Articles

The main aim of this research is to identify the differences between a deliberate security strategy and an emergent one. The objective of the study is to demonstrate these differences using the case of an energy security strategy, to determine the main reasons for deviations and to formulate a methodological apparatus for assessing strategic documents. To explore an emergent energy security strategy (as a set of actions by decision makers), the authors suggest to make the analysis the events mentioned in the media (press events) and the amendments to legislation (real actions of decision makers in response to external challenges and threats) made in accordance with actual national security objectives. The authors monitor press events based on keywords that identify the main energy security objectives in accordance with the relevant legal and regulatory framework. In order to test the hypothesis related to legislation, amendments authors disclose the correlation between the selected indicators using a model of linear regression with one regressor. The study distinguishes the differences between deliberate and emergent energy security strategies; analyses legislative amendments that reflect the real efforts of the authorities; in addition, the study analyses legislative amendments aimed at ensuring security; distinguishes the differences between a deliberate strategy and the actual actions of the authorities in the legislative sphere; formulates provisions for an emergent strategy reflecting the real actions and interests of the authorities. The authors reflect the reasons for the differences between deliberate and emergent strategies. The authors build a hierarchy of objectives for an emergent strategy that defines the actual priorities for energy security: domestic economic security, external economic security, tax security, environmental safety. Empirical application of methodological approaches to identifying differences between deliberate and emergent strategies is relevant for participants in investment processes (enterprises and entrepreneurs) as well as for the legitimately elected authorities, with a view to properly reflecting strategic course of actions in official documents in order to ensure the stability of the internal and external political situation.

Despite the growing interest in talent management issues, there is still no consensus in the literature regarding the characteristics and features of talented employees work behavior. One of the approaches stands out as an objective view postulating that there are a set of personal characteristics, which determine an employee as a talented one and influence their labor behavior. This research attempts to identify a list of these personal characteristics and assess their impact on work behavior. The list of characteristics incorporates personality dimensions contained in the Big Five model. As a form of labor behavior is voluntary resignation. The research empirical base is the data on the talent management program at Sheremetyevo International Airport. We constructed econometric probit model, where the fact that a talented employee voluntarily quit during the first year of employment was used as an explanatory variable. The focus on resignations in the first year is related to an attempt to reduce the influence of factors that form sustainable attitudes towards job characteristics — satisfaction and loyalty to the organization. The set of independent variables is represented by organizational and socio-demographic characteristics in addition to personal characteristics. The results confirmed the hypotheses on the influence of higher values of openness to experience, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion, regardless of the organizational context, on the probability of voluntary turnover. The findings provide an empirical assessment of the objective approach to talent in the Russian labor market and can be used for verification in other corporate contexts or while trying to assess their sustainability with a longer work experience. In practical terms, the findings can be used to develop personalized talent management practices in Russian companies.

The objective of this article is to reveal the most demanded competencies for senior management personnel and to discuss the methods and approaches for assessing such competencies within the framework of Open Mass Personnel Contests (OMPC). The article provides an overview of modern research on competencies of business leaders, as well as literature on approaches to assessing the competencies of civil servants: the focus of researchers is increasingly shifting to the skills and abilities of a manager to create value through conscious interaction with the team and stakeholders. The paper presents the approaches to assessing competencies of candidates for senior management positions at the contest «Leaders of Russia». It is shown that, other things equal, persons representing senior management personnel in large organizations were more successful than other groups at different stages and were more likely to win the competition. This indicates that the procedures of the competition, most likely, contributed to the achievement of the main goal - the selection of people with competencies corresponding to the top management. Basic socio-demographic characteristics (gender and age) were not associated with the success of the selection process. The author concludes that an open competition with a transparent way of assessing competencies using different methods both allows to select promising managerial personnel and ensures inclusiveness in the selection for senior positions. At the same time, factors such as correct conducting of all stages of an OMPC, ensuring sufficient quality and quantity of candidates at the entrance, and careful selection of competency assessment tools are of great importance.

