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on Confederation of Independent States |
| By: | Grosfeld, Irena; Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina |
| Abstract: | Using spatial RD, we test the persistence of historical partition of Poland among three empires—Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Prussia. The formerly Prussian lands compared with the Russian lands have better infrastructure built during industrialization, resulting in higher support for anticommunist parties. The population of the Austrian compared with Russian lands believes in democracy more because of Austrian decentralized governance. People in the Russian territories are less religious than in the other two empires due to Russian imperial policies undermining trust in the Catholic Church. Both liberals and religious conservatives find higher support in the Austrian compared to the Russian lands. |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:docweb:1311&r=cis |
| By: | Andrievskaya, Irina (BOFIT); Semenova , Maria (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | The interbank market plays an important role in the overall function of the financial system. The efficiency of the interbank market, in turn, depends largely on its inherent disciplining mechanisms. This paper investigates the discipline mechanisms of Russia’s interbank market, testing the hypothesis that market discipline in Russia was strong enough to constrain excessive risk-taking by participating banks before, during, and after the 2008–2009 financial crisis. The existence of quantity-based market discipline is investigated using Heckman’s sample selection model and the efficiency of market discipline is studied with a panel data model. Our approach detects market discipline only during the financial crisis, not before or after. Even during the crisis, its efficiency in curbing bank risk-taking was rather low. |
| Keywords: | market discipline; interbank market; risk-taking; banks; Russia |
| JEL: | G01 G21 P20 |
| Date: | 2013–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2013_029&r=cis |
| By: | Alisher Akhmedjonov (Zirve University); Irina N. Il’ina (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Carol S. Leonard (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Zafar Nazarov (Cornell University); Evgenij E. Plisetskij (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Elena S. Vakulenko (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the impact of the quality of governance on economic performance in Russia’s 83 regions (Oblasts, Republics, Krais and Okrugs) from 2000 to 2008, a period of rapid economic advancement. Defining governance broadly as how authority is exercised, and using as a proxy a measure of the investment risk by region, this paper contributes to the literature on identifying the economic impact of governance. Our results find a significant association between governance in Russia’s diverse regions and economic well-being, that is, we find a performance gap in government practices. Specifically, our study shows that the main components of effective governance are the ability of the government to run effective public health programs aimed at decreasing the overall mortality rate among the working-age population, to create fair labor market conditions for all individuals who are still capable of working, and to improve the investment climate in the region leading to a higher level of investment in fixed assets. Our results implicitly suggest that effective governance comprises the tangible aspects of policymaking such as the adoption of effective public health, investment and labor policies and most importantly, for the regions of Russian Federation, although effective governance can be also an artifact of unobserved and unmeasurable managerial attributes of the local government to implement federal and region level laws and regulations |
| Keywords: | governance, Russian regions, well-being, economy, Russia, investment, investment risk, mortality, public health, labor market |
| JEL: | O47 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:42/ec/2013&r=cis |
| By: | Krupkina, Anna (BOFIT); Ponomarenko , Alexey (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | We estimate money demand models for certain monetary aggregates across different institutional sectors (a novelty for the Russian case). Our results comprise a collection of money demand equations that include different combinations of explanatory variables. Comparing the validity of these models on the basis of statistical criteria is virtually implausible. Therefore we suggest the simultaneous employment of a whole set of such models and illustrate the approach by presenting the distribution of monetary overhangs calculated on the basis of the estimated models. |
| Keywords: | monetary aggregates; money demand; households; non-financial corporations |
| JEL: | C22 D14 D22 E41 |
| Date: | 2013–12–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2013_031&r=cis |
| By: | Blinov, Sergey |
| Abstract: | This paper is looking into the causes of the GDP decline in Russia during 2008-2009 and the slow-down of the GDP growth during 2012-2013. The impact of the money supply on the GDP is discussed. Analogies are drawn with the crises in the USA: the Great Depression during 1929-1933 and the 2008-2009 crisis. Possible measures necessary for growth in Russia are investigated. |
| Keywords: | денежная масса; Великая депрессия; рецессия; центральный банк |
| JEL: | E41 E51 G01 |
| Date: | 2013–12–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:52471&r=cis |
| By: | Hartmut Lehmann; Anzelika Zaiceva |
