|
on Confederation of Independent States |
|
Issue of 2016‒02‒12
fourteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Sergei P. Kazakov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – This paper examines the influence of Market Orientation on business performance in the local service industry in Russia. Design/methodology/approach – The MKTOR and MARKOR models of Market Orientation were studied and evaluated. This led to the elaboration and proposal of a localized Market Orientation model which counts the peculiarities of doing business and the market in an emerging market. Such a model then provided the basis for a set of hypotheses tested by a field study of 133 organizations operating in the service industry. The impact of Market Orientation on business performance then was examined. Findings – The results demonstrate that Market Orientation produces a positive effect on performance. Practical implications – Companies may benefit by implementing Market Orientation. In the service industry, inter-functional coordination between different departments, competitive service product offers and a customer centred philosophy are the most crucial Market Orientation components. Others should not be overlooked as they also commonly provide a substantial basis for improved business performance. Being applied systematically, the Market Orientation paradigm may produce a positive effect on the business and its competitive position in the marketplace. Originality/value – This paper follows a stream of publications dedicated to the Market Orientation paradigm. Even with the number of publications on Market Orientation there is a lack of studies on its application to different markets, countries and industries. This paper contributes to the small number of publications dedicated to Market Orientation in one of the most multifaceted emerging markets, Russia. It is also the first that studies Market Orientation applied solely to service industry organizations in Russia |
| Keywords: | Market Orientation, Performance management, Service industry, Emerging markets |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:51man2016&r=cis |
| By: | Svetlana Biryukova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Oxana Sinyavskaya (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Irina Nurimanova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | From 2007 to 2014 total fertility rate in Russia increased from 1.42 to 1.75. To what extent this growth is related to a package of family policy measures introduced in 2007? Although the maternity (family) capital program is the most well-known innovation of the 2007 reform, we argue that the new rules of monthly childcare allowance assignment is its another major component. Since all measures were introduced simultaneously, it is only possible to estimate their cumulative effect on subsequent fertility behavior. Using panel Russian Generations and Gender Survey data collected in 2004, 2007 and 2011, this study assesses how family policy changes introduced in 2007 were related to the fertility behavior in Russia in recent years. We find a statistically significant increase in the chances of having second and subsequent births in September 2007 to Summer 2011 in comparison with the period of Summer 2004 to September 2007. We interpret that as a cumulative effect of the 2007 policy changes. We acknowledge that the observed effects might be related only to the calendar shifts in fertility behavior and further data and studies are needed to make any conclusions about completed fertility of the cohorts affected by 2007 family policy measures. |
| Keywords: | Family Policy, Pro-Natalist Policy, Russian Maternity Capital Program, Fertility, Births, Generations and Gender Survey, Russia |
| JEL: | J13 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:68/soc/2016&r=cis |
| By: | Igor Gurkov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | What role can collective action by foreign investors play in an environment characterized by incomplete institutions? We study this question by looking on foreign business associations in the Russian Federation. By interviewing 17 foreign business associations and conducting an online survey of their member firms, we find that business associations play an important welfare-enhancing role in providing a series of support and informational services. However, they do not play a significant role in lobbying the collective interests of their member firms, especially in the current political context in Russia where since the start of the Ukraine crisis the business community seems to have suffered a general loss of influence on political decision making |
| Keywords: | multinational corporations, Russia, subsidiary mandate, foreign direct investments |
| JEL: | F21 F23 D24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:50man2016&r=cis |
| By: | Alexandra A. Sizova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the objectives, specific features and the results of the political and diplomatic work of the Russian consulates in Outer Mongolia during the rise of the Mongolian national liberation movement in the 1900-1910s. The article is based on a wide range of sources, including archives, in Russian, English, Chinese and Mongolian. In the period after the Xinhai revolution, Russian representatives were actively involved in the settlement of the political disputes between China and Mongolia which sought independence from the former and facilitated the achieving the autonomous status by Mongolia. The Russian diplomats participated in the elaboration and implementation of important international agreements, organization of the technical and financial help to the Mongolian government and prevention of the spread of the Pan-Mongolist movement. Therefore, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian consulates not only served as powerful protectors of Russia’s strategic interests in Mongolia, but also played a significant regulating role in the political processes in this country. Above that, they were important for maintaining the Russian Empire’s political contacts with China and Mongolia and the political status quo in the regional system of international relations. |