The concept of crowdfunding has been actively developing over the past ten years, transforming into an established form of alternative finance for startups and small and medium enterprises. As a classical two-side market, crowdfunding provides interaction between entrepreneurs and investors through an Internet platform. In Russia, this type of funding is just emerging but has already faced a decrease in investment activity due to fund loses on these platforms. The purpose of this article is to create a new crowdfunding model which refers to the classical approach of its formation and offers opportunities for investors interests protection in Russia, increasing their professionalism and, as a result, the image of Russian alternative finance market. The methodological basis of the work is a systematic analysis of economic literature, international and Russian legal framework, and statistical data. The study identifies and analyzes perspective crowdfunding models and legislative features of investors protection on foreign and Russian alternative finance markets. On this basis, the authors build a model adapted to the Russian market, which includes in the crowdfunding process the investors communities — organizations «filters» whose activities are connected with investors registering and checking companies using deep due diligence. The implementation of the model at the state level will reduce funds losses caused by the lack of financial literacy among investors and effective selecting companies system among platforms. The findings can become the basis for legal acts, strategic concepts and governing regulations of investment activity.

Since 2014, the Bank of Russia has switched to a floating exchange rate and inflation targeting. From that moment the key interest rate, that is, the interest rate of the interbank market, became the main instrument of monetary policy in Russia. At the same time, the question arises: does the policy of the Bank of Russia really contribute to stabilizing inflation? In other words, it is important for policy makers, as well as private economic agents, to understand whether the rate changes sufficiently to stabilize the deviation of inflation from the target. Thus, the task is reduced to the study of the monetary policy rule: the Taylor rule in Russia during the period of inflation targeting. Estimates of the Taylor rule allow us to see the nature of both the systematic reaction of the regulator and the discretionary one. Thus, the task of the study is to consider the systematic and discretionary reaction of the Bank of Russia in response to the deviation of inflation from the target and the output gap based on the Taylor rule. The work is also motivated by the fact that, based on the results of recent research, the basic least squares method can be used to solve the problem. So, to analyze the systematic reaction of the regulator, we evaluate the standard formulation of the Taylor rule using OLS. To analyze the role of the discretionary component, we consider monetary policy shocks as innovations of the Taylor rule. Using the local projection methodology, we estimate the impulse responses of the inflation components of consumer and industrial goods to identified monetary shocks based on the Taylor rule. The results of the assessment indicate the implementation of the Taylor rule in Russia during the period of inflation targeting. The findings indicate an active stabilizing systematic reaction of the regulator in response to the deviation of inflation from the target. Estimates of impulse responses show a decrease in the inflation components of consumer and industrial goods in response to the restraining shock of monetary policy.

The main characteristics of methodological individualism as an approach used in economics to the study of social phenomena are revealed and the associated with it way of presenting accumulated knowledge. The authors show how methodological individualism is positioned in economics where Lakatos' research programs compete with each other. The study examines possible limitations in applying methodological individualism to relations between people mediated by language as a means of communication, including in the light of socialization processes, as well as in the light of differences in the research process and the way of presenting its outcomes. The authors show that with the spread of technologies based on artificial intelligence, the question of whether self-learning algorithms successfully passing the Turing test should be considered as a challenge for applying the traditional understanding of methodological individualism in future economic research. Methodological individualism is one of the important issues in the modern methodology of economics, in the light of which the paper discusses various aspects of the relationship between methodological holism and individualism.

The article provides an overview and assessment of the legacy of most significant Russian researcher of the past decades in the field of theory and methodology of classical institutionalism — candidate of science in economics, associate professor Alexander Ivanovich Moskovskiy, who worked for many years at the Department of Political Economy at Lomonosov MSU Faculty of Economics. The article shows the original ideas of A. I. Moskovskiy on the correlation of classical political economy, other schools of the heterodox branch of economic theory and neoclassical, methodology and theory of classical institutionalism. Special attention is paid to the research of A. I. Moskovskiy on the relationship between the technological progress, socio-economic processes, as well as the content and role of labor. The article reveals that A. I. Moskovskiy is among the first and most profound researchers who not only criticized the processes of deindustrialization but showed the importance of focusing on re-industrialization of the economy, showing (based on classical institutionalism and modern Marxism methodology) that strategic planning and active industrial policy can become the most important means to solve this problem. The industrial era, during which huge enterprises were the main institutions for maintaining social order, is not coming to an end; that affects employment and the nature of work. At the same time, the scolar did not deny that postindustrial society is now increasingly characterized as a “knowledge society”, in which knowledge and information become a key resource for technological, economic, and social development. An important point relates to the analysis of A. I. Moskovskiy changes in the methods and forms of managing skilled workers in conditions of increasing complexity and knowledge-intensive labor.

