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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Igor Gurkov (D.Sc., National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia)); Sergey Filippov (Ph.D., Delft University of Technology (Delft, The Netherlands), Assistant Professor) |
| Abstract: | Subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies are essential part of the modern Russian economy. In many sectors, they enjoy dominant positions. Innovation is an important driver and determinant of this dominance. Yet, little research has been done on innovation strategies and innovation processes in foreign subsidiaries in Russia. The paper aims to fill this gap. On the basis of qualitative evidence, it explores the goals, patterns and challenges of innovation activities in Russian subsidiaries. Our findings suggest that that manufacturing subsidiaries have implemented numerous effective innovation routines that are an integral part of daily ‘routine’ management. This is driven by the two-faceted objective – to achieve global quality standards and low production costs. |
| Keywords: | manufacturing, subsidiaries, multinational corporations, innovation, Russia, surveys. |
| JEL: | F23 L21 L22 L23 L60 M11 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:07man2013&r=tra |
| By: | Carolina Gavagnin (GRETA Associati, Venice); Maria Bruna Zolin (Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate the main features of world cotton market by focusing on the role of China, and analysing the effect of predetermined macroeconomic variables on Chinese cotton market. First, a global overview of cotton market is given; after that, the main reasons for considering China as the leading country in this sector are illustrated. To follow the paper analyses what factors and to which extent they may have affected Chinese cotton production, consumption and international trade over the last years by means of a correlation matrix. Findings and conclusions are lastly presented. |
| Keywords: | Cotton, China, Production, Consumption, Trade, Man-made Fibres, Public Policies |
| JEL: | Q11 O53 Q17 Q18 O13 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2013:27&r=tra |
| By: | Shuping Liao (Bank of China and Development Research Center of the State Council); Yongsheng Zhang |
| Abstract: | Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their overseas direct investment (ODI) have played an important role in China's economic development. But the rapid expansion of SOE-dominated ODI has also raised concerns, including about state capitalism and the need for competitive neutrality. This paper considers China’s strategy for managing ODI by its SOEs given a changing context. On the one hand, the Chinese economy is rapidly growing and will soon become the largest economy in the world. China’s role in the world, as well as its global responsibility, is therefore changing. China needs to establish a win-win and harmonious relationship with the rest of the world, and ODI has a role to play in this. On the other hand, China’s growth model is shifting to become greener, more balanced, and innovation-driven. China’s changing international role and the changing growth model have created new imperatives for, and constraints on, ODI by SOEs and reforms to SOEs. This paper aims to examine ODI by Chinese SOEs from the two dimensions of China’s changing role and growth model. It discusses strategies for better managing ODI by Chinese SOEs in the new context that is emerging |
| Keywords: | China’s overseas investment; state-owned enterprises; SOEs; strategic adjustment, changing role, Green growth |
| JEL: | F21 L21 O53 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:wpaper:23754&r=tra |
| By: | Nadezhda Lebedeva (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia (Moscow)); Peter Schmidt (National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). International Laboratory of Socio-Cultural research, The Co-Head; Giessen University, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This study investigated relations of basic personal values to attitudes towards innovation among students in Russia, Canada, and Ñhina. Participants completed a questionnaire that included the SVS measure of values (Schwartz, 1992) and a new measure of attitudes towards innovation (Lebedeva, Tatarko, 2009). There are significant cultural and gender-related differences in value priorities and innovative attitudes among the Canadian, Russian, and Chinese college students. As hypothesized, across the full set of participants, higher priority given to Opennes to change values (self-direction, stimulation) related to positive attitudes toward innovation whereas higher priority given to Conservation values (conformity, security) related negatively. This is compatible with the results reported by other researchers (Shane, 1992, 1995; Dollinger, Burke & Gump, 2007). There were, however, culture-specific variations in some of these associations, which may be explained by cultural differences in value priorities or meanings and in implicit theories of creativity and innovation. Applying the Multiple-Group Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes Model (MGMIMIC) (Muthen 1989) has shown that the type of Values-Innovation mediation is different in the three countries. Whereas in Russia and Canada the effects of gender and age are fully mediated by the values, this is not true for China, where a direct effect of gender on innovation was found. The cultural differences in values, implicit theories of innovation, and their consequences for attitudes to innovation and personal well-being is finally discussed |
| Keywords: | culture, values, innovation, attitudes, cross-cultural comparison, Multiple Group MIMIC Model. |
| JEL: | A13 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:04/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Sergey Solntsev (National Research University Higher School of Economics. Laboratory for Labor Market Studies. Senior Research Fellow) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an analysis of changes in senior management labor market in Russia during the 2000s. The original data consists of information on the appointments of 5771 senior managers in Russia from late 1999 until 2009. The study focuses on mobility between economic sectors, and managerial positions, human capital, including education and experience and the proportion of women and expats in the senior management market. We found that the Russian labor market of top-level managers can be described as a relatively closed market, where professional executives dominate. During the period of economic growth Russian companies preferred to hire outsiders partly due to the lack of appropriate internal candidates. The typical senior manager in Russia is a 30-40 years old man with a degree in economics, engineering, or science, who moves every 2-3 years to their next executive position. The most significant changes, noted during the crisis, were the increase of the firms’ demand for senior managers’ specific human capital and the decrease of demand for general human capital. |
| Keywords: | senior managers, corporate governance, labor market, career mobility, human capital, economic crisis. |
| JEL: | J24 J62 J63 M51 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:10man2013&r=tra |
| By: | Peter Havlik (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | Summary The Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit on 28-29th November represents a milestone in EU relations not just with respect to the six Eastern Partnership countries (EaP Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and particularly Ukraine), but also with the EU’s ‘strategic partner’ Russia. The turbulence and numerous speculations regarding expectations about the signature of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (comprising a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement – AA/DCFTA), as well as progress in initialling similar future agreements with Georgia and Moldova, have been escalating before the summit. The association agreements would bring EaP signatory countries closer to the EU not really closer to EU membership, but closer to the application of various EU norms and standards (takeover of the ‘acquis communautaire’) and – significantly – out of the Russian orbit, for the beginning at least symbolically. The last minute postponement of the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA signature announced by Ukraine’s government just one week before the summit represents a serious setback for the EU. Though the EU has no ‘Plan B’ and was stunned after Ukraine’s announcement, life will continue after the summit and new initiatives will have to be started. What are the relevant issues and challenges and what is at stake? This note attempts to evaluate the consequences (economic and otherwise) of alternate decisions following the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit, reviews some of the disputed arguments and discusses selected relevant economic issues. |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:pnotes:pn:11&r=tra |
