike sharing system is one of the most used in the world and has expanded to cover most of the city region. As everywhere in Europe, new forms of micromobility from electronic scooters to electric longboards are appearing on the streets making planners and police puzzled. The city has profiled itself as an open city: large amounts of open data about the region have been made available and the region of Helsinki is committed to open and transparent decision 

and policy making. This supports also research in the major universities: University of Helsinki and Aalto University, the local organizers of the conference.

We anticipate that the conference days will forward our thinking on how to make cities more sustainable, functional and pleasant for people, and how to study them scientifically in a meaningful and transparent manner.

This book gathers the outcomes of several scientific events that were organized and conducted by the Institute of Scientific Communications (Volgograd, Russia) and the leading universities of the Volgograd region. The contributing authors include more than 700 scholars from various cities and regions of Russia. 124 works were selected out of 3,000 papers on the preconditions of formation, transformation, and legal provision of social institutes, topics that are in high demand in connection with a core aspect of digital modernization – the Internet of Things. The book is intended for a broad target audience, including scholars of various generations and various disciplines. These include young researchers (undergraduates and postgraduates) and recognized scholars (professors and lecturers) who study the socioeconomic and legal consequences of the emergence and dissemination of digital technologies, including the Internet of Things. In addition, the book will benefit all those who are interested in the development of the information society, information and telecommunication, and digital technologies. The content is divided into three logical parts, the first of which is devoted to the essence of the process of institutionalization and legal regulation of the information society.

The pocket data book contains main indicators characterizing S&T and innovation potential of the Russian Federation. There are the information about intellectual property, S&T output, data of international comparisons given.

The data book includes information of the Federal State Statistics Service, Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Eurostat, UNESCO, World Intellectual Property Organisation, national statistical services of foreign countries, and results of own methodological and analytical studies of the HSE Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge.

This paper retraces the development of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of Western multinational corporations from the late 1980s until 2019. Using secondary sources and a unique hand-crafted database on significant extensions of manufacturing facilities of Western multinational corporations in Russia during 2012–2018, we present the position of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of Western multinational corporations before and after the beginning of sanctions. We also indicate the major strategic challenges that they currently face, including the necessity to maintain dual loyalty (to home country and host country authorities), manage the deteriorating quality of business regulations in Russia, and overcome the increasing shortage of qualified personnel at all levels. The data on the opening of new facilities in 2017–2018 reveal that such issues impede but cannot stop the quantitative development of foreign-owned Russian manufacturing facilities. At the same time, saving on managerial expenses and low ‘investments in non-current assets’ of the established manufacturing subsidiaries may break down ‘the innovation engine’ assembled in many Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of Western multinational corporations and bring them into the periphery of their corporate parents, where the attention and resources from the corporate centre are lacking.

The article examines the problem of the ICO (Initial Coin Offering, from English — “initial offer of coins, initial placement of coins”). The information source is the ICO rating data of the return on investment in blockchain startups. The methodological base of the research is a situational comparative analysis of the ICO, DAOICO, IEO and STO and systematization of information. The author analyzes three new ICO models. The first one includes elements of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO). Its aim is to minimize the difficulties and risks associated with the ICO. The second model (Initial Exchange Offering (IEO), from English — “primary exchange offer”) is designed to minimize risks, liquidity problems and a delay in listing tokens at the end of the token sale. The third model — the Security Token Offering (STO, from English — “offer of security token”) — was designed to support real assets and comply with the SEC requirements. These models are a new direction for small and medium enterprises and investors. The absence of any scientific work emphasizes the relevance and scientific novelty of the study. The article is a follow-up of the empirical work related to the success of the ICO, as well as the basis for its revision using the case study results.

Using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Study – Higher School of Economics (RLMS), we estimate the relationship between the sense of control, measured as the belief that one has control over one’s important future life circumstances and job-related training for women and men in a transitional context. We test the theory of alternative resources and the critical approaches in the analysis of the role of gender in individual outcomes from training. We show that while job-related training is associated with higher sense of control (measured using Pearlin Mastery Scale), its effect varies by gender and therefore, its absolute value is limited. We conclude that job-related training exacerbates the existing differences in the sense of control between women and men in Russia, which can potentially have prolonged, negative effects on the wider outcomes of women in the labour market.

