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The paper analyses the origins of Russia's statist-patrimonial political economy, marked by insecure property rights and particularistic state-business relations. Based on in-depth interviews, the paper argues that statist-patrimonial capitalism is not only a result of top-down activity of the state sovereign and its corrupt agents but is also a system that rests on the bottom-up contribution of the bulk of economic actors - small and medium-sized firms. This contribution happened - often inadvertently - through informal practices that locked small firms in the 'informality trap' and undermined the security of property. Back in the 1990s some of those informal practices were taken up by companies out of expediency. In the 2000s informality backfired as the state exploited it to violate property rights of virtually any business actor. Thus the advent of statist-patrimonial capitalism was facilitated, among other factors, by the informal choices and practices of business actors in the previous decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers legal arguments to the discussion about admissibility or inadmissibility of using GMOs in agriculture. The authors prove that in terms of uncertainty about harm or benefit of products containing GMOs the ban on using genetic engineering technology means diminishing the role of law as a regulator of social relations and suggest developing legal methods for solving this issue which allow finding a balance of interests of business, society and the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ever-growing body of scholarship on Russian foreign policy focuses attention to redefining concepts such as sovereignty and power. Aggressive and successful Russian foreign policy initiatives in the last decade give urgency and relevancy to such initiatives, from invading Georgia to deploying an aircraft carrier to support ground operations in Syria. While these proactive Russian foreign policies may characterize a reclamation of Russia's great power status in the international community, I argue that the goal of Russia's foreign policy is to create a new system, not beholden to the U.S.-led Western world. By undermining the legitimacy of Western style democracy and pushing the boundaries of existing norms in the international community, Russian President Vladimir Putin offers a new construct for international relations: the polycentric world order. Using Role Theory, I discuss the domestic and international pressures on the Russian state to create its identity and the evolution of Russian roles in previous international systems. Formal leader statements and official policy documents provide evidence of the changing roles Russia plays in the international arena, while role theory provides an explanatory context for the purpose of new Russian foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional machines created by the Russian governors in the mid-1990s turned out to be most effective in the ethnic republics. This phenomenon is supported by several facts, with the primary as follows: the density of the patronage networks among the rural ethnic minorities, and the economic heritage of the Soviet period and ethnical institutionalization. These factors allowed regional elites to integrate ethnic minorities into the clientelism structure to distribute symbolic and material benefits in exchange for their electoral support. However, at present, the federal authorities have considerably reduced the autonomy of the ethnic republics and deprived them of many ethnic preferences. Basing on the analysis of the electoral statistics from the Russian Presidential Election of 2018, this article researches the political consequences caused by the changed relationship between the center and the regions, as well as the changes in functioning of regional political machines in the circumstances where the governors' institutional and resource autonomy has been reduced. The data analysis allowed for the discovery of the diversified electoral behavior of ethnic minorities in different republics. The reasons for the above diversification have been explained based on a comparative analysis of five case studies (the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Komi Republic, the Chuvash Republic, and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A revisionist state would seek to challenge the existing balance of power in the system and threaten the foundations of the system itself. This does not apply to contemporary Russia. It seeks to enhance its status within the existing framework of international society. Russian neo-revisionism does not attempt to create new rules or to advance an alternative model of the international system but to ensure the universal and consistent application of existing norms. Russia's neo-revisionism represents a critique of western practices in defense of the universal proclaimed principles. It is not the principles of international law and governance that Russia condemns but the practices that accompany their implementation. This reflected Russia's broader perception in the post-Cold War era that it was locked into a strategic stalemate, and that the country was forced into a politics of resistance. This has taken many forms, including the creation of an anti-hegemonic alignment with China and others. For Moscow, it was the West that had become revisionist, not Russia. Although the implementation of applicable norms was patchy, Russia did not repudiate them. In its relations with the European Union, Russia's neo-revisionist stance means that it was unable to become simply the passive recipient of EU norms, and instead tried to become a co-creator of Europe's destiny. The