This study examines the relationship between personalisation tools in the e-commerce market on the example of e-grocery and customer satisfaction, identifies the factors which can influence positive consumer experience leading to increased customer satisfaction and, as a result, increased consumer trust. The authors consider the triad “customer satisfaction — trust — customer loyalty” and propose an algorithm for the triad constructs interaction on the Russian e-grocery market. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of personalised marketing on building trust among consumers in the e-grocery market, which was achieved through an empirical study—an online survey of 384 respondents, with factor and regression analysis as the main research methods. The results of the study helped identify the factors used as the basis for the implementation of personalised marketing tools and affect customer satisfaction and trust in e-grocery. Finally, the authors construct an integrated model of forming consumer confidence through satisfaction tested for reliability in the form of a regression model based on the analysis of individual factors contributing to increasing loyalty.

The purpose of the study is to formulate cost-effective solutions and approaches to increase the competitiveness of a special vehicles manufacturer. Prior review of domestic and foreign literature shows that the use of information systems for after-sales service and serviceoriented business model help to obtain competitive advantages for manufacturers of complex engineering products. The paper describes the main characteristics and parameters of aftersales service and repair systems and shows the economic effect of applying information systems to optimize maintenance. The authors consider the case of implementing a service-oriented approach and developing an after-sales service information system for a manufacturer of special vehicles. Based on the analysis of available domestic and foreign solutions, the paper formulates the requirements for the information system and the principal architecture of the system to ensure the economic efficiency of after-sales service. An assessment of the effects of using the proposed approaches and solutions for large operators of special vehicles is given. The prerequisites, goals, stages of development of an integrated after-sales service system for a manufacturer of special tools are outlined. The results of the study can serve to implement the proposed solutions at the LLC “GRUPPA PROMAVTO”, as well as to improve approaches to after-sales service for manufacturers of complex technical products.

The article compares civil servants’ payment systems and wage levels in the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom, and identifies the factors affecting the civil servants’ pay level in both countries. With comparable civil servants’ payment levels in terms of purchasing power in Russia and Great Britain, there are differences in structural elements of payment and the fields of activity that are highly paid. The study is based on data analysis of the RF Ministry of Labour and the UK Office for National Statistics concerning civil servants’ pay levels in central offices of federal executive bodies of the Russian Federation and central public bodies of the UK. The comparative analysis shows that civil servants’ payment in Russia is significantly higher than that in Great Britain in such fields as security, defense, justice, legal proceedings, construction, housing and utilities, and statistics. In Great Britain, by contrast, civil servants are paid more than in Russia in speres of education, science, culture, tourism, media, industry and economics. Based on theories and studies reviewed, the article provides an econometric analysis of factors affecting the civil servants’ pay level in Russia and Great Britain. Regression analysis identifies statistically significant institutional, gender and age factors which determine the high level of the civil servants’ pay in both countries, for example, activities in financial, tax and customs spheres in Russia or work in small-size public bodies in Great Britain.

The paper examines the concept of minimum wage and approaches to its establishment in the labor legislation of the USSR and the Russian Federation. The purpose of the work is to identify the features of legal regulation of the minimum wage that affect the current situation with the minimum wage in order to improve it. The findings indicate that the experience of the USSR and the Russian Federation (in the editorial offices of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation until 2007) has positive aspects which we advise to pay attention to. The article also reviews a significant number of legislative initiatives on these issues involving both the size of the minimum wage itself and the methods and frequency of its establishment. We note that despite the approach adopted since 2021 in setting the minimum wage based on the median wage generally correlates with the world practice, while its size requires further research. We also propose to restore the previously valid definition of the minimum wage.

