Investment and construction activities in modern Russia: State and trends

The article analyzes the current state and problems that hinder the development of investment and construction activities in Russia in 2004–2014 and assesses the efficiency of this field against the background of problems related to the use of the Investment Fund of the Russian Federation. For the first time, a methodological approach to assessing import shares in investments in the acquisition of machinery, equipment, and transport means as one of the asset types in the domestic economy has been justified and the results of appropriate assessments have been given. The article proposes ways to solve pressing problems in the field of investment and construction activities, as well as demands that should be placed on the formation of state investment and construction policy.     

Strategic Development Outlook for the Energy Complex of Russia

The article discusses the long-term development of the energy complex and its role in the Russian economy in the context of the restructuring of world energy markets and considering the draft Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period through to 2035. Using the SCANER modelling and information complex, representative scenarios for the evolution of world energy markets have been developed, as well as relevant scenarios for the development of Russia’s economy and energy, including the dynamics of domestic consumption of major fuels and energy in view of energy conservation, as well as effective volumes and directions of basic fuel exports. Based on this, the dynamics of extraction and processing of basic fuels, the use of renewable energy resources, and electricity production by various types of power plants are optimized, and the necessary capital investments and returns on the dynamics of domestic prices for fuel and energy are determined. Changes in the main macroeconomic indicators of the contribution of the energy complex to the development of the Russian economy, corresponding to these scenarios, indicate a possible relatively rapid decrease in its dependence on energy exports.     

Foreign investments in Russia’s electric power industry

Foreign investments in Russia??s electric power industry and their role in the institutional and regulatory reorganization of its reformation are analyzed in the article. A comparison of the revenue efficiency of electric power generation companies on the Russian and European markets is made.     

Russia’s production potential: Need for accelerated renovation and prospects

The article grounds the need to develop a purpose-oriented program for Russia??s development in the postcrisis period on the basis of formation of import-substituting and ??updating?? investments. As a way of overcoming the structural imbalance in the economy and lagging manufacturing industries, in the prospective period, we suggest to create vertically integrated intersectoral corporations similar in structure to multi-national corporations. The possibilities of realizing the potential of investment machinery for the formation of ??updating?? investments are considered.     

Transformation of the reproductive mechanism of the world economy and prospects for Russia’s socioeconomic development

The article substantiates the author??s view on the basic principles underlying the reproductive mechanism of the global economy. It shows the degree of specificity and consistency of the reproductive mechanism of the Russian economy in comparison with the global model. An evaluation is performed of the opportunities and conditions for a transition to Russia??s accelerated economic development and modernization of its productive apparatus.     

Impact of ICT on trade in different technology groups: analysis and implications

The link between ICT use and trade flows has been widely discussed in the literature. It has been argued that the use of ICT contributes to the fall of trade costs. The analysis presented identifies the role of a specific ICT variable, namely the extent of use of Internet by the business community, in international trade. The export flows between 40 countries (OECD countries plus Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa) are analyzed. The results are presented for different technology groups of products, from high-tech to low-tech. The relationship between the use of Internet and trade in ICT goods is also considered.     

Cross-Country Comparisons as an Instrument of Economic Forecasting

Based on the comparison of Canada and Russia from the point of view of resource-geographical similarity, the differences in the structure of the economies and foreign trade of the two countries have been shown. One of the most important reasons for the unsatisfactory structure of the Russian economy and its technological backwardness is the country’s natural rent, which is spent not on innovative development in the economy, but on the implementation of insufficiently economically motivated geopolitical projects.     

Prospects of diversifying Russian direct investment abroad

The article investigates changes in the distribution of Russian direct investments between countries and regions of the world in 2014–2015. The specificity of increasing Russian investment in Asia and Africa in the 2000s has been identified. The possibilities and limits of geographic diversification of Russian investments abroad are shown, including for scenario when Russia’s state support for legal overseas expansion of domestic firms has been developed.     

Russian Companies at the End of 2017: Absence of Significant General Economic Changes and Progress in the Machinery Industry

The results of a regular poll of Russian companies in the real sector carried out by the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences have been analyzed and commented on. The companies’ opinions on which macroeconomic problems in modern Russia they consider to be the most urgent have been presented. The data has been given on the methods the companies use to solve their production, financial, and marketing problems, as well as on the frequency of using these methods. The companies’ answers to questions on how mutual sanctions between the West and Russia have affected their activities have been considered for the fourth time. The estimates of the companies on the quality of the Russian machines and equipment, as well as a comparison of the quality of the Russian equipment with foreign analogs have been presented. The opinions of companies on the economic policy of the regional authorities have been studied. Information about the character and level of cooperation between the Russian companies and banks has been given. The current situation with provision of the companies with the labor resources has been presented.     

Trends in the Development of Russian Currency Markets in the Context of Global Structural Transformations and Sanctions

The article analyzes factors, features and trends in the development of the Russian foreign exchange market as an integral part of international currency market in the context of global financial imbalances, de-globalization processes, new protectionism and sanctions regime in relation to Russia. Particular attention is paid to assessing the impact of forms and methods of managing international foreign exchange reserves on structure of Russian foreign exchange market, as well as characterizing the channels of impact of the current conditions for functioning of the Russian foreign exchange market on the currency policy strategy.     

Pricing in Russia’s sugar supply chains

The russian sugar market is considered as a production and logistics system that reflects the integration processes in the supply chain of goods. The existing plants can meet Russia??s domestic demand for sugar. To enter the international market, Russian companies need competitive prices, which can be obtained through the management of logistics costs. The development of a national stock exchange for trade in goods will have a positive effect on the formation of sugar supply chains.     