What characteristics of firms give them the confidence to invest in settings rife with expropriation by local officials? Empirically, firms in the developing world often face the threat of expropriation from local agents of the state rather than a centralized autocrat. Because policing local officials is costly, the state cannot easily credibly commit to doing so. This has negative consequences for investment. We argue that one solution is to allow firms to approach the state directly to ask for intervention. Not all firms are equally able to successfully get the attention of the state, however, so this mechanism only works for some. We develop an argument about the firm-level characteristics – large-scale employment, political connections, foreign ownership, and business association membership – that should make the central state more attentive to calls for help. Because firm with these characteristics are more likely to secure intervention against predatory bureaucrats, the latter are less likely to try to expropriate them. These firms’ investment decisions should be less sensitive to local expropriation than other firms. We test this argument using data on cases of decentralized expropriation across Russia’s regions and firm-level data from a cross-regional, large scale survey of Russian firms.

Purpose – To establish what demographic characteristics (gender, generations, and organisational tenure) play a role in employee perceptions of organisational culture, commitment, and identification in Russian public organisations.

Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected electronically from 248 employees of two public organisations. Three questionnaires were used. 

Findings – Organisational tenure plays a central role in the way how employees perceive  organisational culture; tenure also shapes the levels of both commitment and identification. The specific finding of Russian settings is that the longer employees work for a company, the lower the levels of psychological attachments they demonstrate, while it is not the case for some existing international results.

The other findings correspond with those in international studies, in which females were more psychologically attached to the organisation and showed a higher level of identification and lower rates of negative forms of this concept than males did. The older the employees are, the higher the level of identification they express.

Practical implications – Managers working in Russian settings can struggle with engaging and retaining  employees. Understanding the demographic effects can help alleviate these challenges.

Originality/value – Based on empirical findings, this paper contributes to the literature on organisational socialisation by providing evidence of the damaging effects of the length of organisational tenure on psychological attachment to the company (in the form of commitment and identification). Additionally, tenure is the shaping factor of employee perception of organisational culture.

We analyze the convergence of opinions or beliefs in a general social network with non-Bayesian agents. We provide a new sufficient condition under which opinions converge to consensus and the condition is significantly more permissive than that of Lorenz (2005). This condition, which depends on properties of the network, requires agents to incorporate others’ opinions into their own posterior sufficiently often.

The global market for oilfield services by 2020 will amount to about $220bn. The industry leading segments are works belonging to well commissioning (drilling, cementing, etc.) and well servicing (overhaul of wells and routine well repair), both of which account for 70 per cent of the global oilfield services market . The leader of the global oilfield services market is North America (34 per cent) while Eastern Europe and the CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States comprising post-Soviet nations throughout Eurasia) are one of the most dynamic oilfield services markets (16 per cent). The drivers of the Russian oilfield services market are exploration segments and production drilling, characterized by a stable annual growth of 10-12 per cent. Because of the natural geographical distribution of oilfield services businesses (oil, gas and other fields), international oilfield services companies have to look for ways to enter new markets. Entrance to new markets in developing countries is accompanied by technological, economic and political barriers, depending on the economic characteristics of the region and the specifics of state regulation of the national energy market. The operating models of oilfield services companies depend on the regulatory aspects of the oilfield services industry in different countries, the principles of interaction between energy and service companies and the level of competition and market transparency. To be successful in a new market, an international oilfield services company needs to consider the national characteristics of the economy and politics of the region and propose the correct operating model that meets the requirements and wishes of energy companies. The Russian oilfield services market is one of the youngest in the world. The relations between energy and service companies that have been developing over the past decades in the Russian economy have narrowed competition in the national market.  International oilfield service companies in the Russian market are primarily involved in low-profit projects and offer services for certain types of work. To gain access to highly profitable projects for international oilfield service companies, operational models needed to be reviewed.  