This article examines the development opportunities of the Baltic Sea region which consist in the possibility to effectively use the potential of blue economy industries through digital transformation and innovation. The purpose of the article is to prove that effective use of the Baltic region resource potential is a priority factor for stable economic development of the coastal territories in this region through innovations and digital technologies. The article presents effective tools and mechanisms to develop digital economy of the Baltic territories organizations, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of digitalization. Based on prior research on sustainable development of the Baltic region, the paper shows that to prevent the negative impact of uneven development on sustainable development goals in the region is possible through more active use of the unique resources of the coastal territories of the region, the rise of industries and sectors of blue economy on a new technological basis. Investing in digitalization of these industries and development of information and communication infrastructure of the Baltic Sea coastal territories is the key to their competitiveness

The study attempts to explain the dependence of agricultural development indicators on subsidies and other factors in Russia in 2012–2020. Based on the author's methodology, the survey evaluates the economic efficiency of subsidies in Russia’s agriculture, develops and justifies the measures to improve the support system aimed at increasing total factor productivity (TFP). The object of the study is agricultural subsidy system. The subject of the research is the influence of subsidies on TFP in agriculture. The panel models with fixed effects do not reveal an impact of subsidies on TFP. The 1st lag of the logarithm of subsidies negatively affects the dynamics of labor productivity, and shows no relationship between current year subsidies and labor productivity. Labor productivity in agriculture in Russia grows in 2019– 2020 as a result of higher gross output and, to a lesser extent, of lower employment. Capital productivity increases mainly due to gross output growth. Support measures for general services (development of infrastructure, science, extension, phytosanitary and veterinary services) should be the most important components of increasing the efficiency of agricultural subsidies. These components in agricultural subsidies are of high priority for the environmental situation in rural areas and the state of human capital.

This study examines the application of the ecosystem approach, development of ecosystem services theory, and the need to record and evaluate these eco-services. The paper clarifies the concept of “natural capital” and its structure, considers the essence of new evaluation objects and their specific features, confirms the difference between functions and ecosystem services, systematizes and analyzes the existing classifications of ecosystem services in general and in relation to regulating and cultural ones. The authors propose the classification of ecosystem services which differ from international and domestic classifications but at the same time focus on achieving a certain consistency in the characteristics of ecosystem services of these classifications. The study proves that evolutionary changes in objects evaluation can be characterized by the scheme: “natural resources — natural resource potential — ecosystem services — natural capital”. The evaluation object is becoming more and more complex, including natural resources and ecosystem services of abiotic and biotic components of the environment. Natural capital becomes the main object of evaluation. The reliability of the economic evaluation requires an interdisciplinary approach, which involves relying on a system of landscape categories and involving specialists from various fields of scientific knowledge. We believe that the development of the evaluation theory in terms of clarifying the essence of the economic valuation of natural resources and the classification of ecosystem services, mainly regulating and cultural ones, will help to increase the reliability of economic value of natural resources and ecosystem services, which ultimately determines the improvement of state regulation of nature management.

What use is neoclassical mainstream? Criticism of mainstream practical applicability by heterodoxies is not weakening. But the mainstream is heterogeneous, it includes orthodox neoclassical mainstream (Walras, Keynes, Friedman), the subject — “the wealth of nations”, the method — a mathematically descriptive method without explanations and the Marshallian version — with the same subject and method, but with explanations from the standpoint of individual behavior. The regularities of the objective neoclassical mainstream (demand curve, equality of savings to investments, etc.) are irrefutable, but its practical applicability is limited by the descriptive method. The potential of the mainstream can be revealed if it is re-incorporated into the classical two–factor model “nature-form” (nature according to Smith — “purchasing power”, according to Marx — “value”; form — good, use value), in which the descriptive method is supplemented by an explicative one. This is a classic model at a new level, consistent with genomics (the product is not an “economic cell”, but an “economic DNA molecule”). The model differs from the heterodox “Marxist political economy” in subject matter and method. This is the “new orthodoxy” which can be called “applied political economy”, since it includes analysis, forecasting and application in business practice.