| By: | Fan He (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences); Bijun Wang |
| Abstract: | China is rising as a major source of outward direct investment (ODI), but barriers to and protectionism against Chinese investment have been strengthened as well. This situation reflects inherent flaws in the architecture governing international investment. This paper identifies three of China’s key interests in the global investment regime : (1) to reduce investment barriers and depoliticize foreign regulatory review processes; (2) to ensure better protection of its overseas investment; and (3) to secure international recognition of its unique identity in terms of institutional characteristics and development strategy. As China shows more and more interest in building the architecture governing international investment, we suggest that improving investment governance at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels is the best strategy for China to adopt. Strategies that China should pursue include : (1) accelerating the negotiation and revision of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs); (2) promoting regional and sub-regional cooperation; and (3) contributing to the architecture governing global investment |
| Keywords: | China, outward direct investment, international investment governance |
| JEL: | E22 F21 F23 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:wpaper:23755&r=tra |
| By: | Igor Gurkov (D.Sc., National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia)); Sergey Filippov (Ph.D., Delft University of Technology (Delft, The Netherlands), Assistant Professor) |
| Abstract: | The extant literature acknowledges the role of overseas subsidiaries in the growth and development of multinational companies (MNCs). Such subsidiaries are viewed as critical players in the innovation process at MNCs. Although this topic has gained importance, it remains largely under-researched in the Russian context. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the dynamics of the innovation process in Russian-based subsidiaries of global MNCs. It seeks to explore and understand motivation and drivers of innovation, key participants, and impact and outcomes of innovation, with a specific reference to the peculiarities of the Russian institutional environment. We present qualitative findings from several case studies of Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of foreign MNCs, which indicate that Russian subsidiaries are not only recipients of knowledge and technology developed elsewhere in the MNCs, but are active developers of innovative products and solutions that are later applied in other units of the respective MNCs |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Subsidiaries, Russia, Manufacturing, MNCs, Technologies. |
| JEL: | F23 L21 L22 L23 L60 M11 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:11man2013&r=tra |
| By: | Lin, Mi (University of Lincoln); Kwan, Yum K. (Department of Economics & Finance, City University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the geographic extent of foreign direct investment (FDI) technology spillovers and diffusion in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). We employ spatial dynamic panel econometric techniques to detect total factor productivity (TFP) innovation clusters, uncover the spatial extent of technology diffusion, and quantify both the temporal and spatial dimensions of FDI spillovers. Our empirical results show that FDI presence (measured as employment share) in a locality will generate negative and significant impacts on the productivity performance of domestic private firms in the same location. Nevertheless, these negative intra-regional spillovers are found to be locally bounded. Domestic private firms enjoy positive FDI spillovers through interregional technology diffusion via labor market channels; these interregional spillovers appear in spatial feedback loops among higher-order neighboring regions. In the long run, the positive interregional spillovers outweigh the negative intra-regional spillovers, bestowing beneficiary total effects on domestic firms through labor market channels. FDI spillovers measured as sales income share, however, are negative in both intra-regional and interregional dimensions. |
| Keywords: | FDI spillovers; spatial diffusion; spatial dynamic panel; PRC economy |
| JEL: | F21 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbrei:0120&r=tra |
| By: | Habiyaremye, Alexis (Antalya International University); Raymond, Wladimir (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (STATEC), Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine how transnational corruption affects host country firms' innovation behaviour and performance in transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central and Western Asia. Using firm-level data from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey, we show that the involvement of foreign firms in corruption practices reduces the propensity of firms in host countries to invest in research and development and harms their ability to improve their existing products and services. Using a simultaneousequations recursive model and controlling for various innovation determinants, we also show that the reduction in innovation effort ultimately also hurts the host country's long-term ability to successfully bring new products on the market through indirect effects. |
| Keywords: | Transnational corruption, Innovation, Transition Economies |
| JEL: | H42 H57 L26 O31 O32 P37 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013050&r=tra |
| By: | David Dollar; Benjamin F. Jones |
| Abstract: | China presents several macroeconomic patterns that appear inconsistent with standard stylized facts about economic development and hence inconsistent with the standard neoclassical growth model. We show that Chinese macroeconomic patterns instead appear consistent with an environment where state control of factor markets can promote aggressive output goals. We consider the micro-institutional features that can sustain this behavior, emphasizing the hukou system and state control over capital allocation, and present a simple model built on these features. The model can explain several puzzling facts about the Chinese economy, including its unusually low labor share and unusually high saving and investment rates. Interestingly, the model also shows that free-market reforms can initially take the economy further from global macroeconomic norms. |
| JEL: | E02 E2 O11 P2 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19662&r=tra |
| By: | Irina Starodubrovskaya (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper is devoted to the strategic perspectives on the North Caucasus region. The author analyses the causes of conflicts in the region, positive and negative features of the federal policy in the North Caucasus Federal District. On the basis of the analysis policy recommendations were formulated aiming at correction of the current policy. Implementation of this policy recommendations, in the author's view, will contribute to a decrease of conflict potential in the region. The field research results are widely used in the paper. |
| Keywords: | Russian economy, North Caucasus, federal policy, causes of conflict in North Caucasus |
| JEL: | R14 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0071&r=tra |
| By: | Andrei Vernikov (1National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow; Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to add to the literature on the connection between corporate governance and company valuation. Conventional wisdom predicts a positive effect of good governance on stock price, and empirical papers claim to have proven this effect for a number of large emerging markets including Russia. We refer to the case of Russian banks to suggest that this connection cannot be established in a convincing way due to data scarcity. A cross-industry panel fails to regard the specificity of financial firms, and a single-industry panel of banks might be unfeasible due to the sheer number of eligible firms. A selection of banks would be biased in favor of publicly listed entities and has little chance of being a wholly representative for the entire industry. Russia’s stock market can supply sufficient statistical material for a study involving just two large state-controlled banks. While 20 or so banks maintain some presence in the organized segment of the stock market, over 90 percent of all trading in bank shares and their market capitalization involves the stock of Sberbank and VTB. For them, however, the appropriateness of the market price as the sole comprehensive indicator of performance can be challenged on principle because they have stakeholders who pursue a combination of financial and non-financial goals and assess bank performance differently. The case of Russian banks reveals a critical scarcity of stock market data, so the results of some empirical studies might be attributable to their contributors’ opinion. This discussion is potentially relevant for other economies that share institutional characteristics such as high ownership concentration, shallowness of the stock market, and substantial role of state-controlled firms. |