| Keywords: | Mongol problem, Mongolian autonomy, Russian foreign policy, diplomacy, consulate, Russian-Chinese-Mongolian relations, Mongolia, China |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:119hum2016&r=cis |
| By: | Tamar Khitarishvili |
| Abstract: | The collapse of the Soviet Union initiated an unprecedented social and economic transformation of the successor countries and altered the gender balance in a region that counted gender equality as one of the key legacies of its socialist past. The transition experience of the region has amply demonstrated that the changes in the gender balance triggered by economic shifts are far from obvious, and that economic expansion and women's economic empowerment do not always go hand in hand. Therefore, active measures to enhance women’s economic empowerment should be of central concern to the policy dialogue aimed at poverty and inequality reduction and inclusive growth. In this paper, we establish the current state of various dimensions of gender inequalities and their past dynamics in the countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and Western CIS (Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine), and propose steps aimed at reducing those inequalities in the context of inclusive growth, decent job creation, and economic empowerment. |
| Keywords: | Gender Economics, Inequality, Transition Countries, Human Development, Western CIS, Central Asia, South Caucasus |
| JEL: | J16 P2 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_858&r=cis |
| By: | Guglielmo Maria Caporale; Fabio Spagnolo; Nicola Spagnolo |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of newspaper headlines on the exchange rates vis-à-vis both the US dollar and the euro for the currencies of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The data are daily and cover the period 03/1/2000- 12/5/2013. The estimated VAR-GARCH(1,1) model allows for both mean and volatility spillovers and for the possible impact of the recent financial crisis as well. The results differ across countries, but provide in a number of cases evidence of significant spillovers, whose strength appears to have increased during the crisis. Further, given the increasingly global role of these countries, their FX markets have become more responsive to foreign news. |
| Keywords: | BRICS, Exchange Rates, GARCH model, Macro news |
| JEL: | C32 F36 G15 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1545&r=cis |
| By: | Gordey Yastrebov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to bridge the gaps in existing accounts of the evolution of intergenerational social mobility in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. The study makes a potentially valuable contribution to the literature by extending the spectrum of institutional and historical contexts, in which (in)equality of opportunity has been considered so far, and a chance to re-examine existing evidence by using alternative datasets and a slightly different methodology. Following the conventions in the social mobility literature in this study I approach social destinations and social origins in terms of educational and occupational attainments of children and their parents respectively. For empirical part I utilize data from four representative cross-national surveys conducted in Russia in 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2013. To study historical change in the patterns of social mobility I identify four cohorts whose educational and occupational careers unfolded during four different historical periods (two for the Soviet and two for the post-Soviet period). Being informed by several earlier studies on post-socialist countries including earlier research on Russia, I anticipated (1) a trend towards lesser (rather than greater) openness in the late years of the Soviet era, (2) a temporary discontinuity of mobility patterns during the turbulent 1990s and (3) the ‘tightening up’ of social mobility regime in the more stable years of Russia’s post-Soviet history. If any such trend existed, my findings would rather suggest that it was directed towards decreasing intergenerational transmission of educational advantage in the post-Soviet era, rather than the other way around. Also, surprisingly and quite contrary to earlier findings and theoretical considerations, the changes in the pattern of occupational mobility remained surprisingly invariant to the changes in historical and institutional context. The paper concludes with highlighting some of the remaining puzzles and possible directions for future research. |
| Keywords: | social mobility, social inequality, social reproduction, social transformations, Russian society, Soviet society, post-Soviet society |
| JEL: | Z13 J62 I24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:69/soc/2016&r=cis |
| By: | Ivan Mikloš |
