|
on Confederation of Independent States |
|
Issue of 2015‒12‒12
fifteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Kristina Volkonitskaia (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The working paper is based on research findings concerning the functioning of 35 Russian technology parks in 2013 – the first half of 2015. The analysis of the performance of these technology parks has been carried out on the basis of the CANVAS framework, proposed by Osterwalder and Pine in 2010. The research was conducted in the domain of 9 key blocks business model of technology parks, including infrastructure and services provided, companies’ residents, cooperation with partners, including regional and federal authorities, scientific and education institutions, financial and economic indicators of technoparks and key performance indicators used. On the basis of empirical data 7 business models of functioning of Russian technology parks were revealed, including IT-park, university park, 2 types of facilitators of innovation processes in a region and 3 types of entrepreneurial technoparks. The classification allows differentiating the nature and level of support of technology parks as objects of innovation infrastructure. Detailed profile of business models reveals the competitive advantages and weaknesses of technoparks, as well as mechanisms to improve the efficiency of these objects of innovation infrastructure |
| Keywords: | innovative infrastructure, technopark, business-model, research and development, regional development, regional innovative system, value creation |
| JEL: | O32 O38 R58 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:55sti2015&r=cis |
| By: | Golikova Victoria (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Kuznetsov Boris (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper is focused on assessing the factors of risks for Russian manufacturing firms due to the sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU, US and other countries in 2014. While there is extensive literature on assessing the successes and failures of international sanctions on the economies of both senders and targets on a macroeconomic level (Hufbauer et al., 2007; Drezner 1998, 2003; Morgan et al, 2009; Krustev, 2010; Morgan et al, 2009 among others), we are more interested in trying to understand the corporate response, i.e. which firms evaluate the introduction and increasing scale of economic sanctions as a threat to their corporate strategy and their possible reactions aimed at adjusting to a changing environment due to the geopolitical shock. Our research, based on a recent survey of manufacturing companies, provides evidence that Russian manufacturing firms have in the last decade become much more integrated into the global economy than is commonly assumed, via FDI, foreign trade, including both the importing of technological equipment and intermediates, via establishing international partnerships and extensively supplying foreign companies which operate in Russia. Considering the self-selection effect of the top performing firms in terms of foreign trade, we can state that sanctions could be the most harmful effect for the better performing and globalized firms and, thus, the impact of the sanctions on the prospects of the Russian manufacturing sector may be very strong in the medium and long-term perspectives |
| Keywords: | economic sanctions, perceptions of risks, manufacturing firms, Russia |
| JEL: | F14 O31 O33 P23 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:115/ec/2015&r=cis |
| By: | Manfred Hafner (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Simone Tagliapietra (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | On December 1, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised the energy world by announcing, during a state visit to Turkey, the demise of the long-planned South Stream pipeline project and the launch of a new project to evacuate Russian gas to Turkey and South-East Europe bypassing Ukraine: Turkish Stream. Since 2007 South Stream has represented a key element of the discussions concerning the EU security of gas supply and the overall EU-Russia relations. For this reason, the unexpected demise of South Stream and the quick rise of Turkish Stream need to be carefully evaluated both under the economic and geopolitical perspectives. This paper will first provide an overview of the Russian gas export strategy to Europe in order to entrench the current discussion on the major long-term trends concerning the issue. On the basis of this analysis the paper will then discuss the future prospects of Turkish Stream, arguing that the EU could seize this new reality to launch the formation of a fluid, reliable and interconnected South-Eastern European regional gas hub. |
| Keywords: | Turkish Stream, South Stream, Energy Security, Gas Markets, EU Energy Union |
| JEL: | Q40 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.50&r=cis |
| By: | Ivantsova, Alina |
| Abstract: | Abstract: This article is about the problem of capital outflow from Russia. The article features the reasons, forms and solutions of the problem. Author analyzes the amounts of net capital outflow during the period from 2000 to 2015 and also the structure of capital outflow for three quarters of the last two years. Also attention is paid to events, which explain the situation with capital outflow. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: capital outflow, offshores, structure of capital outflow, net capital outflow, amounts of capital outflow, flight of capital |
| JEL: | F2 F21 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68309&r=cis |
| By: | Rudkovskaya, Maria |
| Abstract: | The article raises the topic of Internet use in business, and describes the investment attractiveness of e-business. The author talks about the prospects of further development of the role of the World Wide Web for the Russian Internet economy. |
| Keywords: | Internet-business, investment, e-commerce, Runet. |
| JEL: | O14 O31 |
| Date: | 2015–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68269&r=cis |