| Keywords: | Russia; banks; corporate governance; valuation; emerging market; stock market |
| JEL: | G21 G34 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:12man2013&r=tra |
| By: | Wang, Dehua (National Academy of Economic Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the "National Tax Survey" enterprise data to assess the impact of China's nationwide VAT reform of 2009 on enterprise fixed-asset investment and employment. The main finding of our research is that the reform significantly increased business investment in fixed assets, but had no obvious effect on employment. Furthermore, the reform promoted corporate investment mainly by encouraging machinery and equipment, but not plant and building investment. |
| Keywords: | Value-added tax reform, investment in fixed assets, employment |
| JEL: | H22 H25 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013059&r=tra |
| By: | Vladimir Magun (Head of the Unit for Personality Studies at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Laboratory for Comparative Studies of Mass Consciousness at the National Research University Higher School of Economics); Maksim Rudnev (Senior research fellow at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The basic values of the Russian population and the population of 31 European countries were compared with data obtained by the Schwartz Questionnaire, embedded into the fourth round of the European Social Survey. Conclusions about similarities and differences of basic human values between Russia and other European countries confirm the thesis that Russia is a country which shares a general logic of cultural and social development with the rest of the world and which has a lot in common with countries of a similar economic level and recent political history. In most value comparisons, Russia appeared to be closer to Post-Communist and Mediterranean countries than to Western European or Nordic countries.The fact that Russians are less committed than most Europeans to the values of caring, tolerance, equality, and ecology, and, conversely, more committed than most Europeans to the competitive “zero-sum” values of personal success, wealth, and power, confirms the validity of current moral criticisms of mass values and morals in Russia. The other disturbing fact is the relatively low commitment of Russians to the values of Openness to Change and, conversely, a strong focus on Conservation. So basic values of Russians create a cultural barrier to the development of an innovation-based economy and to the societal development as a whole. Thanks to a shift from country-level analysis to individual- and group-level analysis, we challenge the notion of the “average Russian” and demonstrate that the Russian value majority consists of two subtypes. Russia also has a sizable value minority and its members share values non-typical for most Russians. Two value minorities, which embrace 19% of the Russian population, are more committed to values of Openness and Self-Transcendence than the rest of the Russian population. These value groups are typical for European countries with more prosperous and happy populations and we can hypothesize that in Russia they are also resource groups for the country’s advancement. |
| Keywords: | basic values, European Social Survey, cross-country comparisons, within-country heterogeneity, culture barrier. |
| JEL: | Z10 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:23/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Peter Schmidt (University of Giessen and National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) Moscow, Russia.); Alexander Tatarko (National Research University Higher School of Economics(HSE) Moscow, Russia.); Natalia Amerkhanova (National Research University Higher School of Economics(HSE) Moscow, Russia.) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the relationship between value orientations and entrepreneurial intention according to the reasoned action approach. The empirical base of this study are the results of a representative survey conducted in 2 regions of Russia (Central Federal District and the North Caucasian Federal District). The effective total sample size was 2,058 and a subsample of 269 was selected. The subsample was composed of the respondents intending to open a business in the next 2 years. The results of research, carried out in the framework of reasoned action approach, allowed us to confirm the validity of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in the Russian sample. It was also found that the values included in the block of self-direction autonomy of action are positively associated with the components of model of entrepreneurial planned behavior (attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control) |
| Keywords: | theory of planed behavior, theory of basic individual values, entrepreneurial behavior. |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:12psy2013&r=tra |
| By: | Elena Panteleeva (Associate Professor, Marketing of Firm Department, National Research University Higher School of Economics.); Olga Oyner (Full Professor, Marketing of Firm Department, National Research University Higher School of Economics.) |
| Abstract: | One of the major problems facing Russian companies is the problem of differences between brand promises and the experience of actual consumer interaction with that brand, resulting in image destruction and the customers’ refusal from repeat purchases. Having taken as the basis the idea of gap analysis in perception of corporate brand values by different stakeholder groups (owners/top managers, personnel and customers), we have developed and tested a methodology of internal marketing management system assessment, assuming that a significant gap between declared, shared, and perceived brand values is a consequence of absence or inefficient functioning of this system |
| Keywords: | internal marketing, internal marketing management system, employee engagement, corporate brand values, gap analysis, Russia. |
| JEL: | M12 M31 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:03man2013&r=tra |
| By: | Anna Zudina (Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). Centre for Labour Market Studies. Junior Research Fellow) |
| Abstract: | This article addresses the elaboration of a new approach to informal employment research based on analyzing subjective social status. In spite of numerous studies conducted over the past 40 years many questions still exist in the field of informal employment research. The heterogeneous nature of activities incorporated into the concept of “informality” defines the ambiguity of its impact on the economy and society. Thus, little is actually known about the socioeconomic position of informal workers and the nature of informal employment. Is informality a kind of stratifying mechanism embedded in the social structure that changes the position of the informally employed, or not? The so-called “direct” approach based on analyzing levels of income was considered to be an inappropriate framework and thus indicated that the consequences of informal employment need to be further analyzed together with indirect – subjective – measures. The present paper discusses methodological issues and presents results concerning the subjective social position of informally employed workers in contrast to formal workers, the unemployed, and the economically inactive population. The study was carried out on the basis of a large nationally representative panel: the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey of the Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE) for 2000-2010. The existence of three-tier informal employment in Russia is revealed with self-employment being better off than formal employment and informal wage and salary work. No significant difference between informal wage and salary work and formal employment in terms of subjective social status is found. Thereby, one can suppose that the difference between types of employment is not embedded in the social structure at all. Taken as an indirect indicator of the quality formal employment in Russia, this could point to the great weakness of labor market institutions and the idle channels of social mobility of formal employment in Russia. |
| Keywords: | subjective social status, informal employment, self employment, segmented labor markets, panel data analysis, RLMS-HSE. |
| JEL: | J23 J32 J42 J62 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:24/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Wang, Lili (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Meijers, Huub (School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University); Szirmai, Eddy (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the role of interregional technology spillovers in the process of industrial growth in Chinese regions in the period 1990-2005. Inflows of FDI increased rapidly from 1990 till 1998, slowing down thereafter. Domestic R&D investment accelerated after 1998. Regional industrial growth benefits from both interregional R&D spillovers and after 1998 from international FDI spillovers. However, in contrast to R&D spillovers, FDI spillovers contribute conditionally, mainly in areas where local R&D stocks are high enough. Interestingly, indirect interregional FDI spillover effects are negative. Foreign investment in one region attracts resources from regions with less FDI, thus having a negative influence on growth of industrial output in neighbouring regions. |