struggle is not only over contested norms, but also over who has the prerogative to claim their norms as universal. However, it was precisely at the level of practices that there was least room for compromise, and thus Russian neo-revisionism became another form of the impasse, and only intensified tensions between Russia and the Atlantic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reveals the features of Russian economy transformation from 2004 to 2015 in three directions: spatial, sectorial and institutional. The analysis of transformational processes is carried out by methods of statistical analysis, comparison of shares, index calculations and method of structural groupings. The study identified the impact of structural shifts in the economy on the consumption of transport and logistics services, and determined types of economic activities that specialize in the consumption of transport and logistics resources, as well as changes in the structure of intermediate consumption. Was concluded that consumption of transport, logistics and communications services tend to grow at comparable prices, despite the decreasing volumes of freight and passenger traffic. Active saturation in logistics sector occurs against a background of declining traffic and low value added growth of industry and transport, which can be seen as an inexpediency of a large number of logistics agents functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on U.S.-Russia relations during the administrations of U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Topics discussed include the reasons domestic support was lacking for Yeltsin's market liberalization plan, the conflict between the U.S. and Russia in terms of the two countries' stand on the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the lessons that the U.S. should learn from U.S.-Russian relationship during the 1990s. Also discussed is the role of the U.S. in turning Russia off towards democracy and market liberalization after the Clinton-Yeltsin term.

This paper delves into the shifts in the foreign policy of Russia, considering what has determined Russia's grand strategy orientation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It also attempts to offer an explanation of why Russia becomes discounted with the ‘constitutive and normative structure’, and how its foreign policy shifted toward the anti-status quo orientation, especially after the color revolutions. The main purpose of this paper is to explain the shift in Russia's foreign policy, from the search for the ‘greatpowerness’ status via different enhancement strategies in light of status quo in the ‘revolutionary decade’, to revisionism after the color revolutions in Commonwealth of Independent States region (2003–2005). To substantiate this, the study uses process-tracing and document analysis to show the changes in Russia's foreign policy. As demonstrated in this paper, power rendered is unable of directing or disinclined to direct its policies toward status quo, due to internal effects of perceived ‘status immobility’ resulting from the failure of several status enhancement strategies. Accordingly, the shift in Russia's foreign policy was a result of changing the Russian perception from status inconsistency to status immobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the reference to various sources on socio-cultural and socioeconomic problems, the methodology of the Russian national model of socio-economic activity management is conceptualized in the article. As a theoretical basis, the theoretical assumptions of M. Weber's interpretive sociology, the concept of structural-functionalism (R. Merton, T. Parsons, etc.), institutional methodologies, the theory of institutional matrices of S.G. Kirdina, etc. were used. As a social reality, the Russian national model of managing socio-economic activity is explored in the context of the specifics of interaction of basic institutions of power, property and management in the Russian society, within the framework of the study of the prospects for the transformation of world outlook patterns of the national economic culture, etc. It is concluded that that the worldview foundations of the functioning of Russian society and the basic institutions of culture are in constant interaction with leading economic practices. Therefore, the formation of a national socio-economic model is closely dependent on historically conditioned cultural and ideological patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the Russian economic conditions and forecast and analyzes major influences contributing to its recession. Topics discussed include the domestic structural problems faced by Russia and the political obstacles to their solution, the federal budget and fiscal policies, and economic performance. Other topics include the labor supply, the business environment, and social unrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we estimate whether monetary policy rules of Bank of Russia have changed during the recent past. Russia has moved towards inflation targeting throughout past years, and this is reflected in our empirical estimations. We start by estimating various monetary policy rules for Russia, concluding that a variant of Taylor rule depicts Bank of Russia's monetary policy quite well during the past decade or so. Moreover, there clearly have been two breaks in the coefficients of the estimated monetary policy rule, possibly signifying shift towards traditional inflation targeting, but also the current recent economic turbulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article notes that at the present time, when Russia faces the drying-up of access to many external sources of funding and a decline in oil