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on Confederation of Independent States |
| By: | Konstantin Gluschenko |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the behavior of the entire distribution of consumer prices across Russian regions over the decade of 2001–2010. The analysis uses non-parametric techniques, exploiting the distribution dynamics approach. The results obtained evidence that regional relative prices in Russia remained fairly stable during 2001-2010. No significant changes are found in price dispersion and cross-region price distribution over this time span. Rank mobility was very low with seasonal surges. The pattern of quantity mobility manifests neither convergence nor divergence of regional prices. However, a long-run price distribution has an unpleasant feature, predicting potential emergence of a price convergence club in the Russian Far East. |
| Keywords: | price convergence; price dispersion; price mobility; market integration; stochastic kernel |
| JEL: | P22 R10 R15 |
| Date: | 2013–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wdi:papers:2013-1061&r=cis |
| By: | Olessia Y. Koltsova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Sergei N. Koltcov (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Sergey I. Nikolenko (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We study the structure of online discussions in order to uncover latent communities of socially important debate. Our research reveals that discussion communities defined by mutual commenting in the Russian language blogosphere are centered mainly around blog authors as opinion leaders and, to a lesser extent, around a shared topic or topics. We have derived these conclusions from the dataset of 17386 full text posts written by top 2000 LiveJournal bloggers and over 520,000 comments that result in about 4.5 million edges in the network of co-commenting |
| Keywords: | Comment-based communities, online discussion, blogs, Russia |
| JEL: | Z19 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:33/soc/2013&r=cis |
| By: | Muravyev, Alexander (St. Petersburg University GSOM and IZA); Oshchepkov, Aleksey (Higher School of Economics, Moscow) |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits labor market effects of the minimum wage by taking advantage of a unique institutional setting and rich data from Russia that cover 89 regions over 10 years, from 2001 to 2010. Our empirical analysis draws on the methodology introduced by Neumark and Wascher, in which labor market outcomes at the regional level are related to the relative minimum wage (captured by the Kaitz index) in a panel setting. We find that the minimum wage raises unemployment among young workers aged 15 to 24. In contrast, there is no evidence of disemployment effects of the minimum wage for workers aged 25-72, including women. In addition, minimum wage hikes are associated with an increase in informal employment. |
| Keywords: | minimum wages, unemployment, informal employment, Russia |
| JEL: | J38 J23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7878&r=cis |
| By: | Lehmann, Hartmut (University of Bologna); Zaiceva, Anzelika (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) |
| Abstract: | Informal activities impact countries' economic development and overall growth. However, studying informal employment is not easy and it is crucial to provide a valid definition of it. This paper contributes to the recent discussion of the measures of informality by taking advantage of a rich dataset on Russia over the period 2003 - 2011, that is before and after the economic downturn, together with a special supplement on informality that allows to construct different measures of informal employment and to analyze its determinants. We demonstrate that the incidence of informal employment varies across the different definitions. However, the determinants of informal employment are roughly stable across the different measures as long as we exclude firm size as a criterion. We also show that risk-averse individuals, as expected, are less likely to select themselves into informal employment. |
| Keywords: | informal employment, definitions, incidence, determinants, Russia |
| JEL: | J31 J40 P23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7844&r=cis |
| By: | Albina N. Rasskazova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this article is to study the target segment of the corporate bank market in order to reveal the demand for financial products and to incorporate this demand into solving the problem of bank profit maximization. Instrumental guidelines for conducting market research that allow to study the aspects of the problem specifically dealing with the efficiency of a bank’s cooperation with corporate customers has been developed as a technique for studying target corporate market customers. A target retail trade market sector and a client base of corporate customers including 430 trade network operators functioning in the northwest region of Russia were chosen as objects of research. The article defines the retail market demand potential for bank products, analyses the prospective viability of providing additional bank products to retail market customers, and identifies the corporate customer’s informational portrait. On the basis of obtained results, the problem of maximizing the bank’s extra profit from serving trade network operators. The research is confined to the client base of one major Russian bank operating in the northwest region of Russia; it will be useful to adapt the material of this article to studying target sectorial markets nationwide. The results of market research were used to assess the economic potential (estimated optimal profit) of the commercial bank’s cooperation with trade network operators. This article constitutes the groundwork for organizing effective bank marketing that guarantees a congruity of the bank’s resources and capabilities with the demands and requirements of the market in which it operates. |
| Keywords: | customer orientation, effectiveness, financial services, market research, bank marketing, process planning |
| JEL: | M31 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:16man2014&r=cis |
| By: | Christoph Böhringer (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics); Jared C. Carbone (Department of Economics, University Drive NW, Calgary, Canada,); Thomas F. Rutherford (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA) |
| Abstract: | Unilateral carbon policies are inefficient due to the fact that they generally involve emission reductions in countries with high marginal abatement costs and because they are subject to carbon leakage. In this paper, we ask whether the use of carbon tariffs—tariffs on the carbon embodied in imported goods—might lower the cost of achieving a given reduction in world emissions. Specifically, we explore the role tariffs might play as an inducement to unregulated countries adopting emission controls of their own. We use an applied general equilibrium model to generate the payoffs of a policy game. In the game, a coalition of countries regulates its own emissions and chooses whether or not to employ carbon tariffs against unregulated countries. Unregulated countries may respond by adopting emission regulations of their own, retaliating against the carbon tariffs by engaging in a trade war, or by pursuing no policy at all. In the unique Nash equilibrium produced by this game, the use of carbon tariffs by coalition countries is credible. China and Russia respond by adopting binding abatement targets to avoid being subjected to them. Other unregulated countries retaliate. Cooperation by China and Russia lowers the global welfare cost of achieving a 10% reduction in global emissions by half relative to the case where coalition countries undertake all of this abatement on their own. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:dpaper:360&r=cis |
| By: | Irfan Akbar Kazi; Hakimzadi Wagan |
| Abstract: | The aim of this article is to examine: how the dynamics of correlations between five emerging countries (Argentina, Chili, Hungary, Russia and Poland), two emerging regions (Latin America (LAC) and Europe (EU)) and U.S. evolved from January 2004 to September 2011. The main contribution of this study is to explore whether the plunging stock market in U.S., in the aftermath of global financial crisis (2008-2009), exert contagion effects on emerging equity and sovereign bond markets. To this end we rely on Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlation (ADCC) model developed by Cappiello et al. (2006), which accounts for asymmetries in conditional variances and correlations to negative returns. We show that there is mean shift in the estimated DCC immediately after the Lehman Brothers failure in September 2008. We refer this finding as contagion from U.S. stock market to emerging equity and sovereign bond markets especially in emerging LAC region. |
| Keywords: | Global financial crisis, contagion, emerging equity markets, sovereign risk. |
| JEL: | C32 E44 F30 G01 G12 |
| Date: | 2014–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:201417&r=cis |