| Keywords: | Technological spillovers, Interregional spillovers, R&D, Foreign direct investment, Industrial growth, Regional growth, Chinese industry |
| JEL: | F43 O14 O33 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013044&r=tra |
| By: | Vadim Radaev (Professor, Head of Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology at the National Research University “Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | From the beginning of economic reform in 1992, the retail trade sector was one of the most liberalized market segments in the Russian economy. However, the state was suddenly brought back in during the late 2000s. A restrictive Federal trade law passed after continuous and furious debates in December 2009. It created a new precedent of administrative regulation imposed on a highly competitive industry. Where did the demand for state regulation come from? What interest groups stood behind this new helping hand policy? Which arguments in a course of political and expert debate were used to justify the state intervention? Who has benefited from the new formal institutional arrangements? The author addresses these issues by revealing the para-political practices of formal institutional building in the trade sector, which has been largely neglected by scholarly research. This paper uses data collected from two series of in-depth interviews with key market actors and political experts in 2008-2009 together with records from the expert meetings arranged by several Federal Ministries in which the author took part. Survey data of 512 retailers and suppliers collected in five Russian urban areas in 2010 are also employed to reveal interest groups that have benefited from the new regulatory policy. In conclusion, this paper argues that public officials used a liberal rhetoric of the competition protection to develop new instruments of political and administrative control over large and medium-sized businesses, and finds that the actual results of state intervention deviate remarkably from the declared goals. |
| Keywords: | state regulation, retail trade, contractual relations |
| JEL: | A12 P31 Z13 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:02/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Igor Gurkov (D.Sc., National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia)); Vladimir Kossov (D.Sc., National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), Professor); Sergey Filippov (Ph.D., Delft University of Technology (Delft, The Netherlands), Assistant Professor) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the growth and evolution of Knauf CIS Group from 1992 to 2012. The study defines the features and characteristics of the firm’s corporate policies including production and operations, marketing, HR management, and societal engagement. These policies have enabled Russian industrial enterprises, Knauf’s subsidiaries, to achieve global standards of efficiency and quality with a high level of profitability. This study focuses on the measures that can be employed to increase production efficiency and have the potential to be replicated by other Russian companies |
| Keywords: | Industry, Advanced practices, Multinational corporations, Subsidiaries, Innovations |
| JEL: | F23 L21 L22 L23 L60 M11 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:13man2013&r=tra |
| By: | Kirill Maslinsky (Researcher at the Laboratory for Internet Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.); Sergey Koltsov (Senior researcher at the Laboratory for Internet Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Saint-Petersburg, Russia); Olessia Koltsova (Head of the Laboratory for Internet Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Saint-Petersburg, Russia) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the topical structure of the Russian-language blog-publishing service LiveJournal and the change in it that occurred in the course of the public activity after the State Duma elections in December 2011 as compared to a previous “control” period (November 27 – December 27 and August 15 – September 15 respectively). The data for both periods have been automatically obtained from 2000 top-rated blogs on the basis of ratings published by LiveJournal. Unsupervised topic modelling of the sampled posts was done using Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm. In December 2011 we found considerable growth in weights of all the topics closely associated with the discussion of voting results and protests, accompanied by a more moderate decrease in the majority of other social topics. the number of users who started posting texts that may be conventionally qualified as political according to LDA in December 2011, considerably outnumbers the number of those who ceased posting political items , which may indicate the existence of a blogger mobilization process in political topics. |
| Keywords: | Internet media, blogs, political mobilization, Russia, topic modeling, LDA. |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:14/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Karl P. Sauvant (Columbia University and University of North Carolina); Victor Zitian Chen |
| Abstract: | China has become the world’s third largest outward investor, behind the United States and Japan. A growing body of literature suggests that China’s regulatory framework for outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) is a determinant of the country’s rising OFDI. This paper presents a holistic review of that framework, including some possibilities for its improvement. Overall, China’s framework serves two objectives : to help Chinese firms become more competitive internationally and to assist the country in its development effort. In pursuing these objectives, the regulatory framework has moved from restricting, to facilitating, to supporting, to encouraging OFDI; but there are still strong elements of administrative control that make it cumbersome. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) seem to benefit particularly from the current framework when internationalizing through FDI. |
| Keywords: | China, Outward foreign direct investment, OFDI, formal institutions, government |
| JEL: | F21 F23 F31 G18 G28 G38 H1 H2 H3 K2 K3 M16 P33 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:wpaper:23749&r=tra |
| By: | Xiujian Peng; Yinhua Mai |
| Abstract: | China is experiencing rapid population ageing with the proportion of the population aged 65 and above projected to increase almost threefold between 2010 and 2050. The growth of the working age population is expected to stop approximately in 2015 and to turn strongly negative. China's low retirement age compounds the ageing problem. One means to mitigate the negative effects of shrinking labour force on economic growth is to stimulate labour force participation among the current working age population. Raising the official retirement age is one strategy to encourage labour force participation. This paper first investigates the effects of population ageing on labour force participation rates and, thus, on labour supply over the period of 2010-2030. It then estimates the effects of retirement age extension schemes on the size of the labour force. Thirdly, applying dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, it examines the effects of retirement age extension schemes on China's economic growth. It finds that raising the retirement age increases effective labour input, real GDP, capital stock, household real consumption and exports. The main results are that retirement age extension is likely to boost China's economic growth and that both urban and rural sectors will benefit from the extension. |
| Keywords: | population ageing, retirement age extension, economic growth, CGE model |
| JEL: | J11 J26 C68 |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cop:wpaper:g-237&r=tra |
| By: | Nadezhda Lebedeva (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia (Moscow)); Alexander Tatarko (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia (Moscow)) |