prices, it is necessary to create new financing mechanisms for economic growth and modernization. Lack of funds and unavailability of credit resources are the main factors limiting investment activity. Therefore, of high relevance is the task to search for fundamentally new source of debt financing in the real economy, which will help to solve the problem of availability of borrowed funds for investment in nonfinancial assets, and fixed assets. This source of funding may be funds from the public, since growth of assets (currency, cash and savings, including real estate) is comparable to the total volume of investments in fixed capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents a factor analysis of innovative activity in the Russian Federation and overseas. The authors examine some of the policy foundations of the innovation-driven development of certain types of economic activity. Economic modernization is viewed here as a key area for boosting innovative activity in companies. The authors highlight the need to enhance the quality of career guidance and vocational training provision to turn out a highly-skilled workforce. A priority area for galvanizing human capital is a mobilization-motivation approach to managing personnel at a company. The authors propose a set of possible ways to galvanize creativity and cultivate on this basis an innovation-driven economy. The authors' analysis substantiates the advisability of and need for studying best practices from other developed nations, putting to use the existing achievements of national science, and implementing top solutions and achievements in the activity of Russian companies. The use of the outcomes of intellectual labor in high-tech production and production of competitive products will help avoid the possibility of bankruptcy for companies and ensure their long-term operation and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widening imbalances in the financial flows of the Russian State Pension Fund was caused by such a factors as: narrowing of the base for compulsory insurance premium collection due to the economic problems, dynamically changing the structure of the labor market, rising labor migration within the country and overseas, the steady aging of the population. This article reviews the suggestions on elaborating the policy of compulsory pension insurance rates in the Russian Federation aimed at enhancing the equilibrium of financial flows within the system and providing exercise of pension rights without attracting the lacking funds from the federal budget. Authors suggested that the problem of financial stability of pension system in the short run has to be solved only by changing the pension insurance tariff policy, i.e. due to the growth in pension system's revenues. We believe that the current government proposals, aimed at settlement of the mandatory pension insurance system's expenditure (i.e. by decreasing the size of pensions and their indexation) lead to falling of pension insurance coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the relevant problem of regional development - elaboration of methodical tooling and information technologies of macroeconomic modeling and strategic planning of energy-efficient development of the Russian Federation regions. The task of energy-efficient development is solved through the search of the agreed scenarios of development of the Fuel and Energy Complex (FEC) and economy of the region; the scenarios which help to achieve the maximum approach to the targets for the offered system of energy indicators. The authors developed a dynamic multisectoral model of the Fuel and Energy Complex, which reproduces interconnected production processes, processing, transportation and use of all types of fuel and energy resources in the region. The methodology of formation of the multiple regional fuel and energy balance (FEB) is offered. It allows predicting energy intensity and energy consumption of economy, including, energy consumption of GRP, estimating energy security and energy efficiency of economy, and revealing "narrow" places and threats in FEC development. The methods and algorithms allowing solving the problems of multi-purpose management of FEC for many tens of the purposes and hundreds of control variables are developed for estimation of achievability of the purposes of energy-efficient development of the Russian Federation regions. On the basis of the methods and models, presented in the article, information technologies of situational forecasting and strategic planning are realized in the form of predictive and analytical system, aimed at support of managerial decisions of regional authorities in the task of energy efficiency and energy security increase at the Russian Federation regions. The developed tooling was calibrated on the statistical material of the Samara region and was tested while solving practical tasks of strategic planning of energy-efficient development of the Russian Federation regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper substantiates the need to improve the management tools of scientific organizations on the basis of the methodology of change and development management. The authors showed that the existing methodological framework for assessing the effectiveness of scientific organizations do not fully provide an information base for further organizational development. On the basis of concept's analysis, the definition of the term "development management of scientific organizations" was proposed. It includes the criteria that determine its existence in the investigated structures. Based on the developed methodology an assessment of the current state of scientific organizations in the Russian Federation from the perspective