In the decade of the 2010s, the pace of economic growth in Russia slowed down to an annual rate of below 2% and most forecasts suggest that this is will be the new “normal” for the Russian economy at least in the medium-term. While politically and socially disappointing, such a growth slowdown is unavoidable due to adverse demographic trends. A combination of a shrinking working-age population and population aging must lead to a lower growth pace as compared to the period when the working-age population was still increasing and the effects of population aging were limited (the decade of the 2000s). Compensatory measures such as a gradual increase in the retirement age and an open labor migration policy, although economically positive, can only partly mitigate the negative effects of a shrinking domestic labor force. In this respect, Russia does not differ from other European countries and some Asian countries. However, demography and shrinking labor supply cannot fully explain low potential growth. Stagnation in total factor productivity is another reason. It results from a poor business and investment climate, difficulty in diversifying away from the dominant role of the hydrocarbon sector, and deteriorating political and economic relations with the US and EU which limit trade, investment and innovation opportunities. To increase its potential growth, Russia needs comprehensive economic and institutional reforms that, in turn, will be conditioned by political reforms and by improved economic and political relationships with the US, the EU and Russia’s neighbors.

The special issue of the Russian Journal of Economics entitled “Russia and the global economy” concentrates on the challenges faced by the Russian economy, which originate from both domestic economic policy and external environment. Six papers published in this volume address various aspects of the Russian economy (growth, trade, investment, energy, institutions and macroeconomic policy), its role in global and regional trade, its trade and investment relations with the largest economic partners (the EU and China), problems of global governance (G20) and income inequality in the surrounding region.

This paper investigates the underlying nature of the demand for state support in Russia in the labor market and employment, social investments, and material support. Based on recent findings from social policy studies, the authors tested four different mechanisms: (a) the demographic features of the population, (b) household incomes and disposable assets including human and social capital, (c) interests, and (d) locus of control and cultural attitudes. Drawing on an all-Russian representative monitoring survey conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2018, the authors argue that the popula- tion’s demand for state support has a very complex nature. The relative effect of income has a para- doxical nature. On the one hand, the Russian data confirm the hypothesis of ‘the altruistic rich’, de- veloped in recent studies, which predicts that, in societies with high inequalities, higher incomes boost the likelihood of demand for redistributive policies. On the other hand, higher incomes foster state escapism among those Russians who do not consider the state as a reliable agent capable of solving their problems.

This paper discusses an example of an early childhood development facility intervention in the Khanty-Mansyisk region of the Russian Federation and its potential to produce efficiency gains in the region and the country overall. The government of the region is introducing changes to the built environment of its early childhood development centers. The proposed new design is based on the concept of the learning environment as a third teacher. The smaller footprint of the new buildings will increase the amount of active space per child, and the new design will include energy efficiency measures. The economic impact of these measures will reduce operating costs throughout the lifecycle of the building and provide strong evidence to education policy makers in the rest of the region and the country as a whole in favor of child-centered, healthy, and energy efficient early childhood development infrastructure.

We consider an economic geography setting in which firms are free to choose one of the following organizational types: (i) integrated firms, which perform all their activities at the same location, (ii) horizontal firms, which operate several plants producing the same good at different locations, and (iii) vertical firms, which perform distinct activities at separated locations. We show that there exists a unique organizational equilibrium, which typically involves the coexistence of various organizational forms. We also give necessary and sufficient conditions for the three types of firms to coexist within the same region and show that transportation and communication costs have opposite effects on firms’ organizational choices. This suggests that, depending on its nature, the supply of a new transportation infrastructure may lead to contrasted locational patterns.