| Abstract: | This study has reviewed theoretical and empirical studies of values and behavior. The results of the research of the dynamics of basic personal values of Russians from the Central Federal district from 1999 until 2010 and the relations of basic personal values to economic attitudes are presented. Dynamics of values are presented on the basis of the 5 waves of measures (1999, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010), each wave includes around 300 respondents. The sample from 2010 includes Russians and the respondents from the North Caucasus (N= 278). We have found that from 1999 until 2011, the value priorities and value structures of the Russians of Central Russia have remained stable. The data for 2008 demonstrates a small number of statistically significant differences with the data of the neighboring measures, which, probably, reflects the impact of the economic crisis of 2008. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing the value priorities of different groups of the Russian population: ethnic and religious groups. The relations between values and attitudes to different types of economic behavior were examined. The patterns of these relationships are similar as well as different among the representatives of Christianity (the Central Federal District and the North Caucasus Federal District) and Islam (the North Caucasus Federal District) in Russia. Thus, our study showed that values remain fairly stable within a single culture; however, they are different for people of different cultures and may have a different impact on attitudes to different types of economic behavior. |
| Keywords: | culture, values, economic behavior, economic attitudes, cross-cultural comparison. |
| JEL: | A13 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:03/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Àlexandra Moskovskaya (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Director of CSE, The head of research group, Ph.D. Economics); Îleg Oberemko (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Leading Research Fellow CSE, Ph.D. Sociology); Victoria Silaeva (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Research Fellow CSE, Ph.D. Philosophy); Irina Popova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Ph.D. Sociology, Leading Research Fellow CSE; Institute of Sociology Russian Academy of Sciences, Senior Research Fellow); Inna Nazarova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Doctor of Economics, Leading Research Fellow CSE); Olga Peshkova (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Ph.D. Economics, Leading Research Fellow CSE); Marina Chernysheva (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Research Fellow CSE) |
| Abstract: | Professional associations in Russia are to some extent novices in contemporary professional regulation. Only small part of them can play significant role in enforcement of professional control (representing professional community in front of other stakeholders, adopting professional standards, ensuring market closure, protecting of prevalence of professional ethics etc.). Partially that comes from the lack of experience of self-regulation that professions have in the Russian history and sharp invasion of the global market in the 1990-es, partially that follows tradition of state predominance in economy and society. During the last two decades a mass of organizations arose in Russia calling themselves professional associations, guilds, societies and unions. The task to understand who they are, whether they can and they ought to represent professional community and what are their ways of professional self-regulation became now a pressing practical problem and an interesting research task. The object of this research is mapping the field of variety of non-government organizations that claim institutional control as professional associations in order to clarify the following issues: - What are the main forms of professional associations by their qualitative characteristics - What are their actual means and feasible opportunities to achieve professional control in their field of expertise or at least influence it – What are the main limits of professional self-regulation they dispose and whether there are any alternative forms of professional regulation in certain professional areas |
| Keywords: | professional association, professionalization, self-regulation, state, market-oriented professions |
| JEL: | Z13 D71 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:26/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Zhang, Mingqian (Shanghai International Studies University); Mohnen, Pierre (UNU-MERIT / MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | Using a large dataset of over 100,000 Chinese firms created between 2000 and 2006, we explore whether there is a link between innovation effort (R&D) or innovation output (the share of innovative sales) and the firm's duration of survival. We estimate a complementary log-log model with time-varying explanatory variables controlling for individual heterogeneity. We find that innovative firms tend to survive longer, more so because of R&D than because of introducing new products. There seems to be an inverted-U relationship between R&D or innovation output and long-term survival, suggesting that too much R&D or product innovation can cause firms to die, perhaps because of excessive risk. Survival has a cyclical behaviour, and it varies across provinces. It also varies with ownership. State-owned firms have a higher hazard rate than privately-owned firms, which have a higher hazard rate than foreign-owned firms. |
| Keywords: | firm survival, complementary log-log duration models, China, innovation |
| JEL: | L25 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013057&r=tra |
| By: | Zoya Kotelnikova (National Research University – Higher School of Economics. Department of Sociology. Senior Lecturer; Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology. Senior Researcher; Candidate of Sociological Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The core idea of the paper is to put the social embeddedness of economic phenomena as a key concept in economic sociology at the heart of empirical research. The author stresses the importance of taking into account the temporal dimension of market exchange. It is shown that the continuation of exchange relationships can be considered as a proxy for social embeddedness. The paper focuses on the contractual relationships of retail chains and their suppliers, which have been dramatically changed since the emergence of modern chain stores in Russia. The aim is to reveal to what extent contractual relationships between retailers and suppliers are structurally embedded and which factors are conducive to a greater degree of structural embeddedness of retailer-supplier relationships in emerging Russian markets. Based on Baker, Faulkner, and Fisher’s theory of the continuation of markets ties, the presented paper focuses on the influence of power, institutional forces, and competition. The paper is based on a survey of retailers and their suppliers in five Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, and Tyumen. In 2010 questionnaires were collected from 257 managers of supplying companies and 255 retail managers from the above cities. Quantitative data was enriched with 30 in-depth interviews with suppliers and retailers in 2008. It is shown that both retailers and suppliers tend to maintain long-lasting relationships with a majority of partners. However, retailers and suppliers are prone to follow different models. Power turns out to be meaningful for retailers, while institutional forces appear to be of much more special importance for suppliers. Retailers exercise organizational power to destabilize market ties with counterparts. Suppliers use relational selection criteria and specific investments to attach relationships with exchange partners. The significant factors conducive to the prevalence of the embedded ties in the market are organizational power, relational criteria of business partner selection, specific investments, length of service in retailing, and the tenure length of managers in a given company, sector, and geographic location |
| Keywords: | market exchange, structural embeddedness, contractual relationship, networks, duration of a relationship, power, institutions, competition, trade revolution, emerging markets. |
| JEL: | Z13 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:22/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | John Nye (George Mason University and National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Moscow, academic advisor of International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms.); Ekaterina Orel (National Research University-Higher School of Economics, Moscow, research fellow in International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms.); Ekaterina Kochergina (National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Moscow, research assistant in International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms.) |
| Abstract: | We study which Big Five personality traits are associated with academic performance among a sample of Russian university students using results from the Unified State Examination (for university admissions) and their current grade point averages as measures of academic performance. We find that Introversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Openness to experience have observable ties to academic performance. Those results partially confirm existing international studies, but our findings are notable for the relative unimportance of conscientiousness for success in our Russian sample. We suggest that cross-cultural differences in educational environment may explain why this trait seems less obviously important in the analysis |