of development management was made. The obtained results and the conclusions drawn on their basis are a significant source for the creation of a general methodological basis for the development management of scientific organizations and its practical implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal areas worldwide have the tendency to attract human activity, showing outstripping performance on a number of indicators. The transcendence of coastal regions is generally observed in relation to the average values of national performance. These include the indication of competitive clusters located at the coastal zone. The current study addresses the issue of cross-border clustering in coastal areas of the European part of Russia. Article presents the results of an inventory of the existing and potential cross-border clusters in the coastal zones under study, providing typology criteria to their delimitation. It is established that cross-border clusters are mainly formed in export-oriented primary industries -- fishing and primary processing of marine biological resources; extraction and transportation of oil, natural gas, wood and timber; manufacture and export of metals, mineral fertilizers, grain. The cross-border relations also take place in shipbuilding, pharmaceutical and chemical industry (e.g. Leningrad region), recreation and tourism (e.g. Kaliningrad region). Based on complex assessment of the natural, geographical, economic and demographic factors, the study resulted in the identification of the main types of coastal zones. It is shown that the intensity of clustering, its forms and mechanisms vary significantly both at macro- and mesoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the specifics of the Russian Far East regional development for 2000-2015 periods, identifies the main sources of financing economic growth in its constituent territories, and estimates the production specialization of industries and its relationship with investments in fixed capital. The aim of the study is to identify the specifics of the regional development of the region and to assess its production specialization. Methods of system analysis, synthesis, structural analysis, dynamics and concretization methods are used. In general, the conclusion is made about the unbalanced development of the Russian Far East economy, as well as inefficient regional economic policy. Certain restrictions related to the lack of official information on the GRP structure by sources of income and final product and labor costs ratio in the regions for 2014-2015 are caused by calendar features of statistical data release by FSSS of Russia. Originality/scientific or practical values are in modified methodology for calculating localization indicator. Practical application of the obtained results is also possible in the formation of regional economic policy in the constituent territories of the Far East in terms of identifying the resources for financing investment in fixed capital, as well as in identifying long-range region specialization branches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The purpose of the study is to estimate the impact of the modern monetary policy of the Bank of Russia on economic growth in the country. Methodology. The authors applied correlation and regression analysis, which allows constructing a regression equation with the values of independent variables (factors). Findings. The paper analyzes the main indicators characterizing the effectiveness of monetary policy implementation in Russia in 2000-2016. The undertaken correlation and regression analysis of the impact of monetary policy tools on economic growth in Russia according to empirical evidence (2006-2016) revealed the dependence of GDP on funds of credit institutions on correspondent accounts at the Bank of Russia. Application area. The obtained results can be used by the Central Bank of Russia in the development of the main directions of monetary policy and by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation in preparing a forecast of socioeconomic development in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author researched the empirical assessment of sustainable economic growth of the metallurgical industry in Russia. We systemized the main approaches to the sustainable growth assessment. We offered the evaluation algorithm, based on the objective quantitative statistical data. The advantages of the method are availability of indicators, simplicity and complexity of assessment, the implementation possibility of these tools for any industries and complexes. The results of the research reveal the low quality (unsustainability) of the economic growth of the Russian metallurgical complex, which is due to both macroeconomic shocks and the multi-vector strategies of the industry. We found out that the Russian metallurgy is currently in the situation of 'catching up growth'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers issues related to taking into account the impact of tendencies of the global economy on the development of regional processes. It considers the nature of the dependence of the modern national economy on the environment of the global markets of raw resources sale. It reveals the inhomogeneity of regional processes reaction on changes of the global environment indicators. It offers the transmission mechanism of the impact of the global markets environment changes on regional processes. The analysis of indicators of the global economy allowed to form a system of basic indicators whose change identifies key global trends. The authors offered a methodic approach to estimating the reaction of regional processes on changes of the global environment based on the economic cycles' concept. Methodological