nep-cis New Economics Papers
on Confederation of Independent States
Issue of 2021‒07‒12
five papers chosen by
Alexander Harin
Modern University for the Humanities

  1. Sovereign wealth funds: main activity trends By Oksana Mamina; Alexander Barannikov; Ludmila Gruzdeva
  2. DIFFERENCES IN SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS BETWEEN RESILIENT AND STRUGGLING RUSSIAN SCHOOLS By Aleksandra Mikhaylova; Roman Zvyagintsev; Ìarina Pinskaya; Lorin Anderson
  3. Covid-19 vaccine efficacy and Russian public support for anti-pandemic measures By Borisova, Ekaterina; Ivanov, Denis
  4. Performance Evaluation of the Fruit and Vegetable Subsectors in the Azerbaijani Economy: A Combinatorial Analysis Using Regression and Principal Component Analysis By Niftiyev, Ibrahim
  5. Set-weighted games and their application to the cover problem By Vasily V. Gusev

  1. By: Oksana Mamina; Alexander Barannikov; Ludmila Gruzdeva
    Abstract: Sovereign wealth funds are created in those countries whose budget is highly dependent on market factors, usually world commodity prices. At the same time, these funds are large institutional investors. An analysis of the nature of investments by the State Pension Fund Global of Norway showed that investments of the Fund are based on a seven-level model of diversifying its investments. This model can also be applied to the investments of the National Wealth Fund of Russia to increase its profitability.
    Date: 2021–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2106.13670&r=
  2. By: Aleksandra Mikhaylova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Roman Zvyagintsev (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Ìarina Pinskaya (MGIMO University); Lorin Anderson (University of South Carolina)
    Abstract: Our research is dedicated to identifying what allows schools operating in difficult social conditions to show good academic results. We answer this question through the conjugation of two theoretical frameworks: academic resilience and school effectiveness. We analyze several models of school effectiveness and compare resilient and struggling schools through them. The study uses a quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods design. Our main arguments are based on an analysis of interviews conducted with students, parents, teachers, and principals in different schools—3 resilient and 3 struggling. We conclude that the schools differ in the strategies they implement; the main problem facing struggling schools is not the lack of effective elements, but the presence of negative ones; in further studies of school effectiveness, it would be worth using an integrative model that combines both poles
    Keywords: school effectiveness, academic resilience, mixed-methods design, resilient school.
    JEL: Z
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:60edu2021&r=
  3. By: Borisova, Ekaterina; Ivanov, Denis
    Abstract: In this study, we use random assignment of vignettes that feature optimistic and pessimistic scenarios with respect to vaccine safety and efficacy on a sample of roughly 1,600 Russians in order to gauge public support for anti-pandemic measures under various scenarios. Negative information on vaccine safety and efficacy reduces support for the anti-pandemic measures among individuals who fear Covid-19 and were initially supportive of government restrictions. These individuals tend to be old, and therefore vulnerable to Covid-19, and politically active. This loss of support is strongest for economically costly measures such as banning of large gatherings and the shuttering of non-essential businesses. Mask-wearing, which involves only minor costs, finds broad acceptance. We interpret the reactions in light of adaptation, fatigue over Covid-19 restrictions, and fatalism. The political consequences of non-pharmaceutical measures to deal with a pandemic include loss of public support over time, erosion of trust in government, and political backlash.
    JEL: I12 I18 C93
    Date: 2021–07–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofitp:2021_009&r=
  4. By: Niftiyev, Ibrahim
    Abstract: Azerbaijan has an oil-led economy, which according to the well-known resource curse and Dutch disease hypotheses decreases the role of non-oil tradable sectors. Nevertheless, the government has actively fostered the growth of non-oil tradable sectors as the export orientation of Azerbaijan is being leveraged by the recently adopted economic policies. However, performance evaluations at the subsectoral level remain rare. The present paper evaluates the performance of the fruit and vegetable subsectors in Azerbaijan from 1995 to 2020 based on multiple key indicators, such as production, profitability, and productivity via principle component analysis (PCA). The purpose of the study was to provide a comparison of two key subsectors in Azerbaijan that are strong candidates for non-oil tradable exports. The results revealed that the vegetable subsector outperformed the fruit subsector in terms of production and profitability from 1999 to 2014; however, it experienced a sharp decline from 2014 to 2015 (the period of the rapid commodity price downturns), which gives rise to the question of whether the extractive industry negatively affected the subsector. Compared to the vegetable subsector, production and profitability in the fruit subsector demonstrated a more stable upward trend. In addition, labor input in both subsectors decreased over time, indicating efficiency gains via new technology transfers and productivity enhancements. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) results demonstrated a strong and statistically significant negative relationship between the performance of the vegetable subsector with the oil revenue boom period (2008-2015).
    Keywords: Azerbaijan economy,agriculture,subsectoral performance,egetable production,fruit production
    JEL: E01 C38 O13 Q11 Q18
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esconf:235494&r=
  5. By: Vasily V. Gusev (National Research University Higher School of Economics)
    Abstract: The cover of a transport, social, or communication network is a computationally complex problem. To deal with it, this paper introduces a special class of simple games in which the set of minimal winning coalitions coincides with the set of least covers. A distinctive feature of such a game is that it has a weighted form, in which weights and quota are sets rather than real numbers. This game class is termed set-weighted games. A real-life network has a large number of least covers, therefore this paper develops methods for analyzing set-weighted games in which the weighted form is taken into account. The necessary and sufficient conditions for a simple game to be a set-weighted game were found. The vertex cover game (Gusev, 2020) was shown to belong to the set-weighted game class, and its weighted form was found. The set-weighted game class has proven to be closed under operations of union and intersection, which is not the case for weighted games. The sample object is the transport network of a district in Petrozavodsk, Russia. A method is suggested for efficiently deploying surveillance cameras at crossroads so that all transport network covers are taken into account.
    Keywords: simple games,set-weighted games,vertex covergame,cover problem,cooperative generating functions,power indexes
    JEL: C70 C71
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:247/ec/2021&r=

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