| Keywords: | personality traits, academic success, psychology of education, Big Five, academic performance measurement. |
| JEL: | Z I23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:10psy2013&r=tra |
| By: | Stephen Drinkwater (WISERD, CMPR and Department of Economics, Swansea University); Michał Garapich (CRONEM, University of Roehampton) |
| Abstract: | Debates have persisted about the character of the large East-West population flows that followed the accession of Poland and other Central and Eastern European states to the EU in 2004. Some of the key discussions surround the extent to which the mobility has been temporal and hence how likely these migrants are to settle permanently or to stay for long periods in host countries. This paper further enhances the understanding of such issues mainly through examining survey data on 700 Polish nationals in seven English and Welsh towns and cities, and supplemented by an analysis of qualitative information obtained from the respondents. Three categories of migrants are initially identified on the basis of their intentions of stay in the UK. Multinomial logit models are then estimated to examine the characteristics of individuals in each category to establish the factors that influence migration strategies and changes in plans. The results indicate that although standard socio-economic characteristics tend to be insignificant, migration strategies and changes in intentions are affected by the migrant’s view of whether their job matches their expectations, the time of entry into the UK and remittances. Analysis of the qualitative information provides a complementary perspective and re-inforces some of the key findings in relation to the factors determining changes in the anticipated length of stay. |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013023&r=tra |
| By: | Gassmann, Franziska (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Siegel, Melissa (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Vanore, Michaella (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG); Waidler, Jennifer (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically evaluates the well-being of children "left behind" by migrant household members in Moldova. Using data derived from a nationally-representative, large-scale household survey conducted between September 2011 and February 2012 among 3,255 households (1,801 of which contained children aged 0-17) across Moldova, different dimensions of child well-being are empirically evaluated. Well-being of children in Moldova is divided into eight different dimensions, each of which is comprised of several indicators. Each indicator is examined individually and then aggregated into an index. Well-being outcomes are then compared by age group, primary caregiver, migration status of the household (current migrant, return migrant, or no migration experience), and by who has migrated within the household. It was found that migration in and of itself is not associated with negative outcomes on children's well-being in any of the dimensions analysed, nor does it matter who in the household has migrated. Children living in return migrant households, however, attain higher rates of well-being in specific dimensions like emotional health and material well-being. The age of the child and the material living standards experienced by the household are much stronger predictors of well-being than household migration status in a number of different dimensions. The results suggest that migration does not play a significant role in shaping child well-being outcomes, contrary to the scenarios described in much past research. This paper is the first (to the authors' knowledge) to link migration and multidimensional child poverty. |
| Keywords: | Moldova, migration, poverty, child poverty, multi-dimensional poverty |
| JEL: | I32 F22 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013043&r=tra |
| By: | SHIRK, Susan L. |
| Abstract: | After more than a decade of diplomacy designed to reassure the United States and Asian neighbors that it wasn’t a threat, Chinese foreign policy has turned more confrontational. The Chinese government and Communist Party make decisions by consensus, which theoretically should sustain a cautious foreign policy. It also would seem that China’s growing economic ties with its neighbors would motivate it to avoid conflict. However, examples of a newly assertive China abound. What can this trend tell us about the underlying characteristics of China’s political system? |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, China, Asia, political economy, security |
| Date: | 2013–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:globco:qt3mb1269b&r=tra |
| By: | Dilyara Ibragimova (National Research University Higher School of Economics. Department of Economic Sociology. Associate Professor;) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports the findings of an all-Russian cross-sectional representative survey (N=1600) that was carried out by HSE in 2011. It investigates money management in Russian families. Pooling is the most common money management style, however, the choice of budget management system does not fully account for financial control and power in the household. The regression results show that main determinants for choosing a budget management system are per capita household income, respondents’ gender, wives’ education, marital age, and the budget management system in the parental family. Moreover, the interaction between the parental budget management system and current practice of budgeting in the respondent's family varies between men and women. Among those respondents who repeat the budget management system in their parents family men are more likely to choose the male dominated system, while women are more likely to choose the female dominated system, or pooling system. |
| Keywords: | budget management, sociology of consumer finance, gender norms, gender identity, family, households. |
| JEL: | A14 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:11/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Tatiana Klyachko (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Sergey Sinelnikov-Murylev (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyzes the implications of the financial regulations implementing a state order (standards of budget financing based on one student) in the higher education system and the use of them to regulate fees in the universities. It is demonstrated that the establishment of standards in the field of budgetary financing (field of study) does not allow to pay attention to differences in historical property complexes, schools, differences in socio-economic position of the Russian Federation where universities are located affecting the wages of faculty in relation to the average for the economy of the region, raises the question of the adequacy of the state accreditation of higher education institutions. Purely economic approach in the allocation of budget funds obscures difficult political decisions on restructuring the higher education network: the elimination of schools that do not meet the requirements for licensing and accreditation of universities, uniting weak with strong ones, opening of new schools on the basis of material liquidation, the implementation of programs to support the weak, but necessary institutions, replacing weak management in universities, etc. Accordingly, the regulation of fees would have a negative economic and social consequences. |
| Keywords: | higher education, standard budget funding, faculty, restructuring universities network |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I23 I24 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0072&r=tra |
| By: | Pavel Trunin (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Andrey Zubarev (RANEPA) |
| Abstract: | The primary purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis of capital mobility reduction in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. Through the constructed models we tested hypotheses about the long- and short-term mobility of global capital by estimating the correlation between savings and investment rates. The paper also deals with the question of capital mobility in Russia. Recommendations on monetary policy in Russia in the coming years based on the obtained findings were made. |
| Keywords: | Feldstein-Harioka puzzle, capital mobility, monetary policy |
| JEL: | E52 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0070&r=tra |
| By: | De la Medina Soto, Christian; Ghossein, Tania |