| Abstract: | If I were to say just one thing about Ukraine, I think I would have to stress it is the most underperforming country of all the countries I know. Ukraine has had, and indeed still does have, a lot of potential. In the beginning of 1990s, in 1992 to be precise, Deutsche Bank prepared an analysis of the chances for the former Soviet Union states to be reformed and developed successfully, and according to this analysis, Ukraine had the best chance among them all to be successful. We know that in reality the opposite happened, and Ukraine is in a very difficult situation now. The main reason for this situation is that when at the beginning of 1990s communist countries collapsed, the old system in Ukraine was not replaced by a new one, one of functioning market economy. It was eroded, but not exactly replaced the way it happened for example in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Baltic states. The country was captured by oligarchs, and a very strange, dysfunctional, and corrupted system was created instead./ Gdybym mia³ powiedzieæ tylko jedn¹ rzecz o Ukrainie, musia³bym podkreœliæ, ¿e jest to kraj osi¹gaj¹cy najgorsze wyniki gospodarcze spoœród wszystkich znanych mi krajów. Ukraina mia³a i nadal ma ogromny potencja³. Na pocz¹tku lat dziewiêædziesi¹tych ubieg³ego wieku, a dok³adnie w roku 1992, Deutsche Bank przygotowa³ analizê szans by³ych pañstw Zwi¹zku Radzieckiego na przeprowadzenie reform i pomyœlny rozwój. Wed³ug tej analizy najwiêksze szanse na sukces wœród nich wszystkich mia³a w³aœnie Ukraina. Jak wiemy, w rzeczywistoœci sta³o siê inaczej, i Ukraina znajduje siê teraz w bardzo trudnej sytuacji.G³ównym jej powodem jest fakt, ¿e gdy na pocz¹tku lat dziewiêædziesi¹tych upada³ komunizm, stary system na Ukrainie nie zosta³ zast¹piony przez nowy system gospodarki rynkowej. Zosta³ on os³abiony, ale nie zast¹piony przez nowy system, jak mia³o to miejsce na przyk³ad w Polsce, Czechos³owacji, na Wêgrzech czy w pañstwach ba³tyckich. Kraj zosta³ przejêty przez oligarchów i zapanowa³ w nim bardzo dziwny, dysfunkcjonalny i skorumpowany system |
| Keywords: | Ukraine, transitional economies, privatization, energy reform |
| JEL: | P2 P21 P28 L33 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:bresem:0139&r=cis |
| By: | Irina Andrievskaya (National Research University Higher School); Maria Semenova (National Research University Higher School) |
| Abstract: | There are many studies revealing factors which influence the demand for financial services. However genetic features, determining the individual’s overall postnatal behaviour, have not been studied within this context. This paper extends the previous literature by studying to what extent individual biological endowment, proxied by prenatal testosterone (PT) (measured by the 2D:4D ratio), can determine personal demand for bank services and insurance. We use data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of 2011–2012. Our findings confirm the existence of the link between inherent biological variation and financial inclusion: PT affects the use of bank cards, intention to take out a loan, having a bank deposit and the consumption of insurance products |
| Keywords: | prenatal testosterone, 2D:4D ratio, financial inclusion, household, RLMS, Russia |
| JEL: | D14 D81 G21 G22 O16 P34 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:52/fe/2016&r=cis |
| By: | Gérard Mondello (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This article highlights the importance of the use of credible and non-credible threats. Its main lesson is that cooperation is even stronger when based on long-term relationships which makes failures implausible. It reasonably well describes the relationships that exist between the Russian Federation and China (players 1 and 3), player 2 for example being Europe. Obviously, one may object that the United States are missing from the picture. In fact, adding a fourth partner would not have changed the global framework of the game but would have add in complexity. All in all, international relationsships analysis can usefully be studied in terms of classical game theory. However, this approach needs adaptations of standard game theory. Indeed, t these games are sequential and they mainly accept pure strategies as solution of the game but not mixed strategies which are non sense in this context. However, mixed strategies can be conceived in the cases of armed conflict. To conclude, even if not developed, the spirit of GO game motivated our paper in which cooperation between two players does not exclude competition. Players 1 and 3 of our representation understood that they could not permanently exclude on each other from the international scene. Then, they preferred delineate areas that give them the highest possible benefits. In the simple model we gave, Player-2 bears the brunt of this agreement. |
| Keywords: | Game theory, coalitions, geostrategy, threat-game |
| Date: | 2015–05–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01251732&r=cis |
| By: | Nina Dobrushina (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | • Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions; The aim of this article is to test the hypothesis that the uses of volitional forms (e.g. optative, imperative, hortative and jussive) in subordinate clauses, in particular in complement clauses of the verbs of ‘wish’ and in purpose clauses, in East Caucasian languages evolves under the influence of Azerbaijanian (Turkic). • Design/Methodology/Approach and Data and Analysis The data of thirteen languages spoken in Daghestan and Azerbaijan are considered in the paper. To prove that shared features are contact-induced rather than co-inherited, two control languages are included in the sample: Archi, which belongs to the same genetic group as the languages which use volitionals in subordinate clauses (Lezgic), but is exposed to Azerbaijanian to a much lesser extent, and Axaxd?r? Akhvakh, which belongs to another group, but whose contacts with Azerbaijani are strong due to recent migration. • Findings/Conclusions A survey shows that volitionals are used in subordinate clauses most extensively in those languages whose speakers show a high level of bilingualism in Azerbaijanian, and where the contact has been longer. I also show that there is a hierarchy of borrowability of subordinate constructions involving volitionals. • Originality Although the consequences of the influence of Turkic languages on the languages of the Caucasus in the domain of syntax have been previously discussed, the usage of volitionals in subordinate clauses was not. • Significance/Implications It is usually acknowledged that social factors play an important role in shaping the linguistic consequences of language contact. However, evidence of the correspondence between social factors and structural outcomes of language contact is still very scarce. The relevance of two social factors is shown in this paper: the ratio of bilingual speakers and the duration of contact. • Limitations The hierarchy of borrowability of the considered constructions remains essentially unexplained. I advance the hypothesis that connects the borrowability of particular constructions to their typological frequency, but the typology of subordinate uses of volitionals is well enough investigated to make final conclusions. |