China’s initiative about “One Belt, One Road” could be treated ambiguously. On the one hand, it is intended to transform the newly acquired economic potential of that country into her higher status in the world. China invites a lot of nations to build up gigantic transit corridors by joint efforts, and doing so she applies productively her capital and technologies. International transactions in RMB are also being expanded. But, on the other hand, “One Belt, One Road” is also a necessity for China to cope with some evident problems of her current stage of development, such as industrial overcapacity, overdependence on imports of raw materials from a narrow circle of countries, and a subordinate status in global value chains. For Russia a participation in “One Belt, One Road” may be fruitful, since the very character of that project provides us with a space to manoeuvre. By now, Russian exports to China consist primarily of fuels and other commodities. More active industrial policy is needed to correct this situation. A flexible framework of “One Belt, One Road” is more suitable for this objective to be achieved, rather than traditional forms of regional integration, such as a free trade area.

The article discusses the relationship between dividend policy and the quality of corporate governance. On the one hand, decisions on payout policy can be viewed as a mechanism for resolving agency conflict or substitutes for best corporate governance practices, on the other hand, the quality of corporate governance itself is a determining factor in corporate financial decisions. Empirical literature fids proof for both types of the relationship. This paper aims to analyze different explanations of mixed results. We find a set of factors that can affect the link between corporate governance quality and dividend payouts. We show that in some cases substitution effect can dominate the payout policy, but the more often indicators tend to increase Outcome effect with the increase in their values. Positive addition of operational margin and beta as well as negative effects of ROA and firm size do not contradict to the shareholder’s interests and support the idea that dividends work in combination with corporate governance practices to meet the needs. 

Geographical distance has become less relevant in co-authorship for monodisciplinary research fields such as economics, mathematics, physics. Multidisciplinary fields are influenced by the norms and traditions of other fields. Higher education is a multidisciplinary field of research in which multiple communities operate under different norms and paradigms. We study collaboration patterns in higher education research across different world regions using the Scopus database with the application of the gravity model. Our results show that international collaboration has intensified and increased rapidly in the last two decades. We confirm that the intensity of collaboration is dependent on geographical distance and linguistic commonality. The importance of geographical proximity differs significantly between various world regions. EU scholars appear to give preference to linguistic proximate partners over geographical neighbors. Despite the fact that English is the lingua franca in science, language is not a significant factor for the formation of collaboration for North American researchers. This study contributes to the current discussion on the importance of international collaboration in science, paying special attention to the growing public interest in multidisciplinary research.

Manufacturing today is undergoing fast and fundamental changes due to the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies. Still, the effects of their applications on the global economic and social structure (in terms of risks and benefits) are highly uncertain. This paper is aimed to suggest a special methodology for conducting industry foresight based on timelines construction, which reflects future vision of technological development, and wild cards detection, which represents an advanced technique for technological trends risk management. In this way, we analyze the existing practices of timelines building and wild cards analysis for industry purposes in the academic literature, and suggest own methodology for conducting industry foresight by using these tools. To demonstrate its application, we choose a particular industry with great potential for technological innovation and high degree of uncertainty – the textile and apparel industry. Finally, we discuss future development of this industry at a national level in the context of global technological trends.

This paper studies the influence of parental involvement in the educational process on the educational achievements of Russian students and their educational strategies, such as studying in high school and successful admission to university. We argue that the patterns of parental involvement represent a link between the formal (school) and informal (family) educational institutions and can have a beneficial effect on academic performance and contribute to the choice of the educational pathway to higher education. Based on data from the longitudinal study ‘Trajectories in Education and Careers’, it was shown that the results of school state examinations are positively associated with the active participation of parents in school meetings, the employment of tutors (except for the Unified State Exam score in mathematics), and the provision of additional literature for the child. A negative relationship was found between homework control and student success. In general, the factor of ‘rational’ (not excessive) involvement is positively associated with educational achievement and educational choice, which may indicate the non-linear nature of the relationship. Parental involvement itself depends on the family characteristics, such as mother’s education, family income and the number of books at home. In addition, family has a positive impact on educational success and educational strategies, and high school characteristics are especially important for the results of the Unified State Exam and the university choice.