| Abstract: | The ease of starting a foreign investment in various sectors is a relevant consideration for investors seeking to establish an investment project abroad. Two thematic areas will be analyzed in this paper to answer the following questions: Which economies impose equity ownership restrictions on foreign investors and which procedural barriers do foreign companies face when establishing foreign-owned subsidiaries in these economies? The analysis is based on findings from the Foreign Direct Investment Regulations indicators, which measure 103 economies, on whether they restrict foreign ownership across economic sectors and on the establishment process they impose on foreign-owned companies. Nearly 80 percent of the economies covered in the Foreign Direct Investment Regulations database restrict foreign companies from entering in some sectors of their economies. In addition, establishing a foreign-owned company takes longer and requires more steps than starting a domestically-owned company in 94 percent of the economies observed. Overall, economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and high-income OECD economies have fewer equity restrictions on foreign ownership than economies in the other regions and require the least number of additional procedures of foreign companies to establish a subsidiary. The findings are significantly correlated with inflows of foreign direct investment on a per-capita basis. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Investment and Investment Climate,Emerging Markets,Foreign Direct Investment,Debt Markets |
| Date: | 2013–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6707&r=tra |
| By: | Yana Roshchina (National Research University Higher School of Economics. Department of economic sociology: Associate Professor; Laboratory for studies in economic sociology: Senior Research Fellow; Center for longitudinal studies: Senior Research Fellow;) |
| Abstract: | The goal of this project is to investigate the influence of economic and social factors on the demand for alcohol in modern Russia. The regression models are estimated on the base of "The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE)" 1994-2011. There are three classic models of demand for alcohol (Becker & Murphy, 1988): the static, myopic and rational addiction models. We use a two-step estimation method because of the two-step consumer decision ("to drink or not to drink" and “how much to drink”). This allows us to distinguish between the factors influencing each decision separately. The contribution of this paper is to use as independent variables not only economic parameters (as prices and incomes of respondent and his\her family members) but also social characteristics such as educational level, gender, age, nationality, optimism level, alcohol use by other family members. The first results have demonstrated that some social factors (education, marital status, alcohol use by other family members) are more important than economic ones such as the price of alcohol |
| Keywords: | alcohol consumption, addictive behavior, demand for alcoholic beverages. |
| JEL: | Z13 I12 D11 D12 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:20/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Lucas Van Der Velde (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Joanna Tyrowicz (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; National Bank of Poland); Karolina Goraus (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw) |
| Abstract: | Given the proliferation of methods to estimate gender wage gap, practical issues arise. The aim of this paper is to compare estimates of the adjusted wage gap from different methods and sets of conditioning variables. We apply available parametric and non-parametric methods to LFS data from Poland for 2012. While the raw gap amounts to nearly 10% of the female wage, after the correction for the endowments, the adjusted wage gap estimates range between 15% and as much as 25% depending on the method and the choice of conditional variables. The differences across methods and conditioning variables do not exceed 3pp. The largest differences emerged between methods estimating gap at the mean and those operating at quantiles. Within the same moment, methods which account for selection into employment yielded higher estimates of the adjusted wage gap. When expanding the conditioning set, to account for possible sorting of women into lower paid jobs, estimates of gap increase. While the actual point estimators of adjusted wage gap are slightly different, all of them are roughly twice as high as the raw gap, which corroborates the policy relevance of this methodological study. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, transition, Poland, decomposition methods |
| JEL: | J22 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2013-28&r=tra |
| By: | Gassmann, Franziska (UNU-MERIT / MGSoG); Tsukada, Raquel (UNU-MERIT / MGSoG) |
| Abstract: | Access to energy is fundamental to improving quality of life and is a key imperative for economic development" (Energy Poverty Action). This is particularly true in Central Asia where winters are harsh and long. Changes in energy prices affect the purchasing power of households, hitting the poor in particular. The impact very much depends on a household's energy basket and the available strategies for switching to alternative energy sources. Using data from the Kyrgyz Integrated Household Survey (KIHS) 2011, this paper analyzes the profile of household energy consumption and the impact of electricity tariff increases on the probability that households would switch to alternative energy sources. Results suggest that households would respond to an electricity price increase by increasing consumption of fuels: households would tend to move away from electricity-only heating source towards the use of stove-only. |
| Keywords: | energy, household consumption, Central Asia, Kyrgyz Republic |
| JEL: | H23 I38 P22 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013047&r=tra |
| By: | Yegor Lazarev (Junior Research Fellow at the Laboratory for Comparative Social Studies, Higher School of Economics and Carnegie Visiting Scholar at the Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan;) |
| Abstract: | How do insecure property rights over land affect electoral competition and the level of violence? To answer this question, I explore original empirical evidence from Dagestan, Russia’s most turbulent North Caucasian republic. The exploration is based on a statistical analysis of district-level data with special emphasis on chronological validity. Studying the relationship between land titles of the Soviet period and post-Soviet amounts of tenured land, the research demonstrates that the amount of unregistered land in each district has a profound effect on local electoral competition and indices of violence. A higher percentage of untenured land at the district level leads to less electoral competition and more intense violence. Consequently, the study finds that the insecurity of property rights creates an opportunity structure for electoral patronage and violent expression of conflicts and grievances. In theoretical perspective this study sheds light upon a relatively unexplored institutional factor that drives electoral process and violence in predominantly agrarian societies |
| Keywords: | Dagestan, insecure property rights, electoral competition, level of violence. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:01/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | International Monetary Fund. European Dept. |
| Abstract: | KEY ISSUES Stand-By Arrangement (SBA): The Board approved Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) request for a two-year Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with access of SDR 338.2 million (200 percent of quota) on September 26, 2012. The third review was completed in June and SDR 169.1 million (100 percent of quota) was disbursed so far. SDR 42.275 million (25 percent of quota) would become available upon completion of the fourth review. Program performance: Despite a challenging environment, steady progress has been made in meeting program objectives. All end-June performance criteria (PCs) and indicative targets were met, and steady progress has also been made in observing structural benchmarks. However, as the fourth review was delayed to allow for a discussion of the policies that would allow meeting the end-2013 fiscal targets, the authorities are requesting waivers of applicability of the now controlling end-September PCs on the budget balances and accumulation of domestic arrears for the Institutions of BiH and the entity central governments for which data are not yet available and for which there is no evidence that these were not observed. Furthermore, and owing to weaker than expected indirect tax collection, the authorities are requesting a modification of the end-December 2013 PCs on the budget balances to allow a modest reallocation of fiscal space between the Institutions of BiH and the entities. Outlook and risks: A modest recovery in economic activity is taking hold, supported by strong exports. Growth is now expected to reach close to 1 percent this year and is projected to pick up further in 2014. Considerable downside risks weigh on this outlook, including those stemming from next year’s general elections. The latter pose a significant risk to the timely implementation of policies envisaged under the program. Staff’s view: On the basis of the authorities’ strong performance so far and their commitment to sound economic policies for the remainder of 2013 and early 2014, as outlined in the attached supplementary Letter of Intent, staff recommends the completion of the fourth review. Staff also supports the requests for modification and waivers of applicability of performance criteria. October 11, 2013 |