| Abstract: | This paper takes stock of informal employment in Russia analysing its incidence and determinants. Using the regular 2003-11 waves and an informality supplement of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) it develops several measures of informal employment and demonstrates that the incidence varies widely across the different definitions. We also show that the determinants of informal employment are roughly stable across the different measures: workers who are males, relatively young, unskilled and employed in construction and trade and related services have a higher likelihood to have an informal job. We also take a look at the issue of labour market segmentation along the informal-formal divide by estimating an informal-formal wage gap at the means and across the entire wage distributions. We find only weak evidence for labour market segmentation in Russia when estimating an informal-formal wage gap for salaried workers at the mean. The results of quantile regressions show a wage penalty in the lower half of the distribution and no gap in the upper half for informal employees. In contrast, informal self-employed and entrepreneurs have conditional mean wages that are higher than the mean wages for the formally employed. Across the entire wage distribution, however, we find a negative wage gap in the lowest quartile and a strongly positive wage gap in the highest quartile, pointing to a segmented informal sector with a lower free entry tier and an upper rationed tier. This Working Paper relates to the 2014 OECD Economic Survey of the Russian Federation (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/russia). L'emploi informel en Russie : Définitions, incidence, déterminants et segmentation du marché du travail Ce document de travail propose un bilan sur l'emploi informel en Russie et analyse son incidence et ses déterminants. En utilisant les données régulières 2003-11 et un supplément sur l'informalité de l'Enquête "Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey" (RLMS), nous suggérons plusieurs mesures de l'emploi informel et démontrons que l'incidence varie considérablement selon les différentes définitions. Nous montrons également que les déterminants de l'emploi informel sont à peu près stables avec les différentes mesures: les travailleurs hommes, relativement jeunes, non qualifiés et employés dans la construction et le commerce et les services connexes ont une probabilité plus élevée d'avoir un emploi informel. Nous examinons également la question de la segmentation du marché du travail en terme de division entre marché formel et informel en estimant l'écart de salaire entre secteurs en moyenne et sur l'ensemble de la distribution des salaires. Nous ne trouvons que de faibles signes de segmentation du marché du travail en Russie pour l'estimation à la moyenne. Les résultats des régressions par quantile montrent une pénalité salariale pour les employés informels dans la moitié inférieure de la distribution et pas de différence dans la moitié supérieure. En revanche, les indépendants et les entrepreneurs du secteur informel ont des salaires moyens conditionnels plus élevés que les salaires moyens pour l'emploi formel. Sur l'ensemble de la distribution des salaires, cependant, nous constatons un écart salarial négatif dans le quartile inférieur et un écart salarial fortement positive dans le quartile le plus élevé, indiquant un secteur informel segmenté avec libre entrée dans le bas et du rationnement dans le haut. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE 2014 sur la Fédération de Russie (www.oecd.org/etudes/russie). |
| JEL: | J31 J40 P23 |
| Date: | 2013–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1098-en&r=cis |
| By: | Roza Vlasova (Higher School of Economics, Faculty of Philology, Laboratory of Neurolinguistics); Ekaterina Pechenkova (Institute of Practical Psychology and Psychoanalysis); Valentin Sinitsyn (Federal Center of Medicine and Rehabilitation) |
| Abstract: | The results of the previous fMRI study of the word frequency effect in Russian (Malutina et al., 2012) contradict the results obtained from fMRI studies of English speakers. Two reasons for such inconsistency may be either task specificity (tasks involving verbs vs. tasks involving nouns) or cross-linguistic differences. This study examines fMRI correlates of word frequency in Russian using an object naming task. We found that several brain regions were more activated by the retrieval of low frequency rather than high frequency words: the fusiform gyrus, the inferior occipital gyrus, the middle occipital gyrus, the supplementary motor area, the inferior frontal gyrus bilaterally, the left thalamus, the left insula, and the right cingulate gyrus. At the same time we revealed no brain areas responding more to high frequency words. These results are consistent with the previous fMRI studies in English and also indicate the possible role of task specificity as well as possible interactions of task and word frequency in brain mechanisms for word retrieval |
| Keywords: | word frequency effect, object naming, fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), Russian language |
| JEL: | Z19 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:02/lng/2013&r=cis |