This paper uses the parsimonious method of embedding skewness in asset allocation based on the Taylor expansion of the investor utility function up to the third term and maximizing it by portfolio weights. This approach also enables us to consider investor risk aversion. Time-dependent multivariate asset moments are obtained via the GOGARCH volatility model with a normal-inverse Gaussian distribution for the error term. We explore the performance of the usual 2 moment utility and its 3 moment counterpart for a portfolio consisted of twenty assets traded on the Russian stock market. The results demonstrate that the 3 moment utility significantly outperforms the 2 moment utility by SD, MAD and CVaR for low levels of absolute risk aversion and by portfolio returns and investor utility level during the whole forecast period.

Mobility of highly qualified personnel between countries and regions is closely related to the issue of the effective distribution of human resources and the prospects for the innovative development of the state. The focus of this study is the interregional mobility of Russian researchers: the geographical movements of scientists between different regions (subjects of the Russian Federation). The empirical base of the study is the data obtained in 2016-2017 during the questionnaire survey of 1880 Russian researchers. Two main aspects are analyzed: already accomplished movements of researchers (moving for the educational or working purposes) and the “attitude to mobility” - readiness to move in the future. The features of researchers depending on their mobility pattern are analyzed. Among the most researchers who had the experience of moving in the past (both for education and work purposes) develops the “attitude to mobility”. In the future, they are more willing to consider various options for moving both “for interest” (to participate in an important large-scale project), and “for money” (to get the job with acceptable level of remuneration). There exists a category of Russian researchers who are ready to move “anywhere”: both abroad and within Russia, to large and to small cities. Researchers who are not ready to move to the place that they consider as a small town in a remote region, are concerned about the prospects for professional growth, difficulties for the family, a different lifestyle, change of professional and personal social circle. These aspects should be taken into account in the development of various programs and measures aimed to stimulate internal academic mobility in Russia.

Government support to small business enterprises (SBEs) through set- aside (SA) public procurement auctions is a common practice. The effect of the SA mechanism is, however, ambiguous. On the one hand, SA auc- tions can attract more SBEs to compete; on the other hand, SA auctions restrict the entry of—possibly—more cost-efficient large firms. We inves- tigate SA auctions’ effect by exploiting an original Russian database on public procurement e-auctions for granulated sugar (a largely homoge- neous good) in the period 2011-2013. To identify the causal effect of SA auctions, we overcome two endogeneity issues: procurers’ choice of SA for- mat and firms’ decision to bid. In an empirical setting where confounding elements are minimized, we found that SA auctions’ effect largely depends on both the reserve price value and the level of competition. We found that there exists an optimal interval for the reserve price where SA auc- tions record lower procurement prices, as compared to non-SA auctions.

The goal of this research is to add to the existing corpus of knowledge concerning particular green finance instrument - green bonds. It tries to answer some questions relevant for both scholars and business in order to reinforce the development of green bonds market. One of these questions is whether green bonds issuance cause positive market reaction. Resent activities in global agenda, starting from United Nations Sustainable Goals released in 2015 and endings huge public attention for green issues in 2019 impose additional burden on companies’ competitiveness. Our major hypothesis is that ecological factors affect investors’ decisions whose portfolios and investment declarations are getting to be more aligned with global ecological agenda. The green bonds issuance provide a signal for investors that the issuing firm is involved in sustainable development and hence its stock may be included in the portfolio.  The study discovers the significance of the “green” label for the stock market reaction. Alongside, it studies some other features of green bonds, fostering their evolvement and justifying their costs for issuers.

