Publications

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to determine the scenarios innovational development of the Russian AIC in the conditions of the EAEU and to develop a competitive model of this development. Methodology: The authors use the method of qualitative scenario analysis for determining the scenarios of innovational development of the Russian AIC in the conditions of the EAEU and the method of modeling of socio-economic processes and systems and the method of formalization (graphic presentation of the results of modeling) for creating a competitive model of innovational development of the Russian AIC in the conditions of the EAEU. Results: Three scenarios of innovational development of the modern Russia’s AIC are determined–technical modernization, ecologization, and transition to AIC 4.0–each of which envisages narrow specialization and cannot guarantee high competitiveness of the studied complex. For receiving the highest advantages from innovational development of the modern Russia’s AIC, it is offered to combine all three scenarios that have to determine the directions of this development. Due to this, the manufactured food products will be diversified and, therefore, will be less dependent on the change of consumer preferences in separate segments of the market and fluctuations of the world prices for food. This will ensure high global competitiveness of development of the Russian AIC, as the platform of the EAEU will provide export to the participants of this integration union and to the world markets. Recommendations: A competitive model of innovational development of the Russian AIC in the conditions of the EAEU is developed and recommended for practical application. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

This article investigates the role of boards in founder-managed firms with concentrated ownership in emerging markets. The literature frequently suggests that in this type of companies, boards have little influence on the corporate decision making. The article conducts a case study of AFK Sistema—a large Russian founder-managed firm with concentrated ownership. We observe that, contrary to the expectations, in this company, the founder provided real authority to the board, at the same time focusing on recruiting independent (mainly foreign) members. Based on this case, we argue that selectively empowering boards in this type of ownership setting could be beneficial for the firm: Selective empowerment is a source of intrinsic motivationfor the independent board members, making them proactively search for new projects and assist in their implementation on behalf of the firm. As a result, the company can overcome a number of important barriers in its development.

Background The epidemiological transition of non-communicable diseases replacing infectious diseases as the main contributors to disease burden has been well documented in global health literature. Less focus, however, has been given to the relationship between sociodemographic changes and injury. The aim of this study was to examine the association between disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from injury for 195 countries and territories at different levels along the development spectrum between 1990 and 2017 based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 estimates.Methods Injury mortality was estimated using the GBD mortality database, corrections for garbage coding and CODEm—the cause of death ensemble modelling tool. Morbidity estimation was based on surveys and inpatient and outpatient data sets for 30 cause-of-injury with 47 nature-of-injury categories each. The Socio-demographic Index (SDI) is a composite indicator that includes lagged income per capita, average educational attainment over age 15 years and total fertility rate.Results For many causes of injury, age-standardised DALY rates declined with increasing SDI, although road injury, interpersonal violence and self-harm did not follow this pattern. Particularly for self-harm opposing patterns were observed in regions with similar SDI levels. For road injuries, this effect was less pronounced.Conclusions The overall global pattern is that of declining injury burden with increasing SDI. However, not all injuries follow this pattern, which suggests multiple underlying mechanisms influencing injury DALYs. There is a need for a detailed understanding of these patterns to help to inform national and global efforts to address injury-related health outcomes across the development spectrum.

What characteristics of firms give them the confidence to invest in settings rife with expropriation by local officials? Empirically, firms in the developing world often face the threat of expropriation from local agents of the state rather than a centralized autocrat. Because policing local officials is costly, the state cannot easily credibly commit to doing so. This has negative consequences for investment. We argue that one solution is to allow firms to approach the state directly to ask for intervention. Not all firms are equally able to successfully get the attention of the state, however, so this mechanism only works for some. We develop an argument about the firm-level characteristics – large-scale employment, political connections, foreign ownership, and business association membership – that should make the central state more attentive to calls for help. Because firm with these characteristics are more likely to secure intervention against predatory bureaucrats, the latter are less likely to try to expropriate them. These firms’ investment decisions should be less sensitive to local expropriation than other firms. We test this argument using data on cases of decentralized expropriation across Russia’s regions and firm-level data from a cross-regional, large scale survey of Russian firms.

В статье рассматриваются вопросы прогнозирования микроклимата городов и ветроэнергетического потенциала жилых зданий применительно к России, Северной и Восточной Европе. В исследовании проанализирована климатическая структура крупного города, биоклиматический комфорт, а также представлен климатический анализ на примере Москвы. Уточнена взаимосвязь ветрового режима с климатическими и градостроительными факторами. Представлены возможные подходы к оценке ветроэнергетического потенциала здания. Проанализирован зарубежный опыт и классификация факторов, влияющих на размещение ветроэнергетических установок. Отмечена возможность детализации данных микроклимата по ветровому режиму для размещения ветроэлектростанций с учетом благоустройства и озеленения городов. Рассмотрен вопрос первичной привязки ветроэнергетических установок в строительстве на основе ветроэнергетического потенциала зданий и территорий. Концепция "Умного города" рассматривается с целью формирования системы управления ветроэнергетическим потенциалом в городском строительстве и оценки комфортности аэрации для пешеходов с интеграцией в градостроительное энергетическое моделирование (УБЭМ).