| By: | Timothy Frye (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Andrei Yakovlev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The relative bargaining power of rulers and right-holders is thought to be a key determinant of property rights, but because it both shapes and is shaped by property rights, it is difficult to estimate the impact of bargaining power on property rights. We take advantage of a natural experiment by comparing the responses of managers interviewed just before and just after a surprising parliamentary election in Russia that weakened the relative bargaining power of the ruling party. This electoral shock had little impact on the perceived property rights of the average firm, but firms with close economic ties to the state viewed their property as more vulnerable after the election. By exploiting largely exogenous variation in the timing of survey interviews, we estimate the impact of bargaining power on property rights with greater precision. We also contribute to the literature on elections under autocracy by focusing on their economic, rather than political impacts on individuals |
| Keywords: | Elections, property rights, hostile takeover, natural experiment |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:29/ps/2015&r=cis |
| By: | Vasily Kostenko (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A theory of ego development (ED), established by Jane Loevinger (1966), remains one of the strongest theoretical approaches to exploration of personality development. The ego development process seems to be somehow determined by the more particular mechanisms. The author and her followers often marked the self-awareness, or reflection, as one of such mechanisms that advances a person through the stages. At the same time, the general perspective of the links between the ego level and the basic personality characteristics is still less than clear. The below research is aimed to clarify how different types of reflection, basic personality dimensions and satisfaction with life indicators proceed and interact at the different stages of the personality evolution process. A sample of 259 adolescents and youths, participants of a summer school in Russia, aged from 14 to 25, answered on the Washington University Sentence Completion Test, the Differential Test of Reflection, the Big Five Questionnaire, and Satisfaction with Life scale. The positive and negative facets of reflection behaved ambiguously through the different stages of ED. There was an ascending linear dependence between the productive (Systemic) type of reflection and the ED level. At the same time, non-productive types of reflection (Quasi-Reflection and Introspection), although they were positively associated with Neuroticism and negatively linked to Satisfaction with Life, had no significant connections with the Ego Development level |
| Keywords: | ego development, personality maturity, personality reflection, self-awareness |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:53psy2015&r=cis |
| By: | Maxim N. Kotsemir (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Tatiana E. Kuznetsova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Elena G. Nasybulina (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Anna G. Pikalova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The problem of rationalizing S&T cooperation, including identifying the most promising areas and forms for S&T cooperation (geographical and thematic) and state support instruments, is critically important to many countries. In view of the growing complexity of global trends and domestic restrictions on development and the emergence of new factors affecting contacts with foreign countries, there are increasing demands in the international arena to collect and analyse relevant information required to make substantiated administrative decisions on various levels, including with regard to international S&T collaboration. In these conditions, researchers and experts tend to resort to a broad range of empirical methods, while politicians make more active use of their results in administrative practice and international contacts. This working paper describes and systematizes analysis results in the field of international S&T collaboration based on a bibliometric study. The authors combine quantitative methods of bibliometrics and sociology to identify prospective partners and promising areas for collaboration. In addition, the possibility of using the proposed approach to provide information support for current state policy-making is assessed, and key results of the study are examined |
| Keywords: | science and technology cooperation; international partnerships; priorities for STI cooperation; bibliometric analysis; expert interviews. |
| JEL: | C00 A00 Z00 F01 F59 O19 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:53sti2015&r=cis |
| By: | Sergey M. Plaksin (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Alexander S. Kondrashov (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Elizaveta V. Yastrebova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Ekaterina M. Reshetova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Nikita A. Krupenskiy (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The implementation of Intelligent Transportation System elements into the toll plaza system is an actual topic nowadays and its positive effect is the subject of wide speculations. It is considered that the toll plaza Intelligent Transportation System can play a significant role in construction and operating costs reduction and improve the traffic safety. Also, the implementation of the Intelligent Transportation System elements provides the CO2 emissions reduction and increases the level of toll road user satisfaction. However, the usage of these elements at toll plazas has some disadvantages. While the usage of the old-school (manual) toll collection technology provides 100% toll collection rate, the implementation of the Intelligent Transportation System elements at toll roads entails toll payment deficiency. Discussion as whether to use the old technology or to implement the Intelligent Transportation System elements is the right way to operate toll roads and toll plazas forms a point of departure for this paper. This article focuses on the economic, social and environmental effects of the implementation of the Intelligent Transportation System elements at toll roads. Almost all kinds of positive and negative effects of the Intelligent Transportation System elements implementation are evaluated in money terms and made on the basis of author’s calculations and sociological researches data |
| Keywords: | toll road, Intelligent transportation system, toll collection, Russia, environmental effect |
| JEL: | R49 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:02/urb/2015&r=cis |