This paper presents the results of measuring cross-sectoral economic and technological effects, allowing to determine the degree of dependence between the segments that produce digital technologies and implement them. The basis for empirical calculations was the survey data of leaders among Russian IT companies and retail organizations on the current state of digital and business activity. The purpose of the work is to identify the presence and establish the strength of the relationship between these segments in terms of existing localized industry effects, expressed in the transfer of technology from the IT segments to retail. The authors of the work identified and tested several specific hypotheses, the general meaning of which was to suggest that retail trade in the current stage of economic development in Russia is susceptible to emerging trends in the rapidly changing IT services sector that can quickly and efficiently respond to the growth of the IT companies digital activity by increasing investments in digital technologies and increasing the intensity of their application in business processes. In particular, hypotheses were tested regarding the impact of business activity in the IT services segments on the growth of electronic commerce turnover, the use of online marketplaces, Big data technologies, virtual and augmented reality technologies in retail trade organizations, as well as hypotheses suggesting a connection between the development of mobile applications in the IT segments and the use of mobile technologies, expectations regarding the growth of electronic goods turnover in retail organizations. The obtained results confirmed the majority of the hypotheses put forward, thereby supporting the authors' general assumption about the existence of specific effects of the development of the IT segments on intersectoral technological transfers, revealed the existing specifics of penetration and spread of modern technological trends in trade, and also showed that the IT is currently important component in the process of digital transformation of Russian retail trade organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore corporate foresight as a new important instrument within strategic management system of multinational corporations (MNCs). The author directly connects the recent rise of corporate foresight with MNCs’ growing need to fill the gaps of traditional corporate strategic management, struggling with the challenges of today’s global turbulent business-environment (known as VUCA world characterized by unprecedented volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). From this perspective corporate foresight is capable to provide a number of viable responses. They include significant expansion of the horizon of MNCs’ long-term future vision, enhanced capabilities of business-environment scanning (identifying not only clearly visible trends but the so-called weak signals as well) and strengthening intra-firm communications in the course of strategy development process, thus contributing to the implementation capacity of multinational corporate team. Within analysis of actual corporate foresight practices of major multinationals special attention is attached to the common features of foresight organization (standard process phases, typical set of methods used) and peculiarities related mainly to different MNCs’ sector-specific environment characteristics, including complexity and dynamics of change. The attempt is also made to disclose the actual impact of corporate foresight activities on the effectiveness of the key functions of MNCs’ strategic management. The author draws the conclusion that corporate foresight is becoming a core element of the strategic management architecture of multinational business, striving to protect and strengthen its global market positioning in increasingly turbulent and unpredictable environment. For MNCs’ top management, trying to find the right strategic course in radically changing competitive landscape, this powerful tool is increasingly playing the same role as GPS navigator for car drivers.

We study a small open economy New Keynesian model calibrated to the Russian economy with a banking system that trades secured and unsecured debt. Firms endogenously default on their unsecured debt obligations over the business cycle. We examine the effectiveness of four alternative countercyclical policies that respond to the growth in unsecured credit in the economy. The lean-against-the-wind monetary policy is the most effective in simultaneously affecting the real economy and stabilizing the banking system in response to both oil price and total factor productivity shocks. The countercyclical deposit reserve requirement was found to play a stabilizing role following an oil shock, while the countercyclical capital adequacy requirement helped to stabilize the banking system after a total factor productivity shock.

We consider an economic geography setting in which firms are free to choose one of the following organizational types: (i) integrated firms, which perform all their activities at the same location, (ii) horizontal firms, which operate several plants producing the same good at different locations, and (iii) vertical firms, which perform distinct activities at separated locations. We show that there exists a unique organizational equilibrium, which typically involves the coexistence of various organizational forms. We also give necessary and sufficient conditions for the three types of firms to coexist within the same region and show that transportation and communication costs have opposite effects on firms’ organizational choices. This suggests that, depending on its nature, the supply of a new transportation infrastructure may lead to contrasted locational patterns.

This paper studies how innovation strategies of Russian manufacturing firms affect various features of firm performance. A multi stage model is used, which relates the firm’s decision to undertake R&D to its innovation output, technical efficiency, labor productivity, and growth. We also include imports into the knowledge production function, because catching up economies may adopt technologies embodied in imported hardware. Additionally, we link productivity and innovation output to survival. We find that both types of knowledge input – R&D and imports – strongly determine innovation. Innovations yield the strongest performance return in the case of catching up to technological frontier. Product innovation is more beneficial than process innovation in all performance features except for labor productivity. However, higher efficiency does not improve the growth rates or survival time of manufacturing firms. Taken together, these results show that innovation is not uniformly rewarded across all features of firm performance.