Accountability—constraints on a government’s use of political power—is one of the cornerstones of good governance. However, conceptual stretching and a lack of reliable measures have limited cross-national research on this concept. To address this research gap, we use V-Dem data and innovative Bayesian methods to develop new indices of accountability and its subtypes: the extent to which governments are accountable to citizens (vertical accountability), other state institutions (horizontal accountability), and the media and civil society (diagonal accountability). In this article, we describe the conceptual and empirical framework underlying these indices and demonstrate their content, convergent, and construct validity. The resulting indices have unprecedented coverage (1900–present) and offer researchers and policymakers new opportunities to investigate the causes and consequences of accountability and its disaggregated subtypes. Furthermore, the methodology provides a framework for theoretically driven index construction to scholars working with cross-national panel data.

The chapter 1) introduces the latest volume of the conference proceedings of HSE's annual German conference "Welt und Wissenschaft", 2) reviews emerging trends in policy-responses to the Corona epidemic, and 3) highlights two recent publications on the German-Russian relationship.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not as new a phenomenon for Russia as it is considered to be. Despite the prevalence of CSR among Russian corporations and considerable budgets, the number of corporate foundations is limited to a few tens. This chapter develops explanations for a narrow prevalence of corporate foundations as a tool of CSR. The chapter is based on the available statistical information, corporate social reports and interviews with representatives of the corporate foundations. Three aspects are examined. The first is a statistical portrait of the subsector of corporate foundations: its size, funding models, payouts, projects being funded, etc. The second point is an institutional context: the current legislation on foundations and CSR, and the tax regulations. The third aspect to be covered is a hybrid role of corporate foundations, their operation in the social policy and the non-profit sector. The chapter concludes with a discussion on comparative advantages and weaknesses of corporate foundations in an emerging Russian market.

How and when are governments able to encourage firms and schools to work together to develop workers’ skills? Upgrading the quality of human capital in the workforce is widely seen as a key challenge faced by countries looking to escape the “middle income trap.” Growing attention has been paid to public-private partnerships (PPP) between individual firms and schools as a powerful tool for meeting this challenge, but key facilitators of PPP thought crucial in existing studies – strong, independent employers’ associations and labor unions – are often missing in such settings. To explore the emergence of PPP in skill development in the developing world, we draw on recent reform experiences in Russia’s regions that have led to a surge in complex, costly forms of PPP despite weakly developed business associations and unions. We argue that variation in the administrative capacity of regional governments and their political accountability explains this surge. Strong administrative capacity reassures all parties that regional authorities can monitor their counterparties’ compliance with agreements, while political accountability creates incentives for authorities to do so. We test our argument using original data on the existence and content of firm-school partnerships across all Russia’s regions for 2013.

The paper introduces the concept of energy periphery to interrogate place-based perspectives on the co-production of uneven geographical development, energy vulnerabilities and low carbon transitions. Energy periphery is defined as places that are systematically disadvantaged through the whole energy system due to their inferior position within the asymmetrical spatial distribution of material, economic, political and symbolic resources and capabilities. Within an energy periphery, energy-related factors are combined with other place-based conditions to subject their communities to a compound and circular effect of precarious energy experiences. The notion of energy periphery is underpinned by insights from the spatial justice, core-periphery and energy justice theories. Using the case of Wales, the paper demonstrates the multi-dimensional and multi-scalar character of energy peripheralization, including political underrepresentation, the absence of economic agglomeration advantages, and dependence on off-grid fuels, energy inefficient homes and other ‘backward’ technologies and practices. Social and spatial contingencies of end-use energy vulnerability factors are outlined. Contrary to common discourses, energy transition further disadvantages energy peripheries and reproduces a fragmented socio-spatial landscape. The study overall demonstrates the importance of considering energo-socio-spatial relationships to better understand uneven energy transitions and social change more generally.

Conference proceedings of the V. annual German conference at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow, April 17, 2019.