| Keywords: | language contact, bilingualism, syntactic borrowing, volitionals, imperative, optative, purpose clause, complement clause, East Caucasian languages, Turkic languages |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:42/lng/2016&r=cis |
| By: | Vinogradov, Dmitri; Shadrina, Elena |
| Abstract: | Public-private partnerships (PPP) allow involvement of private parties in the provision of public goods. How does this differ from traditional public procurement? We view PPPs as collaborative projects with information frictions. Typical public procurement contracts tackle the problems of asymmetric information. However, not all projects are contractible; some are not profitable enough to ensure participation of the private partner. This is due, in part, to costly information verification, and in part to the profitability requirements of the private party. We demonstrate what specific features of a partnership can improve feasibility of projects, and thus both provide a justification of PPP as a form of public good provision, and demonstrate how and whether it differs from procurement. We then analyse real life examples of PPP projects from the perspective of optimal choice of contracts, involvement of both partners, and the features that make these PPP arrangements superior to public procurement. |
| Keywords: | public-private partnerships, public finance, contracting |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esy:uefcwp:16024&r=cis |
| By: | Konstantin Yu. Totyev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores business transactions in the context of the principle of legality. It will be argued that Article 168 of the Russian Civil Code, as a meta-rule, contains three types of rules: 1) rules dealing with the priority of special rule and exceptions (exclusive rules); 2) rules dealing with the interpretation of general, special and exclusive rules as well as with the requirements of statutes or other legal acts violated by a transaction and established outside Article 168 of the Civil Code; 3) rules dealing with the admissibility of special rule and exceptions, as well as with the conditions of admissibility of these rules. With regard to the first group of the rules, the legislature and commercial courts consider Article 168 of the Civil Code a common base with respect to other grounds in the Civil Code and in certain other statutes for declaring transactions invalid. According to the second group of rules, the subject-matter (object) of legal interpretation consists of two elements: à) the text of Article 168 of the Civil Code; and b) the texts of legal acts, described by the generic term “statute or other legal act.” Article 168 of the Civil Code provides instructions not only for rules as objects of application of the article, but also for the methods of interpreting violated requirements. The rules of admissibility for special rule and exceptions, as well as the conditions of admissibility for these standards, are aimed at the numerous cases in which the legislature, in the Civil Code or in other legal acts, expressly establishes nullity (voidness), voidability and other legal consequences for illegal transactions. The paper also answers questions regarding the impact of recent amendments to the Russian Civil Code on using rules for business transaction invalidity in commercial courts |
| Keywords: | business transactions; entrepreneurial activities; general, special and exclusive rules; invalidity (nullity or voidness, voidability) and other legal consequences of illegal transactions; principle of legality; sanctions; statute or other legal act |
| JEL: | K12 K20 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:63/law/2016&r=cis |
| By: | Catherine Locatelli (équipe EDDEN - PACTE - Politiques publiques, ACtion politique, TErritoires - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Grenoble 2 UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - IEPG - Sciences Po Grenoble - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble - UJF - Université Joseph Fourier); Mehdi Abbas (équipe EDDEN - PACTE - Politiques publiques, ACtion politique, TErritoires - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Grenoble 2 UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - IEPG - Sciences Po Grenoble - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble - UJF - Université Joseph Fourier); Sylvain Rossiaud (équipe EDDEN - PACTE - Politiques publiques, ACtion politique, TErritoires - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Grenoble 2 UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - IEPG - Sciences Po Grenoble - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble - UJF - Université Joseph Fourier) |
| Abstract: | This article is a first step of a research agenda on international hydrocarbon regulations. With regards to both: i) the new wealth and power equilibrium in the international political economy and ii) the new political economy of carbon that is emerging from The Paris agreement on Climate changes, this research agenda aims at analysing the changing national structures of governance and the ways these changes lead to international, bilateral, plurilateral or multilateral hydrocarbon regulation. |
| Keywords: | hydrocarbon regulation,international governance |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01246346&r=cis |