| Keywords: | Stand-by arrangement reviews;Economic growth;Fiscal policy;Budgets;Unemployment;Fiscal reforms;Banking sector;Economic indicators;Staff Reports;Press releases;Performance criteria modifications;Performance criteria waivers;Bosnia and Herzegovina; |
| Date: | 2013–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfscr:13/321&r=tra |
| By: | Chmelar, Ales |
| Abstract: | The ECRI Statistical Package 2013, Lending to Households in Europe has revealed that European households registered a second consecutive year of falling real values of loans: 2012 followed the historical first drop recorded in 2011. While debt reduction proceeds across the continent, deleveraging to disposable income and to GDP remains limited due to unequal and sluggish recovery. The year 2012 was therefore one of stagnation in household-credit markets. Aggregate housing loans in the EU registered negative real growth rates, illustrating long-term problems in the overall economy. Together with record-low interest rates on housing loans in some countries, this finding reflects lower consumer confidence and the increased strain on households’ medium-term income. While this year’s degree of credit reduction in the EU overall has not been as significant as in previous years, Euro Area (EA) households registered a bigger drop in household credit than in 2011, underlying the prevailing economic problems of last year. At the same time, the EA periphery continued to reduce its household debt by record levels. The stagnation is also present in the normally rather resilient Central and Eastern European countries where the credit reduction extends beyond the former periphery to Poland and Slovenia. Households in Hungary, Eastern Balkan countries and in the Baltic states continued to reduce their debt exposure significantly throughout 2012. The Key Findings relate to the more detailed ECRI 2013 Statistical Package covering 38 countries: the 27 EU member states, three EU candidate countries (Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), the EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and four key global economies (the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan). The purpose of the package is to provide reliable statistical information that allows users to make meaningful comparisons in time and between these countries. |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:ecriwp:8331&r=tra |
| By: | Nadezhda Lebedeva (National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). International Laboratory of Socio-Cultural Research.); Ekaterina Osipova (National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). International Laboratory of Socio-Cultural Research); Liubov Cherkasova (National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). International Laboratory of Socio-Cultural Research:) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the relationship of values and social capital with attitudes towards innovations. The respondents (N = 1238) were asked to fill in a questionnaire, which included the Schwartz value survey SVS-57, a selfassessment scale of innovative personality traits [Lebedeva, Tatarko, 2009], and a method of assessing social capital [Tatarko, 2011]. The results of the correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between values of Openness to Change and a positive attitude to innovation. It was also found that the components of social capital (trust, tolerance, perceived social capital) positively correlated with attitudes to innovation. The empirical model obtained by means of a structural equation modeling generally confirmed the hypothesis of the study and demonstrated the positive impact of the values of Openness to Change and social capital on attitudes towards innovations in Russia |
| Keywords: | creativity, innovation, attitude to innovation, social capital, perceived social capital, individual values |
| JEL: | A13 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:10/soc/2013&r=tra |
| By: | Tatiana Butenko (PhD, National Research University Higher School of Economics. International Scientific-Educational Laboratory for Socio-Cultural Research. Junior researcher.); Shalom Schwartz (PhD, National Research University Higher School of Economics. International Scientific-Educational Laboratory for Socio-Cultural Research. Scientific supervisor.) |
| Abstract: | The revised theory of basic individual values (Schwartz, et al. 2012) is intended to provide more powerful prediction and explanation of behavior than the original theory of ten basic values. It distinguishes 19 more narrowly defined values. These values express motivations that can be linked conceptually in a more precise manner to the motivations that presumably underlie behaviors. There is evidence that each of these newly distinguished values improves our understanding of the value bases of attitudes (Schwartz, et al. 2012). Thus far, no studies have been conducted to assess relations between the 19 values and a set of relevant behaviors. It is critical for the theory to demonstrate (or reject) that those values not present in the original theory that the revised theory distinguishes add predictive power. The paper presents results of a study of relations between 19 values and everyday behaviors conducted in Russia in 2012 to answer these issues. |
| Keywords: | theory of basic individual values, everyday behavior, predictive power of values. |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:08psy2013&r=tra |
| By: | Ivan Boldyrev (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow/Humboldt University, Berlin.); Olessia Kirtchik (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Poletayev Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we address the story of developments in general equilibrium theory (GET) in the USSR during the 1970s through the lens of a single biography. The Soviet advances in mathematical economics, only fragmentarily known in the West, give an occasion to reflect on the extension of the Walrasian paradigm to non-market societies, as well as on the ideological effects of GET and its interpretations in a Soviet context. Our contribution is focused on the development of general equilibrium theorizing in the work of Victor Meerovich Polterovich (b. 1937) who has been one of the leading figures in mathematical economics and general equilibrium theory in the USSR and post-Soviet Russia. His papers on the abstract models of exchange, dynamic general equilibrium and optimal growth theory, excess demand correspondences, monotonicity of demand functions, and disequilibrium theory were for the large part published in English and gained considerable attention within the field. We reconstruct the political and ideological basis of the general equilibrium concept and show how abstract mathematical models reflected the discursive shift from optimal centralized planning to various forms of decentralization. We argue that the Soviet work on general equilibrium was a part of the global development of mathematical economics but was not integrated into it institutionally |
| Keywords: | general equilibrium theory, mathematical economics, history of recent economics, Soviet economics, decentralization, planning |
| JEL: | B16 B21 B23 B31 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:14hum2013&r=tra |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Private Sector Development - Competitiveness and Competition Policy Private Sector Development - E-Business Private Sector Development - Business Environment Finance and Financial Sector Development - Microfinance Private Sector Development - Business in Development |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:16300&r=tra |
| By: | Huang, Can (chuang@zju.edu.cn; School of Management, Zhejiang University); Wu, Yilin (School of Statistics, Renmin University of China); Mohnen, Pierre (mohnen@merit.unu.edu; UNU-MERIT / MGSoG); Zhao, Yanyun (School of Statistics, Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether the government support in favour of firms located in the Haidian district of Beijing, which includes the Zhongguancun Science Park, was effective in terms of innovation and economic performance. We use a dataset of 500 manufacturing firms that results from a merger of the 2007 nation-wide innovation survey and the Annual Survey of Industrial Enterprises databases from the National Bureau of Statistics. We find that among all firms (state- or collectively-owned, non-state- or collectively-owned and Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan or other foreign-funded firms) that received direct government support for innovative activities only the non-state- or collectively-owned domestic firms invested more in innovation than the firms that did not receive such support. However, despite higher government support, domestic firms have lower labour productivity than foreign-funded firms, including those funded from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. |
| Keywords: | CDM, innovation policy, Haidian, evaluation |
| JEL: | O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2013058&r=tra |