Objectives This study provides a detailed analysis of the global and regional burden of cancer due to occupational carcinogens from the Global Burden of Disease 2016 study.Methods The burden of cancer due to 14 International Agency for Research on Cancer Group 1 occupational carcinogens was estimated using the population attributable fraction, based on past population exposure prevalence and relative risks from the literature. The results were used to calculate attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).Results There were an estimated 349 000 (95% Uncertainty Interval 269 000 to 427 000) deaths and 7.2 (5.8 to 8.6) million DALYs in 2016 due to exposure to the included occupational carcinogens—3.9% (3.2% to 4.6%) of all cancer deaths and 3.4% (2.7% to 4.0%) of all cancer DALYs; 79% of deaths were of males and 88% were of people aged 55 –79 years. Lung cancer accounted for 86% of the deaths, mesothelioma for 7.9% and laryngeal cancer for 2.1%. Asbestos was responsible for the largest number of deaths due to occupational carcinogens (63%); other important risk factors were secondhand smoke (14%), silica (14%) and diesel engine exhaust (5%). The highest mortality rates were in high-income regions, largely due to asbestos-related cancers, whereas in other regions cancer deaths from secondhand smoke, silica and diesel engine exhaust were more prominent. From 1990 to 2016, there was a decrease in the rate for deaths (−10%) and DALYs (−15%) due to exposure to occupational carcinogens.Conclusions Work-related carcinogens are responsible for considerable disease burden worldwide. The results provide guidance for prevention and control initiatives.

Objectives This paper presents detailed analysis of the global and regional burden of chronic respiratory disease arising from occupational airborne exposures, as estimated in the Global Burden of Disease 2016 study.Methods The burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to occupational exposure to particulate matter, gases and fumes, and secondhand smoke, and the burden of asthma resulting from occupational exposure to asthmagens, was estimated using the population attributable fraction (PAF), calculated using exposure prevalence and relative risks from the literature. PAFs were applied to the number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for COPD and asthma. Pneumoconioses were estimated directly from cause of death data. Age-standardised rates were based only on persons aged 15 years and above.Results The estimated PAFs (based on DALYs) were 17% (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 14%–20%) for COPD and 10% (95% UI 9%–11%) for asthma. There were estimated to be 519 000 (95% UI 441,000–609,000) deaths from chronic respiratory disease in 2016 due to occupational airborne risk factors (COPD: 460,100 [95% UI 382,000–551,000]; asthma: 37,600 [95% UI 28,400–47,900]; pneumoconioses: 21,500 [95% UI 17,900–25,400]. The equivalent overall burden estimate was 13.6 million (95% UI 11.9–15.5 million); DALYs (COPD: 10.7 [95% UI 9.0–12.5] million; asthma: 2.3 [95% UI 1.9–2.9] million; pneumoconioses: 0.58 [95% UI 0.46–0.67] million). Rates were highest in males; older persons and mainly in Oceania, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; and decreased from 1990 to 2016.Conclusions Workplace exposures resulting in COPD, asthma and pneumoconiosis continue to be important contributors to the burden of disease in all regions of the world. This should be reducible through improved prevention and control of relevant exposures.

Objectives This study provides an overview of the influence of occupational risk factors on the global burden of disease as estimated by the occupational component of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2016 study.

Methods The GBD 2016 study estimated the burden in terms of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) arising from the effects of occupational risk factors (carcinogens; asthmagens; particulate matter, gases and fumes (PMGF); secondhand smoke (SHS); noise; ergonomic risk factors for low back pain; risk factors for injury). A population attributable fraction (PAF) approach was used for most risk factors.

Results In 2016, globally, an estimated 1.53 (95% uncertainty interval 1.39–1.68) million deaths and 76.1 (66.3–86.3) million DALYs were attributable to the included occupational risk factors, accounting for 2.8% of deaths and 3.2% of DALYs from all causes. Most deaths were attributable to PMGF, carcinogens (particularly asbestos), injury risk factors and SHS. Most DALYs were attributable to injury risk factors and ergonomic exposures. Men and persons 55 years or older were most affected. PAFs ranged from 26.8% for low back pain from ergonomic risk factors and 19.6% for hearing loss from noise to 3.4% for carcinogens. DALYs per capita were highest in Oceania, Southeast Asia and Central sub-Saharan Africa. On a per capita basis, between 1990 and 2016 there was an overall decrease of about 31% in deaths and 25% in DALYs.

Conclusions Occupational exposures continue to cause an important health burden worldwide, justifying the need for ongoing prevention and control initiatives.

BACKGROUND: Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. METHODS: We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). FINDINGS: In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). INTERPRETATION: Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.