Russia’s economic space: Currencies, oil, investment

An attempt is made to estimate the influence of the currency and oil factors on the volumes and distribution of investment flows to Russian regions. The emphasis is on a correlation analysis of the impact of changes in the values of nominal foreign exchange rates (the US dollar and the Euro) and the world prices of Urals crude oil on the dynamics of Russian and foreign investments in different regions and regional groups of Russia over a ten-year period (1995–2005). Significant intergroup differences in the degree of investment susceptibility to the currency and oil factors are brought to light, resulting from the country’s heterogeneous economic space, its mineral and labor resources, uneven development of its transport infrastructure, the energy spent by local authorities in attracting investments, etc.     

Russia and the global intellectual services markets

The incipient process of intellectualization of global development is described and the role and behavior of intellectual (nonmaterial) services in the world economic relations is presented. Russia’s position on global nonmaterial service markets is analyzed in comparison with other countries. The scope for utilization of the Russian scientific, educational and other intellectual potential in its foreign economic activities is expounded.     

Scientific and technological potential of Russia at the present stage: Implementation challenges and prospects for development

New definitions of the scientific and technological potential and the scientific and technological base, resting on the distinction between past, present, and future efforts of the public ensuring its reproduction, are introduced. The main trends in the development of the Russian scientific and technological base are analyzed in comparison with major foreign countries, as well as the changes in some components of the Russian scientific and technological potential in the 2000s. An estimate is made for the measures of state support for all forms of financing of Russia’s science-intensive high-tech complex in 2008–2013, and the relationship between government support measures and output growth in real terms is considered using the example of the aircraft industry.     

Openness and Economic Performance: A Comparative Study of China and the Asian NIEs

Being the world's largest developing economy, China's successful economic performance since 1978 has had a powerful impact on the global economy. Its open policy features an evolutionary process, involving the gradual liberalization of foreign exchange, international trade and foreign direct investments. This paper evaluates how this evolutionary process has contributed to China's economic success in comparison with the development experiences of the Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs). It concludes that despite the economic crisis in 1997–98, China and the NIEs represent a successful development model, which is built upon openness and huge investments in physical and human capital.     

Tsarist Russia and the World Wheat Market

Russian grain trade, production, and consumption during the Tsarist period (1861–1914) is empirically evaluated. Russia was the world's largest wheat exporter during this period. Tsarist Russian agriculture is often characterized in the literature as having been “backward” and not well-integrated with international markets. In contrast to this view, this analysis finds that the Russian grain trade was significantly influenced by international prices and was well-integrated with the international commercial wheat trade. Our results indicate that after 1880 regional wheat markets in Russia were linked and that a strong connection had been established between Russian ports and cities at the center of the world wheat trade. Deviations from equilibrium price relationships were found to be eliminated more rapidly for trade between Odessa and England than for wheat trade between New York and England. In addition, grain trade is shown to have been positively influenced by the development of the rail system.     

Energy cooperation between Russia and Northeast Asian countries: Prerequisities,directions and problems

The paper deals with prerequisites, conditions, problems and directions of energy cooperation between Russia and Northeast Asian (NEA) countries. It describes a transition period of the Russian economy, shows the significance of the Eastern energy policy of Russia, and the role the fuel and energy potential of the Eastern regions of Russia can play in its implementation. Prediction of the economy and energy development in the eastern regions of Russia is given in terms of export of Russian energy resources to Japan, China, Korea and other NEA countries. A comprehensive strategy of energy cooperation for NEA countries is shown and elaborated.     

The impact of information and communication technology on international trade in fruit and vegetables in APEC

The global food marketing network is being constantly reshaped, providing opportunities and challenges for information and communication technology (ICT) to develop and improve international trade in food products. A gravity model of international trade is employed to see if ICT positively affects bilateral international trade in fruit and vegetables between member Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies. We examine if the use of the Internet, mobile telephones, and fixed telephone lines determine the value of bilateral trade. Empirical results for the importance of ICT differ markedly between importing activities and exporting activities in the international value chain of fruit and vegetables in APEC countries. Changes in ICT levels in the import sector of the value chain have no effect on international trade in fruit and vegetables. However, in the export sector, growth in some ICT products has significant positive effects on trade in fruit and vegetables between APEC countries. Surprisingly, the strongest impact was discerned for the traditional form of ICT, fixed telephone lines, but this impact probably reflects the fact that fixed telephone lines are a proxy variable for the general level of infrastructure development. Of the two digital ICTs, mobile telephony and the Internet, only the Internet had a significant impact on trade levels. The further development of the Internet and its diffusion should make exporters in APEC countries more competitive in the fruit and vegetables value chain, and boost their trade values in these products.     

A toolkit for macrostructural regional forecasting: Methodological approaches and results of computations

This paper discusses the issues of developing a consistent system of forecast computations providing a long-term outlook for the Russian economy in both sectoral and regional contexts. Under special focus is the formation of regional development scenarios. Such scenarios are suggested to be based on the territorial pattern of investments into the national economy. Results of computations are presented for the period up to 2030 for two scenarios.     

Sustainable development goals for the future of Russia

This paper reviews sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and approved by all countries. The inclusion of the sustainability concept based on a balanced set of economic, social, and environmental factors in the strategic documents underpinning the long-term development of Russia is justified as part of a search for a new development model for the Russian economy.