tools of the research include cards of time lags. They allow to define the time lag of some regional processes reaction delay to changes of the global economy; the model of comprehensive estimation of the impact of global indicators on the regional process; and a matrix of differentiating reactions of regional processes on the change of the global environment according to the closeness of the interrelation and delay lags. The article offers a principle scheme of forming recommendations on managing regional processes based on the analysis of the dynamics of global markets. The methodological tools were tested through the example of the regional process "Change of the level of consumer prices" in 83 subjects of the Russian Federation. The subjects of the Russian Federation were classified according to two criteria: speed and power of the reaction of the level of consumer prices on the change of the global markets environment. According to the research results, practical recommendations have been formed. They enable state government to take preventive management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The article aims to study the certain aspects of marketing activities in Russian companies and to classify companies according to the proposed factors affecting the marketing orientation. Objectives: To reveal factors that describe marketing orientation of Russian companies, to assess their attitudes and to classify Russian companies according to various directions of marketing orientation. Method: Classification of Russian companies consisted of 28 quantitative variables that described the attitude of the representatives of companies to various aspects of marketing environment. Attitudes were identified through personal interviews of representatives of 116 Moscow region companies. The principal component method and hierarchical cluster analysis were used as analytical methods. Findings: We identified four clusters of enterprises after determining eight factors which characterized 69.7% of the variance of the initial data. We considered these clusters and established key differences between them. Limitations of the research: The sample size and the geography of the research stem from the specifics of the search study regarding its methodology and extension of the geography of the survey. Value and originality of the research: We revealed a previously unused classification criterion for the company marketing orientation -- the geographical representation of the business which determines the differentiation of marketing activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws conclusions based on an analysis of the relationship between economic ideas and institutional change in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, so far covering roughly the years from 1971 to 2007. It analyses the recent debate on economic modernisation in Russian economics. We argue that the relative failure of transition has to be seen in the context of a ‘failed transition of the mind’ and that the recent modernisation debate resembles the debate of the Brezhnev period. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper analyses the current position of the Russian Federation in the global market of agricultural products and foodstuffs with the accent on the comparative advantage of Russian agricultural exports in relation to specific regions and states. The key purpose of the research is to classify the most significant changes in the structure of Russian agricultural exports. The results show that the structure of Russian trade is changing continuously and evolving along with the process of economic transformation and trade liberalization. Exports become less diversified and are concentrated in a few segments. From the perspective of comparative advantage, cereals, fish and vegetable oils are the segments of Russian exports which become more significant. The comparative advantages of Russian exports are strengthening mostly in the case of African, Asian and CIS countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article shows that the collapse of the Russian economy is inevitable without a change in the social and economic path, without the reorganization of state administration, and without a skillful combination of planned and market mechanisms for the development of industry, education, and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the end of the 2014 Russian economy is in crisis. Structural transformation of the industrial sector of the Russian economy is required. About 85 Russian industrial companies were analysed. Representatives of the state corporations «Rostec» and «Rosatom», the industrial group "Basic element", JSC "Russian Railways" and large Russian enterprises were involved in the analysis. A lot of companies declare their adherence to the principles of the lean production. Positively recommended concept of lean production abroad became popular in Russia in early 2000-ies. Economic effect, which is the main performance indicator of the implementation of lean production, was studied in detail. The absence of a unified concept of calculating economic effect is a problem in the context of the Russian experience of industrial development. Unified method of calculation of economic effect was proposed. The obtained results demonstrate the prospects of the further development of lean production and prove the possibility of achieving a high competitiveness of the domestic industrial sector of economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the critical analysis of the scholars' works in the field of import substitution, substantiating the necessity of its orientation towards the international market. The export and import commodity structure of the Russian Federation which characterizes the increasing dependence of the country on mineral resources sales and technological equipment import is studied. The authors analyze and make adequate conclusions about the correlation between financial resources obtained through the windfall from sales of oil as the main export product of the Russian economy and the development of its own innovative import-substituting production. The principal scheme of innovative import substitution process has been developed by the researchers, its stages have been analyzed and the most problematic areas in its implementation have been singled out. Based on the analysis of empirical data obtained by the survey of target groups, the identification of factors has been provided and their significance in the import substitution potential of the region has been determined; the algorithm for the region import substitution capacity assessment has been developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. The purpose of the research is to assess the investment projects financing based on the mechanism of publicprivate partnership (PPP) in Russia and to develop proposals to improve its effectiveness. Methodology. SWOT analysis as well as regression analysis was used in the study to determine the dependence of the growth rates in the Russian economy on the volume invested in PPP projects. Results. Within the framework of the study, an analysis of the implementation of investment projects based on the mechanism of public-private partnership in the Russian Federation was carried out. The estimate of the degree of development of public-private partnership in Russia was made regarding three main factors: the development of the institutional environment, regulatory and legal support and investment attractiveness. Conclusions. Today's Russia is characterized by a low level of development of public-private partnership. Increasing the efficiency of financing investment projects, based on the mechanism of public-private partnership, requires the development of institutional and economic conditions for cooperation between the state and business. Application area. The obtained results can be used in the formation of key measures by state authorities and management to improve the efficiency of investment financing grounded on public-private partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the importance of the banking sector in ensuring the economic growth of the country. The goal of the article is to analyze the current state and tendencies of the strategic planning in the banking activity. Its results allowed to define the basic points of the Russian banking sector growth. The scientific novelty lies in systemizing the modern strategic approaches of Russian banks to planning the activity and forming areas of the Russian banking sector development on the basis of its growth points. Conditions of the globalization of financial markets and banking business cause the necessity to transfer the Russian banking sector from the extensive development model to mainly intensive development. It will considerably increase the competitiveness of Russian banks and national banking sector, as a whole. The conducted research is based on the methods of economic and statistical analysis and economic modeling. The basic result of the research is the development of the matrix related to selecting the strategy of the commercial bank development taking into account the "growth points" and "narrow spaces". Besides, the scenario approach to selecting a specific banking strategy was offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the need for the innovation-driven development of the Russian economy in reliance on large business and regional innovation-driven development. The authors provide a rationale for the need to develop the national and regional innovation systems and bring to light their strengths and weaknesses based on assessments by experts from around the world; conduct an analysis of innovation activity within the corporate sector, provide a description of the architectonics of innovation activity by corporate establishments amid the impact of global challenges, and stress the need to develop the nation's open innovation model and put together a wide field of communications encompassing small and medium-sized enterprises within the area of presence; conceptualize a cluster approach to boosting regional innovation activity and its feasibility in Russian reality; provide a characterization of the key preconditions for the formation of innovation clusters, their structure, objectives, and principles of operation; conduct a comparative analysis of the major types of clusters as production agglomerations and as network ecosystems and stress the promise of the innovation mechanism of clusters' operation based on the Triple Helix model; provide a description of the top priorities for Russia's cluster policy and touch upon its transformation amid the current complicated geopolitical situation and sanction restrictions; come to the conclusion about the inevitability of Russia becoming one of the world's top innovatively developed economic powerhouses and propose a set of activities aligned with the ideology of the upward-trending development scenario that are aimed at creating the optimum conditions for the engagement of all economic agents in innovation activity and filling the economy with innovationrelated content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws attention to issues about the institutional matrices theory (IMT) as perceived by and raised in the article by F. Gregory Hayden. To clarify the “controversial” points, I structure my response narrative along two lines. First, I present the prehistory of IMT, or X- and Y- theory, including earlier work by scientists related to the concept of institutional matrix. I connect the development of the actual IMT with the period of “perestroika” and the associated market experiments and reforms in Russia and Eastern European countries. One could see that the effects of market reforms in Russia were different in comparison with other countries in economic transition. I show that the institutional approach was accepted as more relevant to understanding the unexpected results in Russian society. I present IMT as a development of the ideas of Karl Polanyi and Douglas North to answer the challenges of explaining the real social and economic processes in Russia, as well as its wider application to a broader range of economic and social situations in different countries. Second, I then present the main IMT theses, giving special attention to the issues as perceived and raised by Hayden. In conclusion, I suggest the possibility of a joint project that combines IMT consideration and the social fabric matrix (SFM) concept of F. Gregory Hayden. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is devoted to the evaluation of the institutional matrices theory (IMT), which was designed to illustrate the differences between Russian and Western political economic systems. IMT has no matrix, and it is an ideological declaration rather than a theory. It is a set of assertions and assumptions that are adopted without evidence, and then hypostatized to be Russian and Western socioeconomic systems. IMT literature claims to utilize the reciprocity, redistribution, and exchange model of Karl Polanyi (1944, 1957). However, IMT suffers from a number of assumptive and methodological problems in its application, the first of which consists of the complete exclusion of reciprocity from consideration. The first section of the article is an explanation of problems with IMT, and the second section demonstrates some particulars of the IMT problems with a real-world social fabric matrix from a Western nation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To explain the failure to create democratic socialism in Russia after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, I apply Thorstein Veblen’s vision of economic democracy as a cure for vested interests. In late imperial Russia, many socialist thinkers imagined socialism primarily in terms of workplace democracy, worker ownership, local governance, and economic decentralization. Their vision was destroyed, first, by Bolshevik policies and then by Stalin’s tyrannical command economy. Thereafter, vested interests reemerged in the Soviet Union as an underground economy, rife with theft of public resources, and then, with the beginning of transition, capitalism in its most neoliberal form was restored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper contributes to the studies of effects of political regimes on public policies by looking at a previously unexplored aspect of this issue: the propensity of political regimes to create vast and extensive formal regulation. To study this topic, it applies subnational comparative method and uses a dataset of subnational regions of Russia, which provides a unique opportunity for a large-N investigation of the research question because of substantial variation of regional political regimes and regulatory environments and because of availability of a proxy for comparing the use of formal regulation across regions. The paper shows that more competitive regimes are more likely to expand the formal law than less competitive ones; however, the implications of this expansion of formal law for the economy are ambiguous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investment policy - is one of organic components of the economic policy. Implementation of effective investment policy in many respects depends on a strategy correctness and tactics of general economic reforms at the macro- as well as at the microlevel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, we have seen uneven development in the leading advanced and emerging economies, new models of economic growth that vary from country to country, uncertain prospects for globalization and challenges of “regional globalization,” looming currency re-configurations, as well as shifting energy price dynamics and their influence on political and economic prospects of particular states. This paper discusses current challenges for social and economic policy in the context of the history of the past 30 years. With reference to Russia, it focuses on a new growth model, structural transformation (including import-substitution issues), economic dynamics, fiscal and monetary concerns, and social issues. It concludes by addressing the priorities of economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates long-run behavior of Russian real effective exchange rate. Due to high dependence on natural resources' exports and, at the same time, absence of stable domestic policy, unexpected and/or excessive changes in the real exchange rate might negatively affect the Russian economy, causing large welfare costs. Since the determinants as well the causal links to different fundamental determinants are not straightforward, we employ the Johansen cointegration framework in order to determine factors that drive real exchanges rate in the long run. Compared to previous research on the Russian exchange rate, we expand the period of observations and construct potential determinants in a not traditional way, but as differences between domestic and foreign variables. This proceeding might also be relevant for researches, dedicated to another countries' exchange rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]