The purpose of the work is to determine the regularities and tendencies of globalization of education in the conditions of formation of the global knowledge economy, to compile forecasts of future development of this process, and to determine the conditions and factors of its acceleration and to develop recommendations for managing these factors. Methodology: The authors use theoretical (qualitative) methods of scientific research—systemic, problem, logical, and process analysis; and practical (quantitative) methods of scientific research—trend and regression analysis. Regression analysis is used for determining the dependence of the indicators of globalization of education on the indicators of formation of knowledge economy. As specialized indices of globalization of education are absent, and target statistical accounting of this process is not conducted, the research objects include universities from nine countries of the world, which show the highest global competitiveness according to the QS in 2018, and from Russia. Results: In the course of the research, the authors have not determined statistically significant influence of various indicators of knowledge economy (export of hi-tech, state expenditures for R&D and for education) on the indictors of globalization of education (global competitiveness of the leading national university, share of foreign lecturers and foreign students). This excludes mutual influence of knowledge economy and globalization of education and shows that this process is unidirectional—globalization of education stimulates the formation of the global knowledge economy. It is not possible to determine clear quantitative regularities due to statistical insignificance of the obtained regression models—however, the tendencies of globalization of education are found—reduction of the share of foreign lecturers and increase of the share of foreign students in 2016–2018, which reflect contradiction of this process and its slow rate. Recommendations: Framework recommendations are offered for managing the factors of globalization of education: development of remote education, adoption of international standards of education, issue of international diplomas, and increase of flexibility of the educational process.

The purpose of the article is to compare the models of state regulation of economic growth, connected to market optimization and counter-cyclical regulation, through the prism of their influence on population’s living standards and to determine the most optimal one according to the criterion of maximization of positive influence. Methodology: The authors use the method of regression analysis for determining the dependence of the life quality index in 2018 on the 2007 level, growth rate of GDP (model of market optimization), and depth of decline of GDP in the crisis period (2010) (model of counter-cyclical regulation). The research objects include 16 developed and developing countries that are peculiar for the highest living standards as of 2018–8 countries implement the model of market optimization and 8 countries implement the model of counter-cyclical regulation. Results: It is concluded that maximization of advantages for the global economy, connected to increase of population’s living standards, requires the model of counter-cyclical regulation, which envisages limitation of growth rate of economy in the period of its rise for leveling the following cyclical fluctuations–minimization of crisis in the period of decline. The alternative model of market optimization is undesired, as it hinders the achievement of global goals in the sphere of sustainable development, reducing population’s living standards. Recommendations: It is shown that practical implementation of global goals in the sphere of sustainable development envisages unification of the practice of national state regulation of economic growth for optimizing the growth of the modern global economy. The authors’ recommendations for this are offered.

Russia-China relations are a major focus of studies in international relations, yet few studies have thus far addressed perceptions of China among the Russian population, and perceptions of Russia among the Chinese population. This study seeks to contribute to closing this gap by focusing on country perceptions among college-age millennials. We focus on those who are involved in studies of Russia in the case of Chinese students, and studies of China in the case of Russian students; among them we have selected students who have had study abroad experience in the other country. Our findings are based on an analysis of 150 in-depth qualitative narrative interviews conducted with Chinese students and Russian students (75 with each group). We show that ethnocentric stereotypes prevail and each group engages in cultural ‘othering,’ that students from both countries perceive Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a central determining factor in shaping Russia-China relations.

Conventional wisdom holds that natural resource abundance negatively affects economic development, especially in countries with weak quality of governance. In this paper we raise a related, yet separate, question that was largely overlooked in the literature - the effect of natural resource rents on technological innovations, a very specific type of economic activity. We argue that the abundance of natural resources negatively affects technological innovations, but only under authoritarian settings. Technological innovations are risky, costly, long-term and partially public goods (an idea cannot be taken back), which makes them disproportionately disadvantaged in resource-rich authoritarian countries. First, alternative economic activity is too attractive to miss out on: steady, high and short-term profits from natural resources. Second, authoritarian leaders are infamous for not encouraging or even blocking technological innovations because they redistribute political power away from the leaders (old elites) to newcomers (innovators). We corroborate our hypothesis on the extensive cross-section time-series data.

Empirical studies in democracies have revealed some degree of causal relationship between public opinion and foreign policy. A look at the relationship between the evolution of Russian foreign policy priorities, as evidenced in the Foreign Policy Concepts (2000, 2008, 2013 and 2016), and public opinion regarding foreign policy measured from 1997 to 2018 shows significant shifts in perceptions of the nation’s international image. The amity/enmity feelings towards others can be explained as responses to key international events, endorsing the thesis of a rational and reactive public. Overall, public opinion and the official policy line in Russia move in the same direction.

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) – one of the USA federal government’s policy tool for preserving and encouraging the development and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing. LIHTC provides an incentive for home developers to build, buy and refurbish housing for low-income taxpayers and also provides a non-refundable credit for those who invest in low-income housing projects as a means of stimulating the flow of capital into this sector. The type of housing structures typically used for this credit are multi-family dwellings.