| By: | Olga Lyashevskaya (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A grammatical profile indicating the relative frequency distribution of the inflected forms of a word in a corpus is a tool for exploring lexical semantics. However, previous attempts to infer semantically relevant hierarchies of nouns from frequency biases within their grammatical forms seem to have failed. In this paper we explore the distinctive power of grammatical profiles of Russian nouns using the ratio of plural forms as observed in the Russian National Corpus (cf. roditel? ?parent? having 95% plural forms and mama ?mom? having just 2% plural forms). We claim that since frequent nouns for the most part are semantically ambiguous, their profiles cannot reveal any straightforward effects for large lexical classes. Instead of working on the macro-lexical level we focus on micro-effects within specific taxonomic groups, studying grammatical profiles of body part names, kinship terms, names of vehicles and emotions. The analysis involves the notion of functional frames which represent how objectsevents are typically used and typically observed. Our case studies show that grammatical profiles help to structure each group and correlate with certain properties of functional frames associated with nouns |
| Keywords: | grammatical profiles, grammatical number, nouns, lexical semantics, Russian language |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:33/lng/2015&r=cis |
| By: | Olga Antineskul (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Marina Sheveleva (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This is a qualitative study of teachers’ attitudes to the content of, and preparation for, BEC exams, which was conducted at the Cambridge Exam Preparation Center in Perm, Russia. Purposive criterion sampling was used to select research participants, who were asked to take part in face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews. Overall, the teachers show a positive attitude to BEC at different exam levels. Teaching for BEC proves to be motivational as goal-oriented teaching tends to be more rewarding. The teachers generally recognize that while preparing students for BEC exams they have an opportunity for professional development, namely, in terms of systematic enrichment of Business English vocabulary. The respondents also demonstrate a positive attitude to teaching new content, and acknowledge that teaching for BEC has a positive effect on their university teaching in general because of the relevance of the course to the main curriculum, and its balanced format. The teachers recognize that preparation for BEC exams will be useful for students in their future professional life and are of the opinion that the exam preparation center contributes substantially to improving the University's reputation overall |
| Keywords: | international English language exams, BEC, qualitative study, Russia. |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:114hum2015&r=cis |
| By: | Irina Andrievskaya (National Research University Higher School); Mikhail Raschupkin (National Research University Higher School) |
| Abstract: | Information disclosure is considered as an important prerequisite for the efficient functioning of a financial system. Costs and benefits of information disclosure in the banking system have been extensively theoretically and empirically investigated. However, the effect of voluntary transparency on bank market power and market share is still empirically unexplored. Our paper fills this gap in the literature, examining two hundred of the largest Russian banks in the period 2004-2013. The findings confirm that voluntary transparency – absolute and relative - affects a bank’s market power and market shares. Moreover, this relation depends on the bank’s asset quality |
| Keywords: | banking system, voluntary information disclosure, market power, Lerner index |
| JEL: | G21 D22 D80 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:51/fe/2015&r=cis |
| By: | Ilya Yu. Chechuro (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the nominal morphology of the Mehweb language. It deals with the following issues: noun structure, plural formation, the oblique stem, case formation and use, and irregular locatives. In this paper I analyse both the structure and the semantics of these features. The description is mostly based on the existing studies of the Mehweb language, and the field data collected during three field trips in the years 2013–2015 |
| Keywords: | Mehweb, Northeast Caucasian, Dargwa languages, noun, paradigm, noun morphology, nominal morphology, case, plural, structure, locative. |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:32/lng/2015&r=cis |
| By: | Maria V. Sheyanova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper classifies the semantic inventory and describes the morphosyntactic characteristics of specialized converbs in Mehweb a lect of the Dargwa group of the East Caucasian (Nakh-Daghestanian) language family. The data for this description were collected during a field trip to the village of Mehweb (Megeb) 3. For Mehweb I describe converbs which have the following meaning: anteriority, immediacy, inceptivity, simultaniety, posteriority, hypothetical conditionality, counterfactuality, concessivity (and another meaning close to concessivity), causality, purpose and graduality |
| Keywords: | East Caucasian languages, minor languages, adverbial subordination, converbs, specialized converbs, verbal morphology |
| JEL: | Z19 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:31/lng/2015&r=cis |
| By: | Yury Lander (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Alexandra Kozhukhar (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | East Caucasian relative clause constructions (RCCs) are thought by some to be constructed mainly on the basis of semantic and pragmatic information and not to elaborate on the syntax of the relative clause. In this paper, we consider RCCs in one of the East Caucasian languages, namely Mehweb Dargwa, and argue that, despite the fact that its RCCs can be organized on a semantic basis, their functioning can also rely on syntactic information. In particular, we present evidence that Mehweb Dargwa has grammaticalized the resumptive use of reflexive pronouns, which can be contrasted with other uses of reflexive pronouns due to the restrictions on animate antecedents observed only in RCCs |
| Keywords: | Daghestan, East Caucasian, Dargwa, Mehweb Dargwa, relative clause constructions, relativization, resumptive pronoun |
| JEL: | Z19 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:34/lng/2015&r=cis |