| By: | Anna D. Plisetskaya (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article focuses on the presidential rhetoric of Russian and American leaders at the end of their latest campaigns, taking their victory speeches given immediately after winning their respective elections as examples. The comparative cross-cultural research presented in this study includes cognitive, corpus, and rhetorical approaches and is carried out within the framework of critical discourse analysis. The interconnection between language, culture and politics is evident through metaphors used by national leaders. The metaphor THE RUSSIAN NATION IS AT WAR reconstructed in President Putin’s victory speech is quite different from the metaphor THE AMERICAN NATION IS ONE FAMILY found in President Obama’s victory speech. Archetypal metaphors found in both speeches reflect public values that turn out to be highly contrastive and explain some cultural and political differences between the great powers. |
| Keywords: | rhetorical strategies, archetypal metaphor, metaphorical concept, corpus data, public values |
| JEL: | Z19 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:03/lng/2013&r=cis |
| By: | Natalia Kyui |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of an educational system expansion on labour market outcomes, drawing upon a 15-year natural experiment in the Russian Federation. Regional increases in student intake capacities in Russian universities, a result of educational reforms, provide a plausibly exogenous variation in access to higher education. Additionally, the gradual nature of this expansion allows for estimation of heterogeneous returns to education for individuals who successfully took advantage of increasing educational opportunities. Using simultaneous equations models and a non-parametric model with essential heterogeneity, the paper identifies strong positive returns to education in terms of employment and wages. Marginal returns to higher education are estimated to decline for lower levels of individual unobserved characteristics that positively influence higher education attainment. Finally, the returns to higher education are found to decrease for those who, as a result of the reforms, increasingly pursued higher education. |
| Keywords: | Development economics; Labour markets |
| JEL: | J24 I20 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:13-45&r=cis |
| By: | Ivrendi, Mehmet; Yildirim, Zekeriya |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates both the effects of domestic monetary policy and external shocks on fundamental macroeconomic variables in six fast growing emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and Turkey - denoted hereafter as BRICS_T. The authors adopt a structural VAR model with a block exogeneity procedure to identify domestic monetary policy shocks and external shocks. Their research reveals that a contractionary monetary policy in most countries appreciates the domestic currency, increases interest rates, effectively controls inflation rates and reduces output. They do not find any evidence of the price, output, exchange rates and trade puzzles that are usually found in VAR studies. Their findings imply that the exchange rate is the main transmission mechanism in BRICS_T economies. The authors also find that that there are inverse J-curves in five of the six fast growing emerging economies and there are deviations from UIP (Uncovered Interest Parity) in response to a contractionary monetary policy in those countries. Moreover, world output shocks are not a dominant source of fluctuations in those economies. -- |
| Keywords: | monetary policy,inflation,international trade,exchange rate,SVAR |
| JEL: | E52 E63 F14 F31 C51 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201361&r=cis |
| By: | Nadia Chernenko |
| Abstract: | The paper examines long-run and short-run levels of market power in the liberalised Russian electricity market. We observe that despite potential for market power abuse, actual exercise of market power as measured by price-cost markups remained low. We attribute the result to the bid-at-cost rule implemented as a part of a special unit commitment procedure on the day-ahead market. We first look at the restructured industry and discuss the mergers and acquisitions and their impact on competition in long term. The M&A were undertaken in different market zones and thus did not seem to increase concentration (HHI remains almost unchanged) although with future zone integration competition in long run is put at risk. We then examine short-run level of market power by estimating hourly price-cost mark-ups and assessing their dynamics in 2010 and 2011, a year preceeding and following the market liberalisation respectively. Using time series models (AR models) we reject hypothesis of actual market power abuse. Further, using a Tobit regression we find that the liberalisation decreased the mark-ups by about 1.66 percetage points. |
| Keywords: | Russian electricity market, liberalisation, market power, concentration, price-cost mark-ups |
| JEL: | L11 L13 L94 |
| Date: | 2013–07–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1358&r=cis |
| By: | Brown, M.; Haas, R. de; Sokolov, V. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: We exploit variation in consumer price inflation across 71 Russian regions to examine the relationship between the perceived stability of the local currency and financial dollarization. Our results show that regions with higher inflation experience an increase in the dollarization of household deposits and a decrease in the dollarization of (long-term) household credit. The negative impact of inflation on credit dollarization is weaker in regions with less-integrated banking markets, suggesting that the asset-liability management of banks constrains the currency-portfolio choices of households. |
| Keywords: | Financial dollarization;financial integration;regional inflation |
| JEL: | E31 E42 E44 F36 G21 P22 P